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In State of Decay 2, your more important resource is influence. Instead of money, your trade in influence — you’ll earn influence for doing just about anything in the zombie apocalypse. Killing zombies nets you a couple influence, while clearing infestations or destroying plague hearts will earn you more. You’ll get it for completing quests and helping your community, but it’s all pretty slow.
That agonizing trickle of influence is terrible when you’re low and want to upgrade your base. Unlocking outposts or new bases requires lots of influence — usually upwards of 1,000-2,000+ influence. If you want the best location for your base, you’ll need a ton of influence, and that’s going to take a lot of zombie killing.
If you’re an impatient as me, you’re probably looking for ways to speed things up. As an experienced survivor in the State of Decay 2 world, I’m going to explain what you need to do to earn influence way, way faster than normal. This is our guide for the best methods to help you earn lots of influence.
More State of Decay 2 guides on Gameranx:
- State of Decay 2: 16 Advanced Tips To Help You Beat The Campaign Fast | Easy Completion Guide
- State of Decay 2: Beginner’s Guide | Tips To Help You Survive The Zombie Apocalypse
- State of Decay 2: Move Items From Your Vehicle Straight To Base Inventory | Looting Guide
- State of Decay 2: How To Cure (Or Delay) The Blood Plague | Infection Treatment Guide
- State of Decay 2: Here’s The Best Way To Destroy Plague Hearts | Combat Strategy Guide
- State of Decay 2: How To Unlock Artillery Strikes | Best Radio Command Guide
- State of Decay 2: How To Manage & Improve Your Community | Base Happiness Guide
- State of Decay 2: How To Kill Juggernauts (Without Dying) | Easy Freaks Guide
- State of Decay 2: Everything You Need To Know About Outposts | Power, Water, Artillery & More
- State of Decay 2: Sheriff Legacy Goal Walkthrough | Endings Guide
How To Earn More Influence Faster | Best Farming Methods
To unlock the best bases and outposts, you’ll need 1,000-3,500+ influence. Outposts that provide power or water are the most expensive, but they’re worth it if you want to make your base as efficient as possible. New bases are also very important — and if you’ve got everything you need, you can talk to exotic traders and get rare items for sale. Some of the best items and gear in the game are only available from these exotic traders, so it helps to keep a steady stockpile of influence.
There are lots of ways to earn influence, let’s go over the basic methods:
- Killing Special Zombies (+5/+25 /+50)
- Completing Quests (+50)
- Clearing Infestations (+50)
- Destroying Plague Hearts (+250)
- Trading (Variable)
Out of all these methods, trade is the fastest, best way to earn tons of influence.
Why Trade Is Your Best Bet For Fast Influence
Trading with other communities is easily the best way to earn influence. You can trade high-value items for huge rewards — it’s possible to earn +500 influence in a single transaction with the right group.
Before you can trade, you’ll need to establish friendly relations with another community. When you get calls on the radio, go and help — eventually, you’ll encounter another community of people. The more you help, the better your relation status will be. When you’re allied with the community, it’s about time to start trading.
Allies give better influence prices for trade. We don’t want to buy — only sell.
- While searching the apocalypse, you’re bound to find special, high-marker items. Look in the description — “High-Value Items” are only used for trade. They exist to sell, and smart scavengers will always make room for these items.
- Jewelry stores, homes, taverns, and stores usually carry high-value trade items.
- While trading with an ally, these high-value items can be traded for 100+ influence each. Carry a full pack of 6 for an easy 600+ influence trade.
- Plague Cures will also net you a solid 250+ influence per trade.
It’s important to make multiple enclaves your allies — each enclave only has a limited amount of influence to trade. It’s basically like money. If you buy things from the enclave, that will replenish their reserve.
There are also two leaders you’ll want to get for huge influence bonuses.
- Sheriff Leader: A sheriff leader unlocks the Bulk Plague Cure. Build this huge package of Plague Cure and trade to enclaves for a huge influence reward. Only do this if you have +20 Plague samples / +8 Med Supples.
- Trader Leader: The Trader Leader is all about trading with other enclaves. That makes them one of the best for pure trade, and gives you a special construction option to improve trade even further.
Get a Trader Leader / Sheriff Leader, then make friends with the closest Enclave to start raking in easy influence. If you have plenty of parts, build bandages / soda can bombs and other easy-to-make crafting items and trade those for smaller, but still valuable gains.
