Days Gone - Beginner’s Guide

Beginner’s Guide

Days Gone, a game set in a post-apocalyptic world in the Pacific Northwest, is plagued by multiple threats brought about by the Freaker virus. To increase your chances of survival, you need to make some preparations and adapt to the changing environment.

Basics

Use the Map

At some point, it is very likely that one will lose their bearings due to the vastness of the world. To avoid losing your way, look at the map to track important missions and side quests.

Main Story

You need around 30 hours on average to complete the main objectives and an additional 100 hours for the side quests. Deacon’s journey does not stop there, however, as there is a great deal of post-game content to enjoy as well.

Use Binoculars

When at a vantage point, you can get a clear view of your surroundings by using binoculars. Scout for distant enemies and explosives before you park your drifter bike to plan out your escape.

Learning Process

The number of enemies in the game can easily grow to overwhelming amounts with time. It may take a while to grow familiar with enemy patterns, and doign so may involve taking a death or two. Use the time when you respawn to figure out whether to adjust your strategy or to execute a different tactic to overcome your enemies.

Weather and Time Changes

Days Gone revolves around a changing world where not only enemies mutate, but the surroundings change as well. The enemies’ behavior differs depending on the weather and time of day. Observe your enemies before you take them on.

Area Strategy

Exploration

Search every nook and cranny to uncover a stash of supplies, ammunition, or even clues. Enter buildings, or investigate parked vehicles as these often contain valuable information or items.

Exercise Caution

Threats differ based on the time of day, so you need to change your preparations based on the current time and climate. You will deal with human enemies in the mornings and freakers at night. Human enemies have set up camps and plant traps in hopes of capturing intruders during the day. Freakers are nocturnal and function at their prime when the sun is out. You need to be wary of swarms and hordes.

Hands Off

Human Enemies perceive any outsiders as threats and are out to scavenge for supplies and this means robbing their valuables. Before you leave your bike, remember where you parked it since Human Enemies will use the opportunity to steal parts on any unattended bikes. If you find an enemy messing with your bike, sneak up on them to deliver a stealth takedown.

Freaker Night

Burn the Freaker’s Nest during the day if you plan to go for a long trek at night. You can reduce the population to increase your chance of survival when progressing at night. Alternatively, you can go to sleep at the safehouse to avoid Freaker encounters at night.

Movement Strategy

Fuel Management

Deacon’s motorcycle primarily serves to quickly get him from one point to another. You need some preparation before going out to drive, though. Make sure you have enough fuel for the trip and remember to have any damage fixed before heading out.

Escaping Encounters

Exploring the world means you have to cover long distances, and this can mean multiple enemy encounters. Running can often be the best course of action. The best way to accomplish this is to sprint and perform some quick rolls. For horde challenges, you might need to ride your bike in order to outrun the freakers. Try to leap over obstacles like fences, as Freakers can catch up if you beeline down a straight path.

Saddle Bags

Sometimes, you need to engage in combat to continue on your trip. This is where a Saddle Bag proves its usefulness. By having the upgrade, Deacon can carry ammunition on his Drifter Bike on longer trips. Focusing on Saddle Bag upgrades allows you to increase your carrying capacity.

Parking Zone

Hordes can sometimes break out in a frenzy, which can result in Deacon becoming overpowered. If you anticipate that the difficulty curve is becoming too steep, hop off of your bike. You can respawn at your bike’s parking space.

Fast Travel

Freakers can be a nuisance, especially if you stumble into their lair. Burn their nests to create waypoints for Fast Travel. These will come in handy in more difficult parts of the game.

Crafting Strategy

Gather ingredients

Similar to scavenging for ammo, you will need to collect crafting materials. Mastery of finding crafting ingredients will indirectly make one more efficient in combat.

Setting Traps

Once you have learned the enemy AI’s patterns, you can immobilize them by luring them into traps. A large wave of enemies needs to be thinned out before trapping can work, so pick freakers off with your ranged weapons.

Upgrade your Weapons

Enemies become far stronger as you progress through the game and you will consequently need better weapons to fend them off. Try to use the ingredients to craft melee weapons to stand a chance against greater foes.

Gun Lockers

Earn trust from encampment and gain credits by surrendering creature’s ears. The credits you obtain can be exchanged for powerful weapons which you can store in the Gun Locker.

Choosing Weapons

Some melee weapons are more useful the more you use them, while others suffer from damage and eventually break down. Focus on using those that you can enhance them for a majority of your encounters.

Switching Weapons

You can set weapons as primary or special before an encounter. You can then switch weapons on the fly while time slows down. Having a melee weapon as a sidearm when your primary weapon runs out of ammo can make the difference in crucial encounters.

Combat Strategy

Shoot the Gas Cans

There are conveniently placed canisters scattered around encounter areas. You can lure enemies near the canister and shoot it to knock out a chunk of enemies.

Sound the Alarms

Throw a stone to trigger a car’s alarm while hiding to distract nearby enemies. One way to know if a car will make a noise is blinking red light. You can lure Freakers to a single spot and finish them off with a molotov, flank them with bullets, or simply leave the area unscathed.

Stealth Takedown

Lone enemies with their backs turned are easy targets, since you can sneak up on them and perform a stealth kill.

Enemy Dynamics

You can force fights between two different enemies due to friendly fire mechanics. Try luring a Freaker to a human enemy and watch your foe get mauled to death. However, make sure to finish off the leftover afterward.

Skills Strategy

Skills

Every enemy defeated and mission finished grants you skill points. Collect skill points during your adventure to learn more skills. Learning skills increases your efficacy.

Recommended Skills

You have one of three options when selecting your first skill tree to expand. For starters, you may opt to invest on Focus Shot, as it slows down time to help you plan out an attack or escape.

Days Gone Recommended Article List