Cyberpunk 2077’s melee combat system was admittedly rough when the game first launched. However, between continuous mods and updates, things have been looking up for the melee mechanic and CD Projekt Red’s passion project on the whole.
While the melee system may have some remaining kinks to work out, one can still have fun with a melee build, whether that’s with fists or by speccing into the Blades Tree. Here are some of the best melee fighting tips we’ve found that should help you make the most out of melee combat.
Updated May 10th, 2022 by Michael Llewellyn: Cyberpunk 2077 offers lots of ways to play. In true RPG style, one can fight through the game’s many enemies as a sniper, a sword-wielding ninja, or in this case, a bare-knuckle fighter that likes to get up close and personal. Fighting with one’s hands can offer its own set of unique challenges. However, with the right tools in place and enough practice, your version of V can be deadly enough to fight through Night City like a cybernetically enhanced Bruce Lee. With that in mind, this list has been updated to include some beginner tips to be successful with a melee build in Cyberpunk 2077.
13 Practice With The Training Robot
When starting in Cyberpunk 2077, V will have two early opportunities to practice combat with a training dummy. The first opportunity will happen during the game’s tutorial, and the second is close to V’s apartment in the gym area. It is right opposite the Second Amendment Weapons shop.
Speak to Fred sitting on the bench and he will offer V an opportunity to prove himself against the training robot.
12 Accept Fred’s Tournament Offer
When you feel comfortable enough with the mechanics of melee combat, it’s time to give the robot a beat down. After defeating the robot, approach and speak to Fred sitting on the bench.
He will offer V the opportunity to prove themselves in ranked melee fights across Night City. It’s a good idea to take part in these fights, because not only do they offer some great rewards, but it’s the perfect way to get better at the game’s melee combat.
11 Stick, Move, And Be Unpredictable
The hand-to-hand combat in Cyberpunk 2077 is surprisingly good for a first-person action RPG. This extends to the game’s artificial intelligence, too. As a result, it is unwise to just stand in front of an opponent and swing for the fences.
Trying the same moves over and over will make V predictable, and the AI will counter and dodge every attack with ease. It’s better to go into the melee combat with a boxing-like mindset, and use all of V’s tools at their disposal.
10 Figure Out How To Bait Out The Same Move Over And Over
With the Cyberpunk melee system, enemies have a rather small list of moves they’ll unleash depending on how close V is to them, and this is displayed clear as day during the Beat on the Brat Missions. For example, Cyberpunk 2077’s melee combatants usually unleash one of these moves:
The thing is, these moves are pretty easy to trick the AI into performing over & over. For example, if one sticks insanely close to Rhino during her fight, focusing only on counters, they’ll notice that she falls back on the shove into haymaker move 95% of the time. Knowing how to manipulate the AI is an easy way to take an already strong melee build and make it even stronger.
9 Countering Is Safer Than Dodging
Enemies seem to suction themselves towards V (usually in the middle of their animations), even if their feet are firmly planted! Luckily, this bug has also seen some subtle improvements as time has passed.
Thankfully, the counter-system is a bit more reliable. But for those who aren’t confident in their reaction time, running away from a combo-string also works as long as V is in full sprint.
8 Get Gorilla Arms ASAP
Trying to complete the Beat on The Brat sidequests without Gorilla Arms is like trying to headbutt a wall until it crumbles. It’s possible, but it’s not exactly the best approach.
Here is a list of drawbacks to attempting the Beat on The Brat sidequests without Gorilla Arms to prove a point.
7 Charge Up Strong Attacks With Gorilla Arms
When one first unlocks and installs the Gorilla Arms, it seems like it will simply increase V’s melee damage. But they include their mechanic in the form of the Charged Strong Attacks.
A new UI bar shows up when V lets their fists fly — this bar charges up as V lands more standard hits. The higher the UI gets, the more damage V will do the next time they unleash a strong attack. The damage increase from this isn’t negligible either; it’s pretty hefty at max charge.
6 Support Cyberware Such As Slow Time, AOE Blast, ETC
As useful as the Gorilla Arms are, they aren’t the only Cyberware that helps V out in a pinch. There are quite a few Cyberware that are specifically useful for a melee build. To name a few:
And that’s just a portion of the Cyberware specialized for melee combat. It doesn’t even come close to covering them all.
5 Get Rid Of Any Annoying Obstacles Ahead Of Time
This next tip is less about one-on-one melee combat and more about how one can enjoy themselves a bit more with a melee build in Cyberpunk. Countless melee-master V roleplayers have accidentally offed themselves by hitting explosive containers or getting shredded by a Security Turret from afar. However, there’s a solution to this, and it’s quite simple. Eliminate the security measures beforehand!
Shooting all the containers might make it a bit difficult to go in all “stealthy,” but turning off cameras and turrets is incredibly easy, even with a basic Cyberdeck. In addition, V’s swing (especially with melee weapons) is quite wide, so getting rid of these “landmines” before the big showdown will make the game more enjoyable overall.
4 Get Some Crowd-Control Quickhacks
Speaking of hacking, Street Brawler/Blade build roleplayers should look into what Quickhacks work best for them. For example, these Quickhacks are incredibly useful for disabling enemies while V runs up to them:
For those who don’t want to rely on “petty tricks,” there are many useful Breach Protocol Daemons such as Mass Vulnerability (which reduces Physical Resistance by 30%). This Daemon makes it so that every punch, slash, or swing seems twice as explosive! It might seem weird to blend the intellectual skill of hacking with the caveman-like skill of punching/hitting things hard, but they combine quite nicely.
3 Make Enemies Fight With Melee Weapons
This next one is for people who want to try and build a collection of different melee weapons or want that specific Epic/Legendary variant to drop. In Cyberpunk 2077, enemies tend to drop whatever weapon they were using upon death. So, for instance, if V storms up on some gang member with a bat and forces them to pull out their cleaver, that’s probably going to be what drops when they’re killed.
Note: Manipulating the AI into doing this isn’t always the easiest thing, so this strategy is only recommended for tank builds.
2 Most Enemy Attacks Have Super Armor
This is something to be especially careful of, as it can ruin what seems like the winning combination against tough bosses like Rhino or Razor.
Most enemies in Cyberpunk seem to have super armor on their attacks, meaning there’s virtually no chance to stun them out of their animation or interrupt it. So if the enemy is winding up a swing, focus on dodging, running, or countering rather than attacking.
1 Use Target Analysis For Melee Builds
The last little tip on this list is simply a good timesaver for those using the obscenely cool Mantis Blades, or those unlucky enough to trigger finisher animations too often. The one for the Mantis Blades, in particular, is pretty long and can hurt V rather than help them if it triggers in the middle of a firefight.
That’s because, unlike most other games, V is not invincible during this animation, so they can get pumped full of holes while it plays out. The Optics Mod called Target Analysis is perfect for this, making all weapons non-lethal by default.
NEXT: Cyberpunk 2077: Hidden Details You Missed About Jackie
