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Honor

Honor is the system that serves to measure the social acceptability of the protagonists' actions in Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Red Dead Online. Specific actions in the game are considered honorable or dishonorable.

Description[]

Red Dead Redemption[]

Performing certain positive actions – like saving citizens under attack by criminals/animals, or aiding lawmen – will earn the player honor. Alternatively, taking negative actions – like opposing/attacking lawmen, aiding outlaws, stealing, and violent actions toward innocents – will result in the loss of honor. If authorities are made aware of Marston's negative actions (usually when the actions are witnessed by law enforcement or eyewitnesses), Marston will also incur a bounty.

Honor will affect how NPCs interact with Marston in different ways, depending on whether he has accumulated high or low honor. The psychological effect of honor on NPCs is relative to Marston's fame level.

Having neutral honor comes with no benefits, whereas high and low honor reward the player. If Marston has low honor, he can beckon a unique mount, as long as his honor doesn't rise to Drifter rank. However, if Marston has high honor, he is bestowed a unique outfit, and if his honor reaches Hero rank, players have a chance to encounter a nun who bestows a unique kit item that makes enemies less accurate. If the Hero honor rank is maintained after receiving the item, random nuns will occasionally gift Marston with money or ask for charity (~$70).

When wearing a bandana, actions that would normally cause a change in Marston's honor, whether positive or negative, have no effect. It also prevents any increase in Marston's fame, so it is advisable that players remove it before the end of a mission.

These are the honor ranks in order, from highest to lowest:

Rank Title Perk
High 3 Hero Lawmen/civilians only report crimes after first murder or bank robbery.
A nun bestows the Obscuridad del Santo Andres in a random encounter.
High 2 Peacemaker Shop prices are improved by 50%, except in Thieves' Landing.
The duster is unlocked.
High 1 Honest Joe Jobs (including Bounty Hunting) pay double.
Neutral Drifter None.
Low 1 Rustler The cost to bribe eyewitnesses is reduced by 50%.
Low 2 Road Agent Whistling may beckon the unique Dark Horse.
Shop prices are improved by 50% in Thieves' Landing.
Marston insults people, as opposed to greeting them.
Low 3 Desperado Civilians only report crimes after the first murder or bank robbery.

Red Dead Redemption 2[]

Honor icons in Red Dead Redemption 2
Honor icons in Red Dead Redemption 2

Honor is a returning system in Red Dead Redemption 2. Unlike its predecessor, honor plays a more important role in the story. Unlike in Redemption, the protagonist’s honor is capped at the beginning of the game, and – until later in the game – can't be maxed out as fully bad or good.

Much like in Red Dead Redemption, the player can receive discounts from various stores if they have high honor. At rank 2, stores offer a 10% discount; at rank 4, stores offer a 25% discount; and at rank 8, stores offer a 50% discount. Meanwhile, having low honor allows the player to loot better-quality items from dead bodies. Once the player reaches rank 4, the "Hero's Pearl Grip" for the Cattleman Revolver becomes available. If the player reaches an honor rank of -4 (low honor), the "Gunslinger Ebony Grip", exclusive to the Double-action Revolver, becomes available for purchase. However, players should note that the latter can sometimes be acquirable with the corresponding amount of positive honor, likely as a result of a glitch.

Arthur Morgan's honor affects dialogue in many of the game's story cutscenes, as well as his ending. A high-honor Arthur is more selfless and considerate of others, putting a greater emphasis on keeping the women safe and helping John's family. Contrarily, with low honor, Arthur is depicted as a more selfish person, prioritizing his own desires over those of others. Low-honor Arthur is also proud and more motivated by money, displaying qualities of greediness and vengefulness while being apathetic to the struggles of others. The animal present in Arthur's visions is dependent on honor; with high honor, Arthur sees a buck basking in the sun's rays, and with low honor, Arthur sees a black coyote in the rain. Honor level also affects the voice flashbacks present in both his last ride and after his diagnosis of TB; with high honor, he remembers more positive and hopeful words. With low honor, Arthur instead remembers negative and defeatist words. Arthur's death is ultimately determined by his honor: with high honor, Arthur succumbs to his tuberculosis and battle wounds, but with low honor, Arthur is killed directly by Micah Bell.

Arthur's level of honor also affects his legacy:

  • With high honor, his tombstone is pristine and adorned with flowers, with his epitaph reading "Blessed Are Those Who Hunger And Thirst For Righteousness".
    • Also, in the area of his tombstone, an Eagle spawns.
  • With low honor, Arthur's tombstone is without any flowers and is weathered-looking, while reading "Blessed Are Those Who Mourn For They Will Be Comforted".
    • Instead, a coyote spawns in the area.

How characters speak of him in the epilogue is determined by honor:

  • Charles Smith's description of Arthur is affected
    • If Arthur died with high honor, Charles will state to John "[Arthur was] a good man, as much as any of us could’ve been".
    • On the contrary, Charles will state "wasn’t a good man, none of us were... but maybe he was true to himself".
  • When pursuing Micah, Charles claims that Arthur had lost interest in getting revenge towards the end and that he wouldn’t have cared.
  • If Arthur died with low honor, Charles instead states that Arthur would have wanted revenge.
  • Additionally, when John, Uncle and Charles A New Jerusalem build Beecher's Hope, the recurring Blue Jay will only appear if Arthur died with high honor.

Unlike with Arthur, John Marston's honor does not affect his personality in any way, nor does it influence the events of the story. However, changes in gameplay, such as store discounts, still apply to John.

There is no way to stop honor from changing in Red Dead Redemption 2. Contrary to its predecessor, wearing a bandana does not grant the player amnesty from changes in honor – it only prevents eyewitnesses from immediately recognizing the player. This is because in this game, honor is more about Arthur's self-reflection instead of his reputation. Players should also note that, in Chapter 6, an action that results in a change of honor will have a multiplier of ×1.5 on the honor bar.

Red Dead Online[]

Honor in Red Dead Online functions very similarly to Red Dead Redemption 2. Players start with neutral honor, which can be increased or decreased through their actions. Committing crimes in Free Roam such as murdering NPCs or other players, antagonizing people, and stealing horses will result in a minor honor loss. An honor increase can be obtained by various means, such as bonding with your horse, throwing fish back into the water after catching them, and sparing gang leaders after clearing gang hideouts. Players can visit Old Man Jones at any time to reset their honor level for the price of 3 gold bars.

Major honor gains/losses occur during the story missions. The missions "Love and Honor", "The Right Side of the Tracks", and "If the Hat Fits..." feature a moral choice that will significantly increase or decrease the player's honor level depending on the choice they made. These missions can be replayed at any time, allowing players to maximize/minimize their honor level in a quick fashion.

Doing missions for Strangers will also have a major affect on the player's honor level. There are different types of stranger missions, which will either earn the player honor (e.g. Caravan Escorts, Rescues, Deliveries etc.), or cause them to lose some (e.g. Paid Killings, Horse Thefts, Coach Holdups etc.). Before accepting a stranger mission, the player will be informed of its type and whether it will result in an honor gain or loss.

Unlike Red Dead Redemption 2, high honor does not provide store discounts and plays a significant role only in the story missions. The player will be presented with one of two paths depending on their honor level: the Path of the Gunslinger (High Honor) or the Path of the Outlaw (Low Honor). Each path features four different missions, but doesn't affect the overall narrative, as the final mission will be the same regardless of the chosen path.

Results[]

Red Dead Redemption[]

Performing specific actions will result in negative or positive honor:

Action Honor Result
Defending a stagecoach against bandits +400
Completing a gang hideout +200
Disarm a duel opponent +200
Bounty captured +200
Bounty killed +100
Helping strangers in random encounters +50 per non-lethal resolution
Nightwatch +50 per non-lethal encounter
Killing an outlaw +10*
Killing an innocent -50
Killing your horse -50
Killing a lawman -100
Killing a preacher -100
Killing a nun -100
Cracking a safe -100
Looting the daughter's corpse in Twin Rocks -200
Looting the daughter's container in Twin Rocks -200
Bribing a lawman while wanted -400
-1000 with a $500+ bounty

*The adding info doesn't show, only rank change appears.

Red Dead Redemption 2[]

Action Result
Calming, leading, and returning the man's horse after "Polite Society, Valentine Style". Major Honor Gain
Saving Jimmy Brooks during the mission "Polite Society, Valentine Style".
Giving the health cure to Sampson Black and Wendell White during "The Ties That Bind Us".
Completing "Money Lending and Other Sins VII".
Absolving both debts, and giving the widow money, in "Money Lending and Other Sins VI".
Completing "Do Not Seek Absolution I".
Completing "Do Not Seek Absolution II".
Agreeing to help both Rains Fall and Captain Monroe.
Telling Brother Dorkins to give the change to the poor.
Donating food or money to Sister Calderón during "Of Men and Angels".
Agreeing to help Mary Linton during "We Loved Once and True".
Taking Buell, Hamish Sinclair's horse, after "The Veteran".
Deciding to help Sadie Adler in "Mrs. Sadie Adler, Widow".
Visiting Rains Fall and offering him condolences in the epilogue.
Sparing captured foes if given the chance to personally decide their fate. Small Honor Gain
Donating to the camp's tithing box.
Donating provisions to Pearson.
Completing gang member item requests.
Greeting random people positively.
Completing chores at camp.
Assisting townsfolk in need (e.g., killing rats in town, etc.).
Antagonizing perverts in Valentine random encounters.
Helping good people.
Complying to free shop item requests of people whose lives you saved earlier.
Donating to poor people (in one variant of a related random encounter, a person pretending to be a blind beggar, but is actually a conman, can be donated to initially and then "looted", with no honor loss).
Surrendering to lawmen while being pursued.
Paying off bounties.
Helping people attacked by outlaws or wild animals (occasionally results in a major honor gain).
Rushing the wounded murderer to Dr. Barnes in Saint Denis during one random encounter.
Completing "American Dreams" by saving the Valentine Sheriff and killing the serial killer.
Completing "No Good Deed".
Completing "The Iniquities of History".
Completing "The Wisdom of the Elders".
Helping Charlotte Balfour during "The Widow of Willard's Rest".
Giving four of each requested flower (yarrow, sage, wild feverfew, currant) to William during "To the Ends of the Earth".
Refusing duels.
Disarming duellists.
Intervening in conflicts in towns.
Turning in the Killer Prostitute.
Allowing Mark Johnson to say goodbye to his family during one Bounty Hunting mission.
Returning the man's horse after "Polite Society, Valentine Style" by riding or lassoing it.
Making friends with Mickey in Valentine and giving him a hug.
Giving the captured slaves money during "Help a Brother Out".
Agreeing to help Mary find her father during "Fatherhood and Other Dreams".
Buying Mary's family brooch from Ashton during "Fatherhood and Other Dreams".
Accepting the bracelet from Penelope Braithwaite during "The Course of True Love V".
Sparing Jean Marc at the end of the mission "Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners".
Allowing the Chelonians to let Arthur talk to Jamie Gillis peacefully.
Antagonizing the KKK members in random encounters.
Returning caught fish to the water.
Going with John Marston during the mission "Red Dead Redemption".
Robbing people. Small Honor Loss
Robbing stores.
Stealing.
Beating people up.
Antagonizing people.
Taking too long to save people from getting killed.
Antagonizing fellow gang members (with the exception of Micah). If antagonizing repeatedly, either John Marston or Lenny Summers will knock Arthur out and take him further away from the camp.
Being absent from camp for more than three days before returning.
Looting the corpses of people who were deceased prior to the player's arrival.
Defacing dead bodies (e.g., shooting them or using explosives on them).
Interrupting the burial of a deceased man in a random encounter in Rhodes and/or jumping in the gravesite.
Spying on women in Valentine.
Killing fish with dynamite.
Excessive, consecutive kills of an animal of the same species.
Not skinning an animal after killing it.
Wounding an animal and letting it suffer
Killing a horse.
Leading enemies or the law to camp.
Bringing a corpse to camp (either on horseback or carrying).
Killing the first of the twenty-five parakeets.
Animal cruelty to local town animals.
Killing the Feral Man's wolves.
Helping the Killer Prostitute in Valentine.
Following Daisy the Black prostitute into a setup with Italian gangsters in Saint Denis.
Shooting the bell of the Tiny Church.
Shooting at any area of the Pagan Ritual site.
Throwing a molotov or dynamite at the outhouse belonging to Gertrude Braithwaite.
Stealing William's horse in either random encounter.
Refusing to donate to Brother Dorkins.
Robbing the shopowner at the fence before freeing the captured slaves during "Help a Brother Out".
Shooting at the Chelonians during "We Loved Once and True III".
Killing any of the Crawfords at night during "The Spines of America".
Killing any one of the bounty hunters before approaching their camp in "Magicians for Sport".
Killing Ashton in "Fatherhood and Other Dreams".
Killing Jean Marc at the end of the mission "Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners".
Looting Professor Bell's corpse after "The Mercies of Knowledge".
Looting Hosea Matthews' corpse in the mission "Banking, The Old American Art".
Killing Charlotte Balfour's attempted rapist in camp.
Looting Susan Grimshaw's corpse in the mission "Red Dead Redemption".
Shooting at a Dreamcatcher
Going back for the money in the mission "Red Dead Redemption".
Murdering people. Major Honor Loss
Killing or otherwise harming NPCs in the aftermath of helping them in a random encounter.
Refusing to save Lenny in the mission "Who the Hell is Leviticus Cornwall?".
Refusing to help Rains Fall and Captain Monroe.
Refusing to help Sadie Adler in "Mrs. Sadie Adler, Widow".
Killing Jimmy Brooks during "Polite Society Valentine Style".
Killing Milliken during "Visiting Hours".
Killing the bounty hunter during "Magicians for Sport".
Failing to disarm the bear trap in the random encounter with the hunter.


Trivia[]

Red Dead Redemption 2

  • In some cases, repeatedly committing an act which normally may result in a small loss of honor (such as not skinning an animal after killing it) may result in a major loss of honor.
  • The player will not lose Honor when antagonizing Micah in the Van der Linde gang camp. In addition, the gang will not chastise Arthur for antagonizing Micah, and will not get knocked out by John or Lenny.

Red Dead Redemption

  • Neither honor nor fame is used in the Undead Nightmare DLC pack.
  • Some characters, like Trent Oxley and Wilton Glover, only appear as dueling challengers when the player has low honor. Their reasons for challenging the player are generally negative, such as getting revenge on the player for killing a family member of theirs.
  • The easiest places to lose honor are Thieves Landing and Casa Madrugada, since no bounty is incurred for crimes committed there.
  • The fastest way to lose honor is by attacking lawmen, bribing them, re-attacking them and bribing them again, though it is difficult to pull off.
  • There is a known glitch in which to earn extra honor. After having accepted a bounty, the game must be saved and the bounty returned alive for an increase in honor. Then, without saving, the player must kill themselves; the game will reload to before the bounty was claimed, but will still have the gain in honor and money and may claim the bounty again. This does not always work, and may only work once per bounty.

Achievements/Trophies[]

Red Dead Redemption[]

Honor is associated with this gameplay achievement/trophy:

Rdr man honor chivalry's dead
25 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Attain highest Fame rank and either highest or lowest Honor rank.


Red Dead Redemption 2[]

Completing Honor story missions is associated with these trophies/achievements:

ExtremePersonality
EXTREME PERSONALITY
10 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Reach maximum or minimum Honor level.

LendingaHand
30 gamerscoregamerscore
Silver silversilver
Complete all optional Honor story missions.

BestintheWest
100 gamerscoregamerscore
Gold goldgold
Attain 100% Completion.


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