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Best in the West achievement in Red Dead Redemption 2

Best in the West

Attain 100% completion.

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How to unlock the Best in the West achievement

  • xTGExTGE
    Locked 27 Oct 2018 10 Nov 2018
    Welcome to the Red Dead Redemption 2 guide on how to obtain 100% completion! This guide is based on information found in the Red Dead Redemption 2 Collectors Guide which makes it much easier to get straight to the point with this. The following guide will be broken up into two sections with the first being the actual objectives themselves as they're seen in the Completion tab and the solutions on how to complete the objectives.

    Please note that this is still a work in progress with Video and Texts guides for certain sections still being written up. If you have any questions until then, feel free to drop a comment and I'll give you some assistance.

    First, I'll list all the requirements here then I will list their solutions afterward.

    Missions And Events
    - Complete all 107 story missions required to finish the story.
    - Complete 10 stranger mission strands.
    - Complete five bounty hunter missions.
    - Have 25 chance encounters.
    - Survive a gang ambush.
    - Clear all gang hideouts.

    Collectables
    - Find one point of interest.
    - Find the 9 Graves of your fallen companions.
    - Collect a Complete Card Set of cigarette cards.
    - Complete "A Test of Faith"
    - Complete "A Fisher of Fish"
    - Complete "Duchesses and Other Animals"
    - Complete "Geology for Beginners"
    - Complete "A Better World, A New Friend"
    - Complete a treasure hunt chain.
    - Find all 20 Dreamcatchers.

    Compendium
    - Discover 50 animals by studying them.
    - Discover 10 equipment items.
    - Discover 10 fish species.
    - Discover all Gangs.
    - Discover 10 horse breeds.
    - Discover 20 plant species.
    - Discover 48 Weapons.

    Player
    _ Reach max health, stamina, and dead eye.
    - Achieve level 4 Bonding with your Horse.
    - Complete all Challenges.

    Miscellaneous
    - Discover 5 shacks.
    - Kill 5 Legendary Animals
    - Play each table game once.
    - Interact with 5 special characters.
    - Take a bath (available in hotels).
    - See a show.
    - See a live Theater Show.
    - Craft 1 recipe from six different category types.
    - Complete a Home Robbery, a Shop Robbery, a Coach Robbery, and a Train Robbery.

    Solutions

    Complete all 107 story missions required to finish the story - You will be required to complete all 107 story missions across all 8 of RDR2's story chapters. In the spoiler below, you'll find the unlock requirements for some of these along with all mission names.
    *** Spoiler - click to reveal ***


    Complete 10 stranger mission strands. - During the course of the game, you'll come across characters called "Strangers" who will show up on the map as white '?' symbols. These people will appear over the course of the game and as far as I've experienced, many can be saved until the epilogue of the game if you miss them. Here is a list of all stranger missions (excluding collectibles which will be shown later):
    *** Spoiler - click to reveal ***


    Complete five bounty hunter missions - You can only do these missions after completing the time-sensitive mission called "Good, Honest, Snake Oil" which is available from chapter 2 until the end of chapter 5. Here is a video Guide:
    Lindsey Wofford - Complete "Good, Honest, Snake Oil" in chapter 2 and her poster will be found inside Saint-Denis police station. Here is a video guide:
    Ellie Anne Swan - Complete "Good, Honest, Snake Oil" in chapter 2 and her poster will be found inside Valentine's Sheriff Station. Here is a video guide:
    Joshua Brown - Complete "Blessed Are The Meek?" story mission in chapter 2 and wait until Strawberry is no longer under lockdown. You can find his poster in Strawberry Jail.
    Robbie Laidlaw - Complete "The Joys of Civilization" story mission in chapter 4 and his poster will be in Rhodes train station.
    Anthony Foreman - Complete "Gainful Employment" During the first epilogue and is only accessible if you did not kill him during the end of chapter 4's "No, No, Thrice, No" story mission.
    Otis Skinner - Complete "Gainful Employment" During the first epilogue and his poster can be found at Blackwater Police Station.
    Elias Green - Complete "Gainful Employment" During the first epilogue and his poster can be found at Black Water Police Station.
    Joaquin Arroyo - Complete "Gainful Employment" During the first epilogue and witness the "Del Lobo Execution" chance encounter in Tumbleweed. His poster can be found in the Tumbleweed jail.
    Esteban Cortez - Complete "Gainful Employment" During the first epilogue and witness the "Del Lobo Execution" chance encounter in Tumbleweed. His poster can be found in the Tumbleweed jail.

    Have 25 Chance Encounters - These can be found all over RDR2's map as little grey blimps that pop up with usually a random character calling for help or speaking directly to you. This will come naturally during your adventure if you stop to help people.

    Survive a Gang Ambush - During your time in RDR2, you are most likely going to be ambushed by one of games 7 gangs. These will most of the time happen while you're casually riding along the dirt roads and you'll know if you've encountered a gang (especially O'Driscal ambush) if they mention Dutch by name. There will usually be 4-6 other gang members around them as they hold you at gunpoint. DO NOT FIGHT THEM ON YOUR HORSE.

    Compelte all Gang Hideouts - There are 7 gang hideouts in RDR2 and can be found at the following locations:
    Beaver Hollow - West of Annesburg.
    Six Point Cabin - Under the U of Cumberland Forest.
    Hanging Dog Ranch - North of the E for West Elizabeth's west.
    Shady Belle - Southwest of Saint-Denis, between Saint-Denis and Rhodes.
    Thieves Landing - A Town to the east of McFarlane's Ranch.
    Twin Rocks - Northwest of Armadillo in Austin.
    Fort Mercer - In the Rio Bravo area of Austin (Where the first game started).

    Find one point of interest - These points of interest are known as sketchable sites and will usually be put on your map once you find them. Until I create a map for this, I will simply place a video below for "Strange Statues" which is a sketch you can find in a hidden cave.

    Find the Nine Graves of your fallen companions - This can only be done after completing Chapter 6. You must find 9 graves of fallen companions that you have lost during the game. Be warned, this video will contain spoilers naturally.

    Collect a Complete Card Set of cigarette cards. - You can actually get all 144 cards in the span of 10 minutes if you so wish. You can do it easily if you have the Legend of The East Satchel which lets you buy 99 of any item in the game. You can craft it at Pearson's Camp Spot or wait until the epilogue and buy it from a Fence, either way, you're gonna need at least $2000. Here is a video guide below showing how to do this method.

    Complete "A Test of Faith" - This mission can be started as early as Chapter 2 on the road between the first camp of the game and Flatneck Station. You'll need to travel all over the game's map and find 30 dinosaur bones for this women. You Won't be able to complete this however until the epilogue (unless you can survive the trip through black water) so spoilers ahead for the following video.

    Complete "A Fisher of Fish" - Guide Coming Soon

    Complete "Duchesses and Other Animals" - Guide Coming Soon

    Complete "Geology for Beginners" - Geology for Beginners is a collectible side quest which can be started by speaking with a stranger named Francis from chapter 2 onwards. He can be found just north of the town Strawberry and will ask that you find the 10 stone carvings across the map. Here is a video guide:

    Complete "A Better World, A New Friend" - Oh god, where to even start with this one. You'll need to complete 5 hunting request by interacting with posters inside train stations that don't have any markers on the map. You'll then need to hunt down a ton of smaller animals such as birds, rats, chipmunks, etc. with some taking as long as 6 hours to spawn.... Then after that, you need to wait multiple days and hunt a squirrel in 6 different locations. Overall this can take up to 20ish hours to complete. Here is a video guide:

    Complete a treasure hunt chain - Red Dead Redemption features 4 treasure hunt chains for you to complete. You will only need 1 for this, however, all of them can be started during Chapter 2.
    The first Treasure Hunt is The Jack Hall Gang and is started by speaking with a 'Stranger' north of Flatneck Station. Refuse to buy the map from him for $10 and he will sell it to you for $5. Here is a video guide on the locations:

    The second Treasure Hunt is The Poisonous Trail and is started by finding the map under a bed up in the snowy region of Cairn Lake. It's important to note that this Treasure Map is the only one never given in-game by an NPC. Here is a video guide on the locations:

    The third Treasure Hunt is High Stakes which can actually be done in Chapter 2 before the last mission. You'll find this map in several locations on a man who's talking to himself and will startle upon you showing up and quickly try to run away. Kill him and take the map from his body. Here is a video guide on the locations:

    The final Treasure Hunt is the Pre-Order Exclusive "Les Tresor Des Morts" map. You can ONLY get this treasure map by pre-ordering the digital versions of RDR2 before August 15th, 2018. Physical editions do not come with it and I've yet to hear of anyone who has a physical version doing this. You can start it by searching the jail cell in the Burned Down Town just north of Flatneck Station by a dead body. Here is a video guide on the locations:


    Collect all 20 dreamcatchers - There are 20 dreamcatchers all over the upper regions of RDR2 and can be collected as early as Chapter 2. If you're someone who enjoys hunting then this is something you should do ASAP as it will unlock the Ancient Arrowhead which will make your stamina when drawing back a bow last twice as long. Here is a video guide to all dreamcatchers in the best order to grab them:

    Discover 50 animals by studying them - There are well over 110 animals in RDR2 so when you see an animal in the wild, sneak up on it and hold the button that you use to speak to people then hold LB to study it. Click the spoiler link for a complete list:
    *** Spoiler - click to reveal ***


    Discover 10 equipment items - Complete list coming soon

    Discover 10 fish species - Comeplete list coming soon

    Discover 10 horse breeds - Complete list coming soon

    Discover 20 plant species - Complete list coming soon

    Discover 48 weapons - Due to the spoiler-filled nature of some of these weapons, I'm going to list them all in the spoiler tab below. There are 59 weapons that can be found in RDR2 with a few being missable.
    *** Spoiler - click to reveal ***


    This guide is still a work in progress.

    Guide not helping? View 5 more guides for this achievement.

    Showing most recent comments. View all comments.
    INiw00One of the Achievements, Im most proud of. Worth any minute, cause you get to see the game different here and there. Chapeau to R*.
    Posted by INiw00 On 27 Nov 21 at 14:02
    Bleeding HeavenThanks for this. Using this on a daily base to check my progress and if i forgot something.
    Posted by Bleeding Heaven On 17 Dec 21 at 22:18
    GoatlipsDiscover 48 weapons:

    The final version of RDR2 actually has 63 or 64 weapons, no longer "59.":

    1. Cattleman Revolver
    2. Granger’s Revolver
    3. Flaco’s Revolver
    4. John’s Cattleman Revolver
    5. Double-Action Revolver
    6. Algernon’s Revolver
    7. Micah’s Revolver
    8. High Roller Revolver
    9. Schofield Revolver
    10. Calloway’s Revolver
    11. Otis Miller’s Revolver
    12. LeMat revolver
    13. Volcanic Pistol
    14. Semi-Automatic Pistol
    15. Mauser Pistol
    16. Midnight’s Pistol
    17. M1899 Pistol
    18. Carbine Repeater
    19. Lancaster Repeater
    20. Litchfield Repeater
    21. Evans Repeater
    22. Varmint Rifle
    23. Springfield Rifle
    24. Bolt Action Rifle
    25. Rolling Block Rifle
    26. Rare Rolling Block Rifle
    27. Carcano Rifle
    28. Sawed-Off Shotgun
    29. Double-Barreled Shotgun
    30. Rare Shotgun
    31. Pump-Action Shotgun
    32. Semi-Auto Shotgun
    33. Repeating Shotgun
    34. Bow
    35. Unarmed
    36. Fire Bottle
    37. Volatile Fire Bottle
    38. Dynamite
    39. Volatile Dynamite
    40. Throwing Knife
    41. Improved Throwing Knife
    42. Poison Throwing Knife
    43. Tomahawk
    44. Improved Tomahawk
    45. Homing Tomahawk
    46. Ancient Tomahawk
    47. Cleaver
    48. Machete
    49. Broken Pirate Sword
    50. Hunting Knife
    51. John’s Knife
    52. Antler Knife
    53. Civil War Knife
    54. Jawbone Knife
    55. Wide-Blade Knife
    56. Ornate Dagger
    57. Hatchet
    58. Hewing Hatchet
    59*(Requires GTAO account). Stone Hatchet
    59/60. Viking Hatchet
    60/61. Hunter Hatchet
    61/62. Rusted Hunter Hatchet
    62/63. Double Bit Hatchet
    63/64. Rusted Double Bit Hatchet
    Posted by Goatlips On 23 Mar at 23:22
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  • ScreeminEagle21ScreeminEagle21
    07 Feb 2019 07 Feb 2019
    I was having issues with the "Robberies" section of my 100% achievement. I was sure I had done them all but it still said 3/4. The game wants you to do one of a few rare robberies, not a generic robbery.

    The one I did you have to go to the gunsmith at Rhodes, check the right side and you will see a boy being held hostage in the basement. After seeing that, go in the store and "rob" it. You will be able to force him to get down there and then simply follow the instructions
    Showing all 3 comments.
    KillersquirelzHad the same problem and this worked great. Achievement popped the moment I asked what was in the basement. Actually felt kinda bad for the gunsmith.
    Posted by Killersquirelz On 02 Mar 19 at 12:20
    ResinousHashishI had to rob strawberry general store, peak in the window of the bottom to see a moonshine still, rob general store and hit up on DPAD, achievement popped.

    I guess the kid was already dead in the basement ;)
    Posted by ResinousHashish On 03 Aug 20 at 18:17
    FNX HITMAN FNXThank you so much, I had the exact same experience after being stuck at 99.7% complete, and it popped right after questioning the shopkeeper 😀 😀
    Posted by FNX HITMAN FNX On 06 May 22 at 00:15
  • The BozzThe Bozz
    08 Dec 2018 30 Nov 2018
    This is from powerpyx..

    Glitch Warning (Quest not progressing): When completing a Hunting Request (when sending a mail to Ms. Hobbs), make sure you do not have any other perfect carcasses for the next hunting request in your inventory! Otherwise, the game might glitch out and never give you the follow-up quest, thus making it impossible to complete the hunting requests and thus the 100% completion! There’s yet another glitch; when you’ve already gotten a bigger carcass (rabbit, opossum, skunk, beaver) and you saved the game after, but reloaded the save, then the carcass can simply disappear and is no longer checked off in your quest log. It is therefore best to keep these animals for last or to do the entire request in one sitting with no reloads. This is a gamebreaker and needs as many people to submit as possible..i had 160 plus hrs in and turned in my last set of hunting requests and did a save reload anyway i finished the mission at taxadermist house and it shows it complete under tasks but no checkmark for completion list...not sinking another second into this game unless it gets fixed so please people let it be known!
    Showing most recent comments. View all comments.
    jojoborneYes, it must have been patched. I did this in August 2019 and perfect carcasses I already had were ticked on new lists smile
    Posted by jojoborne On 04 Sep 19 at 14:37
    KanchanaburiI also didn't have problems and had items from the 4th while i was still working on my second. actually. i turned in 3 with having most of the 4th.
    Posted by Kanchanaburi On 07 Jul 20 at 16:15
    GoatlipsNB: Mrs Hobbs goes missing during Ch.2, leaving you a letter saying she's gone. I think you are left waiting for her final request till a later chapter, so I have some of the animals I know she'll ask for rotting in my pocket. Also, there's something about finding the taxidermy in several locations around the house in the end, but I don't remember what comes of it.
    Posted by Goatlips On 23 Mar at 23:34
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