Red Dead Online gets massive role-playing update next week

As per usual with Rockstar Games, the open-world developer has waited until just about the last possible minute to release Red Dead Online’s summer update. After months of teasing, Rockstar will drop the highly-anticipated role-playing update next week on Tuesday, September 10th.

Starting next week, Red Dead Online players can expect a lot of new content and improvements with the new update. The biggest new feature allows players to pick roles that dictate jobs to progress through. Rockstar has noted that these are the first of three, potentially meaning more will come later.

The first three roles include a Collector, Trader, and a Bounty Hunter. Each role will have its own unique form of progression and allow you to earn gold and cash. With each role, you’ll gain unique weapons, clothing, items, and abilities that will both help you with your tasks and in general gameplay.

As a Bounty Hunter in Red Dead Online, you’ll be taking on the most lethal and potentially dangerous role of the lot. Bounty hunters will have the opportunity to purchase a bounty hunting license for 15 gold bars (or if you link your Twitch Prime account by September 8th, you can get it for free) and hunt targets for the law.

You’ll encounter a wide range of opposing gunslingers from lone outlaws to heavily fortified gang members. You can go alone or recruit some posse members who will evenly split the reward when you claim the bounty. As always, the law will reward you far more handsomely for bringing in targets in one piece.

Once you reach rank 12 in the bounty hunter progression tree, you can start claiming bounties of $20 or more on the less friendly players in your session. An event will start and all bounty hunters will begin hunting said player with a time limit. The bounty has a set amount of time to escape but if captured and brought to jail, they’ll “serve time” and the hunters will be rewarded.

As you become a more respected bounty hunter, you’ll gain the ability to do cool tricks and spins with your revolvers, get bolas to wrap around your targets’ legs, and even get a special wagon for transporting your bounties.

As a Trader, you can open a trading post from your camp with your pal Cripps. Xbox One players will have to drop 15 Gold Bars to begin this role but PS4 players can start it for free.

This more or less sounds mechanically similar to the GTA Online businesses where you stock your business, resupply it, and sell goods. As your business grows in Red Dead Online, you will become a target to competitors who can raid you but you can purchase a dog to help guard your camp. The dog is available to everyone but has special advantages for higher-ranked traders.

Finally, players can become treasure hunters via the Collector role. To begin, purchase a Collector’s Bag for 15 gold bars or collect all 54 of the recently added hidden playing cards in GTA Online to unlock it for free.

With the help of a mysterious traveling saleswoman named Madam Nazar, you’ll go and dig up buried treasure, find discarded tarot cards, and many other valuable items hidden in the Wild West.

As a Collector, you can get a metal detector, have increased carrying capacity, and even get your horse to pluck and hand herbs and plants to you from the ground while mounted.

Rockstar has also promised new improvements to Red Dead Online with changes to player mobility, combat, the economy, and more. New challenges, ability cards, and the ability to change your character’s appearance without resetting any stats.