High Damage Gunslinger Build (Pistols and Revolvers)

World Cyberpunk 2077 is filled to the brim with sleek, compact and stylish handguns that are just as deadly as any other weapon in the game. They are easy to handle and offer average damage that will only get worse with the right combination of passive skills and gear mods.

Next up is a gunslinger style pistol that relies on high stats and the player's ability to chain kills and get headshots. It's great at all stages of the game and is more than capable of tapping almost any enemy Cyberpunk 2077even in the most difficult difficulties. Here's how to set it up.

Updated November 12, 2024 by Marc Santos: The patches following update 2.1 for Cyberpunk 2077 did not implement any new changes that would drastically affect the most important parts of this Cyberpunk Pistol build. However, one patch added a cyberware hard cap, which might surprise some players if they're just starting the game over. We've updated this guide to take this into account and also improved the skill build section to include perk descriptions.

Cyberpunk 2077 Pistolero Skill Build

Important benefits needed to make this build work were not affected by the 2.1 update.

Overall adjustment of the system of skills and perks in Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 the update has drastically changed the way guns are played. Instead of spending most of their perk and attribute points on Reflexes, players now have to invest in them Cool and Technical competence (and also a little more into Reflexes).

Long story short, players need to get a strong gun unlock all gun related skills in Cool skill tree, starting with Concentrate and ending with Nerves from Tungsten Steel, including most (if not all) of the subnodes attached to them. Here's what each of the main skills does:

• Concentrate: Increases headshot and weak spot damage; no stamina cost when firing for a short time after targeting
• Dead Eye: Greatly increases headshot and weak point damage when Stamina is above 85%
• Nerves from Tungsten Steel: All headshots and weak points are guaranteed to critical while Deadeye is active; increases damage the further away the target is

Run 'N' Gun there is only one optional main skill. No stamina cost for hip-firing means Deadeye will always be active, but players will lose all benefits. Concentrate and its subnodes provide

Speaking of subnodes, Head to head, deep breath, and Quick move are most important to this build for the following reasons:

• A deep breath makes headshots easier by slowing down time without the use of cyberware
• Head to head extends the duration of Focus and its unlimited Stamina effect if players keep neutralizing targets
• Quick move negates the need to reload as players can simply switch to another weapon
  • Players will never have to reload if they use Shuffler a mod that reloads a weapon's empty magazine percentage after trading for it

All new with that in mind Cyberpunk gun building gameplay style revolves around scoring and chaining kills while shooting. Any weapon mod that makes this easier (Zenith, Shuffler, Pinpoint) will help immensely.

For other skill trees, take the following:

Reflexes skills allow for more agile movement in combat while allowing use Kerenzikov while gliding or dashing. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Tech Ability skill is more or less mandatory for all builds, and this one is no different. Spend the remaining points on your preferred Reflexes, Cool or Body skills.

You should save technical ability skills for when you have enough resources to fully invest in cyberware. There's no rush here, so feel free to spend your points elsewhere unless you have a piece of chrome you really want to use.

Recommended weapons

Update 2.1 gave crafted weapons two mod slots instead of one. However, weapons crafted prior to this update are not affected, so you will need to craft new ones.

Since version 2.0 has removed almost all of the weapon mods that make the old pistol powerful, players will have to make do with what's available. Fortunately, the above pistol skills ensure that pistols and revolvers still have access to the improved critical hit damage and 100% chance to critically hit (if players headshot), which play core parts of the original playstyle.

The Prelude The revolver remains the most comprehensive option for this build due to its solid damage profile and ease of handling compared to other revolvers. The harder RT-46 Burya can also be a good choice if players can handle his hard bounce.

Legendary variants are recommended for their customization options, although some are iconic Cyberpunk 2077 weapons like amnesty archangels and Doom Doom The DR-5 Nova are all worthy alternatives.

Regular pistols follow the same rules as revolvers, although they are more suitable for stealth builds since revolvers can no longer use suppressors. Still, hard weapons like Nue and Tamayura can also be used in a loud set like this.

Due to the nature of killstreak oriented pistol skills, yes it's best to equip two or even three revolvers at once. Don't bother reloading, and if one runs out of ammo, swap it for another. Keep the streak alive and get the building benefits.

Recommended weapon mods

• Zenith: Increases critical chance and weapon swap speed. Reduces projectile spread.
• Randomly: Drawing a weapon automatically charges a certain percentage of its magazine. Increases weapon switching speed and reduces reload time.
• Better Half: Increases crit chance when it's on the bottom half of your magazine.

Cyberware

Patch 2.11 introduced a cyberware hard cap of 450. Make sure your equipped implants fit this new cap and de-level defensive ones first if necessary. Just make sure all slots are filled to get Cyborg's cooldown reduction.

Cyberware now plays a significantly bigger role in this build than before. Simple static shock implants are now gone and players need to improve their cyberware capacity Cyberpunk 2077 and equip a more advanced one to get the most out of this setup. Priority implants include:

• Militech “Apogee” Sandevistan (OS): Slows down time and greatly increases damage output
  • May not be available until level 40+; until then use Zetatech or Dynalar Sandevistans
• Tyrosine Injector (Nerve): Increases movement speed and projectile damage after being shot down
• Newton's module (frontal cortex): Reduces the cooldown of cyberware after it has been stopped
• Kerenzikov: Slows down time when dash aiming, dodging, or sliding
• Clutch filler (circulating): Reduces the cost of stamina when shooting
• Kiroshi “clairvoyant” optics (eyes): Cool-tempered; highlights enemies when scanning
• Damper (hands): Reduces recoil

Players should fill the remaining empty cyberware slots with their preferred implants to enable this Cyborg a skill that reduces the cooldowns of all cyberware by 15% if all slots are occupied. Use Sandevistan whenever it is available for faster kills and easier aiming.

If you need more critical chance or if you want to make room for other damage modifiers, trade Kiroshi Clairvoyant Optics for Kiroshi Cockatrice. This is only available in Dogtown.