NieR: Automata - Death Penalty Explained

NieR: Automata's Death Penalty and Body Recovery: A Guide

NieR: Automata, despite its appearance, incorporates unforgiving rogue-like elements. Death can be devastating, potentially resulting in the permanent loss of valuable items and significant setbacks, especially in the late game. However, there's a chance to mitigate these losses. This guide explains the consequences of death and how to recover your lost equipment and experience.

Understanding the Death Penalty

Dying in NieR: Automata means losing all experience points (XP) earned since your last save. More critically, you'll lose all currently equipped Plug-In Chips. While you can always find replacements, some chips are rare and expensive to upgrade, making their loss significant. Respawning leaves your equipped Plug-In Chip slots empty, requiring re-equipping or selecting a preset.

Fortunately, your lost chips aren't gone forever. You have one opportunity to retrieve them. However, dying again before recovering your body results in the permanent loss of those chips.

Recovering Your Lost Body

After death, your primary objective is recovering your body. A blue body icon on the map indicates its location. Interacting with it restores your Plug-In Chips. You then face a crucial choice:

Repair: This option forgoes the lost XP, but your former body becomes an AI companion until it's destroyed.

Retrieve: This option recovers your lost XP, but the AI companion isn't created.

Regardless of your choice, your recovered Plug-In Chips can be re-equipped, overwriting your current setup, or simply added to your inventory.