Despite its steadfast attention to detail and near-obsession with realism, Red Dead Redemption 2 is still just a video game with some weird and wonderful perks.

What video game would be complete without magical talismans and trinkets that give your characters special perks? Here’s how to craft the talismans and trinkets in Red Dead Redemption 2, and what Perks they give Arthur.

Red Dead Redemption 2 arrives on PC on November 5 and comes with a slew of new content, which you can check out here.

How to get perks in Red Dead Redemption 2

In your player status menu, you’ll see a bank of Undiscovered Perks. These Perks improve your attributes and give Arthur passive bonuses that will make shoot-outs and the like a bit easier and a lot more fun.

The perks that you can unlock are as follows:

Reduce incoming melee damage

Reduce incoming damage when riding your horse

Decrease core drain rate for both Arthur and your horse

Slow down weapon degradation

Receive higher quality animal parts from skinning

Increase Health, Stamina, and Dead XP yield

Increase money yield from looting

Increase yield from picking herbs

Increase overall Dead Eye duration

Increase length of Eagle Eye meter

Increase alcohol resistance

Makes it so animal carcasses on the back of your horse don’t rot

The above Perks are unlocked by crafting Trinkets and Talismans, which we go into more detail about below.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Trinkets

Trinkets are crafted at a fence and grant Arthur powerful passive bonuses. They’re made using special animal parts that are looted from Legendary versions of the wild animals that you find throughout the wilderness.

If you’re struggling to find a fence, we’ve got a full guide on fence locations in Red Dead Redemption 2, so take a look there.

Subscribe to the VG247 newsletter Get all the best bits of VG247 delivered to your inbox every Friday! Enable JavaScript to sign up to our newsletter

All of the craftable Trinkets are as follows:

Beaver Tooth Trinket – Effect: Slows down weapon degradation by 10%

– Effect: Slows down weapon degradation by 10% Buck Antler Trinket – Effect: Get higher quality animal parts from skinning

– Effect: Get higher quality animal parts from skinning Cougar Fang Trinket – Effect: Increase Stamina XP yield by 10%

– Effect: Increase Stamina XP yield by 10% Coyote Fang Trinket – Effect: Increase Dead Eye XP yield by 10%

– Effect: Increase Dead Eye XP yield by 10% Elk Antler Trinket – Effect: Increase money yield from looting

– Effect: Increase money yield from looting Fox Claw Trinket – Effect: Increase length of Eagle Eye meter

– Effect: Increase length of Eagle Eye meter Moose Antler Trinket – Effect: Increase Health XP yield by 10%

– Effect: Increase Health XP yield by 10% Panther’s Eye Trinket – Effect: Increase overall Dead Eye duration

– Effect: Increase overall Dead Eye duration Pronghorn Horn Trinket – Effect: Stops animal carcasses from rotting on the back of your horse

– Effect: Stops animal carcasses from rotting on the back of your horse Ram Horn Trinket – Effect: Increase herb yield of oregano, thyme, and mint

– Effect: Increase herb yield of oregano, thyme, and mint Tatanka Bison Horn Trinket – Effect: Decreases incoming melee damage by 10%

– Effect: Decreases incoming melee damage by 10% Wolf Heart Trinket – Effect: Increase alcohol resistance

PC players will also be able to find the following new trinkets from November 5 onwards:

Hawk Talon – permanently decreases Stamina bar drain speed by 30% when drawing a bow

– permanently decreases Stamina bar drain speed by 30% when drawing a bow Cat Eye – permanently increases the length of Fortifying tonic effects by 20%

– permanently increases the length of Fortifying tonic effects by 20% Shark Tooth – permanently increases horse bonding experience bonus by 10%

– permanently increases horse bonding experience bonus by 10% Turtle Shell – permanently increases health bar refill speed by 10%

– permanently increases health bar refill speed by 10% Crow Beak – permanently increases looted ammo by 10%

Lion’s Paw Trinket

To get the Lion’s Paw for this special Trinket, you need to loot it off of the lion during the He’s British, of course stranger quests.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Talismans

Talismans also provide Arthur with passive buffs throughout the game but are more difficult to make than Trinkets. Talismans require not just a legendary animal part, but a piece of jewellery and a unique crafting item which are gathered from the open-world or given as a reward for side quests.

Here’s what you need to craft all of the Talismans, and what they do:

Alligator Tooth Talisman – Effect: Reduces Dead Eye Core drain by 10% – Materials needed: Vintage Civil War Handcuffs, Gold Joined Bracelet, Legendary Alligator Tooth

– Effect: Reduces Dead Eye Core drain by 10% – Materials needed: Vintage Civil War Handcuffs, Gold Joined Bracelet, Legendary Alligator Tooth Bear Claw Talisman – Effect: Reduces Health Core drain by 10% – Materials needed: Quartz Chunk, Silver Chain Bracelet, Legendary Bear Claw

– Effect: Reduces Health Core drain by 10% – Materials needed: Quartz Chunk, Silver Chain Bracelet, Legendary Bear Claw Bison Horn Talisman – Effect: Reduces Stamina Core drain by 10% – Materials needed: Abalone Shell Fragment, Silver Earring, Legendary Bison Horn

– Effect: Reduces Stamina Core drain by 10% – Materials needed: Abalone Shell Fragment, Silver Earring, Legendary Bison Horn Boar Tusk Talisman – Effect: Reduces Horse Core drain by 10% – Materials needed: Cobalt Petrified Wood, Gold Earring, Legendary Boar Tusk

– Effect: Reduces Horse Core drain by 10% – Materials needed: Cobalt Petrified Wood, Gold Earring, Legendary Boar Tusk Raven Claw Talisman – Effect: Reduces weapon degradation by 20% – Materials needed: Old Brass Compass

Where to find the Vintage Civil War Handcuffs

You get the Civil War Handcuffs by sending off one full set of Cigarette Cards to the Stranger from the “Smoking and other Hobbies” quest. You can find cards throughout the world, or by opening packs of Premium Cigarettes.

Where to find the Quartz Chunk

You get the Quartz Chunk by relaying the location of one dinosaur bone to the archaeologist from the “Test of Faith” Stranger quest.

Where to find the Abalone Shell Fragment

The Abalone Shell Fragment is found in a ruined old house to the north of the centre of Rhodes.

Where to find the Cobalt Petrified Wood

You can find the Cobalt Petrified Wood inside of a chest that’s hidden to the northwest of Lake Isabella.

Where to find the Old Brass Compass

You get the Old Brass Compass for completing the “Geology for Beginners” Stranger quest and finding all ten rock carvings.

Now you’ve got your accessories in order, how about setting off after the best outfit in Red Dead Redemption 2: The Legend of the East.

If you’re new to Red Dead Redemption 2, then check out our guides on how to upgrade your boys and arrows, how to level up and use Dead Eye and where to find the best horse.

Now that you’ve got to grip with the basics, here’s our guide to the best weapons in Red Dead Redemption 2. If you want to get rich quick, find a fence or want to know where to hunt legendary animals, then check out our complete Red Dead Redemption 2 guide here.