Summary

  • Craft powerful resources like Potent Snake Oil for a Dead Eye boost to take down foes and survive in the harsh world of Red Dead Redemption 2.
  • Special Miracle Tonic fully restores Health, Stamina, and Dead Eye meters, allowing Arthur to keep fighting without succumbing to injuries.
  • Develop strategic weapons like Dynamite Arrows and Fire Arrows to cause destruction and gain a tactical advantage in combat situations.

The world of Red Dead Redemption 2 can be unforgiving. Cowboys are likely to run out of supplies out in the country and while they can always try to rob a store or hold up a train to get their hands on valuables and then go and stock up for their next journey, setting up camp and doing some crafting can let players get their hands on some quality gear that could make all the difference against rival gangs or any lawmakers that might be hunting fans down. Some of the recipes can be hard to acquire unless players know where to find them.

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Below are the 8 best resources that can be crafted in Red Dead Redemption 2, the ingredients needed, and where to find the recipes in the massive open world that Rockstar Games lets players loose in.

8 Potent Snake Oil

Crafted With: Indian Tobacco (1)

Red Dead Redemption 2: Arthur Morgan cooking Potent Snake Oil At Camp

Potent Snake Oil is automatically available when Arthur sets up a camp. Still, after starting Chapter Two, players can be encouraged to make some of the tonic and shown some Indian Tobacco to collect for the recipe by a herbologist wandering just outside of Horseshoe Overlook.

Using Potent Snake Oil will refill the Dead Eye meter and fortify it moderately to allow Arthur to use more gun-slinging skills. At the start of the game it can be hard to manage Dead Eye levels until it has been levelled up slightly, so having Potent Snake Oil on hand is always useful.

7 Special Snake Oil

Crafted With: Indian Tobacco (2), Blackcurrant (2), Golden Current/Prairie Poppy (1)

Red Dead Redemption 2: Eris Field Map

To get their hands on this recipe, players will have to search under the floorboards in a shack that can be found by following the railroad tracks heading south from the Eris Field location. Although crafting the recipe requires a large amount of ingredients, making Special Snake Oil is worth it.

The tonic has the same effect as Potent Snake Oil with a much larger and longer fortification boost to Dead Eye. This should mean fans can activate their Dead Eye more often to line up perfect shots and always get the first shot.

6 Special Miracle Tonic

Crafted With: Blackcurrant/Golden Currant (6), Yarrow (6), Burdock Root (6)

Red dead Redemption 2: Vetter's Echo Map

Another resource-heavy recipe, the Special Miracle Tonic pamphlet can be found in a chest beside a bloody tent just southeast of Vetter's Echo. Collecting all of the necessary ingredients can take some time, but the tonic is worth it for its huge effects on Arthur Morgan. One of the most effective tonics for recovering in combat or healing up after a gunfight, Special Miracle Tonics fully restores the Health, Stamina, and Dead Eye meters, and fortifies them massively.

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This means that although their cores may be damaged, slowing down the recovery rate, Arthur can use Dead Eye and Stamina while they are fortified or take lots of damage without succumbing to his injuries. This is perhaps the most effective tonic in the whole game.

5 Dynamite Arrow

Crafted With: Arrow (1), Dynamite (1), Flight Feather (1)

Red Dead Redemption 2: Dynamite Arrow Pamphlet Location Map

A stealthy option that can cause massive destruction, Dynamite Arrows are lit and fired into combat with explosive results. Players must acquire arrows and dynamite and then collect flight feathers from hunted flying birds. The recipe pamphlet itself can be found in a hidden lockbox to the south of the Wapiti Indian Reservation.

Players should search under the bridge, where they will unlock the ability to fire dynamite long distances while remaining hidden. While the range of arrow types gives players plenty of options, Dynamite Arrows make for an exciting stealth option or a dramatic opening option before a messy firefight.

4 Fire Arrow

Crafted With: Arrow (1), Animal Fat (1), Flight Feather (1)

Red Dead Redemption 2: Fire Arrow

The Fire Arrow is another pamphlet that should be given to the player at the beginning of Chapter 2. It requires an arrow and a flight feather, like the Dynamite Arrow, but instead of the explosive needs animal fat. This can be acquired by players willing to hunt ducks or geese across the country.

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When they are created, Fire Arrows can be situationally useful but incredibly powerful if players use them strategically. If enemies are hiding in a rather creepy and abandoned wooden barn, losing a Fire Arrow into a window could ignite the whole building. It can even be used to get better visibility if enemies are attacking at night.

3 Improved Throwing Knife

Crafted With: Throwing Knife (1), Eagle Feather/Hawk Feather (2)

throwing knife Red Dead Online

Some pamphlets, like the Improved Throwing Knife recipe, will be given to the player as they progress through the story. During Chapter 2, Arthur will gain the recipe and be able to access the deadly throwing weapon. The Knife has slightly better range, accuracy, and damage than a standard Throwing Knife, which makes the weapon a solid choice for stealth or for a fast, ranged option in a pinch.

Players will have to use a Throwing Knife and 2 feathers from either a Hawk or an Eagle, so any fans who wish to utilize the Improved Throwing Knives should be on the lookout for things flying overhead.

2 Homing Tomahawk

Crafted With: Tomahawk (1), Owl Feather (1)

Red Dead Online Player Throwing Tomahawk Photo Mode

The Flattened Cabin, near Moonstone Pond, is just to the west of the Three Sisters. Here, players can find one of the most effective recipes in the whole game, the Homing Tomahawk. The thrown weapon needs a standard Tomahawk as well as an owl feather, which can be difficult to track down.

Fans who persist and manage to craft a Homing Tomahawk will find their efforts rewarded with a heavy axe that does improved damage at further range with better accuracy and can also curve in the air to get to the target. A devastating weapon that any lawman will come to fear if the player can master it.

1 Volatile Dynamite

Crafted With: Dynamite (1), Animal Fat (1), High-Velocity Cartridge (1)

red-dead-online-bird-dynamite-arrow

Players can hunt down the most useful pamphlet under a wagon near Hani's Bethel, in the northeast of Heartland Overflow. The cabin itself is filled with the skeletal remains of a long-dead cult, but the wagon outside holds the recipe pamphlet for Volatile Dynamite. Using a stick of standard dynamite, a high-velocity cartridge, and animal fat that can be harvested from ducks and geese, players will produce a piece of dynamite that deals increased damage over a greatly increased area that is perfect for clearing out enemy camps or for throwing out when fleeing to cause chaos and confusion.

The huge radius of the explosion means that players should ensure that they are well clear of the dynamite or they could end up dying alongside the hordes of enemies.

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Red Dead Redemption 2
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10 /10
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Released
October 26, 2018
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Developer(s)
Rockstar Games
Platform(s)
PS4, Xbox One, PC, Stadia
Genre(s)
Action, Adventure