How to Fast Travel in Death Stranding 2 | DHV Magellan and Transponder Explained
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Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Guide
You will unlock fast travel after completing order 12, Episode 3. You can only fast travel to areas that you have already been to and are deemed safe. This may be a little frustrating, but it does help to maintain Death Stranding’s emphasis on exploration. Fast travel does come with a catch or two, however. If you use it to move cargo that is tied to an order — even partially — you will get the ‘Magellan’ evaluation, regardless of how pristine the cargo is. This might be a dealbreaker for purists and those striving for the best evaluations possible.
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How to Unlock Fast Travel
Fast travel is an incredibly handy feature, but it’s not one you will have access to from the beginning of the game. You have to earn the ability to fast travel by reaching a certain point in the story.
You will unlock fast travel after completing order 12, Episode 3.
After taking down the giant, mechanical BT beast at the end of order 12, you will be blessed with the ability to fast travel. This is supremely handy at that point in the story as you continue to expand the Chiral Network further and further away from your home base.
Apart from defeating the boss and completing order 12, there is nothing else special you need to do to unlock fast travel. After heading to your Private Room, washing up, and having a well-earned rest, you will get a notification when you wake up letting you know that fast travel is now available.
Fast travel, while convenient, does come with a catch or two, however.
Fast Travel Caveats
The first catch is that you can only fast travel to areas that you have already been to and are deemed safe. If you have never been to a certain location before, you will not be able to fast travel there. This may be a little frustrating, but it does help to maintain Death Stranding’s emphasis on exploration.
The developers didn’t spend so long rendering such beautiful scenery for us all to just fast travel straight past it!
The second catch is that if you use fast travel to move cargo that is tied to an order — even partially — you will get the ‘Magellan’ evaluation, regardless of how pristine the cargo is when you deliver it or how quickly you get the job done. This might be a dealbreaker for purists and those striving for the best evaluations possible!
How to Fast Travel
Once you have unlocked the ability to fast travel, you have already completed the hardest part. Actually fast traveling is quite simple. To get started, open your map and look up to the right-hand corner of the screen. There, you will spot the button you need to hold down to plot a course on the Magellan.
Hold X to open the fast travel menu. From there, move your cursor to any available fast travel location and select it.
Available fast travel locations have a blue ship icon!
Here’s Why Nintendo Is in the Credits for PS5 Exclusive Death Stranding 2
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach credits list Nintendo Pictures. The company was bought by Nintendo in 2022. This is the first time Nintendo Pictures has been credited for work on a non-Nintendo game since the acquisition. The studio previously worked on the original Death Stranding, so it seems likely its services were retained relatively early in the game’s development. The game’s reveal trailer, shown at The Game Awards 2022, features a first look at scenes with Norman Reedus and Lea Seydoux that look to have been shot using motion capture.
Specifically, the company listed within the credits is Nintendo Pictures, the Mario maker’s motion capture studio it bought and rebranded in 2022.
This is the first time that Nintendo Pictures has been credited as having contributed to a non-Nintendo game since it was acquired, though as VGC reports, there may be a good reason why.
Death Stranding 2 development was underway in 2022, around the time Nintendo snapped up the company, previously known as Dynamo Pictures. Indeed, the game’s reveal trailer, shown at The Game Awards 2022, features a first look at scenes with Norman Reedus and Lea Seydoux that look to have been shot using motion capture.
It seems probable, then, that Nintendo Pictures (or rather, Dynamo Pictures) was simply signed onto the project before Nintendo’s purchase, and continued work on it per its contract. The company previously worked on the original Death Stranding, so it seems likely its services were retained relatively early.
Nintendo Pictures staff members who worked on Death Stranding 2 include a motion capture director, numerous motion capture editors, motion capture coordinators, and a motion capture advisor.
More like this How to Fast Travel in Death Stranding 2 | DHV Magellan and Transponder Explained Since the acquisition, Nintendo Pictures has otherwise focused entirely on projects from its namesake, including Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Pikmin 4, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Whether the company will work on any other non-Nintendo projects now remains to be seen.
Getting started with Death Stranding 2? IGN previously reported on a fun opening Easter egg that’s perfectly safe to try out for yourself, even if it seems risky.
Check out our Death Stranding 2: On the Beach guide for a full main story walkthrough, complete with checkmarks to track your exact progress, plus guides for Sub-Orders, Standard Orders, and Aid Requests — plus even more secrets and a cheat code! If you’re just jumping into the game, we have plenty of tips for what to do first, how to survive in combat, and how to make it through Brutal difficulty if you’re playing on the most challenging setting.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social