Cyberpunk 2077 in 2026: how to start without wasting the first ten hours

01//Pick a lifepath for the story, not for stats

Nomad, Streetkid and Corpo change the first hour and add dialogue options later, not your abilities. Corpo has the most dramatic opening, Nomad the most likeable supporting cast, Streetkid the most Night City flavour. None locks you out of a build.

02//Commit to one combat school early

Since update 2.0, perks reward specialisation. Pick one of three directions for your first 20 levels: guns with Reflexes or Technical Ability, blades with Reflexes and Body, or netrunning with Intelligence. You can respec once you have tried it, but spreading points thin early makes the first acts harder than they need to be.

03//When to start Phantom Liberty

The expansion begins with a call that arrives early in the second act, shortly after the prologue heist, once the full city is open. It is tuned for mid-game characters, so there is no need to rush. Finish it before the main story's point of no return: it adds a new ending option to the finale.

04//Side stories worth your time

Look for the longer storylines with Panam (the Aldecaldos nomads), Judy (her lakeside apartments and braindance work), River (a detective case) and Kerry (a rockstar). They are the best writing in the game. Fixer gigs are good, but these questlines are where Night City becomes personal.

05//Settings to check first

Turn on an upscaler (DLSS, FSR or XeSS depending on your GPU) before reducing quality presets. Crowd density costs CPU; drop it first if you see stutter in busy districts. On Steam Deck, the built-in Steam Deck preset is a good starting point.