Does completing challenges increase honor in RDR2?

Completing challenges in Red Dead Redemption 2 does not directly increase your honor. Challenges are a separate gameplay system that focuses on skill-based tasks, such as hunting, sharpshooting, or survival, and are tied to earning specific rewards like gear upgrades and stat boosts. However, there are indirect ways that challenges can influence your honor, depending on how you approach them and the actions you take during gameplay.\n\nFor example, some challenges, like the Herbalist or Survivalist challenges, may require you to gather plants or hunt animals. If you choose to hunt responsibly and avoid overkilling or harming innocent creatures, you can maintain or even slightly increase your honor. Conversely, if you engage in excessive killing or harm innocent bystanders during a challenge, your honor will decrease. This means that while challenges themselves don’t reward honor, your behavior while completing them can impact your honor level.\n\nTo maximize honor while completing challenges, focus on ethical gameplay choices. For instance, during the Hunter challenges, aim for clean kills to avoid unnecessary suffering for animals. Use the right weapons, such as a bow or rifle, to ensure a quick and humane kill. Similarly, during the Bandit challenges, which often involve stealing or robbing, you can offset the honor loss by performing honorable acts afterward, such as helping strangers in need or donating to camp funds.\n\nAnother way to indirectly boost honor while working on challenges is to engage in random encounters. For example, if you’re traveling to a specific location for a challenge, you might encounter a stranded traveler or a person in distress. Helping these individuals will increase your honor, balancing out any potential losses from morally questionable challenge tasks. Random encounters are scattered throughout the map, so always be on the lookout for opportunities to assist others.\n\nAdditionally, completing story missions and side quests with honorable choices can help maintain or increase your honor. While challenges are separate from these missions, the overall balance of your actions in the game will determine your honor level. For example, sparing lives during missions, being kind to NPCs, and contributing to your camp’s well-being are all ways to boost honor that can complement your challenge progress.\n\nPractical tips for maintaining honor during challenges include planning your routes to avoid unnecessary conflicts, using stealth to complete tasks without drawing attention, and avoiding areas with high law enforcement presence if you’re engaging in activities that might lower your honor. For instance, if you’re completing the Bandit challenge to rob trains, choose remote locations like the Grizzlies or the Heartlands to minimize the risk of being caught and losing honor.\n\nIn summary, while challenges themselves don’t directly increase honor, your actions during these tasks can influence your honor level. By making ethical choices, helping others, and balancing morally questionable actions with honorable deeds, you can maintain or even increase your honor while completing challenges. Always be mindful of your behavior and take advantage of opportunities to do good deeds throughout your journey in Red Dead Redemption 2.