It’s time to take back civilization, one lonely road at a time. In Days Gone, you play as a biker fighting to survive in the pacific-northwest after a strange global outbreak. Look, the game calls them freaks, but we all know what they are — zombies. And there are hundreds of angry, running, brain-munching biters roaming the vast wilderness in Days Gone. If you want to survive with your fashionable tattoos intact, you might just want to check out these 11 beginner tips — compiled over a very long day of play.
At the start of Days Gone, the survival systems can be pretty overwhelming. You have communities to manage, an inventory, and a bike with limited fuel. There’s an extreme focus on stealth — while you can rush into bandit camps, guns-blazing, it’s often a death sentence. And if you encounter a horde of zombies, which can include literal hundreds of enemies, your best bet is to run far and fast in the opposite direction.
Days Gone is surprisingly hardcore. Let’s even the odds. Here are a few tips for newbies before delving into this polarizing game.
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#1. Refill Your Gas — There’s A Gas Can In Every NERO Camp, So Don’t Run Low
Supplies are always running low, and gas is one of the most important. If you run out of gas, your primary means of travel will be grounded. You won’t be able to fast travel either, which is just a normal ability in the game. Be on the lookout for red gas cannisters — they have an infinite supply of gas, and they’ll respawn.
Learn where to go for common routes to stay topped-up on gas. To save gas, you can also go easy on the throttle, or roll down hills — you can even gas-up from gas stations while staying on your bike. Pull up to a pump and you can refill while seated.
#2. Stealth Is The Best Way To Save Ammo, And You Have Infinite Rocks
If you’ve played any of the Far Cry games, you’ll know that rocks are the best kind of distraction device. You can use rocks to distract (and lure) enemy bandits or freaks. If you don’t want to waste ammo, it’s best to sneak up behind them and perform a stealth kill. Just don’t move too fast — if you alert one enemy, chances are more will appear.
#3. Quick-Save Often (From Your Bike)
Death comes fast in Days Gone. If you don’t want to lose too much progress, get in the habit of saving whenever you can. If there aren’t enemies nearby, you can quicksave whenever you’re riding your bike, or when you’re standing near it. Just hold [Triangle] — no need to manually save before exploring a potentially dangerous environment.
#4. Get More Rewards From Hunting With The Butcher Skill
The Butcher skill doubles the amount of meat you acquire from skinning animals you’ve hunted. That includes wolves, which you’ll see pretty often in the early wilderness. Butcher and Green Thumb, two survival abilities, give you twice as much material from collecting. Green Thumb, like Butcher, gives you twice as much loot from plants.
There’s a reason you want all this stuff. Communities run off Credit, and the more food you sell to a community, the more Trust / Credits you earn. You level up your status in communities by increasing trust, and then spend credits on useful items.
#5. Purchasing Weapons Will Permanently Unlock Them At Weapon Lockers
As stated above, you’ll want to earn as much Credit as possible. You can purchase better weapons from Communities and upgrade your bike from Community mechanics. Bike upgrades are permanent, and weapons purchased from a community will always be available in weapon lockers, even if you swap out guns later.
Purchased weapons are also much better quality than random guns you’ll find from enemies. Enemy weapons are always junk quality, and temporary — you can’t keep them in an armory like purchased weapons.
#6. Wipe Out Freak Nests To Clear Fast Travel Routes
There are nests everywhere, and if you want to fast-travel around, you’ll need to clear the red zones these nests generate. Freak nests are dangerous areas populated by freaks, and the nests spawn more freaks in the vicinity. Wiping out nests with Molotov cocktails will summon a freak attack. You can defend yourself, or simply retreat and return later.
It’s worth clearing out the freaks. You’ll find valuable rewards inside the nest areas once they’ve been burned out. Removing red zones also makes the general area safer. It’s kind of like State of Decay 2, only these nests don’t randomly generate attack swarms.
#7. Field Repair Will Keep Your Melee Weapons Repaired Anywhere
One of the first skills you can acquire for melee weapons is Field Repair. It’s invaluable, and unlocking it lets you repair your melee weapons with scrap. You can repair anywhere in the field, and that’s especially useful for your crafted melee weapons — those tend to be the strongest, anyway. If you don’t want to waste bullets on freaks, it’s best to whip out a Spiked Bat, deal with the threat, then repair with some scrap.
Thankfully, scrap is super common in the post-apocalypse. The streets are littered with old cars. Just pop the trunk or scavenge the engine to get easy scrap literally anywhere.
#8. You Can Walk Your Bike To Save Gas & Stay Quiet
When entering dangerous, dark areas like tunnels, you’ll want to slow down and walk your bike. You can walk your bike whenever you want — press forward on the left thumbstick once you’ve stopped to walk while ‘mounted’ — if you don’t want to leave your bike behind, this is a good way to sneak through dangerous areas where you don’t want to make too much noise.
#9. Your Flashlight (And Your Headlights) Are Mapped To The Same Button
Your flashlight (and headlamps) are both a powerful tool, and an enemy to stealth. Flashlights are easy to spot by humans or freaks, even when you’re hiding — remember to turn off the lights! But, if you’re encountering a group of freaks, flashlights actually help fend them off. Freaks hate light, and a blast of light from a flashlight will temporarily slow them down.
#10. You Can Shoot While Riding, Just Tap [L1]
Yes, you can shoot your gun while riding. Tap [L1] to aim with your equipped secondary weapon, then press [R2] to fire away. You’ll auto-target enemies, so this is a good way to clear any nearby goons, or stop enemy riders. Just don’t lose track of what you’re doing and accidentally crash!
#11. NERO Camps Have Permanent Stat Boosting Upgrades
NERO Camps are locations you’ll want to remember. These science-bases contain a powerful NERO Injector — there’s one in every single camp, and using it allows you to upgrade three primary stats permanently. You can enhance Health, Stamina, or Focus.
To get inside a NERO Camp, you’ll need to locate a gas can and refill a generator. Just be sure to shoot or slash the loudspeakers on the camp itself before activating the generator. The sound these speakers make will draw in swarms of freaks straight to your location! If that happens, it’s probably better to hide inside and wait for the heat to cool off.
And that’s all our tips for Days Gone. There are plenty of secrets, collectibles, and hordes wandering the Oregon wilderness. Stick with us as we cover everything we can about this impressively realized survival adventure.