The 25 Best Cyberpunk 2077 Tips and Strategies Guide For Beginners
So you’ve finally decided to give the notorious Cyberpunk 2077 a try. Has it been sitting in your drawer, eating for too long? Perhaps the game has been eating up your precious memory space and instead of deleting it altogether, you’ve decided to give it a try after all. Or you’re one of those Cyberpunk enthusiasts planning to grind the game because Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was just too good. No matter, you’re finally here and Night City plans to chew you up and throw you back out like it does everyone.
Worried? Don’t be. We’re here to help you take on the city of dreams and achieve that legendary status that so many died for. So suit up, grab your iron, and load up your cyberware because, in this guide, we’re going to list the 25 best Cyberpunk 2077 Tips and Strategies that will help you enjoy the game to the fullest.
Choose Your Lifepath Wisely;
"All lifepaths offered in Cyberpunk 2077"
To begin, Cyberpunk 2077 gives you the option to choose a lifepath. You can pick Nomad, StreetKid, or a Corpo start. In the early development phase, the game was supposed to have so much detail for every lifepath, but the final version had only the initial moments changed as a story. Other than that, every lifepath has its own share of dialogues and sidequests later on in the game.
Dialogues play a major role in this game and since every lifepath has its own share of dialogues and eventually conversations – it is important to choose your lifepath. If you don’t want to get spoiled, go check out details on every lifepath on the internet but otherwise, here’s a short brief on every lifepath.
Nomad starts you off as a nomad ready to enter Night City.
Street Kid starts you off as a person born and bred in the roots of the Night City.
Corpo starts you off as a Corpo suit, who knows the ins and outs of the Corpo world.
Choose whatever you feel like, but if you want our suggestion, go with the Corpo lifepath.
Take Your Time In Character Customization;
"So much customization only to play the game in first person.."
Originally, Cyberpunk was meant to be third person. The final version gave a first-person perspective which disappointed a major chunk of the community. Third person perspective is gone, but character customization remains and we highly recommend you take all the time you need to prepare your character. V, your character, can be anybody you want. They can be a copy of you, they can be the best version of yourself, and they can even be your favorite celebrity!
You will be leading your V into the Night City and gradually taking over the city. It’s really important for you to get into your character and grow a sort of attachment with them. This will give you a unique feeling throughout the game and you will definitely enjoy making a mark in Night City.
It’s also really fun customizing your character.
Dialogues Define The Game
"Bonus points if you can guess the character."
If you’ve played Witcher 3, you know how the Cyberpunk dialogue system works out. If not, well, keep in mind that Cyberpunk consists of tons of dialogue options from the get-go. NPCs will be talking to you and you will have to answer them. What follows after that answer differs in several scenarios. Sometimes your dialogue can anger the NPC and they will fight you. Other times, your dialogue can defuse the situation and an angered NPC will turn calm. Dialogues matter so much that they can even define your ending.
It's completely up to you how you wanna play this game regarding the dialogue options. Keep in mind that blue dialogue options aren’t necessary to the storyline, but they provide valuable information in some cases. The gold dialogue options are what lead the story onwards. We suggest listening to all NPC dialogues before you form your own because choosing the blue dialogue is a literal lifesaver in one side quest.
Side Quests Are Very Important;
"World is full of sidequests."
To be honest, the first time I played Cyberpunk – I completely ignored all its sidequests and went straight to the main missions and the ending. But that’s just my playstyle. The point is when I replayed the game and went toward side missions, I realized there’s a whole new world out there and it’s insane!
Cyberpunk has tons of sidequests and the quests are what defines the game. These quests can give you ending options, they can give you valuable allies, and they can even give you a potential romance! Keep the main missions going whenever you’d like, but take your time in doing side quests as well. Want eddies? Go for gigs. Want stories, go to side missions. Want to just chill out and see random encounters, go towards yellow highlighted exclamation mark missions.
Pick A Build;
"How powerful do you think V is?"
Cyberpunk 2077 can be approached in several ways. But to get the most out of the game, we highly recommend picking a build. As soon as you get your perk and attribute points, go into character and pick which tree you’d like to max out. Are you an all-in, aggressive player? Max out the body tree. Do you prefer playing in shadows in complete stealth? Max the Cool Tree. Use attribute points to level up the overall tree and use perk points to learn new skills. You can even go for the intelligence tree and build perhaps the most broken build in the game – the netrunner build.
Check out the information each tree and the perk points inside it provide and decide on which sides you’d like to max out. There’s no law that forbids you from putting points in every single tree, but maxing out one or two can give you a massive edge over the enemies.
Mod Your Weapons;
"Modded weapons are extremely deadly."
Combat is one of the fun parts of the game. The adrenaline rush as soon as the enemies spot you and going all in, butchering every single person on your screen gives a unique feeling and Cyberpunk is the master of it. There are plenty of ways you can approach combat situations. The most common is using your weapon.
While there are tons of weapons in the game, mods are limited and gained mostly through looting, although you can buy them as well. Apply these mods to your weapons to make them even better than before. There’s one specific mod that makes your weapon non-lethal, allowing you to take enemies alive. Others increase your damage, crit chance, etc.
Mod your weapons and become a reaper they fear!
Approach A Combat Situation With Caution;
"What kind of weapons is he holding?"
Speaking of weapons and combat, we mentioned how there are several ways to approach a combat situation. There’s always the all-out, kill-everything-that-moves approach. Then there’s the quiet, stealthy, ninja approach. Cyberpunk even offers a netrunner approach where you can clear a horde of enemies from afar if you’ve mastered it.
While there’s no way around a combat situation in several cases, there’s always an option on how to approach combat. It’s better if you decided before approaching the situation because sometimes, alerting the enemies of your presence can prove fatal. Use Quickhacks and scanner to scout the area and decide how you want to take on the enemies. You can even walk away from the situation without a single scratch.
Follow A Playstyle;
"Did you see her in game?"
Now this tip might seem like a repetition of what you previously read, but bear with me here. Picking a certain playstyle can give you so much fun in this game. Playstyle can be defined by picking weapons, cyberware, and armor. You can play an aggressive playstyle with shotguns, blades, and heavy armor. You can follow a stealthy playstyle ditching heavy weapons and going for lighter armor and cyberware that gives invisibility.
Having a playstyle gives you a unique approach to combat because you already know how you plan to play it out. This saves the preparation part before you engage in combat – all you have to do is mark your enemies.
Cyberware Is Overpowered;
"Mantis blades are so fun!"
Cyberware is one of the crucial parts of Cyberpunk 2077 and the game is incomplete without proper cyberware. You already have cyberware installed at the start of the game, but a better one is later installed before your first major gig.
There’s cyberware available for every part of your body. During the early stages of the game, you will be relatively low on eddies and street credit so you might not have the chance to enjoy it, but later on, when you have a decent street credit and a heap of eddies, make sure to visit your nearest ripperdoc and have some cyberware install. Trust me when I say it, the game will completely change. I still remember the feeling of trying my Mantis Blades for the first time ever and it was spectacular.
Bonus points if you match your cyberware with your playstyle because doing so will allow you to mow down an army of ‘Saka ninjas if it comes to it.
Gigs Make Eddies & More;
"All night city fixers."
There are main missions, there are side quests and then there are gigs. Considering you’re a merc, completing the game without doing gigs is just wrong. But that’s not why you should be doing gigs. You need a LOT of eddies from the beginning to the end of the game and gigs are the best ways to get your hands on them. There are a number of fixers all around Night City, all offering their share of gigs and rewards. Some of them pay relatively higher than others but their missions are twice as hard.
The best part is, once you get the hang of it you will be completing gigs with relative ease. And that’s not all. When you complete all gigs of a fixer, you get a hefty reward from them. I’m not going to spoil any surprises so you’re gonna have to see for yourself.
I personally prefer Dino’s gigs because he pays a lot and that reward is just… mouthwatering.
Eddies Are Really Important;
"It was a crime not giving this woman more screentime."
Speaking of gigs and eddies, have I mentioned how important they are throughout the game? You’re not gonna survive longer in Night City if you don’t have eddies in your pocket. Clothes, consumables, medicines, cars – all require eddies in the pocket. There are even some missions that require you to have eddies in order to proceed with them. There is also a case where you have to pay off your debt to a ripperdoc in order to unlock his services that you won’t be getting anywhere else.
Cyberware – the most important part of the game is purchased through eddies and trust me when I say it, the amount is no joke. Gigs are a prime way of earning eddies but there are other ways to get your hands on some currency. There are NCPD scanner hustles throughout the map, which require you to eliminate enemies and loot them to earn eddies. Looting is the simplest and an effective way to earn Eurodollars.
If you see a way to get some eddies, do not let it go.
Explore The City;
"Night City is so hauntingly beautiful."
City of dreams, city of gangs. From the outside, Night City looks futuristic, full of technology and tall buildings but on the inside the reality becomes much more complex. The line between justice and injustice just doesn’t exist and a random bullet can kill you any day. Citizens put their lives at risk just by living.
But that doesn’t mean you should be scared. In fact, Night City has produced its own share of legends. You, playing as V, are meant to do just that. There are some bumps and hurdles along the way, but will you give up just because life isn’t fair?
Don’t just focus on missions, go and explore everything the city has to offer. The game offers tons of random interactions, interesting NPC dialogues, easter eggs and so much more. Visit vendors, ammunition shops, and ripperdoc and dialogue with them to learn more. You might even end up in some cyberpsychos lair and end up fighting to the death. Point is, explore the city and everything it has to offer because Night City has a lot in store for you.
Fast Travels Are Good, But Driving is Better;
"Whose ride do you prefer? Jackie or Scorpion?"
A lot of games these days offer a fast travel system making traveling across the world a lot easier. Cyberpunk is one of those games. CDPR originally meant to add a subway system that covered the lost city but a final version of the game excluded that and added its fast travel system.
While the fast system makes the game much easier and saves time, you should travel the city, whether on foot or in a vehicle. This helps you explore the city and unlocks additional fast travel points. Moreover, it’s better to have better practice on the vehicle physics of the game because who knows when they might get handy? Driving is fairly easy in Cyberpunk and you get to explore the city and all the views it offers.
You Get A Lot Of Free Cars;
"Caliburn is just a treat to eyes."
One of the best things about Cyberpunk is that you get a free personal car at the start of the game. Now, the game has a lot of cool-looking vehicles in store, and fixers don’t make life easier by offering to sell them. This is exactly why this is an important guide. Don’t waste your eddies buying vehicles because the game offers a lot of them for free!
If your choices are right, you might get a cool bike at one of the initial points of the game. Later on, explore side missions and one of them might even land you on the fastest, coolest cars in the game! Explore, explore, and explore and avoid spending money on things you get for free.
Although if you have the cash to burn, just ignore this tip.
Street Credit Is Just As Important;
"V with that serial killer stare."
The game consists of two-level systems. One common level up and a bar of street credit. Level-up, like all other games, is a basic level-up factor but the street credit bar is just as important. Street credit is a form of recognition on the street and has a separate bar that fills up the higher your street credit is.
The most important reason for leveling up street credit is access to better cyberware. Better cyberware offers a more advanced and easier approach to the game which in turn makes the game even more fun to play. Level up street credit by completing gigs and missions and make yourself a known entity in the underground world of Night City.
Listen To Johnny;
"Wake the f-- up, Samurai."
The man, the myth, the legend – Johnny Silverhand spends the remainder of the game with you after a specific mission. A terrorist subjected to brutal torture at the hands of Arasaka, Johnny is hostile towards V at the beginning but eventually both V and Johnny form a bond and tolerate each other pretty well.
Throughout the game, Johnny accompanies you in all missions and gigs and offers advice and his thoughts on several occasions. Make sure to listen to his input and treat him the way you think he should be treated. You can always choose to ignore his opinions or insights but in most cases, it is better to hear him out. Don’t just blindly follow him, do what you think is right. Some say if you form a really strong bond with Silverhand, you might get a chance to unlock that secret ending and become a Night City legend overnight.
Crafting Is Extremely Useful;
"Get into crafting and the game becomes so much better."
Crafting in Cyberpunk is so focused that it has its own tree for leveling up your crafting ability. If utilized properly, you can craft extremely deadly weapons that single handedly demolish an enemy camp. You can craft weapons, ammo, health items and so much more.
Throughout Night City, tons of crafting materials are found through looting and weapon shops. If you get an eye on any crafting material, keep it with you and loot materials to craft the weapon of your choice. Crafting also allows you to craft weapons that are not available anywhere else in the game, or even if they are – you’re gonna spend a lot of time finding them. The best part, of course – is crafting saves your valuable eddies that can be spent elsewhere.
Upgrade Your Stuff;
"Everyone loves Skippy."
Speaking of crafting, there’s a bar next to crafting called Upgrade. As the name suggests, Upgrade can level up your weapons and give them better stats. It comes in especially handy when you have that sweet, good-looking weapon you just don’t wanna swap for a better one. There’s a cap till which you can upgrade your specific weapon so don’t think you can turn a pistol into a missile.
Upgrading weapons requires item components. These components can be looted all over Night City or can be bought at weapon shops. If you end up fighting a robot, kill them and you might even land on some legendary item components. Bots and drones are the best way of farming item components.
Manage Your Inventory;
"Red looks better everywhere."
Cyberpunk gives you a decent inventory space at the beginning of the game which can be constantly upgraded as the game passes on by cyberware or by using perk points. As the game progresses, your inventory fills up quite rapidly because of all that sweet loot you just don’t feel like leaving behind.
Be sure to manage your inventory whenever you get a free second so you don’t find yourself overloaded. You can always dismantle your items to get components so be sure to utilize that future and free up the inventory space when needed. Keep your inventory as organized as you can so that whenever the need arises, you know exactly where you have your stuff.
Use Cover Wisely;
"Samurai jacket looks so cool."
While the combat in Cyberpunk is really, really well done – it is relatively difficult in several cases especially when you’re playing on a difficulty level higher than easy. It is a death wish to engage enemies head-on without cover because they can just kill you in no time. The cover comes in especially handy in those situations.
Leaning from the cover is automated so whenever you aim, your body will lean out to give you a shot. Be sure to use cover wisely to avoid taking instant damage and tip the scales of the fight to your advantage. You might even see NPCs using cover to fight you showing just how important it really is.
Ricochet Shots To Gain Advantage;
"Such a cool mechanic."
Ricocheting shots in Cyberpunk 2077 can be a useful tactic to gain an advantage over your enemies, particularly in close-quarters combat. To do this, you need to use weapons with the "Ricochet" mod. These weapons can be found all over the world. These weapons fire bullets that bounce off walls and other surfaces, allowing you to hit enemies that may be hiding behind cover or around corners making their cover useless.
To effectively use ricochet shots, you need to position yourself in a way that allows you to take advantage of the environment. Look for surfaces that are likely to bounce your shots toward your target, such as walls or floors that are made of metal or concrete. You can also use your cyberware to scan the environment and highlight ricochet targets.
Loot, Loot, and Loot;
"Dum dum was a cool character."
Looting is an essential part of the Cyberpunk universe and if you’re not utilizing it properly, what are you even doing? One of the main advantages of looting is access to valuable items that cannot be found anywhere else in the game. This includes weapons, armor, and cyberware that can enhance the player's abilities and improve their chances of survival in combat. Moreover, looting can provide players with unique and powerful items that cannot be obtained through purchase or other means.
Another advantage of looting is resource gathering, which allows players to gather resources such as crafting components and consumables. In short, looting will enhance your experience so keep an eye on its limit and fill your bag pack.
Quickhacks Give A Mighty Edge;
"Which quickhack is your favirote?"
There are a lot of Quickhacks present throughout Cyberpunk. They can be applied to your equipment and used to gain a mighty hand on the enemy. Some Quickhacks ping all enemy locations, and others cripple your enemy’s movement, rooting them in place.
There’s even a particular quichack that forces the enemy to take their own life. The point is, quichacks can give you an advantage over your enemies wherever needed. Be sure to apply them to your equipment before you go on a rampage.
Scan For Advantage;
"No one likes the scavs."
Your scanner is one of the most important items in your inventory. Utilize it properly and it somehow becomes a weapon of mass destruction that doesn’t even need to see enemies to kill them. There are a lot of ways to use the scanner to your advantage like using it to tag enemies and track them through walls to attack them whenever required.
The scanner also allows you to see the advantages and disadvantages of an enemy. Another use of scanner is to track down NPCs and reveal their personal data that can be used against some. The scanner can also identify your enemies. Be sure to thank Viktor for one of the best upgrades in the game.
Enjoy The Game;
"City of dreams."
Honestly, the best tip I can give you at the end of this video is – to enjoy the game. Cyberpunk was an absolute failure upon its release, let’s be honest. But the game has grown to be one of the best open-world games you can find out there. Worldbuilding, story, mechanics, physics, combat – everything about this game is top notch and the overall vibe can just submerge you into the depths of Night City.
Games are meant to be fun – keep that in mind soon as you set foot in Night City and conquer it. Play the game to its extent and enjoy the storyline it offers. If you’d like to explore more about its lore, be sure to check out YouTube because a bunch of channels cover the Cyberpunk lore and it’s insane!
That’s it for this guide. Keep these in mind the next time you wake up in Night City. Good luck on your next playthrough and become the Night City legend you were meant to be! Now go out there and show Night City what you’re made of.
