Red Dead Online Spring Update To Add New Playstyle Options, New Story Missions And More

Plenty of new content is coming to Red Dead Online this Spring with a major update which has received its first details today.

The new update will add some new gameplay mechanics to Red Dead Online, such as the Hostility System, new playstyle options and more. New story missions will also be coming as well as new Free Roam events, new weapons and more.

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The Hostility System

The Hostility system builds upon the anti-griefing measures added in February with smarter and responsive features that keep players immersed in the world through confrontations and PvP action. For example, players who have damage inflicted on them by attackers will be able to defend themselves without incurring Bounties or Hostility increases. Previously, the attacker and target would be marked as an enemy – now the attacker who inflicts damage will be immediately marked as an enemy to the attacked player; players will not accumulate Hostility increases for killing other players who are marked as an enemy.

 Hostility increases will not apply within structured events such as Free Roam Events, Free Roam Missions, Showdowns and Races. Engaging in player vs player behaviors related to Free Roam missions will not incur Hostility increases, however attacking other players not engaged in the activity will cause your Hostility level to rise. 

 The Hostility System has many more functions and will help balance experiences for all play styles.

 Offensive and Defensive Playing Style Options

Some players just want to immerse themselves in the world, riding, hunting and fishing in peace. We want to offer these options while allowing players to coexist comfortably alongside other players in the world. The Offensive Playing Style is much like the current Free Roam play as we know it while the Defensive Playing Style is a more evolved version of the Passive Mode concept, designed for Red Dead Online’s more grounded experience – giving players more flexibility in how they interact with the world and at the same time de-emphasizing hostile contact with other players.

Choosing the Defensive option introduces balances that compliment a less confrontational approach: Defensive players cannot be lassoed by rival players – although if a Defensive player lassos another player, they’ll be removed from Defensive play and incur a significant Hostility level increase. Defensive players will trade the ability to lock on to other players for the benefit that other players will not be able to lock on to Defensive players.

 While Defensive players can target and be targeted in free aim, they cannot deliver or receive critical hits – if a Defensive player is attacked with a headshot, they’ll survive and be able to defend themselves via the Hostility system or escape all while remaining Defensive.  There are several other adjustments that come with the Defensive Playing Style, all of which are built to work seamlessly with systems like Hostility and Bounties to keep all players rooted in the world.

Also coming with the update are improvements to the character creator, restructured daily challenges and more.

Red Dead Online is now available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as the Red Dead Redemption 2 online multiplayer mode.