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Image: Bend Studio / PlayStationOfficial screenshot from Bend Studio / PlayStation.
Hordes
Hordes are packs of 25 to 500 Swarmers that move, feed and sleep as one, and they are the biggest fights in Days Gone. Each one needs scouting and a plan, but clearing them makes a region safer and pays out in weapons.
- Threat
- High
- Type
- Infected
Good to know
- There are 40 Hordes, from 25 Swarmers to 500.
- They sleep in caves and dark buildings by day and roam at night to feed and drink.
- They follow scent trails between their stops, and those trails draw new Swarmers in.
- Only Swarmers join a Horde, but a nearby Screamer can set the whole pack on you.
- If you retreat to restock, the Horde keeps its losses for a while before new Swarmers refill it.
- Many Hordes only appear after story beats. Seven show up in Cascade and Belknap after We've All Done Things.
- The biggest is the 500-strong Old Sawmill Horde in I'll Save Some For You.
- Horde Killer rewards include the SMP9 at 4 Hordes, Auto Shotgun at 10, IDF Pup at 20 and MG 55 at 24.
- Your first Horde kill earns the Silver trophy One Down.
- Days Gone Remastered adds Horde Assault, a separate mode built around Horde fights.
How they behave
A Horde does everything together: it sleeps, eats, drinks and attacks as one group. Most of it rests somewhere dark during the day and only stirs if you disturb it. Cold weather makes Swarmers more dangerous, and that applies to a Horde too. If it is snowing, consider resting until it warms up.
Scouting and setup
Watch the Horde's route before you engage. Mark explosive barrels, narrow paths, weak structures and an escape route. Place proximity mines and traps along the path you will retreat down. Fill your bag with Molotovs, pipe bombs and a high-capacity gun such as an LMG.
How to beat them
Keep moving backward through choke points so the Horde strings out behind you. Throw fire into the thickest part and shoot whatever gets close. At night their cave sits empty, so you can plant Remote Bombs inside and set them off when the Horde returns. By day, poking at the cave entrance can draw them out a few at a time.
Story and special Hordes
Three story Hordes count toward Horde Killer. They are Chemult Station (You Alone I Have Seen), Iron Butte Ranch (Keep Them Safe) and the Old Sawmill (I'll Save Some For You). The Ice Wind Lava Caves Horde in What It Takes To Survive is required but does not count. The 300-strong Anarchist Mine Horde in Just Doing My Job is optional and does not count either.
Easy to miss
Check the map again after big story missions, because new Hordes keep appearing. Iron Mike's Flow Like Buried Rivers adds the Metolius Lava Cave Horde, and nine more appear in Highway 97 late in the story. Every Swarmer you kill in a Horde can drop an ear. Clearing Hordes is the fastest route to Lend Me Your Ears.
- Flow Like Buried RiversYou take Iron Mike up to the Metolius Lava Cave to pitch your idea for making Lost Lake safer. You picked it up from NERO: hordes hibernate in caves, so sealing this one could cut them down.
- I'll Save Some For YouTo build the truck bomb, you need creosote from the Old Sawmill near Lost Lake. A Horde of 500 Swarmers lives there, so you have to wipe it out before you can fill the truck.
- Keep Them SafeRikki needs more for the truck bomb. You ride to Iron Butte Ranch, wipe out the Horde of 300 Swarmers there, then radio Boozer about getting the fertilizer.
- You Alone I Have SeenCaptain Kouri wants Weaver's new Napalm Molotov tested on a real horde. You take on the Chemult horde of 300 Freakers, then report back to Kouri.
- What It Takes To SurviveYou need O'Brian's help to get Sarah off Wizard Island by air, so you ride out to meet him. He sends you into the Ice Wind Lava Cave to find Cooper, and the job gets much bigger from there.
- Horde AssaultHorde Assault is a survival arcade mode added in Days Gone Remastered. You drop into an open region with a sidearm and try to last as long as you can against hordes of up to 800 Freakers.
- Horde KillerHorde Killer is the storyline for wiping out every Freaker Horde in Oregon. It mixes a few story missions with the open-world Hordes you find yourself, from small cave groups in the north to the huge swarms in the south.
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStation
More infected
- Infected
Bleacher
Bleachers are pale, shirtless Swarmers with about 50% more health and a harder hit. They are a newer mutation you meet later, and the same tactics as Swarmers work if you bring a few extra rounds.
- Infected
Breaker
Breakers are hulking male Freakers that soak up huge damage and can knock you flat with one swing. Treat each one as a mini-boss: stay at range, lead with explosives and finish with headshots.
- Image: Bend Studio / PlayStationInfected
Freakers
Freakers are people and animals turned feral by the Freaker Virus, and they are the main danger on every road in Days Gone. Each type needs a different answer, from a knife for a lone Swarmer to fire for a whole Horde.
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStationInfectedNewts
Newts are infected kids who keep their distance while you are healthy and strike when you are hurt. They are weak on their own, but a pack can pick you apart if you walk in with low health.