Of all the threats that Deacon St. John will face in Days Gone, none is greater than the Days Gone Hordes. While different varieties of mutated zombies, or Freakers as they're called in the game, pose a significant threat, the Days Gone Hordes are an overwhelming swarm of normal Freakers in such great viciousness and number that they outweigh any singly Breaker or Reacher.
The Days Gone Hordes really are the Freaker plague made physical. It's a roaming, unsettling wave of death that can ambush Deacon when he least expects it. However, not every Horde is created equal, and circumstances such as location and composition can make one Horde far deadlier than the next.
Updated on October 15, 2021 by Josh Davison: The vast world of Days Gone provides a vast number of activities for the player to undertake as Deacon St. John. Of these activities, the most deadly and challenging are the Hordes. These mass armies of zombies (or "Freakers") appear across the map and can ambush Deacon at unexpected locations. However, if you're prepared, you can look for these Hordes, avoid them when focusing on other objectives, and take on the Hordes when you're ready. Even then, it's still best to be prepared, and knowing the hardest Hordes is the best way to handle this particular threat.
15 The Groose Gardens Horde Attacks From A Seemingly Random House
The Groose Gardens horde attacks Deacon St. John seemingly out of nowhere. It's on Highway 97, which is the last area that the player encounters out of the game. This means that the Days Gone Horde that the player encounters here is one of the largest that you will encounter in the game.
Worse yet, the Groose Gardens Horde is in a seemingly unassuming house, and approaching it during the day means that Deacon will suddenly be attacked by a vast Days Gone Horde consisting of dozens of zombies. Prepare yourself before approaching this Days Gone Horde.
14 The Cascade Highway Horde Can Ambush Deac At Many Locations
The location of a Days Gone Horde can make it dangerous, so the fact that a Horde can appear in multiple locations is another element that can make even more it dangerous.
This makes the Cascade Highway Horde even more dangerous than others. During the day, this Horde moves between at least three locations. It can be found underneath the bridge, near the water, or moving towards the water. Encountering a Days Gone Horde when you're not expecting it is always worse than hunting the Horde deliberately, so this Horde is more dangerous than others purely based on the fact that it can ambush Deacon in various high-traffic areas.
13 The Belknap Crater Horde Can Attack While Deac Is At An Ambush Camp
The Belknap Crater Days Gone Horde is close to the Belknap Caves Ambush Camp, and that gives the Belknap Crater Horde and edge on the other Hordes for being more dangerous. Being attacked by living enemies with guns can make a Horde as dangerous as just about any other.
Worse yet, the Belknap Crater Horde is located in some pretty complicated terrain. Taking out seemingly endless hordes of Freakers in hilly and rocky areas can be pretty complicated. All of this is to say that fighting the Beklnap Crater Horde is a dangerous endeavor, so be careful when dealing with this Days Gone Horde.
12 The Bear Creek Hot Spring Horde Can ALSO Ambush Near A Camp
The Beark Creek Hot Spring Horde is located next to an Ambush Camp, as the title of this entry implies. Leading a Horde of dozens of Freakers to a camp of violent enemies can seem like a tempting prospect.
However, if you're not prepared for either, you can easily be taken out by the combination of gunfire and the shredding of zombies. You have to be ready for both to survive the Bear Creek zone. This makes the Beark Creek Hot Spring Zone among the deadliest Days Gone Horde threats,
11 The Sherman's Camp Horde Is In A Town Near An Infestation Zone
An Infestation Zone is a more deadly accompaniment to a Days Gone Horde than even an Ambush Camp. The Freakers will work together. A Freaker group is just as likely to attack the population of an Ambush Camp as they are likely to attack Deacon St. John.
The fact that the Sherman's Camp zone is a town of crowded building makes it worse. Deacon St. John is likely to be attacked bty Freakers in and around the buildings of this area. This makes Sherman's Camp a thoroughly dangerous location, and this makes this particular Days Gone Horde among the most dangerous in the game.
10 Little Bear Lake Horde Will Surprise The Player In A Small Cabin
Little Bear Lake has a small cabin on the shore that looks nice and ideal for scavenging supplies. Unfortunately, it's packed to the brim with Freakers that will rush out at Deacon the second he opens the door.
The surprise and immediacy of the Horde are what gives it the advantage here. On top of that, Deacon is only left with one route for retreat thanks to the proximity of the lake. Finding this Horde at night takes a lot of the edge off of this encounter, but doing it during the day still provides a unique and startling encounter for thrill-seekers.
9 Shadow Lake Horde Will Pin Deacon Between Death And Water
The difficulty of the Shadow Lake Horde comes largely from geography. This Horde is located in Belknap and comes pouring out of a cave on the shore of Shadow Lake. They tend to circle around the lake at night before returning to their cave in the day.
Once the Horde becomes aware of Deacon, there aren't a lot of maneuvering options available to him. The shoreline is fairly narrow, and it's easy to get caught between the Horde and the water. The upside of this is that that also means the Horde will be forced into clusters to be dispatched with explosives or a few sweeps from an LMG —provided Deacon gets the chance.
8 Patjens Lakes Horde Lurkes Near The Hot Springs Camp
Hordes with close proximity to camp is a particularly tough challenge, as it increases the likelihood that Deacon will run into them when he isn't ready for a fight. It may force him into an encounter he's not yet equipped to deal with, and the Patjens Lake Horde is one such Horde.
It lies just across town from the Hot Springs camp run by Ada Tucker, which is one of the first camps Deacon travels to in the game. They hide out in a cave near this location during the day, which is the ideal time to clear it out.
7 O'Leary Mountain Horde Stalks The Starting Area Of Days Gone
The O'Leary Mountain Horde delivers a similar kind of challenge as the Patjens Lake Horde. However, the O'Leary Mountain Horde can be found even sooner, as it lies at the foot of the mountain that Deacon and Boozer make their home base at the beginning of the game.
The location is a little awkward as well and is easy to stumble across by accident. Dealing with it also means Deacon will likely have to retreat into the forests around O'Leary Mountain, where other Freakers are almost certainly lurking.
6 White King Mine And Grotto Caves Horde Are Two Hordes At Once
These two Hordes get to share a slot, as they are right next to each other and can be easily enraged at the same time if Deacon isn't careful. One might chase Deacon into the other, and both can easily be found early in the game given their location in the Cascade Wilderness zone.
Both caves are also near roads, so just a little straying from a beaten path can result in one or two Hordes bearing down on Deacon.
5 Chemult Horde Attack While Deacon Tests A New Weapon
The Chemult Horde is found during the mission titled, "You Alone I Have Seen." It's intended to help Deacon test out the new Napalm Molotovs. It's a night mission, which means the Horde will be on the move no matter what.
This is one of the most chaotic encounters in the game. Deacon encounters the Horde in a small township, and there are alleys, dead-ends, and other Freakers everywhere. The Napalm Molotovs are nice, but they're nowhere near to being capable of wiping out the entire Horde. This fight gets desperate quickly, and Deacon has to get creative to survive.
4 Death Train Horde Is An Early Horde Near A NERO Location
The Death Train Horde tells of one of the grimmer narratives in the game. A train carrying the bodies of countless dead for disposal is derailed by an oncoming swarm of Freakers. This Horde wanders near a nearby NERO installation in the Cascade Wilderness, where the train can also be found.
This Horde is pretty rough because it can be found so easily early on in the game, and its proximity to a NERO installation means Deacon will want to be there to get a stat upgrade. There are plenty of places to hide while the Horde passes, but it never strays very far from the NERO facility.
3 Ice Wind Lava Cave Horde Accompanies A Deadly Reacher
The Ice Wind Lava Cave Horde is encountered by Deacon St. John during the "What It Takes To Survive" quest, where Deac is looking for missing NERO researchers on behalf of O'Brian. This is Deacon's first encounter with a Reacher, the fast-moving and vicious Freaker with massive claws. After that, Deacon gets to deal with a Horde with no break.
The lack of lighting, awkward terrain of the cave, and the fact that Deacon has already likely taken damage and spent ammo on the Reacher means that this is a particularly harsh encounter. His odds of survival aren't looking good, but it's possible.
2 Chemult Community College Horde Overwhelms Deacon With Numbers
The Chemult Community College Horde has the honor of being the largest Horde in the game. It wanders the desolate campus of Chemult Community College, and the location is often rife with Freakers that are not part of the Horde as well as frequent Screamers.
There are plenty of tents, fences, and campus buildings to obscure Deacon's line of sight and give Freakers places to swarm through. This is a monster of a fight, and it can easily spell Deac's end.
1 Old Sawmill Horde Is A Large Horde That Attacks Deac In A Maze
The Old Sawmill Horde is encountered during the "I'll Save Some For You" mission and provides arguably the hardest encounter in the game. The Old Sawmill provides a labyrinthine obstacle to maneuver and navigate while an endless number of Freakers spill out of every pathway to hunt down Deacon.
It's also one of the largest Hordes in the game, and it takes a good bit of ingenuity and situational awareness to bring down this Horde.