"NieR: Automata Death Penalty: What It Means"

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• Death Penalty In NieR: Automata Explained

• Recovering Your Body In NieR: Automata

NieR: Automata, while not immediately apparent, incorporates strict roguelike mechanics that can significantly impact your progress if you die at the wrong moment. Death can result in the permanent loss of items you've spent considerable time acquiring and upgrading, which can be particularly detrimental in late-game scenarios.

However, all is not lost immediately upon death. You have a chance to recover what you've lost before it's gone forever. Here's a detailed look at what happens when you die and how to recover your body to minimize permanent damage.

Death Penalty In NieR: Automata Explained

When you die in NieR: Automata, you'll lose any XP earned since your last save, as well as all your currently equipped Plug-In Chips. While you can find more Plug-In Chips and potentially recreate your previous loadout, some chips are rarer and can be costly to replace. Upon respawning, your equipped Plug-In set will be empty, requiring you to either equip a new loadout or select one of your other presets.

The good news is that the Plug-In Chips lost upon death aren't permanently gone. You have one life to return to the spot of your death and recover those chips, along with the possibility of regaining your lost XP. If you die again before recovering your body, all chips from the original preset will be lost forever.

Recovering Your Body In NieR: Automata

After respawning, your primary objective should be to recover your body. A small blue body icon will appear on the map, marking the location of your body. You can select this icon to set a tracker to its location. When you reach your body, simply interact with it to retrieve all your Plug-In Chips. At this point, you'll have two options for what to do with your body:

• Repair: You won't recover your lost XP, but your old body will transform into an AI companion that will follow you until it's destroyed.

• Retrieve: You'll regain the XP you lost since your last save.

Regardless of the option you choose, you'll have the opportunity to re-equip your old Plug-In Chips exactly as they were, overriding your current setup. Alternatively, you can choose not to re-equip them, and the recovered chips will be added back to your inventory.