10 HIDDEN Side Quests You Missed in Red Dead Redemption 2
To the Ends of the Earth
Even if you played Red Dead 2 to one hundred percent completion at launch and havent replayed the game since, you undoubtedly still missed this one because it was added to the PC versions launch before becoming available for everyone else. Youll find this stranger mission near Twin Stack Pass and while its not a very memorable quest, nothing more than a simple herb fetch quest, the Herbalist William will become a random encounter after this initial mission popping up at random points around the map, constantly asking you to track down even more varied herbs for him in exchange for numerous recipes. Too bad we didnt get more additions like this after launch.
Help a Brother Out
While exploring Saint Denis, Arthur might cross paths with a monk and should you interact with him, Brother Dorkins will ask Arthur to investigate what he believes is a front for child trafficking. Inside, Arthur can either intimidate the shop owner to reveal the missing childrens location or uncover the clues for himself, eventually finding two small children chained to a wall in the basement. Brother Dorkin will offer Arthur a reward for his services, in which the only right thing to do is turn it down. Its also only by completing this mission you can unlock the Brothers and Sisters, One and All mission in which Arthur must retrieve a Nuns stolen crucifix.
A Better World, A New Friend
A mission only discoverable by noticing and picking up some posters found in Valentine, requesting perfect animal carcasses for use in an animal exhibit. These include everything from rabbits, squirrels, possums and a number of different birds across five separate hunts, the last of which is only available in the epilogue. These hunts can often be challenging due to the requirement that the animals be in perfect condition. Upon completion, Ms. Hobbs will gift John a Squirrel Statue which John proudly displays on his mantle. This in turn leads to another hidden quest as it would seem Abigail isnt as fond of it as John is, leading to her routinely hiding it around the farm until eventually at one of the tallest peaks in the game. Talk about dedication.
The Widow of Willards Rest
If players are exploring north of Annesburg, they likely stumbled upon a lone cabin in the woods and a woman quietly crying over a fresh grave. The woman, Charlotte Balfour, is mourning the loss of her husband while also worrying about her future as she believes she will starve and die alone. Encountering Charlotte on three separate occasions, Arthur can help her learn how to hunt and survive in the wilds. During their second encounter, she will invite Arthur in for dinner and he will suffer a severe attack from his tuberculosis. By the third visit, Charlotte is much more confident of her survival and thanks Arthur, owing her life and survival to the time he took to teach her. Its entirely optional, but furthers Arthurs character development late in the game. Unfortunately if you go to her cabin during the epilogue its revealed that Charlotte did not survive, just as she predicted.
The Iniquities of History
The great thing about missions in Red Dead Redemption 2 is many of them end up being much more than they initially seem. Outside the Rhodes train station, players can find Jeremiah Compson who has had his house and belongings seized by the bank and is now home to a group of squatters. He begs the player to retrieve some of his most prized possessions, a ledger, a pocket watch and a revolver from the property and upon finding these items and exploring further, its clear Jeremiah is not all he seems. As it turns out, Jeremiah had deep ties and dealings in the slave trade and did horrible things to the slaves under his watch. Upon confronting Jeremiah about his dealings, hell attempt to shoot the player, but his gun will jam, and its up to the player to decide his fate, but we all know the correct answer here.
The American Inferno, Burnt Out
Only accessible to John in the epilogue, this five-part quest sees John cross paths with one of Dutchs favorite authors, Evelyn Miller who is working diligently on his next great novel. Once you reach his cabin, youll have to save him from a group of hunters he antagonized, this leads to Miller eventually locking himself in his cabin, vowing not to eat, drink or even leave his cabin until his novel is completed. John will bring Miller food and water on two separate occasions before eventually discovering Millers plan was naturally ill-advised and he had long since died of starvation in his cabin. John can then grant the authors final wish and burn his remains and his cabin along with his unfinished work.
A Fine Night For It
If youve been trying to avoid the Night Folk after your first encounter, this is not only a mission you might have missed, but also actively avoided. Only available between the hours of 10PM and 5AM, the player will encounter a stranger outside of Lemoyne who will ask for their help exorcising the Night Folk who have taken over the property. Along the way, hell point out numerous dead bodies, killed ritualistically by the Night Folk until they encounter the group of them holed up inside. Naturally this isnt the end of the encounter, and more Night Folk will attack from the woods. Theyre some of the most dangerous encounters in the game and can insta-kill the player in a single hit, so speed and accuracy is of the most importance in these encounters.
The UFO Map
While many players likely stumbled onto the cabin of the UFO cult and had already encountered the UFO, many dont know there is actually a second encounter within the game that requires quite a bit more detective work to track down. At a randomized location around Lake Isabella, players will find the remains of a frozen couple desperately clutching a map in their frozen hands. Players need to track down the location of the viewpoint on the map near the top of Mount Shawn and wait until nightfall. If they manage to find the correct location, another UFO will drop from the sky, giving players a much clearer view of the craft than at the UFO cult, albeit a much less close encounter.
The Smell of the Grease Paint
The Smell of the Grease Paint is a mission unlike any other in the game and demonstrates that the Wild West isnt always a serious place. Entering the saloon in the Van Horn Trading Post, Arthur will be asked by Miss Marjorie to find the missing half of her act, a magician called Magnifico. Tracking the magician down, he seems to have no desire to return to the act and disappears in numerous puffs of colored smoke as Arthur chases him down, eventually leading him back to Miss Marjorie. Arthur is then invited to attend their show which ends up being quite entertaining, until Magnifico once again goes on the run, requiring Arthur to hunt him down again. Its goofy but entertaining which is a nice reprieve from all the death and desperation in the rest of the game.
The Carolina Parakeets
One of the few missions in which the players actions technically have a real-world effect, the Carolina Parakeets are already an endangered species when Red Dead Redemption 2 starts and were declared completely extinct in 1939, with the last confirmed sighting of the tiny bird in 1910. By killing, accidental or not, the first Carolina Parakeet, Arthurs honor will drop, and the game warns the player the bird is an endangered species. By hunting down another 15, the game will once again warn more direly, that the birds population is facing extinction. If the player persists and kills 25 Carolina Parakeets, the game will inform the player The Carolina Parakeet has been wiped off the face of the Earth. Good hunting, you monster!
Which mission did you miss entirely in Red Dead Redemption 2? Share the quests you didnt know existed in the comments below.
