Days Gone has been released and players are learning that a broken road is a dangerous place, with dozens of Freaker Hordes lurking in caves, buildings, and forests. While you might initially feel overwhelmed, don’t panic. Regardless of the size or location of the Horde, there are a few strategies that apply to almost any Horde you’ll encounter. To be clear, this isn’t a strategy for a specific location but some general tips that should help regardless.
Save, Then Scout the Area
When you encounter a Horde, immediately save, as there’s a high chance you won’t make it out alive the first time. After saving, familiarize yourself with the terrain. Are there any trucks filled with fuel? Oil drums? Wrecked buildings that you can squeeze through? All of these are important. If you can climb a roof, you can set choke points and manage the Freakers as they climb through windows. You also need to understand just what kind of Horde you’re dealing with, as they can range from barely 50 Freakers to well over 500.
Proximity Bombs Are Your Friend
Partway through the game, you’ll unlock a recipe for proximity bombs. These are extremely important as they can cut down huge chunks of Horde and give you a bit of breathing space. A strategy that I found almost foolproof was to lure the Horde over 3-5 proximity bombs, then immediately turn and strafe-fire. This can significantly cut the Horde down.
You Need a Machine Gun
You need a machine gun. “But what if I…” just stop right there. The only acceptable substitute is if you have an assault rifle and a submachine gun as your secondary. Rate of fire, not damage, is what is most important here. You’ve got to be able to hold them back, which means most assault rifles or shotguns won’t have the rate of fire necessary.
The Enemy of Your Enemy is Another EnemyÂ
Sometimes, a Horde can be found near an enemy camp containing bandits and marauders. If this is the case, you can and should lure the horde through to the camp. You can use any explosives to blast apart walls with orange string (anything with orange string or orange tape can be blown apart). You can also lure in the Horde of Freakers with a noise-making device, or even firing off your gun. This has a two-fold effect: if the group of marauders or bandits is large enough, they should manage to do some damage to the Horde, cutting down quite a few of the swarmers. Additionally, you’ll be checking off another mission and progressing through an additional storyline.
The Bike
You might be tempted to use the bike to try mowing through the Horde. Don’t.
You can, however, use the bike to escape or to aid in luring a horde towards another group of enemies.
Summary
So there you have it, some tips and ideas for dealing with the various Hordes of Days Gone. If there are other ideas you’d like us to cover for Days Gone or other titles, please let us know.
Here is a video showing off these tactics in motion.
Fighting The MT Bailey Horde
