Cyberpunk 2077: Best perks

One of the most important parts of developing V in Cyberpunk 2077 is choosing the best perks - our guide will help you with that. We have compiled a list of recommended perks - you will find out what attributes they are related to, how do they work, whether they are worth upgrading to the maximum level, and whether there are any interesting minor perks related to them.

• Body tree
• Reflexes tree
• Technical Ability tree
• Cool tree
• Intelligence tree

Body tree

Painkiller

Required attribute points: 4

Perk levels: 1

The perk enables automatic passive health regeneration during combat. This is very useful regardless of how you want to develop your V, because it will allow you to stop relying solely on manual treatment. You can also purchase related minor perks, which can, for example, speed up regeneration near enemies or when sprinting.

Spontaneous Obliteration

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

This perk is related to using shotguns, light and heavy machine guns. You can increase the chances of critical hits and unlock the Obliterate ability, which gives you a chance (max 20%) to instantly brutally kill enemies who have little health left. Related smaller perks can, for example, further increase the chances of using the Obliterate ability or speed up the next reload.

Adrenaline Rush

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

At the lower levels of this perk, you can receive a permanent bonus to health and its regeneration speed. The highest third level unlocks the titular mode, in which V can accumulate adrenaline and treat it as a temporary extra health bar. This can be very helpful with a more offensive play style, where you can lose health more often.

Related smaller perks can, for example, increase damage and movement speed when Adrenaline Rush is activated. We also recommend the perk Pain to Gain (20 points in Body), which speeds up the renewal of healing resources by neutralizing enemies. This works during active Adrenaline Rush.

Fury Road

Required attribute points: 4

Perk levels: 1

It's a single perk tied to driving vehicles, so you don't need to invest additional development points in it. It has several useful features - dealing more damage and receiving less damage in fights involving vehicles, and no damage while riding as a passenger. This can come in handy especially in missions with car chases where you need to catch up with someone or defend yourself while driving.

Wrecking Ball

Required attribute points: 9

Perk levels: 2

This is a fairly quick-access perk for blunt weapons. Attacking with them can consume less stamina, and from level 2 you can also bump into enemies and knock them down. Related smaller perks give various bonuses to blunt weapons, such as increasing the chance of knocking down or stunning enemies, blocking more effectively or weakening enemies' armor with powerful attacks.

Quake

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

This is another perk related to blunt weapons. Lower levels give bonuses to stamina cost and attack speed. You will unlock the titular ability at level 3 and it allows you to hit the ground with tremendous force, stunning and potentially knocking down nearby enemies. The related smaller Epicenter perk increases the range and damage of Quake when the ability is activated in the air.

Finisher: Savage Sling

Required attribute points: 20

An excellent finisher reserved for blunt weapons. It has two uses. With the first, you can execute an enemy who has little health left, recovering 20% of your health points. With the second, you can hold down the button and throw the enemy, weakening other enemies that are hit.

Reflexes tree

Sharpshooter

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

This is one of the perks for using assault rifles and submachine guns. You can aim faster, use your weapons better and receive bonuses to stamina costs and regeneration. Having this perk at your disposal will allow you to hit enemies more often and keep firing longer. Related smaller perks include maintaining mobility while aiming or increased critical hit chance and damage.

Slippery

Required attribute points: 4

Perk levels: 1

This is one of the first perks purchasable on this tree - it can make it difficult for enemies to hit you while you are moving. The effect is enhanced when sprinting, climbing, dashing, sliding or dodging. Related smaller perks can, for example, allow you to reload or shoot while, e.g. running or sliding.

Dash

Required attribute points: 9

Perk levels: 2

Developing this perk to level 2 will unlock the titular move that can increase your chances of avoiding damage. In addition, you can reduce your stamina consumption for this type of action.

We also recommend purchasing another perk from the same branch - Air Dash (requires 15 attribute points). It will enable you to perform a dash in the air. The move will also become faster and consume even less stamina. All types of dash are useful not only during combat, but also during exploration. It is worth combining this with cyberware that gives access to a double jump so you can get to hard-to-reach places.

Finisher: Bladerunner

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

This is a finisher reserved for blades. However, you have to develop the perk to the maximum level 3. This will allow you to execute an opponent ho has little health left and recover 25% of your hp. Additional passive bonuses reduce stamina consumption and improve attack speed when using blades. Related smaller perks can, among other things, increase the range of the finisher by 100% or temporarily increase V's speed after performing it.

Technical Ability tree

Health Freak

Required attribute points: 9

Perk levels: 2

The biggest advantage of this perk comes when you advance it to the second level. You can then get 1 additional use of a health item, which is very useful when playing on higher difficulty levels or when you are fighting bosses. Having this perk can additionally speed up the renewal of health items. Related smaller perks can, among other things, increase the grenade limit by 1 or immediately restore a health item if V is low on health.

License to Chrome

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

This perk offers a number of useful bonuses - increased cyberware stats, more armor points or a new skeleton cyberware slot. Related smaller perks can, for example, speed up the regeneration of active cyberware, extend their effect or unlock a new cyberware slot for hands.

Ticking Time Bomb

Required attribute points: 20

This powerful perk located at the very top of the tree allows you to send out a an EMP after activating the corresponding cyberware or the Overclock mode. Enemies hit by the EMP receive damage and are stunned. You can get the best results by approaching enemies before performing an action that will send out an EMP.

Edgerunner

Required attribute points: 20

The perk has two main features. The first is to allow it to exceed the cyberware capacity, but the negative effect is reduced number of health points. The second feature causes V to be able to enter a state of fury, in which they deal more damage (regular and critical). By default, this state lasts 12 seconds, but can be extended by neutralizing enemies. It is a very useful perk if you want to have your character deal more damage.

Gearhead

Required attribute points: 4

Perk levels: 1

This perk is for vehicles that have mounted weapons - it's worth spending 1 development point if you often choose such vehicles. All vehicles can have 1/3 more energy, and weapons installed on them can target faster and deal 1/4 more damage.

Bolt

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

Selecting this perk makes sense if you are using Tech weapons. Lower levels give bonuses to the weapons' charging speed and damage. At the third level you get the titular projectiles, which are treated as charged - they can deal more damage and have a lower penalty to cover penetration.

Related smaller perks can, among other things, increase the window for properly firing Bolt or cause the projectiles to ignore the enemies' armor. Also interesting might be the Chain Lightning perk (requires 20 Technical Ability points), which will allow Bolt projectiles to electrocute enemies.

Cool tree

Focus

Required attribute points: 9

Perk levels: 2

This perk applies to pistols, revolvers, precision rifles and sniper rifles. In addition to higher damage, the titular mode, in which stamina is not consumed while shooting, can be automatically activated. It is only consumed when the mode ends. This is a good choice if you prefer to focus on headshots.

Deadeye

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

A similar perk to the one described above and it applies to the same weapons. The titular mode becomes available when the perk is developed to the maximum level 3 and it activates when your stamina is high. It will allow you to shoot more accurately and inflict more damage with headshots and when shooting at enemies' weak points. Related smaller perks will allow you, for example, to regain stamina after killing an enemy with a ranged attack or speed up weapon reloads.

Ninjutsu

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

A useful perk for stealth, and after developing it to the maximum level 3, the character is even able to sprint while crouching. This is extremely helpful in avoiding detection by opponents and local cameras.

In addition, we recommend choosing the smaller Vanishing Act perk, which automatically activates Optical Camo when you are sprinting or sliding while crouching. It will make it even easier for you to move while sneaking around.

Juggler

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

This is one of the few noteworthy perks for projectile weapons (e.g. throwing knives). Be sure to upgrade it to the highest level 3 - you will then unlock the option to instantly resupply throwing weapons if an attack with such weapons hit the head, inflicted critical damage or applied poison. This will allow you to use throwing weapons much more often.

Intelligence tree

Eye in the Sky

Required attribute points: 4

Perk levels: 1

This is one of the basic perks for a stealth netrunner. The passive action of this perk is to automatically highlight nearby cameras and access points. In addition, there are bonuses for selected hacks after taking control of a camera - they use less RAM and last 50% longer.

Quickhack Queue

Required attribute points: 9

Perk levels: 2

In addition to increasing the maximum RAM, the perk unlocks the titular queue, which allows you to activate 2 hacks on a single enemy. They are activated in the order of their selection, and this comes in handy in a number of ways - you can plan several offensive hack against a stronger enemy, or focus on combat or other activities while they are uploaded. Related smaller perks allow you, among other things, to better defend against enemy netrunners or recover a large portion of RAM from hacks in queue after killing an enemy.

It is also worth considering another perk from this branch - Queue Acceleration. One of its features is the option to increase the limit of hacks in the queue to 3. In addition, later hacks in the queue are supposed to be sent much faster and you can get more RAM.

Optimization

Required attribute points: 4

Perk levels: 1

This is a basic perk from the middle branch of the Intelligence tree. It is also helpful on its own, as it can speed up RAM renewal. It's also worth buying at least some of the related smaller perks, which can, for example, further speed up RAM recharging while close to enemies or slow down V's detection by enemy netrunners.

Overclock

Required attribute points: 15

Perk levels: 3

At lower levels, this perk accelerates RAM restoration and damage dealt with offensive hacks. The third level unlocks the titular mode, which must be activated manually. It allows you to activate hacks even if you don't have enough RAM, with the missing memory then being "taken" from your health bar. This can be partially mitigated, for example, by the related smaller perk Sublimation, which allows the owned RAM regeneration effects to renew missing health points in parallel.

Blood Daemon

Required attribute points: 15

This is a smaller perk related to the Overlock mode described above. Its activation allows you to regain health points thanks to hacks in the queue. This takes place at the exact moment an enemy is neutralized, and can be a great alternative way to restore lost health.

Carhacker

Required attribute points: 4

Perk levels: 1

This is a minor perk available from the beginning of the game that allows you to hack vehicles - you can take control of them, activate the alarm to distract enemies, and blow them up. This is very useful, as cars are everywhere.

Acquisition Specialist

Required attribute points: 9

Perk levels: 2

This perk, as well as Target Lock Transfer from further down the same branch, strongly facilitate the use of Smart weapons, i.e. those firing homing projectiles. You can, e.g. increase the tracking area and make so that selected other activities (e.g. reloading weapons) will not interrupt the process.

Cyberpunk 2077

December 10, 2020

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