Despite Cyberpunk 2077 being set in the relatively near future, the game has a lot in common with the Wild West. There are gangs and desperados everywhere, and you never know when a gunfight might break out. When it inevitably does, you'll be glad to have your trusty iron at your side.

Marching about town with a six-shooter at your hip is just as relevant--and as powerful--in the year 2077 as it was back in the 19th century. And just as then, it rewards careful aim and well-placed shots. If you're the sort of person to take some Wild West sensibilities wherever you go, then one of these gunslinging builds will certainly appeal.

These builds are all possible without the Phantom Liberty DLC, but there will be notes for how each build can be expanded if you have the DLC installed.

Power Pistolier

The Power Pistolier is a bit of an all-rounder build with a focus on survivability and, of course, power pistols and revolvers. Like a gunslinger of old, you'll stick to cover while slinging bullets around corners to catch enemies unaware.

You'll want to invest in the Ballistic Coprocessor hands cyberware for powerful ricochet shots.

Your main attributes are Cool and Body, although you'll spend far more points on the Technical Ability tree. That's because you'll want both the cyberware and health regenerating item perks of the Tech tree to make the Adrenaline Rush perks of the Body tree more potent. You'll also be getting the Dash and mitigation perks of both the Cool and Reflex trees for the best possible damage mitigation.

The combined effect of these perks should let you stand in the middle of a firefight without taking excessive damage, although you should try to stick to cover wherever possible.

As a dedicated pistolier, you'll be getting all the relevant Cool perks that enhance pistols and revolvers, but those same perks will also enhance sniper rifles and precision rifles. As such, feel free to swap those weapons out for your pistols whenever you feel like a bit of extra range might be beneficial.

With Killer Instinct and Gag Order, you'll easily be able to eliminate enemies with a silenced pistol from significant distances.

You've got just enough Intelligence to have a cyberdeck with a few useful quickhacks, but if you'd prefer, you can forgo hacking entirely for a Sandevistan.

With the Phantom Liberty DLC, you should definitely put a few more points into Body to unlock the Pain to Gain perk and maybe pick up shotgun and machine gun perks too. You could also invest more into Intelligence to be a better hacker, or Tech for more grenade-related perks.

Key Cyberware

• Ballist Coprocessor
• Visual Cortex Support
• Biomonitor
• Cellular Adapter
• Rangeguard

Recommended Weapons

• Malorian Arms 3516
• Dying Light
• Seraph
• Kongou
• Amnesty
• Crash

Smart Guns Hacker

The Smart Guns Hacker uses quickhacks and smart guns to dominate combat encounters while quickhacking their way through most other challenges.

Your primary attributes are Intelligence and Cool. Intelligence is going to be your biggest perk sink as you'll want to unlock nearly every perk there. This will give you powerful hacking powers while simultaneously enhancing your smart guns to be incredibly deadly.

You'll want to mix firing your smart gun in with quickhacking as smart gun kills will help regenerate RAM.

There are quite a few smart pistols available, so we'll be focusing on the Cool perks that enhance pistols. Not every perk is applicable to enhancing smart pistols, however, so don't unlock the entire left-side tree. A smart bullet might travel further than it's lock-on range, but it's so inaccurate that you shouldn't bother shooting without a lock.

You'll have just enough perk points left over to provide some cyberware benefits and a few essential Reflex perks. With the Phantom Liberty DLC, you'll be able to unlock the Dash ability in Reflexes or better Cyberware through the Tech tree.

Key Cyberware

• Smart Link
• Memory Boost
• Tetratronic Rippler Cyberdeck
• Kerenzikov

Recommended Weapons

• Genjiroh
• Skippy
• Crimestopper
• Ogou

Tech Gun Blaster

If you like tech guns, then this is the pistol build for you. This build is all about getting the most out of tech pistols and cyberware, with just enough hacking to get you out of any trouble that can't be solved with a lightning bolt.

Your main attributes are Technical Ability and Cool. The Cool perks are sticking to the left-side tree, with just enough in the sneaky-sneak perks to be useful during stealth gigs.

These perks also enhance sniper and precision rifles, so feel free to swap to those weapons where necessary.

The Technical Ability perks provide us with maximum enhancements to cyberware (including the Cellular Adapter cyberware), a few good item and grenade perks, as well as the Bolt and Chain Lightning perks for your tech pistols and revolvers. Body, Intelligence, and Reflexes are all above nine for the Renaissance Punk perk to provide as much cyberware capacity as possible.

In general, you'll want to stick to cover while your Ping quickhack or Kiroshi "Stalker" Optics reveals the locations of enemies. Then just raise your tech pistol (or revolver, or sniper rifle), aim, and shoot. For larger groups, toss a grenade or two.

With Phantom Liberty installed, you can easily fill out the Intelligence tree to be a slightly better hacker or the Reflex tree for better dashing.

Key Cyberware

• Kiroshi "Stalker" Optics
• Feedback Circuit
• Cellular Adapter
• Visual Cortex Support

Recommended Weapons

• Apparition
• Breakthrough
• Lizzie
• Widow Maker
• Rasetsu
• Ambition

Gunslinging Samurai

Can't decide whether you want to use guns or swords? Then the Gunslinging Samurai provides the best of both worlds.

This is a hypermobile build that focuses on the Reflex and Cool perk trees to unlock both blade and pistol enhancements as well as improved movement when dashing or crouching. On the Reflex side, we see most of the middle and right trees unlocked. On the Cool side, we see the left and middle trees unlocked.

Combat will largely depend on where you are and how you're feeling. Wide open spaces might call for engagements to begin with a few well-placed headshots from a revolver or pistol (or sniper or precision rifle, as those perks benefit both), while close-in spaces might forgo bullets for blades.

Either way, you're an excellent assassin. With Ninjitsu, Creeping Death, Vanishing Act, and the Optical Camo cyberware, you can easily infiltrate enemy positions to dispatch most or all opposition before you're detected.

You've got enough Tech and Body perks to have decent cyberware, better health items, and the Adrenaline Rush ability, providing impressive survivability while you're slicing and dicing.

You'll definitely want either the Berserk or Sandevistan cyberware, depending on whether you prefer blades or guns.

With Phantom Liberty installed, you should definitely give yourself two more points into Body for the Pain to Gain perk, with the rest invested into Tech for better cyberware.

Key Cyberware

• Militech Berserk or Militech Falcon Sandevistan
• Newton Module
• Dense Marrow
• Adrenaline Booster
• Microrotros
• Optical Camo

Recommended Weapons

• Dying Night
• La Chingoda Dorada
• Seraph
• Crash
• Archangel
• Satori
• Scalpel
• Byakko

Next: Cyberpunk 2077: Complete Guide And Walkthrough