Cyberpunk 2077 is filled with unique ways to engage in combat and craft your character, but few are as fascinating as quickhacking. If you enjoy actively hacking into the brains of your enemies during combat, you’ll want to know which Quickhacking Perks are best.
While Cyberpunk 2077 does have the benefit of not really having any worthless Perks, it can be daunting to know where to start. Perk Points often feel as if they’re in short supply, and that makes it critical to know where to invest them first.
It can also be tempting to ignore the Perks that connect to Skills you aren’t really using, but that can be a mistake. Some of the best Perks have value for all players, even if they aren’t using the Perk’s particular skill often.
What are Perks in Cyberpunk 2077
Among the many character customization options in Cyberpunk 2077 are Perks, which connect to one of the game’s 12 different Skills. Each of the five Attributes have two or three Skills underneath it.
These skills can vary, but most deal with the ways you’ll be handling combat and how you choose to play. You’ll be able to invest Perk Points to earn unique Perks which provide bonuses depending on the skill and the way you play.
While quickhacking can be used in many different ways, it usually comes down to finding a way to neutralize your enemies or parts of enemy security systems. Fortunately, there are several Perks which help with this.
How to unlock Quickhacking Perks in Cyberpunk 2077
As you play Cyberpunk 2077, your character will gradually level up by completing missions and engaging in combat throughout the vast region known as Night City. Each time you level up, you’ll earn an Attribute Point and a Perk Point.
Leveling up is the only way to acquire Attribute Points, which are used to increase the overall Attribute score of the game’s five core Attributes. While seperate from Perks, this is something you need to focus on as some of the best Perks require a specific Attribute score.
Fortunately, as there are so many Perks to utilize in Cyberpunk 2077, there is another way to earn Perk Points. As you utilize each of the game’s individual skills, you’ll increase your Skill Level, and rewards for certain Skill Levels will include a new Perk Point. The only way to increase your Quickhacking Skill is by quickhacking enemies.
It’s important to remember that those Perk Points from Skill Level progression can be used for any skill, regardless of which was increased to earn it. This means it’s very useful to dabble in different playstyles, like using blades or pistols if you tend to focus on shotguns.
Best Quickhacking Perks in Cyberpunk 2077
As the name suggests, each of the game’s Quickhacking Perks is going to directly influence your ability to quickhack or avoid being quickhacked while playing Cyberpunk 2077. Some focus on the duration and effectiveness of how you take out enemies, while others will help you execute quickhacks more frequently.
Here, we’ve broken down all of the game’s Quickhacking Perks into three categories. There are four S-Grade Quickhacking Perks, which are a must-have for every player.
After that, there are four A-Grade Quickhacking Perks that can be worth the investment in their corresponding Attribute, but might not be right if you’re not doing much quickhacking. Finally, there are 10 B-Grade Quickhacking Perks, which are only worthwhile if they directly fit your playstyle.
Biosynergy S-Grade Quickhacking Perk
If you’re going to use quickhacking even a little bit, Biosynergy is a must-have. This early Quickhacking Perk doesn’t have an Ability Requirement, meaning it’s accessible to all players regardless of their character’s Intelligence.
Depending on how many Perk Points you invest, Biosynergy will allow you to recover several RAM units during combat. You need RAM to execute any quickhacks, whether they’re damage-dealing or supplemental actions like distracting enemies or turning off security equipment.
The more you invest in this Perk the more quickly you’ll be able to recover RAM, and whether that’s worthwhile will depend on how often you’re quickhacking in combat. However, every player should drop at least one Perk Point as a handy quickhack might save you in a pinch.
I Spy S-Grade Quickhacking Perk
Even if you’re not doing any quickhacking at all in Cyberpunk 2077, you need to snag the I Spy Quickhacking Perk. If you’ve made it a decent ways into the game, you’ve likely started to face enemy netrunners.
If you have, then you’ve likely had to deal with Overheat popping up on your screen as they use quickhacks of their own against your character. I Spy is one of the key pieces in knowing how to stop Overheat and other enemy quickhacks.
Once you’ve unlocked it, you’ll be able to go into scanning mode and see exactly where those enemy netrunners are spotting you from to neutralize their quickhacks. Even if you’re just going to bludgeon them with a bat, you need to know where they are.
Daisy Chain S-Grade Quickhacking Perk
If you’re doing a decent amount of quickhacking in combat, you’ll often realize that the biggest hurdle after having enough RAM is dealing with a cooldown. Some of the game’s most powerful quickhacks have cooldowns nearly a minute long.
That can be particularly frustrating if you’re in the heat of battle and having to seek cover as a quickhack cooldown finishes up to make it usable again. Fortunately, Daisy Chain will help you out here by reducing those cooldowns if you take out an enemy affected by a quickhack.
A few well-placed shots on an enemy you’ve hit with Overheat could help make a powerful quickhack like System Reset available dozens of seconds sooner than normal. If you’re in the thick of it, those seconds can be truly life-saving.
Weak Link S-Grade Quickhacking Perk
While a lot of the quickhacking you’ll be doing in combat will be on enemies, you also have to contend with devices like security cameras and security turrets. There are even items like floodlights or construction equipment that can be used to distract enemies through quickhacking.
If you’re in a large area, turning off these devices or accessing them with quickhacks can rapidly eat into your available cyberdeck RAM. Fortunately, Weak Link is there to lower the burden of quickhacking devices.
With a reasonable Intelligence of 7, you can start dropping a few Perk Points into Weak Link to lessen the RAM required to quickhack devices. If you’ve maxed this out, you’ll be able to hack devices seemingly endlessly to manipulate the tech around you.
Diffusion A-Grade Quickhacking Perk
The one A-Grade Quickhacking Perk we’ve got to cover here is Diffusion, and it requires an Intelligence of 12 to unlock. With that Ability Requirement and the fact that its usefulness directly connects to how much quickhacking you’re doing, Diffusion just misses being S-Grade.
However, if you’re doing a decent amount of quickhacking before or during combat, it can be a true gamechanger. While not all of them can, many of the combat quickhacks used in Cyberpunk 2077 have the ability to spread to nearby enemies.
This spread happens without eating up any more of your available RAM, essentially saving you the time and cost while damaging yet another enemy. If you’re frequently using any quickhacks that have the ability to spread, Diffusion will literally double the spread distance, making it much more likely to take out multiple enemies with a single quickhack.
All Quickhacking Perks in Cyberpunk 2077
Here, we’ll cover and detail all of the Quickhacking Perks in Cyberpunk 2077. Many of them have multiple Tiers, which means you can spend extra Perk Points to increase the effectiveness for the Perk, such as going from a 10% bonus to a 20% bonus.
As detailed above, they are given a rank of S-Grade (must-have for all players), A-Grade (worth the investment), or B-Grade (only if it fits your playstyle). The final column indicates the overall Attribute score required to access the corresponding Quickhacking Perk.
| Perk Name | Grade | Description | Tiers | Attribute |
| Bloodware | B | Quickhacks deal 10%/20%/30% more damage | 3 | None |
| Biosynergy | S | Enables RAM recovery during combat at a rate of 4/8/12 units per minute | 3 | None |
| Forget-me-not | A | Eliminating a target affected by a quickhack instantly recovers one RAM unit | 1 | 5 Intelligence |
| I Spy | S | Reveals an enemy netrunner when they’re attempting to hack you | 1 | 5 Intelligence |
| Hackers Manual | B | Unlocks crafting specs for Uncommon quickhacks | 1 | 5 Intelligence |
| Daisy Chain | S | Eliminating a target affected by a quickhack reduces the cooldown for all other active quickhacks by 10%/35%/50% | 3 | 7 Intelligence |
| Weak Link | S | Reduces the required cyberdeck RAM for quickhacks used on devices by 1/2/3 unit(s) | 3 | 7 Intelligence |
| Signal Support | B | Increases quickhack duration by 25%/50% | 2 | 9 Intelligence |
| Subliminal Message | A | Quickhacks deal 50%/100% more damage to unaware targets | 2 | 11 Intelligence |
| Mnemonic | B | Reduces the cost of quickhacks used against an enemy already affected by a quickhack by two RAM units | 1 | 12 Intelligence |
| Diffusion | A | Quickhack spread distance is doubled | 1 | 12 Intelligence |
| School of Hard Hacks | B | Unlocks crafting specs for Rare quickhacks | 1 | 12 Intelligence |
| Plague | A | Quickhacks that spread can jump to 1/2/3 additional target(s) | 3 | 14 Intelligence |
| Hacker Overlord | B | Unlocks crafting specs for Epic quickhacks | 1 | 16 Intelligence |
| Critical Error | B | Quickhacks can now deal Crit Hits based on your Crit Chance and Crit Damage stats | 1 | 16 Intelligence |
| Anamnesis | B | Available cyberdeck RAM cannot drop below 2/3/4 units | 3 | 18 Intelligence |
| Optimization | B | Reduces the cost of quickhacks by one RAM unit | 1 | 20 Intelligence |
| Bartmoss’ Legacy | B | Unlocks crafting specs for Legendary quickhacks | 1 | 20 Intelligence |
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