As players take their first steps into Night City in Cyberpunk 2077, they might want to be aware of a few tips that will get them off to the best start possible, regardless of life path and ambitious desires so that everyone has the potential to become a Night City Legend.
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Starting out as a humble merc, V is going to get put through the wringer soon enough and to better withstand the brutality of Night City, the best starting tips for Cyberpunk 2077 will serve as a helping hand to ensure that V isn’t flatlined from the moment they walk out of their Watson apartment.
Updated on December 30, 2025, by Jake Fillery: Cyberpunk 2077 has celebrated its 5th anniversary, with many more to come, and a whole lot of love that deserves experiencing. For a game so expansive and complete, Cyberpunk 2077 deserves your attention, but the dangers within may overwhelm. If this is your first trip to Night City for 2026 and beyond, you might want to check in with a few useful tips to ensure your stay is a pleasant one, and your legend can become vast.
1 Sell Weapons & Junk to Avoid Clutter
Earn Easy Eddies Through Looting and Selling At Drop Points
Picking up weapons and random junk items is something we've all done in a new RPG, especially when we're dirt broke and want any eurodollar that might support us through the day to get a new car, outfit, or expensive gun. However, starting the game also means having to deal with clutter, as you're bound to stack up on useless weapon mods, lackluster guns, and junk. Luckily, you don't have to hoard these for no reason, as scattered all over the map are Vendors and Drop Points where you can exchange your trash for eurodollars to get a nice chunk of digital currency fast.
2 Save Often, as Dialogue Choices Can Be Complex
Decisions Have Consequences, So Make Sure You're Keeping On Top of Save Files
Like any RPG, choices can be made by the player to determine the fate of certain characters and endings, but it's not always as obvious as you might think. Exhaust dialogue options often, but save just as often. This will ensure that you will always have a backup just in case you select something that you do not agree with for your playthrough, and want to return to a time before. We won't spoil the decisions that can be made in your fresh new experience, but it's a great tip to save often so that you can experiment with different outcomes early on, before it's too late in a session.
3 Complete The Heist to Start Act 2
A Whole New World Opens At the Start of Act 2
The first thing players should focus on is getting through Act 1. While it might be nice to interact with Jackie and see V’s life when it’s not in the gutter, it’s also a restrictive Act that will see players stuck in Watson until they have entered Act 2. Players should focus on progressing far enough into the story to complete The Heist, as when Act 2 has been started, the open-world map fully unlocks for players to enjoy, thus providing them with infinitely more side jobs, secrets, and NCPD Scanner quests, so that players don’t have to worry about getting stuck in Watson. If players want to fully experience everything without feeling restricted to one district, entering Act 2 is a must so early on.
4 Check Text Messages for Free Cars
The Sport R-7 Vigilante Will Help Players Who Don't Have a Car
New players will have all the benefits of updates past Update 2.0, which grant unique rewards. One such reward can be found by accessing V’s phone from the moment the Prologue has ended and Act 1 begins, allowing players to check their messages to see a free Sport R-7 Vigilante vehicle without having to spend any Eurodollars to claim it, simply a keen pair of eyes to read a message about the freebie. This vehicle might not be an endgame car, but it’s going to get the job done for players who lack an actual vehicle, since the start of Act 2 has players locked out of their car thanks to Delemain’s rogue AIs.
5 The Best Weapons Are Often Missable
Iconic Weapons Are Obtained Through Specific Missions and Locations
When venturing through Night City, players should be careful not to just head from Point A to Point B, as there are many points of interest around the sprawling neon city. Yet, there's one thing that players should be extra careful of, and that's the fact that they might miss out on some of the best weapons in Cyberpunk 2077.
Some great weapons in the Iconic rarity can only be found during certain missions, and others are restricted to killing certain characters and completing missions in a specific way, so it's best to focus on exploration to grow a collection of weapons for V's stash.
6 Save Eddies for Cyberware Instead of Flashy New Cars
Being a Night City Legend Requires a Ripperdoc Investment
When players first get their big job in Cyberpunk 2077 as its newest merc, players might want to splash their new wad of Eddies on some fancy new cars, clothes, and weapons. However, players should save their Eurodollars and only spend it on Cyberware that is obtained from Ripperdocs throughout Night City.
Cyberware is essential to the build-crafting experience, and players are going to need a lot of Eurodollars if they want to get the best Cyberware possible in Cyberpunk 2077, as the Tier 5 of each piece of Cyberware is extremely expensive, so wasting money on vehicles might not be the best use of cash.
7 Start Phantom Liberty After Reaching Pacifica
Don't Rush to the Incredible Expansion
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition features Phantom Liberty as part of the essential experience, and while Cyberpunk 2077 can be enjoyed as a superb and fixed game in 2024, it's made even better with its expansion. With new characters, weapons, and a whole area of Dogtown to explore, Phantom Liberty is essential to Cyberpunk 2077 fans as it enriches V and Johnny's story and entwines it with others, but it shouldn't be rushed.
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New players should focus on the missions they have instead of trying to rush through to the expansion. Songbird will call V when it's time to head to Dogtown, so just stick by, do the base game missions, and wait for Mr. Hands' proposition in Pacifica before hearing Songbird out.
8 Design a Build Before Spending Attribute Points
Attribute Points Are Not Refundable
There is a ton of potential for build-crafting in Cyberpunk 2077, but players should look through the specific Attribute trees and discover what points they think would better suit them. If they want to be a Netrunner, head for Intelligence. If they seek to be a cyberpsycho, then Body and Technical Ability are for them. There’s unlimited potential for builds, but a finite resource when it comes to Attribute Points.
Players can refund skill points so that they can experiment with different perks, but they cannot refund Attribute Points. With the max level of Cyberpunk 2077 being level 60, players will be able to invest 20 maximum points across 3 Attributes, so invest wisely into the trees that will complement builds.
9 Healing Is Timed, Not Spammed
Healing Items Have Cooldowns
With the first release of Cyberpunk 2077, players could venture across Night City and collect all sorts of medical stims, energy drinks, and processed foods to use in the midst of battle. Hoarding these items meant that players could open their inventory and heal repeatedly when they were in a tough fight. Yet, the balancing and revamp of Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 caused a few agreeable changes to the healing system.
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Healing is now on a cooldown system, so players are going to experience a unique challenge when they enter into a tough fight. The added pressure of using healing items at the right time means that some might have to adapt their playstyles, but with the right Cyberware like the Second Heart and Blood Pump, healing won’t be an issue.
10 5-Star Wanted Levels Are A Death Sentence
MaxTac Do Not Mess Around With Cyberpsychos
V might be a mercenary, but that doesn’t come without unwanted attention from the cops. Night City is overcrowded with crime, so it makes sense that police officers are always on the scene to try and snuff it out. The police in Cyberpunk 2077 will not attempt to arrest V, no matter the crime, so players should escape to remove their wanted level.
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However, if players want to indulge in temporary carnage, then they can rise through the wanted levels to hit 5 stars. Doing so will see MaxTac descend on the player, and thus begin a secret boss fight against this dreaded unit of cyberpsycho killers. Defeating MaxTac is extremely difficult, but rewarding, as the five-star wanted level will drop in victory.