How to build a Cyberpunk 2077 character that's powerful and stylish

Start your exploration of Night City right with the best character for you.

Cyberpunk 2077 puts you in control of V, but players have an immense amount of control over who V actually is and how they'll play. Considering the dizzying array of options you'll be presented with at character creation and beyond, we've broken some of the big decisions down so you can find a build that fits your style.

Cyberpunk 2077 character creation Core stats

You'll begin by assigning points to five core stats:

• Body represents raw physical power and increases your health, melee damage, and max stamina pool while reducing bullet spread.
• Cool represents self-control and willpower and increases your stealth, speed at which NPCs notice you, critical hit damage, and resistance to effects.
• Intelligence represents intellect and memory and shortens the daemon upload duration and memory pool while reducing the difficulty of hacking.
• Reflexes represents coordination and speed and increases your critical chance, attack speed, and evasion.
• Technical Ability represents your technical aptitude and increases your armor and chance of harvesting craftable loot.

These stats set the limits on increasing linked skills. For instance, if you fire a handgun you can level up your Handgun skill but it can't exceed its governing attribute, which in this case is Reflexes. Every time you level up a skill, you'll gain either a passive boost for it or a perk point.

Every skill has its own set of perks, which are linked to the same attributes. As you level up a skill's governing attribute, more perks will become available. A perk point can be put in any skill, not just the one you earned it from. Perks can provide passive effects like increasing your damage or give you new powers like the ability to drop unto unsuspecting enemies and take them down nonlethally. There are 225 perks to be unlocked so experimentation is encouraged.

You'll earn experience points as you complete quests. When you level up, you'll receive attribute points and perk points. The passive boosts granted by each stat will increase as you level them up. Completing gigs from Night City's fixers will also reward you with Street Cred, which represents V's reputation. It'll also determine the quality of gear you can buy from merchants and the type of gigs you can get in the future.

Cyberpunk 2077 character creation Sample builds

Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't have a formal class system, so you're free to assign attributes as you see fit and focus on using weapons, skills and perks that fit your playstyle. Here are a few easy options to get started:

A Cyber Ninja should invest in Reflexes and Cool to let them sneak around and silently kill enemies with throwing knives and poison. Picking up the Blades skill will give you an option to fight more directly, ideally with the help of some cyberware focused on close combat. You can also do some hacking to turn off nearby cameras to avoid being suprised.

A Tech Gunslinger would buy up Reflexes and Technical Ability to make the most out of Tech Revolvers, using the advanced weaponry to shoot through walls and other cover. Picking up some quickhacks will make your enemies even more vulnerable by rooting them in place. For gear, pick up some cyberware that reduces the recoil of your weapon and increases your crit chance.

A Brawler will focus on Body and Intelligence to deal the most damage possible while also being able to take a beating. Use hacking to apply damage over time effects to your enemies and then run in and beat them up with cybernetic fists. You can also eschew hacking and just use a Berserk module to rush in and clear everything while you're briefly nearly invincible.

Cyberpunk 2077 character creation Cosmetic options

Along with picking your stats, you'll have a wide variety of ways to visually customize your character. You'll be able to choose your skin color, hairstyle, eyes, mouth, jawline, ears, scars, tattoos, piercings, teeth, eye and lip makeup, blemishes, nipples, body tattoos, and scars. You can also have up to eight pieces of cyberware.

Perhaps the most talked about customization is genitals. Sliders can be used to adjust the size of V's breasts, buttocks, and penis, and there are also different options for penis types, vagina appearance, and public hair.

Regardless of what genitalia you choose, you can decide to have a male or female voice regardless of your genitals, which will determine the gender that NPCs refer to V as. However, the actual genitals will determine which characters will be interested in romancing V.

Cyberpunk 2077 character creation Lifepaths

The first choice you'll make when starting a game of Cyberpunk 2077 is V's lifepath, or backstory. Each gives you a different glimpse of the setting's dark future and has its own characters, quests, and locations. Your choice will also impact your choice of dialogue options.

The Corporate life path makes V an agent of the megacorporation Arasaka equipped with the best cyberware money can buy. V's experience dealing with corporations will make V less likely to be caught by them and give V the ability to turn the tables in some interactions with corporate agents.

The Nomad life path makes V a loner from The Badlands, the area on the outskirts of Night City, where V provides security for cargo traveling in and out of the metropolis. That experience can be used to bargain with corporate agents who don't usually operate outside of Night City and in jobs that require secure travel.

The Street Kid life path makes V an ambitious urbanite with plenty of street cred and connections. It will improve V's relationship with gang members and give V access to information that would normally require combat.

Customize yourself

What sort of build are you most excited about for V? Let us know in the comments section and keep checking back here for more guides to navigating the world of Cyberpunk 2077.

Welcome to Night City

Cyberpunk 2077

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Modify yourself.

The developers of The Witcher have turned their attention from fantasy to science fiction with Cyberpunk 2077. Play as a cyborg mercenary searching for immortality by fighting gangs and powerful corporations.