Red Dead Redemption 2 has a surprisingly intricate morality system. The morality system is governed mainly by the game’s honor statistic. Players can gain and lose honor based on the specific actions they perform, with consequences following accordingly. In this guide, we’ll explain how honor and morality function in Red Dead Redemption 2.
How to influence Red Dead Redemption 2’s morality system
The player’s current honor rating is depicted in-game via a slider and a hat icon. Performing noble actions moves the hat towards the white (honorable) side of the slider. Meanwhile, acting like a scoundrel will bump the hat down towards the red (dishonorable) slider point. The amount of actions that can award or subtract honor is quite extensive. For your perusal, we’ve outlined some of the more common honorable and dishonorable actions below.
Honorable Actions
- Greeting NPC’s
- Helping people in need
- Petting friendly dogs
- Throwing back small fish you catch
- Grooming your horse
- Sparing people during key plot moments
Dishonorable Actions
- Running people over with your horse
- Mugging people
- Shooting innocents
- Looting bystander corpses (even if you didn’t kill them)
- Keeping small fish when fishing
- Failing to mercy kill an animal you’ve wounded
Your current honor standing can have dramatic effects on the game world at large. Helping strangers can have benefits down the road, and NPC’s are more willing to forgive an honorable cowboy’s transgressions. If, however, you’re known as the dishonorable sort, NPC’s won’t be as willing to look the other way. Law enforcement will also hunt you down more fervently if your reputation is less than stellar.
You certainly don’t have to play the goody two-shoes cowboy if you don’t want to. However, taking a little extra time to bump up your honor is often worth the added effort.
Stay tuned for more Red Dead Redemption 2 guide content. In the meantime, you can peruse our guides on how to unlock fishing and how to make money fast.