Rockstar Games has a weird habit of hiding their best writing in the places most people never look. You spend sixty hours tracking down Dutch’s "plan," but honestly? The soul of the game is in the question marks. Those white patches on the map that pop up when you're just trying to hunt a deer.
If you’re hunting for all stranger missions RDR2 has to offer, you're looking at about 30 distinct storylines. Some are just one-off gags. Others, like the saga of Hamish Sinclair or the tragic descent of Edith Downes, carry more emotional weight than the main plot.
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Why Some Missions Just Vanish
The biggest mistake people make is thinking they can "save" everything for the epilogue. You can't. Rockstar built this world to change as time passes. If Arthur doesn't help certain people, they don't just sit there waiting for eight years until John Marston shows up. They die. Or they move on.
Take The Widow of Willard’s Rest. If you don't teach Charlotte how to hunt as Arthur in Chapter 6, you’ll find her body in the cabin later as John. It’s brutal. It’s also one of the few missions that feels like Arthur is actually "redeeming" something.
Then there's the Fundraiser woman in Saint Denis. You see her standing on the corner, asking for donations for the memorial hall. If you don't talk to her before the gang flees the city, that's it. Mission gone.
The Weird, The Sad, and The Serial Killer
You’ve probably seen the "Look Upon My Works" graffiti under the train tracks. That’s the start of American Dreams. It’s not a traditional mission because it doesn't give you a map marker. You have to find three different "pieces" of a map tucked into the mouths of severed heads across the frontier.
Most players stumble on the first one and then forget. Don't. The payoff in the basement near Valentine is one of the most unsettling scenes in gaming history.
The Heavy Hitters
- The Veteran (Hamish Sinclair): Found by O'Creagh's Run. It’s a four-part story about a one-legged soldier and a giant boar. Pro tip: wait until the final part to play as John if you want to keep Hamish's horse, Buell, forever.
- Arcadia for Amateurs: Albert Mason is basically the only person in the game who isn't trying to kill you. You just help him take photos. It’s a nice break from the constant gunfights.
- The Noblest of Men, and a Woman: This starts in the smaller Valentine saloon. You get a camera and four photos of legendary gunslingers. It’s technically a side quest, but it rewards you with unique weapons like Flaco’s Revolver and Granger’s Revolver.
The "Strangest" Stranger
We have to talk about the Strange Man. If you played the first Red Dead, you know him. In RDR2, he doesn't have a traditional mission marker. Instead, he has a shack in Bayall Edge.
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As you progress through the game, a painting in his house slowly completes itself. If you visit as John after 100% completion, you might see him standing behind you in the mirror. He doesn't say a word. He just watches. It’s easily the most debated piece of lore in the community—is he God? The Devil? Death?
Honestly, the game never tells you. That’s why it works.
Missing Pieces and Honor Requirements
A few missions only show up if you’re actually a decent human being. Do Not Seek Absolution (the Edith Downes story) requires a high honor level in Chapter 6. If you’ve been playing like a psychopath, you won't even see the prompt.
Then you have the "fetch" quests. A Test of Faith (dinosaur bones) and Geology for Beginners (rock carvings). These are long. They’re tedious. But the ending of the rock carvings mission—involving a time-traveling mural and a baby with a birthmark—is too weird to skip.
How to Actually Find Everything
If you're aiming for that 100% trophy, you only actually need to finish 10 stranger strands. But if you want the full experience, you need to be thorough.
- Check the map at different times of day. Some strangers, like the "A Fine Night For It" folks (the Night Folk), only appear at night in the bayou.
- Read your mail. Characters like Algernon Wasp or the paleontologist Deborah MacGuiness will send you letters that trigger the next stage of their quests.
- Don't ignore the camp. While not "Strangers" in the technical sense, camp requests from Pearson or Mary-Beth are missable and provide unique lore.
The best way to experience all stranger missions RDR2 has is to treat the game like a slow-burn western. Stop sprinting your horse everywhere. If you see a plume of smoke or a faint white circle, go check it out. Usually, there's a guy who wants you to help him find a circus lion (which is actually a dog with a mane glued on) or a scientist trying to build a robot in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Check your "Tasks" menu frequently by tapping left on the D-pad. If a mission strand like The Ties That Bind Us or The Artist's Way hasn't updated in a while, it usually means you need to wait 24-48 in-game hours or move to the next story chapter. Keep an eye on your map icons after major story beats—that's usually when the next phase of a stranger's life begins.