2.1 Best Gorilla Arms Build

This is a guide to the best Update 2.1 Gorilla Arms Build for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Read our guide for details about the build, what attributes to level up, which perks to choose, and what weapons and cyberwares to use.

Gorilla Arms Build Overview

Build Basic Information

Gorilla Arms Build
Main Attributes	Body Technical Ability Reflexes
Arm Cyberware / Secondary Weapon	・Thermal Gorilla Arms ・Guts ・Bloody Maria ・Sovereign / Alabai
Operating System	・Militech Berserk

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Take advantage of powerful punches, devastating superhero landings, and cannonball-like charges with this Gorilla Arms build for Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty. This build changes the way Gorilla Arms is played by incorporating better mobility, both in the ground and air, thanks to perks under Reflexes.

You'll also be naturally bulky with this build's focus on Body and Technical Ability perks which give you higher health and better health regen. This is further improved by equipping cyberware that give you more health, armor, and defense boosts.

The Gorilla Arms' charge mechanic was removed in Update 2.0, but you'll be able to get an improved version of it in Phantom Liberty thanks to several Relic-exclusive skills which also improve its damage output.

Weaknesses

Outside of Quake, Epicenter, and your melee finisher, you'll only be able to focus on beating up a single target with Gorilla Arms most of the time. Although your cyberware will make you tanky, you'll still be under constant fire from your enemies, especially those positioned far away, like snipers and netrunners.

You'll also be vulnerable whenever your healing item and active perks are on cooldown, in which you should find cover while they replenish.

Gorilla Arms Best Attribute Build

Attribute Progression

Build Attributes
Lv.	Body	Reflex	Tech	Intel	Cool
1	6	6	4	3	3
10	15	6	4	3	3
50	20	20	20	3	8
60	20	20	20	3	18

The max level is only up until 50 in the base game. Purchase Phantom Liberty to reach level 60.

This build is centered around the perks you can get from the melee tree under the Body attribute, which is maxed out first in order to get the most important ones right away, besides getting extra HP and health regen.

Once maxed out, you can then branch out to Reflexes and Technical Ability to get mobility perks like Air Dash and stat boosts to your equipped cyberware.

The remaining points, including the ten extra points from the raised level cap in Phantom Liberty, are used on Cool to get more crit damage.

Gorilla Arms Build Best Perks

This is the full list of perks that you can get if you achieve the maximum level 60 with the Phantom Liberty DLC. Optional perks are also listed in their own section in case you have not purchased the DLC.

Jump to Each Attribute for Their Perks!
Body	Technical Ability	Reflexes
Optional Perks

Body Attribute

Body holds every melee-related perk, which makes it the main attribute of this build and is maxed out first as you level up.

Initially, you'll be using Gorilla Arms normally. But once you get Wrecking Ball, you'll be able to charge towards your targets with a chance to knock them down if you collide with them.

Halfway through the perk tree, you'll have access to Quake which gives you a way to deal area-of-effect damage. This is further improved by Epicenter, a perk that lets you smash the ground if you use Quake while you are in the air. This is used in conjunction with the Air Dash perk under Reflexes for aerial mobility and equipping Reinforced Tendons to get double jump so you can easily get some height before using the skill.

You will also be getting the Savage Sling finisher, which lets you throw a low health enemy towards another and deal damage upon impact.

The other tree under Body revolves around health regen perks and Adrenaline Rush, which gives you extra health if you use the Blood Pump cyberware.

If you have Phantom Liberty, the level cap will be raised to level 60 and you'll be able to get ten additional perk points. You can allocate these points to shotgun perks, like Die! Die! Die! and Spontaneous Obliteration, to slightly power up your secondary weapon.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Painkiller (1 pt)	Dorph-Head Comeback Kid Speed Junkie Army of One
Die! Die! Die! (2 pt)	Bullet Ballet Don't Stop Me Now Like a Feather
Wrecking Ball (2 pt)	Kinetic Absorption Breakthrough Clapback Fly Swatter
Spontaneous Obliteration (3 pt)	Rush of Blood
Adrenaline Rush (3 pt)	Juggernaut Unstoppable Force Calm Mind
Quake (3 pt)	Epicenter Aftershock

Final Perks

Final Perks
Finisher: Savage Sling	Pain to Gain

Cross-Branch Perk

Perk	Requirement
Bloodlust	Rush of Blood Juggernaut
Ripple Effect	Calm Mind Aftershock

Get this perk when you have specific secondary perks unlocked.

Technical Ability Attribute

After the 2.0 update, you can no longer spam health items to heal as these are now locked behind cooldowns per use, which warranted the need of some perks under the reworked Technical Ability tree to be included in this build.

The Glutton for War and Health Freak perks improve health item usage and will also lower its cooldown. These two will also benefit from buffs received from Adrenaline Rush perks, which is under the Body attribute.

For cyberwares, the Edgerunner and its connected perks will improve all of your equipped cyberwares. Edgerunner also has a chance to activate Fury, which will make you deal even more damage and can be used with your equipped Berserk.

Pyromania perks, on the other hand, improve grenade usage. You can take advantage of these perks if you constantly throw grenades to deal additional damage.

Both perk trees will merge with the Ticking Time Bomb perk, which incentivizes using your Berserk cyberware.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Glutton for War (1 pt)	First Aid Transfusion
Health Freak (2 pt)	Borrowed Time Field Medic Demolitions Surplus Coming In Hot
All Things Cyber (2 pt)	Chrome Constitution Renaissance Punk Driver Update Chipware Connoisseur Lucky Day
Pyromania (3 pt)	Friendlier Fire Burn This City Heat Shield Flash Sale
License to Chrome (3 pt)	Extended Warranty Built Different

Final Perks

Final Perks
Edgerunner	Ticking Time Bomb

Reflexes Attribute

For this build, the most important perk under Reflexes is Air Dash, as this is used to execute the Quake and Epicenter area-of-effect combo that drastically changes the way Gorilla Arms is played.

The other perks generally improve your mobility, which you need to be able to quickly reach other enemies.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Slippery (1 pt)	Power Slide Parkour!
Dash (2 pt)	Steady Grip Can't Touch This Mad Dash Mean Streak
Air Dash (3 pt)	Aerodynamic Aerial Acrobat

Final Perks

Final Perks
Tailwind

Optional Perks

If you still have not purchased the Phantom Liberty DLC and have no access to the 10 additional perk points that came with it, these perks are optional and can be removed.

Removable Perks (10 pts)
Die! Die! Die!	Like a Feather
Don't Stop Me Now	Bullet Ballet
Spontaneous Obliteration	Rush of Blood
Bloodlust	--

Gorilla Arms Build Relic Skill Priority

Take Jailbreak and Limiter Removal First

Priority	Main Skill	→	Branch Skill
1st	Jailbreak	→	Limiter Removal
2nd	Vulnerability Analytics	→	Machine Learning

Gorilla Arms gets its own set of Relic-exclusive skills under Jailbreak and Limiter Removal, which are the top ones to get after getting it in Phantom Liberty.

Jailbreak brings back the charge mechanic to your equipped Gorilla Arms, which you can build up by attacking. Once charged, using a strong attack will deal massive damage and create a shockwave which staggers nearby enemies. If you have the Breakthrough perk, you'll even reduce your target's armor if you hit them with a strong attack.

Once you get Limiter Removal, the shockwave caused by a charged-up strong attack will now knock down anyone within range, giving you more breathing room and a window to follow up with a ground or aerial Quake.

After obtaining the initial skills, you can then get Vulnerability Analytics and Machine Learning. These will highlight enemy weakspots that you can hit to deal bonus damage.

Relic Skill Tree Available in the DLC

Please take note that the Phantom Liberty expansion is needed to access the Relic Skill Tree.

Relic Skill Tree Guide and List

Gorilla Arms Build Recommended Weapons

Base Game Only

Recommended Weapons (Base Game only)
Guts	Bloody Maria	Sovereign

• Shotguns like Guts, Bloody Maria, and Sovereign are great side weapons for Gorilla Arms. These are very effective against enemies up close, which you'll always be as you are using a melee weapon.

Base Game + Phantom Liberty

Recommended Weapons (with Phantom Liberty)
Guts	Bloody Maria	Alabai

• Guts and Bloody Maria still fit this build, especially after getting shotgun perks with the additional points from Phantom Liberty.
• You can replace Sovereign with Alabai once you get it from an airdrop in Dogtown. This gun deals bonus damage on burning enemies, which you can inflict with Alabai or with your Thermal Gorilla Arms.

Gorilla Arms Build Best Cyberwares

Jump to a Cyberware section!
Operating System		Face		Circulatory System		Legs
Frontal Cortex		Arms		Skeleton		Nervous System
Integumentary System

Operating System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Militech Berserk	When active: Invulnerable to damage, cannot use items, Melee weapons only, +30% attack speed, -100% stamina cost, +20% movement speed, Increased damage at low health. When it ends: +25% Health for each enemy neutralized.

A Berserk is the main cyberware for melee weapons which gives you several buffs when activated. Use this when you have low health and out of Blood Pump charges.

If you're lucky, you may be able to get Fury from the Edgrunner perk before activating Berserk, which lets you deal even more damage and is very useful against bosses.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Face

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Kiroshi "The Oracle" Optics	Effect active when scanning: Highlights enemies within 17.5 m.including enemies behind cover. Highlights cameras and turrets within 35m. Highlights explosive devices and traps near your crosshair within 26m.

The Oracle variant of a Kiroshi Optics lets you track enemies, which is useful to keep track of who to kill next.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Circulatory System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Adrenaline Booster	Stamina +23% whenever you use a melee weapon to neutralize an enemy.
Blood Pump	Activate to instantly restore 90% of max Health. Cooldown 30 sec.
Microrotors	Increase melee attack speed by 23%. (Melee attack speed cannot exceed 2 attacks per second.)

Blood Pump is another key cyberware for this build, as this will activate Adrenaline Rush and all of its effects, apart from it being your main healing item.

Adrenaline Booster will give you stamina whenever you kill an enemy, which you need to be able to attack more.

Lastly, Microrotors will let you attack faster, which are important for melee builds.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Legs

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Reinforced Tendons	Press Space Bar in midair to perform a double jump.

Reinforced Tendons enable double jumping, which you can use to get more height for the Air Dash, Quake, and Epicenter combo.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Frontal Cortex

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Mechatronic Core	+35% damage against drones, robots, mechs and turrets. +2 Max RAM.
Newton Module	-1.25% Cooldown instantly for all cyberware after neutralizing an enemy.

Newton Module will decrease Berserk's cooldown whenever you kill an target, which is useful when you are fighting several enemies and you're always at low health.

Mechatronic Core will let you deal more damage against robots, which you will encounter as you progress through the game.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Arms

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Thermal Gorilla Arms	+6 to Body Attribute checks. Deal Physical damage. 20% Burn chance

Your main weapon for this build are your Gorilla Arms. Equip the Thermal variant for a chance to burn your target and deal damage over time.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Skeleton

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Bionic Joints	Armor - Simple but effective.
Dense Marrow	+24% melee damage +15% melee Stamina cost
Epimorphic Skeleton	+13% Max Health

Dense Marrow improves your melee playstyle by increasing the damage you deal and decreasing stamina costs for each punch. The other two cyberware are chipped in to get extra health and armor.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Nervous System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Adrenaline Booster	Stamina +23% whenever you use a melee weapon to neutralize an enemy.
Neofiber	+10% Mitigation Chance, +9% Mitigation Strength Mitigation grants a chance to reduce incoming damage by current Mitigation Strength (default: 50%).

Adrenaline Booster is useful everytime you kill an enemy as you'll recover some stamina, which you'll be constantly using as you attack.

Neofiber is equipped to get additional defense stats.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Integumentary System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Carapace	+32% Armor effectiveness when attacked from the side or rear. +0.5 Armor per Attribute Point. +1.3% Bonus Ricochet Damage +1.3% Decreased enemy vision
Cellular Adapter	+1% explosion resistance '+0.5% Tech weapon damage +0.5% Health item recharge speed +0.5% grenade recharge speed +13 Carrying Capacity +2.6 Health
Nano-Plating	7% chance to block an incoming projectile. +100% bonus chance after performing a dodge or Dash. This bonus lasts 1.7 sec. or until the next projectile is blocked, whichever comes first. Cannot block more than 3 projectiles in a 5 sec. span. +0.2 headshot and weakspot damage per Attribute Point. +1.3% Bonus Ricochet Damage +1.3% Decreased enemy vision

Since you are using a melee weapon, you'll only be able to deal with a single target most of the time while still being shot at from everywhere. The Carapace cyberware will help decrease the damage you take from your side and rear as you attack an enemy in front of you.

Cellular Adapter, which you can only equip if you have the Built Different perk under Technical Abilty, gives you quicker health item and grenade recharge, as well as some additional health.

Nano-Plating can be used to deflect bullets while dashing, which you can use for quick sidesteps if you don't want to charge with Wrecking Ball.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

How to Play the Gorilla Arms Build

Use Quake and Epicenter Combo

The Quake and Epicenter perks are a game-changer for melee builds, and you should use it either as an opening attack or as a way to easily damage a group of enemies.

Find a high place, double jump towards your target, and use Quake midair to execute a superhero landing.

This can easily take out several enemies in a single attack, and you can even get extra health and stamina for each enemy hit with if you have the perks Ripple Effect and Aftershock.

Charge Towards Enemies with Wrecking Ball

Sprinting is a thing of the past for Gorilla Arms as you can now charge towards enemies with the Wrecking Ball perk. Use this to close the gap to your next target or simply run around and knock down everyone as you go.

You will receive less damage while charging with the Fly Swatter and Kinetic Absorption perks, as well as some defense boosts from cyberwares.

Use Savage Sling Finisher

The Savage Sling finisher is useful not only against the enemy you're about to kill, but also to a group of enemies from far away as this can potentially wipe them out once you throw the body, leaving you with less targets to deal with.

Activate Berserk on Low Health

Once your health is low, activate Berserk and go all out with your attacks. You will get several stat boosts and won't take damage while Berserk is active, so try to kill as many enemies as possible or use the time to focus on bosses.

Once you have the Ticking Time Bomb perk under the Technical Ability tree, you'll also cause an EMP blast three seconds after activating Berserk, dealing additional damage to enemies near you.

Bring a Shotgun

As a melee-focused build, there may be times that you'll get overwhelmed by a lot of enemies surrounding you. Your Gorilla Arms won't always be effective against large groups of enemies, so always bring a shotgun so you can easily clear out the crowd.

If you have Phantom Liberty and reach level 60, you can allocate extra perk points to get shotgun perks under the Body tree to improve its damage output.

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