OrangeMoon's Early to Mid game Guide to Stealth

One common problem I have with not build videos on Cyberpunk is how low effort they are, just posting a full level character with nothing on how to get there. So, I am here to post my guide on how to Stealth Early and mid-game. This guide is for the hard difficulty as I felt very hard is just tedious to a masochistic degree in early game.

Early Game

Level 1-3

You can keep your attribute points and not assign them at character creation. Why you would want to do this is so you can get your Reflex to 9 immediately after and unlock perks to perform a Dash[cyberpunk.fandom.com]. In hard and very hard, the enemy damage is no longer something you can laugh off, being able to dodge by dashing really changes the game. You will need 3 perk points to get Dash so you will get it around lv 3.

the 4th point is best spent on Cool, so you can grab Killer Instincts[cyberpunk.fandom.com], Gag Order[cyberpunk.fandom.com], Quick Getaway[cyberpunk.fandom.com], Feline Footwork[cyberpunk.fandom.com], Blind Spot[cyberpunk.fandom.com]. Able to see if your hit will stealth kill is nice, increase movement for stealth is nice, being more stealthy the higher your mitigation chance is nice.

Also you want to get bonuses for mitigation chance not only for defense but to reduce the rate which you are detected too.

At this point, the strongest 1 hit stealth weapons would be throwing daggers, you can buy them or just craft 3 from your crafting menu. Equip all 3. You will be using something like "1" + Throw, "2" + Throw, "3" + Throw for a while. Grenade are good damage too. Pistols just don't cut it for hard or very hard, at least before late game.

Don't forget to grab Ping from T-bug's quest.

Basic Kiroshi optics are the best eye implants for stealth, taking longer for camera detection.

Level 5-9

You will be stuck in Watsons cleaning up petty crime, hacking terminals until you feel ready for the heist. One good source of EXP is Cyber-psychos. Besides the one from the Maelstrom ritual, it is possible to sneak behind them and perform a take-down. I recommend getting Lynx Paws[cyberpunk.fandom.com] when they show up at the ripper-docs to make it easier. Overall good exp. If you want to fight the Maelstrom ritual one, you need some preparation, Sacrum Profanum[cyberpunk.fandom.com] will reward Fenrir[cyberpunk.fandom.com] regardless of outcome. Fenrir has a 10% chance of procing "Cyberware Malfunction", and will be your main weapon for guns blazing moments. Fenrir, will disable the Psycho Maelstrom's Sandesvistan making the fight much easier.

By lv9 you should have 15 int and be able to unlock Overclock mode[cyberpunk.fandom.com]. You now have access to blood magicks, blood for RAM! Get a Bio-monitor[cyberpunk.fandom.com], which will automatically use your healing item when you are in Overclock mode. You now have almost double your health bar for RAM.

You can get a smart weapon link for some free RAM as well as some implants for RAM. RAM is useful in turning off camera and turrets so you can sneak behind people. Distract and overload on electric appliances is also good. Self-ICE can prevent tracing from enemy netrunner.

Keep hacking terminals and you will never need to buy daemons.

You want to have Sonic Shock, Memory wipe for stealth takedown if enemies are facing you. Memory Wipe also allows you to queue control quickhacks after it to be untraceable. Reboot optics, cripple, cyberware malfunction etc are all good for boss fights.

At this point, you will have Lynx Paws, Basic Kiroshi, good amount of RAM, knives for headshots.

Level 10-20

You should get body to 4 to unlock Painkiller[cyberpunk.fandom.com] and Dorphhead[cyberpunk.fandom.com] to get mitigation after using a health item. You will be very vulnerable to being shot if you spent health in overclock in a firefight.

Then you can get Tech to 9 to get Health Freak[cyberpunk.fandom.com] and Borrowed Time[cyberpunk.fandom.com], so you can have 3 healing items, even more HP for RAM, as well as a way to recover healing items.

You could have also spent the points in cool 15 for auto camouflage when crouch dashing and dagger return, but before Purple, Camo duration is just too short.

At lv 20 you will unlock Phantom Liberty. Doing the quest line will push you up a few levels.

Ideal Attributes: 4/9/9/15/4

Mid Game

Level 21-30

You are at the mid game now, it would be a pretty good time to grab stuff to use. The top of the pyramid has a Claw x-MOD2[cyberpunk.fandom.com], the best throwing weapon IMO in the whole game. Hold off putting mods into it until you get it to Tier 5 so it can take Tier 5 mods. It has two slots so you can start buying all the blue mods (you need 8 of them) to upgrade to Tier 5 to slot into it. You want Pax which is 20% flat damage increase outside combat and Silencio which makes you crit 100% and crit damage +50% when crouch and in stealth. This thing is now a monster you can lob at almost anyone and kill in stealth. I will keep this in my slot 1.

I would prepare a 2nd slot weapon. Something like Death and Taxes, or a Nue/Tamayura with suppressor in case if you miss your Claw works.

The 3rd slot weapon I would keep my boss weapon Fenrir[cyberpunk.fandom.com]. Being able to spam cyberware malfunction is the next best thing to...

The hand slot Mono-wire[cyberpunk.fandom.com], which after you start phantom liberty, you can get points to unlock Jailbreak[cyberpunk.fandom.com] perk, allowing you to equip your Monowire with a control quickhack. Give it Cripple[cyberpunk.fandom.com].

The best stealth deck is probably Arasaka[cyberpunk.fandom.com]. Covert quickhacks cost less, you get traced slower, you get RAM back for performing takedowns. You can Mindwipe people and just walk up to them, takedown, get RAM back. Even after getting a Tier 5 deck, keep using Tier 4 Mindwipe so it costs only 8 RAM instead of 32 RAM.

Between free Cripples and Cyberware Malfunction, you can take down most bosses with ease. Throw in Mindwipes to get out of combat, you can opt to perform stealth takedowns for a more cinematic experience.

Ideal Attributes 4/9/9/15/15

Late Game

Do what you want, you are a god now.

Afterwords

I hope this guide is fairly simple and give you an idea how to be stealthy in cyberpunk, as well as the fastest way to get your stealth build online. I hope to get some C&C and any other tips and tricks I might have missed.