This guide will show and tell you how gear works in Cyberpunk 2077 after the massive free Update 2.0 and the release of the Phantom Liberty expansion: how to equip gear, how to craft and upgrade it, how or where to get the best Iconic and Legendary Items! We’ll go over all the different types of gear slots, gear quality tiers, gear-related screens and UI and end up with suggestions on how and where to get your gear from in Cyberpunk 2077! Let’s get started!
This guide is up-to-date for Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.12
There are NO story spoilers in this guide. If or where needed I will reference a place or a mission, but this will not hurt your narrative experience with Cyberpunk 2077 in any way!
Table of contents
- Inventory and Backpack Overview
- Types of gear in Cyberpunk 2077
- Tiers of Gear Explained
- Gear Requirements Explained
- How to get gear in Cyberpunk 2077
Inventory and Backpack Overview
What is considered gear in Cyberpunk 2077? Every single item that you loot and can slot on your character in one way or another that is not labeled as consumable, is gear.
Gear improves your stats in combat and allows you to perform better against tougher opponents, overcome complex challenges and solve interesting puzzles sometimes.
Gear works in conjunction with your Character Level and the Attributes and Perks you spend points on as you progress through the game.
You can find and work on your gear in the Inventory, Cybernetics and Backpack screens. In this first part of the guide we will take a closer look at the Inventory and Backpack. There is a special section below dedicated to Cyberware in Cyberpunk 2077!
You can access all three of these screens from the main game menu. On PC to open the Inventory, press I. You will see this horizontal bar:
What is the Backpack for
The Backpack is the place where you will find absolutely all items you have collected and are currently carrying with you on your adventures in Night City.
The left side of the screen is reserved for your crafting components. These are items you can loot, get as a reward or from dismantling gear. They are used in crafting. More about crafting later in this guide!
Below in the left bottom corner are the components for your Quickhacks. Quickhacks are special abilities you can use to hack certain objects or characters in the game. Quickhacks are core components of the Netrunner build, but every character can use them.
The main portion of the screen displays the gear, junk and other items you collect as you play the game. At the top, there are buttons for filtering. In the later stages of the game you will have a rather full Backpack and filtering by categories and types will turn out to be more useful than it may seem now.
At the very top of the screen you can see how many Eddies you have. The main money currency in the Cyberpunk universe is called Eurodollars, but everyone calls them Eddies in the game.
Right before the Eddies number you see two other numbers – how much weight you currently carry and what is the maximum amount you can carry. There is no limit to number of items you can carry on you, but each one has an individual weight stat that attributes to the total weight listed up there. This system is similar to the one in The Witcher 3.
Hovering over an item will bring up a pop-up window with detailed information about the specific item. This functionality is available not only in the backpack but in all menus and screens in the game.
Inventory screen overview
The Inventory screen displays the items you have chosen to equip to your character. They are the same ones that are visible in the backpack, only here you can see which one is used where on your character.
In the Inventory screen you can see your three currently equipped guns. You have three available slots for up to three weapons. There is no specific requirement of what weapon you can slot on which slot.
You can use a fourth “weapon” in the form of your melee cyberware – it transforms your hands or fists into a fourth damage-dealing source. Because it’s cyberware , it takes a slot in the cyberware screen (more about it later).
Below the weapons slots, you can see the three key cyberware slots – Operating System, Arms and Hands.
And below that are the Quick Access slots for items you can use during combat such as Blood Pump (restores HP).
Cyberpunk 2077 Update 1.6 added a new outfit system called Wardrobe, allowing you to transmog your clothing and use the best items for their stats while keeping your character’s appearance cool and stylish.
You can create outfits by accessing the Wardrobe in V’s apartment. You can switch between predefined outfits at any time by clicking on the Outfit slot in your Inventory. For more, check out the dedicated guide I linked above.
Cyberware screen explained
What is Cyberware in Cyberpunk 2077? Cyberware are implants and items implemented into your body. In 2077 the world of Cyberpunk cannot function without cyberware, it has turned into something normal for people to augment themselves.
If or when you obtain a new cyberware or a mod for cyberware, opening this screen will notify you that there are mods available for this specific slot.
You can buy new cyberware or upgrade the one you have currently slotted at any ripperdoc in the game. Update 2.0 made it so all ripperdocs have the same inventory – they always sell everything you can use.
The cyberware progression is based on your currently equipped implants and your level and street cred level.
On the left side of the Cyberware screen you see a new scale added with Update 2.0. This is your cyberware capacity limiter. You can only get as much chrome as your current status is allowing you to. You can expand and extend that limit by purchasing the Edgerunner and Penaisance Punk perks.
On the right side of the Cyberware Screen you will see an Armor Rating. The Armor rating used to be provided by clothing. As of Update 2.0 you gain armor stats from your cyberware.
Types of gear in Cyberpunk 2077
There are roughly said three main types of gear available in Cyberpunk 2077 – Clothing (very few items offer very minor stat boosts in 2.0+), Weapons and Cyberware. A fourth one in your Inventory slot is reserved for “Special” items and this is the slot you would place decoy suits or other masking and appearance-changing outfits and clothing sets.
Clothing explained
Clothes determine what you look like in Cyberpunk 2077. They occupy six (seven if you count the Special) slots in your Inventory screen – on the right side of V. Update 2.0 changed how clothing works.
CD Projekt RED removed the stats and armor value from all clothing items. There are a few high-tier clothing items that may provide minor stat boosts, but overall clothing is now just used for cosmetics and appearances.
Here are the types of clothes you can have equipped all at the same time:
- Head – There are two slots for head items and one is for the top of the head, the other one is for your face.
- Upper Boddy – There are again two slots for Upper Body. In the Outer Toros slot you can equip jackets, vests, collars and other similar items. In the Inner Torso you can equip jumpsuits, shirts, tank tops and so on.
- Lower Body – Legs and feet. In the Legs slot you can place pants, shorts and all kinds of apparel that fits to V’s legs. The final sixth slot for clothes is reserved for V’s shoes and boots.
One downside is that whatever you equip, that’s how your character will appear. Every single item has a unique personal appearance and many of them are quite weird and colorful.
I strongly suggest you pick up your Rewards items from the Digital Goodies package that you receive as a thank-you for purchasing the game from GOG.com or GOG Galaxy.
Weapons in Cyberpunk 2077
There are three types of weapons in Cyberpunk 2077. Each one comes with specific and unique perks and behavior alterations that will dramatically change your gameplay style.
Power Guns
On the more conventional side. Power weapons fire bullets propelled by gunpowder—but they have an extra trick up their sleeve: bullets can ricochet off surfaces to make hitting a target hidden by cover much, much easier.
Tech Guns
Using powerful electromagnetic force, Tech weapons fire projectiles at insanely high speeds, ideal for piercing through armor and other defenses like walls and other objects
In short: Bullets travel through everything and hit the target.
Smart Guns
Tired of enemies ducking, dodging, and hiding
from every shot you fire? Smart weapons fire
projectiles that lock onto, and track down, targets even if they’re moving or seeking shelter
In short: Bullets home in on the target in range
Melee weapons do not fall under any of the above-mentioned categories. They are a category of their own. Melee weapons vary from knives, bats, swords, katanas, clubs and some of them are quite weird.
Your Arms Cyberware is also a melee “weapon” and each Arms Cyberware benefits from different Perks you can purchase with Perk Points. Read our in-depth guide to Arms Cyberware in Update 2.0 to learn everything about the redesigned system and the new benefits of playing melee.
Cyberware in Cyberpunk 2077
You start with a few basic implants, but you will improve and replace many of them to such a degree that when you look back at how weak you were in the beginning, you might even laugh at yourself.
Cyberware is a crucial part of the game’s world, and a key factor in how you build your character—so expect to make numerous trips to the Night City’s ripperdocs (NPCs that can upgrade and replace them for you).
Cyberware is installed in dedicated slots located on different parts of V’s body, allowing you to have multiple effects running simultaneously. Some cyberware will have multiple fragments, with each fragment providing different effects, further widening your options for combat and traversal.
Cyberware falls under three categories of functionality:
- Active Cyberware – Requires player input to activate, much like
using other weaponry. - Triggerred Cyberware – Activates when certain conditions are met; e.g. when health level falls below a certain percentage.
- Passive Cyberware – Provides benefits and/or buffs immediately after installation, requiring no further action or prerequisites.
Quickhacks and Cyberdeck
Cyberdeck is the implant that allows you to perform actions known as Quickhacks. You must slot it in the Operating System in the Cyberware Screen – top right corner.
What are Quickhacks? Quickhacks are little programs also known as daemons that you can install remotely on your opponents or on devices connected to the Net. These programs can harm or distract your opponent for example. Later in the game, you will learn and gain access to more fun and advanced quickhacks.
Each Cyberdeck comes with a limited number of slots for equipped quickhacks and a certain amount of RAM which is required to execute them.
RAM is the resource required to perform a Quickhack. It slowly recovers while you are out of combat. If you want to increase your RAM, invest in the Intelligence Attribute, invest in a higher quality Cyberdeck or spend Points on cyberware abilities and Perks.
In our segment “All About Quickhacks” in our Netrunner Build Guide, we have an in-depth overview of this gameplay system along with great tips on how to best use it to make the Netrunner playstyle most effective and fun.
To learn how and where each piece of cyberware could be used, consult with our complete catalog to all Cyberware in Cyberpunk 2077’s Update 2.0.
Tiers of Gear Explained
Each gear you obtain in Cyberpunk 2077 is color-coded. There are several tiers of gear based on its quality (or rarity if you prefer). The cheapest, most common and easy to obtain items are Common (Tier 1). The tiers go up from Common to Uncomon, Rare, Epic all the way to Legendary and Iconic. Actually, in Update 2.0, CDPR removed the names of the tiers and now we only have Tier 1 to Tier 5.
Here is a brief introduction to each one of the tiers:
Tier 1 gear is marked with a Grey bar and is the worst possible quality gear in the game. You will start off with a few common items in your equipment, but pretty soon you will replace them for green or higher quality ones.
- Tier 2 gear is color-coded with Green bars
- Tier 3 gear is marked with blue
- Tier 4 color is reserved for the Epic gear quality
- The highest quality tier of gear comes in orange color – Tier 5 a.k.a Legendary gear.
- Iconic is a piece of gear in the world of Cyberpunk
Legendary items can be crafted or purchased from vendors, but they are quite expensive.
Weapons can have up to four slots to place mods in them. As of Update 2.0 you cannot place mods in clothing items. Cyberdecks and Monowire Arms Cyberware allows you to slot Quickhacks into them.
Quality determines the stats of the item, of course, but it also sets up its price – both for when you want to purchase and sell one of these.
What makes a gear piece Iconic is the fact that these are unique items with specifically custom-created perks and abilities for them that cannot be found in any other item in the game. In the case of clothes, they are often part of an entire Outfit Set. And we have guides on how and where to find all full Outfit Sets in Cyberpunk 2077!
Iconic Items can be found mostly during main and side missions. Iconics can be of any Tier. Once you obtain an Iconic item, you will be able to Upgrade it from your Crafting screen.
Gear Requirements Explained
Every piece of equipment V obtains has a specific requirement to use. If an item cannot be used at the moment you get it, its icon will be marked with a red fill in your Inventory and a text overlay will tell you what you need to be able to use this gun.
When you visit a vendor, you will only see items you can equip. If you don’t have enough Eddies, they will be marked with an appropriate red color and an icon in the middle.
How to get gear in Cyberpunk 2077
There is quite a bit of RNG involved when it comes to gear in Cyberpunk 2077. Most gear items (especially guns) can drop from more than one source.
You can craft or purchase gear pieces from street vendors, from shady back-alley merchants, you can loot the items or crafting schematics from boxes and containers all over the city and you can earn them as rewards for completing tasks and missions.
I have created a Guide to all Legendary and Iconic Gear in Cyberpunk 2077. Check it out if you are looking for the best guns or implants!
Gear from Loot
The most common source of gear is loot. Nearly everywhere you go and every place you visit and explore has loot all around. Scan the environment for the loot icons to appear.
There are different icons with different shapes and colors to help you recognize that type and quality loot you are going to get from the object or corpse you are about to loot.
Defeating tough enemies like bosses is a great source of high quality gear loot. A great example is Sasquatch, who is part of one of your main missions. Defeating this boss will drop you a random Legendary piece of gear. It could be a weapon, a clothing or anything else from what I have seen so far.
VULKK.com offers you a number of Cyberpunk boss guides to give you an edge in your fight against these tough opponents. The one mentioned in the example above is detaily described in the how to defeat Matilda K. Rose (Sasquatch) in Cyberpunk 2077 guide.
Gear as mission rewards
Some times you will be rewarded pieces of gear for completing certain missions. Some of the best gear items will come as rewards for completing the main story missions in the game. Some side missions and gigs also have fantastic rewards to offer.
All you have to do is find time to enjoy them. They are worth not only for the gear, but for the additional stories you get to explore and lore you learn.
Crafting Gear
The Crafting system in Cyberpunk 2077 is quite simple. You can craft some great pieces of gear provided you first obtain the schematics for them. CD Projekt RED separated the Crafting system from the Attributes and Perks and it is now fully accessible to every type of player, regardless of the build you are using.
You can also upgrade your current gear to increase the quality of the items and with that get better stats and more modifications slots to work with when creating your V-build.
I hope you found my guide on how gear works in Cyberpunk 2077 and gow to get it useful and entertaining to go through! If so, please check out the rest of the Cyberpunk 2077 Guides here on VULKK.com.
If you have any ideas or suggestions you would like to share or a question you need to ask, please use the comments section below. Thank you!
Now that you have a better understanding of how gear works in the game, check out my Cyberpunk 2077 DOs and DONTs Guide filled with beginners tips and suggestions for the early game. There are some things you should do or not do to improve your first hours with Cyberpunk 2077 and not having to learn them the hard way, will allow you to enjoy the game even more!
