In many ways, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is an incremental sequel, one that takes the ideas of the original and pushes them further. Many of its ideas are refined, its environments more diverse, its tools being more robust. At the same time, there's more customisability to the experience, with Sam having plenty of different stats and loadouts he can equip.

The stats in particular are a unique addition because they are not something you choose to invest in for the most part. Instead, Sam's stats increase organically as you play, naturally adapting to and enhancing the way you play. There's quite a few of them though, and it's easy to forget they exist at all at times. So here is every single one of them and what they all do.

What Are Stats?

Stats are almost exactly what they sound like. In total, Sam has 12 stats he can gain experience in, with each of them focusing on a different aspect of gameplay. The idea behind these is to add more efficiency and effects to the skills you are already using, allowing you to approach any situation the way you want, but making you organically better at them, too.

As such, that means you do not choose to directly upgrade these stats or what they do once they are increased. Each stat has a unique effect once it reaches its next level. This can be as simple as just making you stronger or letting you hold your breath for longer, or it can be more diverse, adding more attacks to a combo string.

How To Upgrade Stats

Your stats will increase as you use them. Since they cover basically every type of gameplay in Death Stranding 2, you will increase them as you play. As such, you will naturally increase the stats you use the most. If you like picking up a large load of cargo before setting out on your deliveries, then you will naturally increase your carrying capacity stat.

What Does Each Stat Do?

Across the 12 stats available in Death Stranding 2, they are split across two categories - physical and combat skills. Physical skills are a bit wider, encompassing whole gameplay mechanics such as cargo load or endurance. The combat skills are more self-explanatory, increasing the stats of the various ways in which you engage in combat.

Physical Stats

The six Physical Stats are the ones you will use the most, likely gaining increases naturally. Here is each of them and what they do:

Stats	Effects	How To Upgrade	Additional Notes
Terrain Traversal	Slows the rate that the Endurance Gauge is depleted when moving on rough terrain or through water.	Move on foot through rough terrain and walk through large bodies of water.	N/A
Carrying Capacity	Increases Sam's max carry weight in KGs.	Carry larger loads over long distances. Higher levels will require heavier loads and longer distances.	Note that this only affects the weight that you can carry. There is still a size limit to what fits in Sam's backpack.
Endurance	Reduces the rate at which Sam becomes fatigued, lowering his maximum Stamina.	Run for extended distances. Higher levels require longer sustained sprinting.	Though this stat is called Endurance, it does not increase the size of your actual Endurance Gauge.
KO Resistance	Reduces the damage Sam takes to the Knockout Gauge.	Moving while centering your balance (holding R2 and L2 at the same time) and successfully blocking melee attacks.	This specifically affects the Knockout Gauge, and will have no effect against BT attacks or actual bullets.
Lung Capacity	Extends the length Sam is able to hold his breath.	Holding your breath for extended periods. Longer periods will give more experience.	N/A
Strand Skills	Extends the distance at which Sam can bind unaware enemies with the Strand.	Binding enemies from behind. This works for both stealth, binding and when you redirect an enemy in combat.	Using the Strand to counter an enemy will not grant experience, but binding them afterwards will.

For the most part, you will increase these stats naturally, and likely all of them. However, make sure not to become too reliant on vehicles as it will make it harder to Terrain Traversal stat, which you will sorely miss when you get to regions of the game that vehicles cannot reach.

Combat Stats

Like the Physical Stats, there are six Combat Stats in total. These revolve around the various different types of weapons you use in combat, and as such, they only increase when you actually use them in combat. This gives you more direct control over the stats, but also means you must bring more specialised gear, too. Here's each of them.

Stats	Effects	How To Upgrade	Additional Effects
Mastery: Melee Combat	Increases the hits in a melee combo, and how often melee weapons break.	Defeat enemies in melee combat.	You can gain a total of five hits in a combo, with these additional hits unlocked at level three and level five.
Mastery: Handguns	Increases Sam's reload speed, and reduces reticle sway and recoil when using handguns.	Defeat enemies using handguns.	All weapons share the same stat increase, capping out at +40% reload speed, and -50% to reticle sway and recoil. This is the most useful for sniper rifles, making it so you have to hold your breath to steady your aim less.
Mastery: Assault Rifles	Increases Sam's reload speed, and reduces reticle sway and recoil when using assault rifles.	Defeat enemies using assault rifles.
Mastery: Sniper Rifles	Increases Sam's reload speed, and reduces reticle sway and recoil when using sniper rifles.	Defeat enemies using sniper rifles.
Mastery: Machine Guns	Increases Sam's reload speed, and reduces reticle sway and recoil when using machine guns.	Defeat enemies using machine guns.
Mastery: Shotguns	Increases Sam's reload speed, and reduces reticle sway and recoil when using shotguns.	Defeat enemies using shotguns.

Interestingly, grenades are one of the only major weapons that does not have a stat associated with them at all.

Unlike the Physical Stats, the Combat Stats remain locked until you find the respective weapon that fits the category. As such, this means it may take a while until you actually unlock all of them, but they will do so naturally. Then all you have to do is use the weapons! Thankfully, they do not have to be used in active combat and work when used as part of stealth, as well.

For example, the Tranquilizer Rifle will still increase the Sniper Rifle stat even if you use it in a completely undetected manner. So don't think you have to go in guns blazing just to increase these stats.

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