Death Stranding Guide – Best Structures to Build, Where to Place Them and Upgrades

Death Stranding has a lot of systems to learn in the opening few hours. You’ll learn about structures pretty quickly though. These can be set up in the open world and serve different purposes. More importantly, they can be used by other players who can give you Likes for them. What are some of the more important structures you can build though?

One of the first is the Watchtower. These help in scanning areas, finding lost cargo and for generally providing an overview of the land. If you build them near Mule bases, the tower can scan the items they’re holding, allowing you to prioritize what to pursue.

The next structure that’s arguably more important is the Generator. Nearly every electronic item, whether it’s a Reverse Trike or Exo Suit, requires battery life. Since you don’t really get longer lasting batteries until later, having a Generator nearby to charge electronics will help. Set up generators at key points during a journey or when you’re in the middle of nowhere and there’s no base nearby. Don’t worry about having a generator near a Bridges facility since these contain garages and private rooms to recharge everything anyway.

Of course, it’s only a matter of time before you begin building Bridges. These make the journey across rivers more seamless but require tons of materials. If there’s a particularly annoying expanse of water, especially one with deep waters that would sink vehicles, consider building a bridge over it. Try to keep an eye out on other players’ bridges that might be under construction as well and contribute materials.

Up next are Postboxes which allow you to store items. You can also entrust any lost cargo to players at these and receive Likes for the same (though the amount received is less than when delivering the cargo yourself). A good strategy is to step up postboxes near bridges and such so that you can easily deliver materials.

The Zipline will become your best friend when cutting down on travel time. You’ll need a level 2 PCC but construct two ziplines, link them together and suddenly that mountain isn’t so hard to traverse. It’s possible to create several ziplines to zoom around the map. Sure, they’re investments but also way quicker than traveling on foot or in vehicles.

Finally, there are Timefall Shelters. Since Timefall will wear down your cargo, it’s a good idea to create a shelter and wait it out (you can even rest there and pass the time). Another benefit of these shelters is that they’ll repair any damaged items, allowing you to save on repair spray. Vehicles are sadly not repaired.

How to Upgrade Structures

Since Timefall affects everything, including structures built, it’s a good idea to upgrade your structures over time for increased durability. Simply head to a structure and hold down on the Options button to bring up the structure’s menu. This will let you upgrade, repair or customize it. In order for a structure to have more resistance to Timefall, it must be upgraded to level 3 which requires materials.

If there are any structures that get a lot of use – like Ziplines or Generators – then consider upgrading their durability. Also keep structures that get a ton of Likes in mind – it’ll be worth your while to keep them operational.

Customization is a neat little bonus when upgrading a structure to level 2. This lets you to attach phrases, play music or have holograms for structures. Completing deliveries will unlock more of these customizations. They’re not functionally important so don’t worry about selecting a customization for every structure you build.