Finding a way to rank up fast is key to getting the most out of Red Dead Redemption 2 Online. A high rank will unlock more items and weapons that can provide a lot of enjoyment and are sometimes necessary for the more difficult challenges the game has to offer.

If you’re just starting out and want to level fast there are some strategies you can implement to gradually increase your experience gains. Whether it’s using special bullets or grinding PVP modes, here are the best things you can do to quickly raise your rank.

14 Patience And Perseverance

This is a broad point that could be applied to just about every online videogame with a leveling system, but it’s important to remember that sticking to it and understanding that you won’t shoot up from level 1 to 100 overnight.

This guide is intended to alleviate your need for patience a little bit by showing you how to level up quickly. However, these online game modes are largely designed to reward patience and perseverance by gatekeeping the higher levels to those who are committed to reaching them.

13 Races

Races are a solid and fun way to earn XP in RDR2 Online. In the Online mode, they either require you to reach a specific checkpoint before your opponents or collect a series of objectives first.

You can access the Races from the Online menu and choosing the “Racing Series” playlist, selecting the racing marker on the map represented by a checkered flag, or traveling to the racing locations in Valentine, Tumbleweed, Van Horn, and Blackwater.

12 Stranger Missions

Like in the Red Dead Redemption 2 campaign, RDR2 Online offers a series of Stranger Missions that you can find throughout the world. These also award players with XP and can be a fun and unique diversion from the other activities in RDR2 Online.

They are marked as little orange circles with a man inside on the map. You can only play one mission for each Stranger a day, and sometimes a specific stranger will move from place to place across the world. Strangers offer killing/assassination missions, robberies, supply destructions, jailbreaks, deliveries, and several other varieties.

11 Complete The Main Quest

The first thing you should do is focus on completing the main quest. These missions have decent rewards that can help you beat other aspects of the game, and the experience rewards are pretty good.

It also will help you figure out what kinds of things you enjoy doing and improve your skills with various activities. At the very least you’ll open up the ability to grind some of the end game missions for decent experience.

10 Replaying The Main Missions

Even after you’ve completed the main quest in RDR2 Online, you can replay the main missions to earn XP. If there were one or more missions that particularly piqued your interest, you should feel free to return to them for some additional XP rewards to help you along.

Having a varied replaying list is advised here, as you don’t want to burn yourself out so much on a mission that you grow to resent it in the replay.

9 Daily Challenges

After completing the story missions your first goal each day is to complete the daily challenges. These mini-goals can be pretty easy to complete and will net you a decent amount of experience, easy money, and other rewards.

If all you do is log on each day to complete these daily challenges you’ll find yourself leveling at a steady rate. They also shouldn’t take very long to complete, which is great for shorter play sessions when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands and want to get something done quickly.

8 Grind Awards

After beating the daily missions you’ll want to focus on grinding out Awards. Awards, also referred to by some as Golden Buckle Challenges, are achievements you can complete for helpful rewards.

These challenges can be anything from killing various numbers of enemies to catching fish of a certain size. Each tier you complete rewards you with a golden belt buckle to wear, signifying that you mastered that aspect of the game. You can set goals to grind these out or find ways to incorporate the challenges into your natural gameplay.

7 Tricky Kills

Killing enemies will net you a handful of experience points, but the manner in which you kill them can bring you even more experience. For instance, if you kill an opponent with a headshot you’ll see a small bump in points on top of the kill points you would’ve received anyway, and if you get that headshot with a bow you’ll receive even more points.

This isn’t to say you should only ever fight with a bow, but making an effort to get more headshots or to pull the bow out on legendary hunts now and then is a great way to milk a little more experience out of the activities you’re already doing.

6 Special Ammo

If you don’t want to worry about headshots but still want to get more experience for each kill, then using special ammo is a great passive way to do it. When you use Split Point or Express ammo you’ll receive a few extra points for each kill.

Granted Express ammo is much more expensive than standard ammo, and you have to craft Split Point, but if you’re awash in cash and do a little bit of prep it’s a great passive way to get more bang for your buck, so to speak.

5 Farm Wildlife

Everything that walks, flies, swims, or crawls in this game can be killed for a few experience points. This may ruffle some players’ feathers, but it’s an easy, low-risk way to grab some experience points while you’re learning the ropes or working on improving your gear.

This isn’t to say you should spend your afternoons taking potshots at gators to level up as that’ll take forever. But if you’re traveling through the woods and see a bird, don’t be afraid to blast it out of the sky for a handful of points.

4 Bonus XP Days

Every now and then Rockstar will announce that there’s a bonus XP event going on, and you can complete certain activities to get some serious levels. Under ideal circumstances, you can line up daily challenges, awards challenges, and a triple XP bonus for some efficient leveling.

Granted the bonuses may be tied to some activity you’re not particularly interested in or good at, but if you’re patient, the developers will come around to something you can quickly grind for decent levels with half the effort.

3 Raid Gang Hideouts

Raiding Gang Hideouts is a very efficient PVE activity that can provide a tremendous amount of experience. Clearing the area can bring in some major points and has the benefit of being a fun activity to grind for a while.

You can ratchet your gains up even further by using some of the above methods at the same time, such as fighting with a bow, using Express ammo, or doing it on a day that grants XP bonuses.

2 Showdowns

Perhaps the most efficient way to gain experience and level up your rank is through Showdowns. Showdowns are a series of PVP modes that can bring in some serious experience whenever you win.

Even if you can’t win anything and all you’re doing is participating, you’ll see your levels climb rather quickly. There’s a debate about whether it’s better to do these solo, with a friend, or as a posse, but honestly whichever helps you win more often is likely the most efficient option.

1 Play With A Posse

If you find yourself getting burned out grinding awards, farming gang hideouts, or you’re sick and tired of killing every squirrel you come across, then what you need to do is join a posse!

Even if you’re with a band of friends who are as liable to shoot each other as they are the enemy, you’ll have a ton of fun with the game and accumulate levels quietly in the background. It’s better to take a week getting a level or two with friends than spend hours running the same horse race over and over again because it’s a triple XP day.

NEXT: Red Dead Redemption 2: 10 Wild Encounters You’ll Never Forget