Who you are and how you live as a person is up to you in Red Dead Redemption 2, but the rest of the West will take notice of what you do and aid or punish you accordingly. That’s why today we’re here to help you understand the consequences with a guide on how to gain honor in Red Dead Redemption 2, as well as how to lose it fast.
What Honor Does
Honor acts as an indicator of how many good or bad deeds one has done within the game, and affects how your character is viewed by the world’s NPCs. Say you save a shopkeep from being held up at gunpoint during your travels and run the bandits out of the town. That would net you honor, and as a result, you may see the shopkeep and other townspeople treat you more kindly. On the flip side, if you yourself rob the store, that could lead to you losing honor, and you wouldn’t see any benefits or kind treatment from the townsfolk.
How to Gain Honor in Red Dead Redemption 2
- Do camp chores
- Surrender peacefully
- Pay off your bounties
- Disarm opponents during Duels
- Give cash or jewelry to camp
- Do the right thing in stranger events
If you want to gain honor in Red Dead Redemption 2, you simply need to do good things throughout the West. If some townspeople are being harassed by a group of bandits outside of town, take care of them.
If you stumble upon a person in need medicine after being attacked by, say, a snake, go ahead and help them out. Not only will you gain honor fairly easily this way in Red Dead Redemption 2, but you’ll also be rewarded at a later date for being such a kind soul (in this case, at least).
Similarly, when it comes to dealing with witnesses, just because you’ve managed to chase them down, doesn’t mean you have to resort to violence to stop them from reporting you. If you can avoid it, simply threaten them with your words, rather than physically hurting them.
Sparing someone from the wrath of your fists or arsenal of weapons, or saving them when you could otherwise just let them die will see you gain honor in Red Dead Redemption 2.
This principle applies to those you may end up in a fistfight with, too. Once you’ve officially won the fight, and bloodied your opponent up enough to be deemed the victor, call it a day.
Finally, an easy way to gain honor is to go and do some chores around your gang’s camp in Red Dead Redemption 2. This can involve things like chopping wood, which can be done by heading over to the pile of logs with an axe by them, getting more water, or moving bales of hay.
Gaining honor is well worth doing. Not only will you occasionally be rewarded as a one-off by those you’ve helped, but raise it high enough and you may even receive discounts on good from stores. It really does pay to be a good guy in Red Dead Redemption 2.
How to Lose Honor
- Steal horses
- Kill innocent people
- Hold up shops
- Steal a train
- Kill lawmen
To lose honor, act like the biggest menace and/or psychopath the West has ever known. Tear through a town stead with guns blazing and decimate the burgeoning population. Hogtie an innocent bystander up and then toss them off the edge of a cliff. Rob a weapons store at gun point, and then when you have everything you demanded, blast a hole in the shop keep anyway.
Essentially, do the opposite of everything we just listed above. Be a horrible person in the west, and the people will remember you as such.
It should be noted, however, that people won’t take this lying down, and with a low enough rating you could make your time in the West that much more difficult to survive.
All Red Dead Redemption 2 Honor Rewards
| Honor Level | Honor Reward |
| Honor -1 | You’ll get an increased drop rate from dead bodies for Deadeye Tonic, Alcohol, Tobacco, and throwable weapons. |
| Honor 1 | Increases drop rate from bodies for Tonics, Food, and other Valuable items. |
| Honor 2 | 10% discount in stores |
| Honor 3 | Bulldogger, Chevalier, Corson, Cumberland, Cowpuncher, McLaughlin, Roscoe, and Valentine outfits unlocked. |
| Honor 5 | 25% discount in all stores |
| Honor 6 | Deuville, Drifter, Dewberry Creek, Farrier, Faulkton, Gambler outfits unlocked. |
| Honor 7 | 50% discount in all stores. |
Hopefully, this gives you a better idea of how to gain honor and lose it fast. For more on the game, check out our official Red Dead Redemption 2 guide wiki for tips, tricks, and guides on everything from hunting, to bounties, and more.
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