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5 things to do after beating Red Dead Redemption 2’s campaign
Red Dead Redemption 2’s campaign is epic but isn’t the end of your Western journey. Here’s what lies beyond. Caution: Red Dead Redemption 2 story spoilers ahead.
Despite it now feeling ancient with its initial release in 2018, Red Dead Redemption 2 can still be regarded as one of the greatest games of all time. It's still played by a mass audience today and still has players who haven't completed the vast story mode.
The game has six chapters of story missions, and it also has two unexpected epilogues, both of which need to be played, in full, for the credits to roll.
The credits run for just over 30 minutes and include approximately 3,000 names. After this - you're set loose again into the world and there are no more main story missions. Saying this... there's still a bunch to do.
You can spend hours sightseeing, or completing Stranger missions, or collecting dinosaur bones, or hunting for perfect pelts. You can go to the vaudeville show in Saint Denis. You can break bad at the Van Horn Trading Post, a place so criminal that the law will not pursue you there.
There are also some really obscure Easter eggs, should you take the time to hunt them down. So before you leave the tale of Arthur Morgan behind and fully commit to Red Dead Online, here are five things you might want to try first.
Fair warning: In order to talk about the coolest stuff you can do post-game, the ending will be discussed. So, spoiler warning from here on in.
We missed your stew, buddy
© Rockstar Games
01
Find all the living Van der Linde gang members
Now that you're playing as John Marston, you can find every one of your former gang members who also survived. Most of them are doing quite well. Pearson is running the general store in Rhodes. Mary-Beth is writing trashy novels, and can be found waiting on the the train platform at Valentine. Tilly married well, and you can bump into her near the tailor in Saint Denis. Rains Fall is at the train station in Annesburg; his tribe settled in Canada. If you keep up with the newspapers, you can even read about Reverend Swanson, who started a new church in New York.
All of these encounters come with unique dialogue, and provide perfect closure. Tilly will even write you a letter, giving you additional information and context — particularly about Karen, whom Tilly presumes is dead.
So that covers everyone; Uncle, Abigail, and Jack live with you. Sadie and Charles both left the country during the credits. And as for Dutch, Bill, and Javier? If you played Red Dead Redemption 1, you already know what happened to them.
Pay your respects to a dear friend
© Rockstar Games
02
Find all the dead Van der Linde gang members...
And now, for something a little bit more morbid. You can visit all the gang members who died during the game by visiting their graves; they're all buried a short approximation from where they died. Jenny Kirk and Davey Callender, who died before the game's events, can be found in the northwest corner of the map. Hosea Matthews and Lenny Summers, who died during a bank robbery, can be found to the north of Saint Denis.
Sean McGuire can be found northwest of Rhodes. Susan Grimshaw is to the southwest of Elysian Pool. Kieran Duffy is buried east of Braithwaite Manor and Eagle Flies is north of Bacchus Bridge, on the west side of the river.
You can visit Micah Bell, back at the cabin where you last confronted and killed him. His body is frozen and unburied, and you can pick up his customised revolver.
We'll start you off on your hunt. Head to the location on the map above. That's where you can find the grave of Arthur Morgan. It'll be decorated with flowers if your Arthur led an honorable life.
He's still looking for Gavin, everyone
© Rockstar Games
03
Find Arthur's old friends
In Red Dead Redemption 2, your actions impact the game's world and how people treat you. And if while playing as John, you run into people whose lives Arthur impacted, they'll remember him fondly.
Hamish Sinclair, the one legged veteran who Arthur helped by lassoing his escaped horse, will take John fishing. Mickey, the veteran in Valentine who Arthur took a moment to talk to, will give a heartbreaking monologue about what Arthur meant to him. Revisit as many of these random encounters as you can.
Armadillo will see better days than this
© Rockstar Games
04
Visit Armadillo and be horrified
Remember the town of Armadillo from Red Dead Redemption 1? It was the "starter" town of the game, the rough equivalent to Valentine in Red Dead Redemption 2. But if you visit Armadillo in Red Dead Redemption 2, it's a catastrophe. Because of a cholera outbreak, people are dying in the streets, literally.
There are emaciated, burnt bodies wherever you go. There are moaning people propped up against walls. Used caskets lie out in the open, presumably because the townspeople lack the time or the energy left to bury them. It’s truly horrific.
Remember to ride against the wind to make yourself imperceptible to animals
© Rockstar Games
05
Become a rugged outdoorsman
And lastly, if you're a completionist, consider being a full-time hunter. There are 16 legendary animals; it's unlikely you've bagged all of them by the time the credits roll. The trapper can use these legendary pelts, plus perfect pelts and feathers, to create a variety of new clothes. John can unlock additional clothes by completing hunting, horseback, and other laddered challenges.
You can also visit the Fence and access the crafting menu; lots of the talismans, which are used to buff your health, stamina, and dead eye, require a spare animal part, such as a bison horn or an alligator tooth.
And speaking of completionism, there's lots of find-and-fetch questing that you can do, if you simply love the game's atmosphere and don't want to leave it. There's treasure maps, and dinosaur bones. There's cigarette cards, which you can collect and sell as a set. There are legendary gunslingers, whom you can duel for notoriety. It's nearly never-ending.
