Are gang hideouts even worth it?

[Fenris]

I'm still a Red Dead Online newb, only level 13, just been taking my time wandering around, exploring and hunting mostly. But when I get close to leveling up and don't feel like hunting I will solo one for the xp.

So far in the 5 or 6 I've done, I'm lucky if I get $2, random trash loot, and some bullets. I can kill one deer with one arrow (which is retrieved) and make 2 or 3 times that. And can kill a couple deer in the time it takes to do a hideout. So are all hideouts built the same? In other words do they all suck or am I just picking the worse ones to attack?

[Caffeinated Rabbit]

Your sole focus in RDO should be acquiring and grinding out roles. They will be your best source of money and to some extent gold and exp (Bounty hunter). Do what ever you have to do to get your first role, it will most likely be your first and only real challenge.

I recommend doing daily challenges for 30 days since they will most likely be your best source of gold, dont forget to hop into an on call story mission, they can give you a bit of gold and can be an easy way to knock out a few NPC related daily challenges.

[Banzai]

They're a great way to practise your shooting skills without any real risk. If you use the same ammo that they generally drop it's basically zero cost. You also get occasional antique bottles etc for the collector role. I wouldn't seek them out, but if there's one nearby....

[Fenris]

Yeah, I never expected to get rich doing them which is why I ignored them until I was close to leveling up. And I will pick up some money making roles, since from what I've seen some of them pay out ridiculously well. But I play solo mostly, so that will be awhile since a lot of the jobs have a 2 person minimum, which makes getting gold harder for me.

I was just hoping some hideouts payed better than others (since shooting npcs is a lot more fun than shooting deer). In a lot of games, certain areas on the map are harder (and thus pay more) than others. I guess this isn't so with RDO.

Thanks for the answers.

[Banzai]

I've been playing solo the entire time online, and found collector and trader to be easy money for a solo player. Do your daily challenges and the resettable rewards that give gold nuggets and you'll be able to afford the roles pretty quick. I'm currently doing bounty hunter which rewards gold in addition to cash, and is actually pretty fun once you get used to the shooting mechanics.

One important thing that's easy to miss: animal skins aren't just high or low quality depending on how you kill them, the animals themselves have high or low quality. Look for the pristine animals within each group and kill them cleanly. I wasted so much time hunting low quality animals and wondering why I was getting poor skins despite clean kills (and getting the crappy payout that goes with them).

[Eminem]

you may find collector loot off their corpses. Dependent on their spawn location, other gold sprinkles as well.

if you newb. focus on them dailies. Do least once a day to keep gold multiplier payout bonus going.

[Eminem]

also if you have not done so already. Goto your rockstar account site and setup 2step. 10 free gold bars will be in your mailbox usually within 72 hours.

if you an Amazon nerd and love the convenience of ordering stuff in your underwear and getting it delivered free in 2 days (prime). Link your acct to prime gaming. Each month you'll get random stuff like tonic, food, ammo. Just newb related stuff. Anything helps when you in rags and a homeless person to start.

[w-I-z-DO-m]

they sure are worth it in term of diversity, the hideout out of all random events on rdo are the quickest to do, if you play on mouse/keyboard with the 20 extra xp boost for every animal or enemy kill on foot, more kills re always beter plus since you re new, you should always loot every bodies that you can.

also they are worth it coz everyone seem to think money is important but you will quickly get alot more than what you know what to do with, gold, a bit less but still with this month update, hardcore telegram missions, a tough business or skelding contracts can pay up to 1.44 gold if you take your time and wander around during the missions, collector role gives no gold at all, bounty hunter aint too bad if you actually take your time again during the legendary bounties and free roam bounties otherwise all new players seem to always do the same mistake, not wait under 3 min for full gold payout and they end up with 0.08 gold each bounty, moonshine doesnt give gold at all, so my advice from a pro online player, play your own game at your own pace, the first 1k or 2 k youll get is the most fun part of the game, after that its all grinding. pick your fights too, dont be afraid of dying on sight, if it hapen you try to fight the guy and if hes too good you simply parley with them.

also keep in mind you can reset most of the awards that you receive when you reach gold medal for gold and $$

[Banzai]

Hey Fenris, if you're still doing solo online here's another bit of advice. Avoid moonshiner. I've had fun and profit with collector, trader, and bounty hunter but moonshiner is just a painfully unfun slog. I've spent more than i've earned and I have zero interest in doing that role anymore.

I honestly don't get it, it costs 25 gold versus 15 for others, it pays horribly at the start, progress is gated behind ridiculously long story missions with endless waves of agents with powerful longrifles etc. And to top all that off it has the "hey, the wagon hit a bump so your payout is decreased" mechanic during deliveries just to fray your nerves a little more. Should have gone with naturalist for my 4th lol.

[kris.aalst]

Originally posted by Banzai:

I honestly don't get it, it costs 25 gold versus 15 for others [...]

You are of course allowed to have your own opinion on the Moonshiner role but the statement above is incorrect.

My opinion on the role is a bit different. I'm making a lot of money. Maybe it depends on choices, especially the location of your shack and what kind of moonshine you produce, but $50 for the 'raw materials' (plus some herbs or foodstuff for the flavour) allow you to sell a batch for at least $200. That's 4 times your money back. And I've done runs for about $500 so that's 10 times my money back. Most of the dailies for Moonshiner are easy so quick gold and XP. Speaking of XP, because of the (optional) moonshining activities across the whole map, you can level the role quickly and unlock its perks.

For a new player, Trader is the easiest role to start making money. Collector is the easiest role for beginners (no combat skills needed) and it yields the most money BUT the initial dollar investment that's required for the role (shovel and metal detector) seems like a fortune to new players. So start with Trader or Moonshiner to build up your dollar pool. For Bounty Hunter you need decent gear and skills so wait until you're much better equipped for the role. I haven't started Naturalist yet because I hate the role's whole idea, with Whatshername getting angry whenever you kill animals, which is pretty much all the time.

Back to the hideouts then. As you noticed clearing them isn't very lucrative. As mentioned before, one or more of the NPCs may have a collector's item on him but the whole map is literally full of these items (*), so I'd do hideouts only if you feel like a bit of fun having a shootout.

(*) Use https://jeanropke.github.io/RDR2CollectorsMap/ and after learning what a great tool it is, consider making a small donation

[Banzai]

Originally posted by kris.aalst:

Originally posted by Banzai:

I honestly don't get it, it costs 25 gold versus 15 for others [...]

You are of course allowed to have your own opinion on the Moonshiner role but the statement above is incorrect.

As I mentioned, the low rewards are at the beginning and increasing those rewards requires doing the missions. Are you playing solo or in a posse?

[Fenris]

I pretty much ignore the hideouts now, unless I just happen to stumble across one and feel like shooting it up. I've been doing stranger missions, the cash and xp are way higher. And there is a little bit of gold as a reward as well. And oddly enough, looting npcs on stranger missions seems to give better loot than hideouts. Not sure if that is a thing or if RNG has just been nice to me lately. I've been picking up collectibles and items the fence will buy somewhat frequently on stranger missions.

I did pick up the trader role first (even though the meta seems to go for bounty hunter for the gold). For gold I've just been doing stranger missions, dailys, a few treasure maps, and resetting achievements. It's still up in the air for me on whether to go for bounty hunter or collector next. Guess it'll depend on the gold income and if I get bored with the other gold making methods.