NieR: Automata - Death Penalty Explained

NieR: Automata's Permadeath Mechanic: How to Recover Your Lost Gear and XP

NieR: Automata features unforgiving rogue-like elements; death carries significant consequences. Losing your life can mean permanently losing valuable items and upgrades, especially impactful in the late game. However, there's a chance to recover your losses before they're gone forever. This guide explains what happens upon death and how to retrieve your body to minimize the impact.

Understanding the Death Penalty

Dying in NieR: Automata results in the loss of all XP earned since your last save, and more critically, all currently equipped Plug-In Chips. While Plug-In Chips are replaceable, some are rare and require significant investment. Respawning leaves your equipped chip slots empty, requiring re-equipping or selecting a preset.

Crucially, the lost Plug-In Chips aren't immediately lost forever. You have one chance to retrieve them. Failure to recover your body before dying again means permanent loss of those chips.

Recovering Your Body: A Race Against Time

After death, your priority is retrieving your body. A blue body icon appears on the map, guiding you to its location. Interacting with your body restores your Plug-In Chips, presenting two choices:

Repair: Your XP remains lost, but your old body becomes an AI companion until it's destroyed.

Retrieve: You regain the XP lost since your last save.

Regardless of your choice, you can re-equip your recovered Plug-In Chips, overriding your current setup, or simply add them back to your inventory.

Quick Links

• Understanding the Death Penalty
• Recovering Your Body: A Race Against Time