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How to Customize V's Appearance and Gear in Cyberpunk 2077

By Krishnamohan Yagneswaran
Games Blog

Cyberpunk 2077 Character Customization

Cyberpunk 2077 gives players a deep and stylish way to express themselves through character customization, outfits, and gear upgrades. Whether you're new to Night City or returning with the 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty, this guide walks you through how to customize V’s appearance, change clothes, equip mods, and upgrade your build.


🧑‍🎤 1. Changing V’s Appearance

You don’t have to commit to your look forever. With recent updates, changing V’s appearance is now more flexible than ever.

🔧 Initial Character Creation

When starting a new game, you’ll go through a detailed character creator, where you choose:

  • Gender presentation (body type, voice tone)
  • Skin tone and type
  • Eyes, hairstyle, hair color, eyebrows
  • Scars, tattoos, makeup, piercings
  • Facial cyberware
  • Lifepath (Nomad, Corpo, or Streetkid – affects story and dialogue)

⚠️ Note: Some choices like body type, voice tone, and facial tattoos are permanent and cannot be changed after this point.


🪞 In-Game Appearance Changes

After character creation, you can still modify a wide range of visual details for free.

🏠 Apartment Mirror

  • Approach the mirror in V’s apartment (or safehouses).
  • Select “Change Appearance.”
  • You can modify:
    • Hairstyle and hair color
    • Eye color
    • Makeup
    • Piercings
    • Scars
  • Completely free and unlimited use.

🧬 Ripperdocs

  • Visit any Ripperdoc in Night City.
  • Access the appearance change option from the interaction menu.
  • Offers additional options:
    • Skin tone and type
    • Cyberware appearance
  • Also free after Update 2.0.

🧠 Pro tip: Changing appearance mid-game is a great way to reflect story changes, character arcs, or just keep your look fresh.


🧥 2. Customizing Gear and Outfits

Your appearance isn't just about your face — it’s also about how you dress and the weapons you carry. Cyberpunk 2077 lets you rock the best gear while looking exactly how you want, thanks to the transmog (wardrobe) system.


🎽 Equipping Clothes and Gear

To equip armor and clothing:

  1. Open Inventory (press I on PC or Options on console).
  2. Navigate to:
    • Head
    • Upper Body
    • Lower Body
    • Special slot (e.g., face masks, special items)
  3. Select and equip items with the best stats or aesthetics.
  4. Hover over each item to view armor stats, mod slots, and resistances.

🧠 Tip: Mix and match armor types to balance resistances (thermal, chemical, electrical) and armor rating.


👗 Using the Transmog (Outfit/Wardrobe) System

Introduced in Update 2.0, this feature allows you to create visual outfits that don’t affect your actual armor stats.

How to Use:

  1. Visit the Wardrobe inside any of V’s apartments.
  2. Create up to six custom outfits using your collected clothing items.
  3. These outfits are purely visual – they’re layered over your actual gear.
  4. You can switch between them any time from the Inventory > Outfit tab.

✅ You get the benefits of your equipped gear without compromising your style.

🧠 Example:

  • Wear legendary armor gear for survivability.
  • Apply a streetwear, corpo, or nomad look over it via the wardrobe.

🧵 Clothing Mods

Certain clothing items come with mod slots for enhancing stats.

  • Mod slots are indicated by small gray circles on gear icons.
  • Mods include bonuses such as:
    • Increased armor
    • Boosted resistances
    • Reduced detection
    • Increased movement speed

⚠️ Most clothing mods are single-use and cannot be removed once applied.

Best Mod Example:

  • Armadillo Mod
    • Grants extra armor that scales with level.
    • Found in the Watson District as a crafting spec, according to PCGamesN.
    • Great for early- to mid-game survivability.

🔫 3. Upgrading Iconic Weapons and Cyberware

While most regular weapons and armor can no longer be upgraded post-Update 2.0, iconic gear and cyberware can be improved.

🛠 How to Upgrade:

  1. Go to Inventory > Crafting > Upgrades.
  2. Select an iconic weapon or cyberware item.
  3. If you have the right components and meet level requirements:
    • Click “Upgrade” to improve damage or effect.
  4. Upgraded gear retains its iconic traits and flavor text.

🧠 Important:

  • Only iconic weapons and cyberware can be upgraded this way.
  • Standard clothing and weapons must be replaced as you find better gear.

🎮 Bonus: Quick Customization Tips

Here are a few quick ideas to maximize your character's personalization and style:

  • Use Optical Camo cyberware to make stealth gear pop.
  • Match your outfits to lifepath themes: corpo suits, nomad leathers, or punk jackets.
  • Roleplay V’s style changes based on quests or major story events.
  • Combine Sandevistan + katana for a sleek ninja aesthetic.
  • Go full cyberpsycho with visible chrome and glowing implants.

🧠 Final Thoughts

Cyberpunk 2077’s customization system offers deep personalization, letting you build a V that not only fights like a legend but looks like one, too. Whether you're tweaking your hairstyle in the mirror, crafting armor-boosting mods, or rocking designer outfits while firing a legendary shotgun, Night City is your fashion playground.

TL;DR

  • Change your appearance anytime using the mirror or Ripperdocs.
  • Equip high-stat gear, then layer style on top using the Wardrobe system.
  • Use clothing mods to boost resistances or stealth.
  • Upgrade iconic weapons and cyberware through the Crafting > Upgrades tab.
  • Express your build, theme, or vibe with full freedom.

Stay stylish, samurai. 🦾

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