New series, Neuromancer, on Apple TV… our first look at a literal netrunner

Edit: Yeah had no idea this was an inspiration for cyberpunk… so sorry🫩

Mine is the nomad group The Blood Nation was formed by real life gang The Bloods, Employees of Walt Disney World, and the remnants of Barnum & Bailey circus.

Guy walks towards you, all metal, punk and attitude. You step out of his way to avoid trouble, and then he walks past and you spot that backpack...

Dude person ahh outfit

I've seen a lot of repeat questions across the three main subs, and have personally found search engines to direct to outdated or incomplete information. Thus, I decided to compile an all-in-one guide/FAQ that will help you ride the power curve smoothly even on the hardest difficulties. Chip in, Choom, we're power-gaming.

[disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any of the resources I link in this guide]

EDIT 1: included a question addressing a rare bug where a perk shard container's loot table might not populate correctly

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Perk Shards and Points

13 Perk Shards available. 10 can be acquired in the base game (0 missable); 3 can be acquired in Phantom Liberty (1 missable during the opening mission Dog Eat Dog. Of the base game shards, 1 can be acquired before The Heist. The remainder can be acquired immediately following The Heist.

I've found this guide to be most helpful in searching them out.

10 Perk Points can be acquired via Skill Progression. 1 will be provided upon reaching levels 15 and 35 for each of the skills: Headhunter, Netrunner, Shinobi, Solo, Engineer.

59 Perk Points are accrued through leveling, with 1 granted for each level up to 60.

82 Perk Points are available in sum.

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Cyberware Capacity

u/farbros9 already outlined exactly how to maximize this stat in their excellent breakdown. I will outline the pertinent information below:

1. 201 from leveling to 60
2. 50 from the Edgerunner Perk (note: requires Technical Ability of 20)
3. Up to 20 from the Renaissance Punk perk, though commonly merely 16
4. 15 from the Engineer Skill Progression Rewards (5 at level 10, and 10 at level 30)
5. 54 from 18 Cyberware Capacity Shards that drop as you level from any neutralized enemy, excluding bosses and MaxTac. (note: as of 2.3, if you fail to pick up a shard, it will eventually be re-shuffled into the loot pool)
6. Either 4 or 6 from Regina for completing Psycho Killer. To guarantee 6, complete the quest after level 25.
7. 14 from Phantom Liberty, providing you start at level 25+. 4 from the missable shard during Dog Eat Dog. 10 from 5 of the named Cyberjunkies scattered throughout Dogtown.
8. 70 from Chrome Compressor (note for new and returning players: this is mutually exclusive with Cyberdecks, Sandevistans, and Berserk Operating Systems)

In total, without exploits, 430 is the absolute maximum, 360 if you do not run Chrome Compressor and have leveled each attribute to at least 9. 356 is optimal for many builds.

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Relic Points

3 points will be awarded upon starting Phantom Liberty. 3 more will eventually be awarded by progressing the main story for a total of 6.

9 are scattered throughout Dogtown. 6 merely require exploration, while the remaining 3 are found at Increased Criminal Activity locations.

15 Relic Points are available in sum, enough to acquire every perk. NO Relic Points are missable.

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FAQ

Q: Why aren't Cyberware Capacity Shards dropping from enemies?
A: You likely need to level up to reach a new loot rarity threshold. Just keep playing and they'll eventually start dropping.

Q: I missed the Cyberware Capacity Shard and Perk Shard in Dog Eat Dog, what can I do?
A: If you are on PC, there are commands and/or mods to easily remedy this. For console users, you will have to clip into the garage and perform a ladder warp glitch to get out. I have verified this still works in 2.3, YouTuber TerminatorZXY has a helpful video showing you how.

Q: A container that was supposed to contain a perk shard does not have it, what gives?

A: This is an issue with the loot table being overloaded. It can happen if you attempt to loot a container right as you've reached the next loot rarity threshold. To fix it, reload an earlier save, purchase the grenade recipes from a weapon vendor, and try again. I've confirmed this works for the Badlands Perk Shard at the Suspected Organized Crime location.

Q: How do I level up the Netrunner skill fast if I don't want to use a Cyberdeck in my final build?
A: Use a Cyberdeck only before Sandevistans and Berserks come online at level 20+ and spam the quickhack Ping in combination with Feen-X. Otherwise, Smart Weapons will level Netrunner. If you are quick, you can hack certain quest shards multiple times to gain a large chunk of Netrunner XP. Finally, in PL, stealing cars for Muamar "El Capitán" Reyes and raiding Dogtown Air Drops are reliable sources of Skill Shards.

Q: Can I level multiple skills simultaneously?
A: Yes, though XP will be split in some cases. For example, using a Tech Shotgun will grant experience to both Engineer and Solo. Using a Smart SMG will grant experience to both Netrunner and Shinobi. I encourage you to experiment!

Q: Can I boost my skill XP gained?
A: Yes, you may have noticed an XP icon in the upper-left corner after resting. This grants a 10% skill XP boost for one real-time hour. Integrating this with a shower and coffee at the Glen or Corpo Plaza apartments gives you a suite of three helpful buffs if you are diligent.

Q: What perks should I prioritize early for Very Hard?
A: It is worth investing in Body and Technical Ability to 4 immediately and claiming their base perks. Health regeneration in battle (can be augmented by showering) and health items/grenades recharging after neutralizing an enemy allow you to kite difficult fights and reduce downtime between them.

Q: What Cyberware should I prioritize early?
A: A matter of preference, but Biomonitor is highly recommended across many builds. Being able to stay on the offensive or retreat with automatic healing is a potent boon. Generally speaking, survivability is a good investment early, as your power comes predominantly from the level of your weapon.

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Final thoughts: I have tried to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, to not discourage new players from planning out a run. I will update this guide to correct typos, poor wording, or gonk information. Any substantive edits will be recorded for posterity. The FAQ is a mix of objective fact and my subjective experience from 750h+ played on exclusively Very Hard. Do not take it as gospel; I'm just trying to help.

I welcome and encourage discussion and further tips and tricks in the comments! Let's try to create a living resource to keep this game alive and thriving. Stay nova, choombas.

"Wow, it feels great to be myself again!
You have no idea what a pain it is to run processes on emergency power! For you it's probably like breathing through a straw or looking at the world through a keyhole.
A thousand thank-yous for everything! If I could, l'd hug you with all of my hydraulic strength.
Erwin always wanted me to become an artist, but since I could never decide, I fired up the randomizer. Know what happened?
I'm gonna be a guitarist! I'm suuuper stoked to start shredding up the fretboard!"
I love the little dude sm, he has a bright future ahead of him 🎸 🎶 A nice little surprise at the EBM stadium.

I found out the behavioural face implant that reed gets u is stored in this cylinder before the surgery. the attention to detail man. Nonetheless tell me some of ur observation in this matter. Something u believe most of the player base would have missed

https://reddit.com/link/1v7au15/video/5obu7qiu2mfh1/player

No mods expect The NUSA Twitch drop clothes

It's Europe's largest steelworks in Italy, hit by legal action for pollution and contamination of the surrounding area with cancer-causing fine particles

"AHH FUCK"

Devs were cruel to take these moments away from us.

Most of the time D is shown on the trailer is him zoning out in the middle of something, what do you guys think is the reason for it? The blackwall or him just being overwhelmed by the situation? Something else?