Since the initial release of Cyberpunk 2077, fans have speculated about the mysterious Relic skill tree that has been inaccessible, until now. With the release of the Cyberpunk 2077 DLC expansion, Phantom Liberty, fans finally have the chance to check out the all-new skill tree, the Relic, which dedicates itself to Cyberware. Players can put together some of the best perks in Cyberpunk 2077 thanks to this new and revised skill tree.
The Relic skill tree is responsible for some of the best builds in Cyberpunk 2077 for those players who want to unleash their inner Cyberpsycho on the world. The Relic tree is exclusive to owners of Phantom Liberty, and by showing all Relic skills in Cyberpunk 2077, players might decide for themselves if they want this true power.
What Is The Relic Skill Tree?
The Relic Skill Tree in Cyberpunk 2077 is a new addition that has been added as part of Update 2.0, which promises to revamp the game’s combat and AI. With Update 2.0, players will have access to brand new skills and perks, but the Relic skill tree is perhaps the most unique, as it is exclusive to owners of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.
In lore, the Relic perk deck is a Militech combat software that was uploaded into V’s system thanks to the mysterious Songbird. Players are given great power with the Relic skill tree, along with the ability to cause both life and death – except in the case of Cyberpunk 2077, it’s going to be mostly death. Players can unlock the full abilities of their cybernetic implants thanks to the Relic perks, but they will need to spend Relic Points rather than Perk Points and Attribute Points.
Emergency Cloaking
To use Emergency Cloaking, players will need to have installed an Optical Camo cyberware by equipping it to their Combat Gadget quickslot. After installing this new gear, players can see an improvement to their Optical Camo cyberware in a variety of ways, but these ways will only really benefit players who are interested in sticking to a stealth playthrough or those players who want to run from a fight that they think they can’t win.
Emergency Cloaking will work by manually pressing the corresponding button that the game asks for. In the case of a PC, this would be the Middle mouse button. Players can press this button whilst in combat to cause enemies to lose track of the player’s whereabouts, which gives players a chance to flee to safety or to try and take enemies out in a more stealthy approach.
Sensory Protocol
Sensory Protocol only works if players have picked up the Emergency Cloaking skill, so using a Relic point on this perk may not be to everyone’s taste. However, those who invest in Sensory Protocol will see a further improvement in their stealth, as well as an additional amount of time to respond to dangers that lurk outside the shadows and help V's desperate situation.
With Sensory Protocol, the detection rate for enemies is slowed down. Players can also use a Dodge or Dash to get out of an enemy’s line of sight to immediately exit combat. However, this has a cooldown of 120 seconds. It’s a great perk for those looking to extend their stealth.
Vulnerability Analytics
One of the more interesting perks in the Relic skill tree, Vulnerability Analytics is perfect for those hard hitters out there, and the players that really want to lay down some violence against their enemies in a frontal assault. Vulnerability Analytics allows players to now see Vulnerabilities within enemy Armor and cyberware, presenting new critical target spots for players to aim for.
When players hit these Vulnerabilities, they will be granted these bonuses:
- 100% Crit Chance
- +25% Armor penetration
- Weakspot damage bonuses
This makes Vulnerability Analytics a must-have for players who want to go to war against the gangs and corpos of Night City. When players deal enough damage to a Vulnerability, said Vulnerability will explode and cause an EMP blast that damages enemies within a 3-meter radius.
Machine Learning
Players need to pick up Vulnerability Analytics to use the Machine Learning ability, and it’s definitely worth it to those who want to keep consuming the carnage of Vulnerabilities. With Machine Learning, players can see further bonuses when they destroy a Vulnerability:
- +10% frequency of new Vulnerabilities appearing
- +5% Crit Damage against Vulnerabilities
This effect lasts for 25 seconds, but the effect and duration can stack 5 times. Even better still, is that if players reach the max stacks available, then the effects mentioned are doubled, making players a true danger to anyone with a Vulnerability.
Launch Capacity Override
When players have the Projectile Launch System cyberware implanted in their arms, they can use the Launch Capacity Override to grant themselves yet another charge. Players can increase the number of missiles they can fire from their arm by 1.
The Projectile Launch System is not the most popular cyberware for arms, but if players want to be Adam Smasher-lite then this is the way to go, especially when it adds to the arsenal of weapons by allowing for a flurry of explosions. However, players will need the Jailbreak perk before activating this one.
Data Tunneling
Requiring the Jailbreak perk, players can pick up Data Tunneling if they want to invest in the Monowire cyberware. Players can use their Monowire to infect enemies with an uploaded quickhack, so it’s best to use Data Tunneling only if players want to use both Monowire and their quickhacks. Otherwise, this may not be the right perk for the player, depending on their build. However, it’s a good perk for a few reasons and will make V a force to be reckoned with in this North American setting.
Once a quickhack has been uploaded, players can use their Monowire attacks to strike at enemies. Hitting multiple enemies will spread the quickhack, allowing for a true cyber virus to take place as it affects everyone that’s come in contact with the player’s Monowire.
Limital Removal
Gorilla Arms are a violent display of physical strength, and players who wield this arm implant can punch their way through basically anything. With the Limital Removal perk, players can generate a powerful shockwave from a charged Gorilla Arms attack that will knock down all enemies within range.
However, to get this shockwave attack, players need to have first picked up the Jailbreak perk. It’s a great perk reserved for those who use the Gorilla Arms implant, which is highly recommended considering punching people sends them flying, and is the way to go for non-lethal attacks.
Spatial Mapping
Requiring the Jailbreak perk, Spatial Mapping grants added bonuses to the sinister and sharp Mantis Blades, which are yet another one of the arm implants available to the player. With Spatial Mapping, players can commit to Leap Attacks that now cripple enemies, but they do far more than just that.
With these Leap Attacks, players can increase the chance of a dismemberment, engaging in some truly gory combat that not even a Ripperdoc can fix. This dismemberment chance remains for the enemy that has been attacked by a Leap Attack, with a lasting effect of 10 seconds.
Jailbreak
Jailbreak is the best Relic perk in Cyberpunk 2077 due to the fact that it will unlock brand-new abilities for all arm implants in the game. These Arm cyberware include:
- Mantis Blades
- Gorilla Arms
- Projectile Launch System
- Monowire
Each of these implants can be picked up from a Ripperdoc, but each Ripperdoc across Night City will have different and better versions of these implants. Here’s what each Arm cyberware and their new ability can do for the player when they pick up the Jailbreak Relic attribute in Cyberpunk 2077:
Projectile Launch System
Players can overcharge the system with the Middle Mouse Button, and launch a rapid burst of 5 projectiles to cover a large area of explosive damage, disrupting the fight with a flurry of explosive fury.
Gorilla Arms
Players can charge up their Gorilla Arms by committing to rapid attacks. Once charged up to the fullest degree, players can deal a Strong Attack which deals far greater damage than the ordinary strikes. This Strong Attack will also create a shockwave effect that staggers nearby enemies within the radius. To make the Gorilla Arms even more fun than they already were, neutralizing an enemy this way will send their body flying in a comedic effect and display of power.
Mantis Blades
If players dismember an enemy or perform a Finisher with the Mantis Blades, they will be able to charge up a Leap Attack. By holding the Left Mouse Button or Right Trigger attack button, players can release the button for a long-range Leap Attack. This charged version of the leap Attack has a +30 meter reach and will deal massive amounts of damage with a wide slash that can hit multiple targets. If players kill an enemy with this charged Leap Attack, they will dismember them.
Monowire
The Monowire has now received a dedicated slot for Control quickhacks, which allows for a better synergy for quickhack abilities and Monowire strikes. To use the quickhack, players need to charge the Monowire by holding the Left Mouse Button or their Right Trigger. Once fully charged, players can release the attack button to deal damage and upload the quickhack to the target that has just been hit. This also costs zero RAM, meaning players are free to use their RAM as normal.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Phantom Liberty releases on September 26 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.