Cyberpunk 2077 builds offer loads of possibilities to create all sorts of characters. From focusing on brute force to playing a proper tech-head or being somewhere in between, you can surely find your niche. It can sometimes be a pain to figure out which way to go between all the playstyles, Cyberdecks, and everything in between, especially considering how your build could make or break your playthrough, to an extent.
The focus when creating these builds was on finding a way to have fun with your character, allow for different approaches to enemies and leave room for some roleplaying (for those who care). There was no math involved thus no obsession with DPS and maximizing damage at all costs. For this reason, the builds in this list are not necessarily the most powerful that you’re going to find but are for sure entertaining and enjoyable to play.
You don’t have to be an expert of Cyberpunk 2077 if you want to enjoy these builds but, if this is your first time in Night City, you might also want to check our tips for beginners.
Video by ESO
Cyberpunk 2077 Builds
The Assault Netrunner
This build focuses mainly on hacking and assault weapons. You can think of it as a Techie with a passion for weapons. With this build you get:
- Good damage with hacks, automatic and smart weapons
- Crafting (or explosives) bonuses
- Decent defense (armor and mitigation)
Attribute Points
Your main three Attributes are Reflexes, Technical Ability and Intelligence. You can play a bit here depending on what you want to focus on but do not put any points in Body or Cool so as to maximize the bonuses of the other attributes.
If you want to make sure to deal enough damage with weapons, you can start by focusing on Reflexes and spending perk points on either Assault or Handguns.
If hacking is your thing, then go all in on Intelligence and the Quickhacking perks.
Regardless of what you focus on, every few levels, you should put points in Technical Ability. This will give you a small bonus to defense and allow you to unlock doors. Later in the game, you could use the levels in Technical Ability to invest in perks points to either improve your crafting skills or explosives management.
Recommended Starting Attribute Points
- Body: 3
- Reflexes: 6
- Technical Ability: 6
- Intelligence: 4
- Cool: 3
Cyberpunk 2077 Builds Assault Netrunner Attributes
Perk Points
In Reflexes, you might be tempted to put a few in Assault and a few in Handguns. Resist the urge until you level up a bit! For the first levels, try to focus only on one type of weapon to make sure you’re not going to suffer too much in battle. Then you can build up your skills with something different.
In intelligence, the more you focus on Quickhacking the more damage you’re going to deal. Maximize as soon as you can “Biosynergy”, “Bloodware” and “Daisy Chain” or “Short Circuit” increase damage, recover RAM faster and reduce quickhacks cooldown.
In Technical Ability, if you’re into crafting (and roleplaying) then it’s easy: everything in Crafting. The advantage is also that you can have some bonus to the damage dealt by weapons you create.
If crafting is not your thing, then Engineering offers good bonuses to explosives. This way you could combine your skills with hacks and weapons with grenades, allowing you to engage enemies in different ways and make a horrible mess out of them.
If you can spare the RAM and the cash, you can take advantage of the sandevistan cyberware. It would be especially useful on this build so you can slow time with it.
Takeout
On first levels, good weapon damage and defense. On higher levels, even if you have no bonus to sneaking, your hacks will be so powerful that enemies won’t be able to know what got them. If they do, you can quickly finish them with assault weapons.
- High versatility in attack
- Many approaches to enemies
- Powerful hacking
- Good defense
- No bonus to sneaking
- Awful in melee and close combat
Cyberpunk 2077 Builds Assault Netrunner
The Sneaky Netrunner
Arguably one of the most satisfying Cyberpunk 2077 builds, this one is for those who like sneaking and hacking. The main point is to be a silent killer able to eliminate enemies one by one taking advantage of the environment and hacking skills. Think of yourself as a predator. The main characteristics are:
- Powerful hacks
- Shadow-like sneaking
- Decent defense
Attribute Points
Since hacking will be your main source of damage, Intelligence is your priority, especially at lower levels. Cool comes soon after since it helps remain undetected, increases sneaking damage, and gives a small bonus to all resistances. As a general suggestion, you could put a point in Cool for every two points put in Intelligence. However, this depends also on your play style, so you may want to increase or decrease this ratio as your character grows.
You can also start putting points in Technical Ability once you’re comfortable with the damage dealt by your hacks and your sneaking. This attribute gives you a bonus to your armor and allows you to spend points in Engineering which could come in handy if you want to dispose of the enemies that found you out with explosives.
Recommended Starting Attribute Points
- Body: 3
- Reflexes: 3
- Technical Ability: 4
- Intelligence: 6
- Cool: 6
Cyberpunk 2077 Builds: Sneaky Netrunner Attributes
Perk Points
Similarly to the previous build, in Intelligence, the more points to Quickhacking the more damage dealt and RAM recovered. The main perks are “Biosynergy”, “Subliminal Message”, “Bloodware” and “Daisy Chain”. Breach Protocol, on the contrary, gives a good option to use the environment to your advantage. For example, by taking control of turrets and disabling security cameras. Another perk you should get as soon as possible is “Mass Vulnerability” which reduces the resistances of all enemies by 30%.
As for Cool, “Crouching Tiger”, “Ghost” and “Hidden Dragon” from Ninjutsu are a must. They improve sneaking, increase detection time and allow to perform areal takedowns. If you want to play strategically, “Ping” can be useful to distract and lure. From Cold Blood, you get “Frosty Synapses” and “Quick Transfer” to reduce quickhacks cooldowns and upload time.
Finally, on Technical Ability, you should focus on Engineering and particularly get all perks relative to Smart weapons. This way, if you’re forced into a gunfight, you can hold your ground with these techie weapons.
Takeout
You might struggle a bit in the early game, especially until you can get your hands on a good piece of OS Cyberware. However, carefully sneaking, using takedowns, uploading daemons, quickhacks, and taking advantage of the environment should be enough to succeed in combat.
On higher levels, you’ll be able to eliminate groups of enemies with just a couple of hacks and daemons while hiding in the shadows.
- Extremely powerful hacking
- Loads of buffs for you and debuffs for enemies
- Great sneaking and takedowns
- Poor in melee and gun fights
Cyberpunk 2077 Builds: Sneaky Netrunner
The Brute Weapon Master
This is a no non-sense Cyberpunk 2077 build for those who enjoy raw physical power and a character that can endure a lot of damage, thanks to its better regeneration rate. You can think of this build as a cyberpunk version of Guts from Berserk. This Build is the one that will be more suitable for the Steel and Chrome expansion, and also offers certain resistance to debuffs such as plague. The main feats you’re going
- Very high melee damage
Very high damage with shotguns and light machine guns
Very high resistance, defense, and good regeneration
Attribute Points
For this build, the focus is on Body and Reflexes. Actually, you could almost go all-in with Body, if you want to maximize damage and, later in the game, get the most out of implants like Gorilla Arms. Remember that Body governs regeneration and this is a tank build. Reflexes is still relevant to consider, if only because it governs reload and this build is weapon based, although maybe not tech weapons based.
Generally speaking, at low levels, it’s a good idea to put 1 point to Reflexes for every 2 points in Body. This way, you can build up damage with melee from the beginning and unlock useful perks in Blade (useful if you have a thing for katanas).
Later in the game, you could also put a few points in Technical Ability just to take advantage of the armor bonus. If you’re an avid side quest doer, as you progress with the game, you might even get enough perk points to spend on explosives.
Recommended Starting Attribute Points
- Body: 6
- Reflexes: 6
- Technical Ability: 4
- Intelligence: 3
- Cool: 3
Cyberpunk 2077 Builds: Brute Weapon Master Attributes
Perk Points
In Body, your first choices should be “Hail of Bullets” (Annihilation) to increase damage to shotguns and light machine guns, and “Flurry” (Street Brawler) for a damage bonus to blunt weapons. As for Athletics, you should unlock all bonuses to Stamina and Health whenever you feel that your character is struggling with defense. The Brute could potentially benefit from the “Edgerunner Artisan” perk to get the better weapons.
As for Reflexes, here is a bit of a choice. If you want to go Samurai-style and use katanas, then you should focus only on Blades and get “Sting as a Bee” and “Roaring Waters” as soon as possible. If, on the contrary, you’ll be content with your fists or blunt weapons, then you could even keep your perk points for either Assault, Handguns (Pistols, Revolvers), or any sub-category of Body.
If you prefer to use your raw strength in damage input on your shots, you can increase your crit chance by going with the “Bullseye” and “Assassin” perks. Alternatively, if you prefer that your crit damage is as high as possible, you can sacrifice chance and go instead for “Skeet Shooter” or “Eagle Eye”. If you want the tank experience, “Executioner” is also a perk that is worth looking at. Ever heard of Suicide by Brute? No jury required.
Takeout
Your V should be dangerous enough since the very early stages of the game and, as you level up, you might find it quite satisfying to punch your way through enemies. With appropriate support from armor and weapons, you’ll be an unstoppable force.
The only downside of this build is that it doesn’t leave much space for variety, you’ll be shooting and bashing your way past enemies but V will be quite useless at anything else.
- Extremely high damage all-round, especially that headshot damage
- Great defense
- Variety of weapons available
- Zero hacking skills
- No variety in approaching battles
Cyberpunk 2077 Builds: Brute Weapon Master
With the Weaponmaster Build you can also unleash your inner gunslinger, if you are a fan of pistols, or consider yourself more of a desperado type. If you are going to use pistols with the build we recommend using them as a secondary weapon and going for something with good damage output such as the Malorian Arms 3516 or the Kang Tao G-58 Dian. Pairing any of these with a Smart Link cyberware to improve accuracy and damage wouldn’t hurt. If you trustyour accuracy and likeheadshot damage, the “Rio Bravo” or “Fistful of Eurodollars” perks might be for you.
Cold-Blooded Netrunner
A versatile and deadly build, combining the hacking proficiency of the Netrunner with the frightening skill of a cold-blooded assassin. This build would be ideal for players that prefer a calmed, stealthy approach to combat, where you can use your hacking skill to disable enemies or their abilities, while also being able to take out tangos at a distance.
The main Characteristics of this build are:
- High intelligence
- Prioritizes Sniper rifles and submachine guns
- Takes advantage of the Cold Blood skill tree
Recommended Starting Attribute Points
- Body: 3
- Reflexes: 6
- Technical Ability: 7
- Intelligence: 9
- Cool: 5
Perk Points
For the Cold-Blooded Netrunner, you’ll want to make the most of hacking and quickhacking, and then take care of having a balanced combat effectiveness. You are going to be focusing on intelligence-related perks, then the Cool and Reflexes trees.
Invest in “Biosynergy” for your quickhack duration, “Hackathon” for the additional quickhack upload time, and “Critical Error” for the damage. For Stealth purposes, you want to invest in “Assassin” and “Crouching Tiger” to both increase your stealth damage and reduce your sound while moving.
For the Cold Blood perk, you want to go with “Frozen Precision” and “Coolagulant” to increase hit chance and reduce the rate of decay. Also go with “Head Start” for the additional RAM, “Advance Datamine” to farm components and “Total Recall” for economy.
Additionally, you may want to get the “Mechanic” perk to help you in your crafting and upgrading, and possibly “Field Technician” for your resistance. Later on you could also consider “Epimorphosis” for health regeneration and also “Multitasker” to improve your reload and consumable use while sprinting.
Takeout
Turning V into a cold-blooded netrunner means having an unconventional build that mixes stealth with damage output in the form of assassination, hacking and mayhem. You’ll be able to take out your enemies before they see you, but also won’t be defenseless if they do. Take advantage of the high intelligence attribute to play tactically and cripple your foes.
This is not that simple of a build and you’ll need to plan your upgrade path and be patient with it. You may need to shy away from full-on combat and rely on traps and strategy at first. Rely first on your quickhacks, rather than your brawl. You may not be creating a massacre, but your coldest blood will bring up your survivability, especially in critical conditions.
Instead of assault rifles, you’ll have to rely more on machine gun damage, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t stack damage like the best of them. You’ll only have to play in a more strategic way, which is the sweet spot for a lot of players.
Final Tips for Cyberpunk 2077 Builds
The game in Normal mode is forgiving enough to allow for experiments and “wasting” some Attribute or Perk points. What’s certain is that you can’t be good at everything and need to focus on a couple of things only.
The builds we proposed can be used as they are or you can modify them slightly to fit your tastes. For example, you can get a great variant of the “Sneaky Netrunner” by improving Reflexes and spending points in Blade instead of focusing on Technical Ability. This way, you sacrifice defense and crafting for some ninja-style gameplay.
Another change you could do regards the “Brute Weapon Master”. You can disregard Reflexes and spend points in Cool instead allowing you to sneak close to enemies before bashing them out of Night City.
