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Melee weapons aren’t just stylish. In the right hands, they’re some of the most deadly weapons in Cyberpunk 2077. Whether you’re bludgeoning gangsters with a club or slicing corrupt cops with a katana, melee combat is both fun and effective. Cyberpunk 2077’s 2.0 update gives players more options than ever when it comes to melee, from Mantis Blades to chainswords. Your enemies in Night City won’t go quietly, however, and without the right build behind your blade, you’ll be shot to pieces. Here’s everything you need to know about putting together the best melee build in Cyberpunk 2077 2.0.
Cyberpunk 2077 Melee Build Playstyle
There are several strong blunt weapon builds, but this melee build focuses on blades instead. It combines Reflexes with Body, keeping a healthy balance of speed and power while making the most of the sword’s bleed ability and other unique properties. This build favors speed and aggression. If you’re hesitant, your enemies’ ranged weapons will take you apart, so you need to close the distance fast. Dash and jump to close the gap on your foes, deflecting their bullets when you can. Once you’re on top of them, wound them, execute a finisher, and move on. Melee builds do a great job of preserving momentum in battle, so take advantage of that.
Attributes
Blade perks belong to the Reflexes Attribute, so that’s where you’ll spend most of your points. Not only will doing so buff your attacks, but it will also unlock unique maneuvers not otherwise possible. A successful melee build relies as much on its mobility as its DPS. Though you can create awesome melee tanks, the agile approach is often the more successful one, and that’s the approach this build takes. High Reflexes unlocks a variety of potent dash abilities, including the air dash, and you’ll want to incorporate them into your fighting style as much as possible. This is the recommended prioritization for Attributes:
- Reflexes
- Body
- Technical Ability
- Cool
- Intelligence
If you’d prefer to play more of a sneaky shinobi type, prioritizing Cool over Technical Ability is also fine. Body is mostly important for buffing your regenerative abilities. You’re likely to take a fair amount of gunfire as you close in on opponents, especially when you’re still learning to master this build. Technical Ability isn’t a necessity, but being able to install a larger amount of cyberware helps, especially when that cyberware increases your armor. Keep in mind that Mantis Blades and Gorilla Arms also work, so keep your options open. Cyberpunk 2077 is in the best shape it’s ever been in for melee builds. Lean into that.
Perks
For this build, you’re going to want to invest in Reflexes as heavily as possible as fast as possible. Level 20 Reflexes gives you a +10% Crit Chance and also unlocks the perks you’ll need to thrive. Blades have a perk branch to themselves, and that’s where your focus should mostly stay. The top blade perk, Slaughterhouse, is absolutely worth it, so get to the top of the tree as soon as you can. Once you have most or all of the Blades perks taken care of, you can start working your way through the central, mobility-oriented branch of Reflexes. Alternatively, you can jump back and forth between blades and mobility or even toss some Body perks in for variety. The most important Reflexes perks to grab are the following:
- Finisher: Bladerunner
- Lead and Steel
- Bullet Deflect
- Slaughterhouse
- Seeing Double
- Flash of Steel
- Slippery
- Dash
- Mad Dash
- Air Dash
Used together, these perks allow you to execute finishers on injured enemies, dash long distances and even through the air, and deflect bullets with your blade. You won’t even need a thermal katana to be the most feared swordmaster in Night City. What makes this melee build so dangerous is its explosive potential. One moment, you’re on the ground; the next, you’re leaping through the air, closing the distance on your enemy in the blink of an eye. Not even bullets will frighten you when you gain the ability to send enemy projectiles flying back at them. When you prioritize Reflexes above all other Attributes, the best melee build is as graceful as it is lethal.
Cyberware
This build doesn’t emphasize cyberware as much as others, but these upgrades still play an important role. Can you be dangerous without them? Absolutely. But to bring out this build’s true potential, you’re going to need to install some upgrades. Cyberpunk 2077‘s 2.0 update brought some big changes to cyberware, so even if you played melee builds before, you’ll want to get reacquainted. V now has a fixed limit on how much cyberware they can install, and you can only increase that limit by putting points into Technical Ability and its related perks. By the end of the game, you’ll probably have traded in most of your organs anyway.
Night City Ripperdocs have a ton of cool cyberware options, so shop around. You never know what might be for sale. Arguably the most important cyberware for the best melee build is Stabber. Yes, it’s called Stabber, and it’s good for stabbing. This Tier 4 cyberware will cost a hefty $19,296 Eurodollars, but it’s worth it. If you have Level 20 Reflexes, Stabber grants you +2% Crit Chance. Additionally, Stabber offers the following benefits:
- +14.5% Crit Chance with blades and throwable weapons
- +2.3% Melee Damage Resistance
- +2.9% Melee Damage
- +1.7% Health Item Recharge Speed
Used with the right blade, Stabber takes everything the best melee build already has going for it and turns it up a notch.
Melee Build Weapons
The 2.0 update brought important balance adjustments to most parts of Cyberpunk 2077, and the best melee build saw its share of changes. Mantis Blades, Gorilla Arms, clubs, machetes, and chainswords are only some of the available melee options. This build favors blades over blunt weapons, so you’ll want to make sure you grab something that will make good use of your perks. Cyberpunk‘s 2.0 update brings with it a variety of new weapons, so your offensive options are now more diverse than ever.
Arguably, the best blade is the katana. There are a lot of these around, so it won’t be hard to find improved versions as you go. You can even mod them to emphasize certain aspects of your build. They’re not the fastest melee weapon around but have high Damage, Armor Penetration, and Bleeding Chance. The katana’s unique properties make it useful against a variety of enemy types, and a good enough blade will serve you well throughout Cyberpunk and Phantom Liberty alike. If you stay on the move and keep your blade swinging, nothing will stand in your way.
