Night Folk instant kills - how do I avoid that?

[Dirt Merchant]

So I encountered Night Folk randomly in the swamp, and even if they managed to surround Arthur it wasn't an immediate death sentence if he got hit with a knife. Then I found a Stranger mission involving helping a Cajun get his shack back from invading Night Folk. The Night Folk in that mission had hatchets and machetes, and if any one of them got into melee range with Arthur, that was it - instant death even at full health, and restart from checkpoint.

How can I tell the difference between a less-lethal Night Folk and one that will instantly kill you? Is it the kind of weapons they wield?

And even if the instant-death ones manage to close the distance, is there a way to block their attack or something?

[Man o' War]

Git Gud.

[Dirt Merchant]

Originally posted by Man o' War:

Git Gud.

I'm trying to. Now does anyone else have a smarter answer than that?

[Man o' War]

I was jesting mate.

This game is about overcoming adversity, not reaching out for help at every turn.

[Dirt Merchant]

Originally posted by Man o' War:

I was jesting mate.

I was too. I remember you helped me out in other threads.

This game is about overcoming adversity, not reaching out for help at every turn.

I understand this - I managed to complete the Horseman 9 challenge as Arthur. It's not so much the adversity is why I keep asking questions on the forums here. It's that I've noticed that RDR2 has a ton of undocumented features and controls in it (for example, being able to jump from a moving train onto your horse), so I keep flinging out these questions just in case somebody knows something the game doesn't mention it can do or I might have missed during the tutorials. Because I'm really enjoying this game and want to learn all it can do.

[Man o' War]

Mate i'm so pleased you're enjoying this masterpiece of a game taking place in a masterpiece USA.

As for things you've yet to see, meet or encounter the Night Folk are the least of your worries.

Best wishes and enjoy the experience.

[Dirt Merchant]

Originally posted by Man o' War:

Mate i'm so pleased you're enjoying this masterpiece of a game taking place in a masterpiece USA.

As for things you've yet to see, meet or encounter the Night Folk are the least of your worries.

Best wishes and enjoy the experience.

Thanks!

[onanonehand8]

If you're talking about the crying person in the swamp, I learned my lesson, don't get too close, choose to antagonize instead of talking. After a few prompts, the hiding attackers will show themselves. It still isn't a walk in the park, but one can escape without injury to themselves.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Since you already have that much trouble with them, then don't try to melee with them. Back up and then pull out your preferred gun and quickly use Dead-Eye to get headshots on everyone visable.

[JuiceWSA]

Nightfolk tip number one have lots of Deadeye juice and don't get surrounded good luck.

The Cajun mission tip number two there is a liberty hat being worn by what is almost certain to be a dead man don't forget to pick that hat up it's real nice it's perfect good luck

The Cajun mission tip number three if you have lots of Deadeye juice and kill all of the enemies and leave the Cajun living wearing that hat he runs off so either allow him to be killed or kill him yourself it's a nice hat

Lol

[JuiceWSA]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

Since you already have that much trouble with them, then don't try to melee with them. Back up and then pull out your preferred gun and quickly use Dead-Eye to get headshots on everyone visable.

You and I do seem to know how to play this game hahaha

[DaKittyKing]

The nite folk only insta kill at night time I recommend looking at your mini map to see where there coming from then using dead eye

[Dirt Merchant]

Originally posted by DaKittyKing:

The nite folk only insta kill at night time I recommend looking at your mini map to see where there coming from then using dead eye

That's a very useful thing to know! Thanks!

[sel]

Ive never had any issues with them, just use a shotgun or dead eye with any gun.
keep your distance as much as possible. maybe dont approach crying ladies in a spooky swamp at night, common sense really.

[Dusklight Radiance]

The Night Folk do not only instant kill at night time. I literally JUST encountered the crying woman in the swamp - didn't know it was a Night Folk ambush, but I got slashed by one wielding a machete two or three times and survived. It was also 1am, pretty much middle of the night.

I believe that there are three types of Night Folk that you encounter. Two of them are very similar.
Random Scripted Encounters - These are random ambushes that can be avoided if you just, keep galloping. There isn't anything to make you stop and fight them.
Random Scripted Events - These are encounters that trigger unavoidable actions when you approach. Such as the dismembered horse in a cart ambush that causes your horse to buck you off instantly.
World Encounters - Finding them skulking around at night, not targeting you but becoming hostile if you just happen into them.

For the Random Encounters, these are the ones that are fatal. They will kill you in a single melee attack if they hit you. This might be due to the fact that you don't really have to fight. Sometimes you can even trigger these and not even realize it until you're well away from them.

For the Random Events - These are not OHKO, often the game has already put you at a disadvantage. Forcing you to chase your horse through thick underbrush, or even the crying woman luring you into a surrounded ambush. It's somewhat difficult to not take a hit, even with deadeye, as it's unreliable to mark and shoot targets in a complete 360. Sometimes it will cancel shots that are now behind you.

World Encounters - These are also OHKO, as they are once again, completely avoidable.

The one exception seems to be, in all cases, that getting attacked from behind usually results in instant death, at all times.

These are only my observations but I can say with 100% certainty that it is not guaranteed death at night time; and the type of encounter with the Night Folk seems to matter the most.

What I find funny though is cougars/jaguars will always kill you when they get within lunging distance, but Arthur can survive being mauled by a grizzly bear.