CD Projekt Red invites players back to Night City in September 2023 with its Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty expansion, which comes with a ton of fresh content. This spy thriller-themed DLC features an unexplored district in the city called Dogtown, new characters like the Idris Elba-voiced Solomon Reed, and a deeper look into Johnny Silverhand’s background and psyche. While an all-new map, story, and set of characters can be exciting, the most compelling additions that Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty will offer are sweeping updates to the game’s core features.
CD Projekt Red is no stranger to creating expansions that also offer significant updates to their game’s systems. The Witcher 3’s DLCs added new skills that the player could get from their first level up. Hearts of Stone uncovered new locations in Velen, while the free next-gen update upgraded the game’s graphics, fixed some bugged quests, improved the camera controls, integrated community-made mods, and added cross-platform progression and photo mode. It even gave fans all-new looks for the main characters inspired by the Netflix show. With Phantom Liberty, the publisher seems to be doing the same, as it updates Cyberpunk 2077’s skill trees and cybernetics.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty Revolutionizes the Game’s Cybernetics
The new expansion overhauls Cyberpunk 2077’s cybernetics, making armor dependent on the character’s cyberware. It used to be tied to the character’s clothing, so players had to sacrifice looks for defensive stats. Now, they can wear whatever they want without having to worry about making their character more vulnerable.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty will make cyberware riskier, too. V will have a limit on how much cyberware they can add before they get health penalties and other debuffs. This may also be patched into the main game. Some may see this as a limiting way to play the game, but it may also push players to be more deliberate when it comes to augmenting their characters.
Phantom Liberty Makes Significant Changes to Cyberpunk 2077’s Skill Trees
Phantom Liberty also reworks Cyberpunk 2077's skill trees. Abilities will lean more towards active effects than percentage-based passive ones. Some preview and review footage of the expansion shows players using skills that can deflect melee weapons and ammunition. There’s even a skill that lets V dash in midair, making combat even more dynamic. This expansion adds Relics, which are upgrades to cyberware. The sixth skill slot will now be dedicated to relics, and players will need to acquire points to upgrade them. CD Projeckt Red hasn't revealed specific details about how this feature works yet.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty further improves the game’s police system, making authorities more aggressive in hunting down players who commit crimes in rapid succession. When the player gains five-star notoriety, they’ll be chased by Night City’s elite task force known as MaxTac. These NPCs are fast and deal damage that can overcome even the most cybernetically advanced players. Car chases against police and enemies are also more interesting with this expansion, as it introduces vehicle combat. This addition may be inspired by a community-made Cyberpunk 2077 vehicle combat mod. Now, players can hack and slash enemies with a sword while on their bike or do a drive-by on a target. Some vehicles will even have mounted weapons.
CD Projekt Red will also make changes to the game’s loot progression and difficulty curve, as well as improvements to NPC behavior with the release of the expansion. The main game had a rocky release, which turned a lot of players away. This DLC offers a wide variety of quality-of-life improvements and streamlining of the game’s major systems, which may convince players to give Cyberpunk 2077 another chance.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty will be released on September 26, 2023, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
