Red Dead Redemption 2 How to Rob Banks and Stores

Learning the fundamentals of robbing banks and stores in Red Dead Redemption 2 can open up a new source of revenue for you. You’ll encounter some of these activities through the story of RDR2, but you’ll likely want to figure out how to do it on your own. Below we’ve got everything you need to know about how to rob stores and banks in Red Dead Redemption 2.

How to Rob Banks in Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 Rob a Bank

It wouldn’t be the wild west if there weren’t bank robberies. However, you’ll be a bit frustrated if you’re trying to hit a bank on your own. You’ll find banks in every major settlement, and you’ll get to see the inside of a few of them during the story. However, trying to hit one yourself is an exercise in futility as far as I’ve seen.

I’ve tried to rob a bank a few times, and the only thing I got was heartache when the law utterly destroyed me. At the bank in Valentine, for example, I couldn’t find a way to get the teller to open the iron bar door to the side to access the vault area. Dynamite also wouldn’t blow the door open. It’s possible that I may be missing something, but at this point, I’m reasonably sure you can’t stage any massive bank jobs by yourself.

I could be wrong, though, and we’ll continue to experiment with bank robbery. You can get the teller to hand over some cash, but nothing too significant.

How to Rob Stores in Red Dead Redemption 2

Robbing stores is another matter entirely. You can rob any store you see in RDR2, and it’s pretty easy. However, the take when robbing a store is rarely worth the risk of getting a bounty as the take will almost always be less than what it will cost to pay off the price on your head. However, there are times where you may be able to get in, steal the goods, and get out without getting caught.

There are a few ways you rob a store in Red Dead Redemption 2:

Walk into the store and pull your gun out and hit Triangle or Y to activate the “Rob” prompt.
Just grab items off the shelf and run.
Stealth kill the merchant and steal at your leisure.

The first two methods are a recipe for heartache because you’re almost always going to get the law after you. Wearing your mask may help you to get away without a bounty, but again, the take isn’t worth the risk.

The third method is really the only way to rob stores that usually ends with a fatter wallet and no trouble with the law. At least if you do it right.

The best way to stealth rob a store in Red Dead Redemption 2 is to get in right before nightfall when a store would typically close. Merchants won’t kick you out of their store, no matter the time, but once it’s dark, NPCs are a lot less likely to wander in.

Before you rob a store, case the joint and make sure it’s worth the effort. Usually, the General Store and Gunsmiths are the best stores to hit, since in addition to the cash in the till you can grab a bunch of useful items. Explore the store and find the area where the shopkeeper starts getting agitated when you enter it. There’s almost always one of these off-limits areas in the store, usually adjacent to the shopkeep themselves. The key is to enter this area as close to the shopkeeper as possible so that you can quickly kill them before they freak out and alert anyone.

Throwing knives, tomahawks, the hunting knife, or your bow is your friend here. The key is to kill the shopkeeper with a silent weapon, so no one hears you. Once you accomplish that, you have until around daybreak to rob the store, take the cash in the till and get out. If you’re lucky, you can get out and be far away before any NPC moves in to investigate the crime.

Given that NPCs somewhat have a sixth sense when it comes to crimes in this game, you may still not get away without triggering some response from the law. If this happens, just get out of the investigation area as quickly as you can so that you’re not forced to do anything else to make your bounty increase.