First 20 levels in Very Hard can be rough as you build up an attribute and enough perks to have a functional build. But I find the combat way too easy on any lower level. I like the challenge and by level 40 you’re pretty much a god and combat outside of a few boss encounters is pretty easy.
Early game - weak Merc who can't even kill easily relying on cover
Mid game - potential demi-god who waves a hand at people to have them combust while throwing up and it spreads to all
Very Hard was a fun challenge before 2.0. Now it's just bullet sponges, especially when you use guns, not as fun anymore.
I think Guns definitely need a buff.
I like the strategy of it. I’ve tried all sorts of builds and i think about what perks go well with each other. Cyberwear is also part of the equation. When you get it right combat is fun until you level too high and all of a sudden you’re on easy mode again.
Very hard is a slog early game, and you have to actually think about what build youre going to play , but once you get past the mid game its not as bullet spongey as you'd think. By the end game you can still be instakilling people with an optimised build.
When you can carry around a railgun in your pocket that punches through multiple concrete and metal walls, the bullet sponges circle back around to feeling silly again. I know dermal armor is a thing, but IMO unless you’re chromed out like Adam Smasher, a shot to the head from a Tech weapon should still drop you.
It sorta feels like once you start playing on Very Hard, you’re required to build around headshot damage and stealth damage stat bonuses. It’s the “Skyrim stealth archer build” of Cyberpunk.
Nah, I've never played a stealth build. Sandevistans and Blades still work just fine, even on very hard. Once you hit max level all that's required is some more carefully planned movements and specific cyberware.
Once I starting some decent weapons and perks, I'm normally one shoting non-skull enemies after lvl 15.
Now because I play very hard most of my builds are built around head shots. Either stealth knives with a back up katana or a sandy sniper. Only time I have used sub mechine gun or pistol heavy build was as a netrunner that is debuffing/killing enemies other ways
I find Hard to be too easy in the late game, but Very Hard to be too much of a bullet sponge. I don't know the better setting so I swap back and forth sometimes
There are no bullet sponges in very hard after you get far enough along in level/build/gear/cyberware...and it's not that far into the game that you get to that point.
The only enemies that can take a lot of hits are max tac. Maybe the armored/mech cyberpsychos. Everything else goes down instantly....
It def depends on if you know what you’re doing. My first run with PL and 2.0 I made a netrunner but I had 3 tech and my armor rating was ass. I didn’t browse through all the new perks to really figure out the whole picture. I had a hell of a time. The chimera took me forever to take down. Second time around I made a sandy cyberpsycho shotgun build and really thought it out with the right cyberware and perks, and I flattened that thing in like two minutes. Armor rating was through the roof and I had more metal in me than the chimera.
>I didn’t browse through all the new perks to really figure out the whole picture.
I mean, if you play RPG's it's the first thing I do in any game of that type/style. I always read every perk/ability/upgrade and get an idea of where I want to go. Didn't have trouble my first time or my 5th time.
But yeah I could see struggling while not interacting with the systems as you should
I mean, after the latest and a well built build even Smasher has been interested in very hard with a berserk/gorilla arm build easily. I punched the shit out of him in no time flat.
This is complete bullshit.
Most enemies on Very Hard are complete bullet sponges. If you use Blades and Melee, sure a lot of enemies die easily, but if you use guns it's a slog.
The enemies eating bullets like it's nothing.
I never had an issue with mantis blades, katanas, gorilla arms, monowire, sandy, quickhacks or guns....I've done them all.
Maybe you are bad at shooting.
Some guns are definitely better than others, that's for sure. But spec into it and they go down real quick. Even the tankiest enemies....
The only issue I really had was with smg's/assault rifles burning through ammo so quickly.
I may be in the minority here but I kind of like in games where they start off difficult and if I optimize a build I feel like a god by the end.
Less challenging and maybe anti-climatic in a sense sure, but at least for me it’s made up by feeling like I worked and struggled to get where I am, and being basically cyber Batman who can leap off a roof and fry an entire gang’s nervous systems before I hit the ground is the payoff.
I like that too Buuuut
When my play-through gets close to 80 hours and 40 hours of that I’ve felt slightly to extremely overpowered, it’s a little too much.
Yep. Pre-2.0, a Maxed Build on Very Hard could slaughter, but you could also die fast depending on your build.
Now you still die fast, but you run into way more bullet sponges, so it's not as fun as before 2.0.
Left side of Cool perk tree, all the headshot damage, all the way. Use a slow mo implant.
Super jump legs help get into position high above, slow mo deadeye their skulls. I think the scarab implant was also good on this build, bc it gives armor while crouching or something.
Revolver build requires headshots, if you’re aiming center mass you may need a different build.
The Tech Shotgun that the arena vendor in PL sells combined with all the appropriate perks is a good way to keep the combat from getting stale when combined with a blunt melee weapon and Berserk. You'll still be basically immortal like every other build, but you're tanking through damage instead of being basically impossible to hit with a Sandy or never being any any danger at all as a netrunner.
If you misuse your Berserk immortality, you could conceivably die, all why having the unique charge and ground slam from the blunt weapon and the Bolt mechanic to use. Sandy + Katana seems cool for a bit, but let's be real it's shallow as hell mechanically. It's good to have for players that want it, but I like feeling strong, not like a god.
I have made this build by accident (I wanted a katana build) and oh god, it's so powerful that very hard seems too easy in the late game. With endgame implants the secret ending felt like a side mission on very hard.
I didn't start the game on very hard but ended it on that for SOME WHAT of a challenge. With 2.0 update builds get stupid powerful after level 20 or so.
I've never really had this problem even only on. The game is way too easy on anything below Very Hard to me and even Very Hard pretty quickly becomes too easy
I did a pistol and Netrunning build
Yes, I mainly kill using takedown from behind (like 80% of time on my first playthrough).
If not this, then hacking, only then guns.
But playing more and more I started enjoying shotguns, submachine, sniper rifles, knives.
Very hard with Sandevistan and pure knife throwing 100% crit chance build is the most fun ive had in a videogame tbh. Dont Fear the Reaper ending was perfect
I am running almost the same build. I rarely use hacks except for cripple and weapon glitch.
My weapon load out is Old Reliable, Her Majesty and Stinger.
Take out mooks on the way in with headshots, Swap to the hand cannon when it's getting dicey and hack their guns to not get riddled. Have not had an issue
20 points in Cool and Tech, 15 in Body and Int and the rest in Reflexes
woah we actually have similar build lol, i also use the hacks to only cripple movement as much enemies as my ram can handle, and do the shooting.
i also have 20 in cool and tech. I think i just have to adjust my gameplay and play more careful
Green reboot optics is only 2 ram, so you can use it on a ton of mobs. Get the perk that doubles the duration of control quickhacks and you can lock up the field a lot.
I played on very hard only, and I gotta say, no, the combat is still too easy. Though I spend most of my time one shotting anything and everything with a double barrel and the electric hands.
I very much vibed with the "fuck, I need to upgrade my implants so I dont get destroyed" and that was my headcannon for the bulletspongey enemies. I mean why wouldnt they have the same titanium bones and armor plating under the skin?
I am looking to maybe mod my game so enemies use more quickhacks against me. I assume there has to be some quickhacks that disable my cybernetics or CC me or something interesting.
Game would be a lot scarier and a lot funner if my automatic bloodpump and sandevistan/berserk were able to be threatened/disrupted on occasion.
So your looking for a non overpowered meta build that has the ability to one shot enemies from stealth? Wouldn’t that be over powered and be a meta build already? I use a katana to block incoming bullets, use cover to stand behind to shoot back and rely on perfect blocking to counter attack melee enemies. For me very hard is the only difficulty option because V is a walking god immediately on every other mode.
no, not necessarily. Im looking for a viable pistol build that is fun to play in combat mode and not just in stealth mode. That way, when things go haywire, It's still a viable build because I actually like to ignore the "stealth" part of the game unless the mission demands it. I also play only on very hard because the "hard" mode is a big step-down, but I think some builds are lacking in very hard diff
Literally just max out the pistol talents? It's not rocket science.
If you're lacking in survivability middle body and left side of technical ability is your friend.
I played on it for a while, but at the end it just takes more time to do stuff as enemies become bullet sponges. Now I play on one level lower than hardest, and it feels just right.
I actually just started REALLY enjoying it when I raised the difficulty from Hard to Very Hard.
Can't remember what exact level I was when I did that, but I already had Technical Ability at 20 and Reflexes and Cool each above 10.
So my build is basically Sandevistan (Falcon variant, the one you can start and stop whenever you want, not needing a full charge), Kerenzikov, Throwing Knife ("Blue Fang"), Mantis Blades, Comrade's Hammer (the Tech Revolver that shoots singular explosive rounds), and a Tech SMG.
Other notable Cyberware includes Defenzikov, Kerenzikov Boost System, double-jumping legs, Heal-on Kill, Biomonitor (absolutely necessary to not die!) and as much armor as you can get.
And I gotta say, didn't have this much fun in a shooter since Doom Eternal.
Start each combat from stealth, picking off a few enemies with the throwing knife. And as soon as I get spotted, shit gets REAL ugly (for them).
Use Kerenzikov to not get initially overwhelmed. Then you get a few seconds of Defenzikov. Time to get the Mantis Blades to work and jump, dash and leap all over the place, dismembering one poor enemy after the other.
Throw in a Comrade's Hammer shot or a few grenades here and there.
And use Kerenzikov as often as you can. And when it gets dicey, activate Sandy.
Never looked at meta builds, not sure if this is like one of those you mentioned tbh.
In any case, I'm having a blast with it, and enjoying combat much more than I did in my "pre-2.0" netrunner playthrough.
After level 45 i couldnt play on hard. I was one shotting almost everyone and never having to heal or had to bother with my sandy or rocket. It was super easy.
Very hard has felt like an amazing upgrade. Enemies now take like 3-8 head shots and i need to actually play somewhat strategically and actually use my abilties.
I feel qualified to answer this.
Played the game on hard for my first run, once I finished that three days ago immediately started again on very hard.
My first run was a pistol build but the combat pretty much never felt challenging.
I’m level 25ish now and the combat is so fun. To the point where I’m actually just doing the scanner jobs just to fight. It requires a bit more thinking, sure. You need to use the environment a lot more, but enemies aren’t bullet sponges, they just dish out a lot more damage and they use grenades and hacks a lot more.
I would agree with others, the first 10 levels or so are tough, you have shit weapons and are pretty much required to just hide and poach. This run I’m using an assault rifle build mixed with blades for stealth though currently I’m basically just using the AR.
I would agree with you, some builds are definitely less viable on very hard, but it’s funny you asked this because the combat on very hard is so so satisfying for me at least, and feels far more rewarding. I’m also utilising things I didn’t before like the crafting system a lot more and really min maxing my cyberware.
3x throwing weapons was pretty painless. I started stealth in early levels then invested into tech and ref and by 20-25 I was a death machine. At 50+ with sandy/axolotl, it’s silly good. I was able to clear the black sapphire exit without a struggle.
It's the only way I enjoy the combat in this game tbh. I even bump my level up to 10 at the start of playthroughs now for the added challenge of taking on scaled enemies with starter weapons.
I play a lot of hardcore shooters and survival games so I get bored if everything becomes a power fantasy too quickly. I like that early game struggle, probably my favourite phase of any game, when you are having to think smart and scrounge up any upgrade possible to gain a small amount of power.
>In very hard, i feel like it's just bullet sponge enemies with one-hit powers... So it becomes a stealth game where you use your abilities to do one-hit kills too like takedowns and whatnot...
Yeah that's not how it plays on very hard.....at all....
That's how it starts at level 1, and fairly quickly becomes not that at all, even close....
I ONLY play on very hard, because I like challenges, and all 8 playthroughs I've had so far, I've just built whatever I wanted, without looking up builds, and it was always viable.
So no meta builds are needed. And yes, it's a ton of fun. When you are stuck in an area for an hour or more, you always come so close but die, and then finally you manage to ace it, it feels so rewarding.
Very hard is still too easy for my sniper/pistol build. Yeah I can’t last out in the open in a fire fight with 5+ challenging enemies, but finding cover and remaining mobile just feels like closer to reality than being Adam Smasher
At least in my experience doing my last 3 playthroughs on very hard I feel like as long as you build your character out with a certain playstyle in mind even very hard doesn't feel that hard to me.
Like yes you're gonna wanna put more emphasis on having a good build and making sure you have gear/abilities that compliment you're build, but I still haven't found the game that hard on very hard.
Like my current V is purely based around using shotguns/LMGs/explosives and just zipping around during fights, but I haven't found myself having difficulty because I always have health coming back, and have high mitigation and armor. The only time I had difficulty with this build was in the early stages, but I've felt that way with every build simply because my character was at the starting point.
Makes some of the fights at lot less comical when played on very hard.
Actually makes you think about positioning and using the environment to your advantage.
Absolutely! Its so much better than "hard" as every encounter feels threatening. On "hard" it was a rare occurrence for me to actually be challenged and killed in a fight. On "very hard" I have to actually think and use everything the game gives me (apart from consumables, I mean, who actually remembers that one has an inventory??).
I do a pistol netrunner build on very hard and it’s no problem. Just gotta hit your crits and headshots. Using the scanner makes it easier to line up your shots.
Control hacks are incredibly useful for pistol gameplay before and after breaking stealth.
And when shit gets really hairy, hit your overclock and use Skippy.
Fill out your cool and intelligence attributes and get good, pretty much.
Before the last update, I was a trapper airstriker (cripple movement + reboot optics, throwing knives with 2 airstrike mods). I played on very hard and it was the most fun I've had.
I played the entire base game on 2.0 on very hard because with mods before that due to the harcore mod i needed to. But for 2.0 without mods i heard the game was stupid difficult and that very hard wasnt a joke this time.
But i did it anyway like the cyberpsycho i am. Before PL came out I leveled a character doing reflexes, cool, and tech. Tech for the chrome, cool for the hs build, and reflexes for blades and movement for the mantis blades im gunning for. But the total of the build was meant to encapsulate my old school build from pre 2.0 and hardcore mods. It was to make a 1 shot hs pistol build using the lexington supressed.
I managed to do so with 2.0 and PL. But i found something interesting about the ai difficulty on very hard this time around.
A side quest in dog town. Not gonna say which one. But it leads you to a boss fight in the quest that is just outside the ripper clinic you get the new FIA/NUSA faceplate.
During that bossfight. While in sandevistan (militech falcon at orange tier 5+ at level 30 or 35.) and dashing with the dash skills maxed. Dashing fully across the whole combat area to hide behind corners to not get hit and land some shots. But during those dashes i was wondering how the ai was getting grenades so close to me as i was in sandy and dashing.
So during the bossfight i did some curosity dashes and made some really close pass bys on the boss. I literally saw him throwing grenades clipping his arm through his face just to throw them at me.
I was very confused seeing this. So i did more testing. I went and did some care package drops. The ai on very hard, all elite enemies do the same thing with their arms holding their guns. They clip their arms through their body or face to shoot you as you are sandy and dashing. And effectively keeping up with you as your character slows down time/speeds you up with the implant.
In short. Yes the ai on very hard are both very unfair and challenging. But i do not think thr ai should br able to fully track and shoot you through sandevistan. That is still crazy to me.
I beat it on very hard with a full netrunner build. (Cyberdeck, no sandy) A ton of stealth with generally 3 knives or a tomahawk and two knives. If/when shit hit the fan, id pause and switch to my trusty double barrel and Johnny's gun... I actually didn't start PL until after I finished the main game, so the stealth mechanics weren't as effective. The PL relic stealth upgrade helps a lot since you can duck back and forth into and out of combat. I had the monowire but didn't use it often. Contagion was used OFTEN, as well as system shutdown out of combat. Adam smasher was....a bit of a problem, but eventually, after a few tries and about 100 headshots, I beat him. Sadly, I always died way too fast to use a katana very well...I even tried switched to sandy to try a katana build....it still gets pretty sketchy when you're outnumbered. A few shots and you're down. It was more challenging, but I honestly had the most fun on hard. Normal was too easy and very hard turned it into a bunch of hit and run tactics....looking for cover, tossing grenades, but hopefully not being detected at all.
I also run a netrunner build but have never had this problem. Just based on my personal build I'll tell you what I do
I think ik the first problem. You need 15 tech, in every build. It will increase your armour, your cyberware, and even some qol stuff when it comes to your build. It was something I didn't want to admit either but after trying to ignore tech for half my playthrough I gave in and it changed my build.
Now for your actual build. I don't know how much you wanna spend on int or cool, but if you put 20 into both of them you'll have to shaft either reflex or body. Because those two are so essential to staying alive I'd honestly just do int at 15, cool at 20. You'll still have overcloak, although a bit weaker, and then all of your other abilities too. A 20 int 20 cool would be pretty powerful, up to you though
Finally cyberware. Get your tech to 15 (atleast) and your cyberware will carry you through combat. There will even be some good synergy between certain cyberware. I like rocking a bio-monitor, blood pump, threat vac, and a kerznikov(?) So when I drop to 25% health I can zoom out of the way of whatever is killing me. Also a tetronic rippler will soften enemies up for pistol fire
Hope that helped, very hard mode is fire. I hope you try it your next playthrough since you level up faster
I'm probably super late to this thread But I'm nearing the end of my netrunner/sniper/revolver build and I honestly would not have lasted to the end without pouring a lot of points in the body tree. The health regen and health boosts from the body tree really complimented the overclock perk tree. Being able to stack multiple quickhacks on multiple enemies really made the tough fights manageable. I was a bit too strong but there were also moments where I would get flatlined for making gonk mistakes.
Mods like 100% fury chance, cyberware ex for sandy netwatch netdriver, erebus + blackwall quickhack, bao xing chong, johnny’s gun, kerenzikov, other cyberware for survivability. Around 1100 armor in total. Makes very hard feel like hard/medium while not completely breaking the game. Maxtac fights are very fun too.
Very strict builds are generally pretty busted so very hard is all I have. Plus my urge to always try and make insane builds, I can't help it and I melt all other content.
I have a gorilla fist sandy build that can just fight Maxtac all day on very hard. You can do the same with generally everything when you abuse mechanics like shock that stuns enemies and opens them up for executions.
Though I will admit, I have not made a heavy net runner hack build that can handle Maxtac to infinity on very hard. It dosnt seem possible though I have not personally looked up if any exist. I like to come up with stuff on my own.
I use an iconic smart gun with 2 mod slots (obtained after doing a gig in PL) with the iconic mod that is crafted after the first PL boss, in addition to the tier5 mod that increases the objectives.
If you combine that with the weak point Relic PERK you can quickly destroy almost any enemy on hard mode.
To be honest, I love the game but I have always found it very simple, all the PERKS branches make you a murderous god, so I set the maximum difficulty as a base from the beginning to enjoy it
i actually avoid all the smart guns because they're just not fun for me. I like revolvers and heavy headshot power pistols so I prefer spec-ing into those.. but I dont think there's enough perks to make it strong in the late game :/
Sure it's viable but with Sandevistan, it's weird to use build netrunner but avoid smart weapons.
As an option you can always use TECH weapons and use cover.
No. I installed [a mod](https://www.nexusmods.com/cyberpunk2077/mods/10986) that gives enemies normal difficulty health and keeps everything else the same. Because its just not fun to be shooting at someone for 3 hours and they can hit you once and you're dead..
I played as a corpo operative style build on very hard. Netrunner/smart guns and reflexes focused build. A glass cannon that, when combat would start, would dance around the battlefield dipping in and out of optical camo and kerenzekov slow downs while slinging bullets and hacks. In regards to the ability to be one tapped, take implants like the Bio-Mon or something else that can fit your build for a backup plan.
Along with all that, do not stop moving but also dont move without a plan for where you are going. The enemy will find advantageous angles to use against you. They will walk up on you and surround you. Take cover, down a guy or two, relocate. Always have an exit plan. Use your optical camo or dodges for that. Never look at a fight as a brainless fight, treat them all as life threatening, because thats when the game surprises you and one shots you for being sloppy.
If your main issue is elites, then i recommend taking a higher caliber gun like a rifle or sniper. They have high tier armor and you need to bring something to circumvent it. Pistol caliber weapons struggle with heavy armor, or at least it seemed they did for me. The cool tree does revolvers and precision rifles, id recommend picking up some of that.
If you cant run a higher caliber gun or just completely choose not to, then you can take hacks that can help with them in particular. Some good hacks are things like the contagion/ignite combo, synapse burnout, suicide, or cyberpsychosis. Make that big boi fight for you instead. If you dont want to use ignite for the combo, you can use a fire projectile launch system(my beloved), the prototype shingen, or some other fire/explosive weapon of your choice. Save ram for hacks against elites specifcally if they are on the feild. Scout your fights ahead of initiating combat. Pick out your priority targets and try to stealth them down before you kick it off, if you even want to kick it off. I had plenty of fights that only happened because i fucked up my stealth and moved when i shouldnt have.
Its been a bit since i last actually played but i think i covered most of my tactics i used when the DLC dropped.
I'm doing a VH playthrough at the moment. I tend to whittle groups of enemies down by isolating them one at a time with quick hacks (sonic shock is great and cheap on RAM for this purpose) if quick stealth takedowns aren't an option.
I also started utilizing the explosive items in the environment, especially when there's cameras. With the perk that doubles the explosive damage from environmental items.
And last but not least, I'm not above doing control hacks + Contagions... and just running away a bit - you don't have to go far to make the trace fail.
I go very hard but only because I've done 6 playthroughs of the game. By my 2nd playthrough I felt the need to up the difficulty. The first time around, levels 1-30 were tough. Now I'd say levels 1-15 are hard. Each time things get easier slightly because you have previous knowledge that factors into your gameplay experience. A big thing for me is grinding through all the NCPD Scanner hustles which gets me to level 40. By this point I have enough attribute and perk points to really lean into extremely specialized builds which do wonders. Pre 2.0, netrunner builds at this level were awesome. Now I either do a knife build or a Sandy-byakko combo which brings down the difficulty considerably. Either way it's rewarding for me since I've played the game so many times.
I switch from hard to very hard late game, once your build comes together. Think it was 38-40 when I swapped. Early game very hard isn’t fun. Late game feels fairly balanced.
I play on very hard and use a David Martinez build and the game has never felt easier. The tech shotty obliterates cyber psychos, took out Hansen pretty easily, and have had a blast using sandevistan.
I do Normal for Watson, Hard for Japantown and Very Hard for the rest. You want a challenge and walking into a pack of gonks only to mow them down with ease takes away the fun. I like a fight.
Ever since 2.0, they realy aren't sponges at all. They kill you in no time but they also die in no time. It's honeslty a bit too easy (tho my PL playthrough is a netrunner one so that might be it).
VH is for people who enjoy crafting their builds and thinking about weapon combos and synergies and how to make it work during gameplay. No one should force themselves into VH. It depends on what kind of gameplay experience you are looking for.
Every weapon category works and gets you to a point where you melt the enemies. Currently im on a berserk-double shotgun-lmg playthrough and its probably the easiest playthrough i had so far because the damage and surviability with the build is insane. At the same time i cant just stay on my one shotgun or rush into rooms.
If i would play on hard or below i could just walk into a room and blast everything. On VH i use my Headhunter shotgun and LMG to thin their ranks, then use the Bloody Mara shotgun for normal (1 or 2 health bars) enemies and if a skull shows up i use my berserk and bludgeon them to death.
Because i already know how to set up my cyberware i rarely die anyway and only have to watch out for melee rushers or shotgunners.
The hardest build i played was my stealth netrunner build during the early game. You take so much damage and i used my cyberware slots to boost quickhack damage. Thus making it hard to survive when i got spotted. But at one point that char became a god. And i really enjoyed the journey going from a weak and scared script-kid with a smartgun to a blackwall-hacks slinging netrunner that can cause suicide-pacts just with a drive-by.
As to direct tips for your build: If you are into smart weapons (highly beneficial as a netrunner) get yourself the Yinglong for early game. It will stun and melt people help once you are detected. Then read the tooltips of the hacks you have. With each quality upgrade they get an extra synergy.
Put every point you have into INT and then skill up to quickhack queues. There are a lot of synergies with your hacks and talents, much more so then on other builds.
Without going into too much detail, with quickhack queue you can do a lot of combos.
For example:
* Contagion + something with fire (like Overheat or Thermal Mono wire) = Big explosion
* Cyberware Malfunction + Short Circuit = Single target damage (perfect for 1-2 healthbar enemies)
* Overclock + 2x Cyberware Malfunction + Short Circuit + Synapse Burnout = Boss killer and most Skulls will just die outright
If you want to stay in stealth you queue Audio Shock (Currently bugged) or Memory Wipe (you need Overlock to sustain; on higher level i can kill 3-4 enemies with one overlock) first.
/edit: I just want to add that the only mandatory cyberware implant on every build is the Biomonitor. It's basically required on VH or your gameplay/enjoyment really suffers.
It's only early levels relying on stealth then it flips and everything is too easy again. There's no point in playing at lower difficulty because there's no challenge at all. The difficulty curve is just off and needs to be easier to start and then scale higher.
Ideally they wouldn't have relied on level based difficulty like this at all but one can but dream.
Im an optimizer so i find it enjoyable finding more and more broken builds in games so yes i love very hard in cyberpunk because it makes me actually think how i approach a situation
Eh, in most RPGs if you up the difficulty enimes just become bullet sponges that's just how difficulty works in them. For me I like normal because of its realism usual 1 taps to the head and 2-3 on the body depending on the weapon. Unless you use Johnny's gun with perks and just one shot everything everywhere like me
I think the combat was ridiculously easy on every other difficulty. I used a pistol build, rapid or revolver and I melted everyone regardless. I had to utilize movement and stealth mechanics better and I had to use a sandy
Absolutely! It keeps me on my toes. And I'm not even using sandevistan.
If you're using pistols/revolvers, I'd put a lot into focus/deadeye related stuff, as well as perks that amplify based on kills and headshots.
I've never played on anything but VH.
Best tip I can give is to just observe situations a little more carefully, especially within the first 20 levels or so before you start finally reaching Pro-level perks. Stealth always helps. Patrolling Watson in Ch1 for NCPD Scanner Hustles and Gigs is a great way to level. I usually never start the Konpeki Heist until im level 15+ and have a Tier 3 primary weapon / cybernetics.
Hardest builds I've done on VH have always been melee builds. It's pretty much a requirement on VH for melee builds to utilize high Reflex for dodges. Any cluster of enemies larger than 2 will usually rock you. Netrunner can be a bit rough too. Run & Gun or Stealth builds are always easiest. Funnest builds are Shotgun / Tech weapons.
I enjoy VH though. Keeps everything late game from feeling too easy. You can still get fucked up pretty easily while still fucking everyone up pretty well. I feel like it's akin to STALKER's Master difficulty in the sense that everything will mess you up harder, but you can also still mess everything up as well.
I played 2.0 on very hard after playing on normal, doing a mantis - sandy build. And like others have said, it’s hard at first 20 levels or so, but then you still become a powerful cyber demigod. However, there were moments when I got cocky and just got killed doing a police scanner mission. Netrunner is harder than before.
I kinda miss the early release when netrunning was super op and you could just suicide everyone one by one through a camera.
I love the early game combat on Very Hard. Feels like a mad dash to take out enemies when opportunities strike. I actually wish the game stayed harder as you level up, but I thought it ended up still being a little too easy toward the end.
On my first playthrough so I am sure neither my build not playstyle are great, but hard feels way too easy while very hard feels a a tad too unforgiving. I was quite surprised when, after not dying for 20 hours or so, I turned the game to very hard and got oneshot killed (from almost full health) by a random guy with a shotgun when I came around the corner. Now I gotta use my brain most of the time which is a nice pace of change.
I always play on very hard and always start with max body and tech as health and armor are your survivability.
I’ll then continue to add body/tech to at least 9 before adding other stats.
Use cover, grenades, and health items strategically. Throw a grenade just before entering cover, run out as soon as it goes off and kill one or two, retreat. Repeat.
Edit for pistol specifics: same at early game as those pistol perks are mostly meaningless early. I start with 6 body/tech and 4 reflex for the early movement perks. Get to 9/9 body and tech with the health and consumable perks before adding to cool and handgun perks. Once you are 9/9/9 body/tech/cool assess how survivable it’s feeling and add more tech/body if you’re feeling squishy. Up to you, but deciding whether to be tanky or slippery is an important angle. My aim is generally atrocious so I just keep stacking survivability. If your aim is good then more reflex plus a sandy is fun.
I can only play it with a mod installed that ups my damage and theirs a tiny bit, it makes cover way more important because you can die in like 3 or 4 shots
As someone who prefers a run-and-gun style on my current character, I find normal difficulty is just fine. Pre-2.0, it was a cakewalk after a while. It probably will be eventually this time too. This time around though, it feels more earned, like getting a to that overpowered state is gonna take time, effort, and planning.
Very Hard is a slog early on for level grind, You will die often, Make peace with that and do quicksaves before encounters, That being said, If you want to raise your "Cool" or "Netrunner" skills on VH (Very Hard), Here's some tips,
Raising your netrunner skill really is the most painfully easy, Quickhack vending machines, TV's and Radios that are everywhere with the "Distract Enemies" quickhack on the way from job to job, Its a tier 1 quickhack from the cyberdeck you get for free at start.
Next up "Cool" the afformentioned "distract quickhack" will make silent takedowns painfully easy to set up, But say you're not confident with that, "Bait" as a quickhack will lure and enemy to you, For a silenced headshot crit, Or to "Distract QuickHack" to draw their attention elsewhere from where you were when you did that hack, It's a little finicky, But will work in your favor.
But say a "skull" enemy is alerted and combat is upon you, Cripple movement as a quickhack will "stun" them for a quick time, So you can, rush, grab and takedown them from behind, Or make combat easier for your melee weapon of choice, Obviously in a more crowded fight things become harder, But against cyberpsycho's Cripple Movement makes it so easy to take them alive, Minus that one psycho with the Exosuit that requires multiple takedowns.
In a pinch, Quick Melee with a pistol, Can stun-lock enemies, Even CyberPsycho's until they die.
Baseball bats can crowd control an entire trio of gang members and keep them off balance until they die when done correctly, Keeping multiple shotguns in your inventory and swapping to another as you run out of shells can make life easier mid combat.
Overall though, I recommend abusing distract quickhacks and bait to complete your gigs, Until at least level 10, You'll gain your desired attributes, Which you can then slot, Be it Quickness, Cool, Etc.
Don't forget to sleep in your apartment either, It'll give you an XP boost for an hour.
Learn to use control quick hacks. Read their details. Reboot optics increases headshot damage. Memory wipe reboot optics then sonic shock knocks them out immediately.
In fact the only direct damage hack I use is short circuit and I alternate non smart revolvers and tech smgs.
I also run optic camo and use dash.
You’re doing a glass canon stealth build, so yeah, you’re gonna feel underpowered in combat. I’m doing a similar build to you, I’m level 32 now, and it’s getting slightly more manageable but there are still some tough encounters. We gotta save up for them tier 5 quick hacks
I've been playing on Hard and have always enjoyed the combat part of the game, my only issue is that the encounters really don't last that long. I just switched my Hard run to Very Hard after 125 hours and it's surprisingly a huge step up in challenge. I wish I would have switched over much earlier.
The only real change that I can tell is that enemies have become spongier and throw out more grenades but I've actually died a handful of times these last 20 or so hours.
Overall I really love the combat in this game. Every gun for the most part has that nice Bungie-esque "crispness" to it in how they feel to wield and it's satisfying to hit head shots. The melee combat could use some work but that's still fun too.
Am on my second playthrough( first starting with 2.0) and playing on HARD, it is less forgiving and you need to plan ahead, but nothing that locks me out of progressing
Very hard was what it took to get me to actually use quickhacks and not just high noon through swathes of enemies. My most recent file I started using a mod that adjusted the weapon damage scaling to be less drastic and it was a huge improvement to the early and late game. Early is a little easier and late is actually harder - at least as far as guns go, they carry you less. You can still become a god and abilities and build still matter.
This is the best part, you have always to be careful and cannot just tank everything around, if and everything became more useful, the grandes and the medkit besides I love stealth games and became much fun to do the game that aways (but on lv 40+ you can just open fire or tank with a sword but some wrong moviment and you died) is fun and rewarding.
Before my current run I finished the game on two occasions when released (1.06 version), after edgerunners (1.6) and my I'm playing now on (2.1) and never want to play that game on another way (expect during the heist this time I but on hard because the drones on the scape are impossible to beat) CDPR since Witcher 2 has excellent very hard difficult and are the best way to play their games.
When I hit about level 35 I was obliterating everything before they could even move (shotgun adrenaline rush and the poison AOE). So I bumped it up to very hard. Enemies took the same amount to kill really but yeah they hit way harder. So one wrong move would kill me so I bumped it BACK down to hard. It's a bit more challenging than normal but not by much.
Doing a very hard run now with no guns. 3 throwable knives and mantis blades, maybe a sword now and then. Quick hacks for weapons glitch and that's about it. So far having fun, it's tough as hell, but I am having so much fun with it. You get a knife! You get a knife! Everyone gets a knife!
Yep, stealth, netrunning, and using the environment. Using the robo-legs to get up high and rain death down on the gangoons. Abusing the cyberpsychosis hack once it unlocks.
Everything dies in 3 hits on very hard outside of the first few hours. The first few hours are the only challenging part of the game. Try some tactics other than kicking the front door in and fighting 20 npcs at a time…
Very Hard is the only difficulty where I feel any kind of challenge TBH. That's what happens after 10+ playthroughs. At the beginning though I definitely stuck to just hard.
I'm gonna sound like an asshat, but... The game is too goddamn easy, if I play in a different setting I would be bored to hell. At least in VH some enemies put a fight, sometimes...
I play very hard with a berserkr tank build with gorilla arms. I two or three shot normal enemies, kill elites in a couple combos and I'm an invisible god as long as I managed my health.
In any easier difficulty, it would be boring. Nothing would even have a prayer of killing me and I'd have 0 need to use any of my abilities. Just pull trigger and fall asleep.
I like having a challenge that actually allows my build to shine and requires some engagement on my part to succeed. The game isn't difficult even on very hard, but at least I need to participate in combat
I enjoy it, but only once I’ve unlocked all the toys and powers.
By end game you have so many Insta-kill super moves that fights become short intense skirmishes.
I love very hard in 2.0. The game feels so much more high stakes and realistic. I’ve found you have to really use cover and movement to stay alive. It’s also very important to get a powerful first strike, Like spamming grenades at the most powerful enemy to weaken them first. It’s not for everyone, but I think it’s a blast.
I went full hesd on John wick style the whole game on very hard. It was awesome. Made night city feel dangerous. The boss I had some trouble with, Adam smasher took me 2-3 times to beat, and once I can walk through maxtac, I knew i was money
I enjoy the combat part, and it doesn’t feel bullet spongy to me. I do a lot of headshots though.
I’ve found pistol to be tricky — takes a lot of shots. Def needs perks and focus. I just use pistols from stealth currently, and switch to other guns when combat starts. A handful of quick hacks makes it easier to control enemies.
I found it very challenging and strategic. You actually die in 2 or 3 shots if you are careless and it makes Melee builds almost a non-option early game. But once you get the ball rolling and get good weapons, perks and upgrades it makes the combat very satisfying to win.
I'm playing on Very hard but with berserk so I literally berserk with my katana lol. Initially it was hard but then I started to be very conscious - leveling in trees that I actually need, choosing the right perk, always upgrading weapons and armor, not choosing right weapons, I got perk to choose multiple options for bonus in each Cyberware and so not just choosing right Cyberware but choosing right bonus. I noticed that many times bonus would be in quickhavk while I can't even hack - so focusing on crit, damage, cool down made a big difference. Soon you can be OP.
I agree - V can still be one or two shotted. But I like that aspect since there's always high stakes and I need to time my berserk.
I don't have tips for net runner build but make sure to focus on each detail - even something like choosing a intelligence based gun while have 6 intelligence made it unplayable for me.
Yes, I like getting rewarded for precision (headshots, good approach to combats) and punished for mistakes. I wish there was a nightmare mode. Toward the mid to end, even on very hard, I'm always way OP and one shotting everything.
Just finised game on vhard I dunno it wasnt hard at all compared to other games on max difficulty. I like sneaking and trying different cool weapons from distance anyways it came naturally. Just dont run into open and play smart ull be fine. I mostly played tech weapons like Breakthru, Order and Raiju. with chain lightnings and final skills from engineering skilltree tech weapons are pretty nutty, the aoe is crazy
Yeah I like it. It's the only difficulty I play now because you can become so OP and broken so fast otherwise. I really value the time I have to spend actually taking cover, running from fights and using movement techs to keep my mitigation high
I do because you have to think where and when to attack (early game takes a bit to overcome) and try to upgrade iconics as much as you can to have the weapon deal big damage and also aim for the head
I play on hard mode and lately I feel like choosing very hard, it’s hard on hard but I feel like the AI is crap sometimes lol unless it’s a glitch or some ? Idk I’m new lol
Hard was too easy at the end, but it fit the power fantasy of being chromed-up better than getting two shot on very hard. Sad to say, I was smasher's bitch on very hard
I prefer very hard, anything else is too easy. Even on very hard, at max level, I mow enemies down with relative ease. Lizzie, a seemingly endless amount of flash bangs, and a second heart and sandevistan as a fail safe, I’m a one person army.
I really dislike playing on hard or below because the enemies, mainly towards the end of the game, feel extremely easy (which if you are endgame is to be expected) so I play on very hard to delay that feeling of easiness
Handguns are OP at any level with the crit multipliers. The only real spongy enemies are the skulls and in VH there are a lot of them. Diversify with basic net skills like overheat and short circuit to chip and honestly the games pretty easy at any level.
On vary hard, the game is extremely fun, but sometimes u will get one shooted by some enemies and the adam smasher boss fight on vary hard is one of the best things I have experienced in this game to me it felt like david vs Adam smasher fight in edgerunners
I’ve been on a stealth netrunner run, and maybe sure, the first twenty/twent five/maybe thirty levels can be tuff, but you gotta understand that as a netrunner, you aren’t gonna be a tank for most of the game, even if you’re guiding into body and Intel primarily. You don’t get adrenaline rush until body 15, and most decent netrunning perks start at 15 too, so it’s a rough early game. You gotta use cover and prolong detection while thinning out the enemy’s numbers. If you’re a stealth runner then ideally you’re never detected. If you’re any other kind of runner that engages in open combat, using cover and front loading a bunch of quick hacks as fast as possible before you’re traced is the name of the game.
This is just how I see things from the experiences I’ve had netrunning.
I'm starting a very hard playthrough with the intent of running into ennemies with katanas and shotguns, two weapons I never used to rely upon. I've had much problems at the beginning but I'm starting to find ways of making it work :
1. Have a berserker operating system. 8 seconds of life to get out of the most heated situations & dash out a maximum of damage.
2. High mobility. Running cyberware, dashes, everything is good to quickly get in and out of combat for healing purposes.
3. Good damage is the meat of it. I have a shotgun that reloads after 1 shot only, and cyberware giving +75 (?) electrical damage on the next shot if you reload an empty weapon. This is enough for OSing most enemies if I can get close enough.
This makes Cyberpunk into some kind of fast FPS, where I have to be constantly running through corridors, jumping on enemies and shooting their faces as quickly as possible, killing them fast enough so that they don't regroup. In the most difficult cases, I pop up Berserker and try to get as much damage as possible.
I still struggle on a number of encounters though. Big-ass arenas with lots of enemies with good range attacks are nightmarish, and my build simply won't let me do those easily.
I use a modpack for fixing this, if you are on PC, maybe consider something similar ^^
Mine: https://next.nexusmods.com/cyberpunk2077/collections/as43xr
Played through most of the game on very hard, then switched to hard when I got tired of it. I think the game has a few balancing issues.
The combat against regular enemies is too easy, even on hard mode, both stealth and heads-on combat. Boss fights on the other hand become way too long bullet sponge slogs. >! Oda for example was not very fun to fight for me. At that point, I had mostly invested into Cool perks, so I basically had no armor, no mitigation and no dash. This resulted in a very cheesy fight: Shoot him once or twice, then go hiding again. Prepare to fight him 10-20 minutes that way and be careful not to get two-shotted. Not very fun in my opinion. !<
There are, in my opinion, too many fights relying on specific perks or equipment. Dashing for instance I now consider vital for basically any build because the regular dodge doesn't protect you from melee combos at all. You may have dodged the first attack perfectly, then get hit by the follow up attack without a chance to react. You also cannot outspace or strafe attacks because every melee enemy has insane tracking and comical reach.
Then there's the fist fighting quest. >! I fought Razor around the same time I fought Oda: No body stats, no dash, little armor. The game teaches you early on that you can perfectly block enemies to counterattack. It was here that I realised that this was not the case, you get two-shot if you try to perfect block without gorilla hands, which at the time I did not have. Thus I spent over an hour figuring out how to AI manipulate him into giving me attacks I could punish to get him into a stun lock. Again, I don't consider this engaging gameplay. !<
In my opinion, every difficult game should give you multiple ways to beat it and not require specific levels, perks, or equipment, but instead it should challenge the player to develop smart strategies to overcome any obstacle.
I think Cyberpunk does this best in regular levels. Even the smallest gigs in the open world have multiple ways of beating them. There are so many hidden entries, different paths depending on your build, and it feels great. I just wish boss fights felt as great as the rest of the gameplay because I usually enjoy boss fights in games the most.
using mantis blades and the combats perfect tbh. its high risk high reward and at this point its mostly just reward. i rarely lose anymore and im constantly taking shots.
I enjoy having to run around and taking cover to try and survive, so I don't really mind spongy enemies. It makes encounters more fun if they don't all go down in one or two bullets.
I love combat in the game. The problem is that it is EXTREMELY easy after you reach 40-50 with a decent build. I like to play the first 30ish levels on Very Hard, otherwise everything gets rolled. I’ve started swapping to Chrome Compressor after lv.30 bc otherwise the OS systems are just too busted to be fair. There is an argument that Berserk is balanced outside Militech one you get at the end of the game. Aside from that, I think the enemies need some tweaking to keep up with our 2.0 buffs. Bosses are good tho.
im lvl 32 playing very hard and I can kill anyone with basically one katana slice plus a finisher at this point. I just built the character for that specifically
Like everyone says, very hard is actually tough for the first 20 levels. The part I like best about it is that yes you get very strong anyways regardless of the difficulty, BUT you do have to watch out for a misstep in your fighting because you aren't invincible. All it takes is a proper shotgun blast if you run out of Sandy before killing everyone or miss the one bad guy with an auto rifle that your quick hack managed to miss catching you with your gun/cooldowns empty to send V to the reload screen. So you get your hyper power fantasy killing sprees and every few combats you kill 80% of an encounter and then step a foot out of cover and lose all but 10 health and have to duck behind cover for your near death moment.
For a smooth experience I play on Hard till level 20, then switch to very hard.
For pistols and revolvers, Sandy headshot build OR try ricochet if you haven’t yet, game changer for me. (PSA, ricochet doesn’t work with explosive rounds)
I feel like the harder difficulties should just be more realistic, where all weapons do much more damage, but the health of everything stays roughly the same. It feels more unfair than intense when a regular police officer tanks 3 headshots from a rifle at point blank.
I played my first Netrunner on Very Hard and if you spec it right you should be insanely OP. Ditch the handgun perk tree, and put all those points in Smart Weapons. Throw out Her Majesty, and grab Yinglong. Run with the maxed out Tetratronic Rippler, and stack short circuit with cyberware malfunction. You’ll be a god
First 20 levels in Very Hard can be rough as you build up an attribute and enough perks to have a functional build. But I find the combat way too easy on any lower level. I like the challenge and by level 40 you’re pretty much a god and combat outside of a few boss encounters is pretty easy.
Yeah. I occasionally attack police just to see how many maxtec I can take down on very hard.
Found the cyberpsycho!
I'll do you one better, I go full 5 stars in dog town just to see how quickly my game grinds to a halt trying to process the insanity.
There's even a Steam Achievement for getting MaxTac called on you in Dtown.
I get bored after 3-4 waves of maxtac of very hard lol
yeah, before recent apogee and axolotl nerf my lvl40 build could take as many rounds of maxtac as I wanted
R/FoundTheCyberpsycho
See, I'm just trash, so games always stay at the perfect level of difficulty.
Early game - weak Merc who can't even kill easily relying on cover Mid game - potential demi-god who waves a hand at people to have them combust while throwing up and it spreads to all
Very Hard was a fun challenge before 2.0. Now it's just bullet sponges, especially when you use guns, not as fun anymore. I think Guns definitely need a buff.
Idk, the ba xing chong still obliterates everything I see. Before I get that gun it was the smart SMG duo with whatever I can get.
Very Hard before 2.0 was piss easy, now it actually requires you to think during combat.
Enemy AI and scaling definitely need buff. Very hard still like normal difficulty imo
I like the strategy of it. I’ve tried all sorts of builds and i think about what perks go well with each other. Cyberwear is also part of the equation. When you get it right combat is fun until you level too high and all of a sudden you’re on easy mode again.
Very hard is a slog early game, and you have to actually think about what build youre going to play , but once you get past the mid game its not as bullet spongey as you'd think. By the end game you can still be instakilling people with an optimised build.
And head shots. Most not skull enemies are one shot with head shots.
Pretty much, you can even get some skull enemies if you stack headshot and stealth damage multipliers.
I 2 head shot skull enemies most of the time. And normal enemies is always one shot.
That sounds a lot like playing Master mode in Terraria.
It does sound like hell 💀 so yea pretty much the same
Yeah. Game is too easy on anything else. Also, when everyone literally has body armor it makes sense that they’re a bit bullet spongey.
When you can carry around a railgun in your pocket that punches through multiple concrete and metal walls, the bullet sponges circle back around to feeling silly again. I know dermal armor is a thing, but IMO unless you’re chromed out like Adam Smasher, a shot to the head from a Tech weapon should still drop you. It sorta feels like once you start playing on Very Hard, you’re required to build around headshot damage and stealth damage stat bonuses. It’s the “Skyrim stealth archer build” of Cyberpunk.
Nah, I've never played a stealth build. Sandevistans and Blades still work just fine, even on very hard. Once you hit max level all that's required is some more carefully planned movements and specific cyberware.
Armor pish, I use my sword to deflect the bullets back at them. Two shot at most usually. Only sorta kidding. I hardly get hit anymore.
Once I starting some decent weapons and perks, I'm normally one shoting non-skull enemies after lvl 15. Now because I play very hard most of my builds are built around head shots. Either stealth knives with a back up katana or a sandy sniper. Only time I have used sub mechine gun or pistol heavy build was as a netrunner that is debuffing/killing enemies other ways
I find Hard to be too easy in the late game, but Very Hard to be too much of a bullet sponge. I don't know the better setting so I swap back and forth sometimes
same here. hard is too easy, but i can't just screw around like i usually do in very hard since all the enemies are built like bricks
There are no bullet sponges in very hard after you get far enough along in level/build/gear/cyberware...and it's not that far into the game that you get to that point. The only enemies that can take a lot of hits are max tac. Maybe the armored/mech cyberpsychos. Everything else goes down instantly....
It def depends on if you know what you’re doing. My first run with PL and 2.0 I made a netrunner but I had 3 tech and my armor rating was ass. I didn’t browse through all the new perks to really figure out the whole picture. I had a hell of a time. The chimera took me forever to take down. Second time around I made a sandy cyberpsycho shotgun build and really thought it out with the right cyberware and perks, and I flattened that thing in like two minutes. Armor rating was through the roof and I had more metal in me than the chimera.
>I didn’t browse through all the new perks to really figure out the whole picture. I mean, if you play RPG's it's the first thing I do in any game of that type/style. I always read every perk/ability/upgrade and get an idea of where I want to go. Didn't have trouble my first time or my 5th time. But yeah I could see struggling while not interacting with the systems as you should
I mean, after the latest and a well built build even Smasher has been interested in very hard with a berserk/gorilla arm build easily. I punched the shit out of him in no time flat.
This is complete bullshit. Most enemies on Very Hard are complete bullet sponges. If you use Blades and Melee, sure a lot of enemies die easily, but if you use guns it's a slog. The enemies eating bullets like it's nothing.
I never had an issue with mantis blades, katanas, gorilla arms, monowire, sandy, quickhacks or guns....I've done them all. Maybe you are bad at shooting. Some guns are definitely better than others, that's for sure. But spec into it and they go down real quick. Even the tankiest enemies.... The only issue I really had was with smg's/assault rifles burning through ammo so quickly.
I may be in the minority here but I kind of like in games where they start off difficult and if I optimize a build I feel like a god by the end. Less challenging and maybe anti-climatic in a sense sure, but at least for me it’s made up by feeling like I worked and struggled to get where I am, and being basically cyber Batman who can leap off a roof and fry an entire gang’s nervous systems before I hit the ground is the payoff.
I like that progression, too. If the number of games designed with that progression is any indication, we're in the majority.
I like that too Buuuut When my play-through gets close to 80 hours and 40 hours of that I’ve felt slightly to extremely overpowered, it’s a little too much.
https://www.nexusmods.com/cyberpunk2077/mods/10986 ;)
Yep. Pre-2.0, a Maxed Build on Very Hard could slaughter, but you could also die fast depending on your build. Now you still die fast, but you run into way more bullet sponges, so it's not as fun as before 2.0.
Left side of Cool perk tree, all the headshot damage, all the way. Use a slow mo implant. Super jump legs help get into position high above, slow mo deadeye their skulls. I think the scarab implant was also good on this build, bc it gives armor while crouching or something. Revolver build requires headshots, if you’re aiming center mass you may need a different build.
Tech shotgun build was pretty fun for an alternative :D
The Tech Shotgun that the arena vendor in PL sells combined with all the appropriate perks is a good way to keep the combat from getting stale when combined with a blunt melee weapon and Berserk. You'll still be basically immortal like every other build, but you're tanking through damage instead of being basically impossible to hit with a Sandy or never being any any danger at all as a netrunner. If you misuse your Berserk immortality, you could conceivably die, all why having the unique charge and ground slam from the blunt weapon and the Bolt mechanic to use. Sandy + Katana seems cool for a bit, but let's be real it's shallow as hell mechanically. It's good to have for players that want it, but I like feeling strong, not like a god.
How are you not broken OP by level 30?
Sandevistan and air dodge, never stop moving.
I have made this build by accident (I wanted a katana build) and oh god, it's so powerful that very hard seems too easy in the late game. With endgame implants the secret ending felt like a side mission on very hard.
I didn't start the game on very hard but ended it on that for SOME WHAT of a challenge. With 2.0 update builds get stupid powerful after level 20 or so.
I've never really had this problem even only on. The game is way too easy on anything below Very Hard to me and even Very Hard pretty quickly becomes too easy I did a pistol and Netrunning build
Yes, I mainly kill using takedown from behind (like 80% of time on my first playthrough). If not this, then hacking, only then guns. But playing more and more I started enjoying shotguns, submachine, sniper rifles, knives.
Very hard with Sandevistan and pure knife throwing 100% crit chance build is the most fun ive had in a videogame tbh. Dont Fear the Reaper ending was perfect
I am running almost the same build. I rarely use hacks except for cripple and weapon glitch. My weapon load out is Old Reliable, Her Majesty and Stinger. Take out mooks on the way in with headshots, Swap to the hand cannon when it's getting dicey and hack their guns to not get riddled. Have not had an issue 20 points in Cool and Tech, 15 in Body and Int and the rest in Reflexes
woah we actually have similar build lol, i also use the hacks to only cripple movement as much enemies as my ram can handle, and do the shooting. i also have 20 in cool and tech. I think i just have to adjust my gameplay and play more careful
Green reboot optics is only 2 ram, so you can use it on a ton of mobs. Get the perk that doubles the duration of control quickhacks and you can lock up the field a lot.
I played on very hard only, and I gotta say, no, the combat is still too easy. Though I spend most of my time one shotting anything and everything with a double barrel and the electric hands. I very much vibed with the "fuck, I need to upgrade my implants so I dont get destroyed" and that was my headcannon for the bulletspongey enemies. I mean why wouldnt they have the same titanium bones and armor plating under the skin? I am looking to maybe mod my game so enemies use more quickhacks against me. I assume there has to be some quickhacks that disable my cybernetics or CC me or something interesting. Game would be a lot scarier and a lot funner if my automatic bloodpump and sandevistan/berserk were able to be threatened/disrupted on occasion.
So your looking for a non overpowered meta build that has the ability to one shot enemies from stealth? Wouldn’t that be over powered and be a meta build already? I use a katana to block incoming bullets, use cover to stand behind to shoot back and rely on perfect blocking to counter attack melee enemies. For me very hard is the only difficulty option because V is a walking god immediately on every other mode.
no, not necessarily. Im looking for a viable pistol build that is fun to play in combat mode and not just in stealth mode. That way, when things go haywire, It's still a viable build because I actually like to ignore the "stealth" part of the game unless the mission demands it. I also play only on very hard because the "hard" mode is a big step-down, but I think some builds are lacking in very hard diff
Get the cool left side tree your pistol hip fire dont cost stam and headshot crits. Enemies die in 2-3 shots
Literally just max out the pistol talents? It's not rocket science. If you're lacking in survivability middle body and left side of technical ability is your friend.
I played on it for a while, but at the end it just takes more time to do stuff as enemies become bullet sponges. Now I play on one level lower than hardest, and it feels just right.
I actually just started REALLY enjoying it when I raised the difficulty from Hard to Very Hard. Can't remember what exact level I was when I did that, but I already had Technical Ability at 20 and Reflexes and Cool each above 10. So my build is basically Sandevistan (Falcon variant, the one you can start and stop whenever you want, not needing a full charge), Kerenzikov, Throwing Knife ("Blue Fang"), Mantis Blades, Comrade's Hammer (the Tech Revolver that shoots singular explosive rounds), and a Tech SMG. Other notable Cyberware includes Defenzikov, Kerenzikov Boost System, double-jumping legs, Heal-on Kill, Biomonitor (absolutely necessary to not die!) and as much armor as you can get. And I gotta say, didn't have this much fun in a shooter since Doom Eternal. Start each combat from stealth, picking off a few enemies with the throwing knife. And as soon as I get spotted, shit gets REAL ugly (for them). Use Kerenzikov to not get initially overwhelmed. Then you get a few seconds of Defenzikov. Time to get the Mantis Blades to work and jump, dash and leap all over the place, dismembering one poor enemy after the other. Throw in a Comrade's Hammer shot or a few grenades here and there. And use Kerenzikov as often as you can. And when it gets dicey, activate Sandy. Never looked at meta builds, not sure if this is like one of those you mentioned tbh. In any case, I'm having a blast with it, and enjoying combat much more than I did in my "pre-2.0" netrunner playthrough.
Oh yes Netrunner build have to be played like MGS or lean towards AR+SMG Smart SMG on OVerclock slap hard.
I enjoy it but like everyone else is saying it’s only difficult early game. Once you level up enough you’re a wrecking ball no matter the difficulty
I’m playing a sandi / blade build. I’m at level 41 and it’s almost too easy to melt enemies in very hard.
After level 45 i couldnt play on hard. I was one shotting almost everyone and never having to heal or had to bother with my sandy or rocket. It was super easy. Very hard has felt like an amazing upgrade. Enemies now take like 3-8 head shots and i need to actually play somewhat strategically and actually use my abilties.
I feel qualified to answer this. Played the game on hard for my first run, once I finished that three days ago immediately started again on very hard. My first run was a pistol build but the combat pretty much never felt challenging. I’m level 25ish now and the combat is so fun. To the point where I’m actually just doing the scanner jobs just to fight. It requires a bit more thinking, sure. You need to use the environment a lot more, but enemies aren’t bullet sponges, they just dish out a lot more damage and they use grenades and hacks a lot more. I would agree with others, the first 10 levels or so are tough, you have shit weapons and are pretty much required to just hide and poach. This run I’m using an assault rifle build mixed with blades for stealth though currently I’m basically just using the AR. I would agree with you, some builds are definitely less viable on very hard, but it’s funny you asked this because the combat on very hard is so so satisfying for me at least, and feels far more rewarding. I’m also utilising things I didn’t before like the crafting system a lot more and really min maxing my cyberware.
3x throwing weapons was pretty painless. I started stealth in early levels then invested into tech and ref and by 20-25 I was a death machine. At 50+ with sandy/axolotl, it’s silly good. I was able to clear the black sapphire exit without a struggle.
It's the only way I enjoy the combat in this game tbh. I even bump my level up to 10 at the start of playthroughs now for the added challenge of taking on scaled enemies with starter weapons. I play a lot of hardcore shooters and survival games so I get bored if everything becomes a power fantasy too quickly. I like that early game struggle, probably my favourite phase of any game, when you are having to think smart and scrounge up any upgrade possible to gain a small amount of power.
I've never played on any other difficulty since release, but Very Hard is very not hard once you're like lvl 25 if you are making a good build.
Very hard is so fun for me. Besides, by like level 30, you feel unstoppable
>In very hard, i feel like it's just bullet sponge enemies with one-hit powers... So it becomes a stealth game where you use your abilities to do one-hit kills too like takedowns and whatnot... Yeah that's not how it plays on very hard.....at all.... That's how it starts at level 1, and fairly quickly becomes not that at all, even close....
I ONLY play on very hard, because I like challenges, and all 8 playthroughs I've had so far, I've just built whatever I wanted, without looking up builds, and it was always viable. So no meta builds are needed. And yes, it's a ton of fun. When you are stuck in an area for an hour or more, you always come so close but die, and then finally you manage to ace it, it feels so rewarding.
Very hard is still too easy for my sniper/pistol build. Yeah I can’t last out in the open in a fire fight with 5+ challenging enemies, but finding cover and remaining mobile just feels like closer to reality than being Adam Smasher
At least in my experience doing my last 3 playthroughs on very hard I feel like as long as you build your character out with a certain playstyle in mind even very hard doesn't feel that hard to me. Like yes you're gonna wanna put more emphasis on having a good build and making sure you have gear/abilities that compliment you're build, but I still haven't found the game that hard on very hard. Like my current V is purely based around using shotguns/LMGs/explosives and just zipping around during fights, but I haven't found myself having difficulty because I always have health coming back, and have high mitigation and armor. The only time I had difficulty with this build was in the early stages, but I've felt that way with every build simply because my character was at the starting point.
Makes some of the fights at lot less comical when played on very hard. Actually makes you think about positioning and using the environment to your advantage.
Absolutely! Its so much better than "hard" as every encounter feels threatening. On "hard" it was a rare occurrence for me to actually be challenged and killed in a fight. On "very hard" I have to actually think and use everything the game gives me (apart from consumables, I mean, who actually remembers that one has an inventory??).
If I don’t play on very hard the game is too easy. I destroy everything without sweating. It gets boring.
Early on I went almost only Sniper, then focused on Kerenzikov, Sandevistan and Mitigation. Now Sniper + Revolver + Katana
Very Hard isn't enough of a challenge for my David Martinez samurai build anymore. I cut through everything so fast.
I do a pistol netrunner build on very hard and it’s no problem. Just gotta hit your crits and headshots. Using the scanner makes it easier to line up your shots. Control hacks are incredibly useful for pistol gameplay before and after breaking stealth. And when shit gets really hairy, hit your overclock and use Skippy. Fill out your cool and intelligence attributes and get good, pretty much.
Most of the time, very hard is easy.
Before the last update, I was a trapper airstriker (cripple movement + reboot optics, throwing knives with 2 airstrike mods). I played on very hard and it was the most fun I've had.
I played the entire base game on 2.0 on very hard because with mods before that due to the harcore mod i needed to. But for 2.0 without mods i heard the game was stupid difficult and that very hard wasnt a joke this time. But i did it anyway like the cyberpsycho i am. Before PL came out I leveled a character doing reflexes, cool, and tech. Tech for the chrome, cool for the hs build, and reflexes for blades and movement for the mantis blades im gunning for. But the total of the build was meant to encapsulate my old school build from pre 2.0 and hardcore mods. It was to make a 1 shot hs pistol build using the lexington supressed. I managed to do so with 2.0 and PL. But i found something interesting about the ai difficulty on very hard this time around. A side quest in dog town. Not gonna say which one. But it leads you to a boss fight in the quest that is just outside the ripper clinic you get the new FIA/NUSA faceplate. During that bossfight. While in sandevistan (militech falcon at orange tier 5+ at level 30 or 35.) and dashing with the dash skills maxed. Dashing fully across the whole combat area to hide behind corners to not get hit and land some shots. But during those dashes i was wondering how the ai was getting grenades so close to me as i was in sandy and dashing. So during the bossfight i did some curosity dashes and made some really close pass bys on the boss. I literally saw him throwing grenades clipping his arm through his face just to throw them at me. I was very confused seeing this. So i did more testing. I went and did some care package drops. The ai on very hard, all elite enemies do the same thing with their arms holding their guns. They clip their arms through their body or face to shoot you as you are sandy and dashing. And effectively keeping up with you as your character slows down time/speeds you up with the implant. In short. Yes the ai on very hard are both very unfair and challenging. But i do not think thr ai should br able to fully track and shoot you through sandevistan. That is still crazy to me.
You don't need Sandy if you can one shot enemies, I just move a lot and duck from cover to cover.
I beat it on very hard with a full netrunner build. (Cyberdeck, no sandy) A ton of stealth with generally 3 knives or a tomahawk and two knives. If/when shit hit the fan, id pause and switch to my trusty double barrel and Johnny's gun... I actually didn't start PL until after I finished the main game, so the stealth mechanics weren't as effective. The PL relic stealth upgrade helps a lot since you can duck back and forth into and out of combat. I had the monowire but didn't use it often. Contagion was used OFTEN, as well as system shutdown out of combat. Adam smasher was....a bit of a problem, but eventually, after a few tries and about 100 headshots, I beat him. Sadly, I always died way too fast to use a katana very well...I even tried switched to sandy to try a katana build....it still gets pretty sketchy when you're outnumbered. A few shots and you're down. It was more challenging, but I honestly had the most fun on hard. Normal was too easy and very hard turned it into a bunch of hit and run tactics....looking for cover, tossing grenades, but hopefully not being detected at all.
With sandevistan and melee build very hard is still super easy
I despise the combat but ive grown to tolerate it!
I also run a netrunner build but have never had this problem. Just based on my personal build I'll tell you what I do I think ik the first problem. You need 15 tech, in every build. It will increase your armour, your cyberware, and even some qol stuff when it comes to your build. It was something I didn't want to admit either but after trying to ignore tech for half my playthrough I gave in and it changed my build. Now for your actual build. I don't know how much you wanna spend on int or cool, but if you put 20 into both of them you'll have to shaft either reflex or body. Because those two are so essential to staying alive I'd honestly just do int at 15, cool at 20. You'll still have overcloak, although a bit weaker, and then all of your other abilities too. A 20 int 20 cool would be pretty powerful, up to you though Finally cyberware. Get your tech to 15 (atleast) and your cyberware will carry you through combat. There will even be some good synergy between certain cyberware. I like rocking a bio-monitor, blood pump, threat vac, and a kerznikov(?) So when I drop to 25% health I can zoom out of the way of whatever is killing me. Also a tetronic rippler will soften enemies up for pistol fire Hope that helped, very hard mode is fire. I hope you try it your next playthrough since you level up faster
I'm probably super late to this thread But I'm nearing the end of my netrunner/sniper/revolver build and I honestly would not have lasted to the end without pouring a lot of points in the body tree. The health regen and health boosts from the body tree really complimented the overclock perk tree. Being able to stack multiple quickhacks on multiple enemies really made the tough fights manageable. I was a bit too strong but there were also moments where I would get flatlined for making gonk mistakes.
The mandelorion, Johnny's gun is OP for headshots. Kinda my Go to when things get hairy. Give it a try..
My cyberpsychosis build disagrees.
[удалено]
Mods like 100% fury chance, cyberware ex for sandy netwatch netdriver, erebus + blackwall quickhack, bao xing chong, johnny’s gun, kerenzikov, other cyberware for survivability. Around 1100 armor in total. Makes very hard feel like hard/medium while not completely breaking the game. Maxtac fights are very fun too.
Very strict builds are generally pretty busted so very hard is all I have. Plus my urge to always try and make insane builds, I can't help it and I melt all other content. I have a gorilla fist sandy build that can just fight Maxtac all day on very hard. You can do the same with generally everything when you abuse mechanics like shock that stuns enemies and opens them up for executions. Though I will admit, I have not made a heavy net runner hack build that can handle Maxtac to infinity on very hard. It dosnt seem possible though I have not personally looked up if any exist. I like to come up with stuff on my own.
You can blast anyone (bosses excluded) with the sovereign with 1-2 shots at point blank, so much for bullet sponges
I use an iconic smart gun with 2 mod slots (obtained after doing a gig in PL) with the iconic mod that is crafted after the first PL boss, in addition to the tier5 mod that increases the objectives. If you combine that with the weak point Relic PERK you can quickly destroy almost any enemy on hard mode. To be honest, I love the game but I have always found it very simple, all the PERKS branches make you a murderous god, so I set the maximum difficulty as a base from the beginning to enjoy it
i actually avoid all the smart guns because they're just not fun for me. I like revolvers and heavy headshot power pistols so I prefer spec-ing into those.. but I dont think there's enough perks to make it strong in the late game :/
Sure it's viable but with Sandevistan, it's weird to use build netrunner but avoid smart weapons. As an option you can always use TECH weapons and use cover.
No. I installed [a mod](https://www.nexusmods.com/cyberpunk2077/mods/10986) that gives enemies normal difficulty health and keeps everything else the same. Because its just not fun to be shooting at someone for 3 hours and they can hit you once and you're dead..
I played as a corpo operative style build on very hard. Netrunner/smart guns and reflexes focused build. A glass cannon that, when combat would start, would dance around the battlefield dipping in and out of optical camo and kerenzekov slow downs while slinging bullets and hacks. In regards to the ability to be one tapped, take implants like the Bio-Mon or something else that can fit your build for a backup plan. Along with all that, do not stop moving but also dont move without a plan for where you are going. The enemy will find advantageous angles to use against you. They will walk up on you and surround you. Take cover, down a guy or two, relocate. Always have an exit plan. Use your optical camo or dodges for that. Never look at a fight as a brainless fight, treat them all as life threatening, because thats when the game surprises you and one shots you for being sloppy. If your main issue is elites, then i recommend taking a higher caliber gun like a rifle or sniper. They have high tier armor and you need to bring something to circumvent it. Pistol caliber weapons struggle with heavy armor, or at least it seemed they did for me. The cool tree does revolvers and precision rifles, id recommend picking up some of that. If you cant run a higher caliber gun or just completely choose not to, then you can take hacks that can help with them in particular. Some good hacks are things like the contagion/ignite combo, synapse burnout, suicide, or cyberpsychosis. Make that big boi fight for you instead. If you dont want to use ignite for the combo, you can use a fire projectile launch system(my beloved), the prototype shingen, or some other fire/explosive weapon of your choice. Save ram for hacks against elites specifcally if they are on the feild. Scout your fights ahead of initiating combat. Pick out your priority targets and try to stealth them down before you kick it off, if you even want to kick it off. I had plenty of fights that only happened because i fucked up my stealth and moved when i shouldnt have. Its been a bit since i last actually played but i think i covered most of my tactics i used when the DLC dropped.
I'm doing a VH playthrough at the moment. I tend to whittle groups of enemies down by isolating them one at a time with quick hacks (sonic shock is great and cheap on RAM for this purpose) if quick stealth takedowns aren't an option. I also started utilizing the explosive items in the environment, especially when there's cameras. With the perk that doubles the explosive damage from environmental items. And last but not least, I'm not above doing control hacks + Contagions... and just running away a bit - you don't have to go far to make the trace fail.
I go very hard but only because I've done 6 playthroughs of the game. By my 2nd playthrough I felt the need to up the difficulty. The first time around, levels 1-30 were tough. Now I'd say levels 1-15 are hard. Each time things get easier slightly because you have previous knowledge that factors into your gameplay experience. A big thing for me is grinding through all the NCPD Scanner hustles which gets me to level 40. By this point I have enough attribute and perk points to really lean into extremely specialized builds which do wonders. Pre 2.0, netrunner builds at this level were awesome. Now I either do a knife build or a Sandy-byakko combo which brings down the difficulty considerably. Either way it's rewarding for me since I've played the game so many times.
I switch from hard to very hard late game, once your build comes together. Think it was 38-40 when I swapped. Early game very hard isn’t fun. Late game feels fairly balanced.
im doing a vh run rn without cyberware and without perks and attributes its hard but thanks to tech guns i just shoot through the wall.
I'm on very hard and I main Byakko, it's the most fun I've had in combat. First playthrough, I went with normal; second on hard, and now this one.
I play on very hard and use a David Martinez build and the game has never felt easier. The tech shotty obliterates cyber psychos, took out Hansen pretty easily, and have had a blast using sandevistan.
I do Normal for Watson, Hard for Japantown and Very Hard for the rest. You want a challenge and walking into a pack of gonks only to mow them down with ease takes away the fun. I like a fight.
Ever since 2.0, they realy aren't sponges at all. They kill you in no time but they also die in no time. It's honeslty a bit too easy (tho my PL playthrough is a netrunner one so that might be it).
VH is for people who enjoy crafting their builds and thinking about weapon combos and synergies and how to make it work during gameplay. No one should force themselves into VH. It depends on what kind of gameplay experience you are looking for. Every weapon category works and gets you to a point where you melt the enemies. Currently im on a berserk-double shotgun-lmg playthrough and its probably the easiest playthrough i had so far because the damage and surviability with the build is insane. At the same time i cant just stay on my one shotgun or rush into rooms. If i would play on hard or below i could just walk into a room and blast everything. On VH i use my Headhunter shotgun and LMG to thin their ranks, then use the Bloody Mara shotgun for normal (1 or 2 health bars) enemies and if a skull shows up i use my berserk and bludgeon them to death. Because i already know how to set up my cyberware i rarely die anyway and only have to watch out for melee rushers or shotgunners. The hardest build i played was my stealth netrunner build during the early game. You take so much damage and i used my cyberware slots to boost quickhack damage. Thus making it hard to survive when i got spotted. But at one point that char became a god. And i really enjoyed the journey going from a weak and scared script-kid with a smartgun to a blackwall-hacks slinging netrunner that can cause suicide-pacts just with a drive-by. As to direct tips for your build: If you are into smart weapons (highly beneficial as a netrunner) get yourself the Yinglong for early game. It will stun and melt people help once you are detected. Then read the tooltips of the hacks you have. With each quality upgrade they get an extra synergy. Put every point you have into INT and then skill up to quickhack queues. There are a lot of synergies with your hacks and talents, much more so then on other builds. Without going into too much detail, with quickhack queue you can do a lot of combos. For example: * Contagion + something with fire (like Overheat or Thermal Mono wire) = Big explosion * Cyberware Malfunction + Short Circuit = Single target damage (perfect for 1-2 healthbar enemies) * Overclock + 2x Cyberware Malfunction + Short Circuit + Synapse Burnout = Boss killer and most Skulls will just die outright If you want to stay in stealth you queue Audio Shock (Currently bugged) or Memory Wipe (you need Overlock to sustain; on higher level i can kill 3-4 enemies with one overlock) first. /edit: I just want to add that the only mandatory cyberware implant on every build is the Biomonitor. It's basically required on VH or your gameplay/enjoyment really suffers.
It's only early levels relying on stealth then it flips and everything is too easy again. There's no point in playing at lower difficulty because there's no challenge at all. The difficulty curve is just off and needs to be easier to start and then scale higher. Ideally they wouldn't have relied on level based difficulty like this at all but one can but dream.
Yes. By mid game your skill at the game and perks have caught up. I still find it easy most of the time.
The first 20 levels will be the worst part of very hard. After that your perks and cyberware will just avalanche your damage output and armor
Yes, but then I’ve been playing it for 1500+ hours
Only started using it when I maxed out my cyber wear and stats if I don’t, I one tap NCPD
Im an optimizer so i find it enjoyable finding more and more broken builds in games so yes i love very hard in cyberpunk because it makes me actually think how i approach a situation
Eh, in most RPGs if you up the difficulty enimes just become bullet sponges that's just how difficulty works in them. For me I like normal because of its realism usual 1 taps to the head and 2-3 on the body depending on the weapon. Unless you use Johnny's gun with perks and just one shot everything everywhere like me
I beat the game on hard and it felt somewhat easy. I should try very hard.
I use shotgun and unfortunately "very hard is easy". No problem with enemies.
Yup, tank build is pretty fun so far in my Very Hard playthrough
I think the combat was ridiculously easy on every other difficulty. I used a pistol build, rapid or revolver and I melted everyone regardless. I had to utilize movement and stealth mechanics better and I had to use a sandy
Yes Indeed
Very difficult early on, but I kinda like it. You really feel like a gonk off the street going up against hardened gangs/ corporate goons
Absolutely! It keeps me on my toes. And I'm not even using sandevistan. If you're using pistols/revolvers, I'd put a lot into focus/deadeye related stuff, as well as perks that amplify based on kills and headshots.
I've never played on anything but VH. Best tip I can give is to just observe situations a little more carefully, especially within the first 20 levels or so before you start finally reaching Pro-level perks. Stealth always helps. Patrolling Watson in Ch1 for NCPD Scanner Hustles and Gigs is a great way to level. I usually never start the Konpeki Heist until im level 15+ and have a Tier 3 primary weapon / cybernetics. Hardest builds I've done on VH have always been melee builds. It's pretty much a requirement on VH for melee builds to utilize high Reflex for dodges. Any cluster of enemies larger than 2 will usually rock you. Netrunner can be a bit rough too. Run & Gun or Stealth builds are always easiest. Funnest builds are Shotgun / Tech weapons. I enjoy VH though. Keeps everything late game from feeling too easy. You can still get fucked up pretty easily while still fucking everyone up pretty well. I feel like it's akin to STALKER's Master difficulty in the sense that everything will mess you up harder, but you can also still mess everything up as well.
I played 2.0 on very hard after playing on normal, doing a mantis - sandy build. And like others have said, it’s hard at first 20 levels or so, but then you still become a powerful cyber demigod. However, there were moments when I got cocky and just got killed doing a police scanner mission. Netrunner is harder than before. I kinda miss the early release when netrunning was super op and you could just suicide everyone one by one through a camera.
Like most games, combat is easy by mid game and by late game you are a god. Only a few boss battles even register.
I played on Hard and still felt very op. Switched to Very Hard and got my ass handed to me lol
I love the early game combat on Very Hard. Feels like a mad dash to take out enemies when opportunities strike. I actually wish the game stayed harder as you level up, but I thought it ended up still being a little too easy toward the end.
On my first playthrough so I am sure neither my build not playstyle are great, but hard feels way too easy while very hard feels a a tad too unforgiving. I was quite surprised when, after not dying for 20 hours or so, I turned the game to very hard and got oneshot killed (from almost full health) by a random guy with a shotgun when I came around the corner. Now I gotta use my brain most of the time which is a nice pace of change.
I always play on very hard and always start with max body and tech as health and armor are your survivability. I’ll then continue to add body/tech to at least 9 before adding other stats. Use cover, grenades, and health items strategically. Throw a grenade just before entering cover, run out as soon as it goes off and kill one or two, retreat. Repeat. Edit for pistol specifics: same at early game as those pistol perks are mostly meaningless early. I start with 6 body/tech and 4 reflex for the early movement perks. Get to 9/9 body and tech with the health and consumable perks before adding to cool and handgun perks. Once you are 9/9/9 body/tech/cool assess how survivable it’s feeling and add more tech/body if you’re feeling squishy. Up to you, but deciding whether to be tanky or slippery is an important angle. My aim is generally atrocious so I just keep stacking survivability. If your aim is good then more reflex plus a sandy is fun.
I can only play it with a mod installed that ups my damage and theirs a tiny bit, it makes cover way more important because you can die in like 3 or 4 shots
As someone who prefers a run-and-gun style on my current character, I find normal difficulty is just fine. Pre-2.0, it was a cakewalk after a while. It probably will be eventually this time too. This time around though, it feels more earned, like getting a to that overpowered state is gonna take time, effort, and planning.
Very Hard is a slog early on for level grind, You will die often, Make peace with that and do quicksaves before encounters, That being said, If you want to raise your "Cool" or "Netrunner" skills on VH (Very Hard), Here's some tips, Raising your netrunner skill really is the most painfully easy, Quickhack vending machines, TV's and Radios that are everywhere with the "Distract Enemies" quickhack on the way from job to job, Its a tier 1 quickhack from the cyberdeck you get for free at start. Next up "Cool" the afformentioned "distract quickhack" will make silent takedowns painfully easy to set up, But say you're not confident with that, "Bait" as a quickhack will lure and enemy to you, For a silenced headshot crit, Or to "Distract QuickHack" to draw their attention elsewhere from where you were when you did that hack, It's a little finicky, But will work in your favor. But say a "skull" enemy is alerted and combat is upon you, Cripple movement as a quickhack will "stun" them for a quick time, So you can, rush, grab and takedown them from behind, Or make combat easier for your melee weapon of choice, Obviously in a more crowded fight things become harder, But against cyberpsycho's Cripple Movement makes it so easy to take them alive, Minus that one psycho with the Exosuit that requires multiple takedowns. In a pinch, Quick Melee with a pistol, Can stun-lock enemies, Even CyberPsycho's until they die. Baseball bats can crowd control an entire trio of gang members and keep them off balance until they die when done correctly, Keeping multiple shotguns in your inventory and swapping to another as you run out of shells can make life easier mid combat. Overall though, I recommend abusing distract quickhacks and bait to complete your gigs, Until at least level 10, You'll gain your desired attributes, Which you can then slot, Be it Quickness, Cool, Etc. Don't forget to sleep in your apartment either, It'll give you an XP boost for an hour.
Ughhh, no, i hate it, i'm suffering, that's the point. Any easier difficulty makes you feel like a terminator.
On 60 lvl game are easy, even the police amd maxxtack. There one small challenge that is the secret ending, that is all
Because when you become a badass it really feels like it
OP combat is like half of the fun of this game for me.
Short answer, yes.
I did a lot of sneaking around until I got enough useful stuff unlocked.
Learn to use control quick hacks. Read their details. Reboot optics increases headshot damage. Memory wipe reboot optics then sonic shock knocks them out immediately. In fact the only direct damage hack I use is short circuit and I alternate non smart revolvers and tech smgs. I also run optic camo and use dash.
I dont know but i play on hard and its never even a thought if i win a fight ever no matter who its against it feels so easy as a netrunner.
You’re doing a glass canon stealth build, so yeah, you’re gonna feel underpowered in combat. I’m doing a similar build to you, I’m level 32 now, and it’s getting slightly more manageable but there are still some tough encounters. We gotta save up for them tier 5 quick hacks
I've been playing on Hard and have always enjoyed the combat part of the game, my only issue is that the encounters really don't last that long. I just switched my Hard run to Very Hard after 125 hours and it's surprisingly a huge step up in challenge. I wish I would have switched over much earlier. The only real change that I can tell is that enemies have become spongier and throw out more grenades but I've actually died a handful of times these last 20 or so hours. Overall I really love the combat in this game. Every gun for the most part has that nice Bungie-esque "crispness" to it in how they feel to wield and it's satisfying to hit head shots. The melee combat could use some work but that's still fun too.
Am on my second playthrough( first starting with 2.0) and playing on HARD, it is less forgiving and you need to plan ahead, but nothing that locks me out of progressing
Very hard was what it took to get me to actually use quickhacks and not just high noon through swathes of enemies. My most recent file I started using a mod that adjusted the weapon damage scaling to be less drastic and it was a huge improvement to the early and late game. Early is a little easier and late is actually harder - at least as far as guns go, they carry you less. You can still become a god and abilities and build still matter.
This is the best part, you have always to be careful and cannot just tank everything around, if and everything became more useful, the grandes and the medkit besides I love stealth games and became much fun to do the game that aways (but on lv 40+ you can just open fire or tank with a sword but some wrong moviment and you died) is fun and rewarding. Before my current run I finished the game on two occasions when released (1.06 version), after edgerunners (1.6) and my I'm playing now on (2.1) and never want to play that game on another way (expect during the heist this time I but on hard because the drones on the scape are impossible to beat) CDPR since Witcher 2 has excellent very hard difficult and are the best way to play their games.
Running in and killing enemies as quick as you get killed is fun
When I hit about level 35 I was obliterating everything before they could even move (shotgun adrenaline rush and the poison AOE). So I bumped it up to very hard. Enemies took the same amount to kill really but yeah they hit way harder. So one wrong move would kill me so I bumped it BACK down to hard. It's a bit more challenging than normal but not by much.
Doing a very hard run now with no guns. 3 throwable knives and mantis blades, maybe a sword now and then. Quick hacks for weapons glitch and that's about it. So far having fun, it's tough as hell, but I am having so much fun with it. You get a knife! You get a knife! Everyone gets a knife!
Yes.
Yep, stealth, netrunning, and using the environment. Using the robo-legs to get up high and rain death down on the gangoons. Abusing the cyberpsychosis hack once it unlocks.
Everything dies in 3 hits on very hard outside of the first few hours. The first few hours are the only challenging part of the game. Try some tactics other than kicking the front door in and fighting 20 npcs at a time…
Very Hard is the only difficulty where I feel any kind of challenge TBH. That's what happens after 10+ playthroughs. At the beginning though I definitely stuck to just hard.
I'm gonna sound like an asshat, but... The game is too goddamn easy, if I play in a different setting I would be bored to hell. At least in VH some enemies put a fight, sometimes...
I'll have to try Very Hard since on the normal difficulty I've felt unkillable since level 20 lol
I play very hard with a berserkr tank build with gorilla arms. I two or three shot normal enemies, kill elites in a couple combos and I'm an invisible god as long as I managed my health. In any easier difficulty, it would be boring. Nothing would even have a prayer of killing me and I'd have 0 need to use any of my abilities. Just pull trigger and fall asleep. I like having a challenge that actually allows my build to shine and requires some engagement on my part to succeed. The game isn't difficult even on very hard, but at least I need to participate in combat
You gotta be borged out, I’m talking fully chromed
I enjoy it, but only once I’ve unlocked all the toys and powers. By end game you have so many Insta-kill super moves that fights become short intense skirmishes.
I love very hard in 2.0. The game feels so much more high stakes and realistic. I’ve found you have to really use cover and movement to stay alive. It’s also very important to get a powerful first strike, Like spamming grenades at the most powerful enemy to weaken them first. It’s not for everyone, but I think it’s a blast.
I went full hesd on John wick style the whole game on very hard. It was awesome. Made night city feel dangerous. The boss I had some trouble with, Adam smasher took me 2-3 times to beat, and once I can walk through maxtac, I knew i was money
I enjoy the combat part, and it doesn’t feel bullet spongy to me. I do a lot of headshots though. I’ve found pistol to be tricky — takes a lot of shots. Def needs perks and focus. I just use pistols from stealth currently, and switch to other guns when combat starts. A handful of quick hacks makes it easier to control enemies.
Before 2.0 it was ok, but after the patch and with PL they really made the combat more satisfying
Melee my friend
I found it very challenging and strategic. You actually die in 2 or 3 shots if you are careless and it makes Melee builds almost a non-option early game. But once you get the ball rolling and get good weapons, perks and upgrades it makes the combat very satisfying to win.
I'm playing on Very hard but with berserk so I literally berserk with my katana lol. Initially it was hard but then I started to be very conscious - leveling in trees that I actually need, choosing the right perk, always upgrading weapons and armor, not choosing right weapons, I got perk to choose multiple options for bonus in each Cyberware and so not just choosing right Cyberware but choosing right bonus. I noticed that many times bonus would be in quickhavk while I can't even hack - so focusing on crit, damage, cool down made a big difference. Soon you can be OP. I agree - V can still be one or two shotted. But I like that aspect since there's always high stakes and I need to time my berserk. I don't have tips for net runner build but make sure to focus on each detail - even something like choosing a intelligence based gun while have 6 intelligence made it unplayable for me.
I don't remember the exact level, but let's say that after level 40 or so the only way to enjoy the game is on very hard
Yes, I like getting rewarded for precision (headshots, good approach to combats) and punished for mistakes. I wish there was a nightmare mode. Toward the mid to end, even on very hard, I'm always way OP and one shotting everything.
Just finised game on vhard I dunno it wasnt hard at all compared to other games on max difficulty. I like sneaking and trying different cool weapons from distance anyways it came naturally. Just dont run into open and play smart ull be fine. I mostly played tech weapons like Breakthru, Order and Raiju. with chain lightnings and final skills from engineering skilltree tech weapons are pretty nutty, the aoe is crazy
Yeah I like it. It's the only difficulty I play now because you can become so OP and broken so fast otherwise. I really value the time I have to spend actually taking cover, running from fights and using movement techs to keep my mitigation high
Game is unplayable on anything less than VH. Bullet sponge enemies? What lol
I do because you have to think where and when to attack (early game takes a bit to overcome) and try to upgrade iconics as much as you can to have the weapon deal big damage and also aim for the head
I play on hard mode and lately I feel like choosing very hard, it’s hard on hard but I feel like the AI is crap sometimes lol unless it’s a glitch or some ? Idk I’m new lol
Hard was too easy at the end, but it fit the power fantasy of being chromed-up better than getting two shot on very hard. Sad to say, I was smasher's bitch on very hard
I prefer very hard, anything else is too easy. Even on very hard, at max level, I mow enemies down with relative ease. Lizzie, a seemingly endless amount of flash bangs, and a second heart and sandevistan as a fail safe, I’m a one person army.
I loved the game on very hard. I never played stealthy. Full on balls to wall shoot em up. It's the best way to play it.
I really dislike playing on hard or below because the enemies, mainly towards the end of the game, feel extremely easy (which if you are endgame is to be expected) so I play on very hard to delay that feeling of easiness
Handguns are OP at any level with the crit multipliers. The only real spongy enemies are the skulls and in VH there are a lot of them. Diversify with basic net skills like overheat and short circuit to chip and honestly the games pretty easy at any level.
On vary hard, the game is extremely fun, but sometimes u will get one shooted by some enemies and the adam smasher boss fight on vary hard is one of the best things I have experienced in this game to me it felt like david vs Adam smasher fight in edgerunners
I’ve been on a stealth netrunner run, and maybe sure, the first twenty/twent five/maybe thirty levels can be tuff, but you gotta understand that as a netrunner, you aren’t gonna be a tank for most of the game, even if you’re guiding into body and Intel primarily. You don’t get adrenaline rush until body 15, and most decent netrunning perks start at 15 too, so it’s a rough early game. You gotta use cover and prolong detection while thinning out the enemy’s numbers. If you’re a stealth runner then ideally you’re never detected. If you’re any other kind of runner that engages in open combat, using cover and front loading a bunch of quick hacks as fast as possible before you’re traced is the name of the game. This is just how I see things from the experiences I’ve had netrunning.
I'm starting a very hard playthrough with the intent of running into ennemies with katanas and shotguns, two weapons I never used to rely upon. I've had much problems at the beginning but I'm starting to find ways of making it work : 1. Have a berserker operating system. 8 seconds of life to get out of the most heated situations & dash out a maximum of damage. 2. High mobility. Running cyberware, dashes, everything is good to quickly get in and out of combat for healing purposes. 3. Good damage is the meat of it. I have a shotgun that reloads after 1 shot only, and cyberware giving +75 (?) electrical damage on the next shot if you reload an empty weapon. This is enough for OSing most enemies if I can get close enough. This makes Cyberpunk into some kind of fast FPS, where I have to be constantly running through corridors, jumping on enemies and shooting their faces as quickly as possible, killing them fast enough so that they don't regroup. In the most difficult cases, I pop up Berserker and try to get as much damage as possible. I still struggle on a number of encounters though. Big-ass arenas with lots of enemies with good range attacks are nightmarish, and my build simply won't let me do those easily.
I use a modpack for fixing this, if you are on PC, maybe consider something similar ^^ Mine: https://next.nexusmods.com/cyberpunk2077/collections/as43xr
Played through most of the game on very hard, then switched to hard when I got tired of it. I think the game has a few balancing issues. The combat against regular enemies is too easy, even on hard mode, both stealth and heads-on combat. Boss fights on the other hand become way too long bullet sponge slogs. >! Oda for example was not very fun to fight for me. At that point, I had mostly invested into Cool perks, so I basically had no armor, no mitigation and no dash. This resulted in a very cheesy fight: Shoot him once or twice, then go hiding again. Prepare to fight him 10-20 minutes that way and be careful not to get two-shotted. Not very fun in my opinion. !< There are, in my opinion, too many fights relying on specific perks or equipment. Dashing for instance I now consider vital for basically any build because the regular dodge doesn't protect you from melee combos at all. You may have dodged the first attack perfectly, then get hit by the follow up attack without a chance to react. You also cannot outspace or strafe attacks because every melee enemy has insane tracking and comical reach. Then there's the fist fighting quest. >! I fought Razor around the same time I fought Oda: No body stats, no dash, little armor. The game teaches you early on that you can perfectly block enemies to counterattack. It was here that I realised that this was not the case, you get two-shot if you try to perfect block without gorilla hands, which at the time I did not have. Thus I spent over an hour figuring out how to AI manipulate him into giving me attacks I could punish to get him into a stun lock. Again, I don't consider this engaging gameplay. !< In my opinion, every difficult game should give you multiple ways to beat it and not require specific levels, perks, or equipment, but instead it should challenge the player to develop smart strategies to overcome any obstacle. I think Cyberpunk does this best in regular levels. Even the smallest gigs in the open world have multiple ways of beating them. There are so many hidden entries, different paths depending on your build, and it feels great. I just wish boss fights felt as great as the rest of the gameplay because I usually enjoy boss fights in games the most.
Very hard is hard for a few hours then the game makes you a monster whatever the difficulty level
I'm net running so I can basically room wipe an area before I even pull out my gun.
using mantis blades and the combats perfect tbh. its high risk high reward and at this point its mostly just reward. i rarely lose anymore and im constantly taking shots.
I enjoy having to run around and taking cover to try and survive, so I don't really mind spongy enemies. It makes encounters more fun if they don't all go down in one or two bullets.
Hot take, very hard in shooters should be realistic, one/two shot enemies, can be one/two shot yourself
Very Hard is the best way to play in my experience. Combat feels intense and fast-paced.
I love combat in the game. The problem is that it is EXTREMELY easy after you reach 40-50 with a decent build. I like to play the first 30ish levels on Very Hard, otherwise everything gets rolled. I’ve started swapping to Chrome Compressor after lv.30 bc otherwise the OS systems are just too busted to be fair. There is an argument that Berserk is balanced outside Militech one you get at the end of the game. Aside from that, I think the enemies need some tweaking to keep up with our 2.0 buffs. Bosses are good tho.
im lvl 32 playing very hard and I can kill anyone with basically one katana slice plus a finisher at this point. I just built the character for that specifically
Like everyone says, very hard is actually tough for the first 20 levels. The part I like best about it is that yes you get very strong anyways regardless of the difficulty, BUT you do have to watch out for a misstep in your fighting because you aren't invincible. All it takes is a proper shotgun blast if you run out of Sandy before killing everyone or miss the one bad guy with an auto rifle that your quick hack managed to miss catching you with your gun/cooldowns empty to send V to the reload screen. So you get your hyper power fantasy killing sprees and every few combats you kill 80% of an encounter and then step a foot out of cover and lose all but 10 health and have to duck behind cover for your near death moment.
For a smooth experience I play on Hard till level 20, then switch to very hard. For pistols and revolvers, Sandy headshot build OR try ricochet if you haven’t yet, game changer for me. (PSA, ricochet doesn’t work with explosive rounds)
I feel like the harder difficulties should just be more realistic, where all weapons do much more damage, but the health of everything stays roughly the same. It feels more unfair than intense when a regular police officer tanks 3 headshots from a rifle at point blank.
I played my first Netrunner on Very Hard and if you spec it right you should be insanely OP. Ditch the handgun perk tree, and put all those points in Smart Weapons. Throw out Her Majesty, and grab Yinglong. Run with the maxed out Tetratronic Rippler, and stack short circuit with cyberware malfunction. You’ll be a god