Best Gunslinger Pistol Build - Cyberpunk 2077

TechPower Pistol Gunslinger

You could say this is a vanilla Pistol and Revolver build. We will be able to utilize two main weapon types - Tech and Power. The former allows us to charge up a weapon and deal a large amount of damage, especially once we get additional perks. Tech weapons can also shoot through walls, but I would not rely on this mechanic too much.

Power Pistols are straightforward and they deal a normal amount of damage, sometimes with special effects. This does not make them bad as their base damage is quite high and many of them can be silenced.

And you understood right, we will incorporate both stealth and guns blazing into the build. This is fairly straightforward, thanks to how stealth works in Cyberpunk 2077.

So let's dive deep into the build

Attributes

First, let's go through attributes, they will decide the direction of the build and give access to different tiers of perks. The higher tier gives better actions and passives to further support the build. Let's take a look at what we need for the Gunslinger Build.

Starting Game

Here are what attributes you should be taking at the start of the game.

Attribute	Allocation	Description
Cool	+3	Unlock stealth-related perks, and gives bonus critical damage.
Reflexes	+1	Unlocks first-tier mobility perks and increases critical chance
Body	+2	Gives bonus HP and first-tier perks
Technical Ability	+1	Starting progression to get first-tier perks.

End Game Attributes

Here is the goal of Pistol Gunslinger Build.

Attribute	Total Allocation	Description
Reflexes	13	The attribute will ensure a higher critical chance and additional mobility perk.
Body	15	Dump the rest of the points to get additional HP.
Technical Ability	20	It will unlock perks that can be useful for tech weapons and more cyberware. As an addition, it will give bonus armor. You could go with 15, if you plan on skipping Edgerunner, then put points into reflexes.
Cool	20	The main attribute, that will unlock stealth-related perks. Moreover, it will unlock pistol perks
Intelligence	3	Not needed for this build

Perks

Let's go through the perks of the Pistol Gunslinger Build. We will go through about 60~ perk points for the build, and the game awards about 80. So you will have perk points left to adjust the build to your needs.

Cool Perks

This is the main perk tree for the Pistol Gunslinger build to work. It will give stealth-related perks and improve the handling of Pistols and revolvers. We are mostly interested in bonus headshot damage.

Level 4 Perks

Perk	Description
Feline Footwork​	Improves crouching, allowing for better sneaking
Blind Spot​	This will increase the time it takes enemies to detect you based on the mitigation chance.
Killer Instinct​	Ensures that silenced weapons deal bonus damage when shooting outside of combat (or stealth)
Gag Order​	Delay detection is useful, especially when one shot is not enough, and you remove the target in the next few seconds.

Level 9 Perks

Perk	Description
Focus	It's an amazing perk, giving full stamina for a short duration. It greatly improves with the next subperks we take.
No Sweat	Reduces the stamina consumed after Focus ends, if an enemy was neutralized
Pull!​	For cool combos, and negating enemy grenades.
Rinse and Reload	A small helping perk to increase reload speed
Head to Head	Now, the Focus duration can be reset by neutralizing an enemy. We will be doing a lot of that with this build when silently headshooting.
Deep Breath	Wonderful perk that gives better weapon control as time is now slowed down while in Focus.

Level 15 Perks

Perk	Description
Deadeye	Boosts headshot and weak spot damage, ensuring that it's easier to make a headshot kill.
California Reaper	Regenerates stamina after neutralizing an enemy with a headshot.
High Noon	Allows evaluating combat as time slows down while reloading.
Long Shot	No penalty for long shots with Deadeye
Quick Draw	A good perk to have in case you need to switch weapons mid-combat

Level 20 Perks

In my opinion, both of these perks are optional, I leave some comments below when you should pick one or another.

Perk	Description
Nerves of Tungsten-Steel​	Gives a boost on headshots when using Revolvers. If you do not use these weapons, then subtract the point and put it elsewhere
Run 'N' Gun​	Gives a better movement speed while in Focus. However, the hip firing is not that useful in my opinion.

Body Perks

We are only interested in perks that boost survivability. The build needs some protection as it will be entering direct combat quite often. Sandevistan will mitigate some of the bullets, but that is not enough when fighting large groups of foes.

Level 4 Perks

Perk	Description
Painkiller​	Enables health regeneration while in combat, pretty valuable, especially in the early game.
Comeback Kid​	Gives some bonus regeneration on low HP.
Dorph-head​	Gives some breathing room after using a healing item by providing a 100% mitigation chance to reduce incoming damage.

Level 15 Perks

Perk	Description
Adrenaline Rush​	Enables a second layer of HP, that can drastically increase survivability. It appears after using a health item, so with Biomonitor automatically after you are under enemy fire.
Juggernaut​	Gives a 10% damage boost while Adrenaline Rush​ is active.
Calm Mind​	Provides some delay before Adrenaline Rush​ starts to decay.

Technical Ability Perks

This perk tree is really important for the build. It will give both defensive and offensive improvements. Moreover, it will improve Tech Pistol's effectiveness.

Level 4 Perks

Perk	Description
Glutton for War​	Some bonus health items recharge while in combat
Transfusion​	Makes the last healing item much more potent, giving it a tiny bit more survivability.
First Aid​	Helps with faster healing item recharge.

Level 9 Perks

Perk	Description
All Things Cyber​​	Reduces some cyberware costs.
Renaissance Punk​​	Provides bonus Cyberware Capacity, to equip the most important one faster.
Driver Update​​	Unlocks additional stat modifiers, that can be very powerful, like higher headshot multiplier or Decreased enemy vision.
Chipware Connoisseur​​	Allows you to choose better stat modifiers once you start upgrading cyberware.
Health Freak​​	Unlocks a third healing item, that can be useful
Borrowed Time​	Valuable perk, that together with Biomonitor would give instant health recharge once an enemy is killed close to death.

Level 15 Perks

Perk	Description
License to Chrome​​	An additional slot for the skeleton, and unlocks progression to the next perks.
Extended Warranty​	Increases the duration of cyberware effects.

The next set of perks is optional. Only take them if you plan on using Tech Pistols or Revolvers. These are very powerful weapons, that can deal some good damage.

Perk	Description
Bolt​​	Enables fully charged shots earlier, gives bonus damage, and unlocks further perks
Shock Value​	Bolt​ shots now deal more damage as they ignore the enemy's armor
Internal Clock​	Easier Bolt​ activation window. This is valuable, as pistols are very fast at charging.
Lightning Storm​	A small improvement for Bolt​ to make it charge up faster. Could be optional, as pistols already charge very fast, and it's hard to hit the sweet spot
In Charge​	Gives better control of Tech weapons.

Level 20 Perks

Perk	Description
Edgerunner​	This perk is optional, but it is extremely good. The Gunslinger Build relies on multiple iconic cyberware and an additional 50 capacity is valuable. However, this will drastically reduce HP. Try to counteract it with a high mitigation chance.
Chain Lightning​	Somewhat fun perk to use, that makes electric shock from tech weapons jump to the next enemy.

Reflexes Perks

We are interested in the middle perks of the tree. They will provide a huge mobility boost and make the game very fun, as you can glide through the city as you explore. They are not mandatory but do make the game much more exciting.

A good option could be to invest in this attribute after level 50, to unlock Air Dash​ for even crazier mobility.

Level 4 Perks

Perk	Description
Slippery​	This will somewhat reduce the amount of bullets that hit you, but it is also needed for the next perks.
Muscle Memory​	Allows reloading while sprinting. Useful, during loud combat.
Parkour!​	Just a small improvement when moving through covers or obstacles. Saves some time on Sandvesitan when moving around.
Multitasker​	Allows shooting while doing some of the actions.

Level 9 Perks

Perk	Description
Dash​	The main perk enables you to move longer distances.
Can't Touch This​	A small boost to survivability while using Dash​
Steady Grip​	Found this to be useful. You can just Dash forward while aiming with Tech Pistol and release the ultimate shot to the head.

Perks - Relic

These perks are available with Phantom Liberty DLC. They will give further improvements to some of the game mechanics.

Priority	Perk	Description
1	Vulnerability Analytics	Shows vulnerabilities, that allow for huge damage boosts. Very effective against stronger enemies like mechs, elites, or drones.
2	Machine Learning	Increases the frequency of vulnerabilities.

There are still multiple relic points that you can spend. One option is taking Emergency Cloaking​ if you plan on using Optical Cloak. Can be helpful to take better control of the encounters.

If you plan on using Arms Cyberware like Projectile Launch System, don't forget to take Jailbreak​ and Launch Capacity Override. Otherwise, I don't think other options are worth it.

Combat and Tips

Here I would like to share some suggestions on how to utilize the Time Slow Assassin build to the maximum.

TechPower Gunslinger Build and Stealth

The build works perfectly if you plan on using stealth in some encounters, or just want to clear weak foes before the main encounter. The main requirement is just to have a silencer equipped, as this makes your targets clueless what took out their ally

I recommend always carrying one of the Pistols with a silencer, as this will give you a situational advantage when needed.

Sandevistan management

The main operating system of TechPower Gunslinger build. In lower levels, you cannot do much besides using it at the start of the combat, or when being overwhelmed.

However, from level 30 you will be able to buy iconic Militech Sandevistans. These can be activated/deactivated at will, giving full control when you have the time slowed. Moreover, with each neutralized enemy the duration is extended.

This allows you to min-max the duration of Sandevistan when needed, and it gets even better once you obtain the Axolotl iconic cyberware.

Tech Weapon Charging

This is what I would call advanced technique, to take full use of Tech Weapons and their power. Weapons like Lizzie, when fully charged can release 10+ bullets, one shooting even Elites. This can be hard to land without Sandevistan.

However, Sandevistan does not have good synergy with Tech weapons. The time-slowing effect also slows down the charging. It's not as bad as for Snipers, as the charging time is quite fast 0.7 seconds ~. But this will still take some time while in sandevistan and may slow down the tempo. There is a solution, that works well once you obtain one of the Militech Sandevistans:

1. Start aiming and charging the Tech Pistol.
2. Activate Sandevistan just before you hear the "click" sound. You can activate it afterward, but that will probably mean you missed the Bolt​ activation window.
3. When in Sandevistan, you hear "click", aim to the head (or weak spot) and release a shot.
4. This should deal huge amounts of damage or take out an enemy instantly.

This is very satisfying to use once you learn it and gives another layer of skill to master the build

Equipment

There are plenty of weapons to choose from for the Gunslinger build. I will recommend good options, some of them are available fairly early in the game, and others require to be close to the ending.

Stealth Weapons

So I list a few options that you could pick throughout the game

Item	Description
Pride	The most powerful pistol in the game. With a good silencer, it should also be able to one-shot elites.
Death and Taxes	What makes this pistol special is that it releases two shots. This is perfect for a silent pistol, as it easily guarantees kills with two headshots.
Pariah	A unique Tech pistol, that is also silent. Unfortunately, obtained after a specific decision in Phantom Libery which limits its acquisition.
Tamayura	Quite a niche pistol and rare to find. However, it has very good base damage, headshot multiplier, and armor penetration. Slap the XC-10 Cetus silencer and you have one of the best weapons in the game.
Her Majesty	A Unity pistol variation, that is available in Phantom Liberty. Has a silencer and is very fun to use. The big downside is that for its full potential, you need to activate Optical camo.

Combat Pistols

There are even more options here, and many of them I did not include as the list would be huge. These are my favorite ones:

Item	Description
Lizzie	Very powerful pistol, that when fully charged and Bolt​ activated, releases multiple shots, destroying any foe.
Pride	As already mentioned this very powerful pistol without a silencer can act as a main weapon.
Lexington X-Mod2	The only moddable iconic pistol. It has a high fire rate and in Phantom Libety you can equip some crazy mods.
Seraph	Sets enemies on fire, is very satisfying to use, and deals decent damage
Malorian Arms 3516	The most cool-looking pistol in the game. With the 2.02 patch, it got buffed up, making it a decent weapon of choice with unique melee attack animation.
Mancinella	Can be used both as a silent and loud weapon. It is a revolver, so it also gains bonuses from Nerves of Tungsten-Steel.
Doom Doom	Explosive revolver that can be very fun to use. Releases three shots

Cyberware

Cyberware is a unique mechanic that allows us to fill the build with implants. Early games can be quite difficult as you will have limited capacity. However, as you progress and drop more Capacity Shards, you will be able to equip more. I will be covering here what is your goal for the end game, to make the build as powerful as possible

First Priority Cyberware

This is what is essential to make the build work. I would even recommend dropping everything else to equip these if cyberware capacity doesn't allow it. These cyberware selections make the core of the build.

Slot	Cyberware	Description
Frontal Cortex 1	Axolotl	This cyberware will take the build to the ultimate level. It has a very steep cyberware capacity cost. But it gives cooldown reductions for everything - Optical Camo, Sandevistan, etc.
	Newton Module	Gives a cyberware cooldown reduction after taking out an enemy. It is not much, however, with multiple kills, the effect adds up.
Nervous System 1	Neofiber	Gives a higher mitigation chance which makes it harder for enemies to detect you and increases your survivability.
Integumentary System 1	Subdermal Armor	A simple cyberware that has a high armor-to-cyberware capacity cost ratio.
Operating System 1	Militech "Apogee" Sandevistan	Trades blows with Militech "Falcon" Sandevistan after the 2.1 update. It is perfect for stealth combat, where you want to land a headshot that one shoots the target. However, the duration is shorter making it problematic for loud combat.
	Militech "Falcon" Sandevistan	With the 2.1 update, it got significantly better. It can be obtained earlier and its duration is longer. Moreover it restores health on kill. I think it is a perfect choice if you prefer load combat running in with guns blazing.
	Dynalar Sandevistan	A cheap Sandevistan version, that has low cyberware capacity cost.
Face 1	Kiroshi "Cockatrice" Optics	The best option if you can use it, giving a huge 30% boost to critical chance. This covers one big weakness of pistols, they do not get guaranteed critical hits from Nerves of Tungsten-Steel​
	Kiroshi "Clairvoyant" Optics	Similar to the basic version, just highlights enemies in 17m.
	Basic Kiroshi Optics	An alternative if you need additional cyberware capacity.
Circulatory System 1	Biomonitor	Automatically heals, makes the combat somewhat easier, as you do not have to worry how long it takes to use a healing item.
Legs	Reinforced Tendons	My personal favorite makes traversing much easier.
	Fortified Ankles	Gives the highest jumps and high boost to armor compared to cyberware capacity cost. But you need to hold the jump button.

Second Priority Cyberware

This cyberware will give general improvements to survivability and combat capabilities. We already use multiple iconic cyberware, so it will be hard to fill all the slots. We will mostly concentrate on improving mitigation strength and the chance to improve survivability and enable more precise shots.

Slot	Cyberware	Description
Arms	Any	Nothing of note here, maybe Gorilla Arms, for some quests or Projectile Launch System as a grenade alternative.
Skeleton 1	Epimorphic Skeleton	Gives a huge armor and health boost, greatly improving survivability.
Skeleton 2	Spring Joints	Provides better mitigation strength, greatly improving survivability.
Skeleton 3	Bionic Joints	Gives bonus armor for higher survivability.
Nervous System 2	Visual Cortex Support	Increases Crit Chance, based on the distance.
Nervous System 3	Adrenaline Converter	Provides additional movement at the start of the combat for better mobility.
Integumentary System 2	Countershell	Gives better armor while enemies are attacking you from a long-range
Integumentary System 3	Rangeguard	Some additional defense as you will mostly keep the distance from the enemies.
Hands 1	Shock Absorber	Reduces recoil, allowing for more precise shots. Especially useful with Tech weapons, when they are fully charged.
Circulatory System 2	Clutch Padding	Reduces stamina consumption for shots.
Circulatory System 3	Blood Pump	The most powerful healing item in the game. When fully upgraded provides a huge survivability boost
	Feedback Circuit	An optional cyberware if you plan on using Tech Pistols. Usually, they release multiple bullets, which multiplies the restored health.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Best Pistol Gunslinger Builds in Cyberpunk 2077 post. This should help you to create amazing and engaging combatants that use any type of pistol that you can find in the game. You will also know which perks to pick and correct attribute allocation.

Cheers!