(Spoilers) The Elder

[M00NBEAST]

If you neglect him long enough then return to him, you'll be greeted by a hologram of a BT, and you'll get an email from him saying it was time for him to move on.

However, if you continue to do repeat delivers to him throughout your progress, he'll survive the entirety of the game.

As far as I can tell, nobody knows the exact mechanics of this, but I've been doing all the repeat orders to him (minus retrieval orders because that adds too much time to the run).

I've made sort of a run out of it so I can try to keep him alive as long as possible, and so far this has worked best for me. You can either set up a zip-line system and do all of these in two trips (because two orders from Lake Knot can't be carried at the same time on your back and limbs because there's too much), or you can do it in a round trip starting at the Distro Center South of Lake Knot using a truck.

I was using zip-lines for a while, but I got tired of backtracking to Lake Knot, so I start at the Distro Center. I'll either fabricate a level 3 long distance truck, or I'll grab one from the online garage). Then I either leave that truck in an online shelter near the elder or take it back to the Distro Center when I'm done.

Starting at Distro Center South of Lake Knot, I'll grab all the deliveries minus recovery/retrieval orders. I start Distro Center > Craftsman > Lake Knot > Engineer > Elder

The Orders Are (in order of pick up):
448 - Distribution Center South of Lake Knot City - High-Protein Edible Plants
449 - Distribution Center South of Lake Knot City - Fertilizer for Bonsai Trees
201 - Craftsman - Medical Supplies
419 - Lake Knot City - Powerful Sleeping Tablets
420 - Lake Knot City - [URGENT] Chiral Allergy Medication
421 - Lake Knot City - [URGENT] (Fragile) Pacemaker
174 - Engineer - Energy Boosting Drinks

Honestly, you could probably get by just doing the two [URGENT] orders from Lake Knot, but I do all of these because it takes maybe 5 minutes total. You can use a shelter to teleport to the Distro Center and back, or you can use a zip-line network to get there and back if you want to keep your stuff with you for some reason.

But yeah, it's been that easy. Take a couple minutes out of your normal delivery journey to do that run and you can keep him alive if you want to. As for benefits, I don't think there are any for keeping him alive. For me it's sort of a completionst thing. He died my first playthrough on PS4 because I decided to see if delivering one of those high-reward lost cargos would have some kind of reward and I was greeted by his BT hologram. Honestly, I felt like a jerk for it when I realize he can stay alive if you continue delivering to him. lol

I don't know if bot-deliveries work, but they seem to keep the cargo damage low enough that they might be able to. Though, I assume it's a case of wanting to see those deliveries made by a person and not a machine (to feel like he's not being neglected maybe).

Anyway, I thought some people might find this helpful. :)

[Boudicia Dark]

Well I certainly wish I had known there was a way to keep that geezer alive! I got all emotional when I realized I had ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up and neglected him to death. When I start the game over, I will strive to keep him alive as long as possible!

[Kanharn]

Thing is he wants to die, that's why he stops taking his meds. I kept him alive for 200hrs but let him go in the end.

You can use bots to keep him alive. You can also still rest in his bunker after he is gone.

Also if you say hello to him in BT form, he screams

[Chika Ogiue]

Basically, a mission to deliver a pacemaker will eventually spawn. You'll probably still be in the area to do that mission the first time it spawns. However, it will continue to spawn. If you fail to see and complete it during any of these spawns in time, the elder passes on.

I completed the game on PS4 never even knowing the Elder could pass. I didn't even spend a lot of time focusing on his missions, I was just lucky enough to be around whenever the pacemaker was needed.

When I played on PC, I didn't bother delivering the pacemaker at all, and he was lost a lot quicker.

[M00NBEAST]

I had a feeling it was related to the [URGENT] orders, but wanted to play it safe and did them all in that small circle. lol