Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is out now, and players will be diving into the latest blockbuster PS5 game. Because I’m so nice, I’m going to use the 40-plus hours I played while reviewing Kojima Productions’ latest epic to impart some wisdom onto you.
Here are seven tips that will save your life and – more importantly – your cargo.
Take your time
When you deliver parcels in Death Stranding 2, your porter grade at the end of it – for the most part – does not have anything to do with how fast you manage to deliver it. While I’m sure we can all relate to wanting a parcel as fast as possible, the real source of praise is when you arrive with a piece of cargo intact.
Because of this, rushing around the landscape is a pretty big no-no. As a seasoned porter, you’re going to want to take care of people’s items, and to do that, you need to handle them with care. Recklessly running around and taking big, dumb jumps with your three-wheel bike only to land and rattle the cargo to hell and back is the right way to get a poor ranking.
Although there are missions where speed is the name of the game, and for these, you’re going to want to take your time and pre-plan the most efficient route, because even if you get a pizza delivered to you in 10 minutes, it’ll mean nothing if it looks like someone punched it.
Tie down your cargo
In Death Stranding 2, you can pile items into your backpack, but once your pile has grown too big to be confined to the pack, it’ll be stacked on top of it. Naturally, the stuff that isn’t secure will be far more susceptible to falling off and getting damaged.
What you want to do when you reach this point is hold Triangle to take off your backpack, and then equip your strand rope, aim, and you’ll be given the option to tie down cargo. This won’t stop cargo from falling off entirely if you take a nasty fall, but it makes journeys a lot less stressful. Once you unlock carriers (more on those later), you’ll be able to tie down any cargo you place on those, too.
Look out for lost cargo
While you’re out and about, you can find pieces of cargo scattered around the world. These can range from random bits of cargo for outposts (giving you a better relationship with them) as well as gear and weapons that you’ll be able to use. However, most crucially, you can find bits of lost cargo for yet-undiscovered prepper outposts; delivering these will allow you to expand the chiral network and unlock more items for Sam to use.
While exploring, you’ll want to press L1 fairly regularly to activate your Odradek scanner, which will show you any loose bits of cargo; keep an eye out for recipients whose names you don’t recognize.
Take on more deliveries for outposts which give you items you like
When you connect an outpost to the Chiral Network in Death Stranding 2, you’ll typically be given a bit of gear or two for Sam to use for the rest of his journey. These can range from unique weapons to useful bits of kit, like exoskeletons or cargo repair sprays.
When you find an item you particularly like, you should take on as many standard orders and deliver lost bits of cargo for this outpost, as the higher rating you get, the more you get. In most cases, you can access upgraded versions of these items by improving your relationship with each outpost.
Carriers are your friends
During the second act of Death Stranding 2, you’re going to be doing a lot of mountain scaling in ways that vehicles won’t be able to tackle, which obviously becomes an issue when you need to transport a lot of cargo.
However, you’ll unlock floating carriers; using these will allow you to carry a ton of cargo wherever you go, and for the most part, these will be able to scale steep inclines just as well as Sam. You can also chain multiple together, which allows you to carry more cargo than you’re ever expected to at once. Plus, you can use the floating carrier as a makeshift skateboard, which is rad.
Take container repair spray
I don’t care if you think you’re going to stay safe on your trip and take a route where your cargo is unlikely to be damaged; all it takes is one bout of timefall rain or one awkwardly placed rock for your cargo to get ruined.
I’m saying this as someone who thought they were safe for 90% of the game, and the number of times I’ve gotten close to a delivery outpost only to realize my cargo is in terrible shape was more than I’d like to admit. It really doesn’t take up that much space, and for the most part, you probably only need one spray, so just think ahead and be safe.
Take one more ladder and climbing anchor than you think you need
My biggest hurdle throughout my 40-plus hour playthrough of Death Stranding 2 was being unprepared. Yes, having an extra spot for cargo was helpful, but more often than not I didn’t pack enough ladders or climbing anchors, and traversal became a serious pain as a result. If you think you’ll need two ladders, take three.
Climbing anchors come in groups of three per cargo, so these are a bit less important to stock up on, but if you’re going to be taking a mountainous route, make sure you take extra, lest you fall down a cliff.
