Are SHARDS useful or a waste of time?

[danisihler]

I´d say I completed 80% of the game and I still see no use to collect shards, lol.. Is it just an additional info or does it make any difference for the game completion?

[Germaine's Bra]

Depends on if you feel their story is useful or not. It's kinda a side story at times you can get more info on. Not required. Some quests require you to read or hack them.

[wearewindflowers]

For me . the thing they really got RIGHT is the lore of Cyberpunk. If you like that kinda thing, its awesome... that is if you understood all the detail hidden in the subtext, these shards are amazing... so much more to piece together.... if you are just trying to beat the game, forget it.. waste of time.

[Old Man Gamer (OMG)]

Shards are a brilliant resource of knowledge. Think of it like the books in Baldur's Gate, where it told you the history of the world, past, current, and assumed future. By collecting and reading the shards, you can also unlock hidden quests, bonus skill points, cyberskills, experience and eddies. There might be more, but that is what I know for certain based on what I have found.

[Em[i]L]

regarding game completion, i don't think since you can't have all the shards, some are simply innacessible and you can't collect them , for exemple the one in tom's diner,in the kitchen ,so i don't think it count for game completion.

[Xiane]

Actually shards have another use as well, there's several that contain key pieces of data to secret treasure troves wether its key codes for door locks or just locations where you can go to begin your hunt.

Some of the stuff you can find with shard info:
Legendary monowhips
A stolen Tiger Claw motorbike
the Dev secret room

yes these have youtube videos leading to their locations but if you were careful and actually reading the shards these things and more are actually findable through those lore shards. Very easy to miss this fact considering there's so many misc shards with general info but if you keep an eye out you can find all sorts of cool stuff (if you haven't already raided you tube for a multitude of secret locations anyways) ;)

[ronr42]

IMO, as a Guess, all shards need to be collected and opened. Even if you don't actually read every one of them.

First, I'm not done with my first playthrough. I stopped doing the main quests at "Meet with Takemura". I'm doing any and all Side quests, Gigs and NCPD actions I can find first.

Second, I've found a few shards that have passwords to open doors.

Third and here's the guessing part. Some of those shards are adding new Side quests, Gigs and especially NCPD action icons to my map. I'm thinking it may be mostly the shards you find on dead bodies. Some that you killed and some that were dead when you found them. And, maybe not so much from shards you find on tables, but not sure.

I have done dozens upon dozens of the Side quests/Gigs/actions and still have many more to go. Like I said, I stopped doing the main quest and there are a few areas of the map where I know for a fact that I cleared all map markers, yet new ones keep coming up. Some happen just because I get near an area where there is one available to be unlocked(for lack of a better word). Other new markers are appearing in areas that I've explored every corner of.

It seems you can be at one end of the map and trigger a new map marker to appear halfway across the map. Those markers/events are not appearing as a result of continuing the main quests or by me just getting close enough for them to trigger. I'd already been to those spots and cleared any markers I had.

Edit; Another thing I do is I kill all random gangs I find while exploring. Some of them have shards and may be adding to all the markers I keep getting. The gangs respawn but, the first time you kill them and collect a shard would be when a new marker appears.

So, if you choose to try and do Everything, then I strongly suggest opening all shards you find.

[talemore]

a very few shards can be hacked for rewards

[ronr42]

Originally posted by gatto_nero:

Some people just watch only fights in The Matrix and fast forward dialogs :)

Some people, not meaning you, spend $60.00 US for a game just to Ram and Jam through it. They Must be able to say, "I beat the game". I say the game beat them out of 60 bucks.

I myself like to explore everywhere and do everything I can in one playthrough. Even with the ongoing issues with this game, I'm definitely getting my 60 bucks worth.

[Wisp Cat]

Some shards grant experience or perk points.

They are not necessary, though -- the game is designed to be completed by a relatively low-level and not-too-skilled character.

But, they're there if you like that sort of thing.

[Kleerex]

Originally posted by gatto_nero:

Some people just watch only fights in The Matrix and fast forward dialogs :)

It always aggravates me when people complain about The Architect scene being boring. It's one of the most important scenes in the whole trilogy!

I pick up every shard I come across. i try to read them all too. Some are quite informative, like the shard explaining the Avian Extermination Act. Others are funny literature pieces, like the one erotic story shard. Some shards can lead to secrets, like the one I found at some assault location. Two smugglers were talking about one of the crates containing something valuable, which I found.

Shards provide additional lore pieces and information about the Night City and life in 2071. Yes, game does not take place in 2077 - I found this out by zooming in on some NPC's phone (the phone also displayed financial information about Arasaka stock value).

It's your choice how deep you're willing to dig. You can just breeze through the game and be done with it, or you can soak in all the little details hidden in the game world.

[Defective Dopamine Pez Dispenser]

Shards are basically this game's equivalent of readable books in Elder Scrolls. Very rarely they will have a beneficial effect or relate to a mission or story. But generally they exist for worldbuilding, lore, and a sense of historicity. Personally I love things like that in games and can spend a lot of time reading them. (Elder Scrolls' lore is among my favorites.)

[Zerhackermann]

There is incredible backstory in the shards. I dont get a whole lot from what I call the "general" shards; the ones just laying about. But the ones found on bodies in the missions are awesome. I love figuring out what happened and what caused the incident.

[devil dick]

Lots of lore/backstory in shards. Not necessary at all if you don't care about that, but if you like lore and ♥♥♥♥ go ahead and give em a read.

[ΛΞL™⚡]

Too many shards not enough quests in this game there is some nice lore in some of the shards others don't add anything to the game i even found lots of empty shards that are probably cut/unfinished content leftovers.

[SkunkWerks]

As much as capitalizing WORDS arbitrarily is. YMMV.