The Tank build is designed to give you enough defensive stats to practically make you immortal in Cyberpunk 2077. You will be able to stand amidst explosions and still somehow make it out alive.
Following the 2.0 update, you now get excellent perks that are tailored to increase the proficiency (and damage) of both shotguns and light machine guns. This is important to know because our Tank build uses both of them to cover both close-quarters and medium-long-range combat.
You now get armor from your cyberware instead of your clothes, which makes it pretty easy to stack armor along with some damage mitigation to set up your titanium defenses.
If you prefer facing your enemies head-on without needing to hide in shadows, then let’s get you equipped with the best Tank build in Cyberpunk 2077.
Table of contents
Required attribute points
Body is one of the best-starting attributes in the game and increases your sustainability. It provides health, and regen abilities, and increases your damage, movement speed, and immunity. We recommend getting it to 20 first since it is a great stat for both early and late-game players.
Reflexes provide maneuverability that will help you perform actions mid-air. Since most of the Tank build focuses on armor, it’s good to have multiple sources of damage so you should invest it up to 20 as well.
Technical Ability is a late-game attribute and you can put your points elsewhere if you want. But once you enter the late game, just reset your Attributes to invest in it instead. It increases your proficiency with explosives and also increases Cyberware compatibility, which will make a world of a difference later in the game.
You can invest the remaining points anywhere you like but we recommend putting them where you can get your preferred weapon boosts. You can go for a more stealth approach with Cool or become a Netrunner and put your points in Intelligence instead. The Phantom Liberty DLC will also provide you with 10 additional Attribute Points so the 2.0 Tank build is pretty flexible.
| Attribute | Allocated Points |
|---|---|
| Body | 20 |
| Reflexes | 20 |
| Technical Ability | 20 |
| Cool | 3 |
| Intelligence | 3 |
Recommended perks and relics
Body, Reflexes, and Technical Ability form the holy trinity needed for Tank build in Cyberpunk 2077. Here are the best perks that you can invest in to become the most durable damage dealer in Night City.
Body
Best perks: Spontaneous Obliteration, Die! Die! Die!, Adrenaline Rush, Juggernaut, Calm Mind, Pain To Gain
First Tree
The perks are related to Shotguns and LMGs which increase their Damage, Fire Rate, and Armor Penetration and reduce their recoil and reload speed. It also significantly boosts Melee Weapon Damage with higher perks.
Middle Tree
The middle Tree increases the Health pool, its Regen Efficiency and Rate, and provides Damage Mitigation and Movement Speed.
Last Tree
This tree provides Blunt weapon enhancements so if you are pairing one with your 2.0 Tank build then you can grab the boosts for it here.
Reflexes
Best Perks: Tailwind, Dash, Muscle Memory, Mean Streak, Steady Grip, Can’t Touch This
First Tree
Like many other weapon-specific Perk trees, the first tree provides optimizers but for SMGs and Assault Rifles. Since we won’t be using them with our Tank build in Cyberpunk 2077, you can ignore them.
Middle Tree
The main tree you need to invest in to make sure you don’t slow down with all the armor. It will give you the ability to Dash, Air Dash, shoot, and reload your weapons while dashing, and have high Damage Mitigation Chance and Strength.
Last Tree
It is related to Blades, so if you want to bring one as a melee weapon, you can invest a few points here.
Technical Ability
Best Perks: Edgerunner, License To Chrome, Cyborg, Extended Warranty, Renaissance Punk, Driver Update
First Tree
This tree is related to health regen and explosions, you can invest here if you use explosives a lot.
Middle Tree
This is where you should start investing in first as it provides all the Cyberware upgrades you need. The Perks increase Cyberware Capacity, Effect Duration, Stat Modifiers, and Damage Mitigation while reducing Cooldowns and activation costs.
Last Tree
It is specific to Tech weapons, so unless you are bringing one, it’s best to ignore it.
Relic Perks
Best Relics: Vulnerability Analytics with Machine Learning
The Relic Skill Tree has exclusive perks that you unlock with the Phantom Liberty DLC that is found alongside other Attributes.
Vulnerability Analytics Relic exposes the weak spots of enemies’ armor and Cyberware, called Vulnerabilities. Hitting these spots will increase your Crit Chance and Armor Penetration and release a powerful EMP blast that covers a 3m radius.
Machine Learning is a Relic Skill that compliments your Vulnerability Analytics by increasing the rate and frequency of them appearing. It increases Crit Damage when Vulnerabilities are hit, which can stack up to 5 times and upon reaching max stats, the effect is doubled.
Recommended cyberware mods
The Cyberware mods provide you with armor and damage mitigation that will make you tank all incoming damage. Here are our best Cyberware picks to perfect your Tank build 2.0 in Cyberpunk 2077.
Frontal Cortex
Axolotl reduces Cyberware cooldown greatly.
Self-ICE will negate enemy Quickhacks automatically and increase your RAM
Mechatronic Core increases damage against machines and boosts your RAM.
Limbic System Enhancement and Newton Module can also be used alternatively to reduce Cyberware cooldown and boost Crit Chance.
Arms
You can skip Arms Cyberware for your Tank build in Cyberpunk 2077 but if you want to bring something then Gorilla Arms and Mantis Blades are good options.
Skeleton
Bionic Joints increase Armor by a flat number.
Epimorphic Skeleton increases max Health and Armor
Para Bellum increases Armor by a percentage
Rara Avis and Kinetic Frame are great alternatives if you don’t have any of the above available to you.
Nervous System
NeoFiber increases your Mitigation Chance and Strength.
Adreno-Trigger greatly enhances movement speed when you enter combat.
Integumentary System
Anything can be added to the Integumentary System for your Tank build in Cyberpunk 2077 as long as it provides Armor. This is what we recommend if you don’t know what to choose.
Carapace greatly increases Armor and greatly improves Armor’s effectiveness when attacked from behind.
Countershell boosts your Mitigation Chance by 50% when you are below 35% Health. It also increases Crit Chance, Health Regen, and Health Item effect.
Painducer turns a certain percentage of Damage taken into Damage Over Time. It also increases the Health Item Effect and resistance to Poison Damage.
Operating System
Militech “Apogee” Sandevistan is turned on and off on demand without any delay. It slows the time down by 85% and increases Headshot Damage Multiplier, Crit Chance, and Damage. When you take out an enemy while it’s active, it extends its duration while increasing your Stamina.
Face
Kiroshi “The Oracle” Optics scans and highlights enemies, cameras, turrets, traps, and explosive devices within a 30m range, even if they are behind cover.
Kiroshi “Cockatrice” Optics greatly boosts Crit Chance and increases Optical Zoom by 10x
Hands
Microgenerator makes the shot after reloading an empty weapon deal Electrical damage of a high amount
Shock Absorber reduces the recoil of your weapons.
Circulatory System
Blood Pump restores a large percentage of your Health and then heals you flatly for the next 6 seconds
Clutch Padding reduces Stamina Cost for shooting
Isometric Stabilizer reduces the Stamina Cost of all attacks.
Legs
Reinforced Tendons give you the ability to perform a second jump and also increase your Armor
Recommended weapons
The best weapons to use with your 2.0 Tank build are the shotguns and the most underrated guns in Cyberpunk 2077, the LMGs. With a more defensive build, it is best to focus on weapons with quick and high damage output.
For Phantom Liberty
Alabai is a Power Shotgun with a unique mechanic. It boosts its damage based on your movement speed and has high base damage with an 85% Headshot Damage Multiplier. It also applies Burn on enemies, hitting them while in this state increases its Crit Damage.
Guts is a Power Shotgun that packs a punch with its high-damage output, 75% Armor Penetration, and an 85% Headshot Damage Multiplier. It increases its Crit Chance and Attack speed at the cost of bullet spread.
Wet Dog is an improved Defender LMG that can also ricochet its bullets off surfaces. It also increases its Crit Chance and greatly increases Melee damage while reloading. It has great damage, fire rate, reload speed and the ability to Knockdown enemies.
For the base game
Sovereign is a double-barrel shotgun that can unleash both of its rounds with a single shot. It has a 250% Headshot Damage Multiplier with the ability to deal Electric Damage and apply Shock onto enemies.
Defender is a Power Light Machine Gun that can ricochet its bullets off surfaces. It deals decent damage with a high fire rate, quick reload speed, and great handling. It also has an 85% Headshot Damage Multiplier with 25% Armor Penetration.
The Headsman is a single-round shotgun that has extremely high accuracy and damage. With a 200% Headshot Damage Multiplier and 25% Armor Penetration, it can increase its own Crit Chance and Damage with each Headshot. It also boosts its accuracy, reload speed, ammo capacity, and Knockdown Chance with mods.
How to play the Tank build In Cyberpunk 2077
The Tank Build in Cyberpunk 2077 focuses on close-range combat without needing to take cover. Since the sources of damage are balanced with armor, here are a few tips to help you maximize your output.
Activate your Sandevistan before engaging in combat, take the time to aim for Headshots, and see enemies go down in seconds.
Use your Melee to deal high bursts of damage when you are reloading your weapons. The Rip and Tear Perk allows you to perform a strong melee attack if your magazine is empty, giving you no downtime on your damage.
The LMGs will help you take care of ranged enemies and being heavy weapons, they will make you slow. You can just stand in one place and take your shots since you can tank most of the damage.
Your Health Boosts, Armor and Regen abilities will keep you alive so play as aggressively as you can. Make use of your Dash to quickly close the distance and use your shotgun to take them out.
