'Cyberpunk 2077' 1.6 Guide: Annihilator Shotgun Build

Melee weapons in "Cyberpunk 2077" are strong, but nothing quite beats the punch that only shotguns can deliver.

Normally, wading through a hail of gunfire would be a death sentence in any other game. However, "Cyberpunk 2077" offers tons of ways to build a character to fit many different playstyles. Here's one that focuses on closing gaps and blasting enemies away.

Attributes and Perks

Players will want to invest in the Body attribute for the most part. Feel free to put points in the other attributes so long as the majority of them go into Body for the added health, stamina and max level caps for the Annihilator and Athletics trees.

Under the Annihilator tree, take the following perks:

• In Your Face – increases reload speed with shotguns
• Hail of Bullets – increases shotgun damage
• Dead Center – shotguns deal more damage when hitting enemy torsos
• Heavy Lead – shotguns have stronger knockback effects
• Blood Rush – gain increased movement speed while using shotguns
• Momentum Shift – gain even more movement speed after eliminating enemies
• Mongoose – increases Evasion while reloading
• Speed Demon – gain a damage buff that scales with movement speed

These perks will maximize shotgun damage while increasing V's movement speed, which will let them close gaps more quickly in order to get within their optimal range.

For the Athletics tree, take Divided Attention and Invincible. The former lets players reload while sprinting, while the other simply increases health for more survivability.

For players who want to squeeze as much damage from perks as possible, put points into Cool and get the Cold Blood perk.

Recommended Gear

The Carnage shotgun is the best weapon for one-shotting enemies at close range. This gun shoots a large number of pellets per shot, which is enough to annihilate most targets.

Slot in a Crunch mod to boost the gun's damage even further. Crunch's crafting recipe can be purchased from Wilson at the 2nd Amendment.

For armor, players will want ones that grant the most defense possible. Pieces that have bonuses to critical hit stats or damage stats are also ideal.

Lastly, slot in the Berserk in V's Cyberware slot. This, much like Sandevistan, grants a powerful buff for a short duration. In Berserk's case, it increases the user's damage while also boosting their armor, resistances and health regeneration.