Permanently Missable Items To Look Out For

Red Dead Redemption left large shoes to fill, and its sequel managed to step into them and burst out the seams. Red Dead Redemption 2 is filled to the brim with wildlife and local riff-raff to waste the hours away with. Still, it’s unlikely you’ve managed to see everything this game has to offer.

Part of that is because the game is simply massive, but there’s also a great deal of missable content if you rush through the game. Certain missions, items, and animals will be locked after progressing through the acts. These are the things you won’t want to miss.

Updated on November 16, 2024 by Jon Eakin: Red Dead Redemption 2 shows a staying power that few other games manage to achieve, still considered by many to be one of the greatest games ever made. Even years after its release, it still holds many secrets and things easily missed if you’re not an expert, so we’ve updated this list with fresh features and new entries to help you find them.

12

Jimmy Brooks’ Pen

For Being Better

This rather fine pen isn’t useful for anything more than selling to a fence, but most players choose to carry it with them for the entire story regardless. It serves as a symbol of choosing to adhere to the better impulses of Arthur Morgan.

This item is handed over by Jimmy Brooks if your choose to spare him as he hangs from the edge of a cliff. It’s one of the moments where your choice has an impact not only on your Honor, but certain elements of the story as well.

11

Lion’s Paw Trinket

A True Trophy

Completing the He’s British, Of Course series of missions will inevitably lead you to encounter a very unhappy lion. Survivng against that lion requires killing it, but make sure to take the time to take one of its paws as a souveneir.

This paw is required to craft the Lion’s Paw Trinket, which handily gives you a permanent 10% increase to experience gains for your stamina core. It might be better if the lion could go free, but it doesn’t give you much choice.

10

Liberty Hat

Liberate This Headwear

The Liberty hat is one of the easiest-to-miss pieces of clothing in the game. All unique hats are stored the instant you pick them up, but this one only gives you two chances to do that. It can spawn on a stagecoach driver in the Chapter 2 mission, An American Pastoral Scene, but you don’t get a lot of time to pick it up.

Alternatively, it can be found on a hogtied man next to a wagon in the stranger mission, A Fine Night For It, which opens up in Chapter 2. Simply knock into the man to knock the hat off his head, and if he’s wearing the wrong hat, reload the last save during the waves of enemies.

9

Rare Shotgun

Pass The Buckshot

The Rare Shotgun can be obtained as early as you can access Annesburg in Chapter 2. North of the city, near Manito Glade, a rather contentious hermit can be found wielding the shotgun. If you try diplomacy, he will shoot you. Guaranteed. So, don’t feel bad shooting first.

If he does kill you, he will despawn for a time. Run around, reload a couple of areas, and come back. He should respawn and be ready for a round two, but don’t forget the shotgun. If that despawns, it’s gone for good.

8

Classic Raccoon Mountain Hat

Worth Fighting For

The raccoon mountain hat is the Davy Crocket cosplay material this game’s predecessor was sorely lacking. It can be obtained from Jon in the Smithfield’s Saloon in Valentine. You’ll want to obtain this before the epilogues because a bug will keep it from saving in your wardrobe at that point.

To actually obtain the headwear, you will have to start a fight for it. It sits atop Jon’s head, just begging to be knocked off. Once you snatch it, you can promptly apologize to the authorities for your impulsive hat acquisitions.

7

Guarma Animals

Paradise Lost

Guarma has a few missable items, including a common hat worn by many of the locals. However, there are also seven missable animals to add to your compendium. You’ll have to study or kill and pick up each of these if you want that true 100 percent completion.

Four of the animals are birds that can be found all over the wooded areas of Guarma. The three snakes can likewise be found just about anywhere. Thankfully, there are no missable fish.

6

Rare Rolling Block Rifle

Blink And It’s Gone

This is a one-time-opportunity gun that’s incredibly easy to miss since you might assume the person wielding it just has a normal rifle. It’s found on a single NPC in the Chapter 3 mission, Magicians For Sport.

During the mission, Charles will go with you to seek out Trelawny for information on bounty hunters. This leads you to the Braithwaite Manor where one bounty hunter is sniping you from the barn. That’s your man. Get to him and pick up the gun before it despawns.

5

Owl Feather Trinket

Listen To Your Elders

Archeology For Beginners is a main quest that’s given to you in Chapter 6. Arthur will travel with Rain Fall around to several locations before finding a camp filled with stolen artifacts. You could complete the mission to your own liking, but there is a reward for doing it how Rain Fall asks.

Rain Fall wants you to steal the relics back without hurting anyone. This turns the mission into one of the only stealth missions in the game, and if you accomplish the goal, Rain Fall will give you the Owl Feather Trinket, which slows how fast all of your cores drain.

4

The Noblest Of Men, And A Woman: Guns

Easy To Grab, Easy To Miss

The Noblest of Men, and a Woman is a mission fondly remembered by many. You get to engage in a little bit of historical bounty hunting, with plenty of gun fights mixed in. Additionally, while attempting to pin down a series of Wild West legends, the ones you kill will drop a unique handgun.

Everyone except Black Belle will be an enemy, so the ones to look out for are Granger’s Revolver, Midnight’s Revolver, Falco’s Revolver, and Calloway’s Revolver. They even boast unique stats and designs; perfect for the cowboy who likes to accessorize.

3

Camp Missions

Favours For Friends

Camp requests are short objectives that see camp members asking you to get them some trivial item. A majority of them are shallow, asking you to do some benign shopping for a short dialogue exchange, and maybe some hair pomade. There are three, however, that offer unique wardrobe options.

Pearson in Chapter 2 will have a request for a skinned rabbit and will give you a unique jacket in return. Dutch between Chapters 2-4 will ask for a pipe and will give you some shiny spurs. Finally, in the epilogue, Uncle will ask for a plethora of things before giving you a variety of unique clothing options.

2

Ornate Dagger

Stranger Danger

The Ornate Dagger is part of an Easter egg stranger mission that can be completely missed if you don’t find any of the mysterious writings around Saint Denis. If you do manage to track down all five, you will be able to find and confront the thing responsible for them.

This ‘vampire’ will be found between midnight and 1am behind the south of the cathedral. If you take it out, it will drop the Ornate Dagger. Thankfully, the mysterious writings can be found at any time, but if you forget to pick up this dagger, it’s gone for good.

1

John’s Hats

Drop Them To Get Them

John has two unique hats during the epilogue that are, for absolutely no reason, not part of his wardrobe, despite the rest of his outfit being part of it. This includes the Worn Flat Cap seen during the mission The Wheel, and John’s Gambler’s Hat, which is worn during Simple Pleasures.

To get these hats, you first have to knock them off of John’s head. Causing John to fall particularly hard and getting attacked will do the trick, but there are very few opportunities to accomplish either. Some have suggested luring out an animal to attack John if you’re really having trouble.