Best Ricochet build - triple normal damage (Patch 1.63) - Cyberpunk 2077

By zanuffas
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This post will cover the best Ricochet build in Cyberpunk 2077. This is one of the three powers that weapons can have providing unique effects. Unfortunately, for a long time, the builds were not viable as the mechanic did not get much attention from the developers.

However, this changed as there were some new upgrades introduced that specifically improve the Ricochet effect.

Ricochet Build

This is a very interesting build that relies on Power weapons and their unique effect - ricochet. The build revolves around this mechanic and items that provide bonuses to it. I recommend this build for advanced players who want to challenge themselves. Why is that?

ricochet build instant kills cyberpunk 2077

The ricochet build is most effective when hitting enemies indirectly. This can be hard, especially when you are under heavy fire. But it all pays off, because with the weapons and upgrades you can do triple the normal damage.

Attributes

This section will cover starting attributes and how you should progress with them to the maximum level.

Starting the game

The beginning of the game is fairly simple:

  • Reflexes +3 - provides perks for Assault rifles and pistols
  • Body +2 - increases health and stamina. This will boost your survivability early on and allow you to sprint a little bit longer
  • Cool +2 - allows unlocking Cold Blood perk for bonus stats

Progression

Here is the recommended progression for attribute points in the major level milestones

ricochet build attribute points cyberpunk 2077

Level Reflex Body Tech Cool Int
10 10 5 6 7 3
30 16 11 10 11 3
50 20 12 18 18 3

As we progress through the game, we concentrate on multiple attributes:

  • Reflexes - this is the main attribute that you will need. It will allow for improving Assault and Handgun perk trees.
  • Body - increases the survivability of the build and also unlocks some quality-of-life improvements in the Athletics perk tree
  • Technical Ability - this is an important tree as it will allow crafting the best Legendary weapons in the game. Moreover, the Engineer perk tree provides some improvements to Ricochet's weapons.
  • Cool - this attribute is all about offensive perks. They will greatly boost your damage, movement speed, and other important stats.

Perks

I think there is an important decision that you have to make with this build. Which weapons will you use:

  • Pistols/Revolvers - has a slower fire rate, but has a higher ricochet damage bonus
  • Rifles - SMGs or Assault Rifles - these weapons have a fast fire rate. However, they also have a lower ricochet damage bonus that can create some issues.

Once you decide on this here are the perk trees to go with

Handguns - Pistols or Revolvers

Engineer build Handguns cyberpunk 2077

Reflexes Level Skill Description
1 Gunslinger x3 Reduces reload time for Pistols and Revolvers by 25%. 
1 High Noon x3 Increases Crit Chance with Pistols and Revolvers by 6%. 
5 Desperado x3 Increases damage with Pistols and Revolvers by 10%. 
5 Rio Bravo x3 Increases headshot damage multiplier with Pistols and Revolvers by 15%. 
7 Long Shot Drop Pop x2 Increases damage with Pistols and Revolvers to enemies 5+ meters away by 25%. 
9 Steady Hand  Reduces Pistol and Revolver recoil by 20%. 
9 O.K. Corral  Deal 50% more damage with Pistols and Revolvers to enemies whose Health is below 25%. 
9 Vanishing Point  Increases Mitigation Chance by 20% for 5 sec. after performing a dodge with a Pistol or Revolver equipped.
11 A Fistful of Eurodollars x2 Increases Crit Damage with Pistols and Revolvers by 30%.
11 From Head to Toe x2 Increases damage done to limbs with Pistols and Revolvers by 7/15%. 
12 Acrobat  You can now perform dodges while aiming a Pistol or Revolver. 
12 Grand Finale  The last round in a Pistol or Revolver clip deals double damage. 
14 Attritional Fire  Firing consecutive shots with a Pistol or Revolver at the same target increases damage by 10%. 
14 Wild West  Removes the damage penalty from Pistols and Revolvers when shooting from a distance. Now you can maximize your damage when fighting enemies from long distances with this Pistol build.
16 Snowball Effect  After defeating an enemy, the fire rate for Revolvers increases by 5% for 6 sec. Stacks up to 5 time(s). 
16 Westworld Increases Crit Chance for Pistols and Revolvers by 5% if fully modded. 
18 Lead Sponge  Enables you to shoot with Pistols and Revolvers while dodging. 
20 Brainpower  After a successful headshot with a Pistol or Revolver, Crit Chance increases by 7% for 5 sec. 
20+ The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly  After a successful Crit Hit with a Pistol or Revolver, damage and Armor increase by 30% for 5 seconds. +1% per Perk level.

Assault - Assault rifles and SMGs

Assault rifle build assault cyberpunk 2077

Reflexes Level Skill Description
1 Bulletjock x3 Increases damage with Rifles by 10%. 
1 Eagle Eye x3 Reduces time to aim down sight with Rifles by 50%. 
5 Covering Killshot x2 Increases Crit Chance with Rifles and Submachine Guns by 8% when firing from behind cover. 
7 Bullseye Increases Rifle damage while aiming by 10%. 
7 Executioner Deal 25% more damage with Rifles and Submachine Guns to enemies whose Health is above 50%. 
9 Duck Hunter x2 Increases Rifle and Submachine Gun damage to moving enemies by 10/20%. 
9 Shoot, Reload, Repeat x2 Defeating an enemy with a Rifle or Submachine Gun reduces reload time by 20/40% for 5 sec. 
11 Feel the Flow x2 Defeating an enemy with a Rifle or Submachine Gun reduces reload time by 20/40% for 5 sec. 
11 Nerves of Steel x2 Increases headshot damage with Sniper Rifles and Precision Rifles by 10/15%. The Assault rifle build can still use precision rifles.
12 Hunter's Hands x2 Reduces recoil with Rifles and Submachine Guns by 10% when firing from behind cover. 
12 Trench Warfare x2 Rifle and Submachine Gun damage increase by 10% when firing from behind cover. 
14 Named Bullets Increases Crit Damage with Rifles and Submachine Guns by 20%. 
14 Skull Skipper Each headshot reduces recoil with Rifles and Submachine Guns by 4% for 10 sec. Stacks up to 5 times. 
16 Bunker Increases Armor and Resistances by 15% while aiming with Rifles and Submachine Guns from behind cover. 
16 Recoil Wrangler Reduces recoil with Rifles and Submachine Guns by 5%. 
18 In Perspective Bullets fired from Power Rifles and Power Submachine Guns ricochet an additional 1 time. 
18 Long Shot Rifle and Submachine Gun damage increases the farther you are located from enemies. 
20 Savage Stoic Increases damage with Rifles and Submachine Guns by 35% when standing still. 
20+ Punisher After defeating an enemy with a Rifle or Submachine Gun, weapon sway is nullified and weapon spread does not increase for 10 sec. +0.2 sec. per Perk level. 

Engineering

The perk tree provides one very important perk that greatly increases Ricochet's damage.

ricochet build engineering perk tree cyberpunk 2077

Tech Level Skill Description
5 Draw the Line Preview bullets' ricochet trajectory when aiming with Power Weapons if Ballistic Coprocessor cyberware is installed.
12 Play the Angles x3
Ricochets deal an additional 50% damage.

Crafting

throwing knives build crafting tree cyberpunk 2077

Level Skill Description
1 Mechanic Get more components when disassembling. Useful for crafting good gear
5 True Craftsman Allows to craft Rare items
5 Scrapper Automatically disassembles junk items. Great quality of life perk
9 Sapper x2 (optional) Grenades deal 20% more damage. I do not suggest prioritizing this perk. Only put points here later in the game
11 Field Technician Increases damage of crafted weapons by 10%. This will make your knives or katanas much stronger
12 Grease Monkey Allows to craft Epic items
16 Tune-up You can now increase the quality of your components.
18 Edgerunner Artisan Allows crafting legendary items. Have in mind that I also recommend having a Crafting level of 12. This way you unlock many legendary Crafting specs.

Cool Blood

ricochet build cold blood perk tree cyberpunk 2077

Cool Level Skill Description
1 Cold Blood x3
After defeating an enemy, gain Cold Blood for 7 sec. and increase movement speed by 2%. Stacks up to 3 times. The duration of each additional stack is 1 sec. shorter.
7 Easy Out x2 While Cold Blood is active, increases ranged weapon damage by 20% to enemies within an area of 5m. 
11 Collagulant Stack of Cool Blood are removed one by one instead of all at once
11 Frozen Precision Each stack of Cold BLood now increases headshot damage by 5%. Perfect choice for Knife Throwing on this Ninja build
12 Icy Veins x2 Reduces weapon recoil by 6% per stack of Cold Blood.
14 Cold and Calculating Critical hits can now also add a stack of Cold Blood
16 Coldest Blood x2 Increases Cold Blood stack by 2
16 Critical Condition x2 Cold Blood will have its duration increased by 50%.
18 Immunity Makes you immune to Bleeding, Poison, Burn, and Shock

Athletics

This perk tree is very important. It greatly improves the overall agility of the Ricochet build.

gunslinger build athletics cyberpunk 2077

Body Level Skill Description
1 Regeneration Health slowly regenerates during combat. 
7 Epimorphosis Increases Health regen threshold from 60% to 65% in combat and to 100% out of combat. 
11 Multitasker Allows you to shoot while sprinting, sliding, and vaulting. 
11 Divided Attention Allows you to reload weapons while sprinting, sliding, and vaulting. 

Ninjutsu

Although Ninjutsu relies on stealth it still provides a few good perks for load offensive builds

ricochet build ninjutsu perk tree cyberpunk 2077

Cool Level Skill Description
7 Assassin Deal 15% more damage to human enemies. 
9 Sniper x2 Increases headshot damage outside combat by 20%. 
12 From the Shadows x2 Upon entering combat, Crit Chance increases by 20% for 7 sec. 

Build tactics

Here are some recommendations for Ricochet build, that should help you better utilize this unique mechanic

It is not necessary to use Aim down sights

This sounds strange as you can only see the trajectory of Ricochet then? However, here is the most effective way to use it

ricochet build no scope cyberpunk 2077

Seems like, the Ricochet effect has an auto-targeting feature, that adjusts the path of the bullet if it is close to an enemy. This way you can just shoot to the ground close to the enemy.

Use the new Ricochet muzzles

These muzzles were introduced in recent patches and greatly improve the handling, damage, and recoil of Ricochet weapons.

ricochet muzzle cyberpunk 2077

You can purchase most of them in Second Amendment, Robert Wilson close to V's apartment. Have in mind, that may not appear instantly, and wait for 24 hours for the store to restock.

Assault Rifles vs Pistols

This is the main dilemma for the Ricochet build. Pistols and especially revolvers have a higher Ricochet damage bonus. However, they have a slower fire rate and smaller clips. This means that you can make fewer mistakes when shooting with them, but deal much larger damage.

Assault Rifles and SMGs have a high fire rate, but unfortunately, come with lower damage. I personally recommend trying out both weapons and deciding to which one you commit, before spending perk points on any of them.

Equipment recommendations

Ricochet build works with any weapons that are Power type. However, I would like to emphasize a few, that are best used with this mechanic. It is also important to use new muzzles introduced recently that greatly improve Ricochet effectiveness.

Pistols and Revolvers

Item Description
death and taxes cyberpunk 2077Death and Taxes A truly powerful weapon that deals electrical damage. It also releases two bullets that greatly improve the chance to hit with the Ricochet effect.
crash cyberpunk 2077Crash This weapon is a hit or miss. It shoots faster when holding the fire button. However, I do not prefer this mechanic
doom doom cyberpunk 2077Doom Doom The weapon requires some specific choices to be made early in the game. However, it is very powerful as it releases 4 projectiles.
kongou cyberpunk 2077Kongou Has low recoil and a high rate of fire.

Assault Rifles and Submachine Guns

Item Description
problem solver cyberpunk 2077Problem Solver This is a crazy Submachine Gun. It releases 1000 rounds per minute, making it a perfect choice for Ricochet build. Use it to instantly shred a group of enemies.
moron labe cyberpunk 2077Moron Labe Has a high fire rate and can dismember enemies. A decent choice for Ricochet build.

Weapon Mods

This is a very important part of Ricochet build. You need to equip one of the mentioned muzzles below for it to work. They will greatly boost damage output, making the bullets deal more damage than normal shots.

Item Description
rc 7 babaroga cyberpunk 2077RC-7 Babaroga
Works only on pistols and Revolvers. Increases Ricochet angle, chance, and damage. Halves Crit Chance. The best option for pistols
rc 7 zaar cyberpunk 2077RC-7 Zaar
Works only on Assault Rifles and Submachine Guns. Increases Ricochet angle, chance, and damage. Reduces spread and halves Crit Chance
rc 7 strigoi cyberpunk 2077RC-7 Strigoi
Works only on Assault Rifles and Submachine Guns. Increases Ricochet angle, chance, and damage. Also reduces recoil and halves Crit Chance.
rc 7 ifrit cyberpunk 2077RC-7 Ifrit
Works only on pistols and Revolvers. Increases Ricochet angle, chance, and damage. Also reduces recoil and halves Crit Chance.
crunch cyberpunk 2077Crunch Increases damage
neon arrow cyberpunk 2077Neon Arrow Reduces weapon reload time by 5%.

Armor mods

Mod name Description
dead eye cyberpunk 2077Deadeye Although you will not concentrate on headshots, the mod provides a very high damage increase:
+6% Crit Damage
+15% Headshot Damage Multiplier
bully cyberpunk 2077Bully Gives +8% Crit Damage. Great for maximizing damage late in the game
armadillo cyberpunk 2077Armadillo I recommend this mod for maximum survivability It gives bonus armor. Try to get the Legendary or Epic variant
Fortuna cyberpunk 2077Fortuna Gives a +4% Crit Chance.
zero drag cyberpunk 2077Zero Drag Increases movement speed. It can make the gameplay a bit more difficult as you may run through the enemies. But overall makes the experience even more enjoyable

Cyberware - Frontal Cortex

Slot Item Description
1 mechatronic core cyberpunk 2077Mechatronic Core Increases damage against drones, mechs, and robots
2 Heal-on-kill cyberpunk 2077Heal-On-Kill Restores health on kill.

Cyberware - Ocular System

Slot Item Description
1 kiroshi optics mk3 image cyberpunk 2077Kiroshi Optics Mk.3 Enables to have additional upgrades for the ocular system. Try to get the highest rarity which is Epic. It provides 3 upgrade slots.

Mods

Mod name Description
trajectory analysis cyberpunk 2077Trajectory Analysis Increases headshot bonus damage by 25%.
weakspot detection cyberpunk 2077Weakspot Detection Increases Crit Chance by 2%.

Cyberware - Circulatory System

The problem with this cyberware is that you have low Body attributes. Due to this, you can only equip common rarity items.

Slot Item Description
1 biomonitor image cyberpunk 2077Biomonitor Instantly restores a large portion of health when it drops below a certain threshold.
2 microgenerator icon cyberpunk 2077Microgenerator Releases Electroshock when health drops below 15%.
3 bioconductor image cyberpunk 2077Bioconductor
All cyberware has lower cooldowns.

Cyberware - Immune System

Slot Item Description
1 pain editor image cyberpunk 2077Pain Editor Reduces all incoming damage by 10%.
2 shock n awe cyberpunk 2077Shock-n-Awe After taking damage, there is a 2% chance of releasing large electroshock that deals damage to nearby enemies. Unfortunately, you will be able to equip either common or uncommon variants.

Cyberware - Nervous System

Slot Item Description
1 kerenzikov image cyberpunk 2077Kerenzikov You can now slow time when dodging or sliding.
2 nanorelays cyberpunk 2077Nanorelays Increases Sandevistan and Kerenzikov duration
2 reflex tuner imageReflex Tuner
Slows time when your Health drops to 25%

Cyberware - Integumentary System

Slot Item Description
1 subdermal armor image cyberpunk 2077Subdermal Armor
Provides flat armor increase. Try to obtain the highest rarity for the highest value.
2 optical camo image cyberpunk 2077Optical Camo This is a bad boy. You will become invisible for a few seconds which you can use to take out enemies. Really neat cyberware for a stealth build
3 heat converter image cyberpunk 2077Heat Converter Increases damage if you are burning

Cyberware - Operating System

Priority Item Description
1 Militech Falcon Sandevistan Mk.5 cyberpunk 2077Militech "Falcon" Sandevistan Mk.5 Has 60 seconds cooldown, but provides 20% Crit Damage and Crit Chance. Moreover, increases overall damage dealt by 15%.
2 QianT Sandevistan Mk.4 cyberpunk 2077QianT Sandevistan Mk.4  Has a very short cooldown of 15 seconds. However, provides a shorter time slow.
3 dynalar sandevistan mk 4 cyberpunk 2077Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.4  Increases damage and Crit Chance by 15%. Has a 30-second cooldown.
4 dynalar sandevistan mk 3 cyberpunk 2077Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.3  This epic rarity Sandevistan has 16 seconds duration. Also increases damage by 15%

Operating system mods

Mod name Description
Sandevistan heatsink cyberpunk 2077Heatsink Reduces Sandevistan cooldown
Sandevistan prototype chip cyberpunk 2077Prototype Chip While Sandevistan is active, increases Crit Chance by 5%. This is a decent choice. However, have in mind with Ricochet muzzles you will only get 2.5%.
Sandevistan overclocked processor cyberpunk 2077Overclocked Processor Increases duration of Sandevistan

Cyberware - Skeleton

Slot Item Description
1 bionic joints cyberpunk 2077Bionic Joints Reduces recoil with ranged weapons
2 Synaptic signal optimizer imageSynaptic Signal Optimizer This cyberware greatly boosts overall health.

Cyberware - Hands

Slot Item Description
1 ballistic coprocessor cyberpunk 2077Ballistic Coprocessor The legendary version gives +50% ricochet damage. A very powerful cyberware for Ricochet build

Cyberware - Legs

Slot Item Description
1 reinforced tendons image cyberpunk 2077Reinforced Tendons My personal favorite makes traversing much easier.
1 fortified ankles cyberpunk 2077Fortified Ankles
Makes you float in the air. You can then easily target enemies in the area. Have in mind you will be exposed to them.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this post on the Best Ricochet build in Cyberpunk 2077. I covered the recommended attribute, perk tree progression. Moreover, we deep-dived into gear recommendations for the highest damage options.

Feel free to leave a comment below!

Discussion

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Post author zanuffas avatar zanuffas
Gamestegy Founder. I have been writing game guides and builds for 4 years. I like to push myself to create something wonderful for the readers!