NieR: Automata - Death Penalty Explained

NieR: Automata's Permadeath Mechanics: Understanding and Recovering from Death

NieR: Automata, despite its appearance, incorporates unforgiving rogue-like elements. Death carries significant consequences, potentially resulting in the permanent loss of hard-earned items and upgrades, especially impactful in the late game. However, a recovery system offers a chance to mitigate these losses. Let's explore the death penalty and the body recovery process.

Death Penalty Explained

Upon death, you lose all experience points (XP) gained since your last save. More critically, you lose all currently equipped Plug-in Chips. While you can find replacement chips, some are rare and upgrading them requires significant investment. Respawning leaves your equipped chip slots empty, requiring re-equipping or selecting a preset.

The lost Plug-in Chips aren't permanently lost. You have one opportunity to retrieve them. Failure to recover your body before dying again results in the permanent loss of those chips.

Recovering Your Body

After respawning, your immediate priority is recovering your body. A blue body icon appears on the map, guiding you to its location. Interacting with your body restores your Plug-in Chips. You then face a crucial choice:

Repair: This option doesn't restore XP, but transforms your previous body into an AI companion that assists you until it is destroyed.

Retrieve: This option restores the lost XP earned since your last save.

Regardless of your choice, your previously equipped Plug-in Chips are restored. You can either re-equip them, overriding your current setup, or simply add them back to your inventory.