Four Horses of the Apocalypse

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The Four Horses of the Apocalypse are some of the mythical creatures unleashed in the Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare DLC pack. They are War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.

Characteristics

These four new mounts can be found and broken by John Marston, although Death is additionally awarded upon completion of the On a Pale Horse quest. Each of these mounts are faster and tougher than a regular horse or Undead Horse. If the mount is killed or John Marston breaks a different horse without retrieving and hitching the original one, the mount cannot be directly recalled until Marston completes Rank 5 of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse Challenge. Completion of the challenge awards Marston with "Blood Pacts" for each of the Apocalypse Horses, functioning exactly the same way as Horse Deeds. However, Death's Blood Pact is automatically acquired upon breaking him or receiving him at the end of the game.

By default, all mythical mounts have unlimited stamina and extremely high health. However, any mythical horse can still be killed from direct damage to the head or extremely long falls.

Note: If fed horse pills, these mythical horses will lose their unlimited stamina.

Mortality aside, each of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse possess somewhat unique attributes and physical characteristics, making them easy to discern from one another; as well as from normal and undead steeds. They are summoned via Blood Pacts in lieu of proper deeds. Each Blood Pact bears a brief description of the horse to which it applies. Those descriptions are transcribed below, in the order in which the Blood Pacts are arranged in the player's satchel once they are awarded:

Death: A pale horse trailing a mist of death in his wake. Extremely tough. Fast Speed.
- Note: Will cause Undead's heads to explode on contact.
War: A roan horse with a blazing mane, tail, and hooves. Extremely tough. Fast Speed.
- Note: Will ignite enemies on contact.
Pestilence: A diseased white horse surrounded by a green miasma. Extremely tough. Fast speed.
- Note: Will stun Undead for a few seconds on contact and is nearly impossible to kill.
Famine: A scrawny horse surrounded by a swarm of locusts. Extremely tough. Fast Speed.
- Note: Fastest of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse.

When one of the horses (or another mythical creature) is nearby, a blue circular area will appear on the mini-map along with the notice, "A mythical creature has appeared in the area." Unlike other mini-map notifications, however, the blue circle covers a large area and does not move with its target. In other words, the target may escape outside of the blue circle at any time, thus decreasing its likelihood of discovery.

After a mythical mount's apparent death or loss (prior to obtaining their Blood Pact), it is possible to find each Horse of the Apocalypse again in the wild. Unfortunately, the notification and blue circle on the mini-map will not accompany the mythical mount's appearance after they have already been broken once before.

Common discovery locations are listed on the individual articles for each horse, however, these are only guidelines as their locations vary randomly.

Challenge

Acquisition of the four horses is one of the ambient challenges in Undead Nightmare. Completion of this challenge is necessary in order to obtain the Legend of the Apocalypse outfit and 100% game completion in Undead Nightmare.

Ranks 1 - 4: Find one of the four horses of the apocalypse. Any of the four counts for each rank, but generally War, Pestilence, and Famine will be found for the first three ranks and Death for the fourth since Death is normally unlocked only after the other three horses have been broken. If the player completes the story without finding the other three horses, however, they will be given Death and this will count towards the challenge.
Rank 5: Kill one of each type of undead using Death's power. Reward: Blood Pacts for all four horses.

Tips

Rank 1 - 4: See "Locations" on this page.
Rank 5: All four types of undead can be found outside the gates of El Presidio.

Background

The Book of Revelation, Chapter 6, Verses 1 - 8, in the Christian Bible references the four horsemen, the presence of Pestilence (as opposed to Conquest) means that Rockstar went with the interpretation most commonly used in popular culture instead of the Christian view.

In both versions Jesus Christ opens the first 4 seals of God’s scroll, summoning the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They come mounted on white (Conquest or Pestilence), red (War), black (Famine), and pale (Death) horses. Their presence would mean that the Apocalypse has begun but the fact that their riders are not present has a different meaning.

Tips

If the player is riding one of the Horses of the Apocalypse, a second Horse of the Apocalypse can accompany them during the current game session (before any significant events like camping or hitching). While riding one of the Horses of the Apocalypse, encounter and break a second one, then switch back to riding the original one before it leaves. The newly-broken horse will follow along, allowing the player to lead it to a hitching post at which point they can decide which one to keep.
Sometimes the lasso bond will break immediately, as it usually does when the L2 button (PS3)/LT button (360) is released, when attempting to capture one of the horses for breaking in. To get around this problem, remain mounted and equip Marston's lasso. All of the four Horses of the Apocalypse will run/trot away when approached, but persist in lassoing attempts from horseback and keep the horse in sight. Success can most usually be achieved from close range.
It helps to use one of the scoped rifles and find the highest point in the regions described. The player can scan the area for movement to find the horse in the distance in order to plan a route straight towards it.

Trivia

The player cannot skin any of the Horses of the Apocalypse if they are killed.
Based off a story in The Bible of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, just with horses instead of horseman.
As of June 2014, the Four Horses of the Apocalypse will steer south as Undead Marston. Death will spawn un-saddled when the campaign is completed and no mist will appear when summoned via blood pack. War will spawn without his flames, Pestilence will spawn without his green mist and Famine will spawn without his locusts. This only happens when summoned via blood pack as Undead Marston.