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Cyberware Guide – Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 Character Cyberware Implants Guide

Ah, yes, the cyber in Cyberpunk. After all, not all of your passive and active abilities in Cyberpunk 2077 come from Attributes and Perks. Your perception of the surroundings, understanding of your opponents, the way your handle your combat, your weapons, and exploration tools also come from the upgrades you make to your body hardware.

Cyberware is an expensive accessory and your body can handle only so many of each type. However, their bonuses are truly unique and in many cases they surpass bonuses you can get from your weapons and armor (and sometimes even those from your Attributes, Skills, and Perks!). Cyberware is also the primary way to build your Armor, as a few of the pieces will largly increase it.

The Cyberpunk 2077 Cyberware categories are:

  • Frontal Cortex
  • Circulatory System
  • Nervous System
  • Integumentary System
  • Operating System
  • Skeleton
  • Hands
  • Arms
  • Legs
  • Face
cyberpunk 2077 cyberware menu

Cyberware augmentation system of Cyberpunk 2077 offers quite a bit of variety. You can augment parts of your brain, like your frontal cortex and your operating system (and, yes, each one comes with its own functionality).
However, there are also a variety of augments for your body systems — your circulatory, nervous, and integumentary systems. You can install an operating system, as well as modify your skeleton, face, hands, arms, and legs. Thankfully, all of these Cyberware categories tend to share some of the types of bonuses they offer. We will offer you some suggestions and strategies for each.

Each type of implant comes can be found between Tiers 1 through 5. Every Tier comes with effect increases, increased armor, and Attribute Attunements. So, there is a lot to play with! Of course, we will discuss different tiers and whether they are worth pursuing.

As of patch 2.0, mods for Cyberware has been replaced with Attribute Attunements. This means that you will get an extra bonus for the piece, increasing the more you have invested in a specific Attribute. For example, maybe parts with a Body Attunement will give you extra health, increasing the more points you put in Body.

In order to make installations and upgrades to your Cyberware, you will have to go to Cyberware surgeons called Ripperdocs. Keep in mind, however, that there is a limit to just how many implants you can give yourself at once. However, this limit can be increased by leveling and finding Cyberware Capacity shards, as well as investing in the Edgerunner and Renaissance Punk Perks.

Cyberpunk 2077 Cyberware Guide Ripperdoc

You will encounter many talented Ripperdocs (which may or may not be operating legally) in Cyberpunk 2077 as you discover new areas and help out influential citizens or gang members to gain Street Cred. Of course, rarer Cyberware pieces and upgraded models will come with an appropriate price tag.

But which Cyberware is worth it? You will find, for example, that some of the ranged weapons require certain Hands augments in order to function to their full potential. So, when you have to choose what to put into your Hands slot, which option will suit your build the best? We will cover all of these questions for you in our series of guides.

Now, let’s cyber up!

(Click here if you would like to check out the complete guide to your Cyberpunk 2077 character.)

Frontal Cortex

(3 slots available)

Offers these improvements:

  • Crit Chance, Crit Damage, Max RAM, RAM recovery rate, health restore upon defeating target, damage dealt to Drones, Androids, and Mechs.
  • RAM restore upon defeating target, restore RAM when it falls down to 2 units.
  • Prevents enemy netrunners from hacking you.
  • Improves Kerenzikov’s effectiveness.

A lot of the Frontal Cortex Cyberware deals with RAM, but there are other options, as you can see from the list above. Most of these are made to work well with Intelligence builds, so you probably won’t be looking at most of the high-end Frontal Cortex Cyberware if your current build doesn’t care about Intelligence Attribute. However, there are still some augments under this category that can be quite useful for many builds.

cyberpunk 2077 frontal cortex cyberware
Frontal Cortex Cyberware Guide

Face (Ocular System)

(1 slot available, with a 2nd unlocked during the Phantom Liberty story)

Offers these improvements:

  • Enables optic zoom. Grants link to NCPD bounty system. The earliest Cyberware you will acquire in the game.
  • Grants various effects while scanning.

Face implants give fairly universal improvements, allowing you to highlight various useful objects while scanning, and granting you an optical zoom. While these bonuses are useful, you generally won’t need to go out of your way to grab the higher Tiers of this Cyberware category.

During the story of the Phantom Liberty expansion, you will unlock the 2nd slot for Face. However, this is only to install an implant you get through the questline, and will primarily only be used to progress through a few quests.

cyberpunk 2077 face cyberware
Ocular System Cyberware Guide

Circulatory System

(3 slots available)

Offers these improvements:

  • Health regeneration (outside combat), Stamina regeneration, Cyberware cooldowns.
  • Revives you upon death, restores health when low.
  • Heal upon activation (health item alternative).
  • Stamina restoration and reduced Stamina costs.
  • Automatic healing at low health.
  • Discharging a fully-charged weapon restores health.

Circulatory System is great for Stamina and Health sustain. While some of these implants work better for builds specializing in close combat, there is something for everyone under this category.

cyberpunk 2077 circulatory sytem cyberware
Circulatory System Cyberware Guide

Nervous System

(2 slots available)

Offers these improvements:

  • Attacking, aiming, or blocking while sliding or dodging triggers a time dilation effect.
  • Enhanced Mitigation.
  • Triggers time dilation effect whenever you are detected by enemies.
  • Triggers time dilation when your health drops low.
  • Increased Crit Chance with Blades and throwable weapons.

Many of the implants of this category deals with time dilation effects, similar to the Sandevistan Operating System (see Operating System Cyberware below) which also deals with time dilation skills. While some of these can be useful in general, they primarily pair well with builds utilizing the Cool attribute.

cyberpunk 2077 nervous system cyberware
Nervous System Cyberware Guide

Integumentary System

(3 slots available)

Offers these improvements:

  • Increases Armor points and effectiveness.
  • Converts some damage taken to damage over time.
  • Grants full immunity against Burn, Bleeding, Shock.
  • Getting Burn Status Effect increases damage you deal.
  • Triggers near-invisibility to decrease chance of being detected.

This section is the primary way to improve your general survivability. In addition to giving large amounts of Armor, these implants can give these like damage reduction, increased Armor effectiveness, and enhanced Mitigation. The benefits from these are useful for just about every build.

cyberpunk 2077 integumentary system cyberware
Integumentary System Cyberware Guide

Operating System

(1 slot available)

Offers these improvements:

  • Cyberdecks: You need Cyberdecks to perform Quickhacks. Each Cyberdeck comes with unique RAM, Buffer Size, and Slot amount.
    • Increase RAM recovery rate, reduce upload time, reduce cooldown, increase Quickhack damage, increase Quickhack spread distance.
    • Come with preinstalled Quickhacks.
    • Reduced cost of stealth Quickhacks, reduced cost of ultimate Quickhacks, ultimate Quickhacks can spread once.
    • Quickhacks can be uploaded on multiple targets within a certain radius.
  • Sandevistan: All Sandevistan Cyberware can activate time dilation and gives unique bonuses while active.
    • Increases Crit Chance, Crit Damage.
    • Increases damage dealt.
    • Enhances Mitigation and resistances.
  • Berserk: When activated, Berserk Cyberware prevents you from dying, enhances attack speed, and negates all Stamina costs. However, you will not be able to use items, and will be restricted to only using melee weapons for the duration.
    • When it ends, grants health for each enemy defeated during the duration.

The options here might look intimidating, but once you know which type you are looking for, you are pretty much set. Hacking? To the Cyberdecks the sorting hat shall send you. Time dilation and Crit bonuses? Sandevistan shall you equip. Death prevention and bonuses to melee attacks? Berserk it is.

You should definitely check out our Operating System guide for the list of available options, as well as mods you can use to further customize your Sandevistan or Berserk!

cyberpunk 2077 operating system cyberware
Operating System Cyberware Guide

Skeleton

(2 slots available, 3 with the level 3 License to Chrome Perk)

Offers these improvements:

  • Increases melee weapon attack speed, melee weapon damage, melee weapon damage at the cost of stamina drain.
  • Decreases recoil kick after shooting a ranged weapon.
  • Increases max health.
  • Increases carrying capacity.
  • RAM restoration from damage taken.

These will be the primary implants to build up your Armor. On top of giving some extra survivability in max health and even more bonus Armor, these can grant some utility like extra carrying capacity. These bonuses are pretty general and useful for everyone.

If you’re going for a build that involves the Tech Attribute, you can unlock a third slot for this category.

cyberpunk 2077 skeleton cyberware
Skeleton Cyberware Guide

Hands

(1 slot available, 2 with the Ambidextrous Perk)

Offer these improvements:

  • Greatly increased ricochet for Power Weapons, additional ricochets for bullets.
  • Enables use of the auto-targeting system in Smart Weapons, increases chance for Smart bullets to hit, increases Crit Damage.
  • Causes a weapon’s next shot to release an electroshock after being reloaded.
  • Increases Crit Chance of throwable weapons.

As you can see, there are two distinct ways in which Hands Cyberware can be used: to enhance your Power Weapons or your Smart Weapons. Be sure to check out our Hands Cyberware Guide, because there is a little something you can do if you do use Smart Weapons, but don’t use them often. If you’re more into Tech weapons, there are a few options with more general benefits.

If you’re going for a build that involves the Tech Attribute, you can unlock a second slot for this category.

cyberpunk 2077 hands cyberware
Hands Cyberware Guide

Arms

(1 slot available)

Offer these features:

  • Mantis Blades: Allow you to slice and dice your enemies with swift, deadly slashes. They also unlock the ability to leap towards a target and deal massive damage.
  • Monowire: Charges when equipped but not used in combat. Attacks with a charged wire deal bonus damage based on the charge level.
  • Gorilla Arms: Charge with each attack. When you perform a Strong Attack, they deal bonus damage based on the charge level. Comes with a Quickhack slot.
  • Projectile Launch System: Allows you to unleash various powerful projectiles, dealing various types of damage as well as causing explosions and applying Status Effects.

Arms are kind of like an additional cyberweapon that comes in four unique flavors with variations within each choice. If one of these suits you and you choose to upgrade its rarity and fill it up with mods, it could easily find its place in your weapon rotation.

Really, you might just want to try these out for fun. Using cyberarm weapons such as these in the game like Cyberpunk 2077 just feels right.

cyberpunk 2077 arms cyberware
Arms Cyberware Guide

Legs

(1 slot available)

Offers these improvements:

  • Enables you to perform double jumps.
  • Enables you to perform charged jumps.
  • Increases sprint speed
  • You make less noise when moving.

Unless you like to sneak right behind the backs of unsuspecting enemies, you will probably go with one of the jumping legs on this one. Charged jumps or double jumps? We will give you a simple breakdown in our Legs Cyberware Guide. Alternately, you can always opt to just sprint faster.

cyberpunk 2077 legs cyberware
Legs Cyberware Guide
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Mila Grish
Mila Grish

Dedicated contributor at EIP Gaming and a part-time collector of books she will never have time to actually read. Jumps on the newest releases just as quickly as on the uncovered dusty collections from the basement. For her, shiny graphics can never be an excuse to not have a polished player experience or an immersive story.

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