Red Dead Redemption 2 mod introduces panning for gold as a single-player side activity

Despite a large section of the community having already held a funeral for Red Dead Redemption 2’s online element, the game’s single-player experience is still going strong thanks to modders.

With interesting works, such as those that allow you to take up the life of a wild west hitman, become a metal detectorist or run your own moonshine business without going online, still hitting the Nexus on a semi-regular basis, there’s plenty of reason to dive back into Rockstar’s western.

If you’re the kind of cowboy that loves heading into the wilderness armed with a dusty map in order to hunt for hidden treasure, a new mod might be worth adding to your load order.

Do you fancy turning Arthur Morgan into a gold-obsessed wild west prospector?

The mod in question is called ‘Gold Panning’ and is the work of prolific modder Shtivi. Some of their previous projects include bringing an array of immersive changes to hunting and giving you the chance to own a customisable personal boat.

This time, inspired by the game’s prospector random encounter, they’ve decided to give Arthur and John the chance to pan for gold as a side activity, which is available at various locations across the map, indicated by icons depicting a pan or bowl.

Arriving at one of these spots will cause a prompt to appear, which will allow you to kick off your search for precious metals at the wooden stand that’ll spawn in.

The panning itself will involve some interactions similar to those used to execute camp activities, with your character having to collect the water they’re going to examine and then start sweeping it for valuables at the stand.

Shtivi also suggests that there are some interesting additional features to discover as you pan, ensuring that things shouldn’t get dull, even if you’re having trouble finding valuable nuggets.

So, if you’re keen to contribute to the upkeep of the Van Der Linde Gang without having to risk your neck robbing stagecoaches and sticking up stores, get out there and start panning!

Regardless of whether your version of Arthur now lives for the enchanting sight of shiny goods hiding in the silt and dirt, make sure to follow us for coverage of some interesting mods for the likes of Skyrim and Fallout. You can also check out our mods of the month for February 2023.