Cyberpunk 2077 is finally out, and it has already become apparent that navigating Night City may be a more daunting task than many players were expecting. Maybe you missed an important tutorial because the guy you were talking to started aggressively T-posing, or perhaps there just… wasn’t a tutorial, because this is Night City, and you are basically on your own. With an RPG as robust as Cyberpunk, there’s a lot of mechanics to wrap your head around right at the start, different systems to manage and keep track of, and you can get just as lost in the back alleys of Night City as you can in the game’s never ending menus and inventories. The information overload is Braindance-levels of real
During my first hours in Night City, I spent so much time trying to steal cars I couldn’t keep, searched in vain for access points, and wondered who the hell kept lighting me on fire. I think it’s safe to say we’ve all run into plenty of problems long before Keanu Reeves shows his dreamy face, and I know you’ve all seen your fair share of frustrations based on our behind-the-scenes Cyberpunk 2077 Strategy Guide traffic data. While I can’t help you if you run into terrifying bugs like your character going bald if you look in a mirror (don’t worry, you’re still breathtaking), now that I’ve made my way deeper into the game, I can try and help you make sense of Cyberpunk 2077’s complex world with a handful of in-depth guides that may hold the answers you seek. And yes, we’re keeping it spoiler-free!
“I want to get online – I NEED! A COMPUTER!” – Keanu Reeves
As you might expect, almost everything in Cyberpunk 2077 can be hacked, but there’s a lot of weird terminology and methods for different kinds of hacking. Breach Protocols? Netrunning? Access Points? Let’s put it in simple terms: In Cyberpunk, you can hack a local wi-fi router and upload some janky viruses to everything and everyone nearby. Then you can set about disrupting electronics or giving someone’s eyes a 404 error. But don’t forget to look for places to plug your extendable USB stick in and download free prizes! But seriously, these hacking tips and explainers are worth your time:
Like any RPG, Cyberpunk is all about growing your character from a nobody into a legend of Night City, but you’ll find there are more ways to level up your character than you might think. Taking on certain tasks may raise your character level and give you attribute points to spend, but undertaking gigs and fighting crime can up your street cred to unlock new merchandise and opportunities. On top of that, simply performing actions like hacking, punching, or even just jumping around can raise individual skill levels like an Elder Scrolls game, so you might as well parkour at every opportunity, and take a look at these explainers to help level your character:
No, I don’t actually own this bike, but the previous owner is in too many pieces to care right now.
No offense to Jackie, but the car you start the game with stinks. I then spent the next several hours beating up Tyger Claws to steal their motorbikes, only to find out I couldn’t keep them even if their owners met an untimely death. Turns out, there’s a little more work involved if you want to start acquiring vehicles that will stay with you and can be summoned like a cyberpunk Roach. If you’re looking to buy, fix, or fast travel – check these out:
With enough hard work, beating up thugs, and hacking literally every access point you can find, you too can look this successful!
Look, those fancy mantis blade cybernetics aren’t going to pay for themselves. My Corpo character may have started the game with over a hundred thousand eurodollars, but it turns out the prologue is a pretty great equalizer for ensuring you’re broke. Fortunately, Night City seems to have a pretty laid back “finders keepers” rule allowing you to loot every dildo and legendary pair of jeans you come across. If you’re looking for a quicker path to making big bucks, maybe these guides can help you get rich or die trying (and then reloading a previous save):
Hopefully some of your most burning questions were answered, but if it hasn’t become obvious, there is a lot to Cyberpunk than you may realize at first glance (who knew the simple act of putting away your weapon would be hard to figure out). We’re hard at work making sure every last how-to guide is available to help you in your time of need, and these other sections may help you get where you need in Night City:
These guides were written by Miranda Sanchez, Brendan Graeber, Janet Garcia, Angie Harvey, and Felicia Miranda. We’re still hard at work building the perfect Cyberpunk 2077 Guide, and are adding new walkthroughs, side jobs and gigs, weapon locations, characters you can romance, and plenty of Easter eggs too! If you’re stuck anywhere else in Cyberpunk 2077, we want to know! Leave a comment below or, from the guide, hit the “Was this page helpful?” button to contact us.
Alongside a celebration of 2020’s best video games, The Game Awards was packed with new trailers and world premieres for upcoming titles.
If you didn’t sit through the entire three-hour long show but still want to catch the big announcements from the event, we’ve got you covered with this round-up of the 12 biggest trailers from The Game Awards 2020. The compilation features the surprise reveal of Perfect Dark, the first game from Microsoft’s “AAAA studio.” The Initiative is helmed by talent from Crystal Dynamics, Naughty Dog, Bungie, and more. We also included two teasers from Bioware: one for the next Dragon Age, featuring everyone’s favorite egg, Solas, as well as a glimpse at the next Mass Effect. We also had to include Sepiroth’s introduction video to Smash Bros. Ultimate, featuring that now-iconic image of him and Mario, as well as Ark 2, starring Vin Diesel.
If you want to catch the full Game Awards replay, check it out on youtube.com/GameSpot, and subscribe for all the latest and hottest game trailers.
The 2020 Disney Investor Day live stream was PACKED with news and announcements. Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige revealed the MCU’s plans for the next few years. From trailers and casting announcements, to new movies, TV shows, and specials, Marvel Studios had a LOT to show off. Here are the biggest reveals you need to know!
Watch the video above for the latest updates on Fantastic Four, Thor: Love and Thunder, Captain Marvel 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Black Panther 2, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Secret Invasion, Ironheart, What If…?, and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
The new trailer for Loki on Disney Plus features Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief causing all sorts of, well, mischief across the multiverse. But the big thing that caught our eye is what appears to be the return of Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow. Loki managed to escape death in Avengers: Endgame, so will he help Nat do the same on his wayward adventure? Let’s break down the trailer to find out.
Check out our trailer breakdown by watching the video in the player above or by flipping through the slideshow gallery below:
Christian Bale is confirmed to be playing Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder.
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Joshua is a Senior Editor and Producer of Features at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Star Wars are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
Cyberpunk 2077 gives you a lot of options in terms of how you can approach its world through gameplay. While you’ll have to make your way through plenty of hostile territories throughout the course of the game, there are many choices for how you do so, whether you’re fighting enemies, hacking their systems, or sneaking by. Those options are determined by the stats you assign to V, your protagonist, and these decisions will shape your path through Night City.
Especially if you’re new to the game, you might be at a loss as to where to spend your points and which perks you want to snag. Cyberpunk 2077 has no traditional RPG “classes,” or character archetypes–you’re able to freely mix and match abilities based on how you play and what you want to do. But if that gives you a bit of choice paralysis, we’ve broken down the character-building process to show you how it all works and help guide your decisions so you can get the most out of trying to build yourself into a living legend.
As in most RPGs, where your skills lie in Cyberpunk 2077 depends on points you assign to specific attributes. Some of those attributes make you a better melee brawler; others define how you handle firearms or your capabilities as a hacker. Your attribute stats also factor into how you deal with people at specific moments–if you know a lot about engineering, for instance, you might get insight into a conversation about machinery that a hacking-focused V might not. And of course, if your stats are high enough in certain areas, you’ll open up different ways of progressing through levels, like gaining the ability to force open certain doors or talk your way out of bad situations.
You often won’t know what gains your abilities will offer you in specific story moments until you get there, so it can be useful to bank a few attribute points you earn from leveling up to dump into a skill during a key conversation or at a pivotal point in a level. But for the most part, investing your ability points will be how you grow your V into a powerful, capable mercenary. Here’s what you need to know about Attributes and what they do. Each Attribute also has various categories of perks, organized in skill trees, and some of those perks are gated until you have invested enough points into the associated Attribute.
Body
This determines your overall strength. Points in Body increase your melee damage, your overall health pool, your stamina, and your carrying capacity. It also affects movement speed when carrying enemies and bodies or using certain guns, including heavy machine guns.
You’ll find perks in the Body that align with fist-fighting, athletics, and storming the enemy’s gates, focusing on using big weapons like shotguns and machine guns.
Adds Health points
Adds Stamina points
Adds melee damage
Determines how well you can intimidate people
Determines whether you can force open some doors
Skill trees: Athletics, Annihilation, Street Brawler
Reflexes
The Reflexes stat generally determines your capability with firearms, your movement speed, and your evasion capabilities. How well you handle swords is also determined by your Reflexes.
Perks for Reflexes are mostly about speed and effectiveness with guns, especially handguns. You’ll also find a whole skill tree of sword perks, and perks that give you benefits for aiming and reloading, as well as bonuses when you kill enemies at range.
Increases Evasion chance
Increases Critical Hit chance
Increases Mantis Blades damage
Skill trees: Handguns, Blades, Assault
Technical Ability
This is essentially your knowledge of machines. It mostly dictates your ability with Tech guns and determines your ability to craft weapons and clothing (both of which you can sell if you’re hard-up for cash), while increasing your armor protection. Technical ability perks also make your grenades more effective and protect you from explosions.
Increases armor
Determines Tech gun ability
Allows for crafting rarer gear
Allows for opening certain doors
Skill trees: Crafting, Engineering
Intelligence
All your hacking capabilities are based on the Intelligence stat, and your points here will determine whether you can even attempt to hack certain computer systems. It also controls the capabilities of your Cyberdeck and the effectiveness of your quickhacks.
Increases Quickhack RAM
Increases Quickhack duration
Increases Quickhack damage
Determines whether computers are hackable
Skill trees: Breaching Protocol, Quickhacking
Cool
This stat is all about your stealth abilities and composure under pressure. Cool determines how much damage you do in stealth and with critical hits, affects your Monowire damage, unlocks some dialogue options when you’re threatened, and determines how quickly you’re detected by enemies. Cool also comes with a skill tree that gives you bonuses for being a cold-blooded killer.
Increases Critical Damage
Increases all Resistances
Increases Stealth damage
Reduces enemy detection speed during Stealth
Allows you to see through characters’ attempts to intimidate you
Increases Monowire damage
Skill trees: Stealth, Cold Blood
Skill Progression
In addition to Attributes and Perks, you get one other kind of character progression in Cyberpunk 2077, called Skill Progression. This is a set of points that don’t come from leveling up, but are rather earned by doing specific things in the game. For instance, fighting enemies with handguns will earn you Skill Progression points for the handgun skill tree, unlocking a series of passive bonuses. You’ll find the list of Skill Progression points for each skill tree in the bottom-left corner of each tree’s screen.
Skill Progression is a way you can advance V according to your playstyle just by playing the game. Hacking, running and jumping, crafting gear, slicing through enemies with blades, favoring heavy weapons–all of it gives you points for the applicable Skill Progression bar. Because this all happens as you play, you don’t need to play close attention to Skill Progression, but it’s worth taking a look at the perks you can unlock for each one. Knowing what bonuses you’re getting for how you play can be a useful thing to keep in mind, and knowing what you could earn might incentivize you to play with weapons or abilities you’ve been neglecting if you want to change your approach to the game.
Starting Character Builds
One of the best things about Cyberpunk 2077 is how adaptive your character can be–you’re not restricted to “classes” that make you good at one or two things at the expense of others. Instead, you can drop points into any specialization at just about any time, customizing your V to exactly how you want to play. While you’ll get some big bonuses for specializing, it’s by no means essential to enjoying the game, and dabbling in a little bit of everything is an effective way to work your way through Night City.
That said, if you want to create a character who’s good for a particular playstyle, we’ve got your back. Below, you’ll find some general suggestions for a few class-like character builds, and we’ll highlight some specific perks along the way. Since you have so much flexibility, however, you can freely mix and match parts of our suggestions to create a V all your own.
Solo
In the tabletop RPG, Solo describes a mercenary who can handle anything from protection to assassination–essentially, your one-person-army type. They’re characters who favor combat and resilience over technological capabilities, although stealth can be a component of the Solo approach, since it’s easier to kill a target when they don’t know you’re coming.
We’re prioritizing a guns-blazing approach here so you can survive well in combat, but your Solo might favor blades or hand-to-hand and blunt-weapon combat (which is nonlethal) and stealthier approaches, so adjust accordingly. You might also want to invest a bit into Technical Ability, with perks focusing on powering up your grenades and hardening you against explosions.
Key Attributes: Body, Reflexes, Cool
Perks To Start With
Body – Athletics
Regeneration (replenishes Health in combat)
Invincible (increases max health by 10%)
Body – Annihilation
In Your Face (reduces reload time for shotguns and machine guns)
Blood Rush (increases movement speed when carrying shotguns or light machine guns)
Hail of Bullets (shotguns and machine guns deal more damage)
Reflexes – Assault
Covering Killshot (higher critical chance with rifles and SMGs from behind cover)
Bullet Jock (Increased damage from SMGs and Rifles)
Cool – Stealth
Sniper (more damage when sneaking)
Silent and Deadly (increased damage with silent weapons while sneaking)
Cool – Cold Blood
Cold Blood (various benefits for killing enemies, but you’ll need to purchase other perks based on what bonuses you want)
Will to Survive (increased Resistance per stack of Cold Blood).
Netrunner
Netrunners are the traditional hackers of the Cyberpunk world, utilizing Breaching Protocols that can let you weaken the security on all the devices and people in an area, and Quickhacks against specific people and devices to create specific effects. If you want to go the Netrunner path, make sure you upgrade your Cyberdeck early at a ripper doc, as you’ll need the additional RAM and Quickhack slots to be effective. You should also try to drop by Netrunner stores to buy additional, more effective Quickhacks whenever possible.
If you’re relying more on hacking than gunplay, you’ll want to prioritize stealth as a Netrunner. That said, make sure you are at least proficient with a few weapons, as you’ll undoubtedly need to shoot your way out of situations, even if you also are hacking your way out of them. You might also want to put points into Technical Ability, mostly so you can open doors that allow you to take paths that avoid combat.
Key Attributes: Intelligence, Cool, Reflexes
Perks to Start With
Intelligence – Quickhacking
Biosynergy (increases RAM recharge)
Weal Link — Reduces RAM required for hacks
Bloodware — Increases Quickhack damage
Intelligence – Breach Protocol
Mass Vulnerability (reduces linked enemies’ Physical Resistance)
Big Sleep (Deactivate linked security cameras)
Cool – Stealth
Crouching Tiger (Faster movement while sneaking)
Assassin (increased damage to human enemies)
Assassin
Stealth can be a huge part of Cyberpunk 2077 if you want it to be. While sneaking is a part of just about any build in this game, focusing on it can give you some serious advantages in dealing damage and completing objectives. If you do want to go the full-stealth route, it’s worth investing in some Cyberware that can help, like an enhanced Cyberdeck for hacking security cameras and enemies’ optics, and tendon enhancements for your legs that will allow you to double-jump, and thus reach paths that will allow you to slip past enemies or get the drop on them. You’ll also want to equip suppressors on your weapons, and to prioritize the perks for the types of weapons you can silence.
Key Attributes: Cool, Reflexes
Perks To Start With
Cool – Stealth
Sniper (more damage when sneaking)
Silent and Deadly (increased damage with silent weapons while sneaking)
Cool – Cold Blood
Cold Blood (various benefits for killing enemies, but be sure to buy more perks consistent with your playstyle)
Will to Survive (increased Resistance per stack of Cold Blood).
Cool – Stealth
Crouching Tiger (Faster movement while sneaking)
Assassin (increased damage to human enemies)
Intelligence – Breach Protocol
Big Sleep (Deactivate linked security cameras)
Mix And Match
These builds are a good place to start, but you can greatly refine your character and playstyle by going after additional perks in any given menu. Here’s a rundown of what each set of perks emphasizes, allowing you to focus on particular approaches–like prioritizing using swords, going fully John Wick with pistols, or punching your way out of every situation.
Body
Athletics: Affects most things linked to Stamina, while also giving you the ability to run, jump, vault, slide, and dodge while fighting.
Annihilation: Perks designed to make it easier for you to go into a straight fight with heavy weapons and to absorb more damage.
Street Brawler: Increased damage and effectiveness fighting barehanded or with blunt weapons.
Reflexes
Assault: Perks for rifles and submachine guns and for fighting while taking cover.
Handguns: Pistol and revolver perks mostly focused on fast fighting and critical hits.
Blades: Sword-focused and Mantis Blade perks that make blades faster and deadlier with a focus on the Bleeding effect, while giving boosts to close-range defensive moves.
Technical Ability
Crafting: Perks that unlock the ability to craft a variety of weapons, clothes, and Quickhacks. They also provide benefits that make crafted items deadlier or more valuable for sale.
Engineering: Perks that improve the usefulness and lethality of tech weapons, offer increased protection against grenades, and make you more effective against robotic enemies.
Intelligence
Breach Protocol: Hacking systems becomes easier and more effective with these perks, allowing you to affect multiple devices at once with daemons and steal more when hacking.
Quickhacking: Improvements to the effectiveness of Quickhacks and which allow you to use them more often. Perks also offer the ability to craft your own Quickhacks.
Cool
Stealth: Perks focused on making you quicker and more effective while in stealth, while increasing the damage you do and offering silent kill abilities.
Cold Blood: Killing enemies in quick succession gives you the Cold Blood status with these perks, which give a number of benefits in the midst of combat to help you keep racking up kills.
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Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN’s weekly video game podcast. This week your Omega Cops — Daemon Hatfield, Justin Davis, Mark Medina, and maybe a special guest — are discussing the WORST games of the year. Oh yeah, there’s also this game called Cyberpunk to talk about.
Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.
Developer CD Projekt Red has dropped a new update for Cyberpunk 2077 on PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 that addresses its copious bugs and issues. Update 1.04, which hits Xbox consoles “as soon as possible,” also fixes the quest system. The full patch notes are outlined below.
Other fixes for Cyberpunk 2077 include reducing vehicle appearance pop-in, addressing issues with missing NPC animations during cinematics, fixing the weapon preview while crafting, and removing copyrighted music through the “Disable Copyrighted Music” toggle. The latter feature was not working as intended after launch, prompting CD Projekt Red to recommend that streamers disable Cyberpunk 2077’s music entirely to avoid risking DMCA strikes.
Another major concern involved flashes that potentially could trigger seizures in those with epilepsy. According to the patch notes, CD Projekt Red has “[m]odified the flashing effect on braindances to reduce the risk of inducing epileptic symptoms. The effect has been smoothed out and the flashes reduced in frequency and magnitude.”
Quests in Cyberpunk 2077 are also being tweaked, with a handful of them–such as the A Like Supreme quest and Freedom of the Press Gig–being optimized to ensure players can either complete or re-track them. There are other fixes being implemented as well, including Jackie no longer standing still in The Ripperdoc, conversations with Johnny Silverhand initiating like they’re meant to, and progress being unblocked when taking on the I Fought The Law quest.
Cyberpunk 2077 Update 1.04 Patch Notes
Quests
Fixed an issue with completing the final objective in Gig: Freedom of the Press.
Fixed an issue with starting a conversation with Johnny at the end in Life During Wartime.
Corrected a rare issue with NPCs no longer calling V if A Like Supreme quest was abandoned mid-way.
Fixed an issue with Nix not going into his default state in Spellbound and KOLD MIRAGE.
Fixed issues blocking progress in I Fought The Law if the quest area is left.
Fixed inability to find Delamain in Epistrophy.
Fixed issues related to remaining in the second phase of the quest after finishing Pacifica fight with Ozob if played after Finals.
Fixed an issue with Nomads no longer present if V leaves the quest area mid-combat in With a Little Help from My Friends/Queen of the Highway.
Adjusted mappings and re-enabled quest tracker in Map Tann Pèlen/I Walk the Line/Transmission.
Fixed constraints on freedom to get up and sit down if neither blueline condition is met in Violence.
Fixed issues with time and space resulting from leaving the quest area or abandoning the quest in Following the River.
Fixed an issue with a conversation with Johnny not starting after leaving the hotel in Tapeworm.
Fixed an issue with quest being blocked upon leaving the quest area before climbing the hill in Following the River.
Fixed the objective “Go into booth 9” not completing if the room’s entered too fast in Automatic Love.
Fixed Jackie’s issues with sitting still in The Ripperdoc.
Other quest fixes
Gameplay
Fixed the preview in weapon crafting.
Visual
Reduced vehicle appearance pop-in.
Speeded up switching from first-person perspective to third-person perspective in a vehicle.
Fixed issues with animations missing from important quest NPCs during cinematics.
Performance & Stability
Improved stability, including various crash fixes.
Miscellaneous
Modified the flashing effect on braindances to reduce the risk of inducing epileptic symptoms. The effect has been smoothed out and the flashes reduced in frequency and magnitude.
Removed copyrighted songs incorrectly present in the game with the “Disable Copyrighted Music” feature toggled on.
PC-specific
Switching language to default in the in-game settings now correctly sets it to the language of your Steam client.
Console-specific
Improved reflections quality on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to eliminate the smudge effect.
Fixed “The Wasteland” achievement being stuck on 97% after completing all relevant missions in The Badlands on Xbox.
Fixed an issue with missing PT-BR VO for Xbox players in the Americas.
