This is a guide to the best Update 2.1 Mantis Blades Build in 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.

Mantis Blades Build Overview

Build Basic Information

Blades Build
Main Attributes	Reflexes Body Technical Ability Cool
Main Arm Cyberware / Weapons	・Mantis Blades ・ Guts ・ Archangel / Her Majesty ・ Defender
Operating System	・Militech “Apogee” Sandevistan

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Though this build is not as flashy and fast as the Blades build, the Mantis Blades build boasts its flexibility. Having the main weapon on a Cyberware slot opens up the possibility of having multiple weapons ready as a backup.

This build is also quite stealthy, making use of some perks that promote stealth gameplay.

Weaknesses

Like the Blades build, the Mantis Blades requires the player to jump in face-to-face with an enemy, so they will inevitably soak up a lot of damage. This may not be very effective against high HP enemies like bosses.

Also since we are using a Sandevistan, note that V won't have access to any quickhacks in this build.

Mantis Blades Best Attributes

Attribute Progession

Build Attributes
Lv.	Body	Reflex	Tech	Intel	Cool
1	6	6	4	3	3
10	9	9	7	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.

When starting out, add points to Reflexes first. The Mantis Blades is affected by the Blades perk tree, so aim to maximize that tree as much as possible.

Next is putting more points on Body to ensure survivability in head-to-head fights. The Adrenaline Rush tree here is a godsend for melee builds like for the Mantis Blades.

Put some Atributes on Technical Ability to get access to the Edgerunner perk. Perks found on the tree are also helpful in increasing your overall cyberware capacity.

Some points will also be allotted for Cool so players can have access to the Optical Camo perks. This helps a lot especially during fights.

Mantis Blades 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!
Reflexes	Body	Technical Ability	Cool
Optional Perks

Reflexes Attribute

Most Reflexes perks for this build give you mobility options as you dash in and out of battle. Dash will help you easily cut the distance between you and an enemy or give you the capability to jump out of battle when low on health.

Air Dash, on the other hand, will help you leap across platforms or buildings to more easily access enemies.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Slippery (1 pt)	Power Slide Parkour! Muscle Memory Multitasker
Dash (2 pt)	Steady Grip Can't Touch This Mad Dash Mean Streak
Lead and Steel (2 pt)	Bullet Deflect Bullet Time Seeing Double
Finisher: Bladerunner (3 pt)	Going the Distance Opportunist Flash of Steel
Air Dash (3 pt)	Aerodynamic Aerial Acrobat

Final Perks

Final Perks
Slaughterhouse	Tailwind

Cross-Branch Perk

Perk	Requirement
Flash and Thunderclap	Mad Dash Seeing Double

Get this perk when you have specific secondary perks unlocked.

Body Attribute

Points are also invested in Body to promote maximum defense, and health regeneration. This is also where we add perks that improve the performance of Shotgun-type weapons.

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
Adrenaline Rush (3 pt)	Juggernaut Unstoppable Force Calm Mind
Spontaneous Obliteration (3 pt)	Rush of Blood Dread Close-Quarters Carnage Skullcracker

Final Perks

Final Perks
Rip and Tear	Pain to Gain

Cross-Branch Perk

Perk	Requirement
Bloodlust	Rush of Blood Juggernaut

Get this perk when you have specific secondary perks unlocked.

Technical Ability Attribute

Perks from Technical Ability allows you to increase your cyberware capacity which also increases your overall armor and health.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
All Things Cyber (2 pt)	Chrome Constitution Renaissance Punk
License to Chrome (3 pt)	Extended Warranty

Final Perks

Final Perks
Edgerunner

Cool Attribute

This attribute focuses on giving V access to Optical Camo perks which can help them survive fights by going invisible mid-battle then pouncing again from the shadows. Some points are also put on the Pistol tree to improve Pistol performance.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Feline Footwork (1 pt)	Blind Spot
Focus (2 pt)	Main Perk Only
Deadeye (3 pt)	Main Perk Only
Ninjutsu (3 pt)	Serpentine Creeping Death Vanishing Act Shinobi Sprint

Vehicle Perk

Vehicle Perk
Road Warrior

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. We also included replacement perks in case the removed perks' value go beyond 10 points.

Removable Perks (12 pts)
Deadeye	Ninjutsu
Focus	Vanishing Act
Creeping Death	Serpentine
Vanishing Act	--
Replacement Perks (2 pts)
Killer Instinct	Quick Getaway

Mantis Blades Build Relic Skill Priority

Take Jailbreak then Spatial Mapping

Priority	Main Skill	→	Branch Skill
1st	Jailbreak	→	Spatial Mapping
2nd	Emergency Cloaking	→	Sensory Protocol
3rd	Vulnerability Analytics	→	Machine Learning

Mantis Blades would want to take the Relic that directly improves it which is Jailbreak and Spatial Mapping. Jailbreak basically enhances Mantis Blades' leaping attacks that can even reach snipers' nests.

Afterwards, go for Emergency Cloaking and Sensory Protocol to improve on your Optical Camo capabilities. You can even use it mid-fight to confuse enemies.

Lastly, Vulnerability Analytics and Machine Learning is a general-purpose Relic skill that exposes weakspot on enemies that you can use to your advantage.

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

Mantis Blades Build Recommended Weapons

Base Game Only

Recommended Weapons (Base Game only)
Guts	Archangel	Defender

• Guts is one of the best iconic shotguns in the game, and it is pretty easy to get too!
• The Archangel is the base game choice for a pistol-type weapon as it can be slotted with a scope and silencer, perfect for stealth headshots.
• Lastly, the Defender is a general purpose Light Machine Gun in case you need to mow down a group of enemy! It is also fairly common to get so you most likely have this in your inventory.

Base Game + Phantom Liberty

Recommended Weapons (with Phantom Liberty)
Guts	Her Majesty	Defender

• Guts stays as our recommended shotgun for the build, and you don't even have to enter Dogtown to get this beauty!
• Her Majesty replaces Archangel for the recommended Pistol in this build. This can be obtained during Phantom Liberty's story though, so use Archangel until you reach that point.
• The Defender is still our recommended LMG for this build as it's easier to get than iconics.

Mantis Blades Build Best Cyberware

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

Operating System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Militech "Apogee" Sandevistan	Press L1 and R1 to activate and deactivate. It can be activated at any charged level. When active: Slows time by 85% (you are not slowed) +10% headshot damage +9% Crit Chance +13% Crit Damage Neutralizing an enemy when active gives: +20% extended duration +22% Stamina Max Duration: 8 sec. Cooldown: 30 sec.

Equipping this time slow Sandevistan allows you to dash between multiple enemies with ease. Start by jumping to a group of enemies then picking them off one by one. If they start to inevitably swarm you, activate the Sandevistan.

This specific Sandevistan can also be activated at any charge level, so try to activate and deactivate it in the middle of fights to manage its charge levels.

Alternative: Militech Falcon Sandevistan

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Militech "Falcon" Sandevistan	When active: Slows time by 70% (you are not slowed), +10% damage, +10% Crit Chance, +5% Crit Damage. Neutralizing an enemy when active gives: +10% extended duration, +5% Health. Max Duration: 9 sec., Cooldown: 35 sec.

A good alternative to the Apogee, in case you missed it during the Riders On the Storm mission, as this can be bought in Ripperdocs all over Night City.

▲ 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 is a variant of Kiroshi Optics that lets you track enemies, cameras, and turrets near you. You can use this to identify the positioning of all enemies and plan your path along an area.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Hands

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Shock Absorber	-20% Recoil

Shotguns have inherently high recoil, so we'd want to slot in Shock Absorber to reduce the overall recoil from such huge weapon.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Circulatory System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Adrenaline Booster	Stamina +23% whenever you use a melee weapon to neutralize an enemy.
Biomonitor	Automatically heals you with your Health Item when your Health drops below 35%. +14% Health Item effectiveness.
Threatevac	Movement speed +25% when your Health drops to 25%. The more your health drops, the more movement speed increases (max. +35%).

Both Blood Pump and Threatevac help with your overall survival during fights especially when facing a large group of enemies.

Adrenaline Booster enables you to maintain your stamina while slashing through hoards of enemies.

▲ 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 is a valuable positioning move that lets you reach higher places, helping you get away or giving you a better vantage point. Do note that you can combine double jumps with air dashes, which lets you zip across areas easily.

This also makes effective use of the Flash and Thunderclap perk as jumping around basically creates greater distance between you and the enemy, resulting in increased damage when you leap to attack.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Frontal Cortex

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Newton Module	-1.25% Cooldown instantly for all cyberware after neutralizing an enemy.

Equipping Newton Module further improves Cyberware cooldowns - very important to maintain your Sandevistan's uptime.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Arms

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Mantis Blades	+6.2% Bonus Stealth Damage +3.1% Melee Damage.

The Mantis Blades are your main weapon for this build. The base variant of Mantis Blades fits well as they deal increased melee damage overall.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Skeleton

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Dense Marrow	+24% melee damage +15% melee Stamina cost
Para Bellum	+12% Armor
Scar Coalescer	+22% Armor when below 50% Health.

For Skeleton cyberwares, we focused mainly on improving V's overall defense. Dense Marrow is added to bolster this build's overall damage with the cost of some extra stamina.

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Nervous System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Adrenaline Converter	+40% movement speed for 7 sec. when entering combat.
Neofiber	+10% Mitigation Chance, +9% Mitigation Strength Mitigation grants a chance to reduce incoming damage by current Mitigation Strength (default: 50%).
Stabber	+16.75% Crit Chance with Blades and throwable weapons.

Both Adrenaline Converter and Stabber improve your overall damage and movement speed in battle.

We also added the Neofiber cyberware to improve your overall survivability during battle.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

Integumentary System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Optical Camo	-90% visibility to enemies for 7 sec., making it more difficult for them to detect you outside of combat and hit you during combat. Cooldown: 50 sec.
Proxishield	The closer an attacking enemy is, the less damage they deal to you. -20% incoming damage at 3 m. Damage reduction tapers off to 0% at 6 m. +0.5 Health per Attribute Point. +2.1% Melee Damage Resistance +2.5% Melee Damage
Subdermal Armor	+0.5 Armor per Attribute Point. +1.3% Decreased enemy vision +2.6 Health

All of the cyberwares listed above aim to improve V's overall survivability in fights. Optical Camo enables you to go invisible mid fight to confuse enemies.

▲ Back to Cyberwares ▲

How to Play the Mantis Blades

Keep Dashing, Keep Slashing

Similar to using the Blades, the key to surviving with Mantis Blades is to not let your enemies pin you down in one location. Keep moving and cut through each enemy one by one - leaping from one to the next. Make use of the improved Dashing perks to go in or out of battle when necessary.

Use Leap Effectively

With the addition of dashing-related perks, mobility using Bladed weapons such as the Mantis Blades is so much better than before. You can either use the improved mobility to pick each enemy one by one or dash away so you can recover your health. It's all about choosing the best time to strike and retreat.

Manage Your Stamina Effectively

Like all Bladed weapons, Mantis Blades use up stamina for every swing. Therefore, managing your stamina should be a priority.

Note that Tailwind negates stamina consumption while dashing as long as you do it in mid-air. This is basically free mobility so use it extensively.

Use Shotguns When There Are Hoards of Enemies

When you are pinned down by hoards of enemies and got nowhere to go, switch to your shotgun and start shooting multiple enemies at once. Your shotgun should have enough perks to be as strong as your Mantis Blades!

Effectively Use Your Sandevistan to Slow Down Time

Though CDPR removed Cyberware mods in Update 2.0, Sandevistans that slows down time is still as effective as before though you have to choose your timings more carefully.

We suggest using the slow effect when you have a clear-cut path to mow down at least 3-4 enemies then deactivate the cyberware to recharge. Do this repeatedly during a fight and you'll be able to mow down hoards of enemies without dying.

Additionally, deactivate your Sandevistan when you initiate a Finisher move. The animation will eat up your duration, wasting precious active time.

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