In this Cyberpunk 2077 Build Guide I’ll be showing you my Smart Shooter Build which is a Build that uses the Smart technology of Cyberpunk 2077 to shred enemies without even having to aim. If you’re tired of dealing with cover and just want to run and gun, then you’ll definitely want to check out this Build.

Cyberpunk 2077 Builds: Smart Shooter (Submachine Gun) Character Guide Weapons Perks

The Smart Shooter Build uses Smart Link Cyberware, as well as Smart Submachine Guns and Smart Assault Rifles to obliterate enemies while on the run, rarely if ever staying still. In fact this Build benefits from being on the move, so ideally you’d never stop moving.

By equipping Smart Link Cyberware we can take advantage of the automatic targeting system of these Weapons that allows you to hip fire while constant running and gunning, without the need to slow down to aim. This Build plays a bit like Neo from the Matrix, as you can also slow down time.

Smart Shooter Attributes

Attributes needed for this Build are Reflexes and Body, as well as Cool. Reflexes is needed for increased Movement Speed, as well as Evasion and increased Critical Chance. It also allows you to gain better Assault Perks, which are needed for this Build.

Body is needed to increase your Health, Stamina and to gain access to some Athletics Perks and Annihilation Perks which will help increase your damage as well as keep you alive.

Cool is needed to gain the benefit of Cold Blood and to unlock better Cold Blood Perks which make it more effective. The added Critical Damage and Resistances is just an added bonus.

Your Attributes should look something like this:

• Reflexes: 20
• Body: 20
• Cool: Dump the rest here.

Unlike some other Builds, you won’t rush your main Stat (Reflexes) right out of the gate, and instead will spend points fairly evenly between Reflexes and Body, slightly favoring Reflexes. This is because there are some excellent passives needed in Athletics and Annihilation that will not only help keep you alive, but also improve your damage. Save Cool for last because you’ll need serious investment to see much difference here.

Smart Shooter Perks

In this section we’ll take a look at what Perks you should acquire in order to get the best performance from this Build. Reflexes is our top priority, and since it contains Assault Perks, we’ll begin there. It’s important to note that in many cases higher level Perks are better than lower level ones, so if you haven’t maxed a lower level Perk out when you unlock a higher level Perk, you might want to come back to it later on.

Assault Perks

Bulletjock – This Perk increases your damage with Submachine Guns and Rifles by a small amount, but every bit counts so you’ll max this one out.

Bullseye – This Perk increases your damage with these Weapons while aiming, which you will do sometimes. You don’t even have to really aim with Smart Weapons, so this just increases your damage for essentially holding aim.

Executioner – This Perk increases your damage against enemies that have more than half their Health. This will be quite often so this is a really good Perk to have.

Duck Hunter – This Perk increases your damage against moving enemies. Ideally every enemy you’d fight would be moving to gain this bonus as well as make it easier for you to hit them since your bullets don’t go through cover but do home onto the enemy, even when moving. Max this out.

Shoot, Reload, Repeat – This Perk speeds up your Reload time after you kill an enemy. With the setup we use you should gain this benefit nearly every time you reload. Lighting fast reloads help you get back into the action.

Feel the Flow – This Perk further reduces your Reload time, so you’ll take it. You want the least down time possible between shots fired, and this Perk can help with that too.

Named Bullets – This Perk increases your Critical Damage with Submachine Guns and Rifles by a substantial amount. Aim to get your Crit Chance high to take advantage of it.

Long Shot – This Perk increases the damage of your shots the further you are from your target. This works very very well here since your bullets can home from very far away. Take this one as soon as you can.

Athletics and Annihilation Perks

Regeneration – This Perk heals you over time while in combat. It doesn’t do a lot of healing, but you can increase it with future Perks making it much more useful.

Invincible – This Perk increases your Health making you harder to kill. Normally I wouldn’t recommend this because you can’t spare the Perk Points, but it’s fine here because you are using very specific Perks from Assault. Max this one out eventually.

Epimorphosis – This Perk allows you to heal to full every time you leave combat. This saves a lot of healing items, and means you’ll always engage your enemies at full Health, which is great. Max this one out.

Dead Center – This Annihilation Perk increases your damage to the torso of the enemy. Since you cannot control exactly where your bullets will hit most of the time, taking this Perk should increase your damage with the majority of your rounds.

Divided Attention – This Perk allows you to reload while sprinting, sliding and vaulting. This saves you time since you can do two things at once, and you may need to do this while getting the hell out of the way of gunfire.

Cardio Cure – This Perk increases your Health regeneration by a modest amount while you are moving. You’ll be moving quite a bit with this Build so every little bit of healing helps!

Momentum Shift – This Annihilation Perk increases your Movement Speed whenever you kill an enemy. You want to move fast so you are not hit, and this Perk helps with that.

Multitasker – This Perk allows you to shoot while sprinting, sliding and vaulting. You’ll be doing all these things a lot, and you don’t want to have to stop firing if you can help it, making it a solid Perk for this Build.

Speed Demon – This Annihilation Perk increases your damage the faster you are moving. You can get to moving very very fast with this Build, so that synergizes nicely.

Dog of War – This Perk further increases your Health regeneration in combat, which helps to keep you alive. You cannot have enough Health regeneration so you’ll take this one.

Wolverine – This Perk speeds up the time needed for your Health regeneration to begin in combat, which makes your Health regeneration more effective in general. You should get a ton of Health regeneration with this Build.

Cold Blood Perks

Cold Blood – This Perk gives you a buff that lasts 10 seconds when you kill an enemy. It starts out as only a movement speed increase, but as you progress you’ll unlock other benefits as well. Take this one immediately in order to begin gaining experience in this Perk tree since at level 2 you gain a permanent Crit Chance boost.

Will to Survive – This Perk increases your Resistances with each kill. It’s not the greatest of the Perks here, but it will increase your survive ability, which is needed on harder difficulties.

Critical Condition – This Perk increases the duration of your Cold Blood buff. You want this to be as long as you can, so this is a must have Perk for this Build. Max it out as soon as you can.

Rapid Bloodflow – This Perk increases your Health regeneration in and out of combat for each stack of Cold Blood you have. The more healing you can get the better, so you’ll take this one.

Defensive Clotting – Another Perk that will help keep you alive, but this one increases your Armor with each stack of Cold Blood. You can never have enough defense, so this is good to have.

Frozen Precision – This Perk just increases your Headshot damage, plain and simple. Many of your shots will be headshots (even with Smart Targeting), so this will increase your damage when that happens.

Cold and Calculating – This Perk gives you a chance of gaining a Cold Blood stack when you Critically Hit. You do lot’s of Critical Hits with this Build so that synergizes nicely.

Coolagulant – This Perk makes you lose only one stack of Cold Blood at a time, further increasing the duration you maintain its buffs. This one can make your buffs last much much longer, so take it.

Smart Shooter Equipment

In this section we’ll take a look at what equipment is needed to play the Smart Shooter Build. We’ll begin with Weapons first since they are very important to this Build.

Weapons

In order to play a Smart Shooter you will absolutely have to have a Smart Weapon of some sort, since you cannot use the auto-targeting feature without a weapon of this type. For this Build you’ll either want a Smart Submachine Gun or a Smart Assault Rifle. Submachine Guns usually have higher rate of fire, while Assault Rifles have longer range. Try out both and see which you like more, or just have one of each.

I like to use full auto versions of these Weapons because I find it easier than having to keep tapping fire with some burst variants. You have to move, shoot and slide a lot with this Build, so having to also keep pulling the trigger can be a bit much to manage with everything else happening on the screen.

Add mods to increase Crit Chance or Crit Damage if you can, and don’t forget to upgrade your weapon to deal more damage if it’s a lower level than you. You want to deal maximum per shot damage if you can.

Armor

Armor-wise, you want to look for bonuses to Crit Chance or Crit Damage ideally. Having more Armor is of course better, but you will have decent survive ability regardless. If you’re playing on Very Hard though, you might want to prioritize more Armor. Since these bonuses are randomized as well, you’ll just have to keep an eye out.

Additionally, you can mod some Armors for added effects, so it’s not a bad idea to craft or find these as well. Use the Wiki for their locations.

Cyberware

Cyberware is extremely important for this Build because you cannot use the Smart Targeting feature without the appropriate Cyberware. Be sure to pick up the Smart Link from a Ripperdoc as soon as you can, because you cannot auto-target without it.

Additionally, I also like to use Kerenzikov and Synaptic Accelerator which allow you to slow time occasionally during and at the beginning of combat. They are a ton of fun to use, and add a bit of flare to the shooting of this Build.

The Threat Detector Mod really helps with this Build because it allows you see targets that are hostile to you, so that you can use your Smart Targeting against them more easily. You’ll always know where to shoot next with this Mod, so always have it slotted.

Biomonitor is also fantastic because it automatically heals you when your Health drops below a certain point, allowing you to keep on fighting without having to stop to heal. This also requires Body to use, but you will have enough to use it eventually, and you can upgrade as you go.

Final Tips

Using the Mass Vulnerability Daemon before you run into combat can help with harder areas of the game. It reduces enemy Physical Resistances, allowing you to deal more damage. Make sure you take this Perk if you’re having trouble, as you can get it right away.

You will most assuredly have ammo issues with this Build and the easiest way to deal with this is by Crafting Ammo. You can just go into your Crafting Menu, look for the appropriate Ammo type and craft it using materials. You can make a ton at once so you don’t have to craft for awhile. It’s really easy to do!

You could use other Smart Weapons for this Build besides Assault Rifles and SMGs, but you would have to invest points into their passives to make them as effective. Assault Rifles and Submachine Gunes share the same passives for the most part, so they make a natural choice.

Lastly, if you’re having trouble finding a Smart weapon, you can usually find them at Vendors around the map. They are not super common though, so you may have to fast travel around a bit to find one. It took me about an hour to find a decent one once I started looking, but you may be luckier than me!

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Stay tuned for more of Cyberpunk 2077 Build Guides, and be sure to drop by the Cyberpunk 2077 wiki for all your Night City needs. Or you can drop by our Twitch Channel and say hi as we stream the game over the next couple of weeks! And make sure to check out our Early Impressions and Character Creation!