My first playthrough I basically ended up doing and getting the most OP things in the game, though accidentally. I didn't go looking for guides on how to become overpowered, but ended up getting that way just by doing what I thought was interesting. Netrunning with legendary Ping, legendary Contagion, decks that increase spread, crafted armor loaded with crafted Armadillo mods since most of the other mods don't work, and a Skippy that's permanently in headshot mode because I wanted the headshot bonus but then immediately put a Pax on it because my V was a pacifist... It was fun, but way too easy.
So for my second playthrough I thought I'd challenge myself with a cyberware-only playthrough. No guns or any other weapon that can be equipped in a weapon slot, no grenades, no consumables, and no armor. I'd just punch or stealth takedown everything until I was able to grab the legendary Monowire from the garage near Judy's, then eventually switch from that to Gorilla Arms, with the Projectile Launch System with tranq rounds an option if it ended up a bit too difficult. And to keep me alive, I'd rely on the buffs from Cold Blood, which I pretty much completely ignored in my first playthrough since I didn't really understand what exactly it did.
That idea didn't last through the first few missions.
It turns out that at low levels there's no way to regenerate health other than consumables, not everything can be stealthed, it's remarkably hard to punch your way through a gunfight, and running around naked when people are shooting at you just really isn't as fun as it might sound. I also ditched the idea of relying on monowire as my primary weapon after the second time I died from accidentally hitting an explosive canister. So I've eased up a bit and allowed myself to use consumables, and to wear clothes as long as I find them (or buy them, even though I haven't felt the need yet). But no equippable weapons of any kind, no grenades, and no crafting. I've been hacking a bit more than I'd like, but primarily with the intent of picking up a legendary Short Circuit from an access point to add a bit of damage to my attacks since I'm relying on secondhand clothes, subdermal armor, and the bonuses from Cold Blood to keep me alive long enough to take down all of the enemies. I've also been putting most of my skill points into Int, but just until I hit 16 to qualify for the legendary Limbic System Enhancement and Visual Cortex Support mods. After that, I'll focus on getting Body and Cool to 20. I don't see any reason to increase Ref or Tech above 3, so I'll likely eventually get Int up to 20 as well.
So far, so fun. I'm currently at level 17 with 34 SC, and the game definitely feels different this time around, at least when I'm not hacking. I kind of thought that once I got the legendary Short Circuit that I'd be able to rip through everything in my path, but I currently get shredded in City Center, Heywood, or Santo Domingo unless I can take enemies out one at a time with stealth. And I don't really remember feeling like I was too weak for an area in my first playthough, maybe because I was taking down everyone from a distance. Even so, I'm playing a lot more aggressively than in my first playthough, at least in Watson, Westwood, and Pacifica where I can pretty reliably ride the Cold Blood train through an entire group of gang members.
