The Phantom Liberty expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 added a new form of progression with Relic Perks. These are similar to the regular Perks in that they give boosts for certain weapons and playstyles, but they have their own method of obtaining points.
Below, we will go over how to unlock and obtain more Relic Perk points, as well as describe what each Perk does.
How to Unlock Relic Perks
To unlock Relic Perks, you simply need to start the Phantom Liberty storyline in the DLC. During your first conversation with Songbird in the quest Dog Eat Dog, she will unlock this mechanic, as well as grant you 3 Relic points to get you started.
After this conversation, you will unlock the entirety of your Relic Perk tree. However, you will have to obtain more points if you want to get more Relic Perks.
How to Get Relic Perk Points
Relics are separate from other Perk trees: you do not gain more points simply from leveling. Instead, there are two methods to get more Relic points.
The first method is to simply go through the Phantom Liberty storyline. As previously stated, you will get 3 points when you initially unlock your Relic. Around halfway through the main questline, Songbird will grant you 3 more points. You will gain a total of 6 points from this method.
To gain the rest of the points, you will need to access Militech Data Terminals. These are small yellow terminals that are spread throughout Dogtown, and accessing them will give you 1 point each.
It’s worth noting that Relic Perks award very specific bonuses, and it’s possible to get everything you need for your build with just the 6 points you get from completing the DLC story mission.
Relic Perks Tree
There are 3 major Relic Perk sections you can buy into. The first Perk from each tree costs 3 points to learn (meaning you can learn one immediately after unlocking the feature), while the rest cost 1 point each. Below we will go through each tree, and what their Perks are.
Vulnerability Analytics
This tree grants access to enemy Vulnerabilities. These will randomly appear on a single part of an enemies body, and will be shown by a square in the weak spot. Shooting this Vulnerability will allow you to do much more damage than normal, and if you hit the spot enough, cause an EMP explosion that hits all enemies within a radius.
This seems like the most universally useful of the Relic Perks, as just about any build can benefit from the extra damage, and Vulnerabilities aren’t restricted to any specific weapon.
During combat, you can now detect Vulnerabilities in enemy Armor and cyberware. Hitting Vulnerabilities gives: 100% Crit Chance, +25% Armor penetration, Weakspot damage bonuses
Dealing enough damage to a Vulnerability will cause it to explode, generating an EMP blast that damages enemies within 3 m.
Destroying an enemy’s Vulnerability grants: +10% frequency of new Vulnerabilities appearing, +5% Crit Damage against Vulnerabilities
Duration: 25 sec. Effect and duration can stack 5 times.
Reaching max stacks doubles these effects.
Jailbreak
This tree focuses on all types of Arms Cyberware. The initial Perk, Jailbreak, grants a new unique ability for each of the four Arm cyberware chocies. After Jailbreak you can unlock individual perks for each of the four Arm weapon types, making their new ability more effective.
These are useful Perks if you like using Arms cyberware, but they are useless for any regular weapon types. Bonuses for each Arms weapon don’t apply to others, so you really only need to invest into what you plan on using.
Unlocks new abilities for Arm cyberware: Mantis Blades, Gorilla Arms, Projectile Launch System and Monowire. You can now overcharge the Projectile Launch System by holding Middle Mouse Button. This launches a burst of 5 projectiles that cover a larger area.
Attacking with Gorilla Arms now charges them up. When fully charged, a Strong Attack deals massive damage and creates a shockwave, staggering nearby enemies.
Neutralizing an enemy this way will send their body flying.
Dismembering an enemy or performing a Finisher with Mantis Blades will charge the next Leap Attack.
Hold Left Mouse Button and release to perform a long-range Leap Attack.
A charged Leap Attack with Mantis Blades has +30 m. longer reach and deals massive damage with a wide slash that hits the target and other nearby enemies.
Killing an enemy with this attack also dismembers them.
The Monowire now has a dedicated slot for Control quickhacks.
To use the installed quickhack, charge the Monowire by holding Left Mouse Button. When fully charged, release the attack to deal damage and upload the quickhack without paying its RAM cost.
When an enemy is affected by a Monowire-uploaded quickhack, normal Monowire attacks which hit that enemy and other enemies simultaneously will spread the quickhack to them.
Emergency Cloaking
This tree will improve on the Optical Camo cyberware. It will now allow you to use the cyberware in combat, making enemies completely lose track of you. Since it works with the Optical Camo cyberware, this Perk will only work if you have it equipped.
While this tree could be useful for any build if you need to hide or make a quick getaway, it is more catered to builds that use Perks from the Cool Attribute, like a Full Stealth Build.
Improves Optical Camo cyberware. Activating Optical Camo during combat by pressing [Middle mouse button] will cause enemies to lose track of you, giving you a chance to exit combat.
Note: To use this ability, you must have Optical Camo equipped to your Combat Gadget quickslot.
When crouched, being detected by an enemy will temporarily slow down. Dodge or Dash out of the enemy’s line of sight to immediately exit combat. Cooldown 120 sec.
Have you found Relic Perks useful for your character? What builds have you found synergize well with these options? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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KainHighwind27
I'm a huge gamer who especially loves the Final Fantasy series. I will play just about any game, especially if it has anything resembling a Dragoon.
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