Highlights
- Completing stranger missions in Red Dead Redemption 2 can offer generous rewards and earn Arthur new allies, which is valuable considering the number of enemies he encounters throughout the game.
- Players can still complete stranger missions even after finishing the game, so it's a good idea to seek out these side missions for additional rewards and story content.
- The article highlights several memorable stranger missions, including encounters with a genius scientist and his robot, twin brothers competing for a woman's affections, a disillusioned author with a tragic fate, and humorous encounters with circus performers and misplaced animals.
While galloping through the gigantic map of Red Dead Redemption 2, Arthur will occasionally come across a few individuals who will ask him for a favor. Whether he agrees to help the stranger in need is entirely up to the player, but there are quite a few that are well worth doing since they can offer some very generous rewards, and most importantly, will earn Arthur a brand new ally, which goes a long way considering the amount of enemies he makes throughout the course of the game.
It's worth noting that even after the final events of the game, players will still be able to complete these stranger missions just in case they miss out on them the first time. However, it's still a good idea to seek out these wonderful and weird RDR2 side missions whenever Arthur manages to catch a break from the main story.
9 A Bright Bouncing Boy
- Where to find: Saint Denis Pond (Chapter 4)
While many people regarded Marko Dragic as somewhat of a raving madman, no one could have expected what this genius scientist was actually hiding in his lab. After completing a few quick tasks for Marko, he will invite Arthur back to his lab to take a look at his very own robot.
Initially, the machine crumbles to the floor after walking a few steps, but if the player returns a day after the quest is finished, they will find Marko lying in a pool of his own blood, with the robot nowhere to be seen. The truth is, the robot has actually escaped up into the Grizzlies where Arthur can find it sitting on a mountain ledge, mumbling "papa" to itself over and over again. This sci-fi inspired mission is incredibly memorable and one that manages to be funny, chilling, and saddening all at once.
8 Oh, Brother
- Where to find: Valentine (Chapter 4)
Proetus and Acrisius are two crude twin brothers who are competing for the chance to get with Helen, a woman they both admire dearly. In order to prove which one of them is more suitable for the young lady, they both decide to prove their manliness in the silliest of ways, including placing tiny bottles on their heads which Arthur must shoot off with pinpoint accuracy.
After the first part of the mission, they then ask Arthur to beat them both up, and eventually decide to hurl themselves over a waterfall while hiding in barrels. It's a miracle these two actually manage to survive their ridiculous antics, but considering they are named after the mythological Greek brothers who literally argued in their mother's womb, it shouldn't be too surprising that they would go to these extremes.
7 The American Inferno, Burnt Out
- Where to find: Tall Trees outcrop (epilogue only)
Once players have reached the epilogue and are able to roam the Wild West as John Marston, they will be able to meet the disillusioned author, Evelyn Miller, who is suffering from a severe case of writer's block. After spending a little quality time with him, Evelyn will eventually lock himself inside his own cabin, prompting John to drop some food by his front door to make sure he's eating.
After returning to the cabin after a day though, it turns out Evelyn had unfortunately become too obsessed with his writing, as he can be found lying dead on the floor. However, he did leave behind an expensive pocket watch and a few extra goodies that can be sold for a pretty penny once John leaves and sets the cabin ablaze.
6 The Iniquities Of History
- Where to find: Rhodes Train Station (Chapter 3)
At first, it seems as though Jeremiah Compson has been wrongly screwed of all his money and possessions by the bank, something he tells Arthur while sleeping on a bench near the train station in Rhodes. Things become a little more complicated though when Arthur actually infiltrates Jeremiah's home and stumbles across a secret underground basement which can be accessed by finding a trap door.
Here it is revealed that Jeremiah was actually a slave catcher who had lost all his money once the slaves were emancipated. This is one of the rare instances where killing a person will actually earn Arthur a little bit of honor, but it's hard to argue that Jeremiah didn't have this coming in the first place.
5 He's British, Of Course
- Where to find: North of Dewberry Creek (Chapter 3)
It's always refreshing to run into a lighthearted and comedic stranger mission to help counteract the seriousness of the main story, but this mission only gets funnier the longer it goes on. While traveling just north of Dewberry Creek, Arthur will encounter a troubled circus performer who claims his animals have all escaped after his caravan crashed into a boulder.
First off, the man asks Arthur to find his "tiger," which turns out to be a Labrador, while his "zebra" is simply just a mule painted over with stripes. By this point, it would be easy to assume that the "lion" is going to be nothing more than a large dog, but it surprisingly turns out to be the real thing. Not only is this one of the most humorous missions in the game, but it also rewards Arthur with a gem that can be sold for a staggering $250.
4 The Widow Of Willard's Rest
- Where to find: North of Annesburg (Chapter 5)
Rather than being over the top with humor or featuring weird and whacky characters, this stranger mission is actually very heartfelt and even dips into Arthur's backstory a little bit. Once players come across Charlotte who is mourning the loss of her husband, they will spend a few days trying to get her back on her feet by enjoying some hunting and fishing.
After a few days, Charlotte will start to wear better clothes and feel a lot more confident about herself, and if the player returns to her cabin in the epilogue as John, she will even welcome him into her home as a thank-you for all the effort Arthur made to help the poor woman.
3 The Noblest Of Men, And A Woman
- Where to find: Valentine saloon (Chapter 2)
Players can access this stranger mission as soon as they first enter Valentine, and it's well worth doing since it can help familiarize players with the map thanks to how much traveling is involved. When Arthur finds the spunky and charismatic Theodore, he is desperately trying to get some information out of the famed gunslinger Jim Calloway to write a book about him, but the man is too deep into his whiskey to say anything important.
Instead, Theodore tries his luck by asking Arthur to hunt down four mighty gunslingers who once went toe-to-toe with Calloway, leading to some very exciting encounters. Once they've all been captured, Arthur will be challenged to one final duel by Calloway himself in a final attempt to prove his worth as a gunslinger.
2 Geology for Beginners
- Where to find: Northwest of Strawberry (Chapter 2)
Rockstar is no stranger to putting strange and futuristic easter eggs in its games, and in Red Dead Redemption 2, this takes the form of Francis Sinclair is hinted to be a time traveler. After finding 10 rock murals that seem to depict strange future events and symbols, Arthur must then return to Francis' cabin, only to find that the fast-talking wise man is no longer there.
Instead, a woman can be found holding a baby who not only has the same birthmark as the man who gave the quest but also shares the same name. The player will still be handsomely rewarded for their efforts, just as Francis promised, but it's the strange and uncanny nature of this questline that really makes it stand out, having spawned plenty of conspiracy theories among the fanbase.
1 The Veteran
- Where to find: The Banks of O' Creagh's Run (Chapter 6)
When Arthur first approaches the one-legged veteran known as Hamish, he asks the protagonist if he can fetch his horse so that he can get his prosthetic leg back from the horse's pouch. What starts off as a fairly comedic mission becomes truly heartwarming as Arthur spends four in-game days fishing and hunting with the weathered old man, all until he meets his demise when attacked by a massive boar.
As Hamish reflects on the time he spent with his new friend, he generously offers to give Arthur his very own horse, Buell. To make things even more bittersweet, Arthur will earn a moderate amount of honor upon first riding Buell after Hamish's death, making for one of the saddest missions in the entire game.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.