The Herbalist Challenges are all about exploring the great outdoor. on your way to mastering this challenge you’ll need to pick all of the plants and become adapt at cooking them.

Challenge 1¶

Your first task to unlock the category is to find and pick 6 Yarrow plants. These are extremely common around the Valentine area and can be identified by their red appearance. Head out the south of Valentine and activate Eagle Eye to highlight the nearby plants and you’ll have the six in now time.

Challenge 2¶

Your next task is to find the four types of berries out in the wild and then sample one. Like many plants in Red Dead Redemption 2, you’ll find these four berry types in many places and below is just one example of where you might find each.

• Red Raspberry

• Blackberry

• Evergreen Huckleberry

• Wintergreen Berry

Challenge 3¶

For Challenge 3, you’ll have to dabble into crafting at the camp for which you’ll need to create seven items using a Sage as an ingredient. It’s important to note that Oleander Sage does not count as an ingredient otherwise look to stockpile some Hummingbird Sage, usually found in the Black Bone Forest in West Elizabeth. Next, you’ll want some Burdock Root or Common Bullrush, both of which can be found along the Dakota River west of Valentine. With both of these ingredients, set up a camp and craft either Potent Biters or Potent Horse Stimulants.

Challenge 4¶

You’re off mushroom picking for Challenge 4 as you’ll need to feed your horse any five mushrooms. If you was at Black Bone Forest looking for Sage for the previous challenge, you should have found plenty of Bay Bolete around here. Pick five of these and then mount your horse, bringing up the Weapon Wheel with the [L1]/[LB] button and switching over to the Horse section to find said mushrooms.

Challenge 5¶

A simple task for Challenge 5, you simply need to craft 9 items using Indian Tobacco such as Potent Snake Oil. Indian Tobacco is one of the most common and plentiful ingredients in the game and odds are, if you’re diligent about collecting herbs, you’ll already have the 9 required. If not, you’ll yet again find more of them at Black Bone Forest, an area that’s quickly becoming invaluable to your Herbalist Challenge progression.

Challenge 6¶

You’ll now need to grab your gloves and go foraging again for this next task. You must head into the wilderness and pick 15 different plants of which their type has no significance. Like the last few challenges, Black Bone Forest has a nice variety of plants as does Cumberland Forest and the swamps around Saint Denis. If you’re finding your having difficulty discovering different plants, consider checking the other side of the region from where you’re currently searching.

Challenge 7¶

The next task is to create five Special Miracle Tonics which will require you to forage numerous ingredients. In total, you’ll need to grab 30 Yarrow, 30 Burdock Roots and 30 Currants (Golden or Black) along with the recipe itself. Yarrow is best found around the oilfields east of Valentine and Burdock Roots grow along any riverbank. The Currants will be the largest issue here, you’ll either find Black Currants around Annesburg or if you’re in the post game, you’ll find plenty of Golden Currants in the plains around Beecher’s Hope, close to Blackwater.

Once the ingredients are gathered make sure you’ve completed the mission A Short Walk in a Pretty Town and then head to a Fence to buy the recipe, making sure you read it after to learn the recipe. Errect a camp outside in the wilderness and craft the five Special Miracle Tonics, drinking them after to complete the challenge.

Challenge 8¶

This is a simple challenge, you must craft 6 poison based weapons and by far the easiest is the Poison Throwing Knives. Head to a Fence and max out your Throwing Knives along with purchasing the Recipe if you don’t already have it. Now you need to head out into the wilderness and gather at least six Oleander Sage, best found around the swamps of Saint Denis and Rhodes. With the ingredients in your possession, set up camp and craft the weapons to complete the challenge.

Challenge 9¶

This is the most lengthy task for the Herbalist Challenges, you must travel all over and pick at least one of all 43 plants in the game. It’s a good idea to tackle this step during the post game, a lot of the more elusive herbs can be found easily in New Austin around Blackwater and Armadillo while you’ll also want to take on Algernon Wasp’s Stranger Mission, [Duchesses and Other Animals] where each step of his mission strand will have you track down exotic orchids, all of which are needed for this Challenge. If you’re having trouble tracking down any specific plant, head to the [Plants] section in the Compendium to find out more.

Challenge 10¶

Your final task involves some hunting so grab your bow and head back out into the wilderness. You’ll have to cook each type of meat along with applying a seasoning on top of it, this is done by pressing left or right on the [D-Pad] when selecting the recipe. Now in order to actually season said meat, you’ll have to obtain it and below you can find an example of some of the locations where you may find each type of meat:

• Exotic Bird Meat

• Pork
  Purchase this from any Butcher’s and then cook it.

• Plump Bird Meat
  Simply hunt any Chicken, Turkey or Goose anywhere on the map.

• Big Game Meat

• Prime Beef
  Purchase this from any Butcher’s and then cook it.

• Succulent Fish Meat
  This can be obtained from any small trouts or salmons using a river lure (salmon) or worm bait (trouts).

• Game Meat
  You can obtain this from rabbits that you’ll come across all over the wilderness.

• Flakey Fish Meat
  You can obtain this from any large fish such as pike around the rivers to the north.

• Crustacean Meat
  Once you find a crab, you must break it down in your satchel to get the meat.

• Mutton
  Simply hunt any Sheep, Goats or Rams to get your hands on mutton.

• Vension
  Purchase this from any Butcher’s and then cook it.