Fort Mercer

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Fort Mercer
Game	Red Dead Redemption
Type	Hideout
State/Territory	New Austin
Region	Río Bravo
Additional info
Inhabitants	Bill Williamson Norman Deek Williamson Gang Bollard Twins Gang Banditos
Fort Mercer as seen on the map

“It's been abandoned for years now. Folks say it was built during the Mexican War. All kinds of soldiers around back then.”

–Jake

Fort Mercer is a location featured in Red Dead Redemption in the Río Bravo region of the New Austin territory.

Description

Fort Mercer is a sprawling collection of military buildings surrounded by a high, khaki and broken down perimeter wall. Two sets of large wooden gates lead into the Fort - in some game modes these are open or can be opened by the player, while in others they are locked shut.

Location

Fort Mercer is due south of the old railroad halt of Mercer Station, up on the central plateau of Rio Bravo. Alternatively, the road east from Plainview and then north up into Rio Bravo approaches the fort from the south.

Background

Red Dead Redemption

Fort Mercer might have been a fort used during the Mexican-American War as it is near the border with Mexico. Jake speculates that the soldiers abandoned it because they moved up north to fight Native Americans or quit to become prospectors.

Fort Mercer is an important storyline location for the New Austin chapter of the game as it is the stronghold of Bill Williamson and his gang. The first mission in the game "Exodus in America" ends at the gates of Fort Mercer. The remainder of the New Austin chapter is a progression of events leading to the eventual storming of Fort Mercer in the Leigh Johnson mission "The Assault on Fort Mercer".

After "The Assault on Fort Mercer" the location becomes a gang hideout occupied by the Banditos. See the "Walkthrough" section, below, for details.

Undead Nightmare

During the Undead Nightmare, Fort Mercer is a permanent Safe Zone, and can never be overrun with Zombies. However, though unlikely and rare, zombies may spawn inside if you kill survivors taking refuge in the fort. It has been taken over by the military to house refugees and hold out until rescue arrives. However, there is a constant horde of zombies surrounding it at all times, making it difficult to enter or leave. It is here Marston encounters Nigel West Dickens, who is initially attempting to sell a modified version of his elixir to the refugees hiding inside the fort. This is also one of two locations that the player can begin the Missing Persons activity. In addition to the stack of boxes next to the main gate, there are two ladders on the Eastern facing side of the fort and two more on the Southwest and Northwest corners to use for ingress and egress.

Multiplayer

In Free Roam, Fort Mercer is a gang hideout occupied by the Bollard Twins Gang. The LeMat Revolver is located here, in a crate on the roof of one of the rear buildings. There is also a Gatling Gun on the roof of the fort. The player must kill all of the bandits in the fort, as well as the Bollard Twins Gang Boss. Among the gang members defending the fort are Gus Ballard, who may appear multiple times, and Slink Bradshaw, an NPC infamous for his superb marksmanship.

Completing this hideout earns the player XP. Completion of the hideout is also a requirement for several Multiplayer Challenges (Lawbringer) under the Free Roam category.

Several Multiplayer game modes are available at Fort Mercer. None are available with the original game, however. All require DLCs, as noted below.

• Requires Legends and Killers DLC
  • Gang Shootout
  • Gold Rush
  • Grab the Bag
  • Shootout
• Requires Liars and Cheats DLC
  • Stronghold
• Requires Outlaws to the End DLC
  • Cooperative Mission

Outlaws to the End

Farmer MacGuffin's daughter must be rescued from Fort Mercer in the Outlaws to the End Co-op mission "The Kidnapped Girl".

Gang hideout walkthrough

The hideout becomes available after Marston accompanies Irish to Mexico in the mission "We Shall Be Together In Paradise".

At the start of the hideout mission, a Mexican Gunslinger Leon Galindo will be outside the walls. He will help the player climb over the wall to start the mission properly. Climb up, kill several Banditos, drop down and open the front gates for him. After this, simply kill all remaining Banditos in Fort Mercer, after which the three Bandito leaders (enemies with slightly more health than regular ones) will burst out of the treasure room. Kill them and the hideout is complete - and one of them will drop the Semi-Automatic Pistol. It is also complete if the Gunslinger enters the treasure room. There is also a Semi Auto Pistol on the boxes in the treasure room. Leon allows you to take all the treasure. There is also a safe on the upper level of the fort that can be cracked, although doing so without wearing the bandana will result in a loss of 100 honor (as with any other safe).

Social Club Challenge

Main article: Social Club Challenges

Members of the Rockstar Social Club who connect their account to their console will initiate a social club challenge when entering the Fort Mercer hideout. This adds objectives, leaderboards, and the ability to unlock a cheat. See the main article for details.

Bugs

• Occasionally, the Gunslinger will get stuck behind a wooden rack-like object leaning against a wall. Simply run into this object to make it fall over and he will continue on.
• There is a bug in which after he introduces himself he will stand motionless making the player unable to proceed.
• Occasionally, enemies in multiplayer will be stuck inside walls, resulting in only seeing their arms and the barrel of their gun. This usually happens on the ground level. You will be unable to shoot them if this happens. Dynamite is the only weapon that works for this problem; throwing it in the direct vicinity of the trapped enemy will often work. Leaving the area and returning is the only way to correct this issue if unable to kill the entrapped enemy. Sometimes, the trapped gunman will have a limb poking outside of the wall. Shooting the exposed limb will cause him to pop out of the wall and land on the ground.
• There is a bug in which after "The Assault on Fort Mercer" and the takeover of the fort by banditos, wearing the Bandito Outfit will not stop the banditos from turning hostile.
• Occasionally after completing the hideout the player will not receive the "Hideout Complete" message and will not get credit for completion. The player should first confirm that both chests in the treasure room have been opened, not just one. If that is not the issue, save, quit, and reload the game and then do the Fort Mercer hideout before doing any others.

Trivia

• Fort Mercer is a real fort that was built during the American Revolution. It sits on the banks of the Delaware River and was headed by George Washington.
• Fort Mercer's layout is very similar to that of Fort Diego.
• It is possible to duel the gunslinger, Leon in single player.
• Oddly enough if the player goes to Fort Mercer before driving Williamson out they can see several Banditos standing around inside, near the top of the walls. The player can lasso them and drag them off it if they are in a good enough position to kill them. Killing them will give no honour change and will add a Bandito kill to the player's stats.
• Mercer comes from the Old English Merc or Myrce meaning "Borderland". This is plausible as Fort Mercer is on the US-Mexico border.
• During the "Exodus in America" mission, Jake will tell the player that, although Fort Mercer has been abandoned for years, it was originally occupied by American soldiers during the Mexican War. He says that even though he heard they left to fight Indians in the North, it's possible they "got tired of being soldiers and went looking for gold, you know how things is." It's possible that this is a reference to the group of soldiers who hid the gold found during the Treasure Hunter Challenges, considering that Fort Mercer has a treasure room located within its walls, and most treasure seems to have historically military names.
• Fort Mercer also has the distinction of being the only gang hideout to be occupied by five different groups throughout various game modes: In single player, Bill Williamson's Gang followed by the Mexican Banditos; in Multiplayer Free Roam, the Bollard Twins Gang; and in Cooperative, Miscellaneous Criminals. In Undead Nightmare, the US Army has control over it.
• In the Undead Nightmare DLC, Fort Mercer is referred to as a 'safe zone' instead of just 'safe'. This is probably because it is inaccessible to the undead.
• Very rarely in Undead Nightmare, players can hear something getting hit inside the fort. This turns out to be an Undead that somehow got into the fort. This happens usually at a tower with two soldiers in it. For some reason, the two soldiers do not fire at the Undead attacking them and are often dead by the time the player gets to the quarrel.
• After you complete the gang hideout, if you explore Fort Mercer you will find a room with two prison cells occupied by prostitutes. However, there is no way to release them, but it is possible to kill them.
• In the Undead Nightmare DLC, at the southeastern side of the Fort (Where the ladder is), by simply standing at that corner a group of about 10-20 Undead will gather at that location and try to attack the player as if they were at ground level.
• If at a campsite, the player may hear a tale about Fort Mercer being built on an Indian burial ground.
• The survivors at Fort Mercer are protected by US army soldiers, and include people from a wide variety of ethnicities and backgrounds, some of whom can also be found outside of the Fort. The survivors during Undead Nightmare include Everett Knox, Alfred Winlock, Dieter Frommel, Ralph Stricker, Granville Berry, Emerson Lang, Melvin Spinney, Solomon Flake, Mintie Cummings and Winona Picket.

Gallery

Screenshot of Fort Mercer.

A small posse attacking Fort Mercer.

Achievements

Fort Mercer is associated with several achievements:

	LAND OF OPPORTUNITY 30 gamerscore Bronze bronze Complete "The Assault on Fort Mercer".

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	INSTINTO ASESINO 25 gamerscore Silver silver Complete Fort Mercer and Nosalida hideouts in singleplayer.

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	SLOW ON THE DRAW 10 gamerscore Bronze bronze Get 10 assists in a single hideout in a public Free Roam session.

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	HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL 20 gamerscore Silver silver Complete all hideouts in single public Free Roam session.

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	ON THE TRAIL OF DE VACA 10 gamerscore Bronze bronze Uncover every location on the map in Single Player.

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	REDEEMED 100 gamerscore Gold gold Attain 100% List in the singleplayer game completion list.

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Undead Nightmare

Keeping this location free of Undead infestation during the Undead Nightmare and rescuing all of the Missing Persons contribute toward the following Achievements/Trophies:

	SPINNING PLATES 10 gamerscore Bronze bronze Have every territory saved at the same time during the Undead Nightmare

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	ZED'S DEAD, BABY 40 gamerscore Silver silver Attain 100% Game Completion statistic in Undead Nightmare.