The 10 Best Red Dead Redemption 2 Mods

What are the best Red Dead Redemption 2 mods?

Red Dead Redemption 2 is the perfect example of a game that, unlike the Age of Outlaws, will never go out of style.

However, once you’ve replayed it multiple times and experienced everything it has to offer, it’s time to start thinking about mods.

Fortunately, the RDR2 modding community has created no shortage of great additions that can completely change your next playthrough!

The 10 Best Red Dead Redemption 2 Mods

Now, there are a lot of mods for Red Dead Redemption 2, but not all of them can call themselves the best.

The ones we’ve selected have been chosen specifically due to their popularity, stability, and how much they improve the game.

So, before you start planning your next heist, take a gander at our list of the 10 best Red Dead Redemption 2 mods:

10. Dog Companion

Kicking off our list is one of the most adorable mods you’ll find for RDR2 on the Nexus, and it’s a must-have for us.

As the name suggests, this mod allows Arthur Morgan to adopt his own dog companion, which is just awesome.

When this mod is installed, all you have to do is walk up to any dog you like and give him a pat. You will then have the option to bond with the dog.

Once you bond with your chosen companion, he will follow you around and sit and wait like a good boy if you tell him to.

If you ever manage to lose your dog, you can always get him back by interacting with your horse and choosing the right prompt.

Of course, your dog can also help you out in combat by attacking other animals or NPCs whenever you tell him to.

Your dog can also help you track animals, but he will become agitated and attack predators if they get too close.

Best of all, while your dog can be injured, he can’t actually die, and you will always have the option to revive him when he gets hurt.

Like Dogmeat, one of the best Fallout 4 companions, having your own dog in RDR2 makes the game 10x better, hands down.

9. Dynamic Seasons

In Red Dead Redemption 2, usually, the only time you’ll see snow is at higher elevations, as the seasons never really change.

However, Dynamic Seasons changes this by adding tangible changes in the weather as time goes by.

Each season lasts 10 hours in real-time, though this can be shortened or extended using the ini file.

This means that if you play 10 hours over the course of three sessions when you next log in, the seasons will have changed!

Dynamic Seasons also adds a widget that shows the season, time, and temperature so that you can know to dress accordingly.

Moreover, each season has its own unique appearance, so autumn has a yellow and red palette, the days are shorter, and there is a greater chance of rain or sleet.

Likewise, during winter, the whole map, aside from New Austin, is covered in snow, and blizzards could happen at any moment.

This mod pairs well with Humidity and Temperature Overhaul, another mod by the same creator, which adds unique survival challenges that revolve around the weather.

With this mod, the rain, snow, and cold of Dynamic Seasons will actually be life-threatening instead of just a minor inconvenience!

8. Ped Damage Overhaul

Up next, we have the Ped Damage Overhaul mod, which aims to make fights and combat more dynamic, unpredictable, and interesting.

This mod comes in three different versions, ranging from light to a complete overhaul, but they all share some basic features.

With any version of this mod, NPCs will now react to where they’ve been shot, and if they’re injured enough, they will fall and begin bleeding out.

All NPCs will also suffer from bleeding damage, but since it’s based on chance, not all of them will bleed out after the same amount of time.

Additionally, all NPCs, even Lawmen, can be disarmed if you shoot them in the hand, and they will verbally react when in a hopeless situation.

The Ped Damage Overhaul mod definitely makes Red Dead Redemption 2 feel much more dynamic, and we love that every battle is a bit different.

We certainly can’t go back to playing without this mod, and we strongly suggest you try it out for yourself if you want a bit more variety!

7. Ride With Gang

Since Arthur is a member of Dutch’s gang, it makes sense that you should be able to roam around with your fellow gang members!

Traveling around in the Wild West can be a lonely endeavor after all, but fortunately, this mod adds the ability to travel with your crew.

Like the best Skyrim follower mods, when Ride With Gang is installed, you can summon the member of Dutch’s gang to you by pressing G.

When the gang is with you, they will act like followers and help you in combat like any good gang should.

Moreover, using the ini file, you can change who you want to show up, so if you’d rather Micha and Bill stay home, you can do that!

Of course, you can also have a literal clone of Arthur Morgan show up as well, which we admit is pretty hilarious.

To be fair, we really just love being able to run around with John Marston because he’s definitely one of our all-time favorite characters in gaming!

6. Instant Travel

Once you’ve played through the game a few times, heading everywhere on foot gets a bit tedious, and fast travel always comes with a long cutscene.

Fortunately, modder Opsedar has created a better way that makes getting around a lot more convenient!

With Instant Travel, you don’t have to set up a camp to select a location, and instead, you can choose to either ride or walk to whatever location you choose.

All you have to do is interact with your horse and choose the Instant Travel option and then pick where you want to go.

However, while you do instantly travel to your destination, your cores will all drain accordingly, so the realism isn’t lost.

Similarly, time will still pass in the game world realistically based on how far you are traveling and whether you’re on your horse or walking.

Seeing as RDR2 is one of the best open-world PS4 games, being able to get around its expansive map without hassle is an absolute must.

If you’re tired of having to set up camp and watch a long cutscene every time you want to fast travel, don’t hesitate to download Instant Travel!

5. Bank Robberies

Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the best games like GTA, and it gives you the ability to be a Wild West outlaw.

The game literally kicks off with you robbing a wealthy businessman’s train, which is why we find it strange you can’t hold up banks.

Well, modder UnlosingPlays had similar thoughts, which is why he’s created this incredibly fun mod for when you really want to live up to your outlaw reputation!

When this mod is installed, you can walk into any of the three banks in RDR2 and simply point your gun at the teller to get things started.

You can then manhandle the employees, force open the vault, and steal all of the money they’ve got stashed away!

Of course, this will cause you to be wanted by the law, but if you’ve got a mind to rob banks, we don’t think that matters much!

We’re honestly surprised this option wasn’t in the vanilla game, but in any case, we’re glad to have the ability added by this mod!

4. Photorealistic Reshade

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a gorgeous game, but somehow this reshader makes it look even more incredible!

The Photorealistic Reshade mod enhances the game’s colors, sharpness, tonemapping, and shadows to really make the world come alive.

What we really love about this mod is that it isn’t heavy-handed, and it doesn’t completely go over the top with its changes.

Instead, it enhances this beautiful game world in a subtle way that helps the environment and characters really stand out.

Little details are also much more visible, and the washed-out grey filter has been removed so that everything is much more vivid.

This mod definitely helps RDR2 look a lot crisper and more colorful, and we highly recommend checking it out for yourself!

3. Red Dead Trainer

The Red Dead Trainer is the RDR2 equivalent of the Cheat Terminal, one of the best Fallout 4 mods, and it allows for a ton of cheating.

With this mod installed, you can open it in-game and choose from player, horse, weapon, ped, vehicle, world, and teleport options.

In player options, you can turn on god mode and infinite dead eye while also restoring your cores or giving yourself infinite cores.

Likewise, in weapon options, you can give yourself specific weapons and ammo, turn on infinite ammo, remove the need to reload, or give yourself every weapon!

The mod also allows you to spawn NPCs in the ped options menu or change the weather or time in the world menu.

While this mod isn’t for everyone, we loved playing around with it, and it’s great for when you want to have a good time!

You haven’t lived until you’ve gunned down a line of lawmen with infinite deadeye and a carbine repeater that you never have to reload!

2. Crime And Law Rebalance and Enhancement

When you’re living the life of an outlaw, you want your criminal activities to feel as balanced as possible, which is what this mod does.

This mod does a number of things to improve how crime and law enforcement are handled in RDR2, and it’s a huge improvement.

With this mod, all minor crimes are overlooked, and the wilderness is completely lawless, so you can commit any crimes without becoming wanted.

Likewise, train robbery will no longer get you instantly wanted, as witnesses will now have to report the crime, and you can stop them.

Speaking of witnesses, this mod makes it so only one at a time can be active, and there is a cooldown before another can appear.

Now, if this seems like it makes committing crime easier, hold on because the lawmen have gotten an upgrade!

This rebalance gives all lawmen more skills and more health, and they will now carry rifles and shotguns, while Pinkerton agents and Marshalls will also carry pistols.

While this makes lawmen tougher to deal with, they will no longer respawn while chasing you, so killing those in pursuit will end the chase.

We hope that Red Dead Redemption 3, if and when it’s released, will keep some of these changes because they definitely make things feel more dynamic!

1. RDR2 Save Editor

Taking our number one spot is the Red Dead Redemption 2 Save Editor, which allows you to make changes to any of your saved files.

This mod is incredibly useful, and it allows you to make a ton of changes that can completely change the course of the game.

With this mod, you can load up your save file and change Arthur’s appearance, inventory, stats, money, honor level, deadeye, and gear.

You can even choose to set challenges as having been completed so that you can reap the benefits in-game.

The RDR2 Save Editor can get you out of some tough situations and allow you to change almost anything in the game.

It is certainly a mod that we highly recommend because it is incredibly versatile and a must-have for anyone who wants to change up the game!

Summary

We hope you’ve enjoyed our list of the 10 best Red Dead Redemption 2 mods and found some that have inspired you to replay the game!

RDR2 is by far one of the best modern titles in gaming, but these mods add a ton of additional replayability that makes it impossible to put down.

If you haven’t yet tried out any of these mods for yourself, we highly recommend checking them out before your next playthrough!

Here’s a quick recap of the 10 best Red Dead Redemption 2 mods:

1. RDR2 Save Editor
2. Crime and Law Rebalance and Enhancement
3. Red Dead Trainer
4. Photorealistic Reshade
5. Bank Robberies
6. Instant Travel
7. Ride With Gang
8. Ped Damage Overhaul
9. Dynamic Seasons
10. Dog Companion

What’s your favorite Red Dead Redemption mod? Leave a comment below.