2021-01-19T12:52:44 01:00

Cyberpunk 2077 Hacker Build Guide: The Best Skills for Netrunners

Stay in the shadows and take out your enemies with computer viruses - that's the basic idea behind most of the hacker builds in Cyberpunk 2077. With Daemons you break into enemy networks and eliminate all opponents in an area with quickhacks - often without firing a single shot. But even in open combat, the so-called Netrunners are deadly with the right skill. In this build guide, we'll introduce you to three of the best hacker builds. You will learn:

How to become a quickhack-slinging techno-mage
How to unleash a digital plague on your enemies
How to use hacking skills to kill almost all enemies in one shot

Want to learn more about the hacking basics in Cyberpunk 2077? Our guide on the subject answers all your questions!

Cyberpunk 2077 Hacker Build #1: The Quickhack Mage

Playstyle

This hacker build in Cyberpunk 2077 ambushes with quickhacks. Secretly hack into enemy networks with the Breach Protocol Hack to use your Quickhacks more effectively afterwards and eliminate your enemies in no time.

The talents required for the build are all in the Intelligence attribute and make your Quickhacks do more damage, cost less, and are available again faster. They also improve your RAM regeneration, so you can just throw hacks around.

Attributes

Skill up Intelligence as soon as possible. Distribute the remaining points as you wish - reflexes for better weapon damage in case of emergency or body for more resistance to shelling are recommended.

Talents

Quickhacks (Intelligence):

Biosynergy
Bloodware
Forget-me-not
Signal support
Subliminal message
Mnemonic
Critical bug
Optimization
First class memory sharing

Breach protocol (intelligence):

Mass Vulnerability
Mass Vulnerability: Resistances
Mass Vulnerability: Quickhacks
Gun taming
Total Memory
Total Memory
Cloud cache
Startup advantage
Buffer optimization

Weapons

Weapon choice isn't that important in this build - you'll be fighting primarily with hacks. As a plan B, you should still take one and put some of your remaining attribute points into reflexes to increase damage.

Armor

A high armor value is a top priority for armor to increase your chances of survival. Continue to look for critical damage bonuses once you have the Critical Failure talent skillet.

Cyberdeck and Cyberware

A good cyberdeck with as much buffer as possible, as much RAM as possible, and as many quickhack slots as possible is essential for a good Cyberpunk 2077 hacker build - and this is no exception. Always take the best deck you can get and upgrade every chance you get. A good choice for later in the game is the cyberdeck Stephenson Tech MK. 4, which you can buy from the Ripperdoc in Pacifica for 35,000 Eddies. However, you need a Street Cred level of 37 first.

Additionally useful is cyberware that increases your critical damage or critical damage probability - especially Visual Cortex Support and Improved Limbic System.

Quickhacks

Put together a good mix of quickhacks that can deal damage to people and machines in particular. Synapse Burnout and Short Circuit are your standard arsenal, and you can take out many enemies later with a single Quickhack. Also, pack a few cheaper hacks like Weapon Glitch into the cyberdeck so you can still act with little RAM.

Notes

In the first few hours of Cyberpunk 2077, you will often still have to resort to shooting weapons to level up. Your quickhacks will only become strong enough as your intelligence increases. So if the hacker build seems weak at first, that's normal - just keep going, you'll be fine!

Cyberpunk 2077 Hacker Build #2: The Plague Netrunner

Play style

This hacker build relies heavily on the Infestation quickhack, which deals chemical damage to enemies and spreads among them within a certain radius. Enter an area, take out defenses with Breach Protocol, unleash your digital plague, and watch your enemies fall over in rows. The build combines talents from the Intelligence attribute with Coolness, and here especially with the Killing Machine talent: the more enemies you kill, the faster you can hack.

Attributes

Intelligence and Coolness. Distribute your first few points evenly between the two attributes and then skill up Intelligence first before continuing with Coolness.

Talents

Breach Protocol (Intelligence):

Mass Vulnerability (rank 1 will do)
Mass Vulnerability: Resistances
Mass Vulnerability: Quickhacks
Great Sleep
Turret Shutdown (Rank 1 will do)
Launch Advantage
Compression
Efficiency
Total Memory
Total recall
Cloud cache

Quickhacks (intelligence):

Bloodware
Biosynergy
Forget-Me-Not
Daisy Chain
Scatter
Mnemonic
Optimization
Anamnesis
Subliminal Message
Signal support
Plague
Critical Fault

Ninjutsu (Coolness):

Crouching Tiger
Attack from the Shadows
Neurotoxin

Fighting Machine (Coolness):

Fighting Machine
Indestructible
Killing Machine
Calculating
Slow down
Turbo synapses
Fast transfer

Weapons

As with many Netrunner builds, weapons are secondary for the Infestation Hacker. Go with whatever you like!

Armor

Look for a high armor value and take bonuses for critical damage and critical hit chance.

Cyberdeck and Cyberware

For the cyberdeck, as for all hacker builds: Buy only the best! Keep upgrading the board with your quickhacks. As soon as you can afford it, you should buy a legendary cyberdeck - for this build we recommend the Raven Microcyber MK. 4, which is a perk that increases the radius of infestation. You can get it from the Ripperdoc Dr. Chrome in the southwest of Kabuki Market, Watson for 35,000 Eddies once you reach Street Cred level 14.

Make sure your cyberware has stats that increase critical damage and critical hit probability - your Infestation Quickhack will then really benefit from the Critical Failure talent, which unlocks critical hit chances for Quickhacks.

Quickhacks

The most important part of the build is, of course, the Infestation quick hack, which you should always have in the best possible version in your cyberdeck. You can fill up the remaining slots as you see fit - damage hacks like Short Circuit and Synapse Burnout are great for killing survivors of your digital plague.

Cyberpunk 2077 Hacker Build #3: The Short Circuit Fighter

Play Style

Arguably one of the best builds in the game with incredible damage potential! This hacking skill builds on the legendary Quickhack short circuit. The hack normally shocks enemies, but in the legendary version it has a certain modification: when you land a critical hit with any weapon, the enemy also gets a shock. So you don't even have to hack properly to hack, but merely shoot.

The goal of the build is to increase short-circuit damage by leveling up intelligence, and also to drive up the probability and damage of critical hits. The result: an aggressive build that mows down enemies in hordes with power surges.

Attributes

Level up Intelligence first - you need the maximum level to unlock the Bartmoss Legacy talent and to craft the legendary Short Circuit Quickhack. After that, level up Coolness - or, if you want a bit more weapon damage, Reflexes.

Talents

Breach Protocol (Intelligence):

Mass Vulnerability
Mass Vulnerability: Quickhacks

Quickhacks (Intelligence):

Bloodware
Hacking for professionals
Critical bug
Bartmoss' Legacy

You can supplement the Intelligence talents with talents from the Reflexes or Coolness attributes. Prioritize talents that increase critical hit chance or critical damage. Exactly which you choose is not that important - the build works either way. A few recommendations:

Ninjutsu (Coolness):

Out of the Shadows

Battle Machine (Coolness):

Battle Machine
Merciless
Calculating
Indestructible

Guns (Reflexes):

Signed bullets
Concealed use
Feel the flow

Handguns (Reflexes):

High Noon
For a handful of Eurodollars
Westworld
Cranium
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Weapons

What makes this Netrunner build deadly is the short-circuit damage triggered by critical hits. So take a weapon that lets you fire many bullets in a short time, has a large magazine or a short reload time - for example, an automatic pistol or a shotgun.

Smart weapons make your life even easier: You only have to aim roughly in the direction of the enemies, and your projectiles will find the target by themselves. Thanks to a high crit chance, Kurzschluss should trigger on almost every enemy - typically this is a one-shot kill. Important: Improve your weapon with mods that increase the critical hit chance.

Armor

When it comes to armor, look for bonuses to critical hit chance and critical damage and use the appropriate mods. Also important: a high armor value.

Cyberdeck and Cyberware

The legendary Netwatch Netdriver MK. 5 is the cyberdeck of choice for this build. You can get it from the Ripperdoc in Heywood, Wellspring for 43,750 Eurodollars - but unfortunately only from Street Cred level 49.

Add the cyberware Visual Cortex Support and Improved Limbic System - they increase your critical damage and critical hit chance. If you want to use a Smart weapon, remember that you need to include a Smart Link as cyberware.

Quickhacks

The legendary short-circuit hack is, of course, mandatory! Buy a rare one from the Netrunner in Pacifica and then craft the epic as well as the legendary version yourself. Otherwise, the rest of the Quickhack selection is up to you.

Notes

This build doesn't reach its full potential until late in the game, as it absolutely requires a legendary Quickhack. Until you're dealing out shortcuts by the dozen, you'll play it more like a traditional Netrunner. That means hiding and taking out enemies with quickhacks from afar until you've leveled up enough to use the main components.

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