Build primers

Before you spend a point

These three orders use the Update 2.0 perk trees on Patch 2.5. Perk gates list the attribute tiers (4, 9, 15, 20), the connected ranks, and the one Attribute reset. Perk points refund one at a time, outside combat, at no cost.

The Operating System slot holds one implant. A cyberdeck, a Sandevistan, and Berserk do not run together. Cyberware is attuned to an attribute, so the attribute you raise also raises the bonus on implants attuned to it. Cyberware capacity is the limit on how many implants you install.

• Netrunner: Intelligence to Phenom, cyberdeck stays installed, then the middle Body branch.
• Blades: Reflexes through Dash and the blade perks, Sandevistan in the Operating System slot, then Technical Ability for capacity.
• Blunt: Technical Ability through Phenom, then Body to 20. Berserk or a Sandevistan comes late, with Ticking Time Bomb.

Buy and upgrade cyberware

Ripperdocs sell and install implants, including cyberdecks, Mantis Blades, Gorilla Arms, Sandevistans, and Berserk. Their stock grows with V’s level. An implant you already own can be upgraded at a ripperdoc with components, so a good early piece does not have to be replaced right away.

Mantis Blades and Gorilla Arms go in the arms slot. A cyberdeck, a Sandevistan, or Berserk goes in the Operating System slot, and only one of them is installed at a time. When the next piece does not fit, raise cyberware capacity first.

Netrunner

Put points into Intelligence until the Phenom tier, attribute 15. Split them between the left branch and the middle branch.

1. Buy Optimization for RAM regeneration.
2. Buy Hack Queue and Data Recycler together. Hack Queue’s second rank is the queue. Its gate is Eye in the Sky, not Optimization.
3. Return to the middle branch and unlock Overclock. The third rank is the mode. It spends Health when RAM runs short, and it needs the cyberdeck.
4. Buy Power Surge and Sublimation before the damage perks. Take them for RAM regeneration and Health regeneration.
5. Buy the Spillover master perk, then move to the middle Body branch for Adrenaline Rush. That perk grants an Overshield and is what makes Monowire aggressive.
6. Buy Finisher: Live Wire and Siphon. Finishers keep Health up during Overclock. Siphon keeps RAM topped up.
7. The right Intelligence branch is the smart-weapon branch. Recirculation is another RAM regeneration perk in combat. If the smart guns are SMGs, Reflexes perks to add are Sharpshooter, Practice Makes Perfect, and Shoot to Chill. Update 2.1 raises Shoot to Chill’s armor penetration.

Cyberware and quickhacks

Keep the Militech Paraline, the deck V starts with. It supports Monowire and smart weapons and takes little cyberware capacity compared with other decks. Upgrade the deck you own, or buy the next tier when a ripperdoc stocks it. Deck families and the RAM pieces →

Buy Ex-Disk, Mechatronic Core, and RAM Upgrade. Memory Boost is the later swap for Mechatronic Core and costs more capacity. Update 2.1 added Feen-X and Cogito Lattice. Cogito Lattice requires a cyberdeck. Scar Coalescer and Reflex Tuner cover early fights when Health gets low. Biomonitor and Second Heart are the later pair for an aggressive Overclock.

Two queues carry the uploads. Cyberware Malfunction, then Short Circuit. Contagion, then Overheat. The scanner shows the RAM cost of the tier you installed. Weapon Glitch, Reboot Optics, and Ping fill the remaining slots. Queue, trace, and Overclock →

Weapon links for this order:

• Fenrir can apply Cyberware Malfunction on a hit, which raises the following Short Circuit.
• Prototype: Shingen Mark V can apply burn, and that burn can explode an enemy who already has Contagion.
• Yinglong is the extra smart SMG. Submachine Fun refills reserves when you swap weapons. Switch to Monowire when the magazines run dry.

Sandevistan blades

Raise Reflexes and Technical Ability, and put the early points into Reflexes. A few opening points can sit in Body. The Operating System slot takes a Sandevistan, so ordinary quickhacks from a cyberdeck are gone.

1. Buy Dash. It is Reflexes 9 and needs both ranks, after Slippery. Use it to close distance.
2. At the Pro tier, open the blade branch. Buy Lead and Steel, then Bullet Deflect.
3. After the first Sandevistan, buy Bullet Time. Stay in Reflexes until Bladerunner unlocks melee finishers.
4. Then raise Technical Ability. The capacity perks are Cyborg, Extended Warranty, and Edgerunner.
5. Once Reflexes are already high, buy Slaughterhouse and Air Dash. Air Dash is Reflexes 15 and needs Dash at rank 2. The left Reflexes branch is the ranged option, for SMGs and assault rifles.

Cyberware

Before the Sandevistan, buy Carapace and ProxiShield. Bionic Joints or Scar Coalescer are the extra pieces if you are still taking heavy hits. Leave capacity for Dense Marrow and Adrenaline Booster. Dynalar Sandevistan carries the early and middle game. Replace it with Apogee later.

Finish Regina Jones’s cyberpsycho sightings and she gives you Axolotl. Paired with Apogee, Axolotl extends time dilation.

During The Heist, take Satori from Saburo’s AV, Nehan from Saburo, and Kongou in the penthouse before you leave. Satori and Nehan are the pair to upgrade until blade finishers unlock. Dismantle weapons you are not upgrading so the components are there for those upgrades. When a clothing sale is small, dismantle that item too.

After finishers unlock, Errata is the thermal katana in the scav hideout, and Psalm 11:6 is the assault rifle this order pairs with it. Byakko is the katana from Wakako’s gig chain.

Body blunt

Blunt weapons and shotguns are the weapons. Spend the opening points evenly between Body and Technical Ability, and put leftovers into Reflexes. Early fights lean on defense and cyberware capacity.

1. Raise Technical Ability until License to Chrome. Chrome Constitution and Driver Update add cyberware capacity and the extra stats from your implants. On the left branch, Demolitions Surplus and Coming in Hot let you throw grenades more often.
2. Reach the Phenom tier in Technical Ability, attribute 15, before you move the next points into Body. Take License to Chrome to its third rank. Patch 2.11 stops skeleton cyberware from dropping a tier when you do.
3. Take Body to 20 and buy Savage Sling. The right Body branch is the blunt branch. Gorilla Arms are sold at every ripperdoc.
4. After Savage Sling, the middle Body branch is the durability path. The right branch widens the guns toward shotguns and LMGs. Reflexes help you line up Quake and add speed.

Cyberware and weapons

Keep the skeleton slots filled. Bionic Joints are the early armor piece. Swap them for Dense Marrow once blunt weapons are the main weapons. Universal Booster and Scar Coalescer are the safety pieces. Once Technical Ability is high, swap Scar Coalescer for Para Bellum when Health is staying above half. Cellular Adapter is the integumentary implant the Tech tree lets you equip. It costs 8 cyberware capacity and adds armor on top of its other bonuses.

Buy Adrenaline Booster and Microrotors for the hammer or the bat. Fortified Ankles trade the usual double jump for more height and armor, which sets up Quake.

• Guts is the shotgun in Memorial Park.
• Sasquatch's Hammer is the arena pickup. If you missed it, Patch 2.02 puts it on the stadium black-market vendor.
• Cottonmouth is the blunt weapon in Fingers’ clinic during The Space in Between.

During Beat on the Brat at the Animals’ club, leave their vendor intact. That stall stocks hammers and hammer crafting specs.

Late, Ticking Time Bomb pairs with Berserk or a Sandevistan, plus Shock-N-Awe and Painducer. Together they can set off EMP blasts on nearby enemies. Savage Sling is the finisher after that. Installing Berserk or a Sandevistan replaces a cyberdeck.

Cool sidearms

Two Power sidearms are a Cool gate, not a fourth attribute spread. Raise Cool to 9 and buy the first rank of Double Trouble. Update 2.5 added that perk. Tech and Smart sidearms stay outside it.

Questions