Not all Cyberpunk 2077 attributes are created equal, however. When you improve certain stats above others, you’ll discover new uses for those stats as you explore Night City. These additional options are primarily additional dialogue options and new ways to get around the world. Still, they open up money-making opportunities and allow you to get around difficult situations with less hassle.
Below, you’ll learn which attributes you should focus on and which you can’t live without.
The Best Attribute in Cyberpunk 2077 for All Builds
The outright best attribute, no matter your build, is Body. It offers everything:
More health More Stamina Improved survivability in stealth Additional maneuverability with heavy weapons
As a bonus, your melee damage will go up with melee weapons and your fists, Gorilla Arms or not. This second buff makes some of the most annoying quests in the game, the “Beat on the Brat” fights, much more tolerable. And if you want to punch your way out of a sticky situation, Body also offers a full suite of bare-fisted perks for exactly that purpose.
Add to all that a set of powerful perks for Shotguns and LMGs and the eternal Athletics grind, speccing for Body is never a bad choice.
You’ll also be able to force open almost every openable door in the game, even if you don’t have clearance. Technical Ability lets you through some locked doors, but Body will get you in no matter what, as long you’ve got enough points.
The Best Attribute per Playstyle in Cyberpunk 2077
Most players will reach Level 20 in one or two Attributes by the end of their first playthrough, provided they do a healthy amount of side content and take their time with the main story. That’s why you want to focus on how you want to engage with enemies early.
The best damage attribute, then, will depend on how you plan to fight or avoid fighting entirely.
Reflexes
Skills:
Handguns Assault Blades
The bread and butter stat, Reflexes boosts your Handgun, Assault Rifle, and SMG damage, as well as various uses for your Mantis Blades and other bladed weapons. You’ll also receive passive bonuses to your Crit and Evasion chances, offering a flat increase to both damage and survivability.
Reflexes are a great choice if you want to approach Cyberpunk 2077 as more shooter than RPG, with a few additional odds and ends built in.
There are not many in-world or dialog choices that come from a high Reflexes score.
Body
Skills:
Athletics Annihilation Street Brawler
The close-range stat, Body will improve your shotgun, LMG, and fist melee abilities, as well as increasing your mobility and general survivability with each level. If you’d rather take on the dangers of Night City from point-blank range, this is the stat for you.
Body allows you to force open most openable locked doors in the game and creates a few dialogue opportunities.
Intelligence
Skills:
Breach Protocol Quickhacking
It’s entirely possible to beat every enemy in Cyberpunk 2077 without firing a single shot. To do that, you need to spec into Intelligence; some of the quickhacking abilities are downright disgusting when paired with the right mods and cyberware.
With plenty of possible combinations and buffs, you can and will watch your enemies die in confused agony as you hack their brains from afar.
Intelligence allows you to hack into terminals scattered around Night City and opens up optional dialogue, but not much that helps primary objectives.
Cool
Skills:
Stealth Cold-Blooded
Looking to deal death from the shadows? You’ll want to level Cool and do it yesterday. Even the lower-level Stealth perks offer some crazy bonuses, and a high Cool stat will take your critical damage into the stratosphere.
Don’t sleep on the Cold-Blooded abilities either. Stack enough of them together and watch your enemies melt before your eyes.
Cool opens opportunities for fun optional dialogue, but little that alters the mandatory choices.
What About Technical Ability?
Skills:
Crafting Engineering
Technical Ability doesn’t have nearly the utility or in-moment benefits as any of the other attributes. The Engineering tree offers a lot of neat options, but the real draw here is Crafting. As we touch on in our crafting guide, the main issue is the sheer expense of the system and how you won’t see a real benefit from it until deep into the endgame.
There is one distinct advantage to eschewing damage perks for Technical Ability: the possibility of an OP weapon you won’t find in the world for dozens of hours.
Crafting allows you to create randomized weapons, and with a lucky roll, to get your hands on a gun that can carry you well past the main campaign and through a good chunk of side content. This weapon could even be better than some of the Iconics in the game for a time.
Thankfully, for those sought-after weapons, the best of which we cover in our Iconics guide, the Upgrading mechanic can keep them competitive as long as you can afford the materials.
Cyberpunk 2077 attributes can help you create many different builds and turn Night City into your personal playground. While most of them focus on damage, you needn’t prioritize upfront aggression to succeed. Some additional roleplaying options and economy upgrades/alterations would have been welcome, but this is the best of what we have. For more on Cyberpunk 2077, head over to its game page!
