Days Gone: Complete Guide

A survival handbook for Deacon St. John's ride across the Broken Road: the bike, camps and trust, Freakers and hordes, NERO injectors, skills, weapons, the PC 2025 update and the Broken Road DLC modes.

Researched September 2026 — current as of PC patch 1.13 (July 2025), with the classic 2021 build (patch 1.07) still selectable via Steam's Beta branch. Check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

The Drifter bike is your lifeline and your save point. Keep it fuelled and repaired. Always park it facing your escape route, near where you are fighting.
Scrap repairs everything. Loot scrap from cars and crates constantly — it fixes the bike and your melee weapons.
Hordes are late-game content. Early on, leave them alone. Once you have better guns, more ammo capacity and explosives, they become the best XP in the game.
Night is more dangerous. Freakers are more active and numerous after dark. Travel, scavenge and do stealth jobs in daylight when you are starting out.
Hunt NERO checkpoints. Each gives an injector that permanently boosts health, stamina or focus. Health first is the usual pick.
Clear ambush camps and infestations. Clearing ambush camps opens fast-travel routes; burning nests removes Freaker spawns and clears the fast-travel route.
Trust and credits are per camp. Sell meat, bounties and plants to the camp you want to level. Higher trust unlocks weapons and bike parts there.
Use Survival Vision to find tracks, loot and clues; many missions depend on it.

Core Systems

Health, stamina and focus

Stat	Use	Boosted by
Health	Survive hits	NERO injectors, skills
Stamina	Sprinting, dodging, melee	NERO injectors, skills
Focus	Slow-motion aiming	NERO injectors, skills

Focus is the key to hordes and big fights — slow time and pick off heads, Screamers or explosive barrels.

The Drifter bike

Fuel: gas stations, jerry cans in the world, camp mechanics.
Repair: scrap anywhere, or pay at camp mechanics.
Upgrades: bought at camp mechanics with credits and trust. Fuel tank and engine are the first priorities; later, nitrous and handling upgrades.
Saddlebags store ammo — you can refill at the bike, which is huge during horde fights.
Fast travel costs fuel and requires cleared routes (no infestations or ambushes on the way).

Camps and trust

Camp	Leader	Known for
Copeland's Camp	Copeland	Early weapons and bike parts; anti-government politics
Hot Springs	Tucker	Work camp; early trust grind through bounties and meat
Lost Lake	Iron Mike	The best camp mid-to-late game; strong weapon and bike unlocks
Wizard Island	Colonel Garret (Militia)	Late-game camp in the south

Trust rises by completing jobs for a camp and selling to it. Credits earned at one camp only spend there, so pick the camp with the gear you want and focus on it.

Skills

Levelling from missions and kills gives skill points in three trees:

Melee — stronger swings, stamina efficiency, grapple and finishers.
Ranged — focus upgrades, better aim and recoil control.
Survival — stealth, crafting, looting, survival-vision and carrying upgrades.

Early priorities that help everyone: anything that raises ammo capacity, extended focus, and melee durability. Read each tree's descriptions in-game before spending — skill names and exact tiers are easy to misremember, but the descriptions tell you exactly what each point does. After that, specialise toward how you actually play.

Crafting

Recipes unlock through the story, levelling and exploration. Key items:

Item	Use
Molotov / Napalm Molotov	Crowd control and nest burning
Pipe bomb	Big burst damage; great for hordes
Proximity mine	Sets up kill zones on horde paths
Attractor	Lures Freakers to a spot; pair with explosives
Bandages and health mixes	Healing
Crafted melee weapons	Upgrading junk melee into durable weapons

Carry kerosene, rags, bottles and empty canisters — they make most throwables.

Weapons and loadout

Deacon carries a primary, a secondary (sidearm), a special weapon (the crossbow family) and melee. Weapons are unlocked at camps with trust and credits, and some are found on enemies.

Slot	Early game	Later
Primary	Whatever rifle or shotgun you loot; buy a reliable rifle from your main camp	High-capacity automatics and LMGs for hordes; accurate rifles for Rippers and Marauders
Sidearm	Found pistols	Automatic sidearms and SMGs for close panic moments
Special	Crossbow — silent, recoverable bolts	Upgraded crossbow with crafted special bolts
Melee	Crafted bats and axes	Durable crafted weapons; keep one spare

Loot guns from Marauders and ambush camps: dropped weapons go into your loadout temporarily and are a free upgrade before you have camp trust. Buy ammo capacity through skills as soon as you can — it matters more than the gun itself early on.

Exploration checklist per area

NERO checkpoints — injectors.
Ambush camps — clear them to open fast-travel routes.
Infestation zones — burn nests to clear routes.
Horde locations — mark them and return later.
Gas stations and safe houses — note them for fuel and saves.

Enemies

Enemy	Threat	Tip
Swarmers	Standard Freakers, dangerous in numbers	Stealth kills, headshots
Newts	Child Freakers; attack when you are hurt or on their turf	Avoid, or deal with quickly at range
Screamers	Call nearby Freakers and stun you	Kill first, from range
Breakers	Huge, very tough	Explosives, fire and sustained fire; keep moving
Runners and Ragers	Infected wolves and animals	Shoot while riding away; do not stop in the open
Marauders and Rippers	Human enemies	Stealth, suppressors, headshots; Rippers are the main hostile cult

Hordes

Hordes range from dozens to hundreds of Freakers. The biggest (the famous Sawmill horde) are endgame boss fights.

How to fight a horde

Scout it in daylight. Hordes sleep in caves and buildings during the day and roam at night.
Plan a route. Chokepoints, ladders, fences and narrow paths let you funnel them.
Pre-place traps. Proximity mines and explosive barrels along the route.
Wake them with an explosive. Start with a pipe bomb or napalm into the densest part.
Retreat along your route. Shoot the front, drop Molotovs behind you, keep moving.
Refill from your bike's saddlebags. Park it on the route.
Use focus when they bunch up.

Best horde tools: high-capacity automatic weapons (the Chicago Chopper and M60 from late-camp unlocks are favourites), pipe bombs, napalm and mines. Fire is effective against crowds.

Main Story Outline (spoiler-light)

The story follows Deacon and Boozer through the Belknap region, then south as the story expands.
Storylines run in parallel — Sarah, Boozer, the Rippers, NERO, and each camp. You will pick them up as you progress.
Late in the game you move south, and hordes become a centrepiece.
After the credits you can continue in the open world to finish side content and hordes.
A secret ending exists; its unlock conditions are not obvious, so look them up before wrapping up if you want to see it.

Game Modes

Mode	What it adds
Story	Main campaign with selectable difficulty
New Game Plus	Restart with gear and progress; harder difficulties available
Survival Mode	No fast travel, reduced HUD, harder enemies
Challenge Mode	Score-based challenges with rewards
Broken Road DLC (paid, PC 2025)	Horde Assault (survive escalating Freaker waves), Permadeath and Speedrun modes

PC update and Classic branch

The April 2025 PC update (patch 1.08) added DualSense haptics (wired), accessibility features, a new sky/atmosphere simulation, darker nights, improved lighting and higher-resolution shadows, and compatibility with the Broken Road DLC. Patches 1.09-1.13 fixed crashes, audio and Horde Assault issues. If you prefer the original 2021 look, Steam Properties, Betas, Classic reverts to patch 1.07 (you lose the newer features and DLC compatibility).

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Fighting hordes early. Without ammo capacity, focus and explosives, you will die.
Running out of fuel far from a gas station. Top up every time you pass one.
Leaving the bike behind. Freakers will catch you on foot.
Spreading credits across all camps. Focus one or two at a time.
Ignoring NERO checkpoints. Those injectors are your biggest power upgrades.
Forgetting to repair melee weapons. They break mid-fight.
Driving at night early. Runners and ambushes are much more dangerous in the dark.

Advanced Tips

Headshots with suppressed weapons keep camps and Freakers from being alerted.
Kite hordes in circles around big buildings when you are short on explosives.
Crafting while running lets you keep up the pressure during horde fights.
Bounties and meat are the fastest way to build trust at a new camp.
Nitrous and engine upgrades make escapes and fast travel far safer.
Take jobs at night only when you want more Freakers — e.g., to farm XP.
Horde Assault is the best place to practise horde control without risking a story save.

FAQ

Is Days Gone on PC updated with the Remastered features? Yes. The April 2025 PC update (patch 1.08) brought the graphical improvements and accessibility features, and the Broken Road DLC adds Horde Assault, Permadeath and Speedrun.

Can I go back to the original PC version? Yes. Use Steam's Beta branch and pick Classic to revert to patch 1.07.

When should I fight hordes? After the story introduces them and you have better weapons, more ammo capacity, and explosives. Many players clear most hordes after moving south.

How do I fix crashes on boot? Bend Studio's advice: delete the files in DaysGone/BendGame/Content/sfpaks and verify files in Steam; DSR is not supported and can cause black-screen loading.

Does DualSense haptic feedback work on PC? Yes, with a wired connection and Steam Input disabled.

How do I fast travel? Clear ambush camps and infestations on the route, and make sure the bike has enough fuel.