Strange encounter with Golden Spirit Bear

[MRNATCH09]

I am new to RDO, only Rank 18, so I have never interacted with a Legendary animal. On the Road from Saint Denis to Rhoades, I ran into a Golden Spirit Bear on the road (literally standing on the road). I killed it and skinned it, but I had no idea what it was for. Since I am a Trader I went back to Camp to see what Cripps would say. That's when I made the mistake of Fast Traveling to camp. 

 

When I get to camp, no Bear Pelt on my horse, and I figured I learned the hard way what happens if you fast travel with animals stowed on the horse. Tough break, but that happens when a person is learning the ropes. About 1 minute after arriving at camp, a Red animal print appeared on my map, right outside the camp. It was the Golden Spirit Bear, with it's pelt restored, still alive and laying on the ground, but I couldn't kill it. Then I noticed a pack of something on the horizon about 100 meters from the Living Dead Bear. When I investigated, it was a pack of 7 living Golden Spirit Bears. So I killed one, got another pelt, and went straight back to camp. Cripps was very impressed, I donated it, and it filled my Resources bar for Trader Role. 

 

As you can imagine, I went back for another, because they were just standing there. This time, the bears acted very aggressively, but I was able to kite one on my horse while he was charging me. So that was my 3rd Legendary pelt. The Resources Bar was still filled, so I thought I would hang around and rest until Cripps used the resources up. Then, it got more bizarre. After I rested awhile, I went to check Cripps' status. When I approached him, a Stranger literally jumped out from behind Cripps and killed me. I thought it was another player, but my White Flag was up, so it couldn't have been. I respawned, and went back to camp to see if the Stranger took my pelt from my horse. He had, but he was still in the camp, just standing next to Cripps' Butcher table with Cripps. I figure, let's kill him and get my pelt back, but he could not be killed. He started a 5 minute gun fight with Cripps. I shot his hat off, and gave him about 10 head shots, but all he wanted to do is fight Cripps. The only way I could get it to stop was to log out, and log back in. Cripps moved camp, and the whole thing was gone, including the horde of Golden Spirit Bears. 

 

Has anyone else been ambushed by a NPC Stranger in camp to steal your Legendary animal loot?

[Direwrath]

Are you on PC? Because I think that legendary bear is actually part of a mission for Harriet and doesn't spawn in free roam? Sounds like you were dealing with a hacker.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Direwrath

[Megadeus]

None of this is part of the game. Assuming you're playing on PC, youve come across a hacker who uploaded nonsense into your lobby.

 

[fuzzyballs01]

golden spirit bears only appear in the Harriet mission, not free roam

and they don't spawn in packs

you just met a hacker

[IzzyBlues]

This is what happens when you try to take out Xi Jingping.

[Tez2]

As others have stated, if that happened on PC, you likely encountered a hacker. Those bastards can spawn a ton of nonsensical stuff to mess with your game. The hacker was likely spectating you before spawning the horde of Golden Spirit Bears. You stated that they were just standing there. Stuff spawned by hackers is sometimes placed within a state of inaction for a few seconds or so before realizing their role.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Tez2

[MRNATCH09]

Yes, I am on a PC. Okay, makes sense. So, once I changed instances, I escaped the madness. It was like doing a solo quest with Sheogorath in Elder Scrolls. 

 

Thanks for the insight

[GrungeNinja]

On 2/19/2021 at 7:15 AM, fuzzyballs01 said:

golden spirit bears only appear in the Harriet mission, not free roam

Thats not true, it can also spawns in free roam.

[fuzzyballs01]

1 hour ago, GrungeNinja said:

Thats not true, it can also spawns in free roam.

FROM THE WIKI

The Legendary Golden Spirit Bear is a species of animal found in Red Dead Online.

 

It only spawns during Harriet Davenport's Legendary Animal Sighting missions after the player reaches rank 5 in The Naturalist role.

just to be thorough, I clicked the 4 links below that, and only one of them said it spawns in free roam, after you did the mission once

that means 3/4 sites tell you it only spawns during that mission

I don't roam Big Valley so I don't have any experience with legendaries there

[KatzeFive]

Had two Golden Spirit Bears spawn in free roam, a while back - But I do believe it was some sort of "not legit" bears .. First of all I've met them right next to Valentine (due west, where the wood bridge are) and they were so close to each other, that I could see them both at the same time .. Shot the first in the head with a riffel, and made a one-shot kill (they are supposed to be a lot harder to kill) And number two was kind of stuck to a tree, roaring and running in the same spot, and was also an easy kill, but did have to shoot it about 10-15 times with riffel, before it was dead ..

 

Had two pelts at the same time, so decided to drop one of them off in a nearby camp - the players in the camp, attacked me on the way out of the camp, so I wont do this again - the other I made a coat of ..

 

So, they can spawn in free roam - but I do suspect my encounter with these bears was the work of a modder - and I'm pretty sure your story falls under the same category .. I don't think you are getting trouble for taking one pelt (I've never heard anything about it afterwards) but don't take ten or more - even a new player should say to him/herself, that something isn't right ..

Edited February 22, 2021 by KatzeFive

[No Homing]

The Ridgeback Spirit Bear spawns in freemode, the Golden Spirit Bear only spawns in Harriet's mission.