Red Dead Redemption 2’s story mode features a variety of challenges which test players’ knowledge in many of the game’s mechanics such as hunting, crafting, fishing, treasure hunting and more.
All of the challenges are divided into 9 categories–Bandit,Explorer,Gambler,Herbalist,Horseman,Master Hunter,Sharpshooter, Survivalist, and Weapons Expert. In this guide, we take a look at the Weapons Expert challenges, providing some useful tips that will make completing them less frustrating.
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Weapons Expert Challenge Overview
The Weapons Expert challenge will test your knowledge of weapons, tasking you with performing tricky kills with a variety of weapons, such as thrown weapons like knives and tomahawks, dynamite, crafted ammo and more. Unlike a few other challenges categories, the Weapons Expert challenges are almost entirely skill-based, so they are far from being the most time-consuming to complete. The only difficult challenge of the set is the final one, which will make you a true Red Dead Redemption 2 combat expert once completed.
Kill Three Enemies With a Knife
The first Weapons Expert challenge is very, very easy to complete, as you must kill three enemies with a knife.
Killing enemies with a knife is fairly easy when taking a stealthy approach: just equip the knife from the weapon wheel, approach an enemy undetected and press the correct button to perform the kill. As there are several story missions requiring Arthur to be stealthy, there’s a very good chance you will end up clearing this challenge without even trying.
The reward for completing the first challenge is the Weapons Expert Bandolier, which is part of the reinforced equipment set with the same name. The set grants a permanent Health bonus once all the items belonging to it have been acquired.
Kill Three Enemies in 10 Seconds Using Only Throwing Knives
The second Weapons Expert challenge can be a bit difficult to complete if you haven’t practiced much with throwing knives, as you must kill three enemies in 10 seconds with them.
Killing enemies with throwing knives isn’t particularly difficult, if your aim is good, as a single knife to the head is enough to kill them. The throwing arc, however, can make it difficult to aim properly, so make sure to enhance your Dead Eye bar as much as possible before attempting to complete this challenge. A tonic that fortifies the bar, such as the Snake Oil tonics, is also recommended to make a single Dead Eye use last as long as possible.
With your Dead Eye bar full and a good stock of throwing knives, which can be purchased from fences, it’s time to find your victims. The challenge’s description mentions enemies, so regular NPCs in towns and on the road won’t count. For this reason, it’s best to complete this challenge by heading over to any of the Gang Hideouts. Shady Belle is particularly good, as there are a lot of enemies on the open ground with great visibility. Make yourself seen, wait for three enemies to be in range, activate Dead Eye and throw your knives.
The reward for completing this challenge is $5. You will also get additional Health experience.
Kill Three Birds of Prey Using Only a Tomahawk
This challenge is a good warm-up for later ones, as it helps you get comfortable with tomahawks. To complete this challenge, you must kill three birds of prey using only tomahawks.
If you’re at the very beginning of the game, you won’t have a single tomahawk on you. This is easily remedied by heading over to any fence and purchasing them. Fences are unlocked after completing The Spines of America mission early in Chapter 2.
After you have obtained some tomahawks, it’s time to find the three birds to kill. The kills don’t have to be consecutive, so you can take your sweet time to complete the challenge.
In order to make a bird of prey appear, you can simply kill any animal and wait for the birds to come feed on the corpse. If you’re not too keen on waiting, you can head to the coast of Owanjilla lake to the west of Valentine, where you can find eagles quite often. Activate Eagle Eye to make sure your scent doesn’t alert them of your presence, get as close as possible and throw the tomahawk when the reticle becomes red.
The reward for completing this challenge is the Weapons Expert Gun Belt, which grants a permanent Health bonus once the full set has been completed.
Kill 10 Enemies With a Shotgun Using Crafted Ammo
The fourth Weapons Expect challenge is extremely simple to complete, as you must only kill ten enemies with a shotgun using crafted ammo.
Crafted ammo is more powerful ammo that can be crafted by any campfire. To craft it, you will need shells and slugs, which can be purchased by any gunsmith, as well as additional items (full guide right here). To craft the Shotgun Slugs- Explosive ammo, you need one shotgun shell and one animal fat; for the Shotgun Shells – Incendiary Buckshot, you need a shotgun shell and one moonshine. Both types of ammo are very powerful, so enemies should die in a single shot.
Finding ten enemies to kill isn’t particularly difficult. You can either play any story mission or head over to any Gang Hideout. In case both options are unavailable, you must roam the map in search of random camps featuring enemies, search for bounty hunters waiting for you, or just commit a crime and kill the lawmen that come after you.
The reward for completing this challenge is $10. You will also get additional Health XP.
Kill Five Mounted Enemies, Using One Throwing Knife per Kill
The fifth Weapons Expert challenge tests your skills with throwing knives, as you must kill five mounted enemies using only one knife per kill. For this reason, you must always go for headshots, unless you have unlocked the final Dead Eye level which highlights other weak points on humans and animals alike.
The kills, thankfully, are not consecutive, so you can take all the time you need to aim. As you must get headshots, and mounted enemies are fast, we suggest you fully restore the Dead Eye bar and fortify it with any Snake Oil tonic before attempting to make a kill.
Mounted enemies can be found pretty easily in most story missions. In case this is not an option, commit a crime in any town or city and ride around until mounted lawmen come after you.
The reward for completing this challenge is $10. You will also get additional Health experience.
Kill Four Enemies at the Same Time With a Single Stick of Dynamite
The sixth Weapons Expert challenge is much easier than what it seems at first glance. To complete it, you must kill four enemies at the same time with a single stick of dynamite.
Dynamite can be purchased from fences, so you must first unlock them by completing The Spines of America mission in Chapter 2. Once you have bought a few sticks, it’s time to find enemies to kill.
Getting four enemies in range it’s difficult, but there are some nice workarounds that make completing this challenge very easy. The secret is to hogtying single enemies and put them in the same place, preferably away from any settlement, town or city so that the explosion doesn’t alert the law.
Since hogtying enemies while in combat against multiple ones is difficult, you must go after single enemies. A good way to do so is to antagonize NPCs on the road and make them become enemies. Once they start shooting at you, whip out the lasso, hogtie them and bring them to a secluded place. Repeat this four times, light the dynamite and watch them turn into bloody pulps.
The reward for completing this mission is $15. You will also get additional Health EXP.
Kill Four Consecutive Enemies by Throwing and Retrieving the Same Tomahawk
Things get complicated for the seventh Weapons Expert challenge, as you must kill four consecutive enemies using the same tomahawk. In case you don’t have one on hand, you can purchase it at any fence.
Completing this challenge is difficult, but definitely doable with little to no issues using a very simple strategy. As you must recover the tomahawk after each kill, taking a stealthy approach is recommended, otherwise, you will end up getting damaged, and possibly killed, while trying to retrieve it for the next kill.
The best locations for completing this challenge are, as usual, Gang Hideouts. Approach any of them without getting seen, kill the first enemy you encounter, retrieve the tomahawk and then run away. After a few minutes, go back to the hideout, kill the second enemy, retrieve your weapon and get away again. Repeat the procedure two more times, without killing anything during your escapes, and you will be set.
The reward for completing this challenge is the Weapons Exper Off-Hand Holster, which grants a Health bonus once the full set has been obtained.
Kill 15 Enemies Using a Long-barreled Sidearm
This challenge is among the easiest to complete in all of the Weapons Expert category, as all you must do is kill fifteen enemies using a long-barreled sidearm.
There are a few sidearms which naturally come with a long barrel, but you can add it to weapons that don’t come with one at any gunsmith through upgrading. We suggest you get the Volcanic Pistol and make it long-barrelled, as the weapons is a powerful sidearm that can kill enemies with a few shots.
Now that you have your long-barrelled sidearm, it’s time to kill fifteen enemies. You can head over any Gang Hideout or play story missions. Kills don’t have to be consecutive, so don’t be afraid of switching weapons if you find yourself in a bind during combat.
The reward for completing this mission is $15. You will also get additional Health XP.
Kill Nine Unaware Enemies From Behind Using the Bow
The ninth Weapons Expert tests not only your skill with the bow, but also your ability to be stealthy. To complete it, you must kill nine unaware enemies from behind using the bow.
The regular arrows are more than fine to kill enemies even with a single shot, but if you want to make things easier, you can craft Improved Arrows while making camp. These arrows deal additional damage and don’t alert enemies like Dynamite and Fire Arrows. To craft them, you need only one arrow and one flight feather, which can be obtained by looting the corpse of most birds.
Gang Hideouts are, once again, the best places to complete this mission. Get as close as possible to an unaware enemy, get behind and shoot him down with an arrow. Once you make a kill, run away from the hideout, wait a few minutes, then get back to take down the remaining enemies. Kills don’t have to be consecutive.
The reward for completing this challenge is $20. You will also get additional Health EXP.
Kill a Grizzly Bear Without Taking Damage, Using Only Throwing Knives
The tenth and final Weapons Expert challenge seems an extremely difficult one, as you must kill a Grizzly bear using only throwing knives and without getting damaged, but it’s much easier if you follow a precise strategy.
For starters, you can make things slightly easier by crafting enhanced variants of throwing knives, like the Improved Throwing Knife, which needs a throwing knife and two eagle or hawk feathers, and the Poison Throwing Knife, which needs a throwing knife and Oleander Sage. Both variants deal additional damage.
Once you are properly armed, it’s time to find a Grizzly Bear. They are usually found in the northern parts of the map such as the Ambarino region, but you can easily find one to the northwest of Wallace Station, where the bear icon is on the map.
Once in the area, using Eagle Eye to track a bear down, making sure your scent doesn’t alert it of your presence, get in range, activate Dead Eye and throw your first knife at its head. Once you are done with your first throw, deactivate and reactivate Dead Eye for your following throws. If you have done things properly, the bear will be dead before it even manages to take a step toward you.
The reward for completing this challenge is the Weapons Expert Bandolier, which grants a Health bonus once the full set has been completed.
