Foxtrot

Well that's a good tip. I was assuming that exiting the game would be a technical "fold". Now I can just concentrate on getting high cards instead.

Strategy guide doesn’t say. I guess during play, you just untie and get the guy on the horse and back as soon as you can. I just mash the ‘run’ button as much as possible to make sure that the walking phase is as quick as possible.

Hmmm. Well I’ll see soon enough. Sure Buell might not be the best in terms of stats, but I have an emotional connection with that nag. Interestingly, when John went fishing with Hamish and caught the legendary northern pike, Hamish kept it. I was assuming that John would keep it to send to Mister Gill.

In my previous two play throughs, I enjoyed the Veteran missions most of all, making friends with Hamish and gaining Buell (the best gosh-darned horse in the West).. On my third (and final) play though, I started one of the missions with Arthur and then held back. I was so emotionally involved before that I wanted Buell to survive this time round - something that would have been impossible with Arthur. So I've saved the rest of the missions for John, for when the main story is done and I can concentrate on the exploration goals.

There’s gold in the ruins of Braithwaite Manor, not just the brooch.

How did you get beyond Blackwater as Arthur ?

Right next to the half sunken building with the little secret thing inside it...

You can catch the legras legendary fish from the shore.

Yeah, I should have quit and let the players respawn. I let myself get sucked into a gambling problem, that’s for sure. When Gambler 10 comes up, I’m going to try and see whether the two hands you win in the fixed poker game mission will carry over, then I just have to win the first hand after that.

That’s what I figured it would be like. I was unlucky to have a high-roller on the table who edged me with a better hand more often than not. He also busted other players when they were short, so I had to keep waiting for new players with a smaller pot. This table took a lot longer than Valentine, where I busted someone with ten minutes. I’m sure not playing poker in Saint Denis again!

I had problems busting someone in poker in Saint Denis. I saved this one for the story mission where you’re guaranteed a bust-out, but that doesn’t work (I read somewhere that it did, but not for me). So, I had to spend two and a half hours sat in the saloon in town before I finally busted someone. I’m sure not looking forward to the “win three hands in a row” challenge.

For Bandit 5 ($250 bounty), I just rolled into the centre of Saint Denis and started shooting people and kept shooting until I got killed. In hindsight, it’s a good idea to do this on foot if you want to ensure that your horse survives. Bandit 7 (rob $50 from townsfolk). The greenhouse where you meet Algernon Wasp - there’s rich looking folk there who are too dumb to carry weapons. Wait until two or three are together and rob them one after another - then ride off over the fields until your wanted level expires. Rinse and repeat. Robbing people during missions also counts towards this one.

Another idea is to let John do most of the treasure maps. It’s tempting to let Arthur do them, but he really doesn’t need a huge amount of cash (just weapons and one or two good horses, and many of those come for free).

A couple of tips here. The map lets you place your own markers by pressing one of the thumb sticks. This is great for when you notice something on the way to something else and you want to remember that the location for later on. Great for when you spot a gang hideout but don’t have time to deal with it right away. Herbs/plants don’t seem to respawn as quickly as animals, so when you pick plants, it can be a long time before they appear again in the same place. So, only pick plants that you actually need so you have more for later on. Buy oatcakes and hay for your horse. If you don’t have suitable food, feeding the horse may result in them being given herbs that might be better used in crafting. Aim to get the Satchel of the East when you can (Chapter three seems optimal), this gives you an almost unlimited inventory space and comes in very useful.

Well, they made horse testicles that grow and shrink with the temperature, they could have done the same with Arthur... And somehow, birds never perch in trees or bushes.

I hadn’t noticed that. But I did see that horse crap does stain snow.

Horses never piss either. Talk about fluid retention!

From the strategy guide... Weight has a parameter from 0 (skinny) to 20 (overweight). Arthur/John is considered ‘peak’ at 10. You naturally lose one point of weight every 24 in-game minutes unless you eat stuff, each type of food having its own calorific value that counteracts the weight loss. Being over weight will drain your cores at an accelerated rate (up to 25%) and your stamina meter faster (0.75% faster per increment), but will provide you with more damage resistance. Being under weight will do the same, but your damage resistance will suffer, but you correspondingly gain better stamina (same as above, but swap over damage resistance and stamina).

You get the Rolling Block Rifle during the “Sheep and the Goats” mission in Chapter 2. It’s scripted in, so you can’t avoid it. Some weapons are only available after story missions or during certain events.

Yeah, he knows about the buck trinket, it’s all of the long crisscrossing of the map to get to these things that’s wearing him out.... To me, it’s an integral part of the narrative. Arthur is forced to slow down to get all of these items. The irony is of course is that he’s running out of time...

I’m guessing that you haven’t got as far as the gambling challenges yet, or Herbalist 9... I do get what you’re saying here, but there’s plenty to be completely immersed in. Sometimes it does take a first play through and some research to really enjoy it to the fullest. Mir really is a mark of a good game that I’ve sunk 500 hours in it and not even half way through. I just love it.

I’ve put in almost 500 hours into this game so far, and I’ve not used the fast travel feature once. I took a train journey once, and that’s it. I just enjoy the exploration so much, I tend to wander all over the map and let myself get side tracked by doing the challenge tasks, legendary animals/fish and lots of other stuff.

You’re talking about Beta. I’d this RDR2 Online you’re talking about here or Story Mode?

Funny. I did exactly the same thing a few days ago, he gave one of the kids a spinning top as a present. I didn’t see them though. Doing this really makes you think about the huge amount of dialogue in the game and just how much we don’t get to hear for whatever reason...

I just camped by the side of the lake, slept until night and cantered my trusty steed northwards along the path. You don’t need to stop and search, just ride until you get attacked and then kill your cougar before it’s second attack. Dead-eye and an improved arrow to the face should give you a perfect pelt.