Cyberpunk 2077 makes it pretty clear that Night City is a dangerous place. In early sequences of the game, you’ll be threatened and shot at by just about everyone. But you can be the apex predator of the city if you want to be. There is a load of different ways you can go about it, and like the tabletop RPG CP77 is based on, it can get a little complicated.

　　This guide will give you some hints and tips on how to stay alive and rise through the ranks to become a legend, rather than die alone.

　　Other Cyberpunk 2077 guides: Leveling Up, Experience, and Attributes Explained; Street Cred and How to Become a Legend of Night City

　　

This isn’t Deus Ex

You aren’t going to be able to talk or sneak your way out of every potential fight in Cyberpunk 2077. Whether you get caught up in street violence or spotted by some server room guards, sometimes you are going to have to fight.

　　So, make sure you’re ready. Keep track of your weapons and make sure you’ve put some skill points into improving their damage and accuracy. If you want to swing a sword around, make sure you’ve got enough strength to inflict damage. You’ll be picking up more weapons and mods than you realise as you explore Night City, so spend a few minutes before big missions getting familiar with your arsenal and equipping the right tools for the job.

　　Enemies are also more bullet spongy than you might expect to start with too, so even if you are playing stealthy, don’t think a silenced sniper rifle is going to get you past enemies undetected, it's probably just going to alert them.

　　

Don’t Be Nervous, get Nervous System Upgrades

If you want to play stealth, you have to do more than point your points into Cool. Once you’ve got a bit of scrip to spend, get to a ripper doc, and get the Nervous System upgrade. It can be expensive if you’ve found a nice rare one, but it's totally worth it.

　　With this piece of transhumanism in your noggin, time slows down as you're about to be seen. A staple of the stealth genre, this allows you to either get out the way or get the first several shots in, which is completely lifesaving in Night City.

　　Obviously, you should also get points in Cool too, as a lot of skills there can help you stay stealthy, but this piece of tech is the thing that changes stealth from a temporary balm to a viable playstyle.

　　And just to reiterate from the last point, if you are being stealthy, don’t use your guns to dispatch enemies. Grab and kill them that way. It's quicker and much more effective. Be careful grabbing enemies that out-level you though. You’ll see who they are by the red skull besides their health bar. If you grab these enemies they will immediately escape the grapple and probably kill you.

　　

Punk of All Trades

While it can obviously be incredibly helpful, and perhaps even more fun, to specialise in one or two skills in Cyberpunk 2077, it's very useful early on to have a few options. Spreading the skills you have at least five in Technical Ability, Cool, Body, and Intelligence will unlock several new routes for you to explore either through conversation, unlocking doors, or accessing panels. As you get further into the game five points won’t be enough to do much, but that shouldn’t matter as you start to discover what you enjoy the most and begin to specialise in that.

　　Cool is most often used in conversations, which allows you to get more information from a client or target, which sometimes comes in the form of information about secret entrances or paths through otherwise inaccessible areas. Intelligence and Technical Ability are more hands-on, allowing you to access computers and hardware to open doors, turn security systems off, or otherwise approach a situation smarter. Body, on the other hand, lets you rip locked doors from their hinges and intimidate fleshy meat bags into not attacking you.

　　

Rule Number One: Cardio

When leveling up in Cyberpunk 2077, you’ll be allowed to put points into skills that are broken down by the attributes. Even if you don’t want to put any points into Body, make sure you check out the skills from the body tab. These are often general-purpose and well worth investing in whether you’re a netrunner or corpo goon.

　　Stuff like improving your stamina, health, and carry capacity is obviously really useful, especially when you’re carrying around enough weapons to nuke Arasaka Towers. These are also great skills to buy early on if you’re a little overwhelmed by all the options on offer and don’t know how you’ll play the game long-term.

　　

Don’t Forget About Leg Day

You’ll have a lovely introduction to ripper docs in the game's prologue, and this section will explain how they work, and what kind of upgrades they can offer to your body. But you don’t see many options until you go back later, on your own time, with more credits to spend. When you do go back, you’ll be so overwhelmed with options, it can be hard to see what they all are.

　　And while improving the brain and arms is fantastic, don’t forget to look at leg upgrades as well. Some of them can improve your jumping ability that really opens up the verticality of Night City, giving you new routes and places to explore that otherwise would pass you by. It’s actually surprising how much of the game is hidden above where you can normally reach, and the game doesn’t really ever tell you to find it.