Red Dead Redemption 2 Wanted Level Guide: How to Lower & Raise Your Wanted Level

How to Lower and Raise Wanted Level in Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most hotly anticipated games of 2018. It serves as the prequel to the original game which released for PS3 and Xbox 360, and players will take control of Arthur Morgan, a trusted member of the Dutch Van Der Linde gang. As you progress through the story and explore the world, you’ll inevitably have to shoot some people and commit a few crimes. When you do this, you’ll become wanted by the law, and that’s not a good thing. Here’s what you need to know about managing your wanted level in Red Dead Redemption 2.

How to Raise Wanted Level

Now, this isn’t GTA. Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn’t actually have a wanted level or star system like we’ve seen in the GTA games. Instead, the game makes use of a bounty system which works pretty similarly to what GTA does.

Whenever you commit a crime in Red Dead Redemption 2, you run the risk of increasing your wanted level and getting a bounty on your head. This includes stealing, beating up NPCs, killing them, robbing stores or establishments, or robbing trains. Basically, doing anything illegal will give you a bounty.

However, your bounty can also go up depending on how serious your crime is. For instance, unarmed assault or stealing might give you a $10 or $15 bounty in a particular area. If you continue committing crimes, and start doing more serious stuff like murder and robbery, that bounty will go up. When this happens, you’re more likely to run into bounty hunters in the game who will stop at nothing to bring you in.

In short, if you want to raise your wanted level, just keep committing crimes in a particular area. The more serious the crime, the better.

How to Lower Wanted Level

If you want to lower your wanted level, on the other hand, we’re sorry to say that isn’t possible. If your bounty is at $300, for instance, there’s no way to bring it down to a lower amount. You’ll only be able to raise it, or get rid of it entirely.

To get rid of your bounty, the best thing to do is just to head to a post office, which can be found in pretty much every town in the game, and even in between major locations. Just head over there, interact with the postman, and choose the option to pay off your bounty.

This will erase your wanted level completely, and you won’t have to worry about bounty hunters coming after you. Do note that if you have bounties in different areas of the map, you’ll need to pay them all off if you want to be completely free.

If you don’t have the money to pay, you can also surrender whenever the bounty hunters come for you. When they converge on your location, get off your horse and make sure your weapons are holstered.

Press and hold the L2 button (or LT if you’re on Xbox One) to focus on the hunters, then push the appropriate button to surrender to them.

You’ll have to do some jail time, but at least you won’t have to pay.

How to Avoid Law Enforcement

The nice thing about the bounty system in Red Dead Redemption 2 is that you’ll always have a small window of opportunity to evade it entirely. Whenever you need to commit a crime, try to do it when there are no NPCs nearby. After all, if there are no witnesses, the lawmen won’t know it was you who did the deed.

If there are witnesses nearby who saw you committing the crime, you’ll have to kill them to make sure they don’t talk. And if an NPC happens to pass by and see the aftermath of your crime, they’ll report it, and the lawmen will come over.

At this point, there will be a red area on your mini-map indicating where the lawmen are searching and investigating. Get out of this area immediately and keep an eye on the Wanted bar in the top right corner of the screen. Once the bar has depleted completely, you’re in the clear, and you won’t have to worry about the bounty.

And that’s all you need to know about how to manage your wanted level in Red Dead Redemption 2. Be sure to check our Red Dead Redemption 2 guide wiki or search for Twinfinite for more information on the game.