RDR2 Herbalist Challenges: How to Complete All 10

The ten Herbalist Challenges unlock in order.

The early ranks are simple.

Then two require real preparation:

Challenge	What matters
Herbalist 2	Eat four berry species
Herbalist 4	Feed five mushrooms to your horse
Herbalist 7	Craft and use five Special Miracle Tonics
Herbalist 8	Craft six poison weapons using Oleander
Herbalist 9	Pick all 43 species after the Challenge activates
Herbalist 10	Season and cook 11 meat types

If you picked a plant before Herbalist 9 became active, pick it again.

Herbalist 1 — pick six Yarrow

You need:

6 Yarrow.

It grows throughout The Heartlands and around Horseshoe Overlook.

Look for its red flowers.

Method

1. Activate Eagle Eye.
2. Look for highlighted plants.
3. Find the red-flowered Yarrow.
4. Pick six.

If your satchel is full, eat or sell some first.

Herbalist 2 — pick and eat four berry species

You need all four:

• Blackberry;
• Red Raspberry;
• Evergreen Huckleberry;
• Wintergreen Berry.

Picking them is not enough. Pick and eat all four.

Red Raspberry

Common around The Heartlands.

Blackberry

Look around Big Valley and West Elizabeth.

Evergreen Huckleberry

Very common in Lemoyne and Roanoke Ridge.

Wintergreen Berry

Look around Cumberland Forest, Roanoke Ridge and colder northern areas.

Use Hummingbird Sage.

It is common and works in useful tonic recipes.

Method

1. Collect enough Hummingbird Sage.
2. Set up camp.
3. Open Crafting.
4. Pick a recipe using Sage.
5. Craft seven items.

You can make the same recipe seven times.

They do not need to be seven different items.

If your tonic inventory fills up, use one and keep crafting.

You do not need five species. You need five mushrooms.

They can all be the same kind.

Chanterelles are common around Lemoyne and eastern New Hanover.

Method

1. Collect five mushrooms.
2. Stand beside your horse.
3. Open the horse item wheel.
4. Feed it one mushroom.
5. Repeat five times.

Mushrooms already in your satchel can work.

The important part is feeding them to the horse while the Challenge is active.

Easy.

Recipe

Potent Snake Oil requires one Indian Tobacco.

Method

1. Collect nine Indian Tobacco.
2. Set up camp.
3. Craft nine Potent Snake Oils.

If your inventory fills:

use one.

Keep crafting.

Herbalist 6 — pick 15 different herb species

You need variety.

Use Eagle Eye while travelling and pick different plants.

Watch the counter.

Stop at fifteen.

Be careful with orchids

Do not clear every orchid you find yet.

Orchids are tied to Duchesses and Other Animals, and some can stop spawning freely when you approach the amount needed for that quest.

You have plenty of normal plants for Herbalist 6.

Save serious orchid collection for Herbalist 9.

Herbalist 7 — craft and use five Special Miracle Tonics

Each Special Miracle Tonic needs:

• 6 Yarrow;
• 6 Burdock Root;
• 6 Golden Currant or Blackcurrant.

For five:

• 30 Yarrow
• 30 Burdock Root
• 30 Currant

You must also use all five tonics.

Crafting them and leaving them in your satchel is not enough.

Get the pamphlet first

You need the Special Miracle Tonic Pamphlet.

It can be found in a lockbox beside a bloodstained camp southeast of Vetter’s Echo in Big Valley.

It also becomes available through fences.

Read it

After picking it up:

Satchel → Documents → Recipes → Read

Owning the pamphlet is not enough.

You need to read it to learn the recipe.

Ingredient locations

Yarrow

The Heartlands.

Very common.

Burdock Root

Look along rivers and shorelines.

The Dakota River is useful.

Golden Currant

Roanoke Ridge has plenty.

Blackcurrant

Also works in the recipe.

Not enough satchel space?

You do not need all 90 plants in your inventory at once.

Collect enough for one tonic.

Craft it.

Drink it.

Collect more.

The Ingredients Satchel or Legend of the East Satchel simply makes the job easier.

Herbalist 8 — use Oleander Sage to craft six poison weapons

You need Oleander Sage.

It grows around water in Bayou Nwa and other parts of Lemoyne.

Simple method

Craft six:

Poison Throwing Knives

You need the recipe and regular Throwing Knives.

Poison Arrows can also work once their recipe is learned.

Steps

1. Collect six Oleander Sage.
2. Have six Throwing Knives.
3. Learn the recipe.
4. Open Crafting.
5. Make six Poison Throwing Knives.

Oleander Sage is poisonous.

Do not confuse it with the normal Sage used in tonic recipes.

Herbalist 9 — pick one of every herb species

43 plant species.
Herbalist 9 must be active.
Anything picked earlier does not count.

Pick one of every species again while the Challenge is active.

All 43 plants

Herbs and plants

• Alaskan Ginseng
• American Ginseng
• Blackcurrant
• Burdock Root
• Common Bulrush
• Creeping Thyme
• Desert Sage
• English Mace
• Golden Currant
• Hummingbird Sage
• Indian Tobacco
• Milkweed
• Oleander Sage
• Oregano
• Prairie Poppy
• Red Sage
• Vanilla Flower
• Violet Snowdrop
• Wild Carrot
• Wild Feverfew
• Wild Mint
• Yarrow

Berries

• Blackberry
• Red Raspberry
• Evergreen Huckleberry
• Wintergreen Berry

Mushrooms

• Bay Bolete
• Chanterelle
• Parasol Mushroom
• Ram’s Head

Orchids

• Acuna’s Star Orchid
• Cigar Orchid
• Clamshell Orchid
• Dragon’s Mouth Orchid
• Ghost Orchid
• Lady of the Night Orchid
• Lady Slipper Orchid
• Moccasin Flower Orchid
• Night Scented Orchid
• Queen’s Orchid
• Rat Tail Orchid
• Sparrow’s Egg Orchid
• Spider Orchid

Total: 43.

Use your own checklist

The game gives you the total.

It does not provide a convenient Herbalist 9 checklist showing exactly which qualifying plants you picked.

Tick them off yourself.

Do not trust your memory at plant 38.

Herbalist 9 as Arthur

New Austin creates the problem.

Several required plants are beyond the area Arthur can normally explore safely.

The normal route is to finish Herbalist 9 once New Austin becomes accessible.

Community methods using a buggy, wagon or carcass cover can let Arthur collect those plants early.

If your goal is Legend of the East as Arthur, use the dedicated guide.

Watch the orchids

Some orchid spawns interact with Duchesses and Other Animals.

If one seems to have stopped spawning, check your exotic-quest progress before assuming the game is broken.

Herbalist 10 — season and cook all 11 meat types

This is much easier than Herbalist 9.

Cook eleven different meat types and season each with:

• Wild Mint;
• Oregano;
• Creeping Thyme.

Any one of those works.

All 11 meats

Meat	Example source
Exotic Bird Meat	Pelican
Tender Pork Loin	Pig, boar
Plump Bird Meat	Turkey, goose, chicken
Big Game Meat	Alligator, bear, cougar, wolf
Prime Beef Joint	Cow, bull, bison
Succulent Fish Meat	Sockeye Salmon, Steelhead Trout
Game Meat	Rabbit, duck, pheasant
Flaky Fish Meat	Perch, Pickerel, Bass and other fish
Crustacean Meat	Crab
Gristly Mutton	Sheep, ram, goat
Mature Venison	Deer, elk, pronghorn

Method

For each type:

1. select the meat;
2. choose Season;
3. add Mint, Oregano or Thyme;
4. cook it;
5. tick it off.

Unseasoned meat does not count.

Do not forget Crustacean Meat

Crabs can be found on islands in Flat Iron Lake, including the islands off Clemens Point.

Pick up the crab.

Break it down into Crustacean Meat.

Season it.

Cook it.

Easy way to remember the set

1–6: pick and craft.

7: 30 + 30 + 30 plants.

8: six poison weapons.

9: checklist of 43.

10: checklist of 11 meats.

Use a checklist for 9 and 10.

Unlocks

Rank	Gear
Herbalist 1	Off-Hand Holster
Herbalist 3	Gun Belt
Herbalist 7	Holster
Herbalist 10	Bandolier

Buy the reinforced pieces from the Trapper afterward.

Frequently asked questions

How many plants are required for Herbalist 9?

Pick one of every species after the Challenge becomes active.

Do plants I already collected count?

Not toward Herbalist 9.

Pick them again.

Can Arthur complete Herbalist 9?

Not through normal access because some required plants are in New Austin.

Community workarounds exist.

How many ingredients does Herbalist 7 need?

Five Special Miracle Tonics require 30 Yarrow, 30 Burdock Root and 30 Golden Currant/Blackcurrant.

Is crafting the five tonics enough?

No.

Craft and use all five.

Does Herbalist 4 require five different mushrooms?

No.

Five mushrooms can all be the same species.

Which Herbalist 10 meat is easy to forget?

Crustacean Meat from crabs.

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More Challenge guides

All RDR2 Challenges

Master Hunter

Gambler

Horseman

Survivalist

Legend of the East as Arthur

RDR2 100% completion checklist

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Sources

Red Dead Wiki — Herbalist Challenges

RDR2.org — Herbalist Challenge Guide

Red Dead Wiki — Plant Gathering

Last verified: October 5, 2026.

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