NieR: Automata may not seem like it, but it has very strict rouge-like mechanics that can greatly set you back if you die in the wrong situation. Dying can lead to permanently losing items that you can spend a lot of time finding and upgrading, which can set back late-game playthroughs.

When you do die, all is not lost right away as you have a chance at recovering what is lost before it is gone for good. Here's exactly what happens when you die and how to recover your body to make sure the damage is not permanent.

Nier Automata 2B 9S A2 Personalities
How NieR: Automata’s 2B, 9S, and A2 All Have Different Personalities

NieR: Automata's 2B, 9S, and A2 are androids and are not supposed to have emotions, but they all have their own personalities and feelings.

Death Penalty In NieR: Automata Explained

Dying in NieR: Automata will have you lose any XP earned since your last save, but you'll also lose all your currently equipped Plug-In Chips. You'll always be able to find more Plug-In Chips and can get back the same loadout should you die, though some chips are more rare, and you can spend a lot of money investing in powerful ones. Respawning will have whatever Plug-In set you have equipped now be empty, so you'll need to equip a new loadout or select one of your other presets.

The Plug-In Chips lost on death aren't gone for good, as you'll have one life to return to the spot of your death a recover those chips and possibly the XP. Should you die again before recovering your body, all chips from that preset you originally had equipped will be gone for good.

2B Countering A Machine's Attack
NieR: Automata - How To Counter

For players who don't want to dodge attacks and want to punish enemies for trying to use melee; here's how to counter in NieR: Automata.

Recovering Your Body In NieR: Automata

When you respawn after a death, your first and only goal should be recovering your body. A small blue body icon will appear on the map marking the location of your body, and it can be selected to put the tracker on its location. When you approach your body, simply interacting with it will be enough to get all your Plug-In Chips back, but you'll also get two choices of what to do with your body:

Repair

You won't get back XP, but your old body will become an AI companion that will follow you around until its death.

Retrieve

You will get back lost XP earned before your death since the previous save.

No matter which option you pick, you'll also be able to equip your old Plug-In Chips exactly as they were, overriding your current chip setup. You can also choose to not do this, and all those recovered chips will simply be placed back into your inventory.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image
NieR: Automata Tag Page Cover Art
NieR: Automata
Display card tags widget Display card system widget
Display card community and brand rating widget
10 /10
Display card open critics widget Display card main info widget
Released
March 7, 2017
Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start Display card media widget end

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

ESRB
M for Mature: Blood, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Violence
Developer(s)
Platinum Games
Publisher(s)
Square Enix
Engine
Proprietary Engine
Franchise
NieR
Platform(s)
PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch
Genre(s)
Action RPG
How Long To Beat
22 Hours
OpenCritic Rating
Mighty