One of the key elements of Days Gone is trust. Not just the trust evident in the story between Deacon and his compatriots, but also a measurable meter of Trust that functions in game. There are five outposts in Days Gone, each run by a different leader and each offering different missions and gear. Doing work for them builds Trust, which in turn unlocks higher level purchases. Doing work also earns you credits which can be used to buy said purchases.
The max level of Trust at any of the camps is 3, unlocking the best possible loot and upgrades. Some of the camps start you at Level 0 where nothing is purchasable (due to Deacon's past) and the rest start you at Level 1. Each level requires a certain amount of Trust to "level up" with lower levels taking much less than the 25,000 Trust required to reach Level 3.
Trust can be gained in a number of ways, with most of them explained in game: missions, bounties, and so on. Days Gone even does a great job of showing how much Trust and credits a certain mission will reward you with, and if it's an open world mission, Camp the Trust will apply. Even so, there are certain things players can do to speed up how quickly they reach Level 3 at all the camps and unlock all their favorite loot.
- Complete Ambient Events - Ambient Events are everywhere, and they're your best bet for gaining Trust with minimal effort. While driving around, you'll notice blue question marks on your mini-map. Head to it before it disappears and you'll find one of several events occurring. Deacon can then tell the survivor to go to a specific camp and collect the Trust.
- Upgrade skills for collecting plants and animals - The Survival Tab is important since it contains two upgrades that speed up the process of gaining Trust by two-times. One skill doubles the amount of materials gathered from plants, and the other doubles the meat obtained from skinning animals. All camps have a Kitchen, where Deacon can turn these hunting trophies and gathered harvests into credits and Trust.
- Turn in Bounties - There are two types of bounties in Days Gone: bounties that come as part of missions and bounties for freaker ears. Camps pay actual credits (and Trust) for turning in freaker ears. Anytime you take one down, make sure to run over its corpse (on foot or on bike) to pick up the ear.
- Take out Marauder camps and Infestations - Clearing out Marauder camps and Infestation Nests are easy ways to gain Trust while exploring the open world, and they don't require having accepted certain missions beforehand.
- Clear the Hordes - Hordes are the final mission type you'll see on your map, and they are also the most dangerous. Hordes are also a great tool after you've completed the main story to get Trust up to 3 and go for 100%. It would be near impossible to defeat the hordes without having Level 3 at at least a few of the encampments because of the high-tier weapons they provide.
- Choose Your Focus: Bike or Weapons - Each of the 5 camps offer upgrades for either your bike or your arsenal. Only one (Lost Lake) offers upgrades for both. Depending on your focus, you'll want to concentrate on the camps that offer upgrades you find interesting. Days Gone lets you look at all the upgrades you can't have, so its easier to prioritize which camp to do missions for or where turn in bounties. If you spread your Trust too thin by turning in bounties at multiple places, it will take much longer to reach higher Trust levels at one place.
Naturally, throughout Days Gone, you'll find yourself roaming during the day and night. Even though the game offers the ability to sleep, you never actually need to do it. While players will want to go from mission to mission and complete it all, try taking a break - in-game, of course - and smell the flowers. Literally, pick them up. Go outside during the day and don't focus on doing a specific mission. Just roam around. Go hunting (and gathering) and maybe clear a nest or two. Don't have a plan in mind, but try to just do errands during the day. You'll gain Trust from the random events and get some R&R from all the freaker mayhem.
But beyond that, perhaps the easiest way to earn Trust is simply playing through the Days Gone story. While just playing the story won't get you all the Trust you need to get to Level 3 at any of the camps, it will get you pretty far. That's because the story missions award a lot of Trust, more so than the majority of the optional side missions. Just make sure the story mission you are doing doesn't advance the story past the point of no return (Days Gone will warn you). Then some side missions may be locked out forever, making reaching that final Trust level a lot more difficult.