In Red Dead Redemption 2 it can be hard to come up with cash for camp upgrades, purchasing weapons, provisions, and cosmetic items. During the hard times for Dutch and the gang what can Arthur do to bring in more cash?
While I know that hunting for gold bars is a lucrative activity, but once the treasures are found it will be difficult to find anything else as valuable. Alternatively, activities like hunting or collecting herbs are both bountiful and repeatable, but neither is excessively profitable. Profits from hunting seems to cap out at around $10 per trip to the butcher – hardly enough to pay off the bounty I'll have accrued along the way.
I'm in need of money. What work – honest or dishonest – can I do to get some cash?
Best Answer
It appears that there are not too many activities that can net a large profit. Holding up stores is a profitable albeit risky method of earning cash. For a larger payout I feel the best way to earn extra money is to complete random encounters and looting gang camps.
In Lemoyne, for instance, during a random encounter Arthur can steal a cart loaded with dynamite from the Lemonye Raiders and sell it to a wagon fence for a hefty profit. Other encounters have delayed payouts such as healing a man bitten by a venomous snake who will pay for anything purchased from Valentine's gun store. I encountered a different stranger in the same predicament near Rhode, and later a third near Annesburg. After saving them they each allowed me to make a purchase from the general store and guns store, respectively, on their tab. While not all of these encounters are repeatable most of them seem to be, and they often pay well.
Additionally, following trails of smoke may lead to a gang camp. There will be between five and ten enemies at a campfire encircled by a wagon and some tents. Killing these opposing gangs and looting their corpses often provides Arthur with $50 worth of supplies that can be sold to a fence. Each of the camps appears to respawn in about a week's time. The only concern is that none of the camps have a guarantee to appear so you may ride towards smoke only to have it be a single stranger with nothing of value.
While there are not a lot of repeatable activities that pay well, there are other activities that have enough encounters to sustain Arthur's appetite for cash. There are 16 legendary animals that pay between $20 and $60 per kill, in addition to normal hunting completed on the trip. There are 20 stores which have extra mechanics involved with the robbery. For instance, the general store in Strawberry has a secret moonshine operation which will reward Arthur with an extra $50 if the robbery goes smoothly - a nice bonus. It is possible to run out of legendary animals to hunt and side-hustle business to rob there are enough that I feel I can satisfy Arthur's need for money before the list runs out.