Dueling

Dueling is a gameplay element in all three installments of the Red Dead series. A staple of Western stories, duels involve opponents facing each other over a short distance and attempting to draw their weapon and shoot their opponent before their opponent can do the same to them.

Red Dead Revolver[]

In Red Dead Revolver, dueling is a major gameplay element featured in ten of the twenty-seven story missions. In these missions, Red Harlow must duel from one to three opponents at a time. In some cases, the duel occurs as a single objective within the mission, while in other cases the duel represents the boss battle that ends the mission.

Steps[]

A dueling tutorial is presented to the player during the mission "Ugly Streetfight". Dueling consists of four stages: the grab, the draw, acquiring locks, and firing.

In the grab, the player moves the right analog stick down to cause the character's hand to grasp the weapon. Prior to initiating the grab, the character's hand moves up and down. The quickest grab occurs when the character's hand is closest to the weapon.

In the draw, the player moves the right analog stick back up to remove the weapon from its holster after the grab has been completed. The speed of movement is critical - the draw should be as quick as possible to beat the opponent to the targeting phase, but drawing too quickly can cause the player to overshoot the target.

To acquire locks, the right analog stick is used to move the crosshairs over the opponent's body. During this phase, the crosshairs narrow and cycle colors between yellow (poor shot), dark red (hit), and bright red (critical hit). The right trigger is used to mark shots. Marking shots while the crosshairs are bright red will deal the most damage to the opponent, therefore requiring the fewest shots to drop them. Shots to the head deal the most damage. Multiple quickly-acquired critical hits are required for the toughest opponents in the later stages of the game. Up to six shots can be marked.

Once six shots have been marked or the slow motion targeting phase times out, shots are fired. The player can manually start the firing phase early by clicking on the right analog stick. If the player has caused sufficient damage with sufficient speed, the opponent(s) will be killed. If one or more opponents are not killed, Red will be hit and fall to the ground. If his wounds aren't fatal, he will shortly stand back up and have a chance to finish off his opponent(s) with normal shooting.

Battle Royale[]

Main article: Battle Royale

The Battle Royale is an annual dueling competition in Brimstone that occurs towards the end of the campaign in Red Dead Revolver. It spans two missions: "Battle Royale" and "Battle Finale".

Showdown Mode[]

Main article: Showdown Mode

In Showdown Mode, the multiplayer mode of Red Dead Revolver, the "High Noon" game option sets up a last-player-standing dueling contest between two to four players.

Red Dead Redemption[]

In Red Dead Redemption, dueling occurs in several story missions and Stranger side missions as well as in random encounters or when caught cheating at Poker.

Marston may be randomly challenged to duels by either outlaws or vigilantes, depending on the player's current honor, while passing through a settlement. Marston will also be challenged to a duel if caught cheating while playing Poker. Occasionally, the player may also be challenged to a duel if they knock over an NPC while on horseback.

One-on-one dueling does not occur as an official activity in multiplayer. The Standoff that occurs in many multiplayer game modes is a similar concept, but with more duelers, however.

Steps[]

After accepting a duel walk into the marker to start it, press the Left Trigger (Xbox 360), L2 button (PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4), ZL button (Nintendo Switch) or right click (PC) to draw Marston's sidearm when the "draw" prompt appears on screen. A player may choose to draw anytime either before or after the "draw" prompt. If the player draws early, the camera will be zoomed out farther from the target, making it harder to aim correctly. If the player waits and draws after the "draw" prompt, the camera will be closer to your opponent, making it easier to mark them in vital zones.

Success in a duel means filling your "duel meter" faster than your opponent does his. Once Marston draws his weapon, the player must "paint" the target with a Dead-Eye type expanding crosshair reticle. The reticle will repeatedly grow and turn red, then shrink and turn white. Pressing the Right Trigger (Xbox 360), R2 button (PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4), ZR button (Nintendo Switch) or left click (PC) when the reticle is red will fill a minuscule portion of the meter, while marking a shot when the cross-hair is white will fill a larger portion of the meter. Shots to the chest and head will fill the meter quickly, while shots to the stomach or legs will fill less of the meter. Keep in mind that the player's meter doesn't need to be completely filled to win the duel, it only has to be larger than your opponent's. After the "draw" prompt both you a your opponent will have some time to paint your targets, once the time expires if your "duel meter" is larger than your opponent's all of the marks that you painted on them will be fired automatically, if your opponent's meter is larger than yours they will most likely kill you in one shot.

You may also win a duel by disarming your opponent. To disarm an opponent, the player must mark the NPC's hand or gun when the reticle is white and shrunken. After the mark is placed correctly, the player's meter will fill by a large amount and your shot will be fired automatically, most likely winning the duel with only one shot.

Killing an opponent generates Fame, while disarming an opponent will generate both Honor and Fame. If a weapon is successfully shot out of an opponent's hand they will drop it on the floor and hold their hand in pain, you can pick up the ammunition later. They can still be killed or hogtied with the lasso (the player will receive no bonus for doing this) after the duel, but if not dealt with on the spot the loser will often run away. Most opponents encountered throughout the course of the Main storyline and Stranger's side missions cannot be disarmed and must be killed. However, while it is possible to achieve this feat, usually enemies will often produce another weapon such as a backup sidearm and continue to try and kill the player.

Refusal[]

Marston can choose to not accept a duel by simply walking away, but if the player accepts the duel and then walks away or shoots the challenger instead of walking to the marker honor may be lost, killing the challenger at this time could also result in a bounty. However, if the player battles out the challenger with their fists, the duel will be prevented and the player can walk away with no honor penalty.

As with other Stranger tasks, there is no penalty to honor if a player chooses to ignore a random challenge entirely.

Red Dead Redemption 2[]

In Red Dead Redemption 2, dueling is uncommon, although it does appear in some missions - most notably the "The Noblest of Men, and a Woman" mission strand, where the player participates in four different duels against legendary gunslingers Emmet Granger, Flaco Hernández, Billy Midnight, and Jim "Boy" Calloway.

In the mission "We Loved Once and True III", Arthur must "duel" and disarm Jamie Gillis to stop him from killing himself. The player must shoot him in the hand or his gun, or else Jamie will die and the mission will fail.

In free-roam, the player can only be challenged to a duel in Valentine and Van Horn Trading Post. In both places, two men can be seen entering a standoff, and the winner will challenge anyone else to duel him. At this point, the player may accept their challenge, and initiate a duel with them.

Additionally, in Valentine, the player may be challenged to a duel by a drunkard, if they bump into him when entering Smithfield's Saloon. This time, however, the drunkard will pass out as soon as the standoff begins, and no duel will be fought.

At the Rhodes Saloon, the player might encounter a man named Willy Curlls, who is bragging about their quick draw and the player can challenge him to prove it. If the player wins the duel by disarming, then his "friend" will thank the player for finally shutting the braggart up.

During the second event at the Central Union Railroad Camp, Arthur has to fight a duel against Ferdinand Newman, a man commissioned by Leviticus Cornwall to occupy a piece of land in order to stop the construction of a rail connection. Upon winning the duel, the player is required to collect Newman's property deed and give it to the railroad foreman, Percy Whitsickle, so the construction can continue.

The player is also required to enter a duel with Joshua Brown during his bounty mission. However, due to Brown being wanted alive, the player must disarm him or shoot him in the leg to prevent a mission failure.

Steps[]

When the duel begins, lightly press RT/R2 (or press and hold RB/R1 if triggers are flipped) or click and hold Left Mouse to charge the duel meter. When it is full, the player can take their shot. The player can also "cheat" to win duels. In order to do this, partially charge the duel meter and then take the shot manually. This method is faster and the player will be more likely to win the duel. However, unless it’s in the side mission "The Noblest of Men, and a Woman", the player will lose Honor for doing this.

You can also win duels via disarming your opponent. In order to do this, aim for the opponent's gun or hand, and take the shot. Doing this will reward the player with Honor. Furthermore, disarming opponents in the mission "The Noblest of Men, and a Woman" will lead to different results - if Emmet Granger is disarmed, he will attack the player with a knife; if Billy Midnight is disarmed, he will laugh and eventually commit suicide; if Flaco Hernández is disarmed, he will take out a Sawed-off Shotgun and begin shooting at the player. It is impossible to disarm Jim "Boy" Calloway. Conversely, in the duels against Jamie Gillis and Joshua Brown, the player must disarm them. Failing to do so will cause the respective missions to fail.

Opponents in duels will generally die from a single shot (as long as it’s in a fatal area, such as the head or torso), regardless of what weapon is used. The only opponent who may not die from a single shot is Flaco Hernández. During the duel with him, it is advised to either aim for the head or, preferably, shoot twice. If the player does wish to shoot more than once, they should press the "shoot" button multiple times. The number of shots the player can fire depends on the ammo capacity of the weapon they are using.

Duels may also vary slightly in difficulty. Opponents from the mission "The Noblest of Men, and a Woman" will be slightly faster than opponents in free-roam, with Jim "Boy" Calloway being the fastest opponent in the game.

Refusal[]

In free-roam only, the player may also refuse duels. Doing so will reward them with Honor.

Red Dead Online[]

In Red Dead Online, dueling is not a standalone activity as such, although two players can duel each other in a relatively similar fashion to duels in Redemption and Redemption 2's single player modes, by standing a short distance away from each other and drawing once a third player fires their gun in the air. Fanning the hammer is the most common method for dueling.

Also, a random encounter, in which two non-player characters duel, can occur in Valentine, Rhodes and Annesburg.

Trivia[]

General

Even if the player is using the invincible cheat, they can get killed during a duel.
Red Dead Revolver is the only game where the player character will not fan the hammer in a duel, instead rapidly firing the gun like normally.

Red Dead Revolver

If Red is equipped with Twin Revolvers during a duel, he will shoot with one, but re-holster both of them.

Red Dead Redemption

John and Jack Marston will still fan the rear of their selected sidearm if equipped with the Volcanic Pistol or semi-automatics, such as the High Power Pistol, Semi-automatic Pistol or the Mauser Pistol, which is a technique unnecessary on semi-automatic firearms because the action of the slide re-cocks the hammer each time the weapon is fired; in fact, trying to do so would result in the weapon's slide smashing the user's hand. Fanning the hammer is only useful on single action weapons because the hammer must be cocked every time, so slapping the hand against the hammer quickly is much faster than using the thumb. It could theoretically be done with a double-action revolver as long as it is not double-action-only, but would provide little advantage.
If the player has a wide enough camera view by drawing earlier, they can actually mark onlookers in the crowd and wound or kill them. After the duel, no bounty will be incurred for wounding or killing civilians in the crowd. However, when marking people in the crowd, it will not fill up Marston's meter, essentially making them wasted shots.
Even if an NPC is killed in a Duel, they will continue to respawn for future duels and minigames.
Killing a shopkeeper (such as Herbert Moon) in a duel caused by cheating in poker will not cause their shop to be unavailable for five days.
Though very rare, it is possible for NPCs to be killed by other things besides John during duels such as being attacked by predators, or being run over by carriages, or people on horseback. Similarly, it is possible (though again rare) for other random encounters to interrupt duels, and have those be the things that kill the opponent.
After killing a person in a duel, sometimes the same exact person can still be found alive; in some cases, they may even stare at their own corpse. This happens with characters like Herbert Moon.
Trying to disarm the opponent in any storyline duels will not fill up the player's bar, resulting in the opponent winning.
While the player is wandering in the street, sometimes duelists will be practicing their gun spinning skills in the distance, as the player gets closer they will stop to start the dueling challenge, every single one of them having their own unique dialogues.
Sometimes at the start of a duel, the player's horse can wander in between the combatants, causing the player to only be able to aim at his own horse. The player will only be able to see their opponent's lower right leg and will not be able to fill the meter enough, and lose the duel. To avoid this, simply make sure you dismount the horse before going to accept a duel.
Normally, a crawling NPC will eventually die, but it is possible to make an opponent crawl and survive by shooting both his legs and his weapon during a duel; this still counts as sparing the challenger.
It is possible for the player to duel the target from a bounty mission that has not been completed.
When getting ready to shoot, the player is able to push down on the right-stick (X360), (PS3), to move Marston's hand closer to the holster making for a faster draw.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Often, shooting the opponent in the leg will have the same effect as disarming them.
All the opponents from the mission "The Noblest of Men, and a Woman" have a unique dueling style: Granger uses a throwing knife instead of a gun, Midnight kneels down with one knee as he fires to make himself a smaller target, Hernández dives to one side as he fires, and Calloway tries to blind the player with his belt buckle as he leans back to save drawing time.
Dueling in first person is much easier, especially against Gunslingers like Billy Midnight and Jim "Boy" Calloway, who have quicker draws.
The player can also quick draw on horseback, but is only allowed to aim and fire normally instead of using the traditional fanning method.