When you start a new game in Cyberpunk 2077, you get to choose not only the difficulty level, but also V’s appearance, backstory, and starting attributes - all of which play a major role in immersing you in the story that Cyberpunk 2077 tells you over its many-hour campaign. Below we’ll walk you through every aspect of character creation in Cyberpunk 2077, including the seven attributes and their uses, and the full depth of appearance customisation and which aspects of your appearance you can change later on.
Cyberpunk 2077 character creation options
When you start a new game in Cyberpunk 2077, there are four major choices that you must make regarding your character and playthrough:
Difficulty Level Lifepath Appearance Attributes
We’ll go over each of these choices below and your options for each aspect of your Cyberpunk 2077 character.
Cyberpunk 2077 difficulty settings
There are four difficulty settings available in Cyberpunk 2077: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Very Hard. Here’s what the game says about each one:
Easy - The right choice for players who just want to sit back and enjoy the story. Combat will not pose a challenge. Medium - 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 - Combmat will be a substantial challenge. The effect use of Perks, cyberware, combat gadgets and consumables will be essential to survival. Very Hard - Buckle up for a serious 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.
Personally I’d recommend playing through the game on Medium difficulty, particularly if this is your first time playing. Easy difficulty really provides no challenge at all, and I don’t think the harder difficulty levels scale enemies up in a way that keeps the game fun.
Cyberpunk 2077 Lifepath options
At the beginning of a playthrough you can choose between three different Lifepaths for your character in Cyberpunk 2077. The Lifepath you choose determines V’s backstory, and how they came to reach Night City in the first place. Here are the three options:
Nomad - Roaming the Badlands, looting scrapyards, raiding fuel depots - life on the road wasn’t easy. But growing up in a nomad clan has its perks. Honesty, integrity, and a love of freedom - qualities that few in Night City possess, and no amount of money can buy. Streetkid - They say if you wanna understand the streets, you gotta live ’em. Gangs, fixers, dolls, small-time pushers - you were raised by them all. Down here the law of the jungle dictates the weak serve the strong - the only law in Night City you have yet to break. Corpo - Few leave the corporate world with their lives - fewer still with their souls intact. You’ve been there - you’ve bent the rules, exploited secrets and weaponized information. There’s no such thing as a fair game, only winners and losers.
For a much greater understanding of the above choices, check out our Cyberpunk 2077 Lifepaths guide!
Cyberpunk 2077 appearance customisation options
With Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red created one of the more diverse and inclusive appearance customisation options we’ve seen in some time. Some of these options can be changed later on in the game, but others cannot. Below is every appearance option in Cyberpunk 2077 and whether they can be changed later on:
Cyberpunk 2077 attributes and perks explained
The final major aspect of Cyberpunk’s character creation is the attributes system. There are five major attributes in Cyberpunk 2077: Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, Technical Ability, and Cool. These attributes are taken straight from the tabletop RPG upon which the game is based. Each attribute starts at a value of 3, and you have 7 points to assign across these attributes. Bear in mind that you can only ramp up a single attribute to a maximum of 6, so you can’t go all-in on a single attribute. But you’ll gain more points to assign as you level up your character. There are also various perks to choose between, under which are grouped specific skills that can be accrued throughout V’s journey. Each perk is associated with a certain attribute, so let’s take a closer look at each attribute in turn and the associated perks we currently know about.
Body
Your Body attribute determines your physical capabilities: under the lexica of traditional tabletop RPG systems, you could refer to Body as a combination of Strength and Constitution. A higher Body stat will allow you to take less damage from attacks, develop your melee prowess, and increase your carrying capacity. The perks associated with the Body attribute are Annihilation, Athletics, and Street Brawler.
Intelligence
Having a high Intelligence value will allow V to solve problems more easily and notice more things throughout their journey. Intelligence plays heavily into the hacking mechanics of Cyberpunk 2077, giving you more options and abilities when it comes to hacking both hardware and wetware. The perks associated with the Intelligence attribute are Device Hacking and Target Hacking.
Reflexes
The Reflexes attribute most closely resembles your dexterity from more traditional RPG systems, governing your precision when handling various weapons. But it may also affect other mechanics, including your ability to drive and pilot vehicles. The perks associated with the Reflexes attribute are Blades, Handguns, and Rifles.
Technical Ability
Your Technical Ability attribute will determine the effectiveness of your tech and equipment, and your use of them. This covers everything from body mods and armour to crafting and looting. The perks associated with the Technical Ability attribute are Craft and Engineering.
Cool
Your Cool attribute in Cyberpunk 2077 covers everything from how intimidating and tough V seems to others, to their ability to push through tests of stress, pressure, and physical pain. Cool also affects the player’s stealth abilities and critical hit effectiveness. The perks associated with the Cool attribute are Cold Blood and Stealth. That wraps up our Cyberpunk 2077 character creation guide. Why not now check out everything we know about the various romance options available to your V, or learn how to change V’s appearance in-game? You can also check out our guide on the best Cyberpunk 2077 builds, and our primer on the prospect of Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer in the future. And for everything else related to CDPR’s groaningly huge RPG, check out our Cyberpunk 2077 walkthrough hub.
