Welcome to the best D Build for Cyberpunk 2077 (Patch 2.31), inspired by the Snake Nation netrunner from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2. D is a nomad hunting the killer who wiped out his clan.
The D Build combines the Militech Canto, Blackwall Gateway, Overclock and the Yinglong smart SMG: spread your quickhacks through whole groups, pay for them with your own health, and let smart bullets clean up the rest.
Table of Contents for the D Build:
- Build Overview
- Attributes
- Perks (Skills)
- Cyberware
- Quickhacks
- Weapons
- Gear
- Skill Progression
- Leveling Tips
- D Character Creation
Strengths and Weaknesses list for the D Build:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Want a quieter netrunner who never gets seen? Read my Lucy Netrunner Build. For another new face from Edgerunners 2, check out my Weak Kingsley Build.
Cyberpunk 2077 D Build Overview
This Cyberpunk 2077: D Build plays like a netrunner with nothing left to lose. I open every fight with Overclock: Ticking Time Bomb stuns everyone around me, and from then on I hack with my own health instead of RAM. Contagion and Blackwall Gateway jump from enemy to enemy, Synapse Burnout deletes whoever is still standing, and the Yinglong cleans up with smart bullets that lock on instantly while Overclock is running. Power Surge, Sublimation and Blood Daemon put the health back, and if it still gets close, the Biomonitor pops a health item for me.
Before the Canto: The Militech Canto only shows up deep in the Phantom Liberty story, so you play most of the early game without it. Until then I run the Raven Microcyber from level 20. It makes every spreading quickhack jump instantly and twice as far, which already plays a lot like the Blackwall Gateway. Contagion does the spreading, and the Yinglong or any Dian does the rest.
Attributes – D Build
Distributing Attributes correctly for the D Build is important. Attributes delegate the direction of the build and give access to different tiers of perks depending on how many points you invest in each category.
The Cyberpunk 2077 D Build’s primary Attribute is 
Intelligence. We also invest points in 
Technical Ability, 
Body and 
Reflexes. 
Cool stays at 9, because D is not a stealth netrunner.
D Start Attributes
At the start of the game, select the following Attribute allocation to give us the optimal start for the D Build in Cyberpunk 2077.
| Attribute | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
|
+3 |
|
|
Technical Ability |
+3 |
|
|
Body |
+1 |
|
|
Reflexes |
None |
|
|
Cool |
None |
|
Max Level Attributes
At max level, you want to have the following distribution of Attributes for the D Build in Cyberpunk 2077:
20 Intelligence- 20 Technical Ability
- 17 Body
- 15 Reflexes
- 9 Cool
Perks – D Build Cyberpunk 2077
In this section of the Cyberpunk 2077 D Build, I will explain the perks that we use for each attribute.
Perk Points: To get perk points, you can either simply level up or farm Perk Shards. Read our guide on all 13 Perk Shard Locations in Cyberpunk 2077, with map locations, screenshots, and the nearest fast travel point for each shard.
Perk Order: This build uses all 80 Perk Points available at level 60. The bold perks are the core of the build, so pick them up before the non-bold ones. While you are leveling, rush Intelligence: Hack Queue and Embedded Exploit at 9, then Overclock at 15. The Smart weapon perks can wait until you have the Yinglong, and the extra queue perks come last.
Intelligence Perks
The Intelligence Perk-Tree is the heart of the D Build, and we max it out at 20. We take all three branches: quickhack queues on the left, Overclock in the middle and Smart weapons on the right.
Perk Prioritization: Prioritize perks in bold.
Level 4 Perks
RAM recovery and cheaper hacks up close.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
+35% RAM recovery rate. The start of the middle branch and the road to Overclock. |
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Quickhacks cost less RAM the closer you are to the target, up to -35%. D fights up close, so this is almost always working for you. |
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Highlights nearby Access Points and cameras. It is the entry to the queue branch on the left. |
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Unlocks Vehicle quickhacks: take control of cars, set off their alarms or blow them up. A nomad netrunner should be able to do that. |
Level 9 Perks
The biggest tier of the build: queues, RAM refunds and the first Smart weapon perks.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
+1 Max RAM, then quickhack queues: 2 quickhacks on a single enemy, uploaded one after the other. |
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+10% RAM recovery rate. Rank 2 adds damage against enemies hit by Control or Covert quickhacks, which D rarely uses. We take it because Overclock sits behind it. |
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Killing an enemy with a Combat quickhack gives back 25% of the RAM of every quickhack on them. |
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+7% quickhack damage for each unique quickhack and damage over time effect on the target. Contagion, Short Circuit and Synapse Burnout stack it fast. |
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+25% RAM recovery rate for every quickhack currently in a queue. |
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When an enemy dies with quickhacks still in their queue, you get 80% of that RAM back. Blackwall Gateway kills plenty of enemies before their queue is done. |
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When an enemy netrunner targets you, you can quickhack them right back through walls and obstacles, for 1 RAM less. |
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When an enemy netrunner targets you, any quickhack you send back also spreads to their allies. One more way to spread hacks. |
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A larger targeting reticle for Smart weapons, then reloading no longer breaks target lock, plus faster lock-on when you hip fire or aim. |
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+2 RAM for every Smart weapon kill, and if the enemy had quickhacks on them, you also get back 50% of their RAM cost. The Yinglong refills your RAM between hacks. |
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If a Smart weapon target lock is about to run out, shooting the enemy resets it. |
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+2% accuracy with Smart weapons for every point of Max RAM in your cyberdeck. |
Level 15 Perks
Overclock and everything that keeps you alive while it runs.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
+10% RAM recovery rate, +10% quickhack damage, then Overclock mode. Press it with a cyberdeck installed and you can upload quickhacks without enough RAM for 14 seconds. Every RAM unit you are missing costs 10 Health instead. 30 second cooldown. This is D’s whole fighting style. |
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Activating Overclock instantly restores Health based on your Max RAM, so every Overclock starts with a heal. |
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While Overclock is active, all RAM recovery also restores Health. Optimization, Feedback Loop, Speculation and Recirculation now heal you too. |
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While Overclock is active, every quickhack still queued on an enemy restores Health when they die. It sits between the queue branch and the Overclock branch. |
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While Overclock is active, your quickhacks deal more damage the lower your Health is. Health is checked when the upload starts. |
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+1 Max RAM, -1 RAM cost for device and vehicle hacks, then a third quickhack in your queue, with +60% upload speed for the third quickhack and later. |
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-1 RAM cost for the first quickhack of each category (Covert, Combat, Control) that is second or later in a queue. We mainly take it to reach Blood Daemon. |
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+50% upload speed for the first quickhack when at least 2 quickhacks are queued on an enemy. |
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A larger targeting reticle, then switching from aiming to hip fire keeps the lock on headshots and weakspots, and switching between Smart weapons keeps it as well. |
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Multiple target locks while aiming, and +1 target for all Smart weapons. Every Yinglong burst gets split across the group. |
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Faster bullets and longer lock-on range for a short time after a Smart weapon kill, stacking 3 times. |
Level 20 Perks
Intelligence is at 20, so we take three capstones.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
A fourth quickhack in your queue. The last quickhack that fills a queue costs 50% less RAM and locks the queue until everything has uploaded, and you deal +15% damage to enemies with a locked queue. |
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While Overclock is active, your quickhacks get a chance to spread to an additional target. Contagion and Blackwall Gateway already spread on their own, and Spillover lets the rest of your hacks join in. |
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While Overclock is active, Smart weapons lock on instantly and deal bonus damage to enemies affected by a quickhack. Hack the whole room, then spray the Yinglong. |
Technical Ability Perks
The Technical Ability Perk-Tree keeps D alive and chromed. The left branch gives us more and faster health items and leads to Ticking Time Bomb, and the middle branch handles the cyberware. Max it out to 20.
Perk Prioritization: Prioritize perks in bold.
Level 4 Perks
The health item perks on the left, plus one for the nomad.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
+1 health item charge. Every health item also fills your Adrenaline once Adrenaline Rush is unlocked. |
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+30% health from the final charge of your health item. |
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For the nomad: tougher vehicles, and vehicle-mounted weapons deal +25% damage and lock on faster. |
Level 9 Perks
The Cyberware perks in the middle, plus health items on the left.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
+10% to all cyberware stat modifiers and -20% Cyberware Capacity cost for Integumentary System and Skeleton chrome. Max it out. |
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+4 Cyberware Capacity for each Attribute at 9 or higher. Every Attribute in this build is at 9 or higher, so that is +20 capacity. |
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-5% incoming damage while all your Integumentary System and Skeleton slots are filled. |
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Faster recharge for health items and grenades, then an instant partial recharge after every kill. Max it out. |
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If you are below 25% health and out of health item charges, your next kill instantly recharges a health item. Overclock puts you below 25% more often than you would like. |
Level 15 Perks
Pyromania on the left, armor and an extra slot in the middle.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
Faster health item and grenade recharge, a bigger grenade explosion radius, then Pyromania stacks when your explosions hit enemies. We mainly take it because Ticking Time Bomb sits behind it. |
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+10% to all cyberware stat modifiers, +40 armor and an extra Skeleton slot. Max it out. |
Skip: Cyborg only works when every cyberware slot is filled, and D leaves his Arms slot empty.
Level 20 Perks
Technical Ability is at 20, so we take one capstone.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
Every time you activate Overclock, you charge an EMP that hits nearby enemies 1 second later. It stuns them and deals damage based on how many cyberware implants you have and their tier, and you take less damage while it charges. Overclock opens every fight, so every fight opens with an EMP. |
Skip: Edgerunner lets you go over your Cyberware Capacity, but every point over costs Max Health. Overclock spends your health on hacks, so you want all of it.
Body Perks
The Body Perk-Tree is only used for its middle branch: health regen and Adrenaline Rush. Overclock costs health, and Body gives it back. Body sits at 17.
Perk Prioritization: Prioritize perks in bold.
Level 4 Perks
The health regen row, and Fury Road for the nomad.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
Unlocks passive health regeneration during combat. |
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The lower your health, the faster you regenerate. Overclock keeps your health low, so this works the whole fight. |
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More health regen for each nearby enemy. |
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In vehicle collisions you deal +50% damage to enemy vehicles and their occupants, your vehicle takes 50% less damage, and you take none at all. |
Level 9 Perks
We don’t use any level 9 perks. They are all for Body weapons.
Level 15 Perks
Adrenaline Rush and the perks that branch off it.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
+35 max health, +20% to all health regen, then Adrenaline Rush itself. Health items and the Blood Pump now also give Adrenaline equal to 30% of your max health, shown as a yellow second health bar. |
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A 3 second delay before Adrenaline starts decaying. |
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Immunity to movement penalties, knockdown and blinding while Adrenaline Rush is active. Nothing interrupts your uploads. |
Level 20 Perks
We don’t use any level 20 perks. Body sits at 17.
Reflexes Perks
The Reflexes Perk-Tree covers two things: movement in the middle branch and the SMG perks on the left for the Yinglong. Reflexes sits at 15.
Perk Prioritization: Prioritize perks in bold.
Level 4 Perks
Slippery opens the movement branch.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
The faster you move, the harder you are to hit. It also unlocks Dash. |
Level 9 Perks
Dash in the middle, the SMG perks on the left.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
Rank 1 cuts dodge and dash stamina cost, rank 2 unlocks the Dash itself. Aim during a Dash and Kerenzikov slows time. |
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+100% mitigation chance while dashing. |
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Shoot while dashing. The Yinglong keeps its lock while you Dash from cover to cover. |
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-10% stamina cost for shooting SMGs and Assault Rifles, then +30% reload speed above 50% stamina. The Yinglong goes through its 45 rounds fast. |
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+20% effective range and accuracy with SMGs and Assault Rifles. |
Level 15 Perks
Air Dash and Sharpshooter.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
Lower dash stamina cost, faster dashes, then the ability to dash in midair. |
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Faster aiming and better weapon handling, then Sharpshooter stacks. Every hit with an SMG builds stacks that improve your stamina regen and lower your stamina costs. |
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Crit Chance and Crit Damage for every Sharpshooter stack. The Yinglong fires 12.5 rounds per second, so the stacks build up fast. |
Level 20 Perks
We don’t use any level 20 perks. Reflexes sits at 15.
Cool Perks
We don’t spend any perk points in Cool. It sits at 9, the minimum for Renaissance Punk, and every point still adds Crit Damage.
Relic Perks (Phantom Liberty DLC)
Relic Perks (Phantom Liberty DLC)
The Relic skill tree only exists if you own Phantom Liberty, and you need Phantom Liberty for the Militech Canto anyway. This build only uses the Vulnerabilities branch. The Jailbreak branch is for arm cyberware, which D doesn’t have, and the Optical Camo branch is for stealth.
Relic Perks
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
|
Shows Vulnerabilities on enemy armor and cyberware. Hitting one gives 100% crit chance and +25% armor penetration, and destroying it sets off an EMP blast. The Yinglong shreds them. |
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Destroying a Vulnerability makes new ones appear more often and grants crit damage against them, stacking five times with the effects doubled at max stacks. |
Cyberware for the D Build in Cyberpunk 2077
RAM and health: D’s chrome does two jobs. The Frontal Cortex gives you as much RAM as possible, and everything else gives you more health to spend once Overclock takes over. D has no arm cyberware in the trailer, so the Arms slot stays empty.
Cyberware Capacity: At level 60 you have 201 Cyberware Capacity, plus 15 from the Engineer skill tree and 20 from Renaissance Punk, so 236 in total. Everything marked bold or without a note below costs about 224, so it all fits. The alternatives cost more, so only swap them in once Capacity Shards give you some room. Second Heart is the first one I add back.
Important: Priority Cyberware is marked in bold.
- Operating System (Most Important)
- Frontal Cortex
- Face
- Arms
- Hands
- Skeleton
- Nervous System
- Circulatory System
- Integumentary System
- Legs
Operating System
| Cyberware | Description |
|---|---|
|
|
Raven Microcyber |
The deck I run until I have the Canto. +100% spread distance, quickhacks spread to every valid enemy right away instead of after the first upload, and while Overclock is active any quickhack has a 15% chance to spread to 2 nearby enemies. |
Tetratronic Rippler |
+12 Max RAM, and activating Overclock automatically uploads Reboot Optics and Weapon Glitch to all enemies within 8 metres. The deck I use in my Lucy Netrunner Build. |
Location of items:
- Militech Canto: Crafted after the Phantom Liberty main mission Somewhat Damaged. See below.
- Raven Microcyber: Any Ripperdoc from level 20.
- Tetratronic Rippler: Any Ripperdoc.
Militech Canto (Iconic Cyberdeck) – How To Get It
A Militech deck that was allegedly used in the secret Cynosure project. Getting it takes a few steps across the Phantom Liberty story, and one of them is a choice, so read this before you start.
- Step 1: Requires Phantom Liberty DLC. In the quest Firestarter (Main Mission 10), betray Songbird. Siding with Songbird locks you out of the Canto.
- Step 2: Do the Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos quest (Main Mission 11) and then continue to Somewhat Damaged (Main Mission 12).
- Step 3: During Somewhat Damaged, Songbird asks you to shut down the core at the Cynosure facility.
- Step 4: Go into the labs area.
- Step 5: Open the locked door with the code 714212. With 15 Intelligence or more, you can open the door without the code.
- Step 6: The Canto crafting spec is on the table inside.
- Step 7: After the Blackwall AI scares you (the Cerberus encounter), talk to Songbird and take the robot’s internals. That’s the Behavioral System Component.
- Step 8: Wait 24 hours, then go to Yoko in Kabuki Market. She turns the behavioral chip into a crafting component for either the Erebus or the Mk.6 Canto. Choose the cyberdeck.
- Step 9: Craft the Cyberdeck. It costs 12 Tier 5 Quickhack Components and 50 Tier 5 Item Components.
- Step 10: Install the Cyberdeck at a Ripperdoc.
Frontal Cortex
| Cyberware | Description |
|---|---|
|
+6 Max RAM and +35% upload speed for quickhacks. More RAM before Overclock has to take over, and faster uploads once it does. |
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Instantly recovers 30% of your Max RAM when your RAM falls to 20%, plus +2 Max RAM. The cooldown is 80 seconds, minus 2 seconds per Intelligence point, so only 40 seconds at 20 Intelligence. |
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Automatically negates an enemy quickhack, plus +2 Max RAM. The cooldown is 20 seconds, minus 0.5 seconds per Intelligence point, so only 10 seconds at 20 Intelligence. Enemy netrunners love to go after other netrunners. Only 5 capacity. |
Memory Boost |
+1 Max RAM, and every kill gives you RAM back. Blackwall Gateway gets you a lot of kills, but it costs 18 capacity. |
Bioconductor |
Lets your quickhacks crit, with 40% Crit Chance, at the cost of -4 Max RAM. Swap it in for Self-ICE once your RAM pool is big enough and you have the capacity. |
Location of items:
- Ex-Disk: Any Ripperdoc after level 20.
- Camillo RAM Manager: Ripperdocs from around level 30.
- Self-ICE: Any Ripperdoc after level 20.
- Memory Boost: Any Ripperdoc after level 5.
- Bioconductor: Sold by Ripperdocs, with quality scaling as you level.
Face
| Cyberware | Description |
|---|---|
|
While scanning, it highlights enemies within 19.5 metres, including enemies behind cover, plus cameras, turrets and traps. One scan and you know where the whole group is before the first hack goes out. |
Kiroshi “Cockatrice” Optics |
+35% Crit Chance for the Yinglong. The damage pick if you would rather see your enemies the old-fashioned way. |
Location of items:
- Kiroshi “The Oracle” Optics: Ripperdocs from level 30.
- Kiroshi “Cockatrice” Optics: Iconic, Dogtown Ripperdocs from level 35, and in Dogtown airdrops.
Arms
D doesn’t have any arm cyberware in the trailer, so I leave the Arms slot empty. Quickhacks and the Yinglong do all the work. This is also why the build skips the Cyborg perk, which only works when every slot is filled.
Hands
| Cyberware | Description |
|---|---|
|
Required for the Yinglong. Without it, Smart weapons can’t use their smart-targeting. It also gives +20% target lock duration, +15% Crit Damage with Smart weapons and +2 Max RAM, for only 4 capacity. |
Location of items:
- Smart Link: Any Ripperdoc, with quality scaling as you level.
Skeleton
| Cyberware | Description |
|---|---|
|
+13% Max Health. More health means more hacks during Overclock. |
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+2 Max RAM, and taking damage gives you a little RAM back. |
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+62% Carrying Capacity. Nothing exciting, but it only costs 6 capacity and fills the third slot for Chrome Constitution. |
Para Bellum |
+12% Armor, if you have the capacity to spare. |
License to Chrome gives you the third Skeleton slot. Fill all three for Chrome Constitution.
Location of items:
- Epimorphic Skeleton: Any Ripperdoc upon reaching level 30.
- RAM Recoup: Sold by Ripperdocs across Night City, with availability scaling to your level and Street Cred.
- Titanium Bones: Sold by any Ripperdoc, with quality scaling as you level.
- Para Bellum: Any Ripperdoc from level 20.
Nervous System
| Cyberware | Description |
|---|---|
|
Aim during a slide, dodge or Dash and time slows by 60% for 3.75 seconds, with a 6 second cooldown. Dash out of cover, slow time and empty the Yinglong. |
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+11% Mitigation Chance and +11% Mitigation Strength, so you simply take less damage. |
Location of items:
- Kerenzikov: Any Ripperdoc from level 10, with quality scaling by level.
- Neofiber: Any Ripperdoc after level 20.
Circulatory System
| Cyberware | Description |
|---|---|
|
Automatically uses your health item when your health drops below 50%, and +16% health item effectiveness. Overclock can drain you faster than you notice, and the Biomonitor catches it. |
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Works as a second health item: 110 health right away, then 23 health per second for 6 seconds. With Adrenaline Rush it also fills your Adrenaline. |
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+29% movement speed when your health drops to 25%, rising to +39% the lower it goes. Overclock puts you there more often than you would like, and ThreatEvac gets you out. Only 5 capacity. |
Second Heart |
Brings you back with full health when your health hits 0, with a 200 second cooldown. For when you pay a little too much in blood. The first thing I add back once I have the capacity. |
Location of items:
- Biomonitor: Sold by Ripperdocs, with quality scaling as you level.
- Blood Pump: Ripperdocs from level 10.
- ThreatEvac: Sold by Ripperdocs, with quality scaling as you level.
- Second Heart: Any Ripperdoc upon reaching level 30.
Integumentary System
| Cyberware | Description |
|---|---|
|
Iconic ProxiShield: up to -45% damage from enemies within 3 metres, tapering off to nothing at 6 metres. Proximate Propagation wants you close, and this keeps you alive there. |
|
+50% Mitigation Chance for 4 seconds when you lose 35% of your health within 3 seconds. |
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A big chunk of Armor for only 5 capacity. |
Location of items:
- Peripheral Inverse: Iconic, Dogtown Ripperdocs (Phantom Liberty DLC), also found in Dogtown airdrops.
- Countershell: Sold by Ripperdocs, with quality scaling as you level.
- Subdermal Armor: You get it during the intro quest The Ripperdoc, and Ripperdocs sell better versions as you level.
Legs
| Cyberware | Description |
|---|---|
|
Double jump. Get up high, get line of sight on the whole group and hack them from there. |
Jenkins’ Tendons |
A big sprint speed boost for the first few seconds of a sprint, if you would rather close the distance for Proximate Propagation. |
Location of items:
- Reinforced Tendons: Any Ripperdoc from level 10.
- Jenkins’ Tendons: Any Ripperdoc from level 10.
Quickhacks for the Cyberpunk 2077: D Build
This D Build relies on a spreading quickhack rotation: open with Overclock, infect the group, then let Blackwall Gateway jump through whoever is left.
- Important: Quickhacks cost more RAM at higher tiers. During Overclock, every missing RAM unit costs 10 Health, so expensive hacks literally cost you health. Only max out the damage quickhacks.
- Important 2: How to get Quickhacks for your build.
D Build Rotation:
- Overclock (Intelligence perk)
- Contagion (Tier 3 or higher)
- Short Circuit (Tier 5)
- Synapse Burnout (Tier 5)
- Blackwall Gateway (Militech Canto)
I will only explain the quickhacks I use for this build. You are free to swap in others if you prefer another combo.
1. Overclock
(Intelligence perk): Not a quickhack, but every fight starts here. Power Surge heals you, Ticking Time Bomb sends out an EMP that stuns everyone nearby, and for the next 14 seconds you keep hacking with your health once your RAM runs out. Smart Synergy and Spillover only work while it runs.
2. Contagion
(Tier 3 or higher): Poison damage over time that spreads to 4 enemies within 8 metres, and it hits harder with every enemy it jumps to. Upload it to the enemy in the middle of the group. It does nothing against mechs, robots and drones.
(Tier 5): Fast and cheap. Extra damage against mechs, robots, drones and turrets, which Contagion can’t touch, and it applies an EMP effect on top.
(Tier 5): The finisher for the toughest enemy in the room. It deals more damage for every RAM unit you have spent, and while Overclock is active that bonus goes up by 100%. A kill with it also extends Overclock by 3 seconds.
(Militech Canto): The red lightning. It spreads to 5 enemies, causes lethal damage to their cyberware and neural systems, and shuts down mechs, robots, drones and turrets. Each spread costs more RAM than the last, so fire it during Overclock and pay with health.
Optional: 
Cyberpsychosis makes an enemy attack their friends. It costs 6 RAM less for a short time after an EMP effect, and Ticking Time Bomb, Short Circuit and the Yinglong all apply EMP.
How to get Quickhacks in Cyberpunk 2077
In Night City, quickhack progression is tied to your character level. Vendors, world loot and crafting options scale up every 10 levels.
Netrunner Vendors sell Quickhacks
Netrunner Vendors will sell you Quickhacks depending on your level.
- Tier 1: Level 1-9
- Tier 2: Level 10-19
- Tier 3: Level 20-29
- Tier 4: Level 30-39
- Tier 5: Level 40-44
- Tier Iconic: Level 45-50 (Only in Dogtown)
This means you can keep going back to the same Netrunner vendor when you reach a new level threshold.
Crafting Components
Always hack every Access Point you see. They give you free materials and sometimes even free Quickhacks. You will also need 12 Tier 5 Quickhack Components to craft the Militech Canto.
Blackwall Gateway
You can’t buy Blackwall Gateway. It comes with the Militech Canto.
Weapons for the D Build in Cyberpunk 2077
D is a netrunner first, so quickhacks do most of the killing. The Smart SMG cleans up whatever survives, and while Overclock is active it locks on instantly.
- Intelligence perks like Smart Synergy and Targeting Prism boost Smart weapons.
- Reflexes perks like Sharpshooter and Ready, Rested, Reloaded boost SMGs, and a Smart SMG gets both.
- You need Smart Link in your Hands slot, or Smart weapons can’t lock on.
Upgrade: Weapons can be upgraded when you go to the crafting section and then swap to upgrades.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
|
D’s main weapon. A genius among smartguns. Kang Tao’s iconic Smart SMG adds Electrical damage to every bullet, with a small chance to apply EMP on impact. 45 rounds and a very high fire rate, so Sharpshooter and Practice Makes Perfect stack up fast. |
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The backup. An Arasaka prototype with explosive rounds that tracks up to 3 targets while aiming. Great when Blackwall Gateway is still uploading and the whole room is coming at you. |
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The Kang Tao Smart SMG behind the Yinglong. Sold by weapon vendors and found as loot, so it is what I use until I have the iconic. |
Yinglong (Iconic Smart SMG)
Electrical damage on every bullet and a chance to EMP whatever it hits. The EMP makes Cyberpsychosis cheaper, and with Smart Synergy every bullet finds its target the moment Overclock starts.
- Prerequisites: None.
- Where: Wellsprings in Heywood, at the Suspected Organized Crime Activity Living the Big Life.
- How to Get It: Defeat Denzel Cryer, “The Brain”, and loot the crafting spec.
- What to Do: Craft the Yinglong from the spec in your crafting menu.
Prototype: Shingen Mark V (Iconic Smart SMG)
An Arasaka prototype that won’t hit the market for a few years. Explosive rounds and three-target tracking make it the best backup when a whole group gets close, and Targeting Prism adds one more target on top.
- Prerequisites: None.
- Where: Arasaka Industrial Park, Northside, Watson.
- How to Get It: It is inside trailer 667 at the exterior loading dock.
- What to Do: The area is guarded by Arasaka. Hack the cameras and the guards from outside, or come back once you are higher level.
- Note: You can get it early in the game, long before the Yinglong.
Gear for the D Build in Cyberpunk 2077
Since gear is mostly cosmetic, you can wear whatever you want. All of this build’s defense comes from cyberware instead, mainly the Epimorphic Skeleton, Peripheral Inverse, the Biomonitor and Adrenaline Rush.
I will add the exact cosmetics for D’s look once Edgerunners 2 is out and I have seen his outfit up close. Until then, go for what the trailer shows: a blue jacket.
Skill Progression in Cyberpunk 2077
This is often overlooked; in the character menu, you can actually click on “Skill Progression”. This will send you to a very powerful mechanic in Cyberpunk 2077.
By leveling up these trees you gain powerful effects.
For our Cyberpunk 2077: D Build you want to focus on Netrunner, Shinobi and Engineer. Netrunner is the big one: every quickhack and every Smart weapon kill levels it, and it ends with exactly what D needs. At level 50 Overclock lasts 40% longer, at 55 you lose 10% less health during Overclock, and at 60 Overclock reveals nearby enemies and lets you hack through cover. Shinobi comes naturally from dashing around in combat, and Engineer from crafting your quickhacks, the Yinglong and the Canto.
Netrunner (Intelligence)
- Level 5: +5% RAM Recovery Rate
- Level 10: +1 Max RAM
- Level 15: +1 Perk Point
- Level 20: +20% Smart Weapon lock-on range
- Level 25: +5% RAM Recovery Rate
- Level 30: +1 Max RAM
- Level 35: +1 Perk Point
- Level 40: -20% RAM cost for hacking devices/vehicles
- Level 45: +15% Control/Covert duration; +5% Combat hack damage
- Level 50: +40% Overclock duration
- Level 55: -10% Health loss during Overclock
- Level 60: Overclock Mode: Reveals enemies (10m) & hacks through cover
How to Level Up Netrunner (Intelligence)
- Looting Skill Shards from chests and enemies.
- Use offensive, control, or covert quickhacks on enemies during combat.
- Hack environmental objects, security cameras, and devices to distract enemies or trigger explosions.
- Successfully jack into and hack Access Points (Data Terminals) using Breach Protocol.
- Defeat enemies using Smart weapons or the Monowire.
Shinobi (Reflexes)
- Level 5: +5% Movement Speed
- Level 10: -5% Dodge/Dash Stamina cost
- Level 15: +1 Perk Point
- Level 20: Better accuracy after dodging/dashing
- Level 25: +5% Movement Speed
- Level 30: -10% Dodge/Dash Stamina cost
- Level 35: +1 Perk Point
- Level 40: Increased Mitigation Chance the faster you move
- Level 45: +25% Fast Attack damage
- Level 50: Sliding & Air Dashing reload 20% of your weapon
- Level 55: Mid-air/Slow-mo: low stamina does not penalize combat
- Level 60: Sandevistan Mode: +40% Crit Chance; No movement Stamina cost
How to Level Up Shinobi (Reflexes)
- Looting Skill Shards from chests and enemies.
- Defeat enemies using blade weapons (Katanas, Machetes, Chainswords, or Mantis Blades).
- Actively dodge, dash, air-dash, slide, and vault while in active combat.
- Defeat enemies using Assault Rifles or Submachine Guns (SMGs), especially while moving at high speeds.
Engineer (Technical Ability)
- Level 5: +15 Armor
- Level 10: +5 Cyberware Capacity
- Level 15: +1 Perk Point
- Level 20: +10% Grenade damage & explosion radius
- Level 25: +25 Armor
- Level 30: +10 Cyberware Capacity
- Level 35: +1 Perk Point
- Level 40: Increased Shock chance when charging Tech weapons
- Level 45: +15% Health Item effectiveness
- Level 50: +30% to all Cyberware stat modifiers
- Level 55: +10% Bolt damage, +40% Bolt burn, Chain Lightning burns
- Level 60: Fury Mode: You occasionally release a massive EMP blast
How to Level Up Engineer (Technical Ability)
- Looting Skill Shards from chests and enemies.
- Defeat enemies using Tech weapons, especially by firing fully charged shots or Bolt shots.
- Get kills using damage-dealing grenades or the Projectile Launch System (PLS) cyberware.
- Craft new weapons, quickhacks, and item components.
- Upgrade weapons and cyberware at Ripperdocs or through your crafting menu.
- Dismantle weapons, armor, and junk items into crafting components.
Solo (Body)
- Level 5: +50 Carrying Capacity
- Level 10: +10 Max Health
- Level 15: +1 Perk Point
- Level 20: +20% Fist/Gorilla Arms damage & speed (Fists bleed)
- Level 25: +100 Carrying Capacity
- Level 30: +15% Max Health
- Level 35: +1 Perk Point
- Level 40: +10% Crit Chance within 5 meters
- Level 45: +25% Strong/Quick Melee damage
- Level 50: +25% Health after performing a Finisher
- Level 55: Adrenaline decays 50% slower, min 10% floor
- Level 60: Berserk Mode: +30% Finisher threshold, +50% Finisher heal, +30% duration
How to Level Up Solo (Body)
- Looting Skill Shards from chests and enemies.
- Defeat enemies using Heavy Weapons (Shotguns, Light Machine Guns, and Heavy Machine Guns).
- Defeat enemies using blunt weapons, Gorilla Arms, or bare fists.
- Force open locked doors, rip heavy turrets from their mounts, and pass physical Body attribute checks in the world.
- Execute physical melee finishers.
Headhunter (Cool)
- Level 5: -10% Visibility to enemies
- Level 10: +10% Headshot & Vulnerability damage
- Level 15: +1 Perk Point
- Level 20: No weapon sway when crouched
- Level 25: -10% Visibility to enemies
- Level 30: +15% Headshot & Vulnerability damage
- Level 35: +1 Perk Point
- Level 40: Optical Camo is active while grappling enemies
- Level 45: -30% Recovery time after a throw
- Level 50: +30% Crouch walk & sprint speed
- Level 55: Undetected damage bonus lasts 3s in combat
- Level 60: +15% Optical Camo charge on stealth/special kills
How to Level Up Headhunter (Cool)
- Looting Skill Shards from chests and enemies.
- Perform stealth takedowns and neutralizations on unaware enemies.
- Get headshots and hit enemy weakspots using any weapon type.
- Defeat enemies using pistols, revolvers, sniper rifles, precision rifles, or thrown weapons (knives and axes).
- Deal damage and secure kills while crouching or using Optical Camo.
Leveling Tips for the D Build in Cyberpunk 2077
Here are a few general leveling tips for the D Build in Cyberpunk 2077.
- Perfect Start
- How to make Money
- Upgrade Weapons
- How Gear Scaling Works
- How to get Perk Points Fast
- Dogtown Consumables
Perfect Start in Cyberpunk 2077
Here are the steps that I recommend taking with a new Cyberpunk 2077 playthrough.
Starter Build: You can also check out my Cyberpunk 2077 Starter Build that takes you from level 1 to level 15.
- Regular Start (Don’t skip ahead to Phantom Liberty).
- Immediately after the prologue, once you are out of your room and go downstairs before you enter the elevator.
- Weapon Vendor: Buy the Iconic pistol Dying Night.
- Coach Fred: Capacity Boosters (in case you get over capacity so you can still move).
- Buff Routine: Sleep & Shower. This gives you 20% Skill XP acquisition and Health Regen.
- Watson Clean Sweep (NCPD Missions):
- Watson is the first district you play in.
- Clearing all missions takes 1-2 hours. This will give you at least 10 levels, 15 Street Cred and over 150k Eddies Cash.
- Loot all enemies and either disassemble for materials or sell them at the vendor for extra Eddies.
- Get the Fenrir SMG from the monk mission. This SMG is insanely good at the start because it often stuns enemies.
- Visit a Ripperdoc at level 10: After you have enough money, it’s time to get chromed up.
- Cyberdeck (Operating System): Swap your starting cyberdeck for the best one you can afford. More RAM and more quickhack slots matter more than anything else early on.
- Smart Link (Hands): Lets Smart weapons lock on. You need it for the Dian and later the Yinglong.
- Reinforced Tendons (Legs): Allow you to double jump
- Kerenzikov (Nervous System): Slows Time by 60% for 2s.
- Synaptic Accelerator (Nervous System): Slows time by 20% for 2s when enemy detection reaches 50%.
- Whatever else you can fit!
- Time to start playing for real. The Pickup mission is waiting for you!
How to make Money
It is actually fairly easy to make money in Cyberpunk 2077. The best way to make money is to clear all the NCPD and Cyberpsycho missions in each district. As previously mentioned, clearing most of the Watson district NCPD mission alone already gives you approximately 150k Eddies Cash.
Upgrade Weapons
This often gets overlooked, but you can upgrade early-game weapons in Cyberpunk 2077. Go to the crafting section, then move to the Upgrade tab. Here you can upgrade all weapons if you have the necessary crafting components.
Gear Scaling in Cyberpunk 2077
Gear scaling is automated in Cyberpunk 2077. The moment you reach a certain level, you will start finding more and more high-quality items. Meaning the faster you reach a higher level the sooner you will find better gear from chests or enemies. That counts for Gear, Weapons, Cyberware, Outfits, etc.
- Tier 1: Level 1-9
- Tier 2: Level 10-19
- Tier 3: Level 20-29
- Tier 4: Level 30-39
- Tier 5: Level 40-44
- Tier Iconic: Level 45-50
How to get Perk Points in Cyberpunk 2077
You need Perk Points to unlock additional Perks for the D Build in Cyberpunk 2077. Perks are the bread and butter of any CP2077 Build, as they significantly enhance your power.
- You get one Perk Point per character level.
- Skill Progression awards you with Perk Points.
- You can farm up to 13 Perk Shards (10 base game, 3 Phantom Liberty DLC)
Perk Point per Character Level
Not much needs to be said here; leveling up gives you one extra Perk Point.
Skill Progression
This is often overlooked; the Skill Progression system also awards you Perk Points at 15 and 35. So you can get an additional 10 Perk Points from this.
Character menu > bottom right Skill Progression.
Perk Shards
There are 10 base-game Perk Shards and 3 Phantom Liberty DLC Perk Shards you can collect to earn additional perks in Cyberpunk 2077.
Read Guide: All 13 Perk Shard Locations in Cyberpunk 2077
Here is the full list, click on the hyperlink of each location to see images, it will send you to the full Cyberpunk 2077: Perk Shards Location Guide.
| Shard # | Exact Sub-Location | District | Nearest Fast Travel Point | Source Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abandoned Warehouse A B C (Garages) | Watson (Northside) | Offshore Street | Base Game |
| 2 | NCPD Scanner Alert (Car Trunk) | Westbrook (Japantown) | Dark Matter | Base Game |
| 3 | Roadside Crash Site (Billboard/Drone) | The Badlands | Sunset Motel | Base Game |
| 4 | Suspected Organized Crime Activity (NCPD) | The Badlands | Sunset Motel | Base Game |
| 5 | Dead Maintenance Worker at Ventilation Shaft | City Center (Corpo Plaza) | Corpo Plaza Apartment | Base Game |
| 6 | At Memorial Park, in a chest during NCPD Assault | City Center (Corpo Plaza) | Arasaka Tower | Base Game |
| 7 | Gang Activity under Bridge (NCPD) | Heywood (The Glen) | Ventura & Skyline | Base Game |
| 8 | Arasaka Park Entrance Building Upstairs | Santo Domingo (Arroyo) | Arasaka Industrial Park | Base Game |
| 9 | Reported Crime Garage (NCPD) | Santo Domingo (Rancho Coronado) | Woodhaven Street | Base Game |
| 10 | Riverside Garage (NCPD) | Santo Domingo (Arroyo) | Red Dirt Bar | Base Game |
| 11 | “Dog Eat Dog” Starter Quest | Dogtown | Dogtown Entrance | Phantom Liberty DLC |
| 12 | Red Van Junk Shop (Marcin) inside EBM Petrochem Stadium | Dogtown | EBM Petrochem Stadium | Phantom Liberty DLC |
| 13 | Longshore Stacks below Jung Store behind cardboard | Dogtown | Longshore Stacks | Phantom Liberty DLC |
Dogtown Consumables (Phantom Liberty DLC)
During the starter quest of the Phantom Liberty DLC in Cyberpunk 2077 called “Dog Eat Dog” you eventually enter the marketplace area (You can also access the area later at any time). Here you can buy various new stuff that isn’t available in the base game.
Some vendors also sell permanent consumable upgrades, 12k each. Best you go talk to all the vendors in that area and see what they offer.
- Bartender Shop: Dendritic Protoplasma Supplier permanent +1% Ram Recovery Rate.
- Netrunner Shop: Dendritic Protoplasma Supplier permanent +2% Ram Recovery Rate.
- Note: The items are called the same, but they both work, so you get a total of 3% Ram Recovery Rate.
- Food Vendor: Prototype Pseudo Embryonic Cell Builder permanent +2 Health.
- Meds Vendor: Prototype Pseudo Embryonic Cell Builder permanent +3 Health.
- Note: The items are called the same, but they both work, so you get a total of +5 Health.
- Note: You find the Meds vendor on the opposite side of the Netrunner Vendor in a hallway.
- Food Vendor: Military-Grade Lactic Acid Recyclers: +1% Stamina Regen Rate.
- Herold Weapon Vendor: Sells you all the Iconic Weapons you have missed during your playthrough.
- Marcin/ Michal Kicinski Junk Vendor: 1 Perk Shard and 1 Progression Shard of each type.
Additionally, make sure to check all other vendors in Dogtown. For example at the Longshore Stacks fast travel point, you also have vendors that sell you permanent upgrades.
D Character Creation in Cyberpunk 2077
Lifepath: Nomad. D is a Snake Nation nomad from the outskirts of Night City, so this is the obvious pick. The lifepath only changes your prologue and dialogue options, not your stats.
I will add this once we get a better look at him during the Edgerunners 2 anime.
