Death Stranding: How to Soothe BB and Heal Autotoxemia

Death Stranding throws a lot of random acronyms at you, though perhaps the most important two are BTs and BBs. BTs are invisible enemies that will make your life unbearable at numerous points in the game, with Sam resorting to sneaking and holding his breath to avoid them. Fortunately though, he also has another tool just above his belt: your BB. This creepy baby can help detect nearby BBs using your radar, which can help you avoid them.

However, your BB can only help you if it's in tip-top shape, which isn't always the case. If the BB suffers too much trauma, it will suffer from autotoxemia, a medical condition that basically shuts down the BB, forcing you to hightail it to the nearest City or Waypoint where it can receive treatment. Now, autotoxemia is completely avoidable, provided you take good care of your BB. That's where we come in. We're going to provide you with all of the tips to ensure that your BB is well taken care of during your arduous journey.

What is a BB?

Before we move onto caring for it, we thought we'd quickly cover what a BB actually is. It might sound like it's a cute abbreviation of the world baby, but it isn't. It's actually what's known as a Bridge baby, named after the fictional government-like corporation that's trying to rebuild America in Death Stranding's post-apocalyptic world.

In an incredibly morbid turn of events, a BB is created by taking a baby from a stillmother's womb. A stillmother is a braindead woman who is kept alive for the purposes of producing, and sustaining BBs. The reason this all happens is that a baby born to a stillmother possesses a connection between the world of the dead and the living, and can sense the presence of BTs. You can see why they're so useful.

What Causes Autotoxemia?

Autotoxemia occurs when your BB suffers considerable trauma. This can include:

• Accidents that physically harm Sam or his cargo
• Combat incidents, including encounters with BTs
• Spending significant amounts of time outside of a Bridge Baby Recovery System

How Can I Prevent Autotoxemia?

If autotoxemia kicks in when your BB suffers trauma, then it makes sense to avoid traumatic experiences wherever possible. To this end, we would recommend the following:

• Don't carry too much cargo, as this will limit the number of accidents you have
• Scan nearby terrain regularly to check for dangerous spots and avoid them
• Avoid combat where possible. Use your scanner and sneak around
• If you use a vehicle to get around, drive safely. Don't crash and use bridges to cross water
• Visit a Bridge Baby Recovery System, which is located in your private room, often to keep the autotoxemia at bay

Accidents do happen though, so fortunately you do have a trick up your sleeve to mitigate the damage: soothing your BB. You can do this at any moment by holding L1 and press down on the dpad to check on your BB. It's worth doing this if you get into any accidents or combat scenarios to check on the status of your BB anyway.

Once you're looking at your BB, simply press square to initiate soothing. Now, simply rock your DualShock 4 controller back and forth to soothe the BB. At the bottom left of the screen, you'll see your BB's current status in orange. You want this as close to full at all times to reduce the chances of receiving autotoxemia.

How Can You Cure Autotoxemia?

The only way to cure autotoxemia is to return your BB to the Bridge Baby Recovery System, which is located in your private room. Simply visit your private room and your BB will be placed in the system, and will recover fairly quickly.

We would recommend avoiding your BB getting to the state of autotoxemia wherever possible though, as BTs can strike at any time and you really don't want to encounter them without the safety of your BB by your side.