Although many people, including myself, find themselves struggling with being overweight, players of Rockstar’s recent masterpiece, Red Dead Redemption 2, are actually finding the opposite to be true.
Try as they might, many players can’t quite seem to put on the pounds they want. Here are a few quick tips for gaining weight as well as how Provisions work in general.
Related: Does Honor Matter in Read Dead Redemption 2?
Take It Easy
Early on in the experience, players may find themselves admiring the insane amount of details that Rockstar has put into this game and it may cause you to take your time with absolutely everything.
In my first playthrough, I found myself spending ten to fifteen minutes at a time doing nothing but walking around the town of Valentine, eavesdropping on random citizens, playing a hand or two of poker, or looking through the vast catalogs of guns and supplies I would be buying on my journey.
Compare this to the final ten hours of this game where most of that time is spent chasing down informants, surviving heart-pounding gunfights, leaping from horseback to train cars, and racing to stay one step ahead of the law.
Just like in the real world, if you push yourself all the time and don’t relax every once in a while, it will begin to show. Take your time and enjoy this amazingly realistic world so many worked hard to make.
Eat A Balanced Diet
In the average open-world experience there are varieties of food, but they come with very little difference in how they affect the player in overall health. This is not an average open-world experience. Once again, Rockstar has made this game a hyper-realistic experience that extends all the way down to what you eat, when you eat it, and how much of it you eat.
If all you do is eat chocolate bars and candy, it will start to show. If all you do is eat vegetables and drink tonics, that will begin to show as well. As a matter of fact, because of the tonics, it may even be possible to finish the game without having ever eaten a thing!
Combining the right amounts and types of food with a balanced amount of activity and downtime will keep you looking “fit as a fiddle!”, as they say in Blackwater. Or you may be like me and wonder how long it would really take you to let yourself go. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each of the three general weight classes:
Pros and Cons of Weight
Believe it or not, there is actually more to how much you weigh than just your overall appearance in the game. Small changes to the capacity of your three “core” gauges will take place as you gain and lose weight throughout your adventure.
Being underweight means that your Stamina Core will increase in size, allowing you to sprint faster and far more often, but your Health Core will take a hit because of it, resulting in your enemies having a much easier time killing you.
Being overweight, however, means your Health Core will be maxed out, allowing you to take more damage, but you will also have a small Stamina Core, resulting in less sprinting and a harder time aiming larger weapons such as shotguns. In both cases the third core, Dead Eye, will be slightly lowered, meaning you will have less time to line up those extremely satisfying, slow-motion headshots.
Keeping yourself at a reasonable weight is more than likely the way to go as it allows you to have a good amount of both Health and Stamina, as well as the largest capacity of Dead Eye meter. It is truly all dependent upon your playstyle and figuring out what you discover to work best for you.
A Breakdown of Provisions
Food Items
| Assorted Biscuits | Slight increase to the Health Core. |
| Assorted Salted Offal | Slight increase to the Health Core and the Dead Eye Core. |
| Apple | Slight increase to the Horse, Health, and Stamina Cores. |
| Baked Beans | Slight increase to the Health Core and the Stamina Core. |
| Bread Roll | Slight increase to the Health Core. |
| Canned Apricots | Slight increase to the Health Core, Moderate increase to the Stamina Core. |
| Canned Corned Beef | Slight increase to the Dead Eye Core, Moderate increase to the Health Core. |
| Canned Kidney Beans | Moderate increase to the Health Core and the Stamina Core. |
| Canned Peas | Slight increase to the Stamina Core, Moderate increase to the Health Core. |
| Canned Peaches | Slight increase to the Health Core, Moderate increase to the Stamina Core. |
| Canned Pineapples | Moderate increase to the Health Core and the Stamina Core. |
| Canned Salmon | Slight increase to the Dead Eye Core, Moderate increase to the Health Core. |
| Canned Strawberries | Moderate increase to the Health Core and the Stamina Core. |
| Canned Sweetcorn | Slight increase to the Stamina Core, Moderate increase to the Health Core. |
| Candies | Slight increase to the Stamina Core and the Dead Eye Core. |
| Carrot | Slight increase to the Health Core, Large increase to the Horse Core. |
| Cheese Wedge | Moderate increase to the Health Core and the Dead Eye Core. |
| Chocolate Bar | Slight increase to the Dead Eye Core, Moderate increase to the Stamina Core. |
| Cigar | Slight penalty to the Stamina Core, Large increase to the Dead Eye Core. |
| Cigarettes | Slight penalty to the Stamina Core, Slight increase to the Dead Eye Core. |
| Classic Oatcakes | Slight increase to the Health Core and the Stamina Core, Large increase to the Horse Core. |
| Corn | Slight increase to the Health Core, Moderate increase to the Horse Core. |
| Crackers | Slight increase to the Health Core. |
| Fine Brandy | Slight increase to the Stamina Core, Moderate increase to the Dead Eye Core. |
| Gin | Slight increase to the Stamina Core, Moderate increase to the Dead Eye Core. |
| Ground Coffee | Moderate increase to the Stamina Core and the Dead Eye Core. Must be brewed first. |
| Guarma Rum | Slight increase to the Stamina Core and the Dead Eye Core. |
| Kentucky Bourbon | Slight penalty to the Health Core, Moderate increase to the Stamina Core and the Dead Eye Core. |
| Mature Venison | Large increase to all Cores. |
| Peach | Slight increase to the Health Core, the Stamina Core, and the Horse Core. |
| Pear | Slight increase to the Health Core, the Stamina Core, and the Horse Core. |
| Premium Cigarettes | Slight penalty to the Stamina Core, Slight increase to the Dead Eye Core. |
| Prime Beef Joint | Large increase to all Cores. |
| Salted Beef | Slight increase to the Health Core, Moderate increase to the Dead Eye Core. |
| Tender Pork Loin | Large increase to all Cores. |
Tonics
| Aged Pirate Rum | Gives Stamina Experience. |
| Bitters | Fully restores the Stamina Core as well as fortifying it. |
| Cocaine Gum | Fully restores the Stamina Core while slightly fortifying it, but also damages the capacity of the Core. |
| Chewing Tobacco | Fully restores the Dead Eye Core while slightly fortifying it, but also damages the capacity of the Core. |
| Ginseng Elixir | Gives Health Experience. |
| Hair Tonic | Increases the rate at which hair grows. |
| Hair Pomade | Apply to slick back hair and give it an oily, wet look. |
| Health Cure | Restores the Health Core while slightly fortifying it. |
| Horse Medicine | Restores the Horse Health Core and slightly fortifies it. |
| Horse Reviver | Revives your horse from severe injury and restores your Horse’s Health Core. Use this whenever your horse will not get up after a fall or after being shot. |
| Horse Stimulant | Fully restores the Horse Stamina Core while slightly fortifying it |
| Miracle Cure | Fully restores the Health Core, Stamina Core, and Dead Eye Core. |
| Miracle Tonic | Fully restores the Health Core, Stamina Core, and Dead Eye Core while also fortifying them. |
| Potent Health Cure | Fully restores the Health Core while also moderately fortifying it. |
| Potent Horse Medicine | Fully restores the Horse Health Core while also moderately fortifying it. |
| Potent Horse Stimulant | Fully restores the Horse Stamina Core while also moderately fortifying it. |
| Potent Bitters | Restores the Stamina Core while also moderately fortifying it. |
| Potent Miracle Tonic | Fully restores the Health Core, Stamina Core, and Dead Eye Core, while also moderately fortifying them. |
| Potent Snake Oil | Fully restores the Dead Eye Core while also slightly fortifying it. |
| Snake Oil | Restores the Dead Eye Core while also slightly fortifying it. |
| Valerian Root | Gives Dead Eye Experience. |
Conclusion
The biggest strength of this game could also be viewed by some as its biggest weakness. Detail. Many gamers might be turned away at the thought of a title where your eating habits and your exercise routine actually affect gameplay, and that is totally fine. There are experiences out there for everyone and this one might not be for you.
However, if you are anything like me and the thought of a game in which your every action, big or small, affects the over-arching story and the way the game plays out, then this adventure is one that you absolutely cannot afford to miss out on! The amazing team at Rockstar has created a benchmark masterpiece in Red Dead Redemption 2 that I most certainly hope will not be their last.