If you played the original Death Stranding, you know BTs are the single biggest threat to any cross-country delivery run. These eerie, chiral entities lurk in timefall zones, ready to drag you into a voidout if you slip up and get spotted. The sequel expands their roster dramatically, with new variants adapted to every biome and playstyle, so we’ve put together this deep dive into every confirmed Death Stranding 2 BT type to help you stay alive on your journeys.
Core Death Stranding 2 BT Types: Confirmed Variants So Far
Based on official trailers and early playtest access, we’ve confirmed four base BT types that appear across all game regions. Each has unique behaviors, weaknesses, and warning signs that set it apart from the first game’s more generic BT roster:
- Standard Terrestrial BTs: The most common variant, similar to the first game's floating humanoid forms, but now adapted to different biomes like deserts and frozen tundras with unique movement and detection traits.
- Aquatic BTs: A new variant that lurks in deep rivers, lakes, and coastal waters, pulling players under if they wade too deep without proper preparation, and ignoring standard odradek detection at long range.
- Mobile Gigantic BTs: Far larger than the first game's giant BTs, these roaming behemoths cross entire regions, altering the terrain around them as they move and spawning smaller BTs in their wake.
- Symbiotic BTs: A rare new variant that attaches to living non-BT creatures, enhancing their strength and making them aggressive to any human that crosses their path, with no standard timefall warning.
It’s worth noting that standard terrestrial BTs have biome-specific sub-variants that change their behavior slightly. Desert BTs leave fine chiral dust trails that are visible even when your odradek isn’t active, while tundra BTs move slower but leave slippery ice patches that can make you stumble if you try to run away. Coastal regions also have their own terrestrial BT variants that can move between land and shallow water, so don’t let your guard down just because you’re near the shore.
Key Traits That Differentiate New BT Variants From the First Game
Longtime Death Stranding players will notice immediately that the sequel’s BTs are far less predictable than the ones they’re used to. No two BT encounters are identical anymore, even if you run into the same type of BT in the same region. For example, a symbiotic BT attached to a deer will act far differently than one attached to a larger predator like a bear, even if the core BT itself is the same.
BTs now leave persistent environmental changes wherever they go, which is another big shift from the first game. If a gigantic BT crosses a region, it leaves behind thick patches of chiral residue that stay for up to 12 in-game hours. These patches attract smaller BTs and cause minor timefall even when the sky is clear, so you’ll want to mark those areas on your map and avoid them until the residue fades.
Symbiotic BTs also don’t trigger the usual timefall warning that players relied on in the first game. I learned that the hard way during my first hour of playtesting, when I walked right up to a deer I thought was a regular wild animal, only for the BT attached to it to lunge at me before my odradek even started beeping. You’ll have to watch for odd, twitchy movements in wild animals to spot these variants before they spot you.
How to Defeat or Avoid Each BT Type Safely
You don’t always have to fight BTs, and in most cases, avoiding them is the faster, less resource-heavy option. But if you’re stuck in a narrow pass or have a time-sensitive delivery that can’t wait for a BT to move on, these strategies will help you handle every variant safely.
For standard terrestrial BTs, the classic hold-your-breath strategy still works for most encounters, but you’ll need to adjust for biome traits. Desert BTs can hear you moving through loose sand from farther away, so you’ll want to move even slower than usual when you’re in arid timefall zones. If you have to fight, hematic grenades are still effective, but you’ll need twice as many for biome-adapted variants thanks to their thicker outer chiral layers.
Aquatic BTs are almost impossible to defeat when you’re in the water with them, so don’t even try. The best approach is to use a floating carrier to cross deep water, or equip the new chiral swim fins that let you move fast enough to outrun them if you do get spotted. If you have to cross a body of water known to have aquatic BTs, toss a hematic grenade into the water first to scare them off for a few minutes while you cross.
Gigantic BTs can’t be defeated at all until you unlock late-game anti-BT weaponry, so your only option early on is to reroute. If you see one on the horizon, mark its path immediately, because it shifts every few in-game hours. Symbiotic BTs are the only variant that reward you for non-lethal play: if you use a non-lethal anti-BT rifle to separate the BT from its host without hurting the animal, you’ll get a bonus cache of rare chiral crystals as a reward.
Hidden BT Mechanics You Might Have Missed
There are a lot of under-the-hood BT mechanics that the game never explains outright, and learning them can save you a lot of frustration down the line. BTs can sense the cargo you’re carrying, for one: if you’re transporting high-volume chiral materials, they can detect you from twice as far away as normal. You can counter this by wrapping chiral cargo in the new anti-chiral cloth you unlock early in the story, which masks their signature from nearby BTs.
BT spawn rates are also affected by player behavior, which ties into the game’s passive multiplayer system. If you leave a cache of hematic grenades or blood bags in a high-traffic BT zone for other players to use, the number of BT spawns in that area will drop for everyone for a few in-game days. It’s a small, easy way to contribute to the shared world while also making your own future runs easier.
You can also spot BTs before your odradek starts beeping if you pay close attention to your equipment. If your odradek twitches even a little when you pull it out, that means there’s a BT within 50 meters of you, even if it’s not close enough to trigger the usual beeping warning. That tip alone saved me from half a dozen unexpected encounters during my first playthrough. You can also use chiral spray to mark BTs for other players, which gives you a small Likes reward if someone uses your marker to avoid an encounter.
At the end of the day, knowing the different Death Stranding 2 BT types can make the difference between a smooth, on-time delivery and a voidout that sets you back hours of progress. The game will likely add more BT variants with post-launch content drops, so we’ll update this guide regularly as new information becomes available. I still get a little tense when I see a gigantic BT lumbering across the horizon, but learning each variant’s tells and weaknesses has cut my BT-related deaths by 70% compared to my first few hours with the game. If you have a go-to strategy for handling tricky BT encounters, feel free to share it in the comments below.
