Part 158: Episode CLII: Spawn Goddammit!

Episode CLII: Spawn Goddammit!


Music: Significance



The DLC is well and truly done now. Which means all that remains in NieR: Automata is mopping up the final two sidequests. That also means we finally need to face the great evil that is the Reconnaissance Squad quest... If you’ll recall, this quest requires obtaining a certain threshold of completion rate on Unit Data of enemies (and occasional quest giving allies, but we're well beyond that point.) We’ve done all but one other sidequest in the game. We must surely be there, right...?



Fuck my life... Welp. Having done everything in the game other than one sidequest (which does actually constitute 1% of Unit Data) we’ve still got 9% of enemies left unaccounted for in our collection. Thankfully, we only need to make it to 95% to complete this quest. Only madmen go for a full 100% completion rate considering there are multiple enemies that have a 1% chance of spawning in a very specific spot at a very specific point in the game.

So how long could getting that extra 4% take, you ask...?



FOUR AND A HALF FUCKING HOURS!


Music: Possessed by Disease (Become as Gods)



You see, not all percentages are created equally. There are 100 entries total in Unit Data. But entries for common machines are also split between different variations of that machine. For instance, did you know there are Medium Flyer Desert Units? You never see them normally. They’re all rare spawns in the Desert Zone. The Gunner version and Kamikaze x2/Gunner x2 versions are both rare spawns in Route C on some cliffs to the east of the Oil Field Access Point. And by rare I mean there’s a 10-20% chance of either version appearing. Leaving a very good chance for fuck all to be there as well. This took me a good hour plus to get these two.



There’s also a chance for the Kamikaze exclusive version to appear in the same place. Except the DLC apparently broke that spawn so it only appears specifically (still with a low random chance) during Route B, Chapter 10-3 – the part where Eve is going on a rampage and you’re meant to go take out the machines trying to break into Pascal’s Village from the City Ruins. It’s one of the few times in the game it really feels like there should be a bad ending for pissing off but nope! Even if the music is stuck eternally playing The Sound of the End because it’s an end game crisis occurring, 9S can mosey on over to the desert and grind for this particular machine. Actually got this my first try.



So fifty minutes total for those three. As I was saying earlier, all percentages are not created equally. Those three machine entries? Those make up one complete entry or 1% of total unit data. That goes the same for all machines. Each variation of a model contributes to the total 1% complete entry. So each of those machines were worth .3~% each. So that’s fun! This Electromagnetic Shield variant above only spawns in one particular, semi-hard to reach room just below Masamune’s chamber. He too is one in a set of three, so worth .3~% completion.



This guy, on the other hand, is the only Medium Quadruped of the Factory death cult variety. Remember that one creepy hidden room full of a pile of android corpses? During 2B’s escape with Pascal, if she visits that room this machine will be standing atop the corpse pile being worshipped by Medium Biped cultists. Since he’s the only Medium Quadruped Factory model in the game, he’s worth an entire 1%! Spiffy!



The only way to sanely accomplish this quest is to do every single other sidequest in the game, as all machine lifeform quest givers are added as entries and are mostly worth 1% each with some exceptions (all of Father Servo’s forms are all under one entry so that entire quest line needs to be completed to get 1% from him.) After that, it’s mostly down to grinding Enhanced Model versions of machines which are all rare spawns stuck in the same pools as normal enemies. And they are a huge pain in the dick.



For instance, there’s Enhanced Model tall fellas that only spawn in Route C on the path in the Housing Complex on the way to the first fight against Adam (where we saw the first Goliath Biped.) This only took 15 minutes of reloading a save at the start of the area, jogging over to the spot and seeing if it spawned. Unfortunately, this is only worth half a percent since there’s a non-gun equipped version that randomly spawns over in the Desert Camp zone with little rhyme, reason or guaranteed position. That one I thankfully got at some point in the distant past.



At the exact same place as those other Desert Medium Flyers is a small chance of an Enhanced Medium Flyer spawning as well. Taking the time grinding that area up to about 90 minutes total. I never want to see the Desert Zone again.



This stout boy randomly spawns in Route C in the caverns between the elevator to the Copied City and the Alien Mothership. Only 20 minutes to get this one to show up. A gunner variant is a guaranteed spawn in the Copied City down some dead end during Route C too.



This stupid Enhanced worm shows up right before the central courtyard jump leading to the King’s Chamber and Masamune’s shop. Thankfully another guaranteed chump... Unlike its cousin...



...Who only shows up on some random ass rock dead smack in the middle of the Desert Zone. There are no nearby landmarks or places of note to denote the area. It’s vaguely south of the entrance to the Desert Housing and west of the entrance to the Desert Zone proper. Only place it spawns in the entire game and still, not remotely guaranteed to show up. It could just be a trio of Stubbies instead. It’s like a three minute walk every time to go check the spawn. Not going to even comment on how long that took total.



There were several others too I tracked down to get this percentage up to snuff. I already know no reward is going to be worth it because the next stop is upgrading every last weapon left in the game and we’ve already hit Level 99. But whatever... it’s done. I didn’t need those last five hours of my life anyway...




Music: Forest Kingdom



Back we go to the Forest Castle one final time to speak with 4S... who has apparently just given up on his job and is leaving it all to 9S to carry the load.



Thanks pal. Here is your garbage data. Go ahead and upload it to the Bunker’s servers. Oh right... they all exploded and this is useless! Get a job, you bum!


New Music: Faltering Prayer [Starry Sky] (You should probably listen to this.)



It’s great having another Scanner helping me out. Thanks to you, I’ve gathered the data 60 percent faster than I’d planned.
......
...I wonder how long we’ll be doing this. It’s not like we YoRHa androids have a home to return to.
Yeah, but gathering intelligence is still important. It’s a huge support for the war effort.
I KNOW THAT!
......
...Sorry, Nines. I didn’t mean to yell at you. Anyway, this chunk of data you brought means I’ve finally hit my goal. I’d like you to have this. It belonged to an old friend, but I think he’d be happy to know that you’re using it. See you around, Nines. And remember: No regrets, okay?





Our final reward is a bunch of materials we don’t need, a sack of cash that isn’t necessary and literally worthless EXP. Well, it’s not quite 10,000 G for hours of gardening. But it’s not too far off...



Thus concludes the worst sidequest in all of NieR: Automata. So what becomes of 4S, the only remaining Scanner in YoRHa besides 9S? Well...





He just vanishes and we never see him again. Who can say what became of him after this fateful quest...





Our final task left for today is to completely upgrade all of our weapons to maximum level. Yep. There’s no requirement to collect all of the weapons to get the final ending, as there was in past Yoko Taro games. Instead, completionists now need to collect every single weapon AND upgrade each of ‘em to max. It’s actually far less painful than it ever was due to most of the materials being stuff that can be bought and comparatively very little farming for a handful of those that cannot.



Just needed to stop by Pascal’s shop for a couple spare Machine Arms and Torso from his former neighbors and one Black Pearl from the Amusement Park vendor. I’d been slaughtering every moose and boar I’d seen to get the necessary 20 or so Beast Hides, the only pain in the ass material that cannot be bought. So we’re good to go. Every single weapon is now at Level 4! So what does that do...? Well... there’s no notice of anything different. No email or extra dialogue from Masamune to indicate an unlock of any sort.



However, if we take a gander at the map... a new unknown hotspot has appeared over at the shopping mall... Hmm...


Music: Rays of Light (Quiet)





If we just take a jog over the bridge where 9S had the worst day of his life and into the shopping center, we find Emil idling just where we met him the first time on this adventure.





Emil offers one of his random inventories. But they’re all completely worthless to us at this point. Indeed, we could just sell all of the upgrade material now if we wanted. It has no further use. As soon as we leave his shop, we get a new bit of dialogue...



What do you mean?
Um, nothing. Don’t worry about it. Take care now!



And with that, Emil zooms off out of the area. I’m surprised that flimsy rope bridge can handle all that weight considering a minor earthquake and 9S was enough to break it before.



Pod—
Pursuit marker placed on map. Target is heading toward the desert.
Heh. Nice work. Let’s go find him.



So begins the final sidequest of NieR: Automata. Tune in next time for Emil’s Determination! I’m sure it’ll be fine...






Video: Episode 152 Highlight Reel





Assorted Machine Lifeform Concept Art – Nothing the machines do has any meaning. Including spawning in certain locations. ESPECIALLY spawning in certain locations.