Best Cold Blood Build for Update 1.6

This is a guide to the Best Cold Blood Build back in Update 1.6 of Cyberpunk 2077. Read our guide for details about the build, what attributes to level up, which perks to choose, and what weapons and cyberwares to use.

Cold Blood Build is Obsolete in Update 2.0

With all the changes introduced in Update 2.0, the Cold Blood build is now obsolete. Please check out all the other equally awesome builds here:

Update 2.0 Best Builds

Cold Blood Build Overview

Build Basic Information

Strengths and Weaknesses

Cold Blood Best Attribute Build

Attribute Progression

Cold Blood falls under the Cool attribute, so naturally, we'll want to level it up more to take advantage of its perks earlier. Cold Blood also works with all kinds of weapon types, so we'll put some points into Reflexes to improve weapon effectiveness and Body to help with survivability. Adding points in Technical Ability allows the crafting of Epic weapons. You may swap Body and Tech if you want Legendary weapons in exchange for some bulk.

Cold Blood Build Best Perks

Cold Blood (Cool)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Merciless	While Cold Blood is active, increases Crit Chance by 5% and Crit Damage by 25%. +1% Crit Chance and +3% Crit Damage per Perk level.
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.
Will to Survive	Increases all Resistances by 3% per stack of Cold Blood.
Blood Brawl	While Cold Blood is active, increases damage with melee weapons by 5%.
Frosty Synapses	Reduces quickhack cooldowns by 3% per stack of Cold Blood.
Easy Out	While Cold Blood is active, increases ranged weapon damage by 10% to enemies within an area of 5 m.
Rapid Bloodflow	Increase Health regen inside and outside combat by 5% per stack of Cold Blood.
Defensive Clotting	Increases Armor by 4% per stack of Cold Blood.
Frozen Precision	Increases headshot damage by 5% per stack of Cold Blood.
Coolagulant	Stacks of Cold Blood are removed one by one, not all at once.
Icy Veins	Reduces weapon recoil by 3% per stack of Cold Blood.
Predator	Increases attack speed by 10% per stack of Cold Blood.
Quick Transfer	Reduces quickhack upload time by 2% per stack of Cold Blood.
Cold and Calculating	Landing a Crit Hit has 50% chance of applying a stack of Cold Blood.
Pain Is An Illusion	While Cold Blood is active, reduces damage taken by 5%.
Critical Condition	Increases duration of Cold Blood by 25%
Coldest Blood	Increases max stack amount for Cold Blood by 1.
Immunity	Grants immunity to Bleeding, Poison, Burn, and Shock when at least 4 stack(s) of Cold Blood are active.
Bloodswell	Upon receiving lethal damage while Cold Blood is active, prevents death, consumes all stacks of Cold Blood, restoring 10% Health per stack and grants Damage Immunity for 5 sec. Player cannot gain Cold Blood while perk is active. Cooldown 15 sec.

The star of the build. All the perks in the Cold Blood tree help make the status better, turning you into an unstoppable force the more you invest in it. Coldest Blood, Coolagulant, and Critical Condition all help ensure that the bonuses are maximized during combat. Perks like Cold and Calculating and Merciless encourage dealing critical hits, requiring fewer kills to stack Cold Blood.

Blades (Reflexes)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Sting Like a Bee	Increases attack speed with Blades by 10%.
Slow and Steady	Moving while wielding a Blade increases Armor by 15%
Blessed Blade	Increases Crit Chance with Blades by 10%.
Float Like a Butterfly	Dodging increases damage with Blades by 25% for 5 sec.
Judge, Jury and Executioner	Increases damage with Blades by 50% against enemies with max Health.
Deathbolt	While wielding a Blade, defeating an enemy restores 20% Health and increases movement speed by 30% for 5 sec.

As the build has a hybrid approach, we'll get some perks from the Blades tree. We'll primarily go for perks like Blessed Blade and Judge, Jury and Executioner to improve the damage of Katanas and the Monowire.

Handguns (Reflexes)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Gunslinger	Reduces reload time for Pistols and Revolvers by 10%.
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%.
Steady Hand	Reduces Pistol and Revolver recoil by 30%.
A Fistful of Eurodollars	Increases Crit Damage with Pistols and Revolvers by 15%.
High Noon	When Deadeye is active: +35% reload speed for your next reload after neutralizing an enemy via headshot or weak spot. Effect available for 3 sec. Slows time by 50% during reload.
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.

For ranged weapons, Handguns are our weapons of choice to pair with blades. Take perks that boost damage like Desperado and Rio Bravo then add perks that will make it easier to use the Handguns such as Gunslinger and On the Fly.

Athletics (Body)

Perk	Effect at Lv. 1
Regeneration	Health slowly regenerates during combat.
Divided Attention	Allows you to reload weapons while sprinting, sliding and vaulting.
Multitasker	Allows you to shoot while sprinting, sliding and vaulting.
Epimorphosis	Increases Health regen threshold from 60% to 65% in combat and to 100% out of combat.
Steel And Chrome	Increases melee damage by 10%.
Invincible	Increases max Health by 15%.
Tenacious V	Getting hit does not interrupt Health regeneration.
Steel Shell	Increases Armor by 10%.

Cold Blood relies on assaulting your foes head-on so getting perks that make sure you don't flatline will prove useful. Aim to get the Regeneration perk first for passive healing during combat and movement perks like Divided Attention and Multitasker so you can shoot and reload while moving. Steel and Chrome is also worth it for boosting your melee damage.

Cold Blood Build Best Weapons

Satori

Effect	Reduces base damage, but increases Crit Damage 5 times.

The Satori is a critical damage monster, making it suitable for slicing down enemies quickly to keep Cold Blood up.

How to Get the Satori

Lizzie

Effect	Fires an extra round per shot. Further increases the number of rounds fired when fully charged.

The Lizzie is one of the best pistols in the game thanks to firing four rounds a shot, dealing heavy damage to opponents you can't immediately cut down with a Katana. With a pistol, you'll still be able to get kills from afar to maintain your stacks of Cold Blood.

How to Get the Lizzie

Cold Blood Build Best Cyberwares

Operating System

Militech Berserk MK.5

Cyberware

Effect (Legendary/Iconic)

Militech Berserk MK.5

When active, It reduces weapon recoil by 15%, increases melee damage by 15%, and increases Armor and Resistances by 10%. Duration: 60 sec. Cooldown: 60 sec. ・While Berserk is active, jumping from a high height initiates a Superhero Landing, causing you to fall at high speed and land with enough force to create a shockwave that damages nearby enemies. ・Defeating enemies restores 5% max Health when Berserk is active. ・Gain 40% more max Health and Stamina when Berserk is active.

The Militech Berserk gives several bonuses that complement well with Cold Blood such as increased damage and defense. It also lasts longer compared to other Berserks, making it ideal against large groups.

Militech Falcon Sandevistan MK.5

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary/Iconic)
Militech "Falcon" Sandevistan MK.5	Slows time by 30% for 18 sec. Cooldown 60 sec. ・Increases any damage dealt by 15% when Sandevistan is active. ・Increases Crit Chance by 20% and Crit Damage by 20% when Sandevistan is active.

The Militech Falcon Sandevistan is best used with Blades to avoid slow reloads with most guns. The increase in Crit Chance also works well with the Satori to make sure it crits more often in slowed time.

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).

The Monowire is also affected by the Blades tree and has a longer reach compared to Katanas, making it a decent complement to the build.

Other Cyberwares

Heal-on-Kill

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

Heal-on-Kill not only helps a lot with staying alive but can also increase your DPS as you'll be spending more time killing and less time healing.

Pain Editor

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

The Pain Editor grants increased bulk as it reduces damage dealt to you. Like Heal-on-Kill, you'll have to worry less about flatlining during combat.

Optical Camo

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

Sometimes things will get hairy, and you'll need to retreat quickly. The Optical Camo can help you escape unnoticed. You can also use its invisibility to find an opening to take down your opponents.

Bioconductor

Cyberware	Effect (Legendary)
Bioconductor	Reduces all cyberware cooldowns by 30%.

The Militech Berserk and Optical Camo are both useful, but they have relatively long cooldowns. Equip a Bioconductor if you need to use these more often.

How to Play the Cold Blood Build

Keep Killing Enemies

Cold Blood only triggers when you either kill enemies or land a crit with Cold and Calculating. While you can learn perks to help extend its duration, the best way to maintain Cold Blood and all its buffs is to keep on the offensive and be aggressive.

Switch Between Weapons Wisely

To ensure that you'll be able to keep Cold Blood up, the build has both ranged and melee options so you can kill from any distance. Make sure to switch your weapons as needed to maximize the buffs.

Cold Blood Alternative Builds

Merciless Critical Hit Build

Merciless can be stacked several times to give most weapons a very high, if not 100%, Crit Chance under Cold Blood. This build exchanges Handguns and Tech for Intelligence to take advantage of the Legendary Short Circuit's passive ability to deal Electric Damage on Crit Hits, significantly increasing damage. Critical Error also affects this, requiring our Intelligence to be 16. For ranged attacks, this alternative uses the Stinger as a Throwing Knife instead.

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