How to create and customize your character in Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 character customization
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Curious as to how far Cyberpunk 2077's character customization lets you go? It's no surprise that CD Project Red's huge RPG offers a detailed character creation system. There are lots of aspects to browse as you make adjustments to V, from tweaking their appearance, to fine-tuning perks and attributes. Then there are Cyberware implants to consider, which grant you even more useful abilities.

Customizing V's look and skills extends further into their past, too. So, you'll also need to pick a Cyberpunk 2077 lifepath to establish their backstory. There are plenty of ways to make V feel like the perfect character for you. Here's everything you need to know about character customization in Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk 2077 character customization: What are the possibilities?

Appearance and body type

Cyberpunk 2077's character creation is very deep, allowing us to adjust tiny aspects of V's appearance, spanning their face, hair, scars, and more. But do know that after this initial creation process, you cannot change your appearance in Cyberpunk 2077. Weird, right? In a game about body modification. You can't even visit a barber. Perhaps they've gone extinct five decades from now.

There are also presets to choose between if you just want to jump straight into the game. After choosing your lifepath, you'll choose between two body types, then you can begin adjusting all the appearance options in Cyberpunk 2077's character creator:

Reach immortality with these Cyberpunk guides

Cyberpunk

(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Cyberpunk 2077 lifepaths: Which to choose
Cyberpunk 2077 map: What you need to know
Cyberpunk 2077 romance options
Cyberpunk 2077 builds: Best so far
Cyberpunk 2077 Braindance: How it works
Cyberpunk 2077 cars: Race around Night City
Cyberpunk 2077 hacking: How to do it

  • Voice tone
  • Skin tone
  • Skin type
  • Hairstyle
  • Hair colour
  • Eyes
  • Eye colour
  • Eyebrows
  • Eyebrow colour
  • Nose
  • Mouth
  • Jaw
  • Ears
  • Cyberware
  • Facial scars
  • Facial tattoos
  • Piercings
  • Piercing colour
  • Teeth
  • Eye makeup
  • Eye makeup colour
  • Lip makeup
  • Lip makeup colour
  • Cheek makeup
  • Cheek makeup colour
  • Blemishes
  • Blemish colour
  • Nails 
  • Nail colour
  • Chest
  • Nipples
  • Body tattoos
  • Body scars
  • Genitals
  • Penis size
  • Pubic hair style
  • Pubic hair colour

Cyberware

(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

One of the most interesting customization options is Cyberpunk 2077 Cyberware, which covers the implants you can use to gain special abilities. There are lots of slots to fill across V's body, and the Cyberware items span different rarities, with some taking up more room on your character. There's a selection of active and passive implants, as well as some that will trigger at specific times, e.g. when your health is low.

Attributes and perks

(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Attributes are the categories in which you can invest skill points. Each attribute also has a specific set of perks, which allow you to focus on using certain weapons, crafting, engineering, and more. Here are the core attributes your character can start the game with in Cyberpunk 2077 and some of their related perks:

  • Body: Raw physical power. Investing points in this attribute allow you to upgrade your health, stamina, and melee damage. It's perks are athletics, annihilation, and street brawler. 
  • Intelligence: Assigning points to this category makes hacking easier, increases your RAM capacity, quickhack damage, and duration. It's associated perks are breach protocol and quickhacking.
  • Reflexes: Improves your speed and agility. Spend points here to increase your attack speed and evasiveness. These perks influence your effectiveness with blades, handguns, and assault.  
  • Technical: Upgrading this attribute allows you to unlock doors and use Tech weapons. It also increases your armor. Technical encompasses the crafting and engineering perks.
  • Cool: This is all about keeping your, well, cool. Upgrading this stat results makes you more stealthy and improves your effect resistance. It also increases your crit damage, and its perks are stealth and cold blood.
Emma Matthews

As PC Gamer's guides writer, Emma is usually juggling several games at once. She loves competitive first-person shooters like CS:GO and Call of Duty, but she always has time for a few rounds of Hearthstone. She's happiest when she's rescuing pugs in Spelunky 2.

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