Cyberpunk 2077 Crafting Guide: Beginner Tips to Dominate Night City
🛠️ Cyberpunk 2077 Crafting Guide: Beginner Tips to Dominate Night City
Crafting in Cyberpunk 2077 gives you the power to build your own gear, upgrade iconic weapons, and customize your loadout — all without depending on vendor RNG. But for beginners, the system can feel overwhelming.
This guide will break down everything you need to know about crafting: from basic mechanics and component farming to essential perks and efficient strategies for early- to mid-game.
🔧 1. Crafting Basics: How It Works
Getting started with crafting is easy once you know where to look:
- Open Crafting Menu: Open your inventory, then tab over to Crafting.
- Crafting Specs: These are blueprints required to craft an item. They can be found as loot, purchased, or earned through missions.
- Components: Essential crafting materials. You can get them by:
- Disassembling weapons, armor, and junk
- Looting enemy bodies and containers
- Buying from vendors
📊 Component Tiers
Items and components come in tiers from Common (1) to Legendary (5++). Higher-tier gear requires better components, especially when upgrading iconic weapons.
⚠️ Post-2.0 Update Note: Crafting and upgrading now only require one component type per tier, simplifying the system significantly.
🚀 2. Getting Started with Crafting in Early Game
🎯 Focus on Disassembly
Early on, don’t worry about crafting high-end gear. You'll outgrow it quickly as you level.
- Disassemble everything you don’t need to stockpile components.
- Disassemble instead of selling if the item has a low eddie value.
🪙 What About Junk?
Some "junk" sells for more than the parts it gives. Others offer valuable components. It's a judgment call.
- Pro Tip: Unlock the Scrapper perk to auto-disassemble junk on pickup.
🧪 Leveling Crafting Skill
Crafting and disassembling items raises your Crafting skill, which unlocks:
- More specs
- Perk bonuses
- Reduced crafting costs
🧨 Start with low-tier grenades or ammo to build skill early on without wasting rare components.
🔥 3. Essential Crafting Perks You Should Unlock
To unlock the full potential of crafting, invest in Technical Ability, which governs the crafting tree.
🏗️ Must-Have Crafting Perks
| Perk | Effect | |---------|------------| | Mechanic | Increases components gained from disassembly | | True Craftsman | Allows crafting of Rare items | | Grease Monkey | Allows crafting of Epic items | | Edgerunner Artisan | Unlocks Legendary item crafting |
These perks will drastically improve your ability to gear up effectively without spending eddies.
🗡️ 4. Upgrading Iconic Weapons & Cyberware
✨ What Are Iconic Weapons?
Iconic weapons are unique gear with special traits — and they can be upgraded through all quality tiers (up to Legendary).
🔄 How to Upgrade Them
- Open the Crafting menu
- Go to the Upgrades tab
- Select your equipped iconic weapon
- Apply the upgrade (if you meet level + component requirements)
📜 Many iconic weapon blueprints are unlocked as you progress through the story or complete side gigs.
🧬 Upgrading Cyberware
You can upgrade equipped cyberware at Ripperdocs, provided:
- You have enough item components of the correct quality
- You meet the required Technical Ability level
💡 Tip: Don’t ignore cyberware upgrades — stronger limbs, optics, and operating systems give huge combat advantages.
⚙️ 5. Pro Tips for Efficient Crafting
Here are some practical tips to help you get the most out of crafting:
💼 Loot Everything
From street thugs to vending machines — pick up everything. You never know what components you'll get from:
- Random NPCs
- Junk piles
- Locked containers
💰 Sell or Disassemble? Choose Wisely
- Early game: Sell weapons to earn eddies
- Mid to late game: Disassemble most gear to farm components
🧠 Evaluate item value vs. component worth — especially for rare weapons.
🔍 Search for Crafting Specs
Specs are found in:
- Shops
- Looted from high-level enemies
- Side jobs and NCPD contracts
Some iconic item specs only drop during specific missions — explore thoroughly.
💣 Craft Grenades & Health Items
Don’t spend eddies on consumables. Craft grenades, health boosters, and stims regularly to stay stocked.
🎮 Experiment with Perks
The crafting system is flexible and build-dependent. Try different perk combinations, especially if you’re running:
- Techie/Netrunner builds (craft quickhacks)
- Melee builds (upgrade blunt/katanas)
- Stealth builds (craft silencers, EMP grenades)
📌 Final Thoughts: Why Crafting Matters
Crafting isn't just about saving money — it's about customizing your gameplay:
- Always have the gear you want
- Upgrade your favorite weapons instead of replacing them
- Gain control over your resources and loadout
Whether you're a veteran merc or new to the streets of Night City, mastering crafting ensures you’re never under-geared or unprepared.
Tags: Cyberpunk 2077
, Crafting Tips
, Beginner Guide
, Iconic Weapons
, Upgrading Gear
, RPG Mechanics