// NETRUNNING_DEEPDIVE.SYS — Phantom Liberty Build Compendium

Phantom Liberty Ultimate Builds: Dominate Dogtown in Style

Phantom Liberty does not just add a new district — it rewires the entire combat ecosystem of Cyberpunk 2077. The Relic skill tree introduces abilities that fundamentally alter how you approach every encounter, while a fresh arsenal of DLC-exclusive iconic weapons opens up build possibilities that were previously impossible. Whether you prefer melting minds from the shadows or charging into firefights with a Sandy active, this guide breaks down the five strongest builds for Update 2.0 and beyond. Each build is tested on Very Hard difficulty across every major Dogtown gig.

Build Comparison At a Glance

Before diving deep into each build, here is a quick-reference comparison table covering the five archetypes. Use this to decide which build matches your playstyle — or to identify gaps in your current V.

The Relic Skill Tree: Your New Power Ceiling

Guide Visuals — Phantom Liberty Builds

Dogtown Combat Showcase: Relic abilities in action against Barghest forces in the combat zone.

Source: Official Game Media / Press Kit | © CD PROJEKT RED

Relic Skill Tree Overview: New abilities unlocked through the Phantom Liberty main questline.

Source: Official Game Wiki / Strategy Guide | © CD PROJEKT RED

DLC Iconic Arsenal: Her Majesty, Bald Eagle, Pariah, and other Phantom Liberty-exclusive weapons.

Source: Official Game Wiki / Strategy Guide | © CD PROJEKT RED

The Relic tree is the single largest power spike introduced by Phantom Liberty. Unlocked gradually through main story progression, these abilities are exclusive and cannot be respecced — choose wisely. Each build in this guide highlights the Relic perks that synergize best with its combat loop.

DLC-Exclusive Iconic Weapons

Phantom Liberty introduces a robust lineup of iconic weapons that dramatically outperform base-game alternatives. Here are the heavy hitters you need to track down:

Build Deep Dive: Netrunner God

The Netrunner God build turns combat into a puzzle you solve from behind cover. With 20 Intelligence and a Tetratronic Rippler cyberdeck, you upload quickhacks through walls, spread damage-over-time combos across entire squads, and watch enemies drop before they ever see you. The Spatial Mapping Relic perk pushes this build into absurd territory by letting Overheat and Contagion leap to additional targets. Pair with the COX-2 Cybersomatic optimizer to increase quickhack crit chance to near 100%, and the Bioconductor implant to slash cooldowns by 30%. Her Majesty provides a reliable fallback for enemies that resist quickhacks — one headshot against a hacked target is usually a one-hit kill thanks to the pistol’s unique perk.

Quickhack Loadout: Contagion, Overheat, Short Circuit, Cyberware Malfunction, Ping. Open with Ping to mark all enemies, queue Contagion+Overheat on three separate targets, then Short Circuit any survivors. Against bosses, Cyberware Malfunction disables Sandevistan and Kerenzikov dodges, making them sitting ducks.

Build Deep Dive: Sandevistan Blade Dancer

The Blade Dancer is pure adrenaline. Equip the Militech Apogee Sandevistan (85% slow at max stacks), a Kerenzikov for mid-dash time dilation, and the Adreno-Trigger to automatically activate health items during Sandy. Combat flow is simple: activate Sandy, dash through the first two enemies with Byakko’s lunge attack (which extends Sandy duration on kill), then switch to Bald Eagle for cleanup at range. The Limiter Removal Relic perk gives you a second Sandy charge, meaning you can chain up to 30 seconds of time dilation in a single encounter. At 20 Reflex, the blade tree’s “Judge, Jury, and Executioner” perk makes every third katana swing a guaranteed crit. The Scalpel iconic katana adds a 50% crit damage bonus during Sandy, making it the ideal weapon for the final seconds of each activation window.

Stat Priority: Reflex 20 first for blade perks and the Apogee Sandy unlock. Tech 20 second to max out cyberware capacity. Cool 15 rounds out the build with extra crit damage. Body 9 is enough to equip the Blood Pump and unlock the health-on-kill perks that keep you alive between Sandy cycles.

Build Deep Dive: Berserk Juggernaut

Sometimes the best strategy is to walk through the front door and dare everyone to stop you. The Berserk Juggernaut build does exactly that. Militech Berserk Mk.5 grants 10 seconds of super-armor (no stagger, no knockdown), a 20% health-on-hit lifesteal, and a massive melee damage multiplier. The Blood Pump cyberware automatically injects a MaxDoc when health dips below 35%, and the Pain Editor gives flat damage resistance that stacks additively with Berserk’s innate tankiness. Primary weapon rotation: open with Pariah (Tech Revolver) to soften armored targets through walls, swap to Guillotine X-Mod2 for mid-range suppression, then switch to Guts (iconic shotgun) when the gap closes. The Body 20 capstone “Wrecking Ball” perk lets you sprint through enemies and knock them down, creating chaos that the Berserk lifesteal effortlessly exploits.

Relic Synergy: Limiter Removal provides a second Berserk charge, but the real gem is Emergency Cloaking — after Berserk ends, Optical Camo activates automatically for 4 seconds, giving you a tactical retreat window to reposition and wait for cooldowns.

Build Deep Dive: Tech Weapon Demolitionist

The Demolitionist is for players who enjoy solving problems with overwhelming firepower — through walls. Tech weapons ignore cover entirely, and with 20 Tech, charged shots gain near-infinite penetration and a massive damage multiplier. The Kiroshi Stalker Optics highlight enemies behind cover, letting you line up perfect wall-bangs from complete safety. The EMP Threading cyberware adds electrical chain damage to every charged shot, meaning a single round from Breakthrough (iconic sniper) can clear an entire room. Comrade’s Hammer, the Tech revolver, functions as a pocket rocket launcher — one shot, one kill, through any surface. Vulnerability Analytics (Relic perk) reveals weak points that, when struck with a charged Tech shot, deal quadruple damage. Bosses with multi-phase health bars still die in 3 to 4 shots.

Build Deep Dive: Optical Camo Ghost

For the purist who wants to clear an entire gig without triggering combat music, the Optical Camo Ghost build is unmatched. At 20 Cool, headshot damage from stealth is multiplied by 300%. Optical Camo with the duration-extending perks from the Cool tree keeps you invisible for over 12 seconds per activation. Lynx Paws leg cyberware eliminates all footstep noise, including sprinting. Death and Taxes (iconic pistol) fires two rounds per trigger pull, effectively doubling your stealth headshot damage. The Reflex Tuner automatically activates a short Sandy window if an enemy detects you, giving you a split-second window to land a headshot and reset stealth. Her Majesty, with its guaranteed crit against quickhacked targets, pairs beautifully with a quick Ping+Cyberware Malfunction combo before each engagement.

Gig Flow: Ping to mark all enemies → activate Optical Camo → execute priority targets with suppressed headshots → use takedowns to reset Camo → repeat until the building is empty. No alarms, no combat state, no witnesses.