Standard orders in Death Stranding Death Stranding guide, walkthrough
Last update: 13 November 2019
On this page of our guide to Death Stranding we explain the general objectives of standard orders, also known as side missions of the game. You'll find out how side missions work in the game, what additional settings they have, and what rewards you can get for completing them.
Standard orders - General objectives
Sam can obtain standard orders at the same terminals that offer the major story-related orders (main missions of the game). There are usually a few standard orders available and you don't have to take them all at the same time, cause they won't disappear. This is not advisable if several side missions consist in transporting a very heavy cargo. You may not be able to cope with the simultaneous transport of a large number of containers.
Standard orders are not included in our walkthrough because they do not have any story-related elements or any other unique objectives. That doesn't mean you should ignore them. They are a good way to improve the advancement rate in the game and they have an impact on your character development.
When you are undertaking a side order you should pay special attention to the following factors:
- Cargo weight. If you are not using an exoskeleton or are already delivering some containers associated with another order, then "overloading" Sam can be a very bad idea.
- Destination of the journey. First of all, it is advisable to take those side missions that have the same destination as your current main order. You won't have to go off the road unnecessarily.
Side orders are divided into four main groups and you can always read about it in the description of the task. Main groups and types of side orders:
- Condition - these are deliveries in which the cargo must be delivered without exceeding a certain amount of damage and those in which it is necessary to transport the Fragile Cargo.
- Delivery Time - these are deliveries in which the cargo must be delivered within a specified time limit.
- Quantity - these are deliveries in which a certain number of items must be delivered. A set of containers usually weighs a lot.
- Collection - these are deliveries in which it is necessary to collect, for example, a certain amount of raw materials from a designated area.
After selecting an order and moving to the next window you can additionally determine the conditions of its completion. Each side mission can be carried out on a default set of rules or you can choose a premium delivery option. It increases the difficulty level of the specific order. For example, if a certain mission requires to deliver a cargo without exceeding its damage above 50%, then in the case of premium delivery it can even be a level of 20%.
Better rewards may encourage you to complete the mission on a premium setting. It is always worth taking the higher difficulty level when you want to complete an additional order. Remember to save your game when you start the premium delivery. This way you will have an opportunity to try it again in case if you fail or some unforeseen circumstances occur (like confrontation with BTs among your way to the destination).
Standard orders have identical summary screens as major story-related orders. They are rated and scored in the same way. In order to get the highest S rating, you must deliver the cargo in a very good condition and meet all additional requirements (like finishing the task in a specific time limit or completing the order with undamaged cargo).
Side quests do not offer unique rewards, but by completing them you can get more likes and this should be enough to encourage you. Likes are required to increase the level of bonding (connection) with allied in-game facilities. You will not be able to reach a maximum of 5 stars if you only take part in major story orders. You need to take interest in side missions if you want to get 5 stars. Let's remind that the highest amount of likes can be obtained by completing premium deliveries. These will allow you to advance much faster in building up your reputation status with various settlements.
Unfortunately, every standard order can also be failed - it can happen if, for example, you destroy or lose the transported cargo. Then you can cancel the entire mission or return to the order commissioner for new containers (if the order allows for such an action). You don't have to worry about failures, because you'll never run out of standard orders. Even if you did not succeed with a particular delivery, you can easily take care of other tasks.
Standard orders for bots
Standard orders for bots are a unique category of side missions. They become available upon completion of Order No. 24 (Prototype Bot Delivery: Distribution Center South of Lake City). A new, third option will appear in the order acceptance screen.
Bots can take the same side quests as the main hero. The advantage of this is that the whole process is automated. When you have assigned a mission to a bot, it will set off on its own to the order's destination. Usually, bots need several dozen minutes to reach their destination (the game informs about the time of travel in the description of the order).
After a bot has completed a mission, the summary screen will not be displayed immediately. To do this, you need to visit any of your allies' terminals and open the order tab.
The disadvantage of relying on bots services is that autonomous machines are very poor at coping with field travel. You can get low ratings and low amount of likes due to the aforementioned issue. There is a way to solve this problem - you can expand the asphalt road network. The more roads there are in the game world, the more bots will be able to use them. This will improve the rankings awarded for subsequent missions of this type.