You’re out in the Desert Zone. The sand is blinding, the wind is howling, and if you’ve played Yoko Taro’s masterpiece for more than five minutes, you know that nothing is ever just a "fetch quest." Most players stumble into heritage of the past nier automata while trying to 100% their map or just because they saw a weirdly dressed Resistance Researcher standing near the edge of the dunes. He’s looking for old world relics. He wants "heritage." But in this game, heritage is a heavy, jagged thing that usually cuts you when you try to pick it up.
Honestly, it’s one of the most haunting side activities in the game. It isn't just about the rewards, though the Spear of the Usurper is a nice touch for your loadout. No, it’s about that specific brand of Nier melancholy—the realization that we are digging up the bones of a world that didn’t even realize it was ending.
Finding the Heritage of the Past Nier Automata Relics Without Losing Your Mind
If you're looking for the actual items, you need the Scanner program. You get this during the main story after the A2 encounter in the forest, so don't bother hunting for these relics too early. You'll just be running circles in the heat. Once you have the scanner equipped, head to the Desert: Center area.
The first thing you’ll likely find is the Aged Stick. It’s buried near the entrance to the desert from the city ruins. It sounds useless. It basically is. But it’s a piece of history. Then there’s the Commandment Slab, hidden further west among the crumbling ruins. You’ll also need the Filthy Mask and the Statue of a Girl.
Locations are finicky. The Scanner pings faster as you get closer, but the desert is huge and the verticality of the dunes can mess with your sense of direction. I’ve spent twenty minutes just trying to find the Statue of a Girl because I was standing on the wrong side of a sand pile. It’s annoying. It’s tedious. It’s exactly what Yoko Taro wants you to feel—the physical labor of unearthing a dead culture.
👉 See also: Stuck on Today's Connections? Here is How to Actually Solve the NYT Grid Without Losing Your Mind
What This Quest Actually Says About the World
Why does a Resistance member care about a filthy mask or a broken slab? The Researcher claims he wants to preserve the "glory" of the past. But as you hand these items over, the dialogue starts to feel... off. There is a weird tension between the androids’ desire to understand humanity and their complete inability to actually feel what those humans felt.
The heritage of the past nier automata represents a desperate attempt by the androids to find meaning in their own existence by proxy. They worship us. They view our trash as sacred relics. It’s like finding a discarded soda can in 5,000 years and putting it in a velvet-lined case because it’s the only proof that something lived here once.
When you find the final item, the Statue of a Girl, the Researcher’s reaction is telling. He doesn't see a toy or a commemorative figure. He sees a god-like entity from a golden age. We know it's just a trinket. That gap—the space between what the item was and what it represents now—is where the real storytelling happens.
The Spear of the Usurper and the Practical Payoff
Let’s talk gear for a second. Completing this quest isn't just for the lore nerds. You get the Spear of the Usurper.
✨ Don't miss: Straight Sword Elden Ring Meta: Why Simple Is Often Better
In a game where combat flow is everything, this spear is a bit of a beast. It has a high critical hit rate and a unique ability that can turn enemies to your side temporarily. It’s ironic, really. You find it by digging up peace-time relics, and you use it to cause absolute chaos on the battlefield.
If you're playing on Hard or Very Hard, that critical hit chance isn't just a bonus; it's a survival mechanic. I usually pair it with the Virtuous Dignity for a high-speed, high-damage build. It’s one of those weapons that makes you feel like you’ve actually earned your place in the desert’s hierarchy.
The Weird Logic of the Desert Researcher
The NPC who gives you this quest is a bit of a mystery himself. He’s obsessed with the "Old World." But throughout the Nier series—going back to the original Nier Replicant and even Drakengard—the "Old World" is a place of absolute horror. We know the truth about Project Gestalt. We know why the world ended. The androids don't.
They are chasing a ghost.
🔗 Read more: Steal a Brainrot: How to Get the Secret Brainrot and Why You Keep Missing It
Every time I play through heritage of the past nier automata, I feel a bit like a liar. 2B and 9S are literally walking over the graves of their creators, and they’re doing it to satisfy a quest log. There’s a specific bit of dialogue where the Researcher mentions how beautiful the human world must have been.
If you've seen the ruins of the shopping mall or the flooded city, you know beauty had nothing to do with it at the end. It was all concrete and despair.
Tips for Efficiency
- Don't hunt alone: Keep the Scanner (Pod Program 150) active constantly. The sound cues are better than the visual ones for locating the exact burial spot.
- Fast Travel is your friend: Don't run back and forth from the Resistance Camp. Use the Desert: Center access point to reset the area if the pings aren't showing up.
- Check the map borders: Most of the relics are tucked away near the "out of bounds" zones where the sandstorms get thick.
- Ignore the machines: You’ll get jumped by small flyers and medium bipeds. Unless they’re directly sitting on a relic, just dash past them. They aren't worth the time.
Why We Still Talk About This Quest in 2026
It’s been years since Nier Automata launched, yet we’re still dissecting these minor side stories. Why? Because most open-world games treat collectibles like "Ubisoft towers" or mindless checklists. In Nier, the heritage of the past nier automata quest is a meta-commentary on the act of playing a game.
We are the players, digging through code and assets to find "content." The androids are digging through sand to find "humanity." We are both looking for something that isn't really there anymore.
The quest ends with a modest amount of G (currency) and some materials, but the real reward is the feeling of emptiness that follows. It sounds bleak because it is. But it’s also beautiful. It forces you to look at the environment not as a playground, but as a cemetery.
Actionable Steps for Completionists
- Level Up the Scanner: While not strictly necessary for the quest to trigger, having a higher-level Pod makes the detection radius much more forgiving.
- Clear the Area First: If you’re playing on a higher difficulty, clear the aggressive machine spawns in the central desert before you start scanning. Trying to find a tiny buried item while five mechanical drills are charging at you is a recipe for a "Game Over" screen.
- Read the Item Descriptions: Once you turn in the items, read the archives. The game provides flavor text for the relics that adds context to how the androids interpret our history.
- Complete Before the Point of No Return: Make sure you finish this before the end of Route B. While you can use Chapter Select later, it feels more impactful to do it during the natural progression of 9S’s journey, given his specific relationship with data and history.
The quest is a microcosm of the entire Nier experience. It’s frustrating, it’s tucked away in a corner of the map you’d rather ignore, and it gives you a spear that was used by a king who probably never existed. It’s perfect. It reminds us that our "heritage" isn't just the stuff we leave behind—it's the stories people tell about that stuff long after we're gone.