In *NieR: Automata*, the variety of weapons available across different types offers players a rich selection to experiment with throughout the game's multiple playthroughs. Each weapon can be upgraded several times, enhancing their effectiveness and allowing you to use your preferred weapons throughout the entire game if you choose to do so.
Weapon upgrades can be performed at any time at the Resistance Camp, but they require specific resources tailored to the weapon in question. Among these resources, Beast Hides are particularly crucial yet not naturally obtained through regular gameplay. Here's a detailed guide on how to acquire and farm Beast Hides efficiently.
How To Get Beast Hides In NieR: Automata
Beast Hides are potential drops from wildlife such as moose and boar. These animals spawn randomly in designated areas of the map, typically avoiding both players and nearby robots. On the mini-map, wildlife is easily distinguishable by their white icons, in contrast to the black icons of machines. Farming wildlife isn't straightforward due to their less frequent spawn rates compared to machines, requiring you to know their specific locations.
Moose and boar exclusively appear in the ruined city and forest sections of the game world. Their behavior towards you depends on your level relative to theirs; they may either flee or attack when provoked. If an animal is significantly higher level, it might become aggressive just by your proximity. Additionally, wildlife boasts substantial health pools, making early-game encounters with higher or similarly leveled animals quite challenging.
To facilitate encounters with wildlife, you can use Animal Bait to lure them closer, simplifying the task of defeating them.
Unlike machines, wildlife doesn't respawn continuously during the main storyline, necessitating active hunting while exploring. The respawn mechanics for both wildlife and machines are similar:
- Fast traveling respawns all enemies and wildlife.
- Traveling a sufficient distance away respawns enemies and wildlife in previously visited areas.
- Triggering story moments can respawn nearby enemies and wildlife.
Farming Beast Hides isn't a straightforward process at any point in the game. The best strategy is to systematically eliminate all wildlife you encounter while navigating the forest and city ruins. Beast Hides have a reasonably high drop rate, so as long as you're not upgrading more weapons than you can equip simultaneously, you won't need an excessive amount of Beast Hides at any given time.
