Cyberpunk 2077: Beginner's Guide & Best Tips

Yeah, This Game Will Kick Your Teeth In. Here's Why That's Good.

Let me be straight with you. Cyberpunk 2077 is a gorgeous, broken, infuriating, beautiful mess that I've sunk 400 hours into across four playthroughs. And I keep coming back. Not because it's polished — it's still janky in places. Not because the marketing lied to us — it did, hard. I come back because underneath all the launch-day disaster stuff is a game that does something nothing else does: it makes you feel like a genuine piece of shit scrounging for scraps in a city that wants you dead, until suddenly you're a chrome-plated god.

But here's the part nobody talks about: the first 10-15 hours suck. Not because the game is bad, but because the game is bad at teaching you how to play it. I remember my first run. I put points into Cool and Intelligence because I wanted to be a sniper-hacker. Cool idea, right? Then I walked into the All Foods factory and got turned into swiss cheese by Maelstrom goons because I had the durability of wet cardboard and my hacking did chip damage. I alt-F4'd. Twice.

This guide isn't a "how to be a god in 10 minutes" clickbait. This is me, sitting you down, and telling you what I wish someone had told me before I wasted 20 hours on a build that couldn't kill a vending machine.

Why You're Stuck, Rage-Quitting, or Broke

I see the same posts on forums over and over: "Can't beat the first boss." "Out of ammo and eddies." "Why does my damage suck?" "I have no clue what half the stats do." Let me address these one by one, because I've been you.

The "Can't Beat the First Boss" Problem
You're talking about the cyberpsycho at the end of The Heist — or maybe the Maelstrom fight in The Pickup. The issue isn't your skill. It's that you walked into a level 15 fight at level 6 with a pistol that does 12 damage. The game does not tell you that you should be doing side gigs before main missions. I learned this the hard way when I tried to face off against Sasquatch at level 11. She squished me like a bug. Go do the Regina Jones gigs around Watson. Do NCPD scanner hustles. Hit level 10-12 before you touch any main story mission past Act 1. The game opened up the moment I stopped rushing the plot.

The "I'm Always Broke" Problem
You're selling junk. Stop. You're also buying guns from vendors. Stop immediately. In my first playthrough, I thought "Oh, a green Tier 2 pistol, that's an upgrade." Nope. The game throws weapons at you like confetti. Every dead body has a gun. Pick them up, disassemble them for components, and use those components to upgrade the iconic weapons you find during missions. I was sitting on 20,000 eddies by level 15 because I stopped buying everything. Sell your junk for cash, disassemble weapons for parts. That's the economy.

The "My Build Is Hot Garbage" Problem
You spread your points across all five attributes. I did too. Big mistake. Pick two, maybe three attributes and max them. I have a friend who dumped everything into Body and Reflexes — unga bunga shotgun build. He crushed fights at level 15 that I struggled with at level 20 because he was focused. My favorite build? Intelligence and Cool. Hack everything from stealth, use a suppressor pistol for cleanup. But if you try to do a jack-of-all-trades, you'll be a master of none and dead in a ditch.

What I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started

Alright, booting up a fresh save. Here's what you actually do in the first 5 hours.

1. Ignore the main story until you've done 5 side gigs.
I know the story pulls you. The Judy texts are urgent. "Please, V, come help." No. Judy can wait. Do the gigs Regina emails you. They're marked with the little binoculars icon on the map. Each one gives you around 300-800 eddies and a piece of gear. By the time you finish your fifth, you'll have enough cash to buy the rare cyberdeck from the ripperdoc in Watson. That cyberdeck lets you upload two quickhacks per enemy. That alone doubles your combat power.

2. Buy the "Reboot Optics" quickhack immediately.
This is the most broken early-game quickhack. Costs like 1,000 eddies from any netrunner vendor. It blinds an enemy for 8 seconds. At level 5, you can blind three guys in a row and walk past them. I cleared the entire All Foods factory by blinding everyone and knifing them. It's borderline cheating. Use it.

3. Save your perk points until level 10.
I know the perk tree is tempting. "Ooh, 5% more headshot damage." You'll get 50+ perk points over the whole game. Don't spend your first 10 points until you've seen what weapon types you actually like. I spent 8 points on handgun perks in my first game, then realized I hated pistols. By the time I wanted to use shotguns, I had nothing to show. Wait. Find your style first.

4. The <Tab> scan button is your best friend.
I literally didn't use the ping quickhack for 15 hours. That's insane. Ping reveals every enemy, camera, and mine in a 50-meter radius through walls. You can mark everyone before you even walk into a room. I now spend 30 seconds scanning before every fight. My death rate dropped by 70%. Use ping. Use it constantly.

5. The Monowire is a trap.
I know it looks cool. You see the trailers, the arm-whip thing. It's a late-game weapon that requires heavy investment in Reflexes and specific perks. At level 5, it does less damage than a wet noodle. I bought one, tried it, immediately reloaded a save. Stick to guns or blades early. Come back to the wire at level 30.

The Stuff Only Veterans Know

I've done four runs. I've min-maxed, I've roleplayed, I've broken the game in stupid ways. Here's the actual secret sauce.

The Legendary Ping Quickhack — Broken Beyond Belief
When you hit level 20 and have 12+ Intelligence, you can craft the Legendary Ping quickhack. Normal Ping only reveals enemies. Legendary Ping? It makes every enemy in a building automatically chain-hack to every other enemy. You don't even need to target them individually. Walk in, ping once, and the whole room is blind for 20 seconds. I cleared the Arasaka Industrial Park without firing a single bullet. Just ping, run through, loot everything, leave. Completely game-breaking.

Tech Weapons Ignore Walls — Literally
The Tech weapon type (Iconic names like Widow Maker, Breakthrough) can charge up and shoot through any wall. Not just thin ones — concrete pillars, shipping containers, thick office walls. I found a sniper rifle called Breakthrough in a locked room in the Badlands. With it, I can headshot enemies through three layers of concrete. If you see a weapon with "Tech" in the description and a charge mechanic, hang onto it. It lets you kill enemies who can't even see you. That's not fair, and I love it.

The One Perk That Changes Everything — "Bloodswell"
In the Body tree, deep in the Athletics branch, there's a perk called Bloodswell. When your health drops below 50%, all incoming damage is reduced by 50% for 5 seconds, and you become immune to damage over time. This is the single best survivability perk in the game. I was getting melted by the final boss of the Don't Fear the Reaper ending. I died six times. Then I grabbed Bloodswell (costs 9 Body attribute). Suddenly, I could tank two rocket hits and heal through them. That perk saved my run. If you're dying a lot, get to Body 9 and grab Bloodswell. It's not optional.

Armor Is Way More Important Than Health
I see people stacking Health cyberware. "More health = more tanky." No. Armor reduces damage by a flat percentage. At 1,200 armor (totally doable by level 30 with the right gear), you take about 80% less damage from bullets. Health just gives you a bigger pool to drain. I'd rather have 400 HP and 1,500 armor than 800 HP and 200 armor. You can stack armor with three things: Subdermal Armor cyberware (buy from ripperdoc), Armadillo mod on your clothes, and Fortified Ankles. Get those three, and you stop worrying about gunfire around level 25.

The Skippy Problem
This is a little easter egg weapon, but new players always mess it up. There's a smart pistol called Skippy you can find in a stash near the Glen. When you pick it up, it asks you to choose a mode: "Stone Cold Killer" (headshots only) or "Puppy-Loving Pacifist" (leg shots). Most people pick headshots because duh. But here's the secret: if you pick Pacifist mode, it will automatically switch to headshot mode after 50 kills, and you keep the weapon. If you pick headshot mode first, it stays in headshot mode but you cannot change it later. Pick Pacifist, get 50 kills, then you have a permanent headshot aimbot pistol. I learned this after three playthroughs where I accidentally locked myself into the wrong mode. Don't be me.

What Got Me Killed and How to Avoid It

I've made every mistake. Let me save you the headache.

• Mistake: Not using cover. This isn't Call of Duty. You can't stand in the open and trade shots. The game has a cover system — you press <E> (or whatever your interact key is) next to low walls. Use it. I died at least 30 times because I thought I could facetank a group of Tyger Claws. You can't. Use cover or die.
• Mistake: Ignoring crafting. I didn't touch crafting until level 40 because it looked boring. Turned out, upgrading your iconic weapons requires you to craft components. I spent an hour at the workbench just crafting cheap grenades to level up my crafting skill. Do it early. The "Edgerunner Artisan" perk at level 18 makes your crafted items 25% better. I wish I'd known.
• Mistake: Hoarding cyberware capacity. You have a limited amount of cyberware capacity (slots). Don't fill every slot with random junk. I put a "heat converter" mod in my hand slot that did nothing for my build. Later, I found a legendary gorilla arm that needed that slot but I had no room. Save your slots for high-tier gear. Only equip what you actually use.
• Mistake: Selling crafting components for quick cash. This seems smart — "I have 500 common parts, I need 2,000 eddies for a new car." No. You need those parts to upgrade your weapons at level 30+. I sold all my rare components for 3,000 eddies once, then had to farm for an hour to upgrade my iconic shotgun. Pain. Keep your components. Money comes from gigs and junk.
• Mistake: Starting the "Automatic Love" quest before you've done the Rogue storyline. That quest locks you into the Pacifica area for a while, and the enemies there are level 20+. If you go there at level 12, you'll get shredded. Check the recommended level on the quest in your journal. If it says "Hard" or "Very Hard," don't go. I ignored this and spent 2 hours dying to Voodoo Boys. Not fun.

Quick Answers to What You're Probably Googling

Q: What's the best starting lifepath?
A: Street Kid gives you the most dialogue options in the first 20 hours and fits the story best. Corpo gives you a cool prologue but fewer options later. Nomad is fine but feels disconnected. I'd say Street Kid is the "canon" choice for feel.

Q: How do I get a car early?
A: Complete the The Gig mission from Wakako (around level 10). You get a free yellow Rattler car. It's not fast, but it's free. Alternatively, save 22,000 eddies and buy the MaiMai P126 from the autofixer — it's tiny, handles like a shopping cart, but it's cheap.

Q: Can I respec my attribute points?
A: No. Perk points can be refunded with the Tabula Rasa item from ripperdocs (costs 100,000 eddies), but attributes are permanent. Once you put 18 into Reflexes, you can't take it back. Plan your build. This is why people restart — I've restarted twice because of bad attribute spreads. Don't be like me.

Q: Why can't I craft legendary items?
A: You need Technical Ability at 18 to unlock the maximum crafting perks. Also, you need to find the crafting specs in the wild — they drop from high-level enemies and gig rewards. No shortcut. Grind your Tech to 18 if you want top-tier gear.

Q: What's the best weapon in the game?
A: The Comrade's Hammer — a tech revolver you get from the "Sinnerman" quest line. It does 1,200+ damage per shot, ignores armor, and shoots through walls. One-shots most enemies. But the recoil is massive and you have to reload after every shot. I cleared the final mission with it in 20 minutes. It's legit broken.

Q: How do I get the secret ending (Don't Fear the Reaper)?
A: Near the end of the game, during the conversation with Johnny on the rooftop, you need to say the correct dialogue options: "What do you want to hear?" then "The one where you and Rogue storm Arasaka." Then choose "No" when asked to call Panam or Rogue for help. It's specific. I missed it my first run because I looked away from the screen. Save before that conversation.

Q: My game keeps crashing on this specific mission.
A: The Automatic Love mission in the Clouds club is bugged for some players. If you can't progress, lower your graphics settings to Medium, turn off Ray Tracing, and disable "Mirror Reflections" in the settings. That fixed it for me. Also, manual save before walking into the elevator. Trust me.