Frequently Asked Questions
Hold up, buddy.
How do I duel?
There's no doubt about it; at the very least, the in-game tutorials teaching you how to duel aren't very specific or helpful. Chances are, you're going to need some outside help to fully understand how to duel. Thankfully, we have a section of this very guide to help you with just that. Click here to be brought to our Dueling Tutorial, with both text and an instructive video to help you out. It should answer any and all of your dueling-related questions.
How do I shoot a gun out of an enemy's hand?
This is easier than you might have expected. To shoot a gun out of an enemy's hand, simply shoot your enemy's gun-equipped arm or hand. This will make your foe defenseless, at least temporarily, allowing you to capture him alive for a bounty, or escape unscathed from the scene of a fight. This also comes in handy in duels, especially if you're looking to score positive Honor.
What's Honor?
In Red Dead Redemption, Honor represents your character, John Marston's, recognized honor in the wild west. Honor is earned or lost depending on decisions you make in the game. For instance, positive Honor can be earned by helping a Stranger in distress, or diffusing a dangerous situation without using deadly force. But Honor can also be lost, should you choose to kill innocent people, act overtly violent in unnecessary situations, or undertake any other dishonorable deed. Indeed, your level of Honor at any given time will affect how people treat you, and what options might be available to you, so tread lightly! In general, it's better to have high Honor rather than low Honor, but believe it or not, low Honor has some advantages, too.
What's Fame?
In Red Dead Redemption, Fame represents your character, John Marston's, level of fame in the wild west. It's pretty self-explanatory in premise, but in fact, Fame is pretty important, and it can never be lost once gained. Even if you do something evil, you'll earn Fame, so naturally, good deeds don't go unnoticed in this respect either. Basically, the more you choose to do in the game in terms of missions, side quests, challenges, et cetera, the more Fame you will earn. And the higher your Fame, the better off you'll be.
Where can I find (a specific variety of) Horses & Mules?
There are over twenty distinct varieties of horses in the game, and all of them can be broken, ridden, and used at any time, so long as you have them unlocked and available to you. Deeds can be purchased at many general stores and activated via a menu so that your active horse can switch when you whistle for one. Some of the better horses in the game must be found in the wild, broken, and then purchased via deed to access, however. More information on Horses, their types, and where they're found can be found by clicking here.
Where can I find (a specific variety of) flower or herb?
The wild west is fairly desolate as far as the flora is concerned, but there's still plenty of naturally-growing herbs and flowers (amongst other plants) that you will encounter. Many of them can be gathered in conjunction with Survivalist Challenges. If you need more information on Survivalist Challenges, or simply want the locations of specific flowers and herbs, you can visit the section of our guide that covers that by clicking here.
Where can I find (a variety of) wild animal?
Today, the southwestern segment of the United States is essentially devoid of the animals that once roamed there. But considering this game takes place a hundred years in the past, there are still myriad animals all over the place. Some of these animals, like bears, are overtly hostile. Other species of animals will leave you alone, or attempt to stay far away from you. Either way, you'll need to find all of the animals in the game to ultimately complete the Hunting and Sharpshooting Challenges that are presented to you throughout the game. The Hunting and Sharpshooter challenges are covered here, as well as all animal locations. Enjoy!
Where can I find (a specific) Treasure?
For such a vast wasteland, the wild west certainly is chock-full of all sorts of things to find. Amongst those items are hidden treasures. Organically finding these treasures requires you to earn maps, and the string of maps required for those treasures will be started by doing Stranger missions. But whether or not you have a map, you can still find the treasure it's pointing to regardless. How? Why, the Treasure Hunter section of this guide will surely be of help to you out, of course. Enjoy!
How do I access Mexico?
When you look at your map, you'll see a giant river in the middle. This river is the San Luis River, and it separates the United States (to the north) from Mexico (to the south). You won't be able to cross it until a certain point in the game. Specifically, you're going to need to undertake the mission with Irish called "We Shall Be Together In Paradise." Once that mission is completed, you'll find yourself in Mexico, and you should be able to head back and forth between the two countries at will thereafter.
How do I access Tall Trees / The Great Plains?
You'll no doubt notice a conspicuous location at the northeastern segment of your map. This section of the United States is isolated from the rest of the map by the Aurora Basin and its runoff stream, and can't be accessed until you're about two-thirds through the game's main events. After you complete the mission called "An Appointed Time" for the rebel leader Abraham Reyes, you should be beckoned to the Great Plains/Tall Trees location to continue with the game. At that point, you should be able to head there with no issues.
What is Dead Eye? How do I use it?
Dead Eye is a special feature in Red Dead Redemption that allows John Marston to slow down time for a little while, so that he can react quicker than his enemies can in combat situations. In normal combat situations, Dead Eye is useful if you're being overwhelmed by enemies or are far outnumbered, while Dead Eye is a more automatic necessity in duels and the like. Activating Dead Eye is done by clicking down on the right analog stick. Once that happens, everything will turn yellow and orange, and all will slow down, letting you know that you're indeed in Dead Eye. But don't abuse this feature! An in-game meter determines how long you can stay in Dead Eye, and it will need to replenish for you to use it again.
How do I capture a bounty alive?
There are dozens upon dozens of hooligans running around the wild west that are, in fact, bona fide convicts. And they need to be brought to justice. Of course, you won't be wantonly doing so without there being money on the other end of it, and of course, a bounty is always more valuable if the person is captured alive as opposed to killed and delivered as a corpse. Capturing a bounty alive, therefore, is a necessity, and doing so is simple. You'll need to use your lasso, which you earn very early on in the game. Lasso your enemy and hogtie him, and then deliver him to earn your money, with your mark very much alive and kicking.
How do I shoot the gun out of an enemy's hand?
This is simple, probably too much so. To shoot a gun out of an enemy's hand, simply shoot the gun itself, or the hand that's holding the gun. Without a weapon, and with an injured hand, your foe will be defenseless, and will almost certainly be incapable of damaging you (though a gun can be picked up and used when dropped, so be careful). If you're having trouble doing this in realtime, you may want to consider using Dead Eye to slow down time, which will then allow you to aim carefully at the gun or hand without having to frantically fire, which may risk you accidentally killing someone you were trying to keep alive. This technique is especially useful when going after bounties and attempting to deliver your marks alive.
How do I use the lasso?
Early on in the game, you'll receive a lasso and learn how to use it. But some people are still a little confused on just how to use the lasso effectively. Doing so requires that you use it much like a weapon with limited range. That means that you can aim it at your target and "fire" it away, but that it doesn't have limited range. Continue to aim at your target as the lasso is released, and then hold both triggers as you hold your mark in place, whether it's a person or a horse. The latter is what most people seem to forget. You must hold the lasso taut and walk towards your mark to settle it. Simply shooting the lasso and expecting it to do all of the work for you won't fly in Red Dead Redemption, which seems to frustrate a great many gamer. But that's the reality of the situation, so approach lassoing in this way, which is relatively fool-proof.
How do I hogtie someone?
Hogtying goes hand-in-hand with lassoing. Once you've mastered lassoing, it only makes sense that you would also master hogtying, since it's the only way to effectively deliver living targets (et al) without having to kill them. Thankfully, hogtying is far, far easier than lassoing is (not that lassoing is particularly hard, either). Simply walk up to a downed, lassoed individual, and follow the on-screen prompt once you're close to hogtie them automatically. No magic or hocus-pocus necessary. You can then follow more on-screen prompts to lift a hog-tied person onto your shoulder, put him or her on a horse, or whatever else.
How do I find (a specific) weapon?
If the wild west is littered with something, it's firearms. Special types of firearms can be found in all sorts of places, from the expected to the unexpected. Some weapons you find organically and automatically, while others (especially the more powerful weapons in the game) have to be specifically sought-out and pursued. Unfortunately, there are far too many weapons to cover here in the Q&A, but you can visit the section of the guide for more information on weapons and their locations.
How do I find (a specific) outfit?
John Marston is a colorful character with a dynamic personality. Thankfully, there are over a dozen separate outfits in the game that you can purchase or find to make Marston into an even more colorful character than he is in his standard attire. Unfortunately, there are too many outfits to discuss here in the Q&A. But you can visit this section of the guide for more information on those outfits, and just where you can find them.
Where can I find cheats and codes for this game?
Although cheats and codes are becoming rarer and rarer in console games as time goes on, Red Dead Redemption is a marked exception to the trending rule. There are plenty of cheats and codes to use in the game, and a list of them can be found by visiting IGN Cheats, or simply by clicking here. Keep in mind that by using cheats and codes, you won't be able to save your game, nor will you be able to earn Trophies or Achievements anymore. So be sure to cheat off an alternate save, if you cheat at all!
Is there violence or nudity in the game? Can I disable these features?
There is plenty of violence in Red Dead Redemption, as well as quite a bit of nudity. The violence isn't exactly over the top, or any worse than it is some other games, but the nudity can sometimes be described as being of the XXX variety (as in, there are sex scenes that leave very little to the imagination). The violence cannot be skipped or disabled; a lot of the game revolves around you being violent, and there's no way around it. Sex and nudity scenes are in cutscenes, and can technically be skipped like any other cutscene, though you need to know precisely where they are to do so without seeing anything. And of course, there's vulgar commentary, conversations and dialogue going on incessantly. So in other words, if violence and nudity concerns you, you might want to stay far, far away from this game.
I'm having connectivity issues when playing online. What gives?
Out of the box, Red Dead Redemption for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 doesn't work right for a lot of gamers when playing online. To fix these issues, you'll need to connect to PlayStation Network or Xbox Live and download available patches when prompted to do so. These should fix some of your connectivity and quality issues online, and will institute myriad fixes to help you have a better online experience. You may not be able to avoid downloading those patches and still play online, however, so if you're still having issues after all patches are installed, you may want to consider your internet connection itself as the problem.
Can I sleep with prostitutes, or do anything else of that nature in the game?
No. This isn't Grand Theft Auto IV. John Marston is a happily married man, and though you can rest assured that you'll run into vixens all over the wild west, you won't be able to enter into any inappropriate contact with any of them. If that disappoints you for some strange reason, then sorry.
Can I carry on relationships with women, like in Grand Theft Auto IV?
No, you certainly cannot. Unlike Grand Theft Auto IV, relationships don't play any sort of role in this game.
What is a Stranger? Where do I find them?
Strangers are just that -- persons completely unknown to John Marston at the point of initial contact. You'll find them all over the wild west, strewn throughout towns and wilderness alike. When you run into them, you can ignore them, or enter into conversations with them. Strangers will then enlist you to help them, allowing you to perform certain tasks for them that will translate into money and items, as well as work towards your completion percentage of the overall single player experience.
How do I lose a bounty over my head?
There are two fundamental ways to lose a bounty that's over your head. Naturally, a bounty is earned at the outset by committing some sort of crime, whether it's murder, theft, or whatever else. Once that happens, a bounty warning will appear on-screen, with how much money is currently taken out on you for your return, dead or alive. As the red text of bounty dissipates, you're closer and closer to losing the active bounty. This can be done by staying away from pursuing lawmen and bounty hunters. The other easier, more effective way to lose a bounty is to simply deliver up a Pardon Letter to a local wire station, which will eradicate your bounty immediately.
Top Wiki Contributors
Need assistance with editing this wiki? Check out these resources:
You must be logged in to post a comment.
blog comments powered by Disqus