These Are The First Things You Should Do In Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is famously massive. While reaching some of its endings can be accomplished in a much shorter period of time than is typical of most AAA releases, most of the game is comprised of side quests and other optional content. And while these may not be mandatory, they can, nevertheless, impact the story.

For new players, this is likely going to feel overwhelming at one point or another, given that the majority of tasks the game has to offer can be completed in any order. Side quests, too, are far from scarce, meaning that players will almost always have to prioritize one quest objective over another.

While charting a path through Cyberpunk 2077's Night City is largely going to depend on personal preferences and decisions made moment-to-moment, there are, fortunately, some tips all players can follow in order to help make V into the virtual sci-fi superhuman they were promised.

Upon starting a new playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077, players will make two key decisions about their character: their appearance and Lifepath. The latter will effect some story elements, but all players will largely experience the same story beats regardless. Skills, too, aren't gated behind strict character classes but branches in an upgrade tree that, granted high enough prerequisite stats, can be fully accessed by all players. Picking a preferred playstyle ahead of time, then, will ease the process of allocating stat points and choosing perks.

When creating V, players will put attribute points into five categories: body, reflexes, cool, intelligence, and technical. These correspond to, roughly, close combat, ranged combat, stealth, hacking, and engineering. More attribute points are awarded upon leveling up. Deciding that V should, for example, mainly use ranged weapons and hacking would mean focusing on upgrading reflexes and intelligence. Perks associated with these playstyles then unlock as more points are invested into their associated attributes.

Specializing in a play style early on will ensure a variety of useful abilities as the game progresses, rather than an overabundance of low-level skills spread out across a range of categories.

Some of the more "cyber" abilities in Cyberpunk 2077 come courtesy of its quickhacks. These are essentially equippable programs that can be either purchased or crafted and used to meddle with technology in various useful ways. Equipping quickhacks requires an item called a cyberdeck. Each cyberdeck has a limited amount of RAM, and likewise, each quickhack uses a certain amount of RAM. Generally, the more useful the quickhack, the more RAM it requires.

A more powerful cyberdeck thus allows players to equip and use more quickhacks overall. Since a better cyberdeck is the only way to expand quichack capacity and is not tied to an upgrade tree, grabbing a better cyberdeck than the default one as soon as possible will expand the number of options available in all future missions, given that more quickhacks will be more easily accessible at any given time.

Inspired by its pen-and-paper RPG source material, player choice rules in Cyberpunk 2077 above all else. However, charting a character's path ahead of time and buying a better cyberdeck early on can help virtually any player get the most out of the multitudes the game has to offer.