Character Customization in Cyberpunk 2077 allows players to fully customize the background, physical appearance, and attributes of V, the game's protagonist.
Customization[]
New Game[]
When creating a new game, you will be prompted to customize the main character, V, to your personal liking. When the Phantom Liberty expansion is installed, you will get the option to choose between a regular start or to skip ahead to the Phantom Liberty story line. Choosing the latter will cause several main story quests (such as The Heist) to be completed up to the point where Phantom Liberty can be played.
Difficulty Level[]
The first available option is difficulty selection. It is possible to pick between Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard. This can be changed at any time in the Gameplay menu.
- Easy: "The right choice for players who just want to sit back and enjoy the story. Combat will not pose a challenge."
- Normal: "Enemies will have all the tools at their disposal to take V on, but primarily only enemies at a higher level will prove a challenge."
- Hard: "Combat wil be a substantial challenge. The effective use of Perks, cyberware, combat gadgets and consumables will be essential to survival."
- Very Hard: "Buckle up for a series challenge. Careful character development and clever use of items, game mechanics and the environment will be necessary to help V make it on the streets of Night City."
Lifepath[]
- Main article: Lifepath
After selecting a difficulty, you have to make is selecting a Lifepath. A Lifepath provides V with an origin story and determines the first chapter, also known as the Prologue. Two of the Lifepaths, Nomad and Corpo, are based on the roles of the same name in Cyberpunk 2020, the tabletop roleplaying game on which the game is based, while the third role, the Streetkid, was specifically created for Cyberpunk 2077. The chosen lifepath cannot be altered once the game has started, and the chosen lifepath gives optional dialogue options not available to other the lifepaths.
Appearance[]
Cyberpunk 2077 offers an extensive character creator allowing players to customize V's physical appearance. Choosing between voices (male and female) determines what gender the player character is, and the chosen combination of voice and body type (masculine and feminine) affects which romance options are available to V.
All appearance aspects except Body Type, Voice Tone, Facial Tattoos, and Body Tattoos can be changed after the character creation process through either a mirror at any of V's Apartments or a Ripperdoc.
| Aspect | Number of Options | Where to Change |
|---|---|---|
| Body Type | 2 | Cannot be changed |
| Voice Tone | 2 | Cannot be changed |
| Skin Tone | 12 | Ripperdoc |
| Skin Type | 5 | Ripperdoc |
| Hairstyle | 51 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Hair Color | 35 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Eyes | 22 | Ripperdoc |
| Eye Color | 39 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Eyebrows | 9 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Eyebrow Color | 35 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Eyelash Color | 35 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Nose | 22 | Ripperdoc |
| Mouth | 22 | Ripperdoc |
| Jaw | 22 | Ripperdoc |
| Ears | 22 | Ripperdoc |
| Beard (Masculine Body Type only) | 13 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Beard Style (Masc. Body Type only) | 3 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Beard Color (Masc. Body Type only) | 35 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Cyberware | 9 | Ripperdoc |
| Facial Scars | 10 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Facial Tattoos | 12 | Cannot be changed |
| Piercings | 15 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Piercing Color | 16 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Teeth | 5 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Eye Makeup | 21 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Eye Makeup Color | 14 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Lip Makeup Style | 4 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Lip Makeup | 20 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Lip Makeup Color | 14 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Cheek Makeup | 15 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Cheek Makeup Color | 8 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Blemishes | 4 | Ripperdoc |
| Blemish Color | 6 | Ripperdoc |
| Nails | 2 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Nail Color | 37 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Chest (Feminine Body Type only) | 3 | Ripperdoc |
| Nipples | 4 (Female Body Type) 2 (Male Body Type) |
Ripperdoc |
| Body Tattoos | 6 | Cannot be changed |
| Body Scars | 3 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Genitals | 4 | Ripperdoc |
| Penis Size | 3 | Ripperdoc |
| Pubic Hair Style | 6 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
| Pubic Hair Color | 5 | Apartment Mirror & Ripperdoc |
Attributes[]
- Main article: Cyberpunk 2077 Attributes
Attributes determine V's characteristics, conversation options, and his/her proficiency at certain actions. There are five attributes in Cyberpunk 2077: Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, Technical Ability, and Cool. Each attribute governs specific Perk skill trees within it. While attribute point assignments are permanent, Perk Points can be reset in the Character Menu in exchange for eurodollars.
- Body increases melee damage, stamina, and health and governs the athletics, street brawler, and annihilation skill trees, as well as your ability to physically rip open doors/barriers in missions.
- Reflexes increases the chance to dodge and get critical hits and governs the blades, handguns, and assault skill trees
- Technical Ability increases armor, gives significant enhancements to your Cyberware and governs the crafting and engineering skill trees, as well as your ability to remote-access various pieces of equipment and doors to manipulate them during mission (a special mission-only kind of hacking).
- Intelligence increases the efficiency of quickhacks and governs the breach protocol and quickhacking skill trees, as well as your ability to Jack In to various access points like signal towers and computers to try and steal resources.
- Cool increases Crit Chance, resistances, and the efficiency of stealth and governs the stealth and cold blood trees, as well as various dialogue options with NPCs.
In character creation, V is given 3 points in each attribute by default and an additional 7 to be allocated at the player's discretion. Attributes can only be increased to a maximum of 6 during character creation, but after creating V, the maximum is increased to 20. One additional Attribute point and Perk point is gained on each level up. The level cap for the base game is set to 50, with Phantom Liberty increasing this level cap to 60.
Skills[]
- Main article: Cyberpunk 2077 Skills
One final aspect of character building is the trained-through-use Skills. These unlock a variety of bonus passive effects every 5 levels up to level 60, and each is trained differently. Each and every one of them also give bonus Perk points at levels 15 and 35, useful for any character build. Please see the linked page for more thorough descriptions, but as a quick summary:
- Headhunter is trained through stealth assassination and utilizing Pistols, Revolvers, Sniper Rifles, and Throwable Weapons. Gives passive bonuses in similar skills such as Headshot damage, enemy visibility and crouching
- Netrunner is trained primarily through Quickhacking and use of Smart Weapons, and grants bonuses to the same.
- Shinobi is trained primarily through using Bladed weapons and run-and-gun play in combat with shorter range weapons as well as rapid movement like dashes within combat, and has a number of enhancements to mobility.
- Solo is trained through use of heavy weapons like Shotguns, Light Machine Guns, Heavy Machine Guns and Blunt Weapons, and primarily gives passive boosts to your physical strength and toughness such as Health, Carrying Capacity and melee combat.
- Engineer is trained through the use of Tech weapons, and all forms of Crafting, both creation and disassembly. It grants passive boosts to your Tech Weapons, Armor and Cyberware capabilities.
Notes[]
- While playing the game, a sixth attribute will be present in the screen with the other five, but it will look glitched and non-interactable. This "sixth" attribute doesn't appear until Johnny's psyche is added to V's.
- In Patch 1.3, Tabula e-Rasa was replaced by a perk reset button in the character menu.
