Cyberpunk 2077 Best Attributes - What To Invest In?

Updated:

25 May 2023

1. Technical Ability

Johnny Silverhand is seen here walking away from the camera dramatically.

“Technical Ability represents your technical know-how. It allows you to unlock doors and use Tech weapons. Each increase in level will increase your Armor by 1%.”

The Technical Ability attribute is a unique, but crucial, attribute to level up early on in Cyberpunk 2077. It allows access to otherwise locked areas, and even additional ways through quests when your level is high enough. In my first playthrough of Cyberpunk, I definitely did not see this as an important attribute to focus on, and had trouble completing some quests in the game because my Technical Ability was not high enough to progress. That led to lots of grinding to level up, just so I could move on to the next part of whatever mission I was working on.

Get this attribute if:

You’d like access to locked areas in early game
You’d like to access additional (and sometimes easier) ways through quests in early game
You want to increase V’s Armor
You like to use Tech weapons

2. Body

V has the option here to blow Royce's head off - will she do it?

“Body determines your raw physical power. In addition to allowing you to force open doors, each level of Body (starting from level 3) will:

Add 5 Health Points
Add 3 Stamina Points
Increase damage with fists and Gorilla Arms by 3
Increase damage with melee weapons by 1.5%
Decrease movement penalty by 6% while grappling an enemy or wielding an HMG or Defender
Increase possible movement duration while grappling an enemy”

The Body attribute is essential in a game like Cyberpunk 2077, where fighting with enemies is nearly impossible to avoid. It’s important to level up your Body early on to increase your health and stamina, so that your character can withstand more damage as you take on progressively more difficult enemies. It also increases your Stamina, which is especially important for using melee weapons, fistfighting, and sprinting.

Get this attribute if:

You want some extra cushion in your health bar
You enjoy using melee weapons
You like to steal cars from NPCs
You’d like V to sprint for an extended period of time
You’d like to complete the “Beat on the Brat” side quest
You plan to purchase Gorilla Arms for V

3. Cool

The Cool attribute allows V to sneak around and be stealthy with less chance of being caught, even by a shopping cart.

“Cool determines your resilience, composure, and effectiveness in operating from stealth. Each level of Cool will:

Increase Crit Damage by 2%
Increase all Resistances by 1%
Increase stealth damage by 10%
Reduce the speed at which enemies detect you in stealth by 0.5%
Increase enemy grapple duration by 1 sec”

Cool is extremely useful for using stealth in Cyberpunk. The higher your cool, the more time you have before enemies notice you. It also increases any damage you do while in stealth. The Cool attribute gives you more time to scope out a situation before deciding the best course of action for taking out (or sneaking past) enemies, which can be especially helpful in a room full of multiple enemies and security cameras.

Get this attribute if:

You prefer to use stealth than go in with all guns blazing when attacking enemies
You prefer to sneak past enemies than engage with them
You like to avoid killing enemies/NPCs whenever possible
You’d like to have more time before enemies take notice of you
You’d like a higher chance for critical hits when dealing damage to targets from stealth

4. Intelligence

Netrunning

“Intelligence determines your netrunning proficiency. Every level of intelligence will:

Increase cyberdeck RAM capacity by 4%
Increase quickhack damage by 10%
Increase quickhack duration by 1%”

Intelligence is a key attribute for anyone who plays Cyberpunk, but especially those who want to do a Netrunner playthrough. The higher your intelligence, the more RAM space available and more damage dealt to targets. This becomes especially important later in the game, when you’ll have access to better quickhacks that have the ability to incapacitate enemies in one move. The better the quickhack, the more RAM it usually takes to use.

Get this attribute if:

You like to attack enemies from afar
You like to attack enemies from stealth
You prefer to use quickhacking instead of melee weapons or guns
You want to take out security systems so you won’t be detected by enemies via security cameras
You want increased RAM capacity

5. Reflexes

The Reflexes attribute can help V to be speedy enough to get out of the way of enemy shots.

“Reflexes determine your maneuverability. In addition to increasing your overall movement speed, each level in Reflexes will:

Increase Crit Chance by 0.25%
Increase damage from Mantis Blades and Monowire by 3
Increase Mitigation Chance by 0.75%
By default, Mitigation grants a chance to reduce any damage taken by 50%.”

The Reflexes attribute increases your overall movement speed. Although there are plenty of ways to move around the large world of Night City that aren’t on foot, moving quicker is still a great skill to have, particularly when dealing with enemies of any kind. Whether you’re running away from them or trying to attack them, you can’t go wrong if V has more speed than they do. The Reflexes attribute also helps heighten your chance for critical hits while dealing damage to targets, as well as increasing the chance for V to reduce incoming damage to him/herself.

Get this attribute if: