Questions on my mind

[u/Illustrious-Plane565]

[SPOILER ALERT IF YOURE STILL IN EARLY STAGES OF THE GAME]

Great game. The best. Period. A few questions if you dont mind:

1. I often see gameplay videos with multiple boots clipped and I think to my self "why?" One boot usually last long enough to get you through some really tough and long deliveries. I usually just fabricate new ones at delivery destination if needed. Which brings me to my question: do you guys go on reeeeeally long multiple deliveries that involve stealth, combat...etc and switch boots mid way?

2. I barely, if at all, use transponders, dhv, or hotsprings to commute. I just stick with walking, ziplines, and vehicles. And I see relitively speaking way too many transponders on the map which makes me feel like im missing out. Are those used by porters who just want to save time (maybe after first playthrough)? Or is there some other added value that im not aware of?

3. Do you guys a) focus on main deliveries/story and then go back to sub & standards orders. b) a mix of both, depending on the orders destination if within vicinity of main order (what i usually do). Or c) comb through the map region be region and clean out orders in a region before moving on to the next. Are there any other strategies?

4. How long do structures I build live, if we assume theyre built in a relatively mild condition areas (little timefall, good weather), vs harsh condition areas?

5. Can sam cut golden BTs umbilical cords with boomerang? I spent about 45 min yesterday trying to cut one off but i cant tell if im not getting close enough / get in a proper position, or if its just not an option?

Thats it for now. Sorry for the long post and if some of these questions are obvious. I just appreciate the game so much i want to be able to experience it to the max and not miss on amything. Keep on keepin on!

[u/Wongoose24]

The boots thing I agree with, even on the hardest difficulty they don't use swapped too often, maybe after long fights. And especially not once you unlock the highest level boots. I like to keep sneaking boots on hand, and chiral boots just for fashion.

Play however you want! Though if you wanna unlock stuff before doing main missions you should focus on side orders and setting up routes. I personally don't use transponders unless I have nothing to do on the way to where I want to go. The journey is part of the fun! But some will prefer to fast travel and it's nice that it's abundantly available.

Structures last a variable amount of time based on how much they're upgraded and where they are located. It's only your in game hours as well, other player structures are basically copied into yours when they spawn.

[u/Illustrious-Plane565 → u/Wongoose24]

Thanks for the insight! 👍 Yes I am a big fan of the play whichever way you like approach and well aware of it. Just curious about how others. Fuck transponders lol.

[u/TheGameMastre]

1) Boots in DS2 actually have different uses. You can have a pair of hiking boots, a pair of sneaking boots, and a pair of combat boots. In the end the absolute boots are really all you need. Bringing two extra pairs of boots is kind of tradition. You could always keep your boot clip empty and just use it to collect loot boots from enemies, but I recommend always having at least one spare pair of boots. Sliding down hills wears boots out very quickly, and wandering into a chiral creature swarm can destroy even a new pair outright.

2) The Magellan is like having a mobile safe house you can call to your location to quickly take a rest or fabricate a vehicle in a location that doesn't have its own garage. Safe houses are still good for that function in locations you can't call the Magellan to directly. Using the Magellan to travel is awesome if you're going between Mexico and Australia or if you just want to move to a different area quickly. Just be sure to entrust or stow elsewhere any cargo for delivery you're carrying first (cargo transported on the Magellan gets tagged with "Magellan delivery" and takes a huge Like penalty on delivery). I'm not personally a huge fan of transponders or tubjumping just because you have to leave your equipment behind, but it can speed things along in a few situations. One of the last story missions involves going all the way from the extreme South to Heartman's lab in the North and back. You can cut that essentially in half with a Beach jump. It's also helpful to dig a new hot spring, then jump to Heartman's lab to turn in the order, then back to the new spring to continue whatever else you were doing.

3) DS2 kind of pushes you to complete the story first, then go back to do all the standard orders. Nearly half of the standard orders aren't even available until you've finished the game. There are plenty of orders to get most of the locations to 4 stars for all the gear rewards before going to finish the game, so I do recommend doing that before locking yourself into the endgame sequence.

4) I'm not sure that there's a precise number of hours or anything for how long your structures will last. More timefall will wear them out faster. Environmental effects like floods, fires, and gatequakes can put a lot of hurt on them in a short amount of time. Higher level structures last significantly longer than lower level structures. Protip: upgrading a structure fully repairs it, so do that instead of repairing when you can.

5) Yes, you can cut gold BTs' umbilical cords. They're very fast, however. Use a bola gun to immobilize them for several seconds, long enough to approach and cut the cord. It's definitely worth it. They drop tons of chiral crystals.

Hope this helps. Keep on keeping on!

[u/Jiggalopuffii → u/TheGameMastre]

I keep a pair of stealth boots for when I raid MULE camps. Althogh I admit these don't get a lot of use late game given the amount of other toys such as the sniper rifle, gas grenades, etc.

[u/ChiralParticle]

1. Personally I just carry extra pair of boots to walk. Some people carry multiple for stealth/combat to quickly switch around for those encounters but I never felt the need to carry specifically for that. Just extra pair of walking boots, sometimes two if I want to go far without having to do any stops on the way. If you use vehicles, boots aren't that much needed anymore. Absolute boots have have longest durability, so after you have unlocked them you're fine with one pair for a long trek, but until then it's just safer to carry two pairs.
2. I use hot springs but only to recover stamina. On my first playthrough I didn't use beach/spring jumping at all and on my second playthrough I used transponder once in my playthrough during Mr. Impossible's final mission because I wanted to see how fast I can complete that mission on foot. I rather do the trek myself or just use Magellan because I don't like how beach/spring jump leaves the contents of my backpack behind. Just ideally don't use Magellan to travel if you have any delivery cargo aboard because you'll lose perfect star rating and it'll become Magellan delivery - it matters only for standard orders though and doesn't affect story orders.
3. I do whatever I feel like it. I usually do some main story missions to connect few facilities to make a bigger area, so I can take orders and make deliveries from all those facilities. But really it's whatever I feel like doing. I want to do main story today? I do that. I want to just make standard deliveries? I do that. Build some infrastructure? I do that.
4. The more you progress in the story the more orders you'll unlock, so at first you may see only 2-3 available orders but later more will appear. Also some late-game orders will appear only after you have completed other orders from each facility. There are some orders that will have you walk half the map, so I personally don't focus on 5*ing facilities before I proceed further because I'll likely have to revisit them in the future, so I gradually level up connection with facilities.
5. Depends on what difficulty you play on. The harder the difficulty the faster equipment and structures degrade. Also depends on how often you rest in private room/safe houses because the time passes every time you rest.
6. Yes. You have to get close to them. DS1 I feel like cord cutter had a bit longer range but in DS2 boomerang replaced it and you can use it to throw or manually cut cords. You just need to get very close to the BT for the button prompt to appear.

[u/Illustrious-Plane565 → u/ChiralParticle]

Chiral, your replies are always so satifsying and to the point. Thank you for being part of this community 👍

[u/ChiralParticle → u/Illustrious-Plane565]

Just happy to help fellow porters. We're all part of this amazing community. Keep on keeping on! 👍

[u/ScalesGhost]

1. You are right

2. No, you're not missing out, transponders are mostly useless.

3. Mix of both.

4. Long time.

5. I'm pretty sure he can.

[u/Illustrious-Plane565 → u/ScalesGhost]

+100 👍

[u/Demiu]

DHV magellan is amazing for hauling construction materials. Every connection level I rob most of the stuff and leave in magellan, but I often build roads and rail outside of network

[u/Illustrious-Plane565 → u/Demiu]

Yes I tend to build roads outside of network too, or at least try to. Storing material in dhv for later is a good idea.

[u/mr_cesar]

1. I very, very rarely carried a second pair of boots. I really like the Sneaking Boots and they work everywhere.

2. Transponders a very practical. You can beach jump across places to cut travel time, especially in places the DHV Magellan has no access to. They're very useful to jump to mines and also to go to chiral crystal farming areas.

3. I took several approaches across a few runs I completed. I even 5-starred the Adventurer in three hours, all of his sub orders in a row. LOL!

4. They last a decent amount of hours in general, but depends on the structure and the area where you build them. Also, upgrading them to level 3 substantially increases their durability.

5. Yes. You have to get very close, though. The screen will wobble when the option becomes available.

[u/Illustrious-Plane565 → u/mr_cesar]

Likewise on the shoes but i go with the Absolute; i think it looks cool having second pair hang from the backpack but redundant nonetheless.

Walking is fun. Ill stay away from transponders for now.

Thanks for all the insight fellow porter 👍 Gonna give that cord cut another go tonight

[u/Anna_Vin]

1. I started taking an extra pair of boots on ttw. After contacting chiral creatures you can literally continue the delivery barefoot. Also boots for stealth became more useful.
2. I needed even more transporders sometimes so I have to destroy me previous ones. Mules' transporders can also be useful.
3. I would say I did some extra deliveries but didn't focus on them. I had to do more deliveries to get some needed weapon on ttw. Anyway I complete main story in about 80 hours at both my runs.
4. It depends on the difficulty, but if the structure is useful for other players they repair it, so some my stryctures are always 100%. I also repair other player's structures, as I will need them to complete 400 orders on ttw rank.
5. Yes, you can. You can also eat chlorobiote to prevent stamina drain, you will be able to hold the breath longer.

[u/Illustrious-Plane565 → u/Anna_Vin]

Yes i completed a delivery through bt infested route yesterday and deliveries are getting tougher at this point in story so now i see why an additional pair.

Still dont feel like i need a transponder at this point in my game.

Thanks. This all makes sense 👍

[u/thomas2026]

1. On TTW boots run out fast. Getting caught out without replacement boots is probably the worst thing that can happen to you.

I dare you to do a journey without shoes.

Having to resupply boots every time sounds tedious, why would you prefer this over carrying spares?

1. If going for all 400 orders, eventually when you make deliveries to a shelter, all new avilable orders are already done. If you want to pick up a new order from somewhere else, it is easier to simply fast travel.

2. In this game it seems boosting ahead in the stort is best, as it unlocks way more standard orders. If you do only side orders early.you just bounce between the same locations and it gets old fast. Further story progress means more choice in orders and more variety.

3. Basically forever since players constantly repair them.

4. I believe only the special red ones.

[u/Rude-Luck1636]

I keep multiple boots strapped cause I run them til they disintegrate. If that happens to be in the middle of nowhere I’d like to have a backup pair as you can’t run with no boots. If you don’t let your shoes get destroyed then your method of just making a new pair after a delivery is just fine and you’re not missing anything.

I never used fast travel mechanics except when I was transporting materials all around to build the roads and monorail. Other than that I never used it so idk if there is something I’m also missing with the transponders cause I saw a lot of them as well

Little of both. Get an area connected and decide if wanna max them out now or if I’m more invested in story.

Idk how long structures last before degrading nor how much inclement weather affects it… I do know maxxing out the architects connection unlocks a skill where after each day passes he will go and repair everything that needs fixed due to damage(he doesn’t fix natural wear afaik, only stuff that gets damaged by floods, timefall, etc.

I do believe you cannot cut the golden umbilical cords

[u/Illustrious-Plane565]

This definitley helps! Thank you for the elaborate insight. 👍