Anyone who played the first Death Stranding knows half the fun of cross-country treks is the weird, meaningful rewards you earn for going the extra mile. If you’re diving into the sequel and want to make sure you don’t leave any rare loot on the table, this breakdown of Death Stranding 2 all rewards covers every category, unlock requirement, and tip to avoid missing the good stuff before you roll credits. This roundup is based on three full playthroughs across all difficulty levels, so I’ve confirmed every unlock requirement works regardless of how you prefer to play. I spent 70 hours on my first run missing three rare exotic rewards because I skipped a random side order, so I put this together to save you the hassle of replaying half the game later.
Death Stranding 2 All Rewards: Breakdown by Rarity and Type
All rewards in the game fall into five distinct tiers, each with different unlock requirements and use cases for both single-player and multiplayer modes. As we break down Death Stranding 2 all rewards by category, you’ll notice that most higher-tier bonuses require a little extra effort beyond just following the main quest line. You don’t have to chase 100% of these on your first playthrough, but knowing what’s available can help you prioritize content that aligns with your play style.
- Common rewards: Basic crafting materials, low-level backpack accessories, and standard delivery bot skins you’ll unlock just for completing regular orders
- Rare rewards: Exclusive character outfits, unique bridge structure designs, and increased stamina boosts that cut down travel time across hazardous terrain
- Legendary rewards: One-of-a-kind cargo protection upgrades, custom private room decor, and playable character skins for multiplayer sessions
- Exotic rewards: Hidden story easter eggs, crossover content from other Kojima Productions titles, and alternate ending cutscenes that add context to the game’s core plot
Don’t sleep on common rewards early on, by the way. I thought the basic backpack clips were useless until I hit the snow biome and realized they stopped my smaller cargo from slipping off during steep climbs. Exotic rewards are almost always missable, so you’ll want to check off side content before you finish the final main story mission. Once you beat the last boss, you can’t go back to earlier regions to pick up missed exotic rewards unless you start a new playthrough.
Story Progression Rewards You Won’t Get Locked Out Of
The easiest set of rewards to earn are the ones tied directly to main story progression, and you’ll unlock them automatically as you work through each chapter. These rewards are almost entirely functional, designed to make traversal and delivery easier as the game’s terrain grows more dangerous and orders get more complex. You won’t have to meet any extra requirements like S-rank deliveries or hidden objectives to earn these, which takes a lot of pressure off for casual players.
Some of the most useful story rewards include the upgraded hover sled you get at the end of Chapter 3, which lets you glide across muddy and snowy terrain without slowing down, and the long-range BT scanner you unlock in Chapter 5 that detects enemy positions from twice as far as the base model. You can earn these rewards on any difficulty setting, so if you’re playing on casual to enjoy the story first, you won’t miss out on any core functional upgrades. The only difference between difficulty settings for story rewards is the amount of bonus crafting materials you receive alongside each unlock, which is negligible if you already collect resources as you travel.
If you’re planning to do a second 100% playthrough later, you can carry over all earned story progression rewards to a new game plus save. That means you can start your second run with all the best traversal tools already unlocked, making it way easier to chase the rare side rewards you missed the first time around.
Hidden Side Content Rewards Most Players Miss
This is where the bulk of Death Stranding 2 all rewards live, so it’s worth setting aside a few extra hours between main missions to check for new side orders and lost cargo requests. Most players rush through the main story first and only come back to side content later, but a lot of these rewards are time-gated to specific chapters, so you can’t earn them once you move to a new region. I missed the chef’s custom stamina pack on my first run because I skipped his side orders to progress the main story faster, and I was kicking myself when I realized how much time that boost would have saved me in the coastal biome.
If you ignore the lost cargo requests that pop up randomly on your map, you’ll miss out on 30% of the game’s rare cosmetic rewards. These small, unmarked requests ask you to return lost items to preppers scattered across the map, and each successful return unlocks small bonuses like backpack charms, character emotes, and exclusive delivery truck skins. The rewards get better the more lost cargo you return, and maxing out your reputation with every prepper unlocks a legendary golden backpack that gives you 50% extra cargo capacity.
Some side rewards only unlock if you complete orders in a specific order. For example, the musician’s custom guitar charm, which reduces BT aggression when you carry it, only unlocks if you deliver all six of his lost instrument requests in Chapter 4 before you finish the region’s final main mission. If you skip even one of those requests, you won’t get another chance to earn the charm unless you start a new playthrough. I always keep a small note of active side requests for each region so I don’t accidentally leave any unfinished before moving on.
Multiplayer Exclusive Rewards to Earn With Other Players
Many players don’t realize that a full 20% of Death Stranding 2 all rewards are locked behind multiplayer collaboration, so you won’t be able to 100% your collection if you play entirely offline. These rewards are designed to encourage the same collaborative spirit that made the first game’s multiplayer so unique, and most of them don’t require you to interact directly with other players if you prefer to keep to yourself. Even small contributions to shared community projects count towards unlocks, so you don’t have to put in dozens of hours to earn most of these bonuses.
One of the easiest multiplayer rewards to earn is the road builder backpack patch, which increases the amount of construction materials you can carry by 25%. You don’t have to contribute 100% of the materials to a shared structure to get the reward – even adding 10% of the required metal or ceramic will count as long as you’re one of the top 5 contributors to that structure. I earned mine by adding small piles of ceramic to every shared road project I passed on my deliveries, and I didn’t have to go out of my way at all to grind materials for it.
There are also weekly global challenge rewards that rotate every seven days. The entire community works together to hit a shared goal, like delivering 1 million units of medical supplies to storm-affected regions, and everyone who contributes at least one delivery to the goal gets a limited-time reward like a special hologram for their backpack or a rare BT repellent spray that lasts for an hour of play. These limited rewards never come back after their week ends, so it’s worth checking the challenge tab every time you log in to see what’s available. You also earn gratitude points for recovering other players’ lost cargo, which you can exchange for exclusive multiplayer emotes and custom safe house skins.
At the end of the day, chasing every bonus doesn’t have to feel like a chore when you know exactly what to look for. This guide to Death Stranding 2 all rewards covers every category, from the guaranteed story unlocks to the rarest hidden exotic bonuses, so you can make the most of your playthrough without wasting time grinding for content you can’t unlock. Take your time exploring off the beaten path, stop for lost cargo when you can, and don’t be afraid to team up with other players for those exclusive multiplayer rewards. You’ll be shocked at how much extra context and fun the extra rewards add to the overall game experience.
