Summary
- Use Gorilla Arms for powerful non-lethal melee attacks with high Body investment for best results.
- Pax Attachment mod turns weapons non-lethal, but balanced with reduced combat damage.
- Utilize non-lethal takedowns with stealth and body shots, while using quickhacks to debuff Cyberpsychos.
Especially on higher difficulties, Cyberpunk 2077 can be a challenging game. Most of the time, V isn't just skirmishing with petty crooks armed with pocket knives. They're fighting hardened criminals or corporate enforcers riding a near-perpetual high caused by drugs and the sweet smell of burning wires as a cybernetic body is pushed into overdrive. This only makes the side job Psycho Killer all the more difficult. Players are butting heads with bona fide Cyberpsychos, who don't have a sane microchip in their body.
If that wasn't hard enough, getting the best reward possible from this job requires even more from the player. To best please Regina Jones, players must not only tangle with these powerful Cyberpsychos, but defeat them non-lethally. In 'neutralizing' these Cyberpsychos instead of outright killing them, Regina believes she has the means to rehabilitate these people that many feel are beyond help. So put away those flashy weapons, because players looking to get the most out of this side gig should focus on these tips to take down Cyberpsychos without killing them.
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5 Gorilla Arms
A Powerful Melee Cyberware
Blunt melee is usually the better way to go when it comes to nonlethal attacks, and melee attacks don't hit much harder than a good pair of Gorilla Arms. Among all the upgrades for players' arms in Cyberpunk 2077, Gorilla Arms are the best at utilizing direct damage to deal with most foes up close. Provided players have some armor to deal with the aggressive Cyberpsychos, Gorilla Arms can be a great strategy for non-lethally taking down these foes.
Get in close, do huge chunks of damage, do a sneaky quicksave in case things go awry, then try to get those final blows in. It's worth mentioning, of course, that only players with a high investment in the Body attribute will get the most out of this upgrade, as that's the stat that Gorilla Arms scale with. Other attributes have similar upgrades, like wrist-mounted missile launchers, but missiles are famously poor choices for any kind of nonlethal approach in Cyberpunk or real life.
4 The Pax Attachment
A Great Way For Firearm Users To Go Nonlethal
The Pax Attachment is a generic weapon mod that has a straightforward purpose, making it perfect for a designated 'Cyberpsycho neutralizer' mod. It increases damage outside of combat (i.e. When attacking from stealth) and makes all damage nonlethal, at the cost of reduced damage in combat. The pros of this attachment are obvious. If someone's looking for nonlethal damage, this attachment turns nearly any weapon nonlethal.
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However, the damage reduction, which is present in all but the highest upgrade tier of this attachment, means that fights with Cyberpsychos just got that much harder. Putting this on a high-quality weapon might balance the reduced output to a degree, but using Pax always presents a risk, because those extra digits of combat damage can be the difference between life and death.
3 Nonlethal Takedowns
Hard To Pull Off, But Quick And Efficient
The option to nonlethally take down a foe is highlighted as an option way back in the tutorial mission. From that scene onwards, players can choose to 'spare' the lives of the people they take down, as opposed to killing them outright.
It's advised that players who want to go this route with Cyberpsychos invest heavily in stealth, as this isn't usually a viable option when going toe-to-toe with these foes. Between some camouflage cyberware and enough investment in the Cool stat, alongside some stealth perks, players should be able to pull off a reliably nonlethal way to end fights before they even start with these Cyberpsychos.
2 Focus On Body Shots
A Good Option For Those Who Use Melee
If players don't have one of the above nonlethal options on call, body shots with a blunt weapon or even firearms don't always end in a lethal takedown. As long as players avoid the head, there is a chance that the defeated foe won't end up dead.
Sticking to the legs and torso will increase the chances of nonlethality, but players should also make sure their weapon deals blunt melee damage, as bladed weapons will always have a greater chance of killing. Using powerful melee weapons, such as iconic gear or high-level stun batons, will also make a huge difference in the overall fight against Cyberpsychos.
1 Utilize Quickhacks
Quick Hacks Can Dampen Or Debilitate Cyberpsychos
Cyberpsychos are chock-full of chrome and software, so why not use that to V's advantage? There are quickhacks that can quickly kill a target (or multiple targets at once), but there are also plenty of quickhacks that do well for a nonlethal approach. Players can use these to get one up on these Cyberpsychos.
In addition to explicitly nonlethal quickhacks, hacks that debuff enemies, or deal large (but not deadly) amounts of damage can also be used to supplement some of the above tips. Players with even a marginal investment in quickhacks can debuff these powerful enemies. But to deal large amounts of nonlethal damage to these foes, a high Intelligence score will be needed.
Cyberpunk 2077
- Released
- December 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
