Published , by Josh Hawkins
Published , by Josh Hawkins
Gold is a premium currency in Red Dead Online, and one that players will want to learn how to acquire quite early on. Since Gold is needed to purchase access to the various Frontier Pursuits in the online mode, knowing how to get Gold fast is going to be very important. That’s why we’ve put together this guide, which will take the experience we’ve gained from hundreds of hours of playtime and outline exactly what you need to do to get Gold quickly in Red Dead Online.
Despite being a premium currency in Red Dead Online, getting more Gold quickly isn’t really that difficult. However, it will require you to maximize your time in-game to ensure you have enough Gold for all your purchases. We’ve broken down every option you have for earning Gold below, so let’s take a look.
If you’re looking to get your hands on Gold, then one of the best ways to do so at the start of your Red Dead Online career, is to play through the story missions. Each of these missions will reward you quite nicely with in-game cash and some Gold, which will help you build up your wallet over time. Don’t expect to receive the grandest rewards possible, but it is a nice buffer to help you save up your first 15 Gold and unlock one of the Frontier Pursuits available to you.
There are several Story Missions to undertake, including two branching paths for Dishonorable and Honorable players. Make sure to complete them all for the most Gold and Cash payout.
Another optional way for you to earn some Gold early on is to complete the various Stranger Missions around the world in Red Dead Online. These can be found at most of the Post Offices and at several homesteads and locations throughout the map. Look around for the icon that looks like a person waving and then head to that area and talk to the person nearby to start up a mission. These missions reward you with a small amount of Gold and Cash, which allows you to farm up money during other activities.
As one of the primary Frontier Pursuits available to players, Bounty Hunting is a very profitable, though grindy, activity. To become a Bounty Hunter, you’ll need to purchase a Bounty Hunter’s License for 15 Gold. Unfortunately, the old adage of “spend money to make money” is very true in Red Dead Online, so go ahead and grind up Story Missions and Stranger Missions to save up enough Gold for your license.
Once you have your Bounty Hunter’s License, start grinding out Bounties. These can be picked up from any Bounty Board throughout the map, so head to the nearest town or train station and grab the bounty you want. You’ll also find Legendary Bounties available, which are more difficult Bounties that scale as you complete them more and more. These revolve through a set list each week, so try to complete each Legendary Bounty up to 5 Stars (the maximum difficulty) for the most Gold, Cash, and Experience.
While Bounty Hunter can be a bit grindy, it is by far one of the best ways to keep a steady flow of Gold coming in, especially if you play on a daily basis.
Even if you don’t have a lot of time to play each day, it’s highly recommended that players complete at least one Daily Challenge each time they reset. This is because of the Daily Challenge Streak, which multiplies the amount of Gold you earn for each Daily Challenge as you grow your streak. You start earning bonuses at a 7-day streak and can continue to earn additional amounts of Gold for each completed challenge up to a 28-day streak.
Most of the time these challenges have at least one task that is very simple to complete, so try to keep a streak going and then knock out a few Daily Challenges each day.
Perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of Red Dead Online, is the Treasure Map system. For those would-be explorers out there, Treasure Maps offer a good reason to explore the world and see more of the map than you might usually. There are a set number of Treasure Maps, many of which we’ve outlined the possible locations of in some of our other guides. For example, our guide on the Dakota River Bend treasure locations will pinpoint exactly where to go to find the chest and your reward.
The nice thing about Treasure Maps, is you’ll often find Strangers out in the world that you can purchase or even steal them from. They also have a tendency to spawn stuck to trees with a knife or other sharp weapon, and you earn them from gaining levels as well. If you want to make a good bunch of Gold pretty quickly, then Treasure Maps are one of the best ways. We’ve seen them reward anywhere from .25 Gold up to 2 or more Gold, just for opening the chest.
Finally, if you don’t feel up to grinding for your Gold, you can always purchase it outright through your chosen platform’s online store. Simply choose the Purchase Gold option from the menu, and then you can purchase anywhere from 25 Gold to 350 Gold. The only kicker here is you’ll need to purchase the Gold with your real-world money, which can become quite expensive. We’ve outlined the available packages below, so take a look.
Honestly, if you want to really maximize the amount of Gold you’re earning while playing Red Dead Online, just make the most of the activities we’ve mentioned above. You can usually break things up pretty well throughout your playtime to keep the experience from going stale. Personally, we like to kick things off with some Bounties, before moving on to some Stranger Missions to break up the monotony of just capturing targets.
Now that you know how to get Gold fast in Red Dead Online, you can return to our Red Dead Redemption 2 guide for even more in-depth knowledge and information.