The hordes are the reason Days Gone is special. Hundreds of freakers, a swarming wall of bodies, all of them wanting you dead at once. The first time you stumble into one unprepared, it is genuinely terrifying, and you will die in seconds. But take one down properly and it is one of the most satisfying things in gaming. So here is how to actually do it.
Prepare before you ever engage. Never take on a horde on a whim. Scout it first from a safe distance, ideally during the day when many of them are dozing in their nest. Note where they are, where the choke points are, and where your escape routes lead. Then stock up. You want a full supply of ammo, healing items, and crafting materials for traps and throwables. Going in light is how you end up as a snack.
Use the environment as a weapon. You will never out-shoot a horde head on, so make the world do the work. Lure them toward explosive barrels, gas tanks and environmental hazards, then detonate. Funnel them through narrow choke points so they bunch up and only a few can reach you at a time. Attractor bombs and similar lures are gold here, pulling the swarm into a kill zone of your choosing rather than letting it surround you.
Throwables are your best friends. Molotovs, proximity mines, napalm and pipe bombs do far more work than your rifle ever will. A well-placed cluster of fire and explosives can wipe out a huge chunk of a horde in seconds. Craft as many as you can carry before the fight, and do not be shy about using them. This is not the moment to conserve.
Manage your stamina and your nerve. When the horde is chasing you, your stamina is your lifeline. Do not sprint until you are out of breath and get caught flat-footed. Kite them, keep moving, throw over your shoulder, and reload only when you have bought yourself space. Panic is the real killer here. The players who clear hordes are the ones who keep their head, keep backpedalling, and keep whittling the numbers down a chunk at a time.
Know when to run. Not every horde has to die today. If you are low on supplies or in over your head, there is no shame in disengaging, getting on your bike, and coming back better prepared. A retreat is not a failure, it is survival, which is the whole point of the game.
Try Horde Assault if you love them. The remaster added a Horde Assault mode, a survival arcade challenge built entirely around taking on escalating waves of freakers. If the hordes are your favourite part, and they should be, that mode is the purest, most stressful version of it, and it is brilliant. I covered it in the Days Gone Remastered report.
Clear your first big horde and you will understand why this game has such a devoted following. It is solo survival at its most heart-pounding.
Want to see all of this put to the test against an absurd number of freakers? I threw myself at a swarm in 48 Hours vs 5,000 Zombies (Heavily Modded Days Gone), and it is the purest stress test of every tactic above.
The full run is right here: WillyB’s Days Gone, and for more in this vein, see the best PvE games for solo players in 2026.
Days Gonehordesurvivalopen worldguide
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