Controls, Menus & Dialogues

Controls, Menus and Dialogues
Red Dead Online has several different types of Menus and Dialogues that you will need to use on a regular basis. These can be confusing to new players the first few times they are presented with them and this article is intended to provide an overview of these and explain the various options and their consequences. Of course, in order to do anything, one needs to first understand the basic control setup for RDO.

Controls
You will find that there are a few different options for which actions are mapped to which buttons by pressing Start/Options to open the Start menu and going to Settings > Controls and then changing the layout style. For the purposes of this wiki, the default "Standard" mapping will be used.

There are two main sets of controls, one for when you are on foot and the other when you are mounted on your horse. There is also a third set that is similar to the controls when you are on your horse that applies to when you are on a wagon or in a boat. Below you'll find the default mappings.

On Foot
These apply when you are on foot.

Left Stick ~ Move / Peek (while in cover)

Right Stick ~ Camera

L1 ~ Weapon Wheel (hold) / Pick up weapon (tap) / Draw/holster weapon (tap)

L2 ~ Aim (hold) / Focus on (hold with no weapon equipped)

R1 ~ Take/leave cover (near objects) / Study animal (hold) (when focused/aiming) / Show info (tap) (when focused/aiming)

R2 ~ Fire / Fire from hip (tap when not aiming) / Cock weapon for next shot

L3 ~ Crouch R3 ~ Look Behind (hold) / Dead Eye (when aiming) / Maintain weapon (in weapon wheel)

L3 + R3 ~ Eagle Eye

DPad :

Left ~ Open Left Menu / Open Catalog (hold) / Change shoulder (tap) (when aiming) / Brush horse (when focused on horse)

Right ~ Open Satchel (hold) / Open horse/wagon cargo (when standing next to) / Feed horse (when focused on horse)

Up ~ Whistle (tap/hold) / Point weapon up (to fire into the air) (when aiming)

Down ~ View HUD info / Change mini-map (hold)

Square ~ Jump/Climb/Vault (tap) / Pick up (hold) / Call to animal (when focused/aiming at it) / Dive (while aiming) / Block melee attack (while aiming) / Move to next cover spot (while in cover)

Circle ~ Reload weapon / Melee attack / Stop leading horse (when leading) / Flee horse (when focused on horse)

Triangle ~ Get on/off horse / Interact (hold) / Loot (hold) / Skin (hold) / Grapple (in melee combat) / Lead horse (when focused on horse and next to) / Have horse follow (when focused on horse) / Rest (hold)

X ~ Run (hold) / Sprint (tap)

Big "View" Button/Touch Pad ~ Change camera / Enter Cinematic (hold)

Start/Options ~ Open Start Menu / Open map (hold)

On Horse
Many of the controls are the same when you are on a horse and some actions cannot be performed (melee, cover actions). Here are the changed controls.

R1 ~ Slow down (tap) / Stop (hold) / Back up (hold when stopped) / Move back in formation (double tap)

X ~ Go faster (tap) / Gallop (tap continuously) / Maintain speed/Match speed (hold) / Move forward in formation (double tap)

L3 ~ Calm horse

Circle ~ Kick to either side (when weapon is fully loaded)

Triangle ~ Hitch horse (hold)

Combinations
At times you'll need to press buttons in a specific order to complete certain actions.

Pitch or Move Main Camp
There are two ways to do this, through the Left Menu and from the Weapon Wheel.

Left Menu

Press Left on the DPad and go to "Camp & Properties" and press X. In the sub-menu, select "Camp" and then "Size and Location". Choose the size you want your camp to be (a Small Camp can only support a 4-person Posse) and then select a region for Cripps to pitch it in.

Weapon Wheel

Hold L1 to open the Weapon Wheel and Press R1 once. Using the Left Stick, highlight the bottom middle space and press L2 or R2 to change the item until you get to the icon that looks like a campfire with a spit over it. While holding the Left Stick in the down position (so that the bottom middle space is highlighted it red) release L1 to bring up the camp placement dialog screen.

Pitch Wilderness Camp
After you purchase the Wilderness Camp from Harriet, you'll be able to use it by holding L1 to open the Weapon Wheel and then pressing R1 once. With the Left Stick highlight the bottom middle space and press L2 or R2 to change the item until you get to the icon that looks like an unlit campfire. While holding the Left Stick in the down position, release L1 to try and pitch your Wilderness Camp.

Brush, Feed, Pat, or Lead Your Horse From The Ground
While standing near your horse and facing it, make sure you are not holding a weapon in your hand, hold R2. You'll see that the button options shown in the bottom right corner will change and offer several options. While continuing to hold R2 :


 * Press Left on the DPad to brush your horse
 * Press Right on the DPad to feed your horse
 * Press Square to pat your horse
 * Press Triangle to lead your horse
 * Press Circle to flee your horse

If you are not standing next to your horse and you use L2 to focus on it, a slightly different set of options is shown :


 * Press Triangle to have your horse follow you
 * Press Square to make your horse stay or stop following you
 * Press Circle to Flee your horse

Open the Crafting Dialogue
You can craft certain items at any time through the Crafting dialogue, even when sitting on your horse! Hold L1 to open the Weapon Wheel and press R1 once. With the Left Stick highlight the bottom middle space and press L2 or R2 until you get to the icon that looks like a mortar and pestle. While holding the Left Stick in the down position, release L1 to open the Crafting Dialogue.

Clean a Gun
To clean a gun hold down L1 to open the Weapon Wheel and use the Left Stick to highlight the gun to clean and press R3. This will exit the Weapon Wheel and the camera will change to show a close up of your character holding that weapon. Press Square to clean it. Keep in mind that you have to have Gun Oil in your inventory to be able to clean guns.

Set or Remove a Map Marker
Sometimes you'll want to remember a place on the map later for various reasons. This can be accomplished by setting a Map Marker down. To set a Map Marker, open the Map and move the cursor to the location you want the marker at and press R3 to place it. If your are standing at the spot you want the marker to be, you'll either need to set it as close as possible or you will need to move a little distance away and then set it.

Map Markers are always visible on the mini-map when you are playing and can get in the way. They can also hinder you when you're engaged in PvP as they take precedence over player markers and their red coloring makes it easy to confuse them with actual hostiles. To remove a marker, open the Map and move the cursor over the marker to remove and press R3 again.

Menus
For the purposes of this wiki, there are 3 things that will be referred to as a "menu" (along with any sub-menus contained within). All other screens are considered to be dialogues. :


 * Online Menu ~ Where you select a means of joining a session
 * Start Menu ~ Accessed by pressing Start/Options
 * Left Menu ~ Accessed by tapping Left once on the DPad

The Start and Left Menus are where you will find the various options that can be set according to your preferences.

Start Menu
The Start Menu contains the core game settings like Controls, Display and Camera, along with housing different information screens such as Awards, Progress and the Map.

When you press the Start/Options button you are presented with the following menu and sub-menus :


 * Map
 * Map Index (press Square)
 * Benefits
 * Offers & Rewards
 * Help
 * Getting Started
 * Online Features
 * Combat
 * Player & Horse
 * Roles
 * Activities
 * Progress
 * Club Rewards
 * Roles
 * Rank Unlocks
 * Awards
 * Sharpshooter Awards
 * Combat Awards
 * Hunting Awards
 * Survivalist Awards
 * Crimes Awards
 * Travel Awards
 * Trade Awards
 * General Awards
 * Horse Awards
 * Posse Awards
 * Free Roam Awards
 * Competitive Awards
 * Trader Awards
 * Bounty Hunter Awards
 * Collector Awards
 * Moonshiner Awards
 * Naturalist Awards
 * Story Missions
 * Abilities
 * Player
 * Character
 * Horse (current)
 * Story
 * Online
 * Free Roam
 * Free Roam
 * Camp
 * Posse Up
 * Lead posse name
 * For You
 * Offers
 * Fence
 * Store
 * Benefits
 * Series Playlist
 * Featured Series
 * Nominated Series
 * Shootout Series
 * Takeover Series
 * Elimination Series
 * Race Series
 * Location
 * Ambarino
 * Lemoyne
 * New Hanover
 * New Austin
 * West Elizabeth
 * Social Club
 * Store
 * Settings
 * Controls
 * Display
 * Camera
 * Audio
 * General

Of these, the options that you will use most frequently will be Map, Progress, Abilities, Player, Online and Settings.

Progress
The Progress screen shows you how much progress you have made in different areas of Online. Here you can see your current rank for Club Rewards (if a Pass is currently available), you current rank in each Role, the items you have unlocked by ranking up, the Awards you have earned by completing different in-game challenges and the rank (gold, silver or bronze) achieved for Story Missions.

Club Rewards

This screen is only important when there is an active Outlaw Pass or Club Rewards Pass available and shows what you receive for completing each rank of the Pass.

Roles

This shows the rank you currently hold for a role and what each rank grants. Increasing your current standing for a role unlocks additional equipment, actions and content for that role. You can also see the amount of role XP needed to advance to the next rank. Role XP is earned by participating in role-related activities.

Rank Unlocks

From Rank 5 to Rank 99 you will unlock different items, weapons, clothing, pamphlets, horses and horse tack every time you rank up. This screen displays what you have unlocked so far.

Awards

Probably one of the most overlooked screens in the game, the Awards Screen shows the various challenges that can be completed, sorted into categories. Some Awards can only be completed once, while others can be reset once you have maxed it out - some up to 10 times! Earning or resetting an Award nets you 0.4 Gold per Award. You should try and check these on a regular basis and reset any you have maxed that can be reset. If you are maxed out and continue to do that same action it won't count towards your progress after resetting.

Story Missions

Along with seeing what you got for finishing a Story Mission successfully (gold, silver or bronze), this screen will also allow you to replay any completed mission whenever you so choose.

Abilities
The Abilities screen shows your owned and equipped Ability Cards. You can purchase cards you don't yet own and rank up cards that you do, provided you have the $RDO cash to do so. You can also change the cards you currently have equipped.

Player
There are two options under the Player menu : Player and Horse. These screens will show important stats for your character and your current horse.

Social Club
This displays the Social Club Menu where you can vote for the next match type in Nominated Series and see photos taken with the in-game camera. Photos can also be uploaded to Social Club and can be seen by others, depending on your settings.

Settings
This menu houses the core game Settings. Additional information can be found here.

Left Menu
The Left Menu is accessed by pressing Left on the DPad. Here, you will find several sub-menus that will allow you to quickly access some types of content, see who is online or what other players are currently in your session, form or join a posse, check your daily challenge progress, change out your horses or call in a wagon and set online-specific options.

Opening the Left Menu gives you access to the following options :


 * Players
 * Nearby
 * Friends
 * Crew
 * Recent Players
 * Invites
 * Telegrams
 * Skelding's Contract
 * Call To Arms
 * A New Source of Employment
 * A Tough Business
 * Pinned
 * Log
 * Tasks
 * Notifications
 * Daily Challenges
 * General
 * Bounty Hunter
 * Trader
 * Collector
 * Moonshiner
 * Naturalist
 * Challenge Goals
 * Streak
 * Posse
 * All Posses
 * Posses You Are A Member or Leader Of
 * Posse You Are The Leader Of (not reformed)
 * Reform Posse
 * Posse Members
 * Current Members
 * All Members
 * Posse Versus
 * Team Fighting
 * Infighting
 * Posse Race
 * Hunt The Leader
 * Biggest Fish Contest
 * Bird Shooting Contest
 * Herb Picking Contest
 * Settings
 * Type
 * Privacy
 * Outfit Style
 * Friendly Fire
 * Camp
 * Name
 * Disband Posse
 * Invite To Posse
 * Posse You Are The Leader Of (reformed)
 * All of the Above Except Reform Posse (which disappears) and
 * Stand Down
 * Posse You Are A Member Of (Leader has not reformed)
 * Rejoin Posse (grayed out)
 * Posse Members
 * Current Members
 * All Members
 * Settings
 * Same as for your own Posse and
 * Abandon Posse
 * Posse You Are A Member Of (Leader has reformed)
 * All of the Above
 * Other Posses In Your Current Session
 * Join Posse
 * Posse Members
 * Current Members
 * Camp & Properties
 * Camp
 * Size and Location
 * White Flag
 * Camp Stats
 * Moonshine Shack
 * Choose Shack Location
 * Invite to Moonshine Shack
 * Stables
 * Horses
 * Owned Horses
 * Specialty
 * Race
 * Story Mission
 * Competitive
 * Free Roam
 * Horse Access
 * Cargo Access
 * Allow Leading
 * Dismount
 * Vehicles
 * Owned Vehicles
 * Vehicle Access
 * Dismount
 * Quick Join
 * Hardcore Series
 * Takeover
 * Shootout
 * Featured
 * Elimination
 * Race
 * Nominated
 * Story Mission On-Call
 * Series Playlist On-Call
 * Online Options
 * Respawn
 * Voice Chat
 * Social Matchmaking
 * Emotes
 * Greets
 * Taunts
 * Actions
 * Reactions
 * Walking Style
 * Gun Spinning
 * Playing Style
 * Hostility
 * Change Appearance

Players - This will show you the list of players currently in your session and their ranks. This can also be quickly accessed by pressing Left (on the DPad) twice. The total number of players, including yourself, is show at the bottom right. If the player is a Posse leader, they will have a blue diamond to the left of their name. If there are other Posse Members, they will be shown below the Leader, but Posses and solo players are mixed together and there is no quick way of determining if someone is a member of a Posse or not just by looking at this menu.

Highlighting a player gives you the options of muting that person (if you can hear them) or pressing X for additional options. Here you can Invite them to your Posse (provided you have one set up and there are spaces open), block them, report them, view their Posse (if they are a member of one), view their PSN profile and send them a Friend Request.

While viewing the Player sub-menu, you can press L1 or R1 to change between players currently in your session, your Friends list, your Social Club Crew list and Recent Players. When viewing your Friends, use Left or Right on the DPad to switch between pages.

Invites - This menu will only be accessible if you have an active invite. Invites include Free Roam events, Role events. player bounties, Posse invites, Session invites, Showdown invites, and Moonshine Shack invites. Press X when you receive an invite to view it and X again to accept it.

Telegrams - This opens the Telegrams sub-menu, where you can quickly start Telegram missions, Contracts and Call to Arms. You cannot start any of this type of content if you are a member of another Posse, as only the Posse Leader can start these. Telegram missions can only be completed solo.

Pinned - This shows the items you have pinned. You can pin Awards and Weekly Collection Lists. By pinning the ones that you want to track for completion (in the case of Awards, mainly), this sub-menu allows for bringing up the Awards menu so completed Awards can quickly be reset.

Log - Quite honestly, I have never seen this sub-menu populated with anything. It's real use remains a mystery...

Daily Challenges - This is where you can see what the Daily Challenges are and how many you have completed. When entering the Left Menu, there will be a number (up to 22) on the right. This reflects the remaining number of challenges you can complete for that day.

Posse - This brings up the Posse sub-menu where you can see a list of the Posses you Lead or are a member of (even if that posse is not currently active) as well as any active Posses in your current session.

Highlighting one of your own Posses and pressing X opens a further sub-menu where you can reform the Posse, view the members and access the Posse Settings. When not reformed, you will only be able to change a few of the settings.

Pressing X when highlighting a posse you are a member of will give you the ability to rejoin that posse (if the leader has reformed it), view the other Posse Members and see the current Posse Settings. The Settings sub-menu is where you will find the option to Abandon or permanently leave that Posse, whether it is currently active or not.

Highlighting a Posse that is currently active in your session will show you a quick overview of the posse at the bottom of this menu, which includes the Posse name, Leaders name, number of current members, hostility lever and honor level. If the Posse is set to Open and can be joined, the name will appear in white. If the Posse is Invite Only, there will be a lock icon to the left of the posse name, which will be grayed out.

Camp & Properties - This sub-menu allows you to change where your camp is currently pitched region-wise and what size it is. In order to pitch a large camp, you'll need to have a Persistent Posse formed. The same options are available when using the camp option in the Weapon Wheel.

If you have the Moonshiner Role, you can also change your 'Shine Shack's location here by paying 25 Gold.

Stables - In this sub-menu you'll find your owned horses and vehicles and be able to call them to you when you're out roaming the range. There are also some additional options that can be set.

Under Horses :

Selecting Owned Horses allows you to change your currently active horse. This can be especially useful when some ass hat decides to shoot your steed while you are embroiled in War. Rather than risking being shot while trying to revive your downed horse, just call out a different one using this menu. The injured horse will become available again after a short time if you purchased Horse Insurance. If you didn't, you'll need to pay a small fee or visit a stable to revive it.

The Specialty option allows you to set a default horse for certain situations. If you have a particular horse that you like using when participating in Race Series for example, you would select "Race" and then that horse's name and that will be your default horse any time you enter a Race Series.

Horse Access and Cargo Access are settings that control who can ride your horse or access carcasses stored on your horse. You can choose from Everybody, Posse, Friends and Only You.

The Allow Leading option determines if someone else can lead your horse as they would their own. Turning this on can have value if you happen to be part of a Posse and suddenly have to go AFK while siting on your horse. With this option turned on, one of your Posse Members can lead your horse to safety (and just to try and make sure you don't get shot).

Finally, the Dismount option is for recalling your horse to you if someone else is riding it. Using this option makes your horse dump the rider and return to you.

Under Vehicles :

Selecting Owned Vehicles shows you the vehicles you currently own and allows you to summon one without having to return to a stable.

It is important to note that in order to call out a vehicle, you must first Flee your horse. While unarmed, face your horse and hold R2 to focus on it and press Circle to make it Flee. Once your horse is trotting away, open the Left Menu and go to Stables > Vehicles > Owned Vehicles and press X on the vehicle that you want summoned. The sub-menu will close and after a moment a wagon wheel icon should appear on your mini-map.

Currently, there is a bug when summoning a vehicle that won't produce the icon on your mini-map no matter how long you wait. If this happens to you, pick a direction and start running. No need to change course or head for a particular location, just keep going. Once you have reached the edge of the circle where a wagon can spawn, the icon will appear suddenly and you'll need to run back to it.

The Vehicle Access option works much the same as the Horse Access does. Use this to set who can and cannot access your vehicles.

Dismount is another option that works essentially the same as the option for Horses.

Quick Join - The Quick Join sub-menu allows you to join one of the many PvP modes (Showdown and Race Series). There is only one option that isn't a PvP mode and that is Story Mission On Call. Selecting this will put you into Matchmaking for participating in a story mission with other players. The mission you are matched with can only be one from A Land of Opportunities and will depend on your current Honor level.

Online Options - This sub-menu houses options that are only available for Online.

The Respawn option let's you give up the ghost (suicide) and respawns you in the same vicinity. This is handy when you have been hogtied or lassoed by ass hats or griefers.

The Voice Chat option allows you to set who is able to hear you if you are on mic and who you can hear. Setting this to Everybody means that any player within a certain range can hear anything you say, while setting this option to Friends, Crew or Posse Only provides you a tactical option so that you can call out where the enemy is without alerting them. Setting this option to Nobody means that you cannot hear anyone else, nor can you be heard by them.

Social Matchmaking is the option to have the game look for and merge you into an active session should the player population in your current session become low. By turning this option off, you can preserve a solo session from merging into a populated one IF you have it disabled before you manage to end up in a solo session and IF anyone you are with also has their Social Matchmaking turned off as well. If just one person leaves it on or someone joins you with it on, your solo session will be merged into a populated one within minutes.

The Emotes sub-menu is where you can set up your equipped and favorited emotes for four different categories - Greets, Taunts, Actions and Reactions. The equipped emotes can be accessed from the Emote Wheel. You can select up to four different emotes per category with one of the four favorited.

Walking Style offers several different possible styles for walking as the name suggests. Try each out and find the one you like the best.

The Gun Spinning option allows you to select up to four different learned spins/tricks that you can change between when spinning your guns. You must have the Bounty Hunter Role and have learned a spin to be able to access this option.

Playing Style allows you to set either Offensive or Defensive modes. In Defensive, you cannot be locked onto nor can you lock onto anyone and your player blip appears faded out to other players not in your Posse. Running in Defensive mode can prevent you from being a target for griefers and generally allows you to play in peace without have to keep your head on a constant swivel if Blueberries are encountered. It is important to know that there are ways of glitching oneself so that it only appears that Defensive mode is currently activated, but the person is still able to lock onto other players as if they were not. When glitched like this, it is common that the person who is glitched is unable to be locked onto or killed easily. If you encounter such a player, the best thing to do is to change sessions.

Hostility is not an option that can be set but reflects your current level of Hostility in game. This is also indicated by the color of your player blip as it appears to other players who are not in your Posse. Non-hostile players will have blue blips (hence the name "Blueberry"). When a player is intentionally killing other players, their blip becomes pink. As they continue to kill other non-hostile players or provoke PvP by shooting first, their Hostility level increases and their player blip turns first red and then blood red depending on the current level.

Finally, the Change Appearance option will allow you to return to the character creation screen and you can make changes to your appearance. To save these changes will cost you 10 Gold or $RDO 400.

Friends List in Player Left Sub-Menu
When viewing your Friends list in the Left Menu, you will notice that they are not always in alphabetical order. The friends that are shown at the top of the list starting on the first page are either currently playing RDO or are appearing online but playing another game or doing something else. You can see if they are online and currently playing RDO by highlighting their name in the list and then pressing X. If they are, you will see the "Join Session" and "Invite to Session" options light up. If they are online but not currently playing RDO, the "Invite to Session" will light up, but not the option to Join.

Below the "active friends" portion of this list you'll see the names of the rest of your friends. If someone is playing but not appearing online, you can still see if they are on or not by moving through the pages of your friends and locating their name and pressing X with them highlighted. If they are currently playing but are "hiding" the "Join Session" option will light up after a few seconds. Note that you are only able to join their session and won't be able to invite them.

Getting Your Summoned Wagon to Come Directly to You
Summoning a wagon and knowing where it will appear and how far away it will be is something left up to RNG (Random Number Generation - in essence "chance") unless you know how and where to stand when summoning. To get it to come as closely to you as possible (provided it isn't glitching) you will need to make sure you are setting up the best conditions for that.

First you need to find a crossroads. Any crossroads will do but the best crossroads are those where one of the roads is a "main road" (indicated by a thicker than usual line on the map). Flee your horse and stand at the center of the crossroads and look down with your camera. Then open the Left Menu and go to Stables > Vehicles > Owned Vehicles. Select the wagon to summon and immediately after pressing X to call it out, look down with your camera again.

Continue looking down while watching for the wagon wheel icon to appear. DON'T LOOK UP YET! Wait! Continue to stare at the ground while your wagon comes closer. The icon on your mini-map may move around a bit as it follows the road to your location. Listen for the sound of the wheels on dirt which will get louder the closer it gets.

When you don't hear the sound of the wheels any longer THEN LOOK UP. If all went as it was supposed to, your wagon will be a very short distance away on the road waiting for you.

If you look up before it gets to it's closest stopping point, and especially if you happen to look in the general direction that it is in, it will STOP MOVING and you'll have to go and retrieve it.

Dialogues
If it isn't a Menu, it's a Dialogue!

Dialogues are similar to menus, but are only available when you are interacting with specific content. Dialogues include :


 * Accessing the Butcher Table at Camp
 * Accessing the Wilderness Outfitter by talking to Cripps
 * Buying or Selling things to a Vendor
 * Viewing the items in your Satchel
 * Managing your Horses and Vehicles at the Stable
 * Collecting items from the Lock Box at camp
 * Viewing and accepting a bounty
 * Interacting with Marcel (to produce or run Moonshine)
 * Interacting with Maggie
 * Interacting with Harriet
 * Purchasing or upgrading weapons at the Gunsmith
 * Purchasing clothing
 * Crafting items

There are more dialogues than these, but these are probably the ones that you will interact with the most often.

Most dialogues appear roughly the same, you'll see the vendor, item or your character on the right side of the screen and a black "menu" with various option on the left. This "menu" will have different options depending on what you are currently doing.

Use the DPad or Left Stick to move thru the options. L1 and R1 will change pages. Press X to enter a sub-dialogue when possible (Usually shown with a "+"). Circle exits the dialogue.

When purchasing clothing, pressing Circle will take you back to the catalog. You can view other items in the current category by pressing Square.

Emoting
Using Emotes in RDO can be a great way to communicate with other players without having to speak. The caveat being that you'll need to exercise caution when trying to emote since the combination of buttons you need to press can lead you to accidentally shooting the person instead.

When you want to emote, MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT HOLDING A WEAPON! Hold L1 to open the Weapon Wheel and use the Left Stick to highlight the fist on the right and release L1 to unequip a weapon.

Then, without a weapon in hand, look at the player (or NPC) you want to emote at and hold R2 to focus on them. While continuing to hold R2, press R1 to open the emote menu. You'll see the four favorited emotes (one for each category) is mapped to a button in the lower right-hand corner. Press the corresponding button to use that emote.

To access and use one of the other three emotes you had equipped in a category you need to hold R2 to focus on the person and then hold R1 to open the Emote Wheel. Once opened you can release R1 and R2. With the wheel open you can use the Left Stick to highlight a category and then use L2 and R2 to change the emote. Press the corresponding button to use the emote.