Exploration

There are tons of hidden locations throughout Hope County, and it’s well worth your time to investigate every building and hidden bunker. As you explore and talk to fellow travelers along the road and in the wilderness, you hear about special characters and Prepper Stashes. Exploring these locales and completing the missions there grants significant rewards and cash and increases the Resistance level of the current region.

Exploring the land by yourself is more of a challenge than playing with a friend online or with a favorite specialist or fighter that you’ve recruited. For more information on potential allies, check out the Roster chapter.

As you explore Hope County and defeat enemies, including cultists and wildlife, you have the opportunity to loot. From defeated cultists, you can scavenge weapons they have equipped, ammo for those weapons, and cash. From animals, as long as you didn’t finish them off with explosives or fire, you can loot their skins to sell and their meat, if it was prey, for bait.

When exploring in or around buildings and Prepper Stashes, you can find backpacks and sacks of loot. These contain a variety of items, such as crafting materials, medkits, armored vests, and throwables. You also find collectibles, such as comics, Vietnam lighters, baseball cards, and Cheeseburger bobbleheads.

Whenever you near a collectible, a notification appears on the screen’s left side and an icon pops up on the map. Search the area to find the collectible. You can find and grab collectibles before you initiate the mission, so don’t worry about finding the mission giver before starting your collection.

There are four types of magazines in-game: Perk, Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging. Perk Magazines immediately add one Perk Point to your tally for each one you pick up. Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging Magazines reveal the locations for a specific animal, fish, or plant, respectively, on your map. This shows you the best locations at which to complete certain challenges.

Shops

There are several different types of shops found throughout Hope County. Here you can purchase weapons, vehicles, and more that you have already unlocked. You can also earn cash by selling skins, meat, and fish from your hunting and fishing. For more info on selling your catches, see the Hunting and Fishing sections later in this chapter. You can replenish ammo, sell, and buy items at all shops.

When visiting a shop, you can customize weapons and vehicles you own by purchasing and selecting unique skins. Shops are usually found at a Fast-Travel location, so you can easily visit them and change your loadout.

Each type of shop also sells a specific type of wares:

General Shop: Sells outfits and weapons

Helipad: Sells helicopters

Hangar: Sells aircraft

Boat Shop: Sells watercraft

Garage: Sells land vehicles