NieR: Automata – Farming and Purchasing Machine Arms: A Comprehensive Guide
NieR: Automata presents players with a vast array of crafting materials needed to upgrade weapons and pods. While many become readily available later, acquiring them early can significantly boost your character's strength. Machine Arms are a prime example of a rare, early-game material. This guide details the best strategies for obtaining them.
Farming Machine Arms
Machine Arms have a low drop chance from defeated small machines. This chance increases with enemy level, making early-game farming challenging. To maximize your yield, focus on quickly eliminating large numbers of machines.
After completing Chapter 4, a highly effective farming location unlocks. This is the pit where you first encounter Adam. Use fast travel to reach the Desert: Housing Complex access point and proceed into the ruins. The pit continuously respawns small machines, providing a consistent source, though the drop rate remains low due to the enemies' relatively low level. This location is also beneficial for farming Titanium Alloy.
While a Drop Rate Plug-In Chip can slightly improve your chances, it won't drastically alter the farming efficiency.
Purchasing Machine Arms (Endgame Spoiler)
[Endgame Spoiler Warning: The following information reveals details about the final playthrough.]
During the final playthrough as A2, after the village robots are eliminated, you can choose to erase Pascal's memories. This transforms Pascal into a merchant accessible until the game's conclusion. Pascal's inventory includes Machine Arms, among other valuable items. His full stock consists of:
- Machine Heads - 15,000 G
- Machine Arm - 1,125 G
- Machine Leg - 1,125 G
- Machine Torso - 1,125 G
- Machine Head - 1,125 G
- Children's Cores - 30,000 G
This provides a reliable late-game method for acquiring Machine Arms without extensive farming.
