Crafting Guide - How to Craft and Upgrade Weapons in 2.0

Update 2.0 changed how Crafting works in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Read on to learn about all the changes to crafting, as well as how to craft and upgrade weapons in the new patch.

Crafting Changes in Update 2.0

Summary of the 2.0 Crafting Changes
Crafting is No Longer Tied to Technical Ability Only Weapons and Quickhacks Can Be Crafted Only Iconic Weapons Can be Upgraded Crafting Costs Have Been Simplified Item Rarity Has Been Replaced By Item Tiers

Crafting is No Longer Tied to Technical Ability

Previous versions of Cyberpunk until Patch 1.6 tied the Crafting to your Technical Ability attribute. Naturally, this limited the build options of players who wanted to craft legendary or iconic weapons and armor.

In Update 2.0, this restriction has been lifted. Now, crafting will be available to all characters regardless of their Technical Ability score, allowing you to freely experiment with your builds without having to worry about being locked out of iconic weaponry.

Quickhack Crafting is Also Independent of Intelligence

By extension, quickhack crafting will no longer be tied to your Intelligence attribute. Pre-Update 2.0 crafting perks like Bartmoss' Legacy are gone and will no longer gate you from crafting quickhacks.

List of All Quickhacks

Only Weapons and Quickhacks Can Be Crafted

The 2.0 crafting update has also done away with clothing crafting specs. Now, players will only be able to craft weapons and quickhacks. Naturally, this also means that the only crafting specs that you can purchase and find in-game are those for weapons and quickhacks.

List of All Weapons

Clothing Items are Now Purely Cosmetic

In a rather major change, Clothing is no longer the primary source of armor in-game (Cyberware has replaced it). In Update 2.0, players will no longer be able to craft clothing since they are now mostly cosmetic in function.

Only Iconic Weapons Can be Upgraded

The Upgrade System has also undergone a drastic change. In Update 2.0, the only weapons that can be upgraded are Iconic Weapons. Since loot now scales, regular weapons will no longer require constant upgrades to stay relevant.

Iconic weapons, on the other hand, will need to be upgraded as you level up if you want to keep them relevant to your build. This is the trade-off if you want to keep benefiting from their unique and powerful effects during your playthrough.

New Iconic Weapons Available in Update 2.0

Update 2.0 also added new iconic weapons to the game. Some will be entirely new (looted at different points of the main story), while other existing items have been upgraded to Iconic like the Sasquatch's Hammer.

List of All Iconic Weapons

Crafting Costs Changed to Require Only One Component Type

Crafting costs have also been simplified. In Update 2.0, you will no longer need to use multiple types of crafting components. In the new system, crafting a weapons of a certain tier will only require crafting components of the same tier.

Vendors No Longer Sell Crafting and Quickhack Components

However, due to the economy balance changes in Update 2.0, Vendors will no longer sell crafting and quickhack components. The only way to get them now will be by disassembling items, finding them in chests, or seizing Airdrops in Phantom Liberty.

Item Rarity Has Been Replaced By Item Tiers

Finally, item rarities have been replaced by the Item Tier System. Instead of common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary, we now classify weapons, armor, mods, and quickhacks from Tiers 1 to 5+.

Additionally, item Tiers will now scale with your level. This allows for a much more clear sense of item crafting progression compared to the mish-mash of stats that your items could roll across all rarities.

How to Craft Weapons and Quickhacks

Obtain Weapon or Quickhack Schematics

Before you can craft weapons or quickhacks, you will first need to obtain their crafting schematics from their respective vendors. Weapon Shops will sell weapon schematics while Netrunners will sell quickhack schematics.

Weapon Mods Require Two of a Kind to Craft a High Tier Version

Crafting weapon mods has been revamped in Update 2.0. Instead of weapon mod schematics, you will need two copies of a the same mod. From there, you can use this pair to craft the same mod at a higher tier.

Spend Crafting Components at the Crafting Menu

Crafting is pretty streamlined as of Update 2.0. The tier of the weapon and quickhack schematics you can craft will be based on your level, and the only thing you need in order to craft a weapon or quickhack is a sufficient amount of crafting components.

To begin crafting, open the Game Menu and hover over the Inventory tab. Click the Crafting Tab that appears below it to open the Crafting Menu. From this screen, you can pick the weapon or item schematic you want to craft and spend components to make it.

Players will be able to craft a variety of items from the crafting menu ranging from weapons, weapon mods, weapon attachments, quickhacks, crafting components, ammo, and consumables.

How to Upgrade Iconic Weapons

As of Update 2.0 and the Phantom Liberty DLC, only Iconic Weapons can be upgraded via the crafting menu. Regular weapons and even clothing can no longer be upgraded.

Obtain an Iconic Weapon to Upgrade

To upgrade weapons, you will first need to secure an iconic weapon since this is the only weapon type that can be upgraded after Update 2.0. Make sure the weapon is in your inventory (and not your stash) otherwise it won't appear in the upgrade menu.

Spend Components at the Upgrade Tab

From the Crafting Menu, switch over to the Upgrades Tab. Once there, select the iconic weapon you want to upgrade and spend the required amount of crafting components to raise it to the next tier.

Note: Due to crafting component scarcity, make sure to weigh your options before committing to an upgrade. For reference, a single upgrade from Tier 5 to Tier 5+ will cost you 75 Tier 5 crafting components.

Are Crafted Weapons Better?

Crafted, Purchased, and Looted Weapons Share the Same Stats

Given the weapon rebalancing and stat cleanup of Update 2.0, it seems like there is no discernable difference between a crafted weapon, a looted weapon, and a purchased weapon of the same Tier.

However, since mods can no longer be removed from weapons, crafting still occupies its own niche especially for players who want to bring along multiple weapon variants that meet different purposes in combat.

Prevents Leveling Power Creep

One drawback of crafting weapons prior to Update 2.0 was that they were easily power crept by weapons you could loot or purchase while leveling up.

Making all stats uniform regardless of how a weapon was acquired was probably CBP's way to making sure Tier upgrades felt meaningful during the entire leveling process.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Related Guides

All Game Mechanics Guides

List of Game Mechanics Guides

Update 2.1 Guides

• Metro (Train) System
• Replayable Car Racing
• Romantic Hangouts
• How to Get and Use the Radioport
• Accessibility Features

Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty Changes

• How to Upgrade Iconic Weapons
• Crafting Specs Overhaul
• Clothing and Armor Overhaul
• Revamped Police System and Wanted Levels
• Cyberware Overhaul Guide
• Cyberware Capacity & How to Increase It
• 2.0 Crafting Guide
• Ammo Changes
• Combat AI Overhaul
• Vehicle Combat
• 2.0 UI Changes and Overhaul
• Airdrop Guide and Rewards
• Stealth Overhaul: All Known Changes

How to Play

• List of Controls
• Settings Guide
• How to Save and Transfer Saves
• Difficulty Settings
• List of Stats and Stat Explanations
• List of Status Effects
• Dialogue Options and Icons
• Language Settings and Available Languages

Game Features

• How to Get Non-Lethal Takedowns
• How to Use Photo Mode
• How to Use Braindance
• How to Fast Travel
• Wardrobe Guide
• Does Cyberpunk Have Third Person View?

All Cyberpunk 2077 Guides