Best Tank Build for Patch 1.6 | Cyberpunk 2077

This is a guide to the Best Tank 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.

Tank Build Overview

Basic Information

Tank Build
Main Attributes	• Body • Cool • Reflexes (for Sandevistan)
Main Perk Trees	• Annihilation (Body) • Athletics (Body) • Cold Blood (Cool) • Ninjutsu (Cool)
Main Weapons / Arm Cyberware	• Defender • Sovereign • Gorilla Arms
Operating System	• Dynalar Sandevistan MK.4 • QianT Sandevistan MK.4

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
• Eliminate crowds of enemies easily • Be a walking bullet sponge thanks to defense and armor buffs	• Not viable for those who prefer playing stealthily • Vulnerable most of the time since you will always be out in the open

Tank Best Attribute Build

Attribute Progression

Allocating points to your Body attribute will raise your health and give you access to perks in Athletics that will further boost your HP and armor, which is the focus of this build.

This also opens up Annihilation perks to add offensive power through the use of Light Machine Guns and Shotguns. Both aspects of the build are then bolstered with perks under Cold Blood.

Lastly, some points are allotted to Reflexes and Intelligence to allow you to fit in cyberwares that increase your defense even more and give you more survivability in gunfights.

Build Attributes
Lv.	Body	Reflex	Tech	Int	Cool
1	6	4	3	3	6
10	11	4	3	3	10
50	20	18	3	10	20

Tank Build Best Perks

Annihilation (Body)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Biathlete	Weapon spread from Shotguns and Light Machine Guns does not increase while moving.
Bloodbath	Dismembering enemies with a Shotgun or Light Machine Gun reduces weapon recoil by 30% for 6 sec. +1 per Perk level.
Bloodrush	Increases movement speed in combat by 5% while carrying a Shotgun or Light Machine Gun.
Bulldozer	Increases Crit Chance with Shotguns and Light Machine Guns by 5%.
Dead Center	Increases damage to torsos from Shotguns and Light Machine Guns by 10%.
Hail of Bullets	Shotguns and Light Machine Guns deal 3% more damage.
Heavy Lead	Shotguns and Light Machine Guns knock back enemies with more force.
Hit the Deck	Increases damage to staggered and knocked-down enemies from Shotguns or Light Machine Guns by 10%.
In Your Face	Reduces reload time of Shotguns and Light Machine Guns by 15%.
Manic	When entering combat, your movement speed increases by 20% for 10 sec.
Massacre	Increases Crit Damage with Shotguns or Light Machine Guns by 10%.
Momentum Shift	Defeating an enemy using a Shotgun or Light Machine Gun increases movement speed by 10% for 10 sec.
Mongoose	Increases Mitigation Chance by 25% while reloading Shotguns and Light Machine Guns. By default, Mitigation grants a chance to reduce any damage taken by 50%.
Poppin' Off	Shotguns have a 25% higher chance of dismembering enemies.
Pump It, Louder!	Reduces recoil of Shotguns and Light Machine Guns by 10%.
Skeet Shooter	Deal 15% more damage to moving targets using Shotguns or Light Machine Guns.
Speed Demon	You deal more damage the faster you're moving.
Unstoppable	Dismembering an enemy using a Shotgun or Light Machine Gun increases fire rate by 10% for 8 sec. Stacks up to 3 times.

The Annihilation perk tree encourages getting close to your targets and showering them with bullets, thanks to the offensive boosts from perks under this tree.

Start with Hail of Bullets and In Your Face at the beginning to power up your early game weapons.

Annihilation Perks

Athletics (Body)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Cardio Cure	Health regenerates 15% faster as you move.
Divided Attention	Allows you to reload weapons while sprinting, sliding and vaulting.
Dog of War	Increases Health regen in combat by 30%.
Epimorphosis	Increases Health regen threshold from 60% to 65% in combat and to 100% out of combat.
Indestructible	Reduces all incoming damage by 10%.
Invincible	Increases max Health by 15%.
Multitasker	Allows you to shoot while sprinting, sliding and vaulting.
Regeneration	Health slowly regenerates during combat.
Steel Shell	Increases Armor by 10%.
Tenacious V	Getting hit does not interrupt Health regeneration.
Wolverine	Health regen activates 20% faster during combat.

The following Athletics perks will increase your health, armor, and survivability to allow you to eat up all the bullets your enemies will fire at you.

Obtain Regeneration and Epimorphosis to boost your health recovery early in the game.

Athletics Perks

Cold Blood (Cool)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Cold and Calculating	Landing a Crit Hit has 50% chance of applying a stack of Cold Blood.
Cold Blood	After defeating an enemy, gain Cold Blood for 7 sec. and increase movement speed by 2%. Stacks up to 1 time. The duration of each additional stack is 1 sec. shorter.
Coldest Blood	Increases max stack amount for Cold Blood by 1.
Coolagulant	Stacks of Cold Blood are removed one by one, not all at once.
Critical Condition	Increases duration of Cold Blood by 25%
Defensive Clotting	Increases Armor by 4% per stack of Cold Blood.
Pain Is An Illusion	While Cold Blood is active, reduces damage taken by 5%.
Rapid Bloodflow	Increase Health regen inside and outside combat by 5% per stack of Cold Blood.
Will to Survive	Increases all Resistances by 3% per stack of Cold Blood.

Like with other offensive builds, Cold Blood perks will help you buff your offense and defense as you kill your enemies during gunfights.

Start with Cold Blood, and branch out to Critical Condition and Defensive Clotting as you progress early in the game.

Cold Blood Perks

Ninjutsu (Cool)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Assassin	Deal 15% more damage to human enemies.
Cheat Death	When your Health drops below 50%, reduce all incoming damage by 50% for 10 sec. Cannot occur more than once per minute.
From The Shadows	Upon entering combat, Crit Chance increases by 10% for 7 sec.
Hasty Retreat	Temporarily boosts movement speed by 50% for 5 sec. when detected by an enemy.

These Ninjutsu perks are not a priority but are rather bonus buffs to help you once you have obtained Annihilation and Cold Blood perks.

You will be able to get these perks under Ninjutsu as you will unlock them while leveling up your Cool attribute to get the necessary cold Blood Perks.

Ninjutsu Perks

Tank Build Best Weapons

Defender

Weapon
Defender
Effect	None

As of Patch 1.6, Defender is one of the two Light Machine Guns available in the game. This weapon has four mod slots and can be bought at Straight Shooters in Watson, although the rarity may vary.

Sovereign

Weapon
Sovereign
Effect	Reduces reload time and bullet spread. Fires two rounds per shot while aiming.

Even though it's your typical double-barrel shotgun, the Sovereign is a devastating weapon to use with this tank build. Get up and close and shred your targets with every shot without worrying about reload speed, as your perks and this weapon's effect will alleviate it.

Tank Build Best Cyberwares

Operating System

Dynalar Sandevistan MK.4

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Dynalar Sandevistan MK.4	Slows time by 25% for 16 sec. Cooldown 30 sec. ・Increases any damage dealt by 15% when Sandevistan is active.[nl・Increases Crit Chance by 15% when Sandevistan is active.

QianT Sandevistan MK.4

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
QianT Sandevistan MK.4	Slows time to 25% for 12 sec. Cooldown 15 sec. ・Increases any damage dealt by 15% when Sandevistan is active. ・Increases Crit Chance by 15% when Sandevistan is active.

The reason why a couple of points are added to your Reflexes attribute is for you to be able to equip Sandevistans. This will allow you to slow down time and pick off targets easily while getting damage and crit buffs while the effect is active.

Arms Cyberware

Gorilla Arms

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Gorilla Arms	Gorilla Arms charge with each attack. When you perform a Strong Attack, they deal bonus damage based on the charge level. Gorilla Arms also allow you to force open locked doors and rip turrets from their bosses. Three mod slot available (kunckles, battery, universe).

Equipping Gorilla Arms as your Arms cyberware will give you a backup weapon to use if you run out of ammo or need some emergency clobbering if you get swarmed by enemies.

This weapon is powered up by your Body attribute so it is chosen to take advantage of the damage buff obtained from leveling up this stat.

Other Cyberwares

Heal-On-Kill

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Heal-on-Kill	Instantly restores 10% Health after defeating an enemy.

Biomonitor

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Biomonitor	Instantly restores 100% Health when Health drops to 15%. Cooldown 120 sec.

Blood Pump

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Blood Pump	Activate to instantly restore 90% of max Health. Cooldown 30 sec.

Second Heart

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Second Heart	Instantly restores 100% of max Health when your Health falls to 0. Cooldown 2 min.

Pain Editor

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Pain Editor	Reduces all incoming damage by 10%.

Subdermal Armor

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Subdermal Armor	Increases Armor by 300.

Synaptic Signal Optimizer

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Synaptic Signal Optimizer	Increases Health by 60%.

The listed cyberwares above fortify your health and defense. You simply shrug off bullets once you're out in the field, as these cyberwares synergize with the build's perks to make you a walking, dominating tank in Night City.

How to Play the Tank Build

Run and Gun

The last few perks under the Annihilation tree encourage you to run around while shooting your targets. This is useful as you don't want to be stationary while fighting.

Take full advantage of the bonus movement speed, damage boost when shooting while moving, and decreased weapon recoil of this build while eliminating your opponents one by one!

Equip Armadillo Mods

To further bolster this build's defense and make yourself even tougher, don't forget to equip Armadillo mods.

These mods stack and the rarer ones give more defense, so keep an eye out for these and equip it once you obtain them!

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