How to lower your wanted level in Red Dead Redemption 2

Lowering your wanted level in Red Dead Redemption 2 takes a combination of in-the-moment evasion and longer-term bounty management. Here's everything you need to know:

Preventing a Wanted Level from Starting

• Wear a bandana or mask before committing a crime — this hides your identity from eyewitnesses so no bounty is added to your name, even if lawmen respond.
• Change your clothing before and after a crime. If locals haven't seen you in those clothes before, they're less likely to recognize you.
• Deal with witnesses immediately — threaten or kill them before they can report you, or bribe them on the spot. No witness report means no bounty issued.
• If a crime was reported but your identity is unknown, you can defuse the investigating lawmen before things escalate. For minor crimes, you can simply apologize and walk away.

Escaping an Active Wanted Level

1. Break line of sight and stay hidden until the wanted meter runs down. The meter drains faster when you're out of sight.
2. Get outside the search radius shown on your map. Be warned — if the posse has dogs, the search radius is much larger and the dogs will track you regardless of where you hide.
3. Kill all pursuing lawmen or bounty hunters. If a posse was formed from a witness report and you eliminate every member, the bounty rolls back to what it was before the posse formed, since no one is left to report you.
4. Surrender to lawmen (only works if you haven't started shooting at them). This triggers a cutscene where Arthur is jailed, funds are taken to cover the bounty, or a gang member bails him out.

Clearing Your Bounty Permanently

• Head to a Post Office and pay off your bounty with cash. This is the only reliable way to fully clear it once it's been issued.
• Keep in mind that bounties persist between sessions — evading the law doesn't erase them, it only ends the current pursuit.

Extra Tips

• A bounty exceeding $150 causes armed posses to ambush you every 10–40 minutes in real time, so pay it off before it climbs that high.
• High Honor can slow bounty accumulation, as lawmen and witnesses are less likely to report minor crimes.
• Avoid wearing a bandana while being pursued — it actually slows the wanted meter from decreasing. Remove it during a chase for a faster cooldown.

Stay low, pay your debts at the Post Office, and always deal with witnesses early to keep the law off your back.