In Red Dead Redemption 2, Arthur’s life pretty much depends on health and stamina cores. They show how much damage he can take and how long he can keep going before he runs out of breath, which means you have to make sure to keep them full and it takes more than just resting. You also need to eat well and stay, you know, active.
Let’s see how to max out the health and stamina cores.
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How Health and Stamina Cores Work in RDR2
What Arthur eats makes a big difference as well. If you let him go too long without food, he can become underweight, and that lowers his max health. On the other hand, eating too much can cause the opposite problem and also hurt his health.
The sweet spot is keeping him at a normal weight, neither too skinny nor too heavy. A simple way to do that is by eating the camp stew once a day. Or you can do what I did. I’d go to the Valentine saloon and eat a delicious, well-deserved beef stew.
This makes your health, stamina, and Dead Eye cores full. I’d say this is the way to treat Arthur or John.
Best Foods for Gold Health and Stamina Cores
If you cook meat with herbs like mint or oregano, the seasoned meat gives you an extra boost too. It turns the cores gold, which makes the boost stronger and helps it last longer. It is a small trick, but it really adds up if you hunt a lot and keep plenty of meat on hand.
How to Reach Level 10 Health and Stamina in RDR2
Standard gameplay actions cap your health and stamina meters at level eight. To reach the true max level of ten, you must complete challenges and purchase reinforced equipment sets from the Trapper. Don’t forget to grab some shut-eye every now and then. Resting keeps Arthur in better shape overall, Good food and regular activity help as well.
How to Max Health and Stamina Early in Chapter 2
I just discovered this method myself, but according to a fellow RDR2 player, you can bypass the early-game grind and max out both meters to level eight right at the start of Chapter 2.
First, grab a Ginseng Elixir at the Limpany saloon for health XP or Aged Pirate Rum at the broken oil derrick for stamina XP. Next, go somewhere remote and dismount your horse. Equip a two-handed weapon like the carbine repeater. Drink the tonic and jump during the drinking animation. What it does is cancel the animation where Arthur discards the bottle, which I assume prevents the game inventory from registering that the item was consumed.
You can repeat this process indefinitely to hit level eight in minutes. It still works as of writing this article.
