One of the best parts about Cyberpunk 2077 is the freedom it gives you in building your character. There are loads of different ways you can tweak your V’s stats, abilities, and gear in order to make them play the way you want, and the game ensures you can solve problems according to your own personal character type. As is usually the case though, some character types are more fun to play than others, which is why we’re breaking down 10 of the best builds to play in Cyberpunk 2077.
Maxed Out Cyberware Build
Taking full advantage of the revamped Cyberware Capacity mechanics and Cyberpunk Edgerunners Perks introduced in the 2.0 updates, this build is a surefire way to turn your V into a technologically enhanced wrecking ball.
By dumping points into Technical Ability, Reflexes, and Body, you can maximize the amount of Cyberware you can use and gain all of the benefits that brings. You’ll be flush with Stat modifiers and capable of inhuman feats, as well as near impervious to most attacks thanks to your absurd Armor score.
This is also a great choice for anyone who doesn’t want to settle on a specific weapon, as the Perks you can unlock in addition to Cyberware-specific ones will leave you capable of wielding most any gun or melee weapon effectively.
Netrunner Build
If any build was meant for use specifically in Cyberpunk 2077 — and could be made to be incredibly overpowered as a result — it’s the Netrunner build.
Utilizing the game’s Quickhacking mechanics and Intelligence-based Perks to their utmost potential, this character class can debilitate enemies from afar by frying their Cyberware, causing outright collapses of their operating systems, or even turn them against their allies. All the while, they’ll be able to sneak around enemies by disabling cameras or distracting guards, putting them in the perfect position for a brutal assault with detonated machinery or Monowire slashes.
Just be aware that you can end up being rather fragile when we running this build, as most of your Attribute points will go toward Intelligence and Cool.
Throwing Knife Build
While builds centered around Throwing Knife Perks and abilities have always been powerful, the 2.0 updates made their viability downright gamebreaking.
With the right Cool Perks boosting your overall damage and Crit Damage, each malicious metal shard you hurl at enemies will have a terminal amount of force behind it. Regular enemies and bosses alike can be torn asunder by a hail of blades, all while you sprint and dive about the world with a cat-like grace and agility.
And that’s not even considering the hijinks you can get up to when Cyberware is added to the mix. Through the use of the Sandevistan’s slowed time, you can create instant kill zones around your enemies via carefully aimed blades that fire off simultaneously when time returns to normal.
Samurai Build
Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t exactly subtle about the potential for doing a Samurai build, as it has enough katanas floating around its world to make an anime convention organizer blush.
All the same, building your character around the ways of the blade can make for a powerful V indeed. Through the Perks obtained by boosting your Reflexes to the limit, you can slice and dice even the most Armored foe to Ribbons with rapid strikes, razor-sharp flourishes, and blood-splattering finishers.
There’s also plenty of room for modifying the build to your particular tastes too. If you’d prefer to be a blade in the darkness, then you can vye for more stealthy Cool Perks and abilities to become a master assassin. Likewise, if frontal assaults are more your jam, you can opt for Body Petks to make your character an unkillable swordsman out of a horror film.
Just make sure you grab the Satori Katana if you’re intent on running this build. It’s hands-down the best chunk of steel you can world, an is super easy to get besides.
Explosives Build
Another build that was made all the more viable thanks to the 2.0 update, the Explosives build is great for anyone who wants to clear rooms full of enemies in seconds flat.
Through the Grenade Perks found in the Technical Ability tree, you can turn each lobbed frag into a miniature carpet bomber capable of obliterating even the most hardy of Cyber Psychos. The same applies to Projectile Launch Systems, and new Perks introduced through the update and Phantom Liberty DLC can increase the total number of shots your arm-mounted rocket flinger can keep stocked.
For the sake of making your early game a little more palatable though, we’d suggest going with a spin on this build that makes you akin to the Cyberpunk Edgerunners character Maine. That way, you’ll have viable combat alternatives to use even when your grenade recharge rate isn’t stellar.
Gorilla Arms Build
Do you want to smash and crash your way around Night City with your raw strength? Then a Gorilla Arms build is hands-down the best character type can run with.
Utilizing Body, Reflexes, and Technical Ability Perks to make you a fast-moving pugilist who hits like a truck, this build is incredibly easy to get off the ground ASAP. Enemies will be stuck plugging round after round into you to no effect, only for you to rush forward and cave in their skulls one after another. Even if they’ve got numbers on their side, you can drop in like a Meteor with a ground pound that knocks them off balance or kills them outright.
We should probably note that the Blunt Weapons Perk tree also affects Gorilla Arms, so it’s vital that you grab every ability from this track.
Mantis Blades Build
Though it might seem a little too close to a Samurai build to get its own entry, the Mantis Blade build is in the same category as Netrunner in terms of being tailor-made for abusing Cyberpunk 2077’s world.
Through the Reflexes and Technical Abilities Perk trees, you can turn V into a lightning fast whirlwind of bladed death. Enemies won’t have a hope of stopping you from rending them asunder, and you’ll be able to leap from target to target with a savage grace befitting of a Night City legend.
As an added bonus, this build stands right alongside the Gorilla Arms build as one which ensures you’re never without a weapon. It’s a handy benefit to have, especially during sections of the game where you’re required to hand over all your more visible artillery.
Sandevistan Build
Interchangeable with the David from Cyberpunk Edgerunners build, making a character around this framework opens up a ton of fun possibilities in most any combat scenario.
Using the Sandevistan Cyberware as a centerpiece, the build is all about wreaking havoc on enemies while you’re moving too fast for them to do anything. This might mean creating the aforementioned instant kill zones with aimed throwing knives; or, it could mean dashing around an environment and pummeling your opponents before they can even draw their weapons.
It’s all up to you, and with some boosts from the Reflexes and Technical Ability Attributes, you can increase the damage you deal during a Sandevistan trigger as well as how quickly you hop from target to target. When you can though, we highly recommend shelling out for a Militech Apogee model to really make this build shine.
Stealth Sniper Build
When it comes to making a stealthy character in Cyberpunk 2077, one of the best builds you can run is a Stealth Sniper.
Taking full advantage of the Cool, Reflexes, and Technical Ability Attributes’ Perks and bonuses, this character type turns each shot from the game’s already powerful sniper rifles and enhances them so they can tear through targets as if they were paper. Every shot has the capacity to end a fight before it starts, and you’ll be bouncing from shadow to shadow fast enough to never be in real danger.
Even if you’re exposed, your perks and Cyberware can allow you to nose scope foes so quickly it’ll be like you were never spotted. It’s a build that excels at any range, and can leave you feeling like a truly invincible hunter of the game’s cybernetic monsters.
John Wick Build
This build is an interesting case among our best builds list, as it’s one of the more hyper-specific ones you can try to do in Cyberpunk 2077. But when all is said and done, it’s easily among the most entertaining types of characters you can run with.
Prioritizing Cool and Reflexes, this build makes you as fast and lethal as its namesake action hero. You’ll be firing off headshot after headshot from your pistol, darting around and toward enemies to terminate them with a ruthless grace. You can swap between throwing knives and fists to keep your combat options varied, and your opponents will be lucky if they can manage to land even a single hit on you.
Again though, this is a hyper-specific build when it comes to what you need to make it. In addition to selecting Perks that enable you to land devastating headshots, you’ll also need to track down Johnny Silverhand’s Gun so that you have a pistol which can bolster the build’s aesthetic with its special reload animation.
