Bend Studio brought Days Gone to PC on 18 May 2021, two years after the PlayStation 4 release, with unlocked frame rates, a wider field of view and ultrawide support. Deacon St. John rides through post outbreak Oregon across six regions, from Cascade in the north down to Crater Lake, and his bike is the only transport he gets. Hordes are the reason to stay: the Old Sawmill horde alone packs roughly 500 Freakers into one moving mass, and there is no version of that fight you win by standing still.
This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Cascade | Bike fuel and durability basics | Horde Runner | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Belknap | Camp Trust and credits mastery | Horde Runner | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | Lost Lake | Freaker hordes + gear | Stealth Trapper or Horde Runner | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Iron Butte | Build optimization | Stealth Trapper | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Crater Lake | Min-max | Stealth Trapper or Explosives Specialist | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (Cascade)
The northern forest region where the story opens, thick with trees and short sightlines. Copeland's Camp sits here, built on Mark Copeland's radio broadcasts about personal freedom, and it is the first place to spend credits.
Level/Difficulty: Opening region, available from the start Key Rewards: Copeland's Camp shop, early bike upgrades, the first NERO checkpoints
What to Do in Cascade
- Learn Bike fuel and durability. The bike burns fuel on every ride and takes damage from crashes, Freaker hits and gunfire, and both are fixed with scrap and gas cans looted from the world. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Horde Runner as your starting role. See our builds guide for why.
- Fuel governs the early game more than ammunition does. Keep a can strapped to the bike, top up at every abandoned vehicle, and buy the larger tank upgrade before any cosmetic bike part.
- Acquire your first weapons upgrade: MWS or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand Bike fuel and durability fundamentals
- Horde Runner selected and functional
- Cascade main content cleared
- Ready for Belknap
Phase 2: Early Game (Belknap)
More open than Cascade, with wider roads and longer engagement distances. Hot Springs Camp, run by Ada Tucker as a forced labour operation, trades better weapons than Copeland does once its Trust rises.
Level/Difficulty: Opening region, available from the start Key Rewards: Hot Springs Camp weapon stock, Tucker's bounty missions, additional NERO injectors
What to Do in Belknap
- Work on Camp Trust and credits. Each encampment tracks its own Trust level and its own credit balance, so everything you earn for Copeland does nothing for Hot Springs. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for MWS if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Trust is per camp and so are credits, so decide early which encampment you want to shop at. Selling Freaker ears, meat and plants at that one camp reaches Trust 3 far faster than spreading deliveries evenly.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to Lost Lake.
- Consider whether Stealth Trapper might suit your playstyle better than Horde Runner.
Phase 2 Checklist
- Camp Trust and credits integrated into gameplay
- MWS acquired
- Belknap fully cleared
- Ready for Lost Lake
Phase 3: Mid Game (Lost Lake)
Opened after the No One Saw It Coming mission, and home to Iron Mike Wilcox's camp, the one settlement actually trying to rebuild something democratic. It supplies the Drifter Crossbow and better bike parts.
Level/Difficulty: Mid game, unlocked by story progress Key Rewards: Drifter Crossbow, Iron Mike's bike upgrades, Rikki's mechanic services
What to Do in Lost Lake
- Master Freaker hordes. A horde is a single crowd of Freakers with a daily routine: it feeds, drinks and returns to a cave or building to sleep. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Drifter Crossbow. It's the best weapon and becomes accessible around now.
- NERO checkpoints follow the same pattern every time: find the generator, feed it a fuel can, then disable all the speakers before triggering the door. Missing one speaker calls every Freaker within earshot.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in NERO checkpoints and injectors for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- Freaker hordes mastered
- Drifter Crossbow acquired or in progress
- Lost Lake fully cleared
- Ready for Iron Butte
Phase 4: Late Game (Iron Butte)
West of Lost Lake and south of Belknap, dry, industrial and heavily contested by Rippers. The Old Sawmill horde and its 500 Freakers sit in this part of the map, which makes it the region that tests a horde build properly.
Level/Difficulty: Mid to late game Key Rewards: Old Sawmill horde clear, Ripper camp loot, high value NERO checkpoints
What to Do in Iron Butte
- Finalize your build. You should be running Stealth Trapper or Horde Runner with optimized gear.
- Drifter Crossbow should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- The 30 NERO injectors are split across all six regions and take Health, Stamina and Focus from 100 to 350. Stamina first is the correct order, because running out of stamina during a horde fight is what actually kills you.
- Survival Vision and Focus optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Crater Lake.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Drifter Crossbow upgraded to max
- Iron Butte fully cleared
- Ready for Crater Lake
Phase 5: Endgame (Crater Lake)
The southern region and the endgame, dominated by the Deschutes County Militia. Wizard Island is Colonel Matthew Garrett's fortified stronghold and Diamond Lake is the militia outpost under Captain Derrick Kouri.
Level/Difficulty: Late game, reached through the main story Key Rewards: Wizard Island and Diamond Lake shops, top tier weapons, the militia storyline
What to Do in Crater Lake
- Crater Lake tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Hordes have schedules. Scout one during daylight while it sleeps in its cave or building, plan the funnel, then come back and wake it deliberately rather than stumbling into it at night on the bike.
- The endgame loop: run Crater Lake, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Explosives Specialist for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where Survival Vision and Focus mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- Crater Lake fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Trying to fight a horde in the open, where 300 or more Freakers spread out and surround you within seconds, instead of using a chokepoint with an escape path behind it.
- Spreading missions and supply deliveries evenly across camps, which leaves every camp near Trust 1 and locks the good weapons behind thresholds of 12,500 and 25,000 points nobody has reached.
- Riding everywhere at full throttle and arriving at a mission with an empty tank and a damaged bike, with no scrap or fuel to fix either.
- Skipping NERO checkpoints because the speaker puzzle feels slow, then hitting the mid game with 100 Stamina and no way to survive a horde chase.
- Wasting rifle ammunition on Newts and lone Swarmers when a crafted melee weapon or a recoverable crossbow bolt does the same job for free.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Fuel governs the early game more than ammunition does. Keep a can strapped to the bike, top up at every abandoned vehicle, and buy the larger tank upgrade before any cosmetic bike part.
- Trust is per camp and so are credits, so decide early which encampment you want to shop at. Selling Freaker ears, meat and plants at that one camp reaches Trust 3 far faster than spreading deliveries evenly.
- NERO checkpoints follow the same pattern every time: find the generator, feed it a fuel can, then disable all the speakers before triggering the door. Missing one speaker calls every Freaker within earshot.
- The 30 NERO injectors are split across all six regions and take Health, Stamina and Focus from 100 to 350. Stamina first is the correct order, because running out of stamina during a horde fight is what actually kills you.
- Hordes have schedules. Scout one during daylight while it sleeps in its cave or building, plan the funnel, then come back and wake it deliberately rather than stumbling into it at night on the bike.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More Days Gone Guides
- Days Gone Days Gone Overview
- Days Gone Best Builds
- Days Gone Tier List
- Days Gone Beginner's Guide
- Days Gone Tips & Tricks
- Days Gone Weapons Guide
- Days Gone Combat Guide
- Days Gone Boss Guide
- Days Gone Maps & Locations
- Days Gone Crafting Guide
- Days Gone Classes & Characters
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