It took a while before we lost trackCyberpunk 2077, because it's... different. It's more like a pen-and-paper RPG than a video game. Some things will look familiar. Others will make you fight against your instincts.
PolygonCyberpunk 2077The beginner's guide is full of tips and tricks as well as advice and explanations that we wish we had read before we started. We demystify the game and show you what we've spent hours learning about its pacing, conversations, classes, abilities, headshots, side missions, finding loot and why you should absolutely complete optional objectives.
Pace yourself
Cyberpunk 2077is both an action game and an RPG, but not at the same time. You can spend hours researching, traveling, building relationships, infiltrating, hacking and discovering Night City, then watch action scenes that rival Hollywood blockbusters.
Expect a campaign heavily geared towards critical RPGs. If you're familiar with pen-and-paper RPGs, think of them more as a campaign than a one-off action.
We're writing this first because it's kind of annoying and we wish we'd known before we started.Cyberpunk 2077not in a hurry, and you shouldn't be in a hurry either.
Be curious
Play the role of interlocutor and use every opportunity to ask the optional questions marked in blue. You will learn a lot more about the world you will spend all your time in. Knowledge is the antidote to confusion and its worldCyberpunk 2077is confusing, if only because it is so different from ours.
No courses, but what you do
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At the beginning of the game, you have to choose between three backstories.Nomadic,street child, AndBodyIsVs life path. In any other game you would think of them as classes. They are not. They're just backstories, each affecting your version of V, the main character.
Each version has its own prologue intro mission, but each version of V starts with the same build. The only difference is the back story which adds some spice to your character.
Spend the rest of the game gaining experience to shape your V however you want. Choose what you like for whatever reason you see fit.
You can use attribute points and perk points to buy options
You can use attribute points and perk points to buy options. As you use more of them on V, you increase the number of things they can do.
- attribut pointMake V stronger and better in broad categories such as body, reflexes, technical abilities, intelligence and coolness.
- bonus pointsOffer bonuses in skill trees nested under attribute categories.
For example, if you want to play stealth, pump attribute points into Cool, which increases critical damage, resistance, and detection time. If you want more cool stealth moves, spend a perk point on Hidden Dragon, a perk available in the stealth skill (Cool > Stealth > Perk), and then you can use non-lethal aerial attacks on unsuspecting targets”. "
Here's another way to visualizeCyberpunk 2077Organization of the character menu:
- Attribute > Skills > Perks
- Cool > Stealth > Hidden Dragon
Want to unlock every door you see? Pump points into the body (strength) to open them, or technical ability to pick the locks. Would you like to hack bad guys on the street instead of invading with firearms? Invest points in Intelligence, which increases your Cyberdeck's RAM capacity with each level (think of it as Mana/Magic Points/MP).
Use attribute points and bonus points when they make a difference
Cyberpunk 2077challenges you to spend points during character creation, a moment when you know next to nothing about the game. There really are no wrong answers, so go with your gut. Your first few decisions won't lock you into one playstyle.
As you play, earn XP and level up, you'll keep accumulating points, and if you're anything like us, you won't be too sure what to spend them on for a while.
Our solution: Keep them until you know they make a difference.
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For example, you spend a lot of time in conversation, and sometimes a dialog setting requires a specific attribute value. As you can see in the image above, an icon appears to the right of the dialog showing you the minimum requirements to express your opinion. This icon corresponds to the attribute categories in the character. In almost any situation, you can pull up the menu and put points into the appropriate category - Body, Reflexes, Technical Skills, Intelligence and Coolness - mid-conversation. Return to the game and you can speak freely.
This applies to far more than just conversations.
If your points are burning a hole in your virtual pocket, spend them on opportunities that are immediately relevant. When you discover a locked door, you spend points on engineering skills that (among other things) "let you unlock doors." If you struggle with a particularly complex terminal, give an extra point to Almost In! out, which "increases the breakthrough time of the Breach protocol by 20%."
Headshots will disappoint you
Every other game: Headshots are one-hit kills.
Cyberpunk 2077: Headshots do quite a bit of damage.
This is confusing but makes sense once you understand howCyberpunk 2077calculates the damage. Upgrade your weapons, invest points in the skills associated with the weapon you use, and look for perks that increase damage. They are all related.
Given enough time, leveling, and upgrades, you'll turn your headshots into one-hit kills under the right circumstances. The trick is to know that there is a lot of math behind the scenes that determines your damage at any given time.
Side jobs are everywhere, but they are manageable
Right from the start of the game, you will start receiving calls and texts about things that the people of Night City want you to do. These are side jobs, gigs and hustles. You come inconstant.
They will keep piling up, but don't let the ever-growing list scare you. We knew we were free to ignore them, but it felt strange to see them piling up on our Journal menu. Don't worry about keeping track. let them stack
Cyberpunk 2077alerts you to side jobs based on your location. Let's say you're driving through Night City on your way to a main job and get a call about a side job. If you stop and look at your diary, you'll probably realize that the second job is only a few blocks away. And at that point it will be easy to break up.
So let them stack if you want. The game will tell you when you can take care of them.
Slow down
Wow, that's something specialCatching SlowAdvice, but hear us out: Driving in open-world cities is always, well... a bit of a bummer. If you're not into constantly mowing down pedestrians and running from the NCPD, at least speed through town. If you want to actually get to your destination without incident, slow down.
Save constant (fast).
Cyberpunk 2077comes in hot and is somehow buggy. Make it a habit to save your game in case something goes wrong. You would e.g. not wanting to pull out your gun after a five-minute drive through town, only to find that it randomly started firing and the whole town now hates you. Save every time you think "I'd rather not do that again."
To quick save, go into the menu and press Triangle/Y/F5. That is it. If (when?) something goes pear-shaped, reload.
Quick scan for loot
Quick scan every time you enter a new building, room, street - in fact, you have to press L2/LB/Tab almost every time you think about it. We say "scan everything" because basically you can always find something. It sounds like you take a picture and then you see what you can interact with around you.
Image: CD Projekt Red via Polygon
Sometimes the game literally sucks. Sometimes this is mission-specific flavor text. More often than not, it was a box of solid loot that we wouldn't have noticed if we hadn't kept pressing the button like it was 1996 trying to open a Works document in the media center for to save the high school.
Complete optional objectives
No spoilers, but they do affect the game. And these effects are not easily predictable.
Here's a spoiler-free example. A main mission at the beginning of the game (the main quest) tells you that you can either meet your buddy or take a detour to meet someone you've never met. Both goals are related to the mission. When you perform the optional action, you will meet a couple of characters, one of which will influence the completion of the main mission.
You probably won't know what the consequences of completing an optional objective will be, but expect it to change the game in some way (or at least open up some new possibilities), so you might as well burn some calories and get it done. Later, optional objectives will give you some (unannounced) extra cash to complete jobs and gigs.