Death Stranding – How to Repair, Charge and Use Reverse Trikes and Trucks

More Death Stranding Guides:

• Tips and Tricks for Surviving.
• How to Unlock Weapons and Equipment.
• Memory Chip Locations (Collectible Guide).
• How to Enter South Knot City With Nuke.
• How to Create, Equip and Use Grenades.
• How to Build Structures with the PCC.
• How to Stop Timefall Rain and Snow.
• How to Check the Weather.
• How to Kill or Avoid BTs.
• Floating Carrier Guide.
• How to Fast Travel.
• More Guides!

Vehicles Guide

In Death Stranding, you may find some orders and deliveries more taxing on foot, due to weight, distance, and struggling to maintain balance. Luckily, you’ll have the opportunity to find and even fabricate different vehicles to help get the job done. All vehicles require battery power to run, and will eventually run out if not charged – though they will slowly recharge in sunny or cloudy weather (so long as you aren’t in a timefall zone).

Vehicles come in two main types: Motorcycles called Reverse Trikes, and larger Trucks. The Trikes have better speed and balance, as you are able to move quickly over difficult terrain, but it has limited cargo space. Their high maneuverability allows them to get to many destinations – and even outpace MULEs. Trucks are fairly slow over any terrain that isn’t flat (and are best suited on paved roads), but can boast a ton of extra cargo space – especially for hauling lots of materials. They can even drive through rivers with deep bottoms that would normally send you off-balance (but will require a lot of battery power to get through).

Below is a list of all the vehicles you will be able to find and eventually fabricate, including info on what it costs to build them, and how to unlock them. See below the chart for info on how to get your first vehicle, and how to use them.

Reverse Trike

• Standard Type – 220 Metals, 160 Ceramics / Complete Order 23
• Long Range Type – 240 Metals, 160 Ceramics / Complete Order 23
• Defensive Type – 200 Metals, 160 Ceramics, 48 Special Alloys / Obtain Connection Level 3 with South Knot City
• “Ride” Type – 220 Metals, 160 Ceramics, 96 Special Alloys / Deliver the Memory Chip found in the VOG ravine above the Film Director’s bunker

Truck

• Standard Type – 320 Metals, 224 Ceramics / Complete Order 35
• Long Range (Level 1) Type – 280 Metals, 256 Ceramics, 48 Special Alloys / Obtain Connection Level 3 with Distribution Center South of Lake Knot City
• Long Range (Level 2) Type – 360 Metals, 320 Ceramics, 144 Special Alloys / Obtain Connection Level 4 with Distribution Center South of Lake Knot City
• Defensive Type – 240 Metals, 224 Ceramics, 96 Special Alloys / Obtain Connection Level 4 with South Knot City

How to Charge Your First Motorcycle

Early on in your adventure through the Eastern Region of America, you’ll probably be wondering how to get a vehicle. You’ll even spot a motorcycle (called a Reverse Trike) located just outside the Waystation – but it’s been rendered inoperable due to a lack of battery power.

Sadly, the game will tease you with vehicle just out of reach until you are able to power it up again with a Generator, as you cannot move it into the waystation’s garage in this state. You’ll need to take on Order 9 and deliver supplies to the nearby Wind Farm before you learn how to construct a Generator with a PCC.

Once you have the upgrade, return to the waystation and equip the PCC by pressing right on the D-Pad. Once you have it out, press down on the D-Pad to cycle between structures to find a generator, and then place it down next to the Trike. Once built, it will rapidly charge up the Reverse Trike, allowing you to ride it once more. However, it still lacks almost any durability – which cannot be repaired by Container Repair Spray. You’ll need to drive it into a Waystation or Knot City that has a Private Room and leave it on the elevator when you go down. As you rest, your vehicle’s durability will be restored to full – and this is the only way you can do so.

Even after you obtain this one Reverse Trike, you won’t be able to create more, so use it with care. Vehicles do best on flat terrain, but the Trike at least has a bit of an easier time handling rough ground, as you can hold back on the left control stick to stick your front wheels in the air, allowing you to climb over rocks with a certain degree of success. You’ll even be able to get a bit more bumpy without damaging your cargo – but longer drops or performing a jump with your Trike at top speed are liable to damage cargo more on impact.

How to Repair Vehicles

However, as vehicles take more and more damage from falls and timefall rain, you’ll see them get more rusted, and eventually start sparking. At this point, a big enough fall can totally destroy the vehicle, and you’ll have limited means with which to restore durability to a vehicle.

Cargo Repair Spray has no effect, so you are limited to using the garages found in both Knot Cities, Distribution Centers, and Safe Houses. To restore a vehicle’s durability to full, you’ll need to drive it up to the elevator pad at an applicable facility, and then either rest in the private room, or use the terminal to access the garage and store the vehicle. Once brought out again, the vehicle in question will be fully restored.

Using Vehicles

Vehicles can and should be used in many scenarios, especially when traversing relatively flat ground. It’s a lot harder to damage cargo when riding in a vehicle, as opposed to constantly stumbling down hills or into rocks when carrying things on foot. However, due to the limited battery life, you should always plan to ride vehicles on paved roads that can be constructed in the Central Region, as driving in the center of paved roads will not use up battery – even when using speed boosts.

Note: Mules also have their own trucks that they ride around their camps looking for trespassers, and also leave them stored by their tents. A clever players can turn the tables by hijacking their trucks, and quickly loading up all the materials and stolen cargo before making a speedy retreat – but if your vehicle is hit by their electric weapons, you’ll be forced to exit and the vehicle will be unusable for a short period. Mule Trucks cannot be technically “owned”, and you’ll want to make sure to offload your cargo before too long – if you end up distancing yourself, the cargo will eventually disappear and become available for other players to find.

The only time vehicles should not be used is when a delivery order will likely take you over steep, mountainous terrain with few places to reliably drive up. Even though you can technically drive a Trike up a ladder, it’s usually a risky move. If making a long trip off-road, be sure to either map out the path and look for generators if traveling within the Chiral Network (or bring an extra PCC to make your own), or else avoid areas where your battery can drain rapidly and leave you stranded. Remember that some of the Knot Cities also have a few parking spaces outside that generate a small charging field that you can use in a pinch if no one has placed Generators nearby.

Though you can start fabricating Reverse Trikes and eventually Trucks in Episode 3, you’ll also be able to start finding and using vehicles left by other players. Each player can fabricate up to 4 total vehicles – after which any other vehicles will start to appear online for other players to use, which can earn you likes if they are used. Be sure to check the garages at Distribution Centers and Knot Cities to see if any have been stored away – and you may also find that players will often leave them around the premises too!

Vehicle Color Unlocks

As you begin to connect with various facilities and preppers across the Central Region, you’ll find that by raising your Connection Links with certain places, you’ll unlock rewards that grant you the ability to customize the color of your vehicle.

See the info below for a list of colors and which facilities will unlock them:

Location: Distribution Center South of Lake Knot City

• Olive Drab, Navy Blue, Wolf Gray, Stealth Black, Bridges Orange, Blood Red, Signal Green, Prismatic Purple
• Emergency Yellow, Sandy Tan, Coyote Brown, Express Purple, Cool Blue, Snow White, Rose Pink
• Grass Green, Mars Red, Desert Pink, Ghost Green, Lightning Blue, Bright Yellow, Volcano Orange

Location: Chiral Artist

• Chiral Gold

How to Get the Ride Type Reverse Trike

There is a special type of Reverse Trike that you can learn to fabricate, but it is only unlocked from finding a specific Memory Chip in the Central Region.

Journey to the large ravine just to the north of the Film Director (and east of the Elder), to find a pit filled with noxious gas (known as VOG). Carefully use a Climbing Anchor to rappel down into the pit and look for the Memory Stick among the Chiral Crystals.

Returning to a terminal with this Memory Stick will unlock the “Ride” type Reverse Trike, a special variant that is near impervious to damage (excluding Timefall), and displays a “Ride with Norman Reedus” advertisement along the front. As an easter egg, Sam himself will comment about the Trike when riding on it, referencing the show at random times.