2.1 Best Monowire Build

Here is the best Update 2.1 Monowire Build for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Check out details about the build, what attributes to level up, which perks to choose, and what weapons and cyberwares to use to in this guide.

Monowire Build Overview

Build Basic Information

Monowire Build
Main Attributes	Intelligence Reflexes Cool Body
Quickhacks	・Contagion ・Cyberware Malfunction ・Cripple Movement
Main Weapons / Arm Cyberware	・Thermal Monowire Blades: ・Byakko Revolver: ・Archangel / Ol' Reliable Sniper: ・Overwatch / Rasetsu
Operating System	Militech Paraline MK.4

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

This build's focus is to maximize your Monowire damage. Engage and end fights with your thermal string of death and watch your enemies burn!

Weaknesses

You have to be extra wary of your health while using Overclock to extend your RAM; enemies can easily flatline you with your decreased health.

Monowire Build Best Attributes

Attribute Progression

Build Attributes
Lv.	Body	Reflex	Tech	Intel	Cool
1	4	5	3	6	4
10	4	5	3	15	4
50	15	15	6	20	15
60	15	20	11	20	15

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

Always invest on the Intelligence attribute to get both the Finisher: Live Wire and Siphon perks for your Monowire. Then, acquire the Overclock perk, which will extend your RAM to easily upload quickhacks at the cost of your health. Finally, use your remaining perk points on ones that reduce upload time and on perks such as Sublimation and Power Surge to help with survivability.

Next, use your attribute points to max out the Reflexes attribute. This is to unlock the Dash and Air Dash perks, making you more mobile during fights. This attribute will also benefit Blade gameplay.

Put points into the Body attribute until you get Adrenaline Rush. Not only will this increase health and health item effects, but this will also grant you boosts in damage and movement speed every time you use a health item.

For the Cool attribute, take the Focus and Deadeye perks to help with your Revolver gameplay. For a more stealthy approach, put points into the Ninjutsu perk.

In Phantom Liberty, when you get the maximum level of 60, put your additional points into the Technical Ability attribute and acquire perks that will synergize with your health item usage.

Monowire Build Best Perks

This is the full list of 2.0 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!
Intelligence	Reflexes	Cool	Body
Technical Ability		Optional Perks

Intelligence

Always focus on getting the Finisher: Live Wire and Siphon perks first for your Monowire. Then, acquire Overclock and upload speed-related perks to make quickhacks more effective.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Optimization (1 pt)	Subordination Encryption
Eye in the Sky (1 pt)	Main Perk Only
Hack Queue (2 pt)	Feedback Loop Copy-Paste Counter-A-Hack
Embedded Exploit (2 pt)	Icepick System Overwhelm Siphon
Queue Acceleration (3 pt)	Queue Prioritization Finisher: Live Wire
Overclock (3 pt)	Power Surge Sublimation

Final Perks

Final Perks
Queue Mastery	Spillover

Reflexes

Acquire the Air Dash and Dash perks to make you more mobile during fights. These perks will make it easier for you to get close to enemies and slice them up with your Monowire. Also acquire Lead and Steel and Finisher: Bladerunner for your Blade playstyle.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Slippery (1 pt)	Power Slide Parkour!
Dash (2 pt)	Can't Touch This Mean Streak
Lead and Steel (2 pt)	Main Perk Only
Air Dash (3 pt)	Aerodynamic Aerial Acrobat
Finisher: Bladerunner (3 pt)	Main Perk Only

Final Perks

Final Perks
Tailwind

Vehicle Perk

Vehicle Perk
Stuntjock

Cool

Make your Revolver usage more effective by acquiring the Focus and Deadeye perks. For situations where you need to be stealthy, put points into the Ninjutsu perk.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Feline Footwork (1 pt)	Main Perk Only
Focus (2 pt)	No Sweat Head to Head Deep Breath
Ninjutsu (3 pt)	Creeping Death Vanishing Act
Deadeye (3 pt)	California Reaper Long Shot

Body

Acquire Adrenaline Rush as soon as you can to boost your movement speed and damage while its activated. This attribute also helps manage your health better whenever Overclock is active.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Painkiller (1 pt)	Comeback Kid Speed Junkie
Adrenaline Rush (3 pt)	Juggernaut Unstoppable Force Calm Mind

Technical Ability

Technical Ability acts like a support attribute to Adrenaline Rush. This attribute can help your health items become more effective, keeping you alive longer during fights.

Perk List

Main Perk	Secondary Perk(s)
Glutton for War (1 pt)	First Aid Transfusion
Health Freak (2 pt)	Field Medic
All Things Cyber (2 pt)	Renaissance Punk

Vehicle Perk

Vehicle Perk
Gearhead

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)
Glutton for War	All Things Cyber
Health Freak	First Aid
Transfusion	Field Medic
Renaissance Punk	Gearhead

Monowire Build Relic Skill Priority

Take Jailbreak and Data Tunneling First

Priority	Main Skill	→	Branch Skill
1st	Jailbreak	→	Data Tunneling
2nd	Emergency Cloaking
3rd	Vulnerability Analytics

Take the Jailbreak relic skill first then branch off to Data Tunneling.

Jailbreak gives your Monowire an additonal slot for a Quickhack that you can use without any RAM cost. This will make your Monowire gameplay more effective, especially when slotting in the Cripple Movement quickhack!

When you have enough points, make sure to take Emergency Cloaking next. This improves on your Optical Camo which helps you survive when you get detected by enemies.

The last branch to take here is Vulnerability Analytics. This essentially improves on your other weapons by introducing weakspots on enemies. Slice these weakspots up to double your Monowire 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

Monowire Build Recommended Weapons

Base Game Only

Recommended Weapons (Base Game only)
Archangel	Overwatch	Byakko

• Use Archangel as your backup weapon. This can easily neutralize enemies as long as you land your headshots.
• For enemies that are too far, snipe them out of existence with the Overwatch, courtesy of our Nomad friend, Panam.
• When Monowire attacks get too stale, use the Byakko Katana to slice enemies up.

Base Game + Phantom Liberty DLC

Recommended Weapons (with Phantom Liberty)
Ol' Reliable	Rasetsu	Byakko

• You'll get guaranteed Crit Hits when Deadye is active. The Ol' Reliable Power Revolver adds more Crit Damage with every headshot, making this the best revolver to use.
• For a powerful Sniper Rifle, pick up the Rasetsu Tech Sniper for huge long-range damage. You can automatically get this during the You Know My Name gig.
• No need to look for a replacement for the Byakko Katana; it's still as deadly in Dogtown!

Monowire Build Best Cyberwares

Monowire Cyberware Selection

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

Operating System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Militech Paraline MK.4	Allows you to perform quickhacks on enemies and devices while scanning. +10% quickhack damage +2% Monowire damage per used RAM unit (max. 30%). When uploading a quickhack to an enemy, shooting them with a Smart weapon will accelerate upload speed. When Overclock is active: Smart weapons and Monowire deal bonus Electrical damage equal to 25% of normal attack damage.

The Militech Paraline MK.4 increases your Monowire damage as long as you spend your RAM, which synergizes well with uploading quickhacks. It also grants bonus Electrical damage as long as Overclock is active, so this Cyberdeck is the best one to use for this build.

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Arms

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Thermal Monowire	+3.1% Melee Damage +0.16 RAM Regen from neutralizing an enemy

The Thermal Monowire deals Thermal Damage, which can detonate the leaked substances from uploading the Contagion quickhack. This make this the best Monowire to use for this build.

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Face

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Kiroshi "Sentry" Optics	Effect active when scanning: Highlights cameras and turrets within 35m.

The Kiroshi "Sentry" Optics is attuned to your Intelligence attribute, which increases all damage dealt per point, including quickhack damage.

Alternative Phantom Liberty Cyberware

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Kiroshi "Cockatrice" Optics	Increases Crit Chance by 30%. 10x optical zoom when scanning or aiming.

The Kiroshi "Cockatrice" Optics increases Crit Chance, greatly contributing to your DPS.

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Hands

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

Shock Absorber reduces recoil, making your Revolver much more accurate.

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Circulatory System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Adrenaline Booster	Stamina +23% whenever you use a melee weapon to neutralize an enemy.
Heal-on-Kill	Health +7% when you neutralize an enemy.
Microrotors	Increase melee attack speed by 23%. (Melee attack speed cannot exceed 2 attacks per second.)

Heal-On-Kill helps you survive the onslaught you will bring to your enemies while Adrenaline Booster and Microrotors help your melee attacks become much more effective.

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Legs

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

Reinforced Tendons enables double jump. Use this option to regroup when things go bad or when there are too many enemies nearby.

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Frontal Cortex

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Ram Upgrade	Increase RAM recovery rate by +0.17 unit(s) per sec. +2 Max RAM.
Camillo Ram Manager	Instantly recovers 23% Max RAM when available RAM falls to 20%. +2 Max RAM Cooldown: 100 sec.
Bioconductor	Allows your quickhacks to deal Crit Hits. 35% Crit Chance with quickhacks. -4 Max RAM.

Ram Upgrade and Camillo Ram Manager helps with your RAM management. Bioconductor decreases your RAM but you only need the extra crit chance for quickhacks since most of your damage comes from the Monowire anyway.

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Skeleton

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Dense Marrow	+24% melee damage +15% melee Stamina cost
Ram Recoup	Receiving damage restores RAM equal to 0.28% of damage received. +2 Max RAM

Ram Recoup restores RAM based on the damage you take, which is useful for this build since you're going to be up in the face of your enemies a lot. For increased Monowire effectiveness, slot in Dense Marrow.

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Nervous System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Adrenaline Converter	+40% movement speed for 7 sec. when entering combat.
Stabber	+16.75% Crit Chance with Blades and throwable weapons.

The Adrenaline Converter is useful when engaging fights, giving you ample movement speed to close the gap on enemies faster. For extra Blade damage, slot in the Stabber cyberware.

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Integumentary System

Cyberware	Effect (Tier 5)
Subdermal Armor	+0.5 Armor per Attribute Point. +1.3% Decreased enemy vision +2.6 Health
Pain Editor	-7% all incoming damage +0.1% damage reduction per Attribute Point. +0.5% Mitigation Chance +2.1% Damage Over Time Resistance
Cogito Lattice	+240% Armor from this cyberware when available RAM is below 10

These cyberwares will help your survivability by making you more tanky, which will prove useful considering you'll mostly be at melee range with the Monowire.

Since your playstyle with this build is to upload as much quickhacks before slicing them down with Monowire, Cogito Lattice's buff will make you almost unkillable in close-ranged fights!

▲ Back to Cyberware Selection ▲

Monowire Build Best Quickhacks

Contagion

Contagion	Type / Stats
	Combat Quickhack RAM Requirement: 12 Upload Time: 2sec Duration Time: 8sec
	Effects
	▸Infects the enemy with a virus that causes toxic cyberware substances to leak. This deals poison damage over time and can spread to 4 enemy(-ies) within 8 m. Effective against closely grouped enemies. Ineffective against mechs, robots, drones and turrets. Stacks 2 times. ▸Applying a Burn or Overheat effect against an affected enemy will cause the leaked toxic substance to detonate. The explosion removes Contagion's effect. ▸+15% damage with this quickhack against each subsequent enemy it spreads to.

Upload Contagion before slicing enemies up with your Thermal Monowire. When the burn from you Monowire activates, it will detonate the leaked toxins in enemies from this quickhack, which is great in dealing with large, grouped up enemies.

Cyberware Malfunction

Cyberware Malfunction	Type / Stats
	Control Quickhack RAM Requirement: 4 Upload Time: 0.3sec Duration Time: 10sec
	Effects
	▸Stacks up to 8 times. ▸Disables enemy cyberware for 10 sec. and increases all damage against affected enemy by 5%. ▸At 2 stacks, permanently disables enemy cyberware. ▸At 3 stacks, deals Electrical damage over time. The amount of damage increases with each subsequent stack. ▸At maximum stacks, enemy cyberware overloads, dealing massive damage. Cyberware Malfunction cannot be used on the same enemy again.

The Cyberware Malfunction quickhack will disable enemy cyberwares, which will greatly support your melee gameplay.

Bonus: Cripple Movement on Monowire

Cripple Movement	Type / Stats
	Control Quickhack RAM Requirement: 6 Upload Time: 0.3sec Duration Time: 13.8sec
	Effects
	▸Disables enemy movement and cyberware that supports movement and dodging. ▸+15% melee damage against affected enemies. ▸Affected enemies are more susceptible to melee Finishers. ▸+5% Health and +2 RAM after performing Finishers on affected enemies.

Thanks to the Jailbreak and Data Tunneling relic skills, you can now slot in Control Quickhacks in your Monowire. You can upload this quickhack without the RAM cost and spread it across enemies.

We recommend slotting in Cripple Movement to get that additional damage against affected enemies.

How to Play the Monowire Build

Engage by Activating Overclock First

Activate Overclock first before anything else. This will allow you to upload as much quickhacks as you can, maximizing the damage your Monowire can do thanks to the Militech Paraline MK.4. Upload quickhacks like Contagion or Cyberware Malfunction to deal with enemies easier and start slicing away!

Extended RAM Capacity Thanks to the Body and Technical Ability Attribute

The Overclock perk allows you to extend your RAM in exchange for your health. The Adrenaline Rush in the Body attribute is the key to survivability. Along with Health Freak, Glutton for War, and their secondary perks from the Technical Ability attribute, not only will your health items become more effective, but they will also grant you boosts in movement speed and damage.

Upload Control Quickhacks With Your Monowire

Thanks to the Data Tunneling Relic Skill, you can now use your Monowire to upload Control Quickhacks on enemies. Do this by charging your Monowire before attacking. We recommend the Cripple Movement Quickhack for a boost in your melee damage.

Use the Revolver or Sniper Rifle Sparingly

Only use the Revolver or Sniper Rifle you have equipped to engage enemies, target some that are too far away, or when their numbers are low. Should they overwhelm you, best to just slice them up with the Monowire.

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