Best Gunslinger Build for Update 2.0

This is a guide to the Best Gunslinger Build for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Update 2.0. Read our guide for details about the build, what attributes to level up, which perks to choose, and what weapons and cyberwares to use.

Gunslinger Build Overview

Build Basic Information

Gunslinger Build
Main Attributes	Cool Technical Ability Body Reflexes
Main Weapons / Arm Cyberware	・Archangel ・Overture ・Guts ・Toxic Gorilla Arms
Operating System	・Militech “Apogee” Sandevistan

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

This Gunslinger build lets you play as the meanest cyber-cowboy in Night City. Whip out your revolver, aim at your targets' heads, and take them out in a one, clean shot at a distance.

Perks from the Reflexes attribute will give you mobility options, which you can use to quickly reposition or retreat in case things get messy, while Adrenaline Rush under Body can give you extra health when you get stuck in heated gunfights.

This build also incorporates the use of shotguns as your secondary weapon solely against enemies who wish to meet you up close.

Weaknesses

The core Handgun perks under the Cool attribute heavily relies on maintaining full stamina every time you shoot, so you need to wait for your stamina bar to be filled to take advantage these perks.

Revolvers also have small clip sizes, so you will be constantly reloading your weapon which makes you vulnerable.

Gunslinger Best Attribute Build

Attribute Progression

Build Attributes
Lv.	Body	Reflex	Tech	Intel	Cool
1	6	3	4	3	6
10	6	4	9	3	9
50	15	13	3	20	20

This Gunslinger build uses several perks across four attributes.

Key handgun perks which enable this build to eliminate targets in a single headshot fall under the Cool attribute, which you should get early so your revolvers can be effective.

As you level up, health item recharge and cyberware perks are obtained under the Technical Ability tree. These give you more survivability and boosts your equipped cyberware.

Upon reaching midgame and up to the level cap, you can then incorporate mobility perks under Reflexes, as well as shotgun and health regen perks under the Body tree.

Gunslinger Build Best Perks

Jump to Each Attribute for Their Perks!
Cool	Technical Ability
Body	Reflexes

Cool Attribute

The main attribute for handguns are found under Cool, with the perks Focus and Deadeye giving you additional headshot and weak spot damage.

Focus removes stamina costs per shot when you aim for 2.5 seconds, which you can reset by killing a target with the Head to Head perk. Focus is then used in conjunction with Deadeye, which is active when you have 85% stamina.

This means that you can have both Focus and Deadeye active as long as you can keep killing enemies.

This is further improved by Nerves of Tungsten-Steel, which you can get after reaching level 20 in Cool. This perk guarantees that every weak spot or headshot is a critical hit as long as Deadeye is active!

Main Perks

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Focus	+10% headshot and weakspot damage.
Deadeye	+10% headshot and weakspot damage
Nerves of Tungsten-Steel	When Deadeye is active: Guaranteed Crit Hits for headshots and weak spots Increased damage as distance increases (max. +25%).

Secondary Perks

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
High Noon	Increases Crit Chance with Pistols and Revolvers by 2%.
Deep Breath	Slows time by 25% for you and enemies when Focus is active.
Head to Head	When Focus is active, neutralizing an enemy with a ranged attack resets its duration.
Pull!	When Focus is active, shooting grenades out of the air is easier and the blast is more powerful.
Rinse and Reload	+10 reload speed for your next reload after neutralizing an enemy while aiming. Stacks 2 times. The stack resets to 0 whenever you reload or start aiming again.
No Sweat	-50% stamina cast from Focus made for each enemy neutralized while it was active.
Quick Draw	+30% weapon swap speed when swapping to Pistols, Revolvers, Sniper Rifles and Precision rifles +30% Stamina when swapping during combat.
California Reaper	+30% Stamina after neutralizing an enemy with a ranged attack via headshot or weakspot.
Long Shot	Rifle and Submachine Gun damage increases the farther you are located from enemies.

2.0 Cool Attribute and List of Cool Perks

Technical Ability Attribute

After the 2.0 update, you can no longer spam health items to heal as these are now locked behind cooldowns per use, which warranted the need of some perks under the reworked Technical Ability tree to be included in this build.

The Glutton for War and Health Freak perks improve health item usage and will also lower its cooldown. These two will also benefit from buffs received from Adrenaline Rush perks, which is under the Body attribute.

For cyberwares, the Edgerunner and its connected perks will improve all of your equipped cyberwares. Edgerunner also has a chance to activate Fury, which will make you deal even more damage.

Main Perks

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Glutton for War	5% instant recharge of Health items and grenades after neutralizing an enemy.
All Things Cyber	+10% to all cyberware stats modifiers.
Health Freak	+8% recharge speed for Health Items and grenades.
License to Chrome	+10% to all cyberware stats modifiers.
Edgerunner	Allows you to exceed your Cyberware Capacity by up to 50 points, but at the cost of -0.5% Max Health per point. When you neutralize an enemy during combat, there is a 0.1% chance for each point you're over capacity that you will enter a Fury state. In this state, you gain: +10% damage, +30% Critical Chance, +50% Critical Damage. Duration: 12 sec.

Secondary Perks

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
First Aid	+15% recharge speed for Health Items when you've only used 1 charge.
Transfusion	+30% health from the final charge of your Health Item.
Chipware Connoisseur	When upgrading cyberware, you can choose from two stat modifier options. A third option is available at Tier 3 and higher.
Renaissance Punk	+4 Cyberware Capacity for each Attribute at 9 or higher.
Chrome Constitution	-5% incoming damage if all Integumentary System and Skeleton cyberware slots are filled.
Driver Update	All cyberware gain an additional stat modifier.
Lucky Day	+25% crafting components from looting.
Borrowed Time	+100% instant recharge of a Health Item after neutralizing an enemy if you're below 25% Health and have no charges remaining.
Coming In Hot	+50% recharge speed for grenades when you have none available.
Demolitions Surplus	+1 max grenade charge, +250% recharge speed for grenades outside of combat.
Field Medic	15% faster use of Health Items in combat.
Ambidextrous	Unlocks a new cyberware slot for your Hands.
Extended Warranty	+15% duration for all cyberware effects.
Built Different	Unlocks Cellular Adapter cyberware for the Integumentary System. It can be purchased and installed at ripperdoc clinics. This Perk is required to use it properly.

2.0 Technical Ability Attribute and List of Technical Ability Perks

Body Attribute

Perks under the Body tree are centered around health regen and Adrenaline Rush, a buff which gives you extra survivabilty upon using your Blood Pump cyberware.

Some perks under the shotgun tree are also obtained to improve its usage. Shotguns are meant to be used as secondary weapons for this build, in case you encounter an enemy up close.

Main Perks

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Painkiller	Unlocks slow Health Regen in combat.
Die! Die! Die!	-15% recoil at low Stamina.
Adrenaline Rush	+35 Max Health.
Spontaneous Obliteration	-15% recoil at low Stamina.

Secondary Perks

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Army of One	+10% Health Regen Rate for each nearby enemy.
Speed Junkie	+60% Health Regen Rate while sprinting.
Comeback Kid	+1% Health Regen Rate for each percent of missing Health.
Dorph-Head	When using Blood Pump Cyberware or a Health Item: +100% Mitigation Chance for 2 sec. Mitigation - grants a chance to reduce incoming damage by current Mitigation Strength (default 50%).
Juggernaut	Increases Armor by 15% while blocking with a Blunt Weapon.
Bullet Ballet	-25% bullet spread when moving.
Don't Stop Me Now	When below 33% Stamina: +15% Mitigation Chance +5% Mitigation Strength.
Calm Mind	When Adrenaline Rush is active: +3 sec. delay before Adrenaline begins to decay.
Unstoppable Force	When Adrenaline Rush is active: Gain immunity to movement penalties and non-damaging status effects such as Knockdown, Blinding, etc.
Dread	-15% enemy Armor when using ranged attacks. Dismemberment spreads the effect to nearby enemies.
Close-Quarters Carnage	Increased chance to Obliterate enemies with ranged attacks at close range (max. 10%).

2.0 Body Attribute and List of Body Perks

Reflexes Attribute

A few perks are obtained under Reflexes to give this build a few movement techs which you can use to reposition or retreat from a fight.

Dash lets you quickly move but consumes stamina per use. You can use this while Focus is active, although you will lose Deadeye if you use too much stamina.

You can also use Dash to zip around enemies and get some easy kills.

Main Perks

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Slippery	The faster you move, the more difficult for enemies to shoot you. Effect increases when Dashing, dodging, sliding, sprinting and vaulting.
Dash	-20% Stamina cost for dodging and Dashing.

Secondary Perks

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Multitasker	Allows you to shoot while sprinting, sliding and vaulting.
Parkour!	Increased vaulting and climbing speed.
Power Slide	Increased slide distance.
Muscle Memory	Allows you to reload weapons while sprinting, sliding and vaulting.
Mad Dash	+100% Dash range toward enemies.
Mean Streak	+40% Stamina after neutralizing an enemy while Dashing.
Steady Grip	Allows you to shoot while Dashing.
Can't Touch This	Grants immunity to all effects from your own grenades, including flash grenades.

2.0 Reflexes Attribute and List of Reflexes Perks

Gunslinger Build Best Weapons

Archangel

Effect	Deals Electrical damage with a chance to apply Stun and has significantly reduced recoil. An angel of a weapon with a devil's attitude.

Among all Iconic revolvers, Archangel works best for this build due to its standard rate of fire. Other Iconic revolvers have lower rate of fire, and anything slower will waste the few precious shots you can do within the 2.5 seconds Focus is active.

How to Get the Archangel

Overture

Effect	N/A

The non-Iconic Overture is also a viable revolver to use for this build. Do remember to equip a scope so you can have an easier time aiming for heads.

How to Get the Overture

Guts

Effect	Let the lead fly! Shoot faster, deal more damage... accuracy be damned. Just don't shoot your eye out.

Guts is a great shotgun to use as your secondary weapon. When an enemy gets up close, switch to this gun and blast them to bits.

How to Get the Guts

Gunslinger Build Best Cyberwares

List of Cyberwares
Operating System	Face	Hands	Circulatory System	Legs
Frontal Cortex	Arms	Skeleton	Nervous System	Integumentary System

Operating System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Militech "Apogee" Sandevistan	Press L1 and R1 to activate and deactivate. It can be activated at any charged level. When active: Slows time by 85% (you are not slowed) +10% headshot damage +9% Crit Chance +13% Crit Damage Neutralizing an enemy when active gives: +20% extended duration +22% Stamina Max Duration: 8 sec. Cooldown: 30 sec.

A Sandevistan is an important cyberware for this build as this will let you easily pop off heads with your revolver.

Get at a position where you have clear sight of all your targets, activate your Sandevistan, and aim for their heads. You can easily wipe out a group of enemies with this strategy.

Alternative: Militech Falcon Sandevistan

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Militech "Falcon" Sandevistan	When active: Slows time by 70% (you are not slowed), +10% damage, +10% Crit Chance, +5% Crit Damage. Neutralizing an enemy when active gives: +10% extended duration, +5% Health. Max Duration: 9 sec., Cooldown: 35 sec.

A good alternative to the Apogee, in case you missed it during the Riders On the Storm mission, as this can be bought in Ripperdocs all over Night City.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Face

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Kiroshi "The Oracle" Optics	Effect active when scanning: Highlights enemies within 17.5 m.including enemies behind cover. Highlights cameras and turrets within 35m. Highlights explosive devices and traps near your crosshair within 26m.

The Oracle variant of a Kiroshi Optics lets you track enemies, which is useful to keep track of who to kill next.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Hands

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Ballistic Coprocessor	Increased ricochet chance with Power weapons. +30% ricochet damage.
Shock Absorber	-20% Recoil

Power revolvers are to be used for this build, which is why you should equip a Ballistic Coprocessor so you can also capitalize on ricochets. A Shock Absorber, on the other hand, will reduce recoil.

Do note that you need the Ambidextrous perk to unlock a second cyberware slot for Hands.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Circulatory System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Blood Pump	Activate to instantly restore 90% of max Health. Cooldown 30 sec.
Clutch Padding	-18% Stamina cost for shooting.

Blood Pump is another key cyberware for this build, as this will activate Adrenaline Rush and all of its effects, apart from it being your main healing item.

Clutch Padding will further decrease stamina used when shooting. This will shorten the time needed to wait for your stamina to fully replenish so you can get Focus again.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Legs

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Reinforced Tendons	Press Space Bar in midair to perform a double jump.

Reinforced Tendons enable double jumping, which you can use to move around.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Frontal Cortex

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Kerenzikov Boost System	When Kerenzikov is active: -100% stamina cost for shooting. Slows time by 15% relative to your enemies.
Mechatronic Core	+35% damage against drones, robots, mechs and turrets. +2 Max RAM.

Equipping a Kerenzikov Boost System will give you more stat boosts when you activate Kerenzikov.

Mechatronic Core will let you deal more damage against robots, which you will encounter as you progress through the game.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Arms

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Toxic Gorilla Arms	+6 to Body Attribute checks. Deal Physical damage. 20% Poison chance

In case you need a quick melee kill, you can switch over to your Gorilla Arms to wallop your enemies. The Toxic variant can deal damage over time if you can poison your target.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Skeleton

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Bionic Joints	Armor - Simple but effective.
Kinetic Frame	+16% Mitigation Chance when Stamina is above 85%.
Spring Joints	+19% Mitigation Strength (Total Mitigation Strength cannot exceed 90%) Mitigation grants achance to reduce incoming damage by current Mitigation Strength (default: 50%).

These Skeleton cyberware are slotted in to reduce the damage you will take.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Nervous System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Kerenzikov	Allows you to aim and perform ranged attacks while sliding, dodging or Dashing. Slows time by 60% for 3.5 sec. when you aim a ranged attack during a slide, dodge or Dash. Cooldown 6.5 sec.
Neofiber	+10% Mitigation Chance, +9% Mitigation Strength Mitigation grants a chance to reduce incoming damage by current Mitigation Strength (default: 50%).
Reflex Tuner	Slows time by 60% for 4 sec. when your Health drops below 25%. Cooldown 40 sec.

Kerenzikov acts as your second Sandevistan of sorts, which you can activate when dashing on the ground. As this will consume stamina, you will not be getting the effects of Focus, but you can still try to kill nearby enemies when time is slowed down.

Meanwhile, a Reflex Tuner can be you third time-slowing cyberware, but will only activate on low health, in which case you should use Blood Pump to heal.

Lastly, Neofiber is chipped in to get additional defense stats.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Integumentary System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Defenzikov	When Kerenzikove ends: +90% Mitigation Chance for 4 sec. Mitigation grants a chance to reduce incoming damage by current Mitigation Strength (default: 50%). +0.1% Crit Chance per Attribute Point. +2.6% Weapon Handling +2.1% Damage Over Time Resistance
Pain Editor	-7% all incoming damage +0.1% damage reduction per Attribute Point. +0.5% Mitigation Chance +2.1% Damage Over Time Resistance
Subdermal Armor	+0.5 Armor per Attribute Point. +1.3% Decreased enemy vision +2.6 Health

Defenzikov is a cyberware which gives Kerenzikov defensive stats after using it.

Pain Editor and Subdermal Armor are equipped to get another set of defense stats and damage reduction.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

How to Play the Gunslinger Build

Aim for the Head

In the middle of a gunfight, always aim at your enemies' heads to take advantage of the bonuses you get from handgun perks.

Once your stamina is full, use your Sandevistan, aim with your revolver to activate Focus and Deadeye, and start popping heads one by one.

Make sure to also shoot from a distance instead of running close to your target, as several perks give you extra damage if you shoot from far away.

Monitor Your Stamina

As Focus and Deadeye is stamina dependent, make sure to keep an eye out on your stamina bar before fully engaging in combat.

If it's full, you can start shooting. If it's not, wait for it to fully replenish before fighting. Eliminate any nearby enemies so you won't be overwhelmed while waiting for your stamina to be full.

Focus Status Displayed at Stamina Bar

If Focus is active, shooting with your revolver will not consume any stamina. You can determine if Focus is active if your stamina bar has a lock icon.

Use Shotguns Against Nearby Enemies

Switch to your shotgun whenever an enemy is closing in on you to quickly deal with them.

Several shotgun perks are included in the build to increase the damage you can do with it.

You can also use your equipped Gorilla Arms as another backup weapon.

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