Best Netrunner Build - Ultimate Hacker 1.6 (Patch 1.63) - Cyberpunk 2077

The post covers the best Netrunner Build in Cyberpunk 2077. Netrunning is a hacking activity. It allows individuals to engage with other people's operating systems and access networks remotely in the Cyberpunk world.

Netrunners have augmentations that make their brain central computers to access the Net.

Netrunner Build - Hacker

Even though the name is a bit silly, I had a lot of fun trying out this Netrunner build. It allows going in both directions - all out with your guns or keeping your distance and engaging enemies with quickhacks.

As you can see we start the combat by using the ultimate quickhacks and revealing enemies in the network with Ping. Once that happens, and the enemy's attention is taken you can engage with them directly.

Although the showcase shows more of a gun approach, the build can easily stay quiet, tucked in, and take out enemies one by one with cameras

The build spreads into a few main categories:

• Quickhacks
• Daemons
• Tech Weapons
• Crafting
• Cold Blood (a little)

Regarding weapons, I want to suggest going with Tech weapons. With this in mind, you can shoot down enemies, engage them directly, use quickhacks, etc. Moreover, shooting through walls with a fully charged Tech weapon is extremely satisfying

There are numerous possibilities with this netrunner build to make the game very exciting (check the Tactics section for excellent tips)

Attributes

The section will cover what attributes you should get and how to progress through the game with Netrunner build.

Starting the game

At the beginning of the game, your main priority will be to become effective with hacking. Also, you can go for any weapon as long as it provides adequate damage.

• Intelligence +3
• Cool +2
• Technical ability +2

As you progress through the game try to prioritize intelligence. Quickhacking is the main tree that is affected by it. Moreover, quickhacking will be netrunner's main weapon throughout the whole game

Intelligence and Technical Ability are the main attributes of this build:

• Intelligence - drastically increases netrunning proficiency by giving bonus RAM capacity, quickhack damage, and duration with each level
• Technical Ability - it will allow you to unlock more difficult doors, give new dialogue options and also increase Armor. Of course, the main idea is that it will improve Tech weapon handling and allows crafting items.

I suggest two options for leveling attributes:

Progression Body concentrated (Shotgun)

Level	Reflex	Body	Tech	Cool	Int
10	3	6	6	5	11
30	3	12	12	8	16
50	3	16	18	14	20

This netrunner is the best at using tech shotguns and having good survivability.

Progression Reflex concentrated (Monowire, Tech Rifle)

Level	Reflex	Body	Tech	Cool	Int
10	6	3	6	5	11
30	12	3	12	8	16
50	16	3	18	14	20

You could call this a true glass cannon build. It concentrates on maximizing Crit chance and also can use Tech Rifle or Monowire.

Main Perks

This netrunner build is quite demanding on the perk points. However, the core of it rests on a few main trees. What would seem strange is that there are no weapon-related trees. This is logical as netrunner concentrates on using quickhacks.

However, once you start reaching level 10+ little by little you can put points into weapon trees that are covered in the next section

Quickhacking

This is the main perk tree for the Netrunner Hacker build. It will improve quickhacks and give them unique effects. Moreover, you will be able to craft rarer versions with some of these upgrades.

Int Level	Skill	Description
1	Biosynergy x3	Allows RAM to recover during combat. Recover 12 RAM units every 60 sec.
1	Bloodware x3	Quickhacks deal 30% more damage.
5	Forget-me-not	Eliminating a target affected by a quickhack instantly recovers 1 RAM units.
5	Hacker's Manual (optional)	Unlocks crafting specs for Uncommon quickhacks. This is an optional perk because these quickhacks can usually be bought from netrunner vendors.
7	Daisy Chain x3	Eliminating a target affected by a quickhack reduces the existing cooldowns for all other active quickhacks by 50%.
9	Signal Support x2	Increases quickhack duration by 50%.
11	Subliminal Message x2	Quickhacks deals 100% more damage to unaware targets. A very powerful perk that allows to instantly take out most of the enemies with Netrunner build.
12	Mnemonic	Quickhack spread distance is increased by 2 times.
12	Diffusion	Reduces the cost of quickhacks used against an enemy already affected by a quickhack by 2 RAM units.
12	School of Hard Hacks	Unlocks Crafting Specs for Rare quickhacks.
14	Plague x3	Quickhacks that spread can jump to 3 additional targets.
16	Critical Error	Quickhacks can now deal Crit Hits based on your Crit Chance and Crit Damage stats. By getting this perk you will greatly increase overall netrunner build damage.
16	Hacker Overlord	Unlocks Crafting Specs for Epic quickhacks.
18	Anamnesis x3	Available cyberdeck RAM cannot drop below 4 units.
20	Bartmoss' Legacy	Unlocks Crafting Specs for Legendary quickhacks. You will have to put some effort to craft these. But this will make the netrunner build unstoppable.
20	Optimization	Reduces the cost of quickhacks by 1 RAM unit.
20	Master RAM Liberator	Increases RAM recovery rate by 50%. +1% per Perk level.

Breach Protocol

We do not pick the second level of many perks. The main reason is that some of them give longer duration which will be mostly useless since combat encoutners will end very fast with this build. Moreover, at Intelligence 20 you unlock the Buffer Optimization perk that doubles the duration of daemon effects.

Also, we want to have as many daemons as possible. Some abilities like Hackathon provide their buffs if 3 daemons are uploaded.

Int Level	Skill	Description
1	Big Sleep (optional)	Unlocks the Big Sleep daemon, which disables all cameras in the network for 3 min.
1	Mass Vulnerability	Unlocks the Mass Vulnerability daemon, which reduces the Physical Resistance for all enemies in the network by 30% for 3min.
5	Almost In!	Increases the breach time for Breach Protocol by 20%.
7	Mass Vulnerability: Resistances	Upgrades the Mass Vulnerability daemon, reducing all Resistances for enemies in the network by 30%.
11	Total Recall	The ICEpick daemon reduces all quickhack costs by an additional 1 RAM unit.
12	Turret Tamer	Unlocks the Turret Tamer daemon, which sets the status of every turret in the network to friendly for 3/6 min.
14	Efficiency x2	Uploading 3 or more daemons in the same Breach Protocol increases the cyberdeck RAM recovery rate by 6 units per 60 sec. Lasts 5 min.
14	Cloud Cache x2	Completing a Breach Protocol reduces the RAM cost of your next quickhack by 2 times the number of daemons uploaded.
16	Mass Vulnerability: Quickhacks	Upgrades the Mass Vulnerability daemon, causing enemies in the network to also take 30% more damage from quickhacks.
18	Hackathon	Uploading 3 or more daemons in the same Breach Protocol shortens quickhack cooldowns by 33% for 5 min.
18	Head Start	Automatically uploads the first daemon in the list at the start of Breach Protocol.
20	Compression	Reduces the lengths of the sequences required to upload daemons by 1. Cannot be reduced below 2.
20	Buffer Optimization (optional)	Increases the duration of daemon effects by 100%. This is more of a quality-of-life perk that makes it a bit easier to fight during long encounters.

Ninjutsu

Take a few perks from this tree to maximize the effectiveness of the Netrunner build.

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

Cold Blood

We prioritize quickhack-related perks. However, I definitely recommend taking more of the abilities in this tree if you will have free perks.

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 1/2/3 time(s). The duration of each additional stack is 1 sec. shorter.
7	Frosty Synapses x2	Reduces quickhack cooldowns by 6% per stack of Cold Blood.
11	Coolagulant	Stacks of Cold Blood are removed one by one, not all at once.
12	Quick Transfer x2	Reduces quickhack upload time by 3% per stack of Cold Blood.
14	Cold and Calculating	Landing a Crit Hit has 50% chance of applying a stack of Cold Blood.

Engineering - Tech Weapon effectiveness

The build relies on Tech weapons. Due to this, we want to maximize their effectiveness. This affects all Tech weapons so this is why it is essential.

 

Tech Level	Skill	Description
9	Up to 11	Allows you to charge Tech weapons up to 100% capacity.
12	Tesla x3	Increases the charge multiplier for Tech weapons by 55%.
14	Ubercharge	Fully charged Tech weapons deal 30% more damage.
14	Gun Whisperer	Fully charged Tech weapons do not shoot automatically. Does not apply to revolvers.
16	F*** All Walls	Reduces the charge amount needed for Tech weapons to penetrate walls by 30%.
18	Lickety Split x2	Tech weapon charge time is reduced by 20%.

Weapon Perks

Here are the different trees that I recommend based on the different weapons that you choose. Have in mind you will not be able to maximize the trees (probably). This will require maxing out all perk trees to have a lot of perk points.

However, once you decide on the weapon you can start slowly investing in the preferred choice

Annihilation - if took max Body and Shotguns

We do not take moving-related perks that increase the overall damage of shotguns. This is recommended, however, the build is already demanding perks. Due to this we only take the perks that increase overall damage.

Body Level	Skill	Description
1	Hail of Bullets x3	Shotguns deal 10% more damage. Mandatory perk for Shotgun build
5	Pump It, Louder! x2	Reduces recoil of Shotguns by 20%.
5	In Your Face x2	Reduces the reload time of Shotguns by 30%.
7	Dead Center x2	Increases damage to torsos from Shotguns by 20%
9	Bulldozer	Increases Crit Chance with Shotguns by 5%.
11	Massacre x3	Increases Crit Damage with Shotguns or by 30%.
12	Heavy Lead	Shotguns and knockback enemies with more force.
12	Skeet Shooter	Deal 15% more damage to moving targets using Shotguns
14	Unstoppable	Dismembering an enemy using a Shotgun or Light Machine Gun increases the fire rate by 10% for 8 sec. Stacks up to 3 times

Blades - max Reflexes and use Monowire

Reflex Level	Skill	Description
1	Sting Like a Bee x3	Increases attack speed with Monowire by 30%
1	Roaring Waters x3	Strong Attacks deal 30% more damage. As you should use them often with Monowire this perk is mandatory
4	Slow and Steady x2	Armor is increased by 30% while moving
4	Crimson Dance x2	Monowire now has a 30% chance to apply bleeding with combos
6	Flight of the Sparrow x2	Reduces the cost of stamina attacks. This allows for avoiding any fatigue
8	Shifting Sands	Recover 15% stamina when dodging attacks
10	Blessed Blade	Increases Crit Chance of Monowire by 10%
12	Bloodlust x2	Recovers HP when attacking an enemy that is under the effect of Bleeding
12	Float Like A Butterfly x1	Increases damage by 25% after dodging. This persists for 5 seconds.
15	Judge, Jury, and Executioner x3	The first hit with Monowire will now deal 100% more damage. This makes it an extremely powerful weapon, especially for stealth

Assault - if went with Reflexes and Tech Rifle

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 Rifles 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 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	Increases Rifle and Submachine Gun damage 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 time(s).
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%.

Optional Perks

These perks are totally optional. It means that if you do not take them, the core of the build does not suffer.

Athletics (optional)

Taking these perks will greatly improve how you handle weapons. You will be able to shoot and reload while sprinting. This will give a great tactical advantage.

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	Divided Attention	Allows you to reload weapons while sprinting, sliding, and vaulting.
11	Multitasker	Allows you to shoot while sprinting, sliding, and vaulting.
12	Invincible	Increases Health by 15%

Crafting (optional)

I have always loved having high crafting. Making the best weapons in the game will make your gameplay much easier, especially on high difficulties.

Tech Level	Skill	Description
1	Mechanic	Gain more components when disassembling.
5	True Craftsman	Junk items are automatically disassembled.
5	Scrapper (optional)	Allows you to craft Rare items.
11	Field Technician x2	Crafted weapons deal 5/10% more damage.
12	Grease Monkey	Allows you to craft Epic items.
16	Tune-Up	Allows you to upgrade lower-quality components into higher-quality ones.
18	Edgerunner Artisan	Allows you to craft Legendary items.

Build tactics

Well, I think this build has multiple approaches to how to play it well. However, I would like to share my preferred one. Overall hacking is the main one, but there are different ways how you can utilize it.

Start the fight with Breach Protocol

I think this is very important especially, from the mid-game. Your aim is to upload as many of the daemons as you can (at least 3). This will activate some of the perks that buff your quickhacking capabilities

Not only that but the daemons by themselves will be helpful in any encounter. For example:

• The enemy gets reduced defenses
• Their optics jam making the miss most of their shots
• Turrets become friendly
• etc.

Of course, later on, as you become very powerful uploading daemons every time can become tedious. So just do it only on difficult encounters

Use Ping before engaging in combat

This quickhack plays a very important role. It reveals enemy locations in the network. Because you will probably use Tech Shotgun, thanks to this you can kill enemies through the walls.

Moreover, you can always know their location which allows you to plan an escape route if you are surrounded.

Sow confusion among the enemies

I think it is very important that enemies have their attention away from you. unfortunately, this build is not capable of taking much damage.

I recommend having Suicide or Cyberphycosis quickhacks in your Cyberdeck at all times. The good thing about Cyberphycosis is that the enemy commits suicide if they are the only ones left

Using Tech weapon

So how does Tech weapon play a role with this Netrunner Hacker build? You start using it once the enemy is confused. These weapons can shoot through walls. Moreover, thanks to Ping you can see all the enemies in the network. This way, with the preparation we did you should have no problems taking them out.

Be sure to charge the Tech weapon enough so that it would penetrate walls and objects. have in mind, that enemies will start desperately looking for you, so you should still stay behind cover and be vigilant.

Of course, Tech weapons are also good at just clearing enemies in general

The Camera Takeovers

Netrunners can take over enemy networks and use cameras to clear out whole levels of enemies.

As you can see I took over the network and used cameras to slowly chip at all the enemies inside. This also can be fun sometimes. However, if this approach is used too often the game will get boring, believe me :)

Equipment recommendations

This section will cover recommended gear for Netrunner build. As mentioned, my take on Netrunner build revolves around using quickhacks and weapons in parallel. Tech weapons are also perfect for netrunner as they do not expose them to direct enemy fire. This is a good alternative to hacking that can become boring once you are extremely overpowered.

Tech Shotguns

Item	Description
DB-2 Satara	This is the shotgun that I recommend using with this build. It is a tech shotgun that can shoot through walls and charge up for increased damage.

Tech Sniper and Precision Rifles

Item	Description
Breakthrough	A bit better version of Nekomata. Bullets can additionally ricochet after passing through walls.
Nekomata	A powerful Tech Sniper, that is readily available throughout the game
Widow Maker	A stronger version M-179E Achilles. It shoots multiple projectiles and deals chemical damage. One of the most powerful weapons in the game.
M-179E Achilles	A decent precision rifle that can be used from long range to take out enemies through walls.

Weapon Mods

Item	Description
Crunch	Increases damage. I think overall the best mod for the shotgun.
Neon Arrow	Reduces weapon reload time by 5%.
Penetrator	Increases Crit Chance
Pacifier	Increases Crit Damage

Cyberware - Frontal Cortex

Besides the ones mentioned below, I would also take a look at Camillo RAM Manager, RAM Upgrade

Slot	Item	Description
1	Memory Boost	Defeating an enemy instantly restores RAMs
2	Ex-Disk	Increases the maximum size of Cyberdeck RAM units.
3	Limbic System Enhancement	Increases Crit Chance

Cyberware - Ocular System

Slot	Item	Description
1	Kiroshi 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.

The ocular system recommended mods:

Mod name	Description
Trajectory Analysis	Increases headshot bonus damage by 25%.
Weakspot Detection	Increases Crit Chance by 2%.

Cyberware - Circulatory System

I also suggest taking Tyrosine Injector if you have a hard time with the Breach Protocol time limit

Slot	Item	Description
1	Biomonitor	Instantly restores a large portion of health when it drops below a certain threshold.
2	Microgenerator	Releases Electroshock when health drops below 15%.
2	Feedback Circuit	Instantly restores health after you discharge a fully charged weapon with a hit to an enemy
2	Tyrosine Injector	Increase the breach time of the Breach Protocol by 100%. I definitely recommend this one if you see that additional times help you with Breach protocols.
3	Second Heart	Another great option, especially early in the game when you may die often. It provides a second chance before you die.

Cyberware - Immune System

Slot	Item	Description
1	Shock-n-Awe	Release electroshock when being hit. Has a certain activation chance.
2	Cataresist	Increases all resistances against the status effect
2	Inductor	When affected by Shock and EMP, Armor increases by 50% instead of taking damage.

Cyberware - Nervous System

You can wear 2 pieces of cyberwar for the Nervous System. Try to get the highest Rarity of the mentioned item

Slot	Item	Description
1	Synaptic Accelerator	Slows time when you are detected by enemies. Cooldown 60 sec.
2	Reflex Tuner	I like this Cyberware as it gives you some time when you are in a critical situation and slows down time.

Cyberware - Integumentary System

Slot	Item	Description
1	Subdermal Armor	Provides flat armor increase. Try to obtain the highest rarity for the highest value.
2	Optical 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	When affected by Burn, instead of receiving damage from it, you deal more damage.

Cyberware - Operating System

Here are recommended Cyberdeck options for the Netrunner build. These are the most important items for the build, so be sure to always get the best one

Priority	Item	Description
1	Tetratronic Rippler Mk.4	This is my preferred Cyberdeck. Because I like using Cyberphycosis and Suicide, I get a bonus spread from Tetratronic Rippler.
2	NetWatch Netdriver Mk.5	I love this cyberdeck, take it if you heavily rely on combat quickhacks like Shot Circuit or Overheat.
3	Stephenson Tech Mk.4	Reduces quickhack cooldowns by 45% and provides some other bonuses.
4	Biotech Σ Mk.3	Increases damage to health with quickhacks.
5	Stephenson Tech Mk.3	Reduces quickhacks cooldown times.

Here are the quickhacks that I recommend with this build

Item	Description
Cyberpsychosis	This is a very important perk that the build relies on. It allows creating havoc among groups of enemies.
Ping	It is a mandatory quickhack that reveals all enemies that are connected to the network. This will allow you to see all enemies through the walls and plan your encounter.
Contagion	Powerful combat quickhack that deals chemical damage over time. Moreover, it spreads to nearby targets making it very deadly against a group of enemies.
Short Circuit	A very powerful quickhack that deals electrical damage. It is very effective against robots, drones, mechs, etc.
Overheat	Deals burning damage, very effective against human targets.
Suicide	I love this one, this ensures that the enemy which you target kills itself.

Cyberware - Skeleton

Slot	Item	Description
1	Bionic Joints	Reduces recoil of Ranged Weapons.
2	Synaptic Signal Optimizer	This cyberware greatly boosts overall health. This will be very useful to provide some bonus survivability.

Cyberware - Arms

In case you go with Monowire here are all the details you need. This weapon is very deadly but it easily loses steam in prolonged combat encounters. For netrunner, I think this is not a perfect choice, because you will need to directly engage enemies. However, many people still enjoy it due to roleplaying

Slot	Item	Description
1	Monowire	This will be your main weapon. Try to go for the highest rarity that you can get.

Mods for Monowire:

Slot	Item	Description
1	Monowire - Physical damage	Perfect for single-target damage. You will want to take out enemies with a single hit when in stealth
1	Monowire - Electrical Damage	Equip this modification when fighting drones, mechs, and other robot-like enemies
2	Monowire Battery, High-Capacity	Increases the charge damage, however, it is reported that this mod may be broken.
3	Sensory Amplifier (Crit Chance)	Increases Crit Chance by 2%. Very good, when you have low Crit Chance.
3	Sensory Amplifier (Crit Damage)	Increases Crit Damage by 20%. Once you have a high Crit Chance, these stats will provide a larger DPS increase

Cyberware - Hands

Slot	Item	Description
1	Smart Link	I definitely recommend using this Cyberware even with Tech Shotgun. The legendary version gives bonus critical damage.

Cyberware - Legs

Slot	Item	Description
1	Reinforced Tendons	My personal favorite makes traversing much easier.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this post on Best Netrunner build in Cyberpunk 2077. I hope you enjoyed it. It should cover all the information you need on perks, attributes, and gear to use.

Feel free to leave any comments below!