Contrary to conventional wisdom, bringing a knife to a gunfight in Cyberpunk 2077 is a very viable strategy if players know what they're doing. Small, pointy objects aren't just great for stabbing but also for throwing. Slinging a knife straight toward a gangoon's eye socket is one of the most satisfying things to do in this game, and players can now create builds specifically with this playstyle in mind.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - Dog Eat Dog Walkthrough
V recieves a call from an unknown caller asking for their help in Dogtown in the opening mission of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC.
Cyberpunk 2077's massive 2.0 update added a new skill line under the Cool tree that's all about throwing blades at things. The following is a build that focuses on making the most out of this new set of perks, as well as the revamped cyberware system to create a throwing knife build that can dominate even the hardest difficulty mode.
Cyberpunk 2077 Throwing Knife Build Skill Trees
First, players will want to invest a lot of points into Cool as they're leveling up before pivoting toward Technical Ability and Reflexes. Spend perk points on the throwing weapon skill line under the Cool tree to unlock the fun new bonuses provided by the 2.0 update. Priority skills include:
- Scorpion Sting
- Accelerated Poison Absorption
- Parasite
- Juggler
- Finisher: Act of Mercy
- Sleight of Hand
- Dash
- Air Dash
- Tailwind
Style over Substance is not necessary unless players want to focus on stealth, and there are plenty of other crit chance sources to make up for it. Juggler and Sleight of Hand are the most important perks to have, as the former instantly returns thrown weapons after a critical kill while the latter increases crit damage after every Juggler activation. Eventually, players will have enough points for a host of other perks that they want to use.
The dash skills increase the player's mobility for faster blade recovery after a missed throw and general elusiveness. Those who prefer a tankier approach can instead work towards the Adrenaline Junkie skill in the Body tree for better staying power in a firefight.
Recommended Gear
Any high-tier knife or tomahawk will work wonders here. Equipping two or three throwing weapons is highly recommended to make missing a bit more forgiving.
The Headhunter iconic knife from Pacifica's West Wind Estate melee vendor is great for buffing headshot damage against enemies hit by the knife itself. Pair it with the Agaou tomahawk from the Phantom Liberty expansion to deal massive damage versus beefy targets like bosses.
For regular throwing weapons, consider using the Javelin mod. It increases the weapon's armor-piercing capabilities at the cost of reducing its effective throwing range. The downside shouldn't be an issue since throwing weapons are best used at close range anyway, so players have very little to lose when equipping this mod.
Cyberware
This late-game cyberware setup is fairly standard as far as builds go. It focuses more on improving throwing weapon effectiveness, and it makes use of all cyberware implant slots for the sake of enabling the Cyborg perk's 15% cooldown reduction bonus.
Cyberware | Category | Effect |
Blood Pump | Circulatory | Restores large amounts of health instantly and over time |
Heal-on-Kill | Circulatory | Restores a percentage of health after killing an enemy |
Biomonitor | Circulatory | Instantly uses the equipped healing item when health falls below a certain level. Also improves healing item effectiveness |
Nano-Plating | Integumentary | Chance to block incoming projectiles; guaranteed to block one projectile after dashing |
Proxishield | Integumentary | Reduces the damage received from nearby enemies |
Subdermal Armor | Integumentary | More armor |
Spring Joints | Skeleton | Increases Mitigation Strength |
Para Bellum | Skeleton | Massively increases armor |
Bionic Joints | Skeleton | More armor |
Newton Module | Frontal Cortex | Reduces active cyberware cooldowns after neutralizing an enemy |
Mechatronic Core | Frontal Cortex | Increases damage dealt to robots |
Self-Ice | Frontal Cortex | Negates one incoming enemy quickhack before going on cooldown |
Stabber | Nervous | Increases critical hit chance with blades and throwing weapons |
Neofiber | Nervous | Increases Mitigation Strength |
Adrenaline Converter | Nervous | Increases movement speed for a short duration after entering combat |
Kiroshi "Cockatrice" Optics | Face | Increases critical hit chance by ~30% (Phantom Liberty Only) |
Militech "Apogee" Sandevistan | OS | Slows time by 85% (Player is not slowed). Gain more crit chance, crit damage, and headshot/weakspot damage while the effect is active. Neutralizing enemies extends the duration and restores stamina |
Handle Wrap | Hands | Increases throwing weapon crit chance for a short duration after equipping a throwing weapon |
Tyger Claws Dermal Imprint | Hands | Enables Smart Weapon targeting (filler implant) |
All of these implants are available in ripperdoc clinics across the city, though some (like the Apogee Sandevistan) will be locked until players hit level 40 and above. Purchase lower-tier equivalents of the implants above until the specific ones mentioned start appearing in stores or loot sources like chests and Dogtown airdrops.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
