Cyberpunk 2077's Five Best Quickhacks
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An inventory full of Legendary- and epic-quality quickhacks and a fully loaded cyberdeck.
Netrunning—hacking enemies and systems—is one of the more unique aspects of Cyberpunk 2077’s world. Quickhacks are the offensive tools of the netrunner, causing damage or limiting enemy capabilities. Unfortunately, a cyberdeck can only hold a limited number of quickhacks at a time, so knowing what to use can be difficult depending on one’s character build. These are only five of the quickhacks avaialable, but will come in handy no matter your build..
Short Circuit
One of the default quickhacks V has, short circuit remained on my cyberdeck throughout the entire game. It does more damage to mechanical enemies by default, but even the damage it does to squishy enemies is impressive. Improved variants apply EMP effects, disabling cybernetic abilities, and dish out even more damage. My netrunner can take out most mid-threat (equal level) enemies in one cast. Tack on a quick, if not immediate, load time and a low RAM cost and short circuit solidifies itself as a netrunner’s best friend. As a bonus, it’s non-lethal, so it’s a perfect weapon against those pesky cyberpsychos.
Cripple
Don’t overlook the usefulness of control hacks, those quickhacks that don’t do any damage but instead apply a powerful effect. Cripple stops a single enemy in their tracks, making them an easy target or removing them from the fight for a time. Not only is this a showstopper for melee enemies, but an upgraded version of cripple also adds an infection effect, spreading the quickhack to nearby targets. The epic version also prevents enemies from attacking, meaning a netrunner with this bad boy can freeze a group in place for easy pickings. This also makes cripple a great tool for leveling other offensive skills without fear of being under-powered. As a final, juicy, benefit, some bosses are susceptible to cripple, becoming a tasty, helpless bullet sponge for a limited time.
Contagion
The world of Cyberpunk 2077 is full of wonderful detail, and as a piece of the diegesis, I absolutely love contagion. This quickhack disables the systems that maintain the balance between cybernetics and organic material. Hormone regulation, immune response, infection protection, all sorts of things our bodies would need if we had tech installed in our meat suddenly stop working, and an instant sickness takes hold. Contagion spreads from a single target, not only dealing damage over time to a group, but causing those affected to vomit and spasm. V can soften up enemies for easy dispatch as well as create openings in the midst of a firefight. Like short circuit, contagion is non-lethal, but unlike short circuit, it’s kinda gross, but in a good way.
Ping
It may not be flashy, but ping’s utility is undeniable. Using ping on an enemy or device will highlight all enemies and devices in the connected network for a short time. Not only is this useful for stealthy dispatching and cheap enough for any build to use, but ping also shows physical access points to a system. Want to figure out how to turn off all surveillance cameras or automated turrets at once? Use ping and sneak over to that laptop or computer. At the least, you’ll see all pinged enemies at all times during a firefight. Nope, no flanking or hiding for you, gonk! NIfty.
Suicide
It is what it says it is. This ultimate quickhack is expensive and takes a while to load, but it’s an instant-kill. Plus, it’ll freak out enemies around the target. With the right cyberdeck, it can infect another target as well. Let your enemies do your work for you!
BONUS: Legendary quickhacks
Okay, so I’m cheating a little, but one can’t talk about great quickhacks without mentioning legendary-quality quickhacks. Legendary, or orange, quickhacks have the most effects and often come with a passive that is in effect as long as the quickhack is equipped. Some of these passives are worth having the quickhack equipped, even if you don’t plan on actively using them. Weapon jam and reboot optics, which cause temporary weapon malfunction and blindness, have passives that load their effects as deamos during a breach protocol. Any enemies loaded with these daemons will jam their weapons on the first trigger pull or automatically go blind when they see the player. Breach protocol has no cost. The combination of effects makes enemies helpless for a good deal of time. Pay attention to passive bonuses.