Cyberpunk 2077 Cyberware Rework Proposal
Objective: Enhance immersion in Cyberpunk 2077 by introducing cyberware tied to specific corporations, each with unique identities, visual styles, and gameplay trade-offs. Cyberware is divided into tiers (White/Green/Blue, Blue/Purple, Purple/Legendary) and includes Realskin customization to give players a sense of progression and personalization in Night City.
Core Features:
White/Green/Blue Tier (Common, Affordable Cyberware)
Zetatech
Blue/Purple Tier (Mid-to-High-End Cyberware)
Fuyutsuki Electronics
Purple/Legendary Tier (Elite, Rare Cyberware)
Moore Technologies
Realskin Customization
Implementation Details
Objective: Enhance immersion in Cyberpunk 2077 by introducing cyberware tied to specific corporations, each with unique identities, visual styles, and gameplay trade-offs. Cyberware is divided into tiers (White/Green/Blue, Blue/Purple, Purple/Legendary) and includes Realskin customization to give players a sense of progression and personalization in Night City.
Core Features:
- Corporation-Based Identities: Each manufacturer (e.g., Zetatech, Arasaka) has distinct color schemes and designs reflecting their market role in Night City.
- Tiered System: Cyberware ranges from affordable, flawed White/Green/Blue to elite, high-risk Purple/Legendary, based on cost, rarity, and power.
- Realskin Customization: Cyberarms can be coated with Realskin to hide mechanical parts at a cost in Eddies, enhancing role-playing and visual evolution.
- Immersion: Unique aesthetics, trade-offs (e.g., Zetatech’s hack susceptibility, QianT’s humanity cost), and corporation-specific styles make cyberware feel like real products.
White/Green/Blue Tier (Common, Affordable Cyberware)
Zetatech
- Identity: Very cheap cyberdecks and neuro-implants, accessible but prone to hacking.
- Aesthetic: Neon green and white plastic casings, mass-produced with visible wiring.
- Trade-Off: Susceptible to hacking; all netrunner NPCs gain a hack speed buff against the player, increasing with each Zetatech implant.
- Cyberware:
- Cyberdeck: Affordable, basic quickhack functionality, highly vulnerable to enemy hacks.
- Neural Implant: Boosts RAM or quickhack speed slightly but increases hack susceptibility.
- Identity: Cheap subdermal armor and basic Gorilla Arms for industrial workers, functional but unrefined.
- Aesthetic: Dull gray or rusted metal, heavy with visible seams.
- Trade-Off: Subdermal armor has a slight weight penalty and makes a metallic clank when walking, showing its heaviness. Gorilla Arms are strong but lack finesse.
- Cyberware:
- Subdermal Armor: Increases health but adds a weight penality.
- Gorilla Arms: Basic Tier 2 cyberarms for industrial workers, seen on poor NPCs in Night City. Boosts melee damage and allows forced opening of doors.
- Identity: Cheap alternative to Kiroshi optics, prioritizing utility over style.
- Aesthetic: Utilitarian, resembling Batou’s eyes in Ghost in the Shell, with no customization for aesthetics.
- Trade-Off: Susceptible to hacking (like Zetatech) and lacks microtargeting, removing critical hit bonuses.
- Cyberware:
- Optics: Basic implants with thermal and night vision but no critical hit bonus, vulnerable to hacks.
Blue/Purple Tier (Mid-to-High-End Cyberware)
Fuyutsuki Electronics
- Identity: Electronic convenience manufacturer offering secure cyberdecks with a unique operating system and distinct UI.
- Aesthetic: Sleek silver and blue, with a clean, blue holographic UI for cyberdecks, different from other manufacturers.
- Trade-Off: Better security against hacks but less offensive power for quickhacks.
- Cyberware:
- Cyberdeck: Runs on a custom OS with a unique blue UI, reducing enemy hack success but increasing RAM cost for combat quickhacks.
- Identity: Combat-oriented neuralware and cyberdecks, built for offense.
- Aesthetic: Red and black, with a chaotic, hacker-punk design.
- Trade-Off: Stronger combat quickhacks but less secure against enemy hacks.
- Cyberware:
- Cyberdeck and Neuralware: Boost combat quickhack damage and reduce RAM cost, but increase hack susceptibility.
- Identity: Reliable, nearly hack-proof optics with microtargeting.
- Aesthetic: Polished chrome and red lenses, customizable and premium.
- Trade-Off: Steep price but top-tier performance.
- Cyberware:
- Kiroshi Optics: Nearly hack-proof, with microtargeting for critical hit bonuses in most models, plus thermal and night vision.
- Identity: Reliable, military-grade implants for combat, mass-produced.
- Aesthetic: Black slick corpo style or green/yellow company colors, rugged and tactical. Unapologetically heavy & powerful sounding like a shotgun pump.
- Trade-Off: Expensive but balanced; some models reach Legendary tier.
- Cyberware:
- Implants: Berserk, Sandevistan, neural implants, Projectile Launch System, and Gorilla Arms, boosting combat stats.
- Example: Militech Falcon Sandevistan (Legendary)
Purple/Legendary Tier (Elite, Rare Cyberware)
Moore Technologies
- Identity: High-end cyberarms for the 1% market, luxurious and deadly.
- Aesthetic: Polished gold, chrome, or a patterned silver design inspired by Sheitan’s full-body conversion (intricate patterns on silver skin).
- Trade-Off: Extremely expensive but includes Realskin for free and offers great functionality.
- Cyberware:
- Mantis Blades and Gorilla Arms: High melee damage and unique patterned silver designs, capable of opening all locks.
- Identity: High-end combat cyberware, elite and nearly unhackable.
- Aesthetic: Black and red, with samurai-inspired designs and Japanese motifs. Sounds like a katana being unsheathed.
- Trade-Off: Extremely expensive, low hack susceptibility, with countermeasures that damage enemy netrunners.
- Cyberware:
- Implants: Sandevistan, neural implants, Monowire, and Mantis Blades with high combat stats and feedback damage to netrunners.
- Identity: Experimental combat cyberware with unique capabilities.
- Aesthetic: Purple and neon blue, chaotic and experimental.
- Trade-Off: High-risk, high-reward with significant humanity costs.
- Cyberware:
- Warp Dancer Sandevistan: Extremely slow time for extended duration.
- Kerenzikov (proposition): Locks onto the first enemy shooting V, deflects bullets with a saber, and performs an execution, with high humanity cost.
- Identity: Top-tier hacking gear exclusive to NetWatch.
- Aesthetic: Dark gray and yellow, with a surveillance-state design and secure UI.
- Trade-Off: Extremely rare, cannot be purchased (loot only), but offers unmatched hacking power thanks to Netwatch exclusive exploits.
- Cyberware:
- Cyberdeck: Near-instant quickhack uploads and reduced RAM usage.
- Cyberdeck: Near-instant quickhack uploads and reduced RAM usage.
Realskin Customization
- Functionality: Available for all cyberarms (Gorilla Arms, Mantis Blades, Monowire, Projectile Launch System). Hides mechanical parts to mimic human skin. Costs Eddies but could offer a slight reduction on humanity cost.
- Aesthetic: Matches V’s skin tone or reflects corporation styles (e.g., Moore’s patterned silver Sheitan Skin inspired by Sheitan’s full-body conversion, Dynalar’s rough texture).
Implementation Details
- Progression: White/Green/Blue cyberware available early. Blue/Purple requires mid-to-high Street Cred. Purple/Legendary locked behind high Street Cred or gigs.
- Immersion: Each corporation’s cyberware has unique animations and sounds for exemple Dynalar’s clank, Arasaka's sharp metalic deploiment and exclusive UI for Fuyutsuki exclusive OS.
- Acquisition: Lower tiers at most Ripperdocs. Blue/Purple at select vendors. Legendary gear looted from elite enemies (e.g., NetWatch agents, Arasaka operatives) or black-market gigs.