So, by now most of us are aware of CDPR’s Cyberpunk 2077. The game’s release, the amount of success it has had as well as the controversies that surround it. Whether or not you have already begun your journey as a cybernetic merc or if you’re just looking to learn more before you begin, this guide will tell you all you need to know about the different builds, perks, and playstyles that may suit you.
As you start your new save, you’re gifted a set amount of points to start your character off. You can choose between a total of 5 Skills:
- Body: Annihilation I Athletics I Street Brawler
- Reflexes: Blades I Assault I Handguns
- Technical Ability: Engineering I Crafting
- Intelligence: Quick Hacking I Breach Protocol
- Cool: Stealth I Cold Blood
Each path you decide to invest in will affect your gameplay in both major and minor ways.
If you’re the type of merc who shoots first and asks questions later, then investing in stats such as Body and Reflexes may be the route you take.
If you’re more of a cutthroat, In and out, sufficient and professional merc then perhaps you may want to invest in Cool and Reflexes. Bear in mind you gain 1 skill point and 1 perk point for every level you achieve with a max level of 50 Skill and 50 Street Cred. So Invest wisely!
From our experience, here are a few playstyles that you may find suits you and what we recommend to roll with as you start your Journey in Night City.
"The Brute" Build
For those of you who prefer a fast-paced, action-packed playthrough. The Brute would probably be the one for you! Focusing predominantly on the Body and Reflexes skill trees. You’ll be able to soak up any and all damage that any Nomad, Gang, or Corpo throw at you.
With Perks such as Hard Motherfucker, The Rock, and Regeneration in the Athletics perk tree, you can easily find many combinations tied in with some of the Annihilation perk lists - to become a damage-consuming, Hard-hitting, gun-running megalomaniac of a merc.
Don’t forget with Reflexes being invested in you have the option to go well rounded or focus primarily on Handguns, Rifles, Shotguns or Melee weapons to complement your merc.
"The Stealth" Build
The term “silent but deadly” has never been so true with this playstyle! Now there are many, many infiltration and extraction type missions in Night City and with the small incentive of optional rewards in most of these. In which you are often given the task to fulfill the mission requirements undetected in order to recieve a small bonus. With this build making that a lot easier, you’d be a fool to turn down the extra eddies.
If you invest heavily in skill trees such as Cool and Reflexes, followed with perks like From the shadows, Cutthroat and investing a little more in the Blades category - you’d put the likes of Ryu Hayabusa to shame.
Let’s not forget that with this, you can focus on Blades, Handguns, or Assault. Depending on whether you prefer to snipe from a distance or get up close and personal with a Katana or silenced Handgun.
The perks in these trees will increase critical hit damage from outside of combat, Make you less likely to be noticed all whilst boosting the stats for either your Rifle, Handgun, or Blade. So feel free to have a look at the many different perks available and decide which kind of Night City assassin you want to be.
"The Netrunner" Build
In a world of cybernetic implants, Blood thirsty AI’s and chrome addicted mercs. You would think these came with advanced virus protection. Unfortunately, the anti-virus known in the world of Cyberpunk as “ICE” is no match up and is quite literally under par when compared to the Netrunner build.
Here we're looking at skills like Intelligence and Cool to help you carve your way through any mainframe, database, or security camera. This comes particularly handy when facing bosses or a number of enemies. You have various amounts of quick hacks to choose from. Breach Protocol will make enemies much more vulnerable, followed up with other quick hacks like System Reset, Burnout or Circuit Overload.
Tied in with perks such as Forget Me Not, Weak Link, and Daisy Chain, you’ll be able to make light work of any enemy as you gain RAM from using quick hacks. Deal bigger damage with these hacks as you’ve used breach protocol and quickly reduce cool down times for these hacks with every enemy defeated.
"The Craftsman" Build
Lastly, we have the craftsman, a pretty straightforward build with a few unhealthy yet needed tendencies to hoard and dismantle every weapon you find. Bare in mind that you will encounter a vast amount of Iconic weapons throughout the game, which will have a unique set of abilities of their own. These can be used to craft legendary variants of the weapon, so be sure to never dismantle any Iconic weapon or armour.
As you progress through the story and many, many side missions, you’ll find that making your own weapons and armor is a tad more rewarding and even more overpowered with perks like Mechanic, 200% Efficiency, and Field Technician.
With perks like these, any item you dissemble will give you more components in order to make a wide range of weapons or armor which in turn, will have a higher defense or attack rating for items you created.
So! There you have it, a quick rundown of just a few playstyles the game has to offer you.
Remember though, this is your merc and this is your city. So be sure to take a look at all the Skills and Perks when you level up your character.
Take into consideration how you play RPG’s and how you go about a few of the opening missions, try to compliment your style and we’re sure you’ll have a great time on Cyberpunk 2077.
If you enjoyed this be sure to check out our other guides and our other Cyberpunk related content
