With the release of the major-league version 1.5 patch last week, Cyberpunk 2077 has once again entered the public consciousness, and in a slightly less… insane capacity this time. This patch has completely overhauled a lot of elements of the game, from AI fixes to perk tweaks to entirely new features like apartment rentals. Flawed as it very much was, Cyberpunk 2077 was still an ambitious game, so if you held back at initial release, now might be a better time to give it a swing. And speaking of swinging, if you’d like to try a character build around swinging things at people, we’ve got some ideas. Here’s how to make a melee build in Cyberpunk 2077.
The first and foremost cornerstone of a good Cyberpunk 2077 melee build is not damage, but viability. When you’re in the thick of a fight, you need to be able to stay in that thick entirely under your own power. After all, if your skills are in close-quarters combat, trying to retreat and shoot won’t do anything for you. You need to be able to soak up a lot of damage without buckling, and if possible, restore your health and stamina without needing items.
Cyberpunk 2077 Melee Build
To start, you need health, and health begins with Regeneration, a Body and Athletics perk that causes your health to slowly regenerate while in combat. That ability is going to be one of your cornerstones. You can boost your regenerative ability with perks like Cardio Cure, Dog of War, and Wolverine. There’s also a new perk added in the patch called Tenacious V, which lets your regeneration continue even if you take damage, which will go a long way toward keeping you going.
Speaking of keeping you going, the next concern is stamina. As a melee fighter, you need your stamina to both use power attacks and sprint away from hairy situations. True Grit will increase your max stamina, Like a Butterfly and Marathoner removes the stamina loss from dodging and sprinting, respectively, and Gladiator reduces the stamina you lose from blocking (which you’d better make a habit of).
Once the health and stamina are squared away, you can start building your DPS potential. The precise perks you want will depend heavily on whether you favor bladed or blunt weaponry. There are powerful weapons in both categories, so feel free to go with whatever floats your boat. Just remember that the perks you need will change depending on which you go with.
- If you go for bladed weapons, you want perks like Crimson Dance and Sting Like a Bee that increase the damage you do and make you attack faster. Bloodlust is also great, as it restores some of your health whenever you inflict Bleed on an enemy.
- If you go for blunt weapons, you want perks like Flurry, Rush, and Reinvigorate, which make your swings more damaging and restore your health and stamina. A combination of Dazed and Unshakeable can also go a long way if you like inflicting Stun.
Don’t forget to regularly update your clothing and armor. You want stuff with high armor classes, but preferably without excessive movement penalties. You want to be able to run right into a fight, slash a few dudes then safely get out before you’re turned into Swiss cheese.
For more related content and guides, check out our website’s Cyberpunk 2077 section.
