Highlights
- Consumables are often overlooked in Cyberpunk 2077, but ignoring buffs can make the game much more challenging on Very Hard difficulty.
- Ingesting or injecting consumables can be crucial for success, and while many items have debuffs, there are core items that players should stock up on.
- New consumables introduced in the Phantom Liberty expansion are highly valuable, offering permanent buffs and enhancing gameplay.
With so much focus on crafting, equipment, and cybernetics, it's almost as though consumables have been an afterthought in Cyberpunk 2077, which would explain why players are finding the Very Hard difficulty a bit too extreme. The difference between wins and losses in Night City is razer thin and ignoring an entire series of buffs is going to make the journey close to impossible.
Those who are sick and tired of reloading autosaves in Cyberpunk 2077 should give serious consideration to ingesting or injecting more of their consumables. Many of these items are net negatives and only exist to provide flavor to the world. The alcohol is pretty much all debuffs and punishment. But there are a few core items that V will stock up on that are imperative to victory.
Updated on September 27th, 2023 by Hodey Johns: With Patch 2.0 live and the Phantom Liberty expansion now out, players are finding that there are a handful of new consumables that absolutely deserve to be on this list. There are a few items sold by vendors in Dogtown that V can consume and then gain a permanent buff from, much more valuable than the usual little bit of healing here and there. There was some debate about whether to include the items or not since V doesn't technically have to have the food in the inventory after eating it, but the spirit of this list is to identify the best consumables that every build should have and so they have been included.
10 Oxy Booster
- Allows V to breathe underwater.
This is an item that players won't care about until they need one. Mainland Night City is one beast, but the offshore area is another and there are plenty of hidden items, side gigs, and secret locations in the water. Inquisitive players who want to get all of Phantom Liberty's endings will find themselves underwater every so often.
There's no real segment of the game that forces V to go through a long stretch underwater, but it's handy when looking for something on the ocean floor so gamers don't have to constantly come back up for air.
9 Bounce Back
- Instantly restores 15%/20%/25%.
- Grants health regeneration of 3%/4%/6%.
- Lasts for 30 seconds.
The very first level of this consumable does incredible amounts of healing, more than enough to get V back to full health from almost any circumstance, even during the game's best and most intense side quests. Higher levels of this craftable unit make V feel invincible in the middle of a bullet storm.
8 MaxDoc
- Instantly restores 40%/60%/80% of health.
Players will recognize this as the default consumable when starting the game. There are plenty of things Cyberpunk 2077 does well, and giving starting players a few charges of this is perfect. The best pistols available don't have unlimited range, so plan on taking a few hits here and there.
It's just a basic heal for overall health, but it's a huge number. And it's the ideal unit to hotkey for quick use, as soon as the screen starts to flash red, there is no other item that V would rather have at the ready.
7 Capacity Booster
- Increases carrying capacity by 50%.
- Lasts for 1600 seconds.
Gamers who have seen the "You're carrying too much! Remove unnecessary items from your inventory," message more than a few times will want to have a Capacity Booster on them regularly.
Meticulous players who manage their inventory well will still need to use this consumable during longer main plot missions, which don't allow time to place items in the vault. Don't be afraid to take some of this powder anytime the message pops up to finish with a 50% increase in carrying capacity and then get to a sell-down station before the buff ends. It makes buying a car in the game much easier to save up for.
6 Shards
- Increases a skill tree's experience by 500.
-OR-
- Grants one perk point.
The game has been notoriously stingy with giving out experience, which makes a shard that gives out 500 experience in a given tree an extremely pleasant exception to that general rule. Players can't choose which skill they get to increase, but it's well worth it to collect them all anyhow. Some shards grant a perk point so that players can grab one of the best perks for any build.
Those who are wondering where this consumable is in the inventory will be searching for a long time. The item is used automatically when it is picked up. These valuable skill shards are found on cyberpsychos and in secret areas. Complete the quest "Psycho Killer" to nab all seventeen targets that potentially carry these shards.
5 Food
- Applies the Nourishment status, giving V 5% max health and 0.5% health regeneration per second outside of combat.
- Lasts for 450 seconds.
All generic food, whether it is gas station sushi or escargot in a box, will give V a Nourishment buff. Unlike some other action-adventure games, V does not appear to put on any pounds, so eat guilt-free.
Also unlike some of the other buffs on this list, it only lasts for 7 minutes and 30 seconds. However, food is everywhere and, so long as V is doing missions expeditiously, this buff that adds 5% to max health and 0.5% to health regeneration should probably never need to fall off.
4 Drink
- Applies the Hydration status, giving V 10% max stamina and 50% stamina regeneration per second.
- Lasts for 450 seconds.
While it might not be possible to survive on just soda in real life, in Night City, drink away. Everything from healthy, sparkling water to Cirrus Cola Blood Breeze will give this buff out as a reward.
Like the food buff, it lasts for seven and a half minutes, so it's best to take food and drink in at the same time to keep them both refreshed. The soda vending machines are all over the place, so don't worry too much about running out of beverages.
3 Prototype Pseudoembryonic Cell Builder
- Permanently increases max health by 3.
Three health might not seem like a big deal but it's forever. After taking the oath, some enemies and bosses are going to be able to take a huge chunk out of V's health. Even if players never get below three health, the Prototype Pseudoembryonic Cell Builder can still save V's life.
Think of all the healing and buffs that are based on a percentage of the character's maximum health. This will permanently boost all of those buffs in addition to maximum health. Since the effect lasts forever, there's no reason not to pick this up in Dogtown.
2 Dendritic Protoplasma Supplier
- Permanently increases RAM Recovery Rate by 2%.
Even an elite gunslinger build will want to have a few hacks ready to go. Gacking somebody right away makes the entire encounter easier to take on. An increase in RAM recovery means being able to hack more frequently and less time waiting between encounters.
For those with straight hacker builds, this is obviously beneficial. A small 3% boost to RAM recovery rate may not sound like much but the result is having access to the best hacks with a higher frequency.
1 Military-Grade Lactic Acid Recyclers
- Permanently increases stamina regeneration rate by 3%.
Even the stealthiest snipers and hackers will need stamina. Running out of stamina is a great way to lose fights that would otherwise be winnable. Stamina management is something that will be constant over the course of a playthrough.
Increasing stamina regeneration rate by 3% will let V jump one more time, run a little further, or execute one last slide. It may not seem like much, but this is frequently the difference between life and death.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and PC.