Rockstar sure has been hard at work building the online for their infinitely huge RPG, Red Dead Redemption 2. The game had a massively successful launch, to no one's surprise. The standard pattern for them is to then use that profit and popularity to build their games even larger so people will stick with it for years to come. I mean just look at GTA5. That game released originally in 2013, and yet it ꧙still has a bustling online ecosystem.
This is all to say that Rockstar has genuinely crafted something special with RDR2. A game that ♍is truly and totally immersive.
Say what you want about the pace or how long everything takes but the game has an absolutely asinine amount of things to do. Between all the story missions, camp activities, stranger quests, fishing, hunting, collectibles, robbing, and even dog petting, you could play RDR2 until you're old and grey! And while you're on your 34th year of playing, you might notice how different the side content feels. That's because Rockstar likes to save the more odd, yet engaging writing for the players who explore. Which is where the stranger Missions come in. These side quests are ones our protagonist Arthur can encounter anywhere, at any time. And most of the time they lead to interactions with some amazingly charming characters who give great rewards. Rarely though, there is a mission that'll just be a slog. Either way, there are a lot of them, and it's hard to know which are worth it, and which aren't without doing them yourself. So, to clear things up, here are The 15 Best Hidden Missions In Red Dead Redemption 2 (And 10 Not Worth Doing)
25 Best: He's ꦍBritish Of Course - The Margaret Who Crie♔d Lion
So first in our quest to find all the wacky lads in the old west is Margaret. He's found next to his crashed cart in Lemꦏoyne. As it happens, hꦿis circus animals escaped and he needs us to find them. He lost 2 lions, a zebra, and a tiger. Well, sort of. Turns out they're all dressed up everyday animals like a Mule, Dog, and Cougar.
After bringing (most) of them back Margaret has you hunt down the last lion, which turns out to be real!
Deadeye makes q♈uick work of the beast and we get a neat lions paw that makes for a handy-dandy trinket from your fence. Honestly even knowing the lion twist ahead of time, the dialogue and writing in this quest is hilariously charming.
24 Best: The Saint-Denis Vampire - Bl🍨oodsucker With A Fan For Poetry ꧋
Next on our list is one of the only "non-stranger" missions on here. The bloodcurdling questline is actually just a random encounter and isn't officially designated as a "stranger mi🧔ssion". To stumble across the Nosferatu fanboy, you do have to have Saint-Denis as an available location.
While wandering the bustling city, you've got to scour for five pieces of graffiti in various areas.
They're actually pܫoetry, and all have the same central theme of blood. Once you find them all, a black "X" will appear on your map. Wait to visit it until around midnight. You'll then stumble across the so-called "vampire". I won't spoil the encounter, but you can expect nab a neat little melee weapon from as well.
23 𒁃 Not Worth It: A Test Of Faith - More Like Jurassic Snore
Man dinosaurs are cool. Well, at least they were before all those feathers got thrown onto them. Jurassic Park knows it, Godzilla knows it, and Red Dead Redemption 2 knows it as well. That's why there's a stranger mission rel💞atively early on where you are able to hunt down the bones of the prehistoric "birds". The quest is north-east of Flatiron station where a nice old lady professor Deborah asks us ♔to help her out. Find the bone locations and mail the coordinates to here, easy enough right?
Yeah, but unfortunately it's boring and it takes forever.
There are 30 bone locations to find and you can't entirely complete the que🌟st until Chapter 8! That's like at least 40 hours of playtime. Plus the reward is just a knife made from dinosaur bone, neat sure, but worth all that effort? Absolutely not.
22 🐬 Best: The🦋 Smell Of Grease Paint - Magnifico's Quest Is Magnificent
This mission has some of the most unique characters in RDR2. It's found arounꦅd the Van Horn Trading Post where you'll stop a man named Bertram from choke-slamming a bartender. Turns out he's a sweetheart that works with a woman named Marjorie who's looking for her other employee, Magnifico.
So our boy Artℱhur has to track the height-impaire𒈔d man down, and apparently, he doesn't want to go back. He eludes us a couple of times with some amazingly colorful smoke bombs, but eventually, we get the better of him.
After the whole mess is finished, you can actually attend their performance at the Théâtre Râleur in Saint-Denis༺. If you speak to the vendor afterward, you'll actually get $40 and a letter fꩲrom Marjorie.
21 Best: Arcadia For Amateurs - World's Worsౠt Natu𒉰re Photographer
The Arcadia for Amateurs questline is one you'll be ꦬencountering quite a few times throughout Arthurs journey. Albert Mason is actually an exceptionally likable character, which is rare in a Rockstar game, where everyone is essentially sociopaths. He's actually a nature photographer which some awful 🍬luck and steadfast determination. Throughout your many encounters, you save him from wolves, crocodiles, horses and more.
For someone who lives for animal photography, he's not too great at it.
It's worth your time just for the writing alone, but the animal interactions are fun as well. It's a well t﷽hought out way for Rockstar to introduce you to all their wildlife without boring you.
20 🐎♔ Not Worth It: Geology For Beginners - Even With Time Travel, I'm Bored
Much for the same reason, the dinosaur-based side mission is lame, so is this one. This time around, instead of hunting fossils, you're searching for rock carvings. Riveting I k💃now.
A man named Francis Sinclair asks this of you, in a manner suspiciously not at all befitting the Old West.
But at least, instead of 30, there's only 10 of꧑ these. Plus, after finding them all you get a neat cutscene about Francis that can't quite be explained. So it's much better than the other collection-based missions. Still, it's another side-quest completely dedicated to a boring co🍃llectible, so into the trash pile it goes.
19 Best: The Nob🐟lest Of Men And 𝐆Women - Give Me All Those Unique Revolvers
I'd recommend this questline as early as you can. It has๊ four different unique revolv🔜ers you can acquire, tons of items to sell, and has some genuinely interesting characters.
In the Noblest of Men and Women questline, you're searching for the pals of one Jim Calloway, who's passed out on the bar when you meet him.
Apparently, Calloway is the best shot in the West and a hopeful author would like the point-of-view of his old crew. Apparently, they weren't the most sociable bunch, as 3 of the 4 try to duel you. But, once you take them out and nab a snapshot, their signature revolvers are yours. Jus🦄t remember to loo💎t them before you head out, once you leave they despawn and are gone forever.
18 Best: A Brigh൲t Bouncing Boy - The World's First Terminator
Other than the vampire encounter, this is by far the most fantastical mission in the game. It features one Marko Dragic as he works t🐲o finish his masterpiece, to his own detriment. This is another one that takes place in Saint-Denis, so wait till after chapter 4. Your first encounter with Marko 🐼is to help him win over some investors with his "toy" submarine.
After this, you'll spend time with Dragic as his lackey, helping him harn🔯ess lightning and flips some switches while he works on the creation of a fully-fledged roboꦍt.
A bit early in history for robots, don't you think? E൩ither way, The entirety of this mission is riveting and leads to one of the most mysterious easter eggs in the game, so check it out.
17 Not Worth It: Smoking And Other Hobbies - Yu-Gi-Oh In The Old West ꦚ
The Cigarette Caඣrds. Oh, man the Cigarette cards. These are absolutely impossible to collect in any sort of organized fashion. You'll just happen upon them now and again on your travels a♉s you loot houses. But, if you want to collect them all for 100% completion or something, this absolutely stinks.
Thankfully, Rockstar made it so you can buy packs of the cards in the general stores.
That way, people who are aiming for 100% can just buy these packs over and over. But at the end of the day, if you have to make a workaround for your sidequest because🍷 it's so disorganized, doesn't 𒀰that speak volumes about its quality? I think so.
16 𓃲 Best: Oh Brother - Extreme Familial Bonding 🍌
The Oh Brother questline is one about bravery, romance, and change. It's truly a quest about the things people do for lovꦍe. Alright fine, it's about two twins who are crushing on the same gi♒rl.
In order to prove which is more worthy of this fine lady, Helen, the twins rope Arthur into their "macho" display.
𒐪First is shooting bottles off their heads. Then they want punches straight to the face. Finally, they prove their commitment through going over a waterfall in two separate barrels and miraculously survive. Honestly, it's some of the funniest stuff in the game, the only downside is that it's split into three separate interactions, and they don't pop up on the map, you have to either follow a guide or happen upon them.