By the end of Cyberpunk 2077, players will realize that there simply is not enough experience in the game to realistically get every perk before the credits roll. If they’ve been diligent and finished up every single side gig and NCPD assault in progress, then it’s possible that they’ve finished up one skill tree and maybe got a decent chunk into a second, but no more than this. This means that each skill has to be carefully invested.
So gamers have to invest most of their points in a very specific way to optimize their combat ability. But there are some rare exceptions to this strategy. A few skills in alternate trees have such tremendous value that it’s a mistake to pass up on them, even with the best of intentions.
16 Body - Athletics - Epimorphosis
Choosing the best lifepath changes a few things on the role-playing side of the game, but choosing the best perks is critical toward beating the game. It’s difficult to argue that any skill is more game-altering than Epimorphosis, which increases how much players can heal back.
With one perk point, V can remove the cap on regenerating health outside of combat and also increase the amount of healing allowed in combat. Starting every battle at 100% health is too good to pass up on, regardless of how players like to approach their fights.
15 Cool - Cold Blood - Cold Blood
As a base perk, Cold Blood might not seem incredible. It increases movement speeds by slight amounts after killing enemies and incentivizes eliminating enemies in rapid succession to keep the buff going. On its own, it’s not that handy.
But Cold Blood offers something for everybody. It can be paired with Rapid Bloodflow to increase regeneration a decrease V’s dependency on consumables. Or stack it up with Immunity and never worry about elemental damage again.
14 Reflexes - Blades - Stuck Pig
Most blades skills apply only to blades and are, therefore, hard to recommend as general skills. But Stuck Pig increases the duration of bleed effects, frequently applied by all weapons, regardless of what mechanism is used to apply the debuff.
Cyberpunk 2077 is a divisive game with great music, and some of the jams played in boss fights are amazing. But to really enjoy them, tack on some extra bleed damage, which is most noticeable against targets that have lots of health.
13 Technical Ability - Crafting - Edgerunner Artisan
With only three weapon slots, players who aren’t using three legendary weapons are really hurting themselves. This goes for mods and armor as well. However, those who can’t craft iconic weapons won’t be able to make some of the best items in the game.
It’s important to get this skill and avoid the other crafting perks. They’re a waste of time with a game this length and finding equipment will be better than any rare or epic item V can craft. So choose this one only and get the best deal on perk points.
12 Technical Ability - Engineering - Bladerunner
Yes, most enemies in the game are human, but what about those rough robotic opponents? Every build has to compensate for these robots, turrets, and mechanical guards.
For two perk points, damage from every source will be increased against them by 40%. That’s hugely significant in combat and will be a great boon to ammunition and supplies, which will accumulate instead of depleting as the game goes on thanks to this investment.
11 Intelligence - Breach Protocol - Mass Vulnerability: Resistances
Not everybody is going to be a hacking machine. And that’s perfectly fine, the game is meant to be beaten in a variety of ways that maximize player choice. Even so, almost every encounter will start with V getting to upload one daemon before the fighting starts, so make it a good one.
One perk makes all enemies 30% more vulnerable for three minutes. That 30% goes for all forms of damage against every organic and mechanical unit on the network, so starting with this is an easy choice.
10 Body - Athletics - Pack Mule
Eddies are ridiculously hard to come by in Night City. When thinking about what should change and what should stay the same about the game, the financial burden of Cyberpunk 2077 is firmly in the former category.
Players can be vigilant about selling down after every gig, but some of the main missions are too long for a standard carrying capacity to take everything. Instead of passing up on valuable equipment and materials, spend one point and carry it all to the finish line.
9 Body - Athetics - Regeneration
At first, players might wonder if health not regenerating is one of the game’s frequent bugs or glitches. It turns out that health does not naturally regenerate by design, encouraging players to use literally thousands of consumables over the course of one playthrough.
With one skill point, this problem can be solved, at least inside of combat. The tooltip says it slowly regenerates, but it’s fast enough so that unless V is taking on a hailstorm of bullets, it will more than compensate for the damage received from a few low-threat shooters.
8 Cool - Ninjutsu - Sniper
This is a perk that increases headshot damage outside of combat by 20% with two points. Now, for snipers, this is an obvious choice, but what about those who prefer to go in loud? Get this; this skill is probably more important for them than actual snipers.
Why? Well, because being able to kill one enemy outright before jumping into the fray means fewer bullets taken in the battle. Less damage received and fewer enemies to kill is a great recipe for winning fights, looting bodies, and cashing in to buy a new apartment.
7 Technical Ability - Crafting - Scrapper
Players trying to finish every Search & Recover gig will acquire a lot of valuable items. They will also acquire a ton of garbage. If garbage is weighing them down, then legitimate weapons and clothing will have to be left behind.
By converting all junk to components automatically, V is free to pick up everything. Additionally, selling or using the components is a better money-making venture than selling the junk wholesale, so this perk kills two birds with one point.
6 Technical Ability - Crafting - Mechanic
A V from any walk of life will still want to knock out every Thievery gig. So everyone from a nomad to a corpo boss will end up with a stockpile of useless common equipment. Selling it is fine, but the components are worth just as many eddies.
More importantly, this stacks with the scrapper perk, so junk that is being automatically taken apart will result in greater yields. Any V that has eyes for a high-end hypercar will want to really consider these perks for cash purposes alone.
5 Intelligence - Breach Protocol - Extended Network Interface
Players will be encouraged to go on a lucrative but dangerous secondary gig where they hunt down every cyberpsycho in Night City. If they stop at killing their marks and looting the bodies, then they’re missing out on a bunch of eurodollars camouflaged in the area
Many of the game’s access points are on roofs, hidden behind wall panels, and tucked away on laptop computers. Even a keen eye can’t always spot them, but for a single perk point, the mini-map and HUD interface will do the work of locating these for V.
4 Intelligence - Breach Protocol - Advanced Datamine
V is going to be breaching access points no matter what, even if the player’s first choice is to go in with guns blazing. These are eddies waiting to be taken, so don’t leave them behind. The ending of the game can look good or bad, but it looks a lot better if V isn’t broke.
Doubling money made for two perk points is a value that can’t be contended with. This money can be used to buy whatever the player’s favorite mods are or to acquire some new cybernetics. The versatility of currency in Cyberpunk 2077 is unrivaled.
3 Intelligence - Quickhacking - Biosynergy
Much like with health regeneration, RAM does not naturally regenerate in combat without a little help. Finding a cyberdeck with multiple sticks can help, but unless V takes the Biosynergy perk, players are limited to one or two quickhacks.
Even one point goes a long way, four sticks per minute is nothing to sneeze at, but even light hackers will see a great deal of benefit to recouping twelve sticks per minute. This gives players the peace of mind to use any hack at any time without having to constantly worry about the RAM limitations.
2 Cool - Ninjutsu - Assassin
There is a good amount of enemy variety in Cyberpunk 2077, but that doesn’t change the fact that most enemies are human beings. There is an occasional robot, turret, or mech, but these are clear minorities.
Also, consider that most robotic enemies can be disabled with just a few quickhacks. Sometimes, a single quickhack can take out every robot on the network. So a 15% damage boost to humans translates to a flat 15% DPS increase in most circumstances.
1 Body - Athletics - Tenacious V
Finding out how to alter V’s appearance can be a chore because it’s not easy to find. But surviving in battle can be a chore because health regeneration freezes for a few seconds every time V takes damage. It’s the latter that will have gamers slamming their controls in frustration.
Tenacious V allows V to keep regenerating health after taking damage with no freeze. The amount of health gained from this regeneration cannot be understated. There are moments in the game where players don’t have the option to stay cloaked, so this helps stealthy players too.
Cyberpunk 2077 was released on December 10th, 2020, and is available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PC.
