Map Navigation



The world of Red Dead Online features a huge map with varying terrain and climate that is nothing short of beautiful. Even though there are Fast Travel posts scattered across the map you'll still find that you'll still be riding your horse as your main means of transportation. You will also quickly realize that there are two main strategies when it comes to crossing larger stretches of countryside: You can follow the road (or path) OR you can cut your own path to your destination.

Quickest Way of Getting From Point A to Point B
You may think that following a road would be the quickest or safest way to get somewhere but that is not entirely correct. Roads in Red Dead Online are fairly well travelled by players and NPCs alike and you never know when you might be coming around a corner at a high rate of speed just as an NPC is approaching from the opposite direction. You won't see them until it's far too late (if you even see then at all) and your horse will crash into the NPC sending you flying ass over tea kettle into a tree or off a cliff. You could use the Cinematic camera by setting a waypoint and start following it while on a road and then holding down the touch pad button to enter it, but this doesn't prevent you from still running into an NPC or being shot by some random asshat.

That said, deciding to cut across a large hill or through a forest can be just as perilous, if you are not familiar with the terrain. There are many locations in the world that are only accessible by a few paths. Taking a short cut in the wrong location could wind up with you stuck on the side of a cliff or at the base of one with your only options being you backtracking to where you can climb up or down (as the case may be) or take the express elevator to the bottom. If you are already at the bottom and need to go up you are probably going to be shit out of luck.

The only real solution to this problem is experience and experimentation. As the number of hours in game grows, so should your general knowledge of the terrain and you'll want to experiment with alternate routes to a given destination. You'll be able to spot potential viable shortcut locations after a while and once you see one, it's just a matter of trying it out. Be sure to try it both coming and going to see if it can be used for either as this can save you from an ill-timed crash or allow you to cut out a good swath of distance that you need to cover. When testing potential shortcuts, it is not recommended to do so when you are on a mission!

Known Shortcuts
These are a few shortcuts that are fairly easy to remember.

Great Plains
This is particularly effective when on a delivery mission for the Trader role. You can easily cut across the great plains by heading due south and having someone ride ahead to call out where any rocks or abrupt edges are.

Bard's Crossing
Another shortcut for using when on a delivery. If you start out in the Heartlands and the drop off is somewhere like Blackwater, Thieves Landing or beyond, you can save a huge amount of time by going over the bridge at Bard's Crossing. This is not recommended for solo players as there is a chance that you'll encounter a train coming the opposite way. Instead, have a posse member ride at full speed ahead of you all the way to Riggs Station to look for any trains coming. They should stop a train by killing the driver if one is encountered on the far side of the bridge.

The Heartlands
The Heartlands features large rolling hills with some abrupt drop offs and very few trees. Provided you learn the few spots to avoid or use caution at, you can save a lot of time by just cutting straight across.

Learning to Navigate Well
Learning to navigate well takes time.

The best way to learn where you can or can't take the cross country route or what directions lead to an untimely doom, you just need to first take some chances. If you think there might be a shorter way, TRY IT! Pay close attention to your results. If you were successful in finding a shortcut. Go back to the same area immediately and try to find it again. This is especially true if the shortcut allows you to traverse between two areas that are otherwise inaccessible unless you take the long way around. These are the most valuable of shortcuts and are worthy of learning and remembering.

Once you have found a got shortcut, you then need to memorize it. Approach it from different angles and try looking for landmark clues. A broken fence, two trees growing closely together, one lonely cactus jutting off the lip if a hill. Make sure you can locate your shortcut from any direction and at any time of night or day.

If your shortcut allows you to traverse terrain that you would normally have to travel a long way to reach otherwise (between two vastly different elevations, for example), you'll also want to look for a reverse shortcut that will allow you to go in the opposite direction, if one exists.

Tricks for Navigation
There are a few tricks that can be used to navigate otherwise impassible terrain. These take some practice to be able to execute quickly, so using them when you are under pressure from a mission timer is not advised.

The Puke Trick
Eating certain plants, such as Common Bullrush, will cause your character to puke. This can be used to allow you to descend to a lower elevation safely, although it has to be timed very precisely. To see this in action, go to a location on the map where you are on top of a steep cliff or drop-off, such as Manteca Falls or Monto's Rest. Position yourself at the extreme edge of the cliff. You need to be as close as possible or this will not work. While facing the drop off, open your satchel and go to the Ingredients tab and eat 1 Common Bullrush. Once you eat it, your character will begin to puke within a few seconds. You need to move towards the cliff edge as soon as this animation starts.. If timed correctly, you will begin to puke just as you step off the edge and then you'll fall without taking any damage.

The Horse Feeding Trick
In some situations where you want to climb an otherwise impassible slope, you can try this trick to try and climb it successfully. While riding your horse, start climbing the slope. Just before the point where you start to slide back down, you need to quickly feed your horse while at the same time continuing to walk up the slope. If timed correctly, you'll be able to walk up the incline while the animation of feeding your horse is playing.

Autopilot
You can autopilot to traverse long distances by setting a waypoint where you want to end up and then start riding towards it while making sure that you are on a road. While you are in motion, press and hold the big "View" button to enter Cinematic and the game will do the rest. You can change speeds by tapping X to speed up or R1 to slow down. You can also feed your horse or yourself while in Cinematic, but drawing your weapon will exit Cinematic Mode immediately. You need to be aware that just because you are in Cinematic you are not immune to running into NPCs or having them run into you. As always, being killed by another player is another worry.