Best Assassin Build for Patch 1.6 (Stealth Build) | Cyberpunk 2077

This is a guide to the Best Assassin Build for Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.6. Read our guide for details about the build, what attributes to level up, which perks to choose, and what weapons and cyberwares to use.

Assassin Build Overview

Build Basic Information

Assassin Build
Main Attributes	• Cool • Intelligence • Reflexes • Technical Ability
Main Perk Trees	• Ninjutsu (Cool) • Breach Protocol (Intelligence) • Quickhacking (Intelligence) • Handguns (Reflexes)
Main Weapons / Arm Cyberware	• Archangel • Doom Doom • Monowire
Operating System	• NetWatch Netdriver MK.5 / QianT Warp Dancer Sandevistan MK.5

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
• Strong single-fire damage makes disposing of enemies quick and stealthy. • Makes use of quickhacks and cyberware that help with positioning.	• Relies heavily on remaining hidden from foes and finishing them off in one hit. • Not as powerful early in the game due to requiring several attributes to be effective.

Assassin Best Attribute Build

Attribute Progression

Assassins live and die by their stealth, which requires Cool, so it's best to level this first to stay sneaky. As you level up, you should put some points into Reflexes to improve the handling and effectiveness of your primary weapon, in this case, Handguns. Quickhacks help assassins immensely in staying undetected, making Intelligence the next attribute you should focus on.

For the remaining attributes, Body and Technical Ability can be leveled up as you like to either help with survivability or to gain access to more doors and crafting later on.

Build Attributes
Lv.	Body	Reflex	Tech	Intel	Cool
1	3	5	3	5	6
10	5	7	5	5	9
50	10	18	7	16	20

Assassin Build Best Perks

Ninjutsu (Cool)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Silent And Deadly	Increases damage dealt by silenced weapons by 25% while sneaking.
Crouching Tiger	Increases movement speed while sneaking by 20%.
Strike From The Shadows	Increases your Crit Chance by 7% while sneaking.
Assassin	Deal 15% more damage to human enemies.
Sniper	Increases damage from headshots fired from outside combat by 10%.
Stunning Blows	Quick Melee Attacks with ranged weapons stagger enemies, giving you an opportunity to grapple them.
From The Shadows	Upon entering combat, Crit Chance increases by 10% for 7 sec.
Ghost	Detection time is increased by 20%.
Hasty Retreat	Temporarily boosts movement speed by 50% for 5 sec. when detected by an enemy.

A lot of the perks in the Ninjutsu tree help with staying stealthy and increase damage while sneaking. However, some of the perks affect Throwing Knives, so not all perks will be needed in this tree.

The aptly named Assassin helps improve damage against humans, which you'll be targetting plenty of. Silent and Deadly as well as Strike From The Shadows both increase damage while sneaking. Sniper is also thrown in to make headshots more effective.

Handguns (Reflexes)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly	After a successful Crit Hit with a Pistol or Revolver, damage and Armor increase by 30% for 5 seconds. +1% per Perk level.
Gunslinger	Reduces reload time for Pistols and Revolvers by 10%.
High Noon	Increases Crit Chance with Pistols and Revolvers by 2%.
Rio Bravo	Increases headshot damage multiplier with Pistols and Revolvers by 5%.
Desperado	Increases damage with Pistols and Revolvers by 3%.
On the Fly	Reduces draw/holster time for Pistols and Revolvers by 25%.
Long Shot Drop Pop	Increases damage with Pistols and Revolvers to enemies 5+ meters away by 15%.
O.K. Corral	Deal 50% more damage with Pistols and Revolvers to enemies whose Health is below 25%.
Steady Hand	Reduces Pistol and Revolver recoil by 30%.
Vanishing Point	Increases Mitigation Chance by 20% for 5 sec. after performing a dodge with a Pistol or Revolver equipped. By default, Mitigation grants a chance to reduce any damage taken by 50%.
From Head to Toe	Increases damage to limbs with Pistols and Revolvers by 7%.
A Fistful of Eurodollars	Increases Crit Damage with Pistols and Revolvers by 15%.
Acrobat	You can now perform dodges while aiming a Pistol or Revolver.
Grand Finale	The last round in a Pistol or Revolver clip deals double damage.
Attritional Fire	Firing consecutive shots with a Pistol or Revolver at the same target increases damage by 10%.
Wild West	Removes the damage penalty from Pistols and Revolvers when shooting from a distance.
Westworld	Increases Crit Chance for Pistols and Revolvers by 5% if fully modded.
Snowball Effect	After defeating an enemy, fire rate for Pistols and Revolvers increases by 5% for 6 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.
Lead Sponge	Enables you to shoot with Pistols and Revolvers while dodging.
Brainpower	After a successful headshot with a Pistol or Revolver, Crit Chance increases by 7% for 5 sec.

Handguns will be your primary means of killing, so you'll be using lots of perks from this tree. Taking perks like Rio Bravo and Desperado ensure headshots can kill in a single shot while Long Shot Drop Pop and Wild West improve your handguns at long range.

Breach Protocol (Intelligence)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Big Sleep	Unlocks the Big Sleep daemon, which disables all cameras in the network for 3 min.
Mass Vulnerability	Unlocks the Mass Vulnerability daemon, which reduces the Physical Resistance for all enemies in the network by 30% for 3 min.
Turret Shutdown	Unlocks the Turret Shutdown daemon, which disables security turrets in the network for 3 min.

The perks in the Breach Protocol tree help with sneaking around areas undetected by disabling cameras and turrets with Big Sleep and Turret Shutdown.

Quickhacking (Intelligence)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Biosynergy	Allows RAM to recover during combat. Recover 4 RAM unit(s) every 60 sec.
Forget-Me-Not	Eliminating a target affected by a quickhack instantly recovers 1 RAM unit(s).
I Spy	Reveals an enemy netrunner when they're attempting to hack you.
Signal Support	Increases quickhack duration by 25%.
Diffusion	Quickhack spread distance is increased by 2 times.
Plague	Quickhacks that spread can jump to 1 additional targets.
Optimization	Reduces the cost of quickhacks by 1 RAM unit(s).

Quickhacks can help isolate enemies or cripple them to make eliminating them easier. Perks like Signal Support, Diffusion, and Plague help spread the Reboot Optics quickhack, allowing you to sneak past enemies or kill them without knowing what hit them.

Assassin 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.

The Archangel is one of the more powerful handguns in the game. Putting a silencer on this is essential to staying undetected. As this is based on the Overture, you can also effectively use that revolver if you don't have this Iconic weapon yet.

How to Get the Archangel

Doom Doom

Effect	Fires four rounds per shot, with increased damage, rate of fire and chance to dismember at the cost of increased recoil and bullet spread.

The Doom Doom is highly effective with headshots thanks to its high damage. You'll need to be slightly closer to your targets though as its bullets can spread. Be sure to put a silencer on this revolver too.

How to Get the Doom Doom

Assassin Build Best Cyberwares

Operating System

NetWatch Netdriver MK.5

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary/Iconic)
NetWatch Netdriver MK.5	Allows you to perform quickhacks on targets and devices while scanning. Offensive quickhacks can be uploaded to 3 targets within a 6-meter radius. Increases damage dealt by quickhacks by 30%. Increases cyberdeck RAM recovery rate 9 unit(s) per 60 sec. Increases quickhack spread distance by 60%.

Having a Cyberdeck comes in handy with staying stealthy thanks to its variety of quickhacks. This particular one makes it so the quickhacks spread quickly and recover RAM faster.

QianT Warp Dancer Sandevistan MK.5

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary/Iconic)
QianT "Warp Dancer" Sandevistan MK.5	Slows time by 10% for 8 sec. Cooldown 30 sec. ・Increases any damage dealt by 15%, Crit Chance by 10%, and Crit Damage by 50% when Sandevistan is active.

If quickhacks aren't your thing, using this Sandevistan can still be effective for stealth takedowns. The speed lets you move unseen past enemies and allows you to use takedowns.

Arms Cyberware

Monowire

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Monowire	The Monowire charges when equipped but not used in combat. Attacks with a charged wire deal bonus damage based on the charge level. Charge level and bonus damage dealt decline with each attack. Three mod slots available (wire, battery, universal).

For Arms, we're using the Monowire thanks to its higher single-hit damage over the Mantis Blades. This can come in handy for melee combat both when unseen or discovered.

Other Cyberwares

Optical Camo

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Optical Camo	Grants invisibility for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 45 sec.

The Optical Camo is great for moving around undetected as it makes you invisible. Use it to get behind enemy lines or escape when caught in combat before eliminating them with headshots.

Reinforced Tendons

Cyberware	Effect (Rare)
Reinforced Tendons	Press X while in midair to perform a double jump.

The Reinforced Tendons enable double jumping, which is a valuable positioning move that lets you reach higher places, helping you get away or give you a better vantage point.

Fortified Ankles

Cyberware	Effect (Epic)
Fortified Ankles	Hold X to charge the power of the jump, then release to jump. You can now perform hover jumps. Fall damage -15%.

The Fortified Ankles can also be used to double jump but has stricter timing. Their main draw is the hover which allows you to cover distances that other Legs Cyberware can't do. Be sure to get the Epic version from Fingers MD.

Synaptic Accelerator

Cyberware	Effect (Epic)
Synaptic Accelerator	Slows time by 40% for 3 sec. when you are detected by enemies. Cooldown 60 sec.

The Synaptic Accelerator is useful for giving more leeway when detected. Its cooldown takes a while, so plan your next move wisely if this activates.

Assassin Build Best Quickhacks

Short Circuit

Quickhack	Stats	Effect
Short Circuit	Duration: 6.8 sec Upload Time: 1 sec Cooldown: 10 sec	Uncommon ・Non-Lethal ・Deals moderate damage to the target. Very effective against drones, mechs, robots, and targets with a Weakspot. Rare ・Applies an EMP effect to the target for 4 sec. Epic ・Deals 30% extra damage to enemies below a High threat level. Legendary ・Passive While Equipped: Crit Hits with any weapon apply this quickhack's uncommon effect.

Short Circuit has a fairly low RAM requirement and should be your quickhack of choice against mechanical enemies. Against other enemies, this can still be used to lower their health enough to be killed with a headshot. With the Cyberdeck recommendation above, this can also spread to nearby enemies.

Reboot Optics

Quickhack	Stats	Effect
Reboot Optics	Duration: 20.4 sec Upload Time: 5 sec Cooldown: 10 sec	Uncommon ・Resets an enemy's optical cyberware, rendering them temporarily blind. Rare ・Spreads to the nearest enemy within 8 meters. Epic ・Greatly increases effect duration. Legendary ・Passive While Equipped: Unlocks the Optics Jammer daemon for use in Breach Protocol.

The Reboot Optics quickhack renders enemies blind, effectively making you invisible to them. At higher rarities, it has stronger effects such as spreading and lasting longer that you can abuse to take down groups of enemies undetected.

Sonic Shock

Quickhack	Stats	Effect
Sonic Shock	Duration: 51 sec Upload Time: 2 sec Cooldown: 10 sec	Uncommon ・Deafens the target, reducing their ability to detect enemy sounds. Rare ・Prevents the target from communicating with their allies about your activity. Epic ・Excludes the target from their allies' audio and visual perception systems, causing them to be completely ignored. Legendary ・Passive While Equipped: enemies under the effects of any quickhack are cut off from the local network

If Reboot Optics blinds foes, Sonic Shock deafens and silences them. This is highly useful for preventing enemies from being alerted of your presence. Higher rarities even cut them off from their network, isolating them from their group.

Whistle

Quickhack	Stats	Effect
Whistle	Duration: 17 sec Upload Time: 0.2 sec Cooldown: 10 sec	Uncommon ・The target will move to your current position. Rare ・The target will no longer be in an Alerted State when moving to your current position. Epic ・Can be executed on enemies engaged in combat.

Whistle is fairly simple yet effective as it lures enemies to your position. This lets you pick off enemies while easily drawing away their corpses from their group to prevent alerting the other enemies of an intruder.

How to Play the Assassin Build

Remain Stealthy

Assassins must remain stealthy to avoid detection and ending up in a chaotic fight. To do so, stay in the shadows by crouching and hiding behind objects or use cyberware like the Optical Camo. Once your enemies are in sight, use quickhacks to sneak past them or eliminate them quickly with headshots.

Aim for Headshots

Headshots are key to dealing damage while in stealth. Several weapons have a headshot bonus which can be amplified further with the right perks, allowing you to take down enemies in one shot. Using silent revolvers, you can quickly dispatch foes without them noticing you're already there.

Cripple Enemies With Quickhacks

Assassins can also use quickhacks to their advantage to reduce their enemies' chances of fighting back by blinding and silencing them. Watch out for enemy netrunners when doing so.

Assassin Alternative Builds

Throwing Knives

Most stealth builds rely on eliminating foes through headshots. Throwing Knives can also be effective for this playstyle thanks to making barely any noise and having a large headshot multiplier. This takes a bit more precision compared to using handguns but can be better at scoring large damage while having good synergy with Ninjutsu perks.

For this build, Cool and Intelligence are still important but Reflexes become less so. The ability to throw knives also requires the Dagger Dealer perk while knife cooldown can be managed with Juggler.

Recommended Build
Weapon Type	Knives, Monowire
Quickhacks	Reboot Optics, Cripple Movement, Sonic Shock
Additional Perks	Dagger Dealer, Juggler

Build Attributes
Lv.	Body	Reflex	Tech	Intel	Cool
1	3	5	3	5	6
10	5	7	5	5	9
50	10	18	7	16	20

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