Best Monowire Build In Cyberpunk 2077 (2.0)

Hammers and Gorilla Arms are clumsy, and katanas are relics from the past. Only one melee weapon in Cyberpunk feels authentically futuristic: the Monowire. This unique monofilament wire acts as a whip, allowing you to stay out of slugging distance with your enemies while getting in melee blows of your own. Using a Monowire well takes a bit more strategy than using other melee weapons, especially after CD Projekt Red delivered the 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty. With the right cyberware and quickhacks, however, the Monowire can be as potent a weapon as any in Night City. Here’s what you need to know to put together the best Monowire build in Cyberpunk 2077.

Best Monowire Build Playstyle

The Monowire isn’t like other melee weapons, demanding a playstyle all its own, especially in light of the 2.0 update. In addition to dealing standard damage, it can also upload quickhacks directly into enemies it strikes. Taking advantage of this feature is essential if you want to get the most value from this weapon. Give equal attention to your quickhacks and your melee Perks, because you’ll need both. Whereas the Gorilla Arms, Mantis Blades, and other melee weapons are powerful enough on their own to win the day, the Monowire depends on its synergy with quickhacks. The better a netrunner you are, the easier using this weapon will be. Spread your quickhacks to as many enemies as possible while using your Monowire to finish off vulnerable foes.

Attributes

There are a few ways to put together this build, so you have more flexibility in your choice of Attributes than your normally would. That said, this particular build favors Technical Ability and Intelligence over all other attributes. Much of your strategy will depend upon thoughtful use of cyberware and quickhacks, as that’s the only way to approach the raw DPS of Mantis Blades and other aggressive cyberware options. Each point of Technical Ability grants +2 Armor, for a total of +40 Armor at Level 20. That extra Armor is essential, given that you’ll spend most of your time face-to-face with enemies. This is the recommended prioritization for Attributes:

• Technical Ability
• Intelligence
• Reflexes
• Body
• Cool

Cool is arguably the least important Attribute for this build. Even though the best hacking Perks pair naturally with stealth in Cyberpunk, using a Monowire build means you’ll be delivering many of your hacks in the midst of combat. That makes sneak-oriented Perks far less useful than they would normally be for a netrunner build. Body and Reflexes are primarily useful for helping you tank or avoid attacks, but neither of them is absolutely essential here. Pick one of the two and level it after you’ve maxed out your key Attributes. Intelligence is a close second to Technical Ability in terms of importance, granting numerous benefits to your hacking.

Perks

Technical Ability is important for far more than just increasing your Armor. Technical Ability Perks allow you to install more cyberware and buff the cyberware you already have installed. The 2.0 update didn’t just change the Monowire; it changed how cyberware functions. Tying Armor to cyberware instead of clothing was only one significant change. V has limits on how much cyberware they can install, but by taking specific Perks in Technical Ability, you can supercede that limit. Doing so will be a key part of your strategy, as you should be filling up your many cyberware slots as fast as possible to complement your Monowire. Once you have everything necessary from Technical Ability, start grabbing hacking Perks from Intelligence. The most important Technical Ability Perks to take are the following:

• Edgerunner
• All Things Cyber
• License to Chrome
• Extended Warranty
• Cyborg
• Chipware Connosseiur
• Ambidextrous
• Driver Update
• Chrome Constitution
• Renaissance Punk

Together, these Perks unlock new cyberware slots, buff your existing cyberware, and increase your overall cyberware capacity. Having more and higher-tier cybernetics is one of the best things you can have in Cyberpunk, and this Monowire build does that better than any other. Keep in mind that, unlike other builds, your strategy depends on more than just having the best weapon you can get your hands on. The most impactful Perk in this build is Edgerunner, which allows you to decrease your Max Health in exchange for higher cyberware capacity and occasional combat buffs. Be aware that you’ll be considerably more fragile with maxed-out Edgerunner, so you’ll need to make the most of your Monowire’s reach advantage and quickhacks to keep you alive.

Cyberware

You’ll need a good ripperdoc to make use of your increased capacity for cyberware. Thankfully, there are plenty of those in Night City. Ever since Cyberpunk‘s 2.0 update, the list of cyberware that works well with a Monowire is long. It pays to experiment with a variety of different loadouts, especially since you can respec your Perks at will. It’s also easier to make money now than ever in Night City, which makes the cost of trying out new cyberware much easier to bear. There are several Operating Systems that directly buff Monowire damage, so they should be one of the first pieces of cyberware you pursue once they become available.

The Biotech MK.4 is arguably the best Monowire-boosting Operating System. It sports a long list of eligible quickhacks, which is of vital importance since uploading quickhacks through melee attacks is one of the Monowire’s greatest strengths. This OS grants +25% Monowire damage to enemies affected by a damage-over-time effect. That’s a significant buff to DPS considering how easily you can create DoT conditions. In addition to these features, the Biotech MK.4 offers the following benefits:

• +15% Duration of Combat quickhacks
• +10% damage-over-time with quickhacks
• Activating Overclock resets the Duration of quickhack DoT effects

Use hacks to inflict DoT upon your enemies, then take advantage of the free +25% damage buff to your Monowire.

Best Monowire Build Weapons

Before the 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty, the Monowire was a bit of a letdown. Overall balance adjustments have helped solve that problem, but they aren’t the only thing that should influence your choice of weapon. There are several Monowire variants, each of which deals a specific damage type in place of the standard Monowire’s regular damage. More importantly, you can add a quickhack directly to the Monowire’s dedicated slot, allowing you to imbue enemies with quickhacks simply by striking them.

Though it will take some time to get your hands on it, there’s nothing better than a Tier 5 Monowire. The bonus Stealth Damage it affords isn’t much use unless you’re putting points into Cool, but the bonus Quickhack Damage is much more impactful. Best of all is the RAM Regen effect gained from neutralizing an enemy. With the right balance of Perks and cyberware, this weapon will restore your RAM as fast as you deplete it, allowing you to carve a swath through your enemies and hack them as you go. It’s no wonder there’s no beating the best Monowire build in Cyberpunk when it comes to melee/hacking hybrids.