NieR:Automata – How to Fuse Chips

Introduction

This guide is strictly about fusing chips. I won’t go into grinding locations for the chips as there are plenty of good guides for that. This guide will cover the basics and give a quick reference to chips that you can use and chips you can get rid of. I’ll also cover what you shouldn’t fuse. The last part will cover the chips that can be used in multiples to get lower cost than a single max level chip.

There are other guides on fusing that have good info. I’d recommend reading them to learn some optimal strategies on fusing with flow charts and using this guide alongside them.

The Basics

In order to fuse chips, you need to combine 2 chips at the same level. This gives you a single chip 1 level higher with a new cost. Higher level chips give you more benefits. You can equip multiple of the same chip to reach max benefits but the cost will

usuallyend up higher than 1 level 8. You also can’t get any more benefits than what 1 level 8 would give. The game will tell you if you reach the cap.

The formula for the cost of the new chip is:

Chip levels start at 0 and go up to level 8.

While fusing, the game will tell you the new cost before you fuse.

Chips with the smallest cost for that level are marked with ♦. The smaller the cost, the more chips you can use. The goal when fusing is to reach your target chip level with ♦ and maximize your benefits of the chip.

So for example, you have a ♦ level 3 [7] and another level 3 [21]. The cost of the new level 4 chip would be [16].

What is usable and what is useless?

After all upgrades, the max storage for equipped chips is 128. When fusing chips for your target build, you may not want to get all your chips to max level 8. At best each one would be worth 21 points of that storage and your HUD uses some storage points as well.

There are some chips that have costs that are impossible to use for fusing to reach your optimal chip cost at the target level. You should sell them. But starting at level 0 and working up to your target and doing the math is such a pain.

Chip costs that are useless–

Sell/Destroy!

Using the table above, the columns represent your target ♦ chip level and the rows represent the chip level in your inventory. If the chip cost is greater than or equal to the value in the table, sell it. The values in the table list costs impossible to fuse to your goal. For example, if you have a target of ♦ level 3 and you have a chip that is level 0 [10], the table lists a value of 8+ so sell it.

Some values in the table represent values you won’t find in game. (level 0 [12] is above max cost of 11.) Don’t worry about the details. The table makes it so you don’t have to think about anything. These values are like that because all chips at that level can reach ♦.There is also a limit to the number of chips you can have in your inventory. At that point you’ll have to fuse/sell/destroy chips before you can grind for more. Even if the chips have costs that are below the table values, if they are high cost, you can sell them if you need inventory space. The higher the cost, the more ♦ chips you’ll need to use to get the chip back down in cost.

Chip sums that are useless–

Don’t fuse!

The next table is in the same format as the previous and represents sums of 2 chips you are fusing. If the sum is on the table, don’t fuse. It will create a chip that will have a cost listed on the previous table.

An example:

• You want a ♦ level 4 [9] chip.
• You have a level 0 [11] chip. The first table shows it is doable. (12+)
• Looking at the sums table, a sum of 19 is doable. (20+)
• Fuse a level 0 [11] chip with a level 0 [8] chip. (11+8+1)/2
• You now have a level 1 [10] chip. The first table shows it is doable. (11+)
• Looking at the sums table, a sum of 15 is doable. (16+)
• Fuse a level 1 [10] chip with a ♦ level 1 [5] chip. (10+5+1)/2
• You now have a level 2 [8] chip. The first table shows it is doable. (9+)
• Looking at the sums table, a sum of 14 is doable. (15+)
• Fuse a level 2 [8] chip with a ♦ level 2 [6] chip. (8+6+2)/2
• You now have a level 3 [8] chip. The first table shows it is doable. (9+)
• Looking at the sums table, a sum of 15 is doable. (16+)
• Fuse a level 3 [8] chip with a ♦ level 3 [7] chip. (8+7+3)/2
• You now have a ♦ level 4 [9] chip. Success!

Many guides say you can use level 0 [11] to get a ♦ chip!The reason these tables work is because of the formula used to get the new cost. It’s based on the sum of costs. [11]+[8] = [10]+[9]. [10]+[5] = [9]+[6] = [8]+[7]. [8]+[6] = [7]+[7]. These sums over time get closer and closer to the flow chart method in other guides. But this method is more optimal.

Chips better as multiples

Some chips can give max benefits at lower levels in multiples that end up costing less than a single level 8 chip.

All of these chip setups are equivalent to a single ♦ level 8 [21] at less cost. The last one, Anti Chain Damage, is the same cost as a ♦ level 8. It’s easier to get to 3 level 3 chips and it’s modular (you can use 2 or 1) but you’ll free up 2 inventory spaces if you make it 1 level 8.