The new bank robbery system in Bridger Western is finally here, and honestly, this might actually be better than bounty hunting for making money right now.
This system is mainly for outlaws, and there’s apparently also a chance to get a Stand Arrow from it, although nobody fully knows the exact chances yet. I tested it out myself, and here’s exactly how the whole thing works from start to finish.
How to Rob Banks in the New Bridger Western
Before you can rob any bank, you need to head over to the Outlaw Hideout and find the Arms Dealer.
This guy sells the explosive needed to break into the bank vault. He honestly looks like some kind of demon or vampire, which is kind of fitting for the outlaw vibe they added with this update.
The explosive costs 1,000 cash.
Once you buy it, you’ll get the Makeshift Explosive in your inventory. That’s the item you use for the robbery itself.
The New Lighting Looks Completely Different
One thing I noticed almost immediately while traveling around is how different the game feels visually now.
The lighting is way darker and has a lot more atmosphere to it. Everything feels more tense, especially at night. The towns honestly feel kind of creepy now compared to before. It gives the whole update a much heavier western outlaw feeling.
It actually makes riding back to town feel a little dangerous now.
Heading Back to the Bank
After buying the explosive, head back to town and go inside the bank.
There are multiple vaults around the map, but the main bank vault is the one you want for the robbery itself.
Before going inside, it’s honestly smart to leave your horse outside because once the robbery starts, you’re going to need to escape quickly.
How the Bank Robbery Works
Once inside the bank, place the Makeshift Explosive near the vault door.
As soon as you place it, alarms immediately start going off, and nearby lawmen get alerted.
The explosion takes a little while to happen, so you’re basically stuck waiting there while the entire town knows what you’re doing. It definitely creates a lot of pressure.
Once the vault explodes:
- You instantly gain bounty.
- Money appears inside the vault.
- Your next objective becomes returning the stolen money to the Arms Dealer.
In the test run, the robbery gave +15 bounty immediately.
After grabbing the money, your character carries a giant money bag on their back while escaping, which honestly looks pretty cool and fits the whole outlaw theme perfectly.
Returning the Money
After stealing the cash, ride all the way back to the Outlaw Hideout and speak to the Arms Dealer again.
Turning the money in rewards you with cash.
In the example run, the payout was over 6,000 cash from a single robbery.
Honestly, that is insanely good money compared to a lot of other methods currently in the game.
At least right now, this feels like one of the best money-making methods in the update.
Can You Get Stand Arrows?
This is the interesting part.
There is apparently a chance to receive a Stand Arrow while doing robberies, but nobody fully understands how the system works yet.
Unlike bounty hunting, where higher bounties usually increase your arrow chances, the robbery system doesn’t seem as straightforward.
Possible theories right now are:
- More stolen money could increase arrow chances.
- Solo robberies might improve chances.
- Bigger robberies may matter more.
But as of now, nothing is fully confirmed.
During the tested robbery, no arrow dropped.
Other Vaults Around the Map
There are smaller vaults scattered around town and other locations too.
At first, it looked like these smaller vaults might also be robbable, but currently the Makeshift Explosive doesn’t work on them.
Even regular dynamite doesn’t seem to open them.
So for now, the main bank vault appears to be the actual robbery target.
Bank Robbery Cooldown
One important thing to know is that robberies have a cooldown.
After completing one robbery, the game displays a message saying bank robberies are on cooldown.
The exact cooldown timer still isn’t confirmed yet.
So you probably can’t endlessly spam robberies back-to-back.
Honestly, this update made outlaw gameplay way more interesting.
The whole process of:
- Buying explosives
- Sneaking into town
- Blowing open the vault
- Escaping with the money bag
- Returning to the Outlaw Hideout
actually feels really fun and cinematic.
The payouts are also extremely good right now, which makes this easily one of the strongest money methods in the game at the moment.
The Stand Arrow chances are still a mystery, but even without arrows, the robbery system already feels worth doing just for the money alone.