You're riding through the Heartlands, the sun is setting, and you realize your compendium is a mess. Specifically, the cigarette cards. It starts with one. Maybe you found a "Stars of the Stage" card on a random porch in Rhodes, or perhaps you picked up a "Famous Gunslingers" card while looting a cabin in the Grizzlies. Suddenly, you’re hooked. You want the 100% completion mark. But let’s be real: hunting down all cigarette cards rdr2 style is either a test of extreme patience or a massive drain on your in-game wallet.
Most players think they have to ride to every corner of the map. They spend hours squinting at interactive maps, dodging O'Driscolls, and accidentally riding their horse off cliffs just to find a single piece of cardboard in a basement. It's exhausting.
But there’s a secret. Well, it’s not a secret if you’re a veteran, but it’s the only way to keep your sanity. You don't actually have to find them all in the "wild." You just need a lot of cash and a very patient general store clerk.
The smoking habit that pays off
There are 144 cards in total. Twelve sets. Twelve cards per set.
If you're trying to find all cigarette cards rdr2 offers by exploring, you are looking at a cross-country trek that spans from the snowy peaks of Ambarino down to the dusty plains of New Austin. It’s a lot. Each set has its own flavor. You’ve got Prominent Americans, Vistas of America, Gems of the Beauty, and my personal favorite for the lore, Famous Gunslingers.
The quest officially kicks off when you meet Phineas T. Ramsbottom at Flatneck Station. He’s a nervous guy with a dream of collecting them all. He’ll pay you. Not just in pocket change, either. Completing these sets is one of the most reliable ways to get rare crafting materials like the Vintage Civil War Handcuffs (needed for the Alligator Tooth Talisman) and the Gold Jointed Bracelet.
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Here is the thing: collecting them is actually two different games. One is an exploration game. The other is a gambling game at the local shop.
Why the "General Store Method" is king
Look, I love the scenery in Red Dead Redemption 2 as much as anyone. Rockstar built a masterpiece. But after the fiftieth time I searched a shack only to find a duplicate card I already had, I gave up on the "natural" way.
If you want all cigarette cards rdr2 has to offer without losing your mind, go to the General Store in Saint Denis or Valentine. Buy Premium Cigarettes. Discard them. Buy more.
Wait, discard them? Yes. Your satchel can only hold so many packs. If you’re full, you can’t buy more. So you stand there, in front of the counter, buying a pack, opening it (which automatically adds the card to your collection), and tossing the cigarettes on the floor. It looks ridiculous. Arthur Morgan, the most feared outlaw in the West, just standing there throwing hundreds of cigarettes into the dirt.
It works.
If you have the Legend of the East Satchel, this process is way faster because you can hold 99 packs. Without it, you’re doing a lot of inventory management. Usually, it takes about $1,000 to $1,500 in-game credits to finish the entire 144-card collection this way. In the late game, that’s nothing. If you’ve finished the main story, you're sitting on a mountain of gold anyway. Spend it on the cards.
The sets you’re looking for
Every set rewards you differently. You shouldn't just dump them all at the post office at once. Well, you can, but it’s satisfying to see the rewards roll in.
- Amazing Inventions: This one is cool because it shows the "future" of the 1899 world.
- Artists, Writers, and Poets: Kinda boring, honestly, but necessary.
- Breeds of Horses: Essential for the equestrian nerds.
- Famous Gunslingers: These provide some great backstory for the legends you hear about in the saloons.
- Fauna of North America: Basically a checklist of things you’ve probably already shot.
The rewards for mailing these in include stuff like Eagle Feathers, Special Snake Oil, and even cold hard cash. The big one is the Vintage Civil War Handcuffs. You get those for completing your first full set. If you’re trying to max out your stats, you need that talisman.
The "Hard Way" (For the Purists)
Maybe you’re a masochist. Maybe you want to see every inch of the map. If you’re dead set on finding all cigarette cards rdr2 hidden locations manually, you need to know where to look. They aren't just sitting on tables.
They are on windowsills. They are inside chimneys of burned-out cabins. They are under the seats of abandoned wagons.
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Take the Black Widow card from the Amazing Inventions set. It’s inside a shack called Hanging Dog Ranch. If you haven't cleared out the gang there, you're in for a gunfight just for a piece of paper. Or the King of Hearts from the Stars of the Stage set. It’s in a specific room in the mansion at Braithwaite Manor. If you’ve already progressed past a certain point in Chapter 3, getting back in there is... let’s say "complicated."
There is a certain magic to finding them naturally. You find a card in a graveyard or a jail cell, and it feels like the world is lived in. Someone sat here. Someone smoked a pack and left their trash behind. It’s environmental storytelling at its best. But let’s be honest: finding 144 individual spots is a job, not a hobby.
Common misconceptions and glitches
I’ve seen people complain that their cards aren’t registering. Usually, it’s because they haven't actually spoken to Phineas yet. You can collect cards all day long, but the mission "Smoking and Other Hobbies" won't show up in your log until you meet him at the station.
Another thing? You don't lose the cards when you mail them. Well, Arthur "mails" them, but they stay checked off in your compendium. You’re mailing the physical cards, but the knowledge stays with you.
Some players think you can only get certain cards in the epilogue. This is technically true if you’re searching the map, because some cards are physically located in New Austin (Blackwater, Armadillo, Tumbleweed). However—and this is a big however—the General Store method bypasses this. You can get every single card in the game as early as Chapter 2 just by buying packs. If you want that 100% completion early, just start buying smokes.
Does the Honor system matter?
Nope.
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The store clerks don't care if you're a saint or a demon. They just want your money. In fact, if you have high honor, you get a discount at the shops. This makes the "buy and discard" method significantly cheaper. It’s the one time being a "good guy" actually saves you money on a smoking habit.
Organizing the chaos
When you’re down to those last five or six cards, the RNG (random number generation) can be a pain. You’ll keep pulling duplicates of the "World's Champions" set when all you need is one more "Marvels of Travel."
Don't panic. Just keep buying.
The math eventually works out. It feels like the game knows what you need and refuses to give it to you, but that’s just the Gambler’s Fallacy talking. Keep clicking that buy button.
What to do once you have them all
Once you've finally gathered all cigarette cards rdr2 requires, head to the nearest Post Office. You have to mail the sets individually. You'll get a notification for each one. Then, you wait.
Go sleep for a day. Or go hunt a legendary bear. Come back to the Post Office in 24 hours (in-game time), and you’ll have a stack of mail waiting for you.
The rewards are great, but the real prize is that 100% checkmark in your progress menu. It's a grind. It's tedious. It's expensive. But in a game as detailed as Red Dead 2, completing the collection feels like a rite of passage.
Actionable Steps for the Collector:
- Trigger the mission: Go to Flatneck Station in Chapter 2 and talk to Phineas T. Ramsbottom. If you don't do this, you're just a guy with a lot of cards and no purpose.
- Accumulate Wealth: Don't bother with the card hunt until you have at least $1,200. Complete the "Strange Statues" puzzle or find the "Limpany" gold bar to get quick cash.
- Upgrade your Satchel: Get the Legend of the East satchel from Pearson. It turns a three-hour chore into a thirty-minute task.
- The Shopping Spree: Go to the Saint Denis General Store (it's the most convenient) and spam-buy Premium Cigarettes.
- Clean Up: Check your Compendium frequently. Once a set says 12/12, stop.
- The Payoff: Mail those sets and use the rewards to craft the Talismans at a Fence.
The hunt for all cigarette cards rdr2 style isn't about the cards themselves. It's about the journey—even if that journey is just standing in a store in Saint Denis for an hour while the clerk judges you. Get it done, get your rewards, and get back to the real work of being an outlaw.