This is Game8's starter guide to Cyberpunk 2077. Learn everything you need to know to get into the game, and best tips and strategies for starting out on the right foot.
List of Contents
In the sections below, we'll answer your burning questions, like whether you should buy weapons at stores, how to make money fast, what difficulty setting you should choose, and more.
If you're looking for useful advice for first-time players, but don't want the story spoiled and want room to think for yourself, this simple guide will answer your basic questions.
As long as you're playing on Normal Mode or below, the weapons your enemies drop which fall on the high-DPS end of the spectrum will be enough to carry you through the main story.
It's better to save your money for expensive Cyberware and Vehicles, so you're better off avoiding buying weapons at a store.
You'll find weapons which are just as capable or even moreso by simply completing Quests.
There's no real reason to use anything but the clothing with the highest Armor bonus. Just like weapons, save the ones you find with high Armor and sell the weaker ones for quick cash.
The best currently-known methods for getting money are selling your recovered weapons and completing Side Jobs.
As long as you don't make too many excessive purchases, simply selling the equipment you pick up from defeated enemies will be enough for making it through the main story.
Although the battle-focused stats such as Body and Reflexes grant useful boosts, there's few cases where you'll have a seriously hard time proceeding just because these stats are too low. In general, you can get similar boosts by simply finding weapons and equipment with better stats.
Intelligence and Technical Ability, on the other hand, provide bonuses that can't be obtained otherwise. Intelligence will let you use Quickhacks on almost any computer, while 6 points in Technical Ability is enough to allow you disarm mines when the option appears.
Other than that, it's good to keep a few Attribute Points on hand – you never know when you'll suddenly need a boost in a specific Attribute.
Perks which provide quality of life improvements like Pack Mule, which increases carrying capacity by 60, and True Grit, which increases max Stamina by 30%, are the highest priority to get at the start.
After that, it's fine to buy Perks which best match your playstyle.
How to Get Perk Points Quickly
On your first run-through of the game, it's best to learn the ropes with an easier difficulty setting. It's possible to change the difficulty setting at any time during the story, so if you find that you're ready to up the ante, you can always crank up the dial later on.
Overly high difficulty can impede players' ability to appreciate the story on their first time experiencing it, so it's better not to push it.
Difficulty Settings and How to Change
Despite all the hype about the three possible Lifepaths, this decision only changes the first Quest of the game and one Side Quest specific for each Lifepath. The Side Quest do not offer much in terms of story but does have some rewards with one Lifepath having an exclusive car.
Other than that, there are some extra conversation choices based on your Lifepath which have no effect on the overall story. In short, your Lifepath does not affect the main story in any significant way, so feel free to choose whichever you like.
Sometimes, you will be chased by police - either because you fought in public, entered a cordoned-off area, or some other reason. When this happens, you'll simply need to get as far away as possible and wait until the red coloring on the Map disappears.
You'll get a Star when you commit a crime, and if you commit a crime when you already have a Star, the number of Stars will increase and it will become even harder to resolve the issue. Try to lay low and avoid getting even deeper into hot water.
If the police are chasing you after simply killing a criminal targeted in a Quest, it's likely that an unrelated innocent person got caught up in the gunfire, or hit by a grenade.
This can be a nuisance, so it's better to use melee weapons in town to decrease the risk of this occurring.
Although the first-person view is the default for driving, it's easier when switching to the third-person view.
The R2 button (on PS4) will allow you to adjust your speed depending on how much your push the button down. If you go too fast, you'll go out of control when turning, so keep at a reasonable speed and you'll be able to navigate more easily.
Ripperdocs can be found in each District, each of which will sell a specific set of Cyberware. You can find Ripperdocs by looking at the in-game Map, so try hopping to a few Ripperdocs and see what's on the menu.
Ripperdoc Locations and Cyberware List
That's it for our Beginner's Guide and FAQ for Cyberpunk 2077. Of course, there's much more detail possible on each of these points, but as long as you have these basics down pat, you'll be able to enjoy the game without significant problems.
If there are any questions you would really like answered that we missed in our guide, leave us a comment and we'll get back to you with the answer!
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