With the 2.0 update of Cyberpunk 2077 also comes a major refactor of how hacking works. Quickhacks that were once top-tier are now relegated to the dust-bin, and coming up with good quickhack strategies (including making good use of the queue system) requires you understand what quickhacks you should prioritize in your build, and why.
Let’s break the list down, shall we?
The best quickhacks in Cyberpunk 2077 2.0
- Sonic Shock – (Update: The 2.1 update broke this – hopefully temporarily – so consider Memory Wipe as a stand-in until it’s fixed) While it may seem counterintuitive to have a non-combat quickhack as the absolute best, in this case, it truly is. Sonic Shock – especially at tier 4 (which is the max you should get) – is what makes or breaks stealth hacking. By always hitting a target with this first you ensure that anything else you stack on them won’t trigger a trace on your from an enemy netrunner!
- Overheat – Overheat is going to be your bread and butter for damage dealing quickhacks. It does a fair amount of damage, and continues to get better in higher tiers. It’s also eminently stackable, so if you’re facing a particularly tough boss, feel free to toss a couple on them! In most cases, though, standard enemies tend to go down with just one instance of it.
- Short Circuit – While not as useful as Overheat, this is going to be your go-to for hitting non-human targets such as drones.. Which is why you should always check resistances before you drop a combat quickhack. Some foes are more susceptible to electrical damage, and Short Circuit may end up working out for you better than Overheat at later levels for some foes with some of the features it gets at higher tiers.
- Synapse Burnout – Think of this like Cyberpunk’s equivalent of a Fireball (without the AOE effect, of course); Synapse Burnout does absolutely massive damage, and at higher tiers synergizes well with Overclock (doing even more damage the more ram you’ve used up). While overkill for most foes, this is something you’ll absolutely want to use on bigger baddies.
- Cyberware Malfunction – Even though this is #5 in the list, that doesn’t make it bad; This one is just most useful in boss fights, or when taking on cyberpsychos. It gets even better in higher tiers, and synergizes well with more traditional damage-dealing quickhacks early on. Stack this on every boss you can as soon as you can.
The best quickhacks in Cyberpunk 2077 2.0: Honorable Mentions
While these aren’t quite as amazing as the above quickhacks, they all have their uses, and are worthwhile to have in at least some capacity in your quickhack bag of tricks.
- Cripple Movement – This is great for slowing down those fast-moving targets and bosses, but in my opinion the best way to take advantage of it is to toss it on your Monowire; In Phantom Liberty you can gain a special skill to make Monowire charged attacks deliver a quickhack on hit, and this one is the best for that in my mind. Just don’t bother beyond Tier 3 for it, as higher tiers are less useful and just increase the cost (except when put out through the monowire, of course).
- Contagion – This quickhack used to be the absolute best for any netrunner, but has fallen out of favor in most cases just because you’re almost guaranteed to end up alerting an enemy netrunner and getting traced when you use it. As well, it’s damage was nerfed significantly, which means you’ll be applying multiple stacks just to take out a standard foe. It is useful, however, in limited rush engagements where swarms of enemies already know where you are; Toss a few stacks out and then whip out your favorite weapon to mop up the leftovers!
- Ping – Since you can’t quickhack foes through walls anymore (with a caveat – more later), ping becomes more of a “ok, is there anybody left to kill?” quickhack than anything else. At higher tiers, however, it does allow you to quickhack devices through walls – including cameras – so it can be useful in that regard, helping you get eyes on foes or take out troublesome turrets.
That’s it chooms – now get out there and start hacking!