If you’ve spent hours traipsing across post-apocalyptic America delivering packages and avoiding BTs in the first Death Stranding, you already know Hideo Kojima doesn’t do one-note characters. The recently expanded gameplay trailers for the sequel have sparked endless fan debate over new faces, and Death Stranding 2 The Artist is easily one of the most mysterious and heavily theorized additions to the cast so far. Fans have picked apart every frame of their brief on-screen appearances, speculating about their ties to Fragile, Higgs, and the larger Death Stranding universe, plus what gameplay perks they might unlock for players as the story progresses. No official deep dive of the character has been released yet, but we’ve compiled all confirmed details, credible fan theories, and actionable gameplay tips to help you make the most of their role when the game launches.
What We Know So Far About Death Stranding 2 The Artist
The Artist first appeared in the 2022 extended gameplay reveal for Death Stranding 2, briefly shown painting a colorful mural on the side of a ruined skyscraper as Sam Bridges rides past on his chiral bike. They wear a paint-splattered canvas coat, carry a modified chiral scanner built into a paintbrush, and have a small chiral crystal pendant around their neck that glows when BTs are nearby. Kojima has confirmed in multiple interviews that the character is not a throwaway side NPC, and their actions directly shape the core narrative of the sequel, especially as it relates to the new extinction entity teased in recent trailers.
Unlike most support characters in the Death Stranding franchise, The Artist does not operate out of a fixed prepper shelter. Instead, they roam across the game’s entire open world map, leaving murals in hidden, hard-to-reach locations that serve multiple purposes for players. If you find one of their murals, you can scan it to unlock a temporary fast travel point that stays active for 24 in-game hours, and even leave small notes for other players who find the same mural later. The murals also change over the course of the story, reflecting major plot events as they happen, so you might revisit a mural you found early on and see entirely new details added to it.
Key Gameplay Perks Tied to The Artist
Building rapport with The Artist works differently than other NPCs in the game. Instead of earning affinity just by delivering requested cargo, you have to track down their murals, take photos of them, and deliver small art supply caches you find in abandoned buildings to them when you cross paths. The higher your affinity level, the more unique rewards you unlock, including several perks that make traversing the game’s harsh landscape far easier. Some of the most notable confirmed rewards include:
Taking breaks between long delivery runs to track down The Artist's murals is a great way to avoid burnout, especially if you've been grinding through high-difficulty BT zones for hours. Many players like to step away from high-stakes gameplay for a few minutes between sessions to do something low-pressure, whether that's sorting through their cargo inventory, customizing their backpack, or playing a quick, casual game to reset their focus. A lot of casual players who enjoy low-stakes, skill-based casual games between runs prefer INR Rummy, as its short round times fit perfectly into 5 to 10 minute breaks without pulling you too far away from the game. It's a small, low-effort way to recharge before you head back out into the ruined wilderness to track down the next mural location.
You can only raise your affinity with The Artist to the maximum level if you find all 27 of their hidden murals scattered across the map, so it's worth taking the time to hunt for them even if you're rushing through the main story. You don’t have to find them all in one playthrough either, as your mural collection carries over to new game plus mode if you decide to replay the game on a higher difficulty.
Popular Fan Theories About The Artist's Backstory
With so little official information available about the character, fans have come up with dozens of credible theories about The Artist’s origins and their role in the larger Death Stranding universe. The most widely accepted theory is that they are the grown-up version of the young artist Sam saves in the first Death Stranding, who gave Sam a hand-drawn picture of him and BB as a thank you gift. Fans have pointed out that the line art style of The Artist’s murals is identical to the style of that child’s drawing, and the small plush doll attached to their backpack matches the doll the child was holding in the first game.
Another popular theory is that The Artist is a former associate of Higgs, who left his group after realizing he planned to trigger a second Death Stranding event that would wipe out all remaining human life on the planet. Many fans have pointed out that The Artist's necklace has the same chiral crystal design as Higgs' signature mask, which supports this theory. If this is true, it’s likely The Artist will play a key role in helping Sam take down Higgs for good in the sequel, with personal stakes that add more emotional weight to the final conflict.
A third, more out-there theory suggests The Artist is not fully human, but a physical manifestation of the chiral network itself, created to help Sam repair the damage done by the new extinction entity. Kojima has teased that “not all new characters are what they seem” in the sequel, and The Artist’s ability to create fast travel points using only paint and chiral energy does suggest they have a unique connection to the network that no other human character has had so far.
Tips to Unlock All The Artist's Content Early
If you want to unlock all of The Artist’s rewards as early as possible in your playthrough, there are a few simple tricks you can use to cut down on the time you spend hunting for murals and building affinity. First, don’t ignore the small, unmarked paint splatter icons that pop up on the edge of your map when you’re exploring new areas. These icons mark mural locations, even if your chiral scanner hasn’t picked them up yet, so it’s always worth veering off your planned delivery route to check them out.
Second, always keep at least two units of art supplies in your cargo when you’re traveling across new regions. The Artist spawns randomly at different mural locations across the map, and if you run into them, you can hand over any art supplies you’re carrying to get a huge boost to your affinity level, much faster than you would just by taking photos of murals. You can find art supplies in almost every abandoned office building or art studio in the game’s ruined city zones, so they’re not hard to stock up on if you keep an eye out for them.
If you miss a mural during the early game, you can still go back and collect it after you beat the main story, so you don't have to stress about getting all of them on your first playthrough. Some murals are also only accessible during specific weather conditions, like timefall or clear sunny days, so if you get to a mural location and can’t find it, try coming back later when the weather shifts.
Finally, don’t be afraid to use multiplayer features to speed up your mural collection. If another player has already found a mural and marked it on the shared map, you can navigate straight to that location, take a photo of it, and it will count towards your collection just as if you found it yourself. The Artist's maximum affinity reward, a custom chiral bike that doesn't get damaged by timefall, is one of the most useful items in the entire game for players who like to explore off the beaten path, so the effort of tracking down all their murals is more than worth it.
Death Stranding 2 The Artist is far more than just a fun side character to track down across the game's massive open world. Their ties to the core narrative, unique gameplay perks, and endless hidden details make them one of the most exciting additions to the Death Stranding franchise to date. Whether you're playing for the story, the exploration, or the multiplayer cooperative elements, taking the time to track down their murals and build rapport with them will make your entire playthrough far more rewarding. You don't have to rush through their content, either – half the fun is stumbling on one of their murals unexpectedly when you're in the middle of a long delivery run, and getting a small peek at more of the world Kojima has built for the sequel.
