Skill Progression Tier List | Best Skills to Level Up

This is a guide on the best skills to level up in Cyberpunk 2077. Read on to know which skills to prioritize first and what you should to level them up quickly.

Skill Progression

Besides gaining an Attribute and a Perk Point each level up, each Skill Tree has its own level that is maxed out at 20. Each Skill Tree has specific actions in game that award it EXP. Each level have bonuses and reaching level 20 will allow you to unlock the final skill of each Skill Tree.

Each Skill starts level one and as you progress the level of the attribute, you can gain more bonuses that assist your character development. But, which one should you prioritize?

Skill Progression Tier List

Here are the Skill Progression tiers based on their bonuses. Read on to the next section to know why they are ranked as such.

Skill Tree	Progression Tier
Cold Blood
Crafting
Annihilation
Assault
Blades
Handguns
Quickhacks
Breach Protocol
Ninjutsu
Street Brawler
Athletics
Engineering

Skill Progression Tier Reasons

Athletics

How To Level Up: Use melee or range weapons while jumping. Running, sliding, jumping for a long time, as well as force opening doors and grappling will also award some EXP.

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・+160 Carrying Capacity ・+5% Stamina ・+15% Health ・+6% Armor ・+10% Stamina Regen Rate ・+10% Health Regen Rate Outside Combat ・Unlocks last Perk in Athletics
Reason	The bonuses are not that great. Armor can be increased more by leveling up the Technical Ability attribute. The other bonuses are awarded by other Skill Trees as well.

Annihilation

How To Level Up: Defeat enemies and score headshots using Shotguns, LMGs, and HMGs.

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・Unlocks last Perk in Annihilation Bonuses for Shotguns, LMGs and HMGs: ・20% ADS Reduction ・60% Recoil Reduction ・60% Spread Reduction ・+5% Crit Chance ・+20% Crit Damage
Reason	The reduction to ADS, Recoil, and Spread are exceptional and can help make Shotguns, LMGs, and HMGs incredibly deadly.

Street Brawler

How To Level Up: Defeat enemies using your fists or blunt weapons. Blunt Weapons include One-Handed and Two-Handed Clubs, Gorilla Arms, and Monowire.

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・+10% Stamina ・+5% Health ・Unlocks last Perk in Street Brawler Bonuses for fists, Blunt Weapons, and Gorilla Arms: ・+20% Block Damage Reduction ・+15% Attack Speed ・+10% Stamina Cost Reduction ・+10% Crit Damage ・+2% Effective Damage per Second ・+5% Crit Chance
Reason	The reduction to ADS, Recoil, and Spread are exceptional and can help make Shotguns, LMGs, and HMGs incredibly deadly.

Assault

How To Level Up: Defeat enemies and score headshots using Rifles (Assault and Sniper).

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・Unlocks last Perk in Assault Bonuses for all Rifle types and SMGs: ・20% ADS Reduction ・60% Recoil Reduction ・60% Spread Reduction ・+5% Crit Chance ・+15% Crit Damage
Reason	While the bonuses for these are not as felt when using Sniper Rifles, those using SMGs and Assault Rifles like D5 Copperhead will really benefit from the Recoil and Spread Reduction.

Handguns

How To Level Up: Defeat enemies and score headshots using any kind of Handgun (Pistol or Revolvers).

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・Unlocks last Perk in Handguns Bonuses for all Handgun types: ・20% ADS Reduction ・60% Recoil Reduction ・60% Spread Reduction ・+5% Crit Chance ・+15% Crit Damage
Reason	These bonuses are most felt by Revolvers which have a high recoil and makes them even deadlier.

Blades

How To Level Up: Defeat enemies using any kind of blade (Katanas, Long Blades, Knives, or Mantis Blades).

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・+5 Stamina ・Unlocks last Perk in Blades Bonuses for all Blade types: ・+30% Attack Speed ・+20% Stamina Cost Reduction ・+25% Block Damage Reduction ・+5% Effective DPS ・+5% Crit Chance ・+10% Crit Damage
Reason	The bonuses are excellent which helps make blades all that more deadlier. Especially helpful is the attack speed increase which allows you to deal more damage per second.

Crafting

How To Level Up: Crafting and upgrade items. The higher the rarity of the item being crafted, the higher the EXP. Disassembling items also awards some EXP.

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・15% Reduction in Crafting Cost ・30% Reduction in Upgrading Cost ・+15% Chance to Acquire Component From Crafting ・Unlocks Crafting Specs for consumables, weapons, and clothing ・Unlocks Crafting Specs for Rare weapons, weapon mods, and clothing ・Unlocks Crafting Specs for Epic weapons, combat gadgets, and cyberware ・Unlocks Crafting specs for Iconic weapons and clothing ・Unlocks the last perk in the Skill Tree
Reason	The huge decrease in Crafting Cost and Upgrading Cost is a huge advantage to have since they really cost a lot. Free crafting specs are pretty good too.

Engineering

How To Level Up: Defeat enemies using grenades. Defeating enemies using fully charged attacks from Tech weapons also award some EXP.

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points Bonus for Tech Weapons: ・+12% Armor ・-15% Charge Time ・+5% Effective DPS ・+25% Crit Chance ・+5% Thermal Resistance ・Unlocks the last perk in the Skill Tree
Reason	While the bonuses look good, they are specifically for Tech weapons so unless you are gearing towards Tech weapons, the bonuses here are pretty much useless.

Breach Protocol

How To Level Up: Use Breach Protocol on panels and computers.

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・+ 25% Breach Protocol Time ・40% Components Acquired ・+ 2 RAM ・+1 Buffer Extension ・Unlocks the last perk in the Skill Tree
Reason	While the increases are good, There are very few instances wherein you need to have an extended Breach Protocol time. The only good thing in the bonuses here is the 40% increase in Components.

Quickhacking

How To Level Up: Successfully use quickhacks on enemies, machines and turrets

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・+20% Quickhack Duration ・-20% Quickhack Cooldown ・+3 RAM ・Unlocks the last perk in the Skill Tree
Reason	The huge bonus to Quickhack Duration and Cooldown will make quickhacks deadlier. The additional RAM will also prove useful in long fights.

Ninjutsu

How To Level Up: Kill enemies without being detected (via stealth or killing an opponent outside of battle.)

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・+5% Mitigation Chance ・-30% Visibility to Enemies ・+10% Increase Health Regen Rate Outside of Battle ・+5% Movement Speed ・+5% Effective DPS ・Unlocks the last perk in the Skill Tree
Reason	Decreasing visibility is pretty good especially if you are building towards the Stealth one. However, the other bonuses are a bit lacking.

Cold Blood

How To Level Up: Defeat enemies while having Cold Blood activated.

Skill Progression Tier
Total Rewards	・7 Perk Points ・+20% Crit Chance ・+10% Armor ・+10% Stamina ・+10% Health ・+5% All Resistance ・+10% Crit Damage ・+3% Movement Speed ・Unlocks the last perk in the Skill Tree
Reason	The over-all bonuses are not as good as the other skill and perk bonuses. However, it has the largest bonus on Crit Chance and if paired with the Crit bonuses in other skill trees, you can actually get to a whopping +50% Crit Chance.

Cyberpunk 2077 Related Links

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2.0 and Phantom Liberty Guides

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Just for Fun

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