Despite its current beta format, there’s a lot you can do in Red Dead Online. If you want, there are dedicated playlists for competitive modes like deathmatches or races. You can also participate in free roam pursuits like fishing and hunting. If, however, you’re looking for a more structured non-competitive experience, missions are where it’s at. In this guide we’ll explain the different Red Dead Online mission types and how you can start them.
How to start Red Dead Online missions
Red Dead Online isn’t as structured as Red Dead Redemption 2’s single-player mode, but there’s still a story experience present. You experience part of this story experience as part of the online component’s opening tutorial. Beyond that, you can trigger additional story missions by traveling to the large yellow icons on your map.
Story missions require at least two players to start, but if you’re alone you can matchmake with other online players. Even though they’re set in the “open world,” story missions are also hosted in their own private instances. This means that the only players you’ll see during these missions are your fellow teammates.
Stranger Missions
Looking at the Red Dead Online free roam map, you’ll notice a lot of orange circular symbols. These symbols look like a small person waving, which makes sense considering they’re the online mode’s version of stranger missions. Each symbol has an associated NPC who, when approached, will offer you a brief mission. As we noted in our previous coverage, some of these missions are even offered by familiar Red Dead Redemption characters.
The key difference between Red Dead Online story missions and stranger missions is where they are set. While story missions generate their own private instance, such is not the case for stranger missions. You must complete stranger missions out in a free roam lobby which, unfortunately, means other players can interfere. Thankfully, most stranger missions also don’t take very long to finish.
For more on Red Dead Online, be sure to read our guide on how to find treasure maps.