All 42 facilities to level 5: the trophy that is the platinum
Connecting Hearts and Minds is held by 6.6% and the platinum by 6.1%. Which facilities are optional, which stall until you do a sub order, and how to farm Likes without wasting hours.
Starting PointBronze88.80%And it counts towards Keep on Connecting, Connecting Hearts and Minds, A Life Well Liked, A Porter at Peak Popularity, required for the platinum.
Why this trophy is the platinum
Death Stranding 2 has 42 facilities: 30 are connected through the story and 12 are optional. Three trophies depend on them: connecting the first (88.8%), connecting them all (17.5%) and raising them all to connection level 5, held by 6.6%.
The platinum sits at 6.1%. Half a point apart means almost everyone who finishes all 42 facilities takes the platinum: by then they have done nearly everything else without trying. Finishing the story, by contrast, is managed by 44.5%.
A facility's level rises with the Likes it gives you for delivered orders, lost cargo and aid requests. Nothing is missable: everything can be done in Episode 17, the post-game.
Connect the optional ones as you progress the story. Each one extends the chiral network, and inside the network you get other players' structures and the Mechanic's floating vehicle, which only works there.
The 12 optional facilities and how to open them
Optional facilities connect in two ways: by delivering lost cargo addressed to them, usually found nearby, or through a sub order from another facility. The table uses the English names, which is how they appear in guides.
The hardest to open is the last one: its lost cargo is in very few places, all hard to reach. And the one that drags the most trophies with it is the Ghost Hunter, with three.
| Facility | How to connect it | What else it asks |
|---|---|---|
| The Artist | Lost cargo on the nearby mountain (Mexico) | Likes only |
| The Bokka | Lost cargo in the nearby desert and forest (Mexico) | Likes only |
| The Lone Commander | Sub Orders No. 100 and 101 | Likes only |
| The Inventor | Lost cargo on the shore facing his island; reach it via the yellow strip in the tar or from the monorail | Likes only |
| The Architect | Sub Order No. 105 from the Pizza Chef | Level 2: electric trap, for Master Builder |
| The Pioneer | After Main Order No. 28, cargo in the rubble north of the Episode 7 facility | Level 1: deployable shield, for Master Builder |
| The Ghost Hunter | Sub Order No. 109 from the Chronobiologist and No. 110 | Orders Nos. 111 to 114, one per level; 114 requires the other 41 connected |
| The Fisherman | Sub Order No. 116 from the F5 East Distribution Center | Order No. 117 for level 5: the Tar Lake boss |
| The Aeronautical Engineer | Sub Order No. 122 from the Eastern Environmental Observatory | Likes only |
| The Tar Therapist | Lost cargo on the nearby mountain | Likes only |
| BPAS | Nearby lost cargo, then a standard order it posts | Likes only; each level gives an APAS enhancement |
| Mr. Impossible | Lost cargo on the Tar Lake cliffs, a peak near the Aeronautical Engineer or an islet by the F8 bridge; then a sub order | Order No. 124 for level 5, post-game only |
The ones that stall: the 80% sub order
Several facilities stop rising around 80% of a level even if you keep delivering. It is not a bug: they are waiting for a sub order, and they tell you with an SSS message. It happens with the Adventurer (Orders Nos. 118 to 121, one per level from 2 to 5), the Ghost Hunter (Nos. 111 to 114), the Fisherman (No. 117), the Pizza Chef (the level 2 misanga) and the last optional one (No. 124).
If a bar is stuck and no message has arrived, the facility is waiting on the story: one of them does not rise until the post-game. In the connection table each level also hands out rewards — weapons, APAS enhancements, gear — and some of them are what other trophies need.
The last order from the last optional facility asks you to collect seven XL items, one in each MULE area, with a 50-minute limit. With the road network finished and a vehicle, it takes about 35.
How to raise levels without wasting hours
First, switch on the APAS enhancement that shortens standby for completed standard orders: they can be repeated for the same Likes as soon as they are available again. Then use the order search by destination: it lists the orders that end at the facility you want to raise and whether they are available or on standby.
An order's Likes depend on distance, the number and weight of the cargo, and how you dealt with enemies on the way. At facilities with few orders, repeat the heaviest ones. Other players' lost cargo you find at facilities also counts, and raises your porter grade along the way.
The two Like trophies come on their own: A Life Well Liked at 2,400 and A Porter at Peak Popularity at 50,000. Raising all 42 facilities hands out between 300,000 and 400,000.
The trophies involved
Each one links to its section inside the full Death Stranding 2: On the Beach trophy guide.