🌆 Cyberpunk 2077 - Tips and Tricks

Welcome to my Cyberpunk 2077 Tips and Tricks guide! Whether you're a brand new merc in Night City or a returning legend, this guide is here to help you survive, explore, and thrive.
I’ve organized the info into three main parts:
🔍 Exploration Tips and Tricks
⚔️ Combat Tips and Tricks
🧠 Other Tips and Tricks
I hope it makes your time in Night City smoother and more fun. Stay sharp out there!
👉 Guild Link: Æsir Universe
If you'd like to contact me for anything, feel free to reach out via Discord. My Discord username is aesir_0.8.

🌆 Don't forget to comment if you have any extra tips, or just want to say thanks.

🧍‍♂️ Be Careful in Tight Spaces

Be careful about what buttons you're pressing around people in tight spaces. You might accidentally attack or grab a person that will then put the police into action! It could result in your death.

📒 Yellow Markers Mean Loot

If there's something worth picking up, like a Shard, you'll see a yellow marker over it from a fair distance away. Keep an eye out!

📍 Unlock Fast Travel Points

Keep an eye out for blue markers on your map while you explore Night City. Those are Fast Travel points. You'll need to play a bit of the campaign to get access to them, but once you do, be sure to interact with the points to unlock them.

💰 Loot Everything for Money

Want to make a lot of money? Collect everything. It can slow you down a bit, but every now and then you'll pick up something that's worth $750+. The junk adds up, too. Think of it like a piggy bank. Be sure to drop off your junk and unwanted items at Drop Points frequently. The Drop Points (shown below) are either large like this one or a kiosk with only the rightmost part of the machine. They're always yellow, though.

🚦 Watch the Roads

Look both ways when crossing the street -- yes, really. You can get hit by cars and you will take damage.

🔍 Use Your Scanner

Use the scanner frequently, especially in large rooms. It can show items you can pick up, explosives, and other helpful things.

🔫 Holster Your Weapon

Learn to holster your weapon. Sometimes even just having a gun out is considered a threat, and you don't want to deal with the consequences. You can view how on the Controls page, or go to the pause menu > Settings, then select "Control Scheme" to check the button.

🎒 Don't Go Overweight

What happens if you pick up too much stuff and cross the weight limit? You'll lose stamina and walk slow. Slower still if you keep picking things up! If you need quick storage, call your car (if you can) and stash your items in the trunk.

🎯 Mark Rare Items

See a crate off in the distance with a rare item you don't want to forget? You can mark it with your scanner, just like how you'd mark an enemy.

🕵️‍♂️ NCPD Scanner Hustles

NCPD Scanner Hustles can take multiple steps to complete. Not all of them, but some require you to carry evidence or info from one place to another. If you feel like you didn’t get much of a reward after collecting something, check your Journal — there’s probably another step waiting.

🗨️ Conversations Can Be Useful

If you see people chatting (you'll notice blue text over them), they might reveal useful info about the area. Sometimes, the person you're with will comment on their conversation too — it can be worth listening.

🧤 No Stealing for V

There's no such thing as "stealing" for V. Everything in Night City is fair game — take what you want! Of course, you’ll still have to pay at shops.

🏃‍♂️ Run, Jump, Repeat

Run! Jump! Keep doing these in open spaces to level up your Athletics. In Cyberpunk 2077, skills increase simply by using them. Sneak more to improve your Stealth, disassemble items to boost your Crafting — it’s all about repetition.

🎯 Do the Extra Tutorial

Don’t skip the optional tutorial. No matter how experienced you are, it gives free XP and doesn’t cost anything except a few minutes of your time. Totally worth it.

💰 Finish the Fight

If there’s a boss enemy at the end of a mission, always take them down — even if you’re going stealth. Bosses drop big cash and often have unique gear. Don’t miss out.

🩹 Watch Out

Even regular enemies can use healing items like Maxdoc during fights. If you leave a low-health enemy alone, they might recover before you take them down. Always finish the job.

📍 Follow the X

When an enemy drops loot, a small “X” appears on your mini-map. The color of the marker shows rarity: grey (common), green (uncommon), blue (rare), purple (epic), yellow (legendary). You’ll also see these colors directly on the body.

🔧 Customize Your Weapons

Once you find a weapon you like, open its menu and check for mod and attachment slots. Some mods make your weapon non-lethal, useful for gigs that require stealth or no kills. But not every weapon can be modified.

💸 XP and Money

You'll only see progress in XP and money once you're out of combat. The mini-map will no longer display "combat," indicating you're free to collect rewards and continue exploring.

⏩ Fast Forward Cinematics

You can fast forward through a cinematic conversation by holding down the button shown in the bottom right of the screen.

🚪 Body & Tech Perks

Putting points into either Body or Tech will literally open doors for you, as maps will have some that are only opened with enough of one or the other. That makes investing in one of them helpful, but both a little bit of diminishing returns (though still good in other ways).

📚 Linked Items in Journal

While in your Journal, some jobs will have a small image to the right of the Job or Gig description. These are "linked" items! Sometimes it'll be a direct way to call someone, a map, or something else.

💥 Using Auto Save to Avoid Consequences

Accidentally throw a grenade into a public square? Piss off the wrong person? Cyberpunk has an active auto save that usually kicks in before an encounter. Instead of living with the consequences, use an auto save to get out of a sticky situation.

💣 Looting Weapons

After a big shootout, don't forget to grab your fallen enemies' (and even allies') weapons. You can sell them, but you can also Disassemble them in your Inventory menu for Common and Uncommon Item Components. You'll need those for crafting and upgrades. You can also disassemble some consumables, clothing, and junk. If you don't need the money, opt for the components instead.

🎯 Leveling Up Perks

If you level up in certain perks, you'll get a perk point! You level up perks by simply using them. Be sure to take a look at the rewards for all the perks.

🔪 Diversifying Your Perks

Even if your heart is set on becoming an assassin with maxed out stealth or whatever it may be, be sure to look at and put perk points in other categories. You should especially think about putting a point into any perk you're leveling faster than others. That's an indication of how you're playing early on, and a little extra boost for that early playstyle can't hurt.

🛡️ Changing Clothing for Armor

Be sure to change your clothing. Not to look cool, but for some easy armor points. Every piece of clothing has an armor rating and as they say a good defense is the best offence... you may look like a walking disaster, but you'll have the last laugh when you're the one left standing. Keep in mind some armor has perk slots too for some extra oomph. If you're looking to change your own appearance, be sure to check out our guide on How to Change Your Appearance.

⚙️ Mod Slots in Clothing/Armor

Keep in mind some clothing/armor have mod slots too for some extra oomph. However once they're applied they cannot be recovered and will be destroyed if you replace them.

👗 Clothing and Conversation Tips

You'll get new clothing options at vendors as you get higher Street Cred. You'll find more clothing options as you move into different districts too.

🔪 Equipping Melee Weapons

If you want to equip a melee weapon from your inventory, select a slot you want to fill or replace. Then, just above the ranged weapons, click the knife next to the blue ranged weapons icon to see what ranged weapons you have with you.

💬 Yellow and Blue Conversation Options

Yellow conversation options will move the conversation forward. If there are multiple, that means it's a choice. The weight of that choice varies based on the situation. Some only impact that moment, others will impact entire side quests or the main job. Blue options offer you more information. This will sometimes lead to new options! You can't lose anything by getting new information, so you might as well explore your options.

🖥️ Upgrade Your Operating System

Don't forget to upgrade V's operating system! You're better off saving up for a rare OS, but once you can afford it, make sure you purchase one for new benefits like a bigger Buffer for hacking. This is imperative if you're playing as a Netrunner. You'll be able to increase your Base Ram too! Tip: There’s a good Rare one called Biodyne MK.2 at the ripperdoc on Watson's Northside for $15,000. It's a lot, but it means more hacking and a bigger buffer.

[electricphoenix]

great tips and guide thanks!

[𝓚𝓘𝓛𝓐𝓢𝓘𝓚]

I hope you found these tips and tricks helpful! If you have any additional suggestions or questions, feel free to drop them in the comments.