The following is the complete Red Dead Redemption 2 100% checklist from the in-game progress menu. It reveals everything needed to reach 100% completion in RDR2. Reach 100% completion to get the "Best In The West" trophy.
Complete All Story Missions
10 Stranger Missions Strands
5 Bounties
25 Chance Encounters
1 Bushwhacked
6 Gang Hideouts
1 Points of Interest
9 Graves
144 Cigarette Cards
30 Dinosaur Bones
13 Legendary Fish
All Exotics Tasks for Algernon Wasp
10 Rock Carvings
All Hunting Requests from Train Stations
1 Treasure Hunter Chain
20 Dreamcatchers
50 Animals Discovered
10 Pieces of Equipment Obtained
10 Species of Fish Caught
6 Gangs Discovered (Automatic from Story)
10 Breeds of Horses Discovered
20 Types of Plants Collected
48 Different Types of Weapons Used
Reach Maximum Health, Stamina, and Dead Eye
Reach Horse Bonding Level 4
9 Challenges Completed
5 Shacks Found
5 Legendary Animals Killed
4 Table Games Played
5 Ranters, Ravers, and Campaigners interacted with
1 Bath Taken (at Hotel)
1 Show watched
1 Theater visited
6 Recipes crafted: Craft 1 cooking recipe, 1 tonic, 1 type of ammunition, 1 hunting item, 1 horse care item, and 1 weapon
4 Robberies: Coach Robbery, Home Robbery, Shop Robbery, Train Robbery
Fast travel and free fast travel
There are three types of fast travel (and automatic horse travel) in Red Dead Redemption 2. After completing Chapter 2: "Money Lending And Other Sins" (given by Strauss), you will unlock the ledger. You can then put money in the tithing box and upgrade the camp. Buy the two camp upgrades in the lodging category: "First Things First" ($220) and "Next In Line" ($325). The second upgrade unlocks a fast travel map behind Arthur's tent. However, this fast travel is only one-way. It can only be used to reach discovered towns, and there is no way to fast travel back to camp. There is a hidden feature the game does not make known. Simply place a waypoint marker anywhere on the map, then start riding on the road and hold the Touchpad to make your horse automatically run to the marked location. You can then release the button and wait while you travel to the marked location. Note: Predators and bandits can still hurt you along the way -- so keep an eye open. There is also fast travel from train stations and stagecoaches for $5 to $15, but you can only travel between towns and not to your own camp. You can use this option to reach the town closest to your camp, and then ride the rest of the way.
Infinite money
To get an unlimited number of gold bars, simply complete the following steps:
1. Create a manual save (Pause Menu, Story, Save Game) so you can return to a save file without the exploit, if desired. Also, disable autosaves to make this easier (Pause Menu, Settings, General, Autosave Off).
2. Go to "Limpany" a burned-down village just slightly northwest of Flatneck Station.
3. Open the lockbox inside the burned-down Sheriff building, but do not loot anything from it. There must be a gold bar and letter inside. If you do not see the letter, it is because you already bought the "Special Horse Stimulant Pamphlet" from a Fence, and this exploit will not work.
4. Look at the gold so it shows the words "Gold Bar" in bottom right corner. It is easier in first-person view. While looking at the gold bar, save the game, exit the game through the menu, then select "Resume Story" at the title screen (Pause Menu - Story - Save Game - Click Back - Story - Exit - Title Screen - Story).
5. You will spawn somewhere nearby. Return to the box, and the letter should be gone. There will now be unlimited gold bars in the box. Collect as many as you can carry (30 maximum, each is worth $500 = $15,000 total).
6. Sell the 30 gold bars at a Fence for $15,000. For example, at Emerald Ranch (nearest one).
Repeat steps 3-6 as many times as desired to get an unlimited amount of money. $15,000 is enough to last a full playthrough though. After completing the story, you get an additional $20,000, which is more money than you will ever need. So doing this once should suffice. If you wish to repeat the process, make sure you close and reopen the lockbox to make the letter respawn. Then, aim at the gold bar again, save the game manually, quit out to title screen, continue, ride back to lockbox, and pick up 30 gold bars again. Note: This glitch was performed on an unpatched version of the game. It will probably eventually get patched. To avoid not being able to use this exploit, either do not install new patches before using this exploit or delete the patches. You can avoid patches being installed by disconnecting from the internet until you are ready for the game to install new patches.
Mini-game locations
There are four mini-games: Blackjack, Dominoes, Five Finger Fillet, and Poker. You only need to start playing all of them for a moment to get the "Hobby Horse" trophy. You do not need to win, or even finish the match. After sitting down for a game, you can simply stand up again and leave. You can keep track of this at the pause menu under "Progress" - "Total Completion" - "Table Games". The mini-games can be found at the following locations.
Blackjack: Found in Rhodes (Saloon)
Dominoes: Found in Saint Denis (Park)
Five Finger Fillet: Found in Strawberry
Poker: Found in Saint Denis (Saloon)
Playthrough Strategy Tips
Tip 1: If you add a waypoint to where you want to go, change to cinematic view and your horse will auto drive you to the location.
Tip 2: Hold the loot button and keep holding it to continue to search everything in the area or loot all the bodies as you pass over them.
Tip 3: Tap left on the d-pad to open the log during a mission, then click on the mission, then press right a few times to see a history of all dialogue since the start of the mission, as well as any tooltip info or button tutorials that you may have missed. Downside is, this won't work between missions (like in camp), but you can record a clip and go back to watch it if there's something else you missed in those circumstances.
Tip 4: You can replay missions from the log as well, and it will show you the checklist of things you need to do in order to get a better medal.
Tip 5: The help section in the pause menu is extensive. Spend 10 minutes to read up everything early on — from riding to combat to activities to general tips, there's plenty of things you might have missed there.
Tip 6: Prioritize upgrading Dutch's tent in the camp first (it will bring in more contributions from other gang members so doing it early will benefit you most). It will also mean that you can focus on upgrading your own area next, which is how you'll unlock fast travel to areas you've already discovered.
Tip 7: Use eagle-eye (even indoors) by clicking in both left and right thumbsticks and you'll be able to see animal tracks, which way the wind is blowing (you can see your smell blowing off of you) — this will help you hunt AND find everything you can loot inside a building.
Tip 8: Whistle or use the prompt to make animals pop their heads up for a clean shot.
Tip 9: Down on the d-pad will aim down scope in first person mode.
Tip 10: Tap LB/L1 once to unholster your weapon, and tap it again to holster it. Double tap it to spin it around in a flourish before bolstering. Pressing LT/L2 is for when you want to quick draw on someone you're definitely going to shoot. Because there are new contextual actions for just threatening people by pointing your gun, or de-escalating by putting it away, these have separate buttons/functions now.
Tip 11: ALWAYS be pressing L3 while riding a horse — you'll see the horse+ icon on the right as you do it, showing that you're actively bonding with the horse, which allows you to bond twice as fast as riding helps that bond as well. This also soothes them when predators are nearby.
Tip 12: You can press up on the d-pad with your weapon out to fire a warning shot up in the air.
Tip 13: HOLD B/Circle while running to tackle someone. Equip your knife from the weapon wheel first and you'll stab them in the neck while you do it. Have the lasso out for an immediate hogtie.
Tip 14: Put your bandana on before committing a crime, as well as a disguise — then when out of sight (but while WANTED is still on the screen), change clothes (from your horse's inventory) and take the bandanna/disguise/mask off. Changing your facial hair and hairstyle in addition to your clothes will also make the description of the suspect they're looking for harder to identify.
Tip 15: Learn how to play poker in camp (where blinds are only a couple cents and you might only lose a few dollars if you're garbage — do this before playing for real cash out in the world).
Tip 16: You can only get a hair cut or facial hair style if you have enough hair for it. You can grow hair faster by buying hair tonics.
Tip 17: Tapping and HOLDING buttons can have different actions. HOLDING the hamburger button will open the menu.
Tip 18: Manual save often and use all the slots in case you want/need to return to a specific earlier part in the game for any reason.
Tip 19: You can change the controls for first/third person and shooting/riding in the options.
Tip 20: You can change it so you just tap the run button once to start running as long as you're also pointing in a direction with the analogue stick (also in the options).
Tip 21: You can change how long you have to keep a button pressed in the options.
Tip 22: You can swap tapping the run button for clicking the left thumbstick (traditional FPS controls) in the same menu.
Tip 23: While in first person, you can more easily navigate tricky areas, and running speed is tied to how hard you push the analogue stick forward.
Tip 24: Bring your horse to stables to let them rest up better than just being hitched outside.
Tip 25: You can gain stamina back faster while crouched.