Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Complete Guide (19 Sections) | Ludo.guide

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Welcome back, Porter! Death Stranding 2: On The Beach drops you back into the boots of Sam Porter Bridges, this time with Lou in tow, as you navigate the treacherous, fractured landscapes of a new America. You’ll be mastering traversal tools, managing your core stats, and executing advanced delivery strategies to reconnect a world teetering on the brink. This is a game for those who relish a unique blend of open-world exploration, challenging delivery mechanics, and a deeply engaging narrative.

This guide is your essential companion for the journey ahead. We'll cover everything from navigating the early missions of Episode 1 and essential orders, to mastering advanced traversal techniques and tackling every boss fight. We'll help you understand the game's core mechanics and ensure you can successfully reconnect this broken world, one delivery at a time.

Walkthrough (Introduction)

Once, there was an explosion... a bang which gave birth to time and space. Once, there was an explosion... a bang which set a planet spinning in that space. Once, there was an explosion... a bang which gave rise to life as we know it. And then came the next explosion.

Dive into Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, the latest game from Kojima Productions. Since the fourth "explosion," the world has changed forever. As simple and common a thing as rain is now potentially deadly. There are no roads connecting cities anymore; forget about airplanes or the internet. A single corpse can spell doom for an entire population. Humankind is disconnected, hunkered down for survival, caught between a forgotten past and an uncertain future.

In this world, a small package can mean the difference between life and death--or between mere survival and a life worth living. Enter the porters, brave souls who traverse the rough terrain between far-flung settlements. They bring medicine, supplies, and most importantly hope to the scattered remnants of humanity.

You play as Sam Porter Bridges, the "Legend," one of the finest porters to have ever crossed the ruins of what was once the United States of America. There are many reasons Sam is so good at his job, but maybe the biggest is his sheer perseverance. He just keeps putting one foot in front of the other until he reaches his destination. Deadly rain, strange monsters, rival porters--nothing is going to stop him from getting where he's going, on time, with (hopefully) undamaged cargo.

Unless you, the player, accidentally hit the wrong button and, say, try to punch something instead of grabbing a rope, thus causing Sam to fall headlong off a cliff. One could say the true obstacle to a potentially bright future for humanity is your ability to navigate the game controls. No pressure or anything!

Walkthrough (Prologue "Porter")

Walkthrough

1
Adjust your screen brightness and input your birthday when prompted. The birthday input does not seem to affect gameplay, aside from potential easter eggs.
2
Learn about DOOMS, a supernatural affliction allowing interaction with spirits of the dead, which is useful for traversing areas with spectral presences.
3
Note the zodiac signs mentioned, including Cancer, Pisces, Cetus, Delphinus, and Gigas (possibly Orion), some of which are associated with sea creatures and celestial bodies.
4
Consider the quote from Kobo Abe and the "rope and stick" concept, inspired by his play "The Man Who Turned Into a Stick", which explores death as a stage of life.
5
Pay attention to the opening voiceover referencing the Big Bang, the sun's birth, and life's start, accompanied by the song "Don't Be So Serious" by Low Roar.
6
Observe visual elements like black strands from the sky, golden hand-shaped chiral crystals, and coral formations, which will appear later in the game.
7
Watch the opening cutscenes closely, as they correspond to game mechanics you will encounter.
8
Be prepared to hear Sam utter "no, no, no, no, no, no!!", often when something valuable is lost, likely due to your own actions.

Tips

Playing online is recommended as Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is designed to be a social experience.
The game is intended to be played online; not doing so means missing a key portion of the experience.
The opening cutscenes contain direct references to future game mechanics.

Next: Prologue Section 1: The Man Who Delivers

Prologue Section 1: The Man Who Delivers

Walkthrough

1
Once you have control, recover your cargo and find shelter from the rain. Grab the parcel directly in front of you and put it on your back.
2
Press Options to bring up the Pause menu and adjust settings if desired.
3
Scan the terrain using R1 (the radar (your minimap with nearby blips and threats marked)) to note more packages scattered about, all destined for "Central Knot City."
4
Grab the nearest package before finding the cave. Go right and around the large rocks, or scramble directly over the rocks to the left.
5
This package is marked as "Lost Cargo," meaning it's not part of Sam's order and was dropped by an NPC (non-player character). You can pick it up and deliver it for extra likes, especially if the destination is a location you don't have full connection with yet.
6
Once you've picked up this package, turn to note the non-cargo marker; this is the cave you're aiming for. Move forward through the gap in the rocks until you trigger a cutscene (a non-interactive cinematic the game plays automatically).
7
This cutscene introduces Fragile, BTs (Beings of the Death Stranding), cryptobiotes, and DOOMS levels. Sam is a "level two" DOOMS, able to sense BTs but not see them.
8
The game will provide tips on the left side of the screen, which can also be found in the "Tips" menu. These explain sections of the HUD (Heads-Up Display).
9
Behind you in the cave is another package of Lost Cargo. Pick it up and exit the cave.
10
As music plays and credits show, observe the coral formation with tardigrades floating about; these are cryptobiotes. Hold down Square to catch and eat one.
11
You can eat cryptobiotes for healing or catch them to store for future use.
12
Turn and look to the side of the cave entrance (left if facing into the cave) to find a path down to a river. Grip your backpack straps with L2+R2 (hold both buttons) and head down the path.

Tips

You won't be able to find all your cargo before finding shelter; don't worry about missing some initially.
Picking up Lost Cargo can earn you extra likes and help other players if the items belong to them. You get one like just for picking up a package.
If you haven't seen a new name for a while on the minimap (the radar display), you might need to turn around.
Eating cryptobiotes can be useful even when you have other ways to heal later in the game.

Prologue Section 2: Central Knot City

At the bottom of the slope, across the river, is the second package Sam dropped in the opening cutscene. Grabbing L2+R2 while fording this (or any other) river will help you keep your balance. The water's shallow, but swift. It's not likely to knock Sam off his feet but you'll use less stamina if you balance while in the water.

Cross the river, grab the package, and continue to your right toward Central Knot City. As you travel you should spot an upslope to your left. If you've been using your odradek scanner with R1, you might have a note that there's a package up there. Go on and head up the slope to find "Lost Cargo" for Central Knot City next to a cryptobiote nest.

Eat some cryptobiotes if you want, then turn around and head back down the slope. You'll notice glowing blue footprints on the ground. This is your path, and can be very useful if you can't remember how to get around an obstacle or which way you came from. In the future you might see green footprints; these are paths laid down by other players. Enough footsteps trodding the same path in the wilds will change the terrain in certain areas, making a clear road that's easy to see. You haven't tromped around this area enough for that just yet, though.

At the bottom of the slope, turn left to keep on toward Central Knot City. At some point, you'll want to ford the river again. The final "key" package is on the other side, having floated all the way downstream to rest conveniently close to a set of stairs that leads up to a road. Go up the stairs and cross the road. Despite what it may look like, you can't get into the city simply by walking in through the road; there's an air pressure dome blocking your path.

Instead, go down the stairs on the other side of the road and cross the rocky terrain ahead. Pick up one more piece of Lost Cargo on the way. This will bring you to the point of being "close to your weight limit," though it's really more like half. Still, you're almost there, and it's worth going ahead and grabbing all the packages along the way. It'll give you a good headstart on your likes.

Grab your backpack straps for balance and head forward. There will be a scan that verifies your cargo; any time this happens, so long as the lights are blue or purple, you know you've arrived somewhere relatively safe. Head forward and to the left, through any of the three lanes. You're not going into Central Knot City itself (which is underground), you're just dropping off your cargo at the delivery center up ahead on your left. Walk in and hold down square to activate the terminal, to deliver the cargo to a woman we'll get to know later as Mama.

What comes up next is a very short version of a screen you'll be seeing a lot later on. I'll go into detail about the cargo terminal when you encounter it again later. For now, just select "Make Delivery" and "Deliver Requested Cargo." Deliver everything you have; there's no point in holding onto any of it. If you've been following this guide and didn't accidentally fall on your face, you should get an "S" rating for this delivery, and some extra likes for the Lost Cargo. Again, I'll go through the details of these screens later; for now, bask in the likes and your new Porter rank (at this point, mine is 6: just a plain old Porter.)