Cyberpunk 2077: Best Starter Build (Level 1-15) – Easy Beginner Build

by JFFK · August 4, 2026

Welcome to the Cyberpunk 2077: Starter Build for Levels 1-15. This guide will show you where to pick up the best early-game equipment and weapons to get you started.

With this Starting Build you get the best possible start in Cyberpunk 2077.

Table of Contents:

Strengths and Weaknesses list for the Starter Build:

Strengths

EASY TO GET ITEMS
PERFECT START
150K CASH BY LEVEL 10-15
2-4 HOURS TO COMPLETE

Weaknesses

EARLY GAME BUILD ONLY

Visit our Cyberpunk 2077 Builds Database for endgame builds!

The Perfect Start in Cyberpunk 2077 (Beginner Build)

Let’s first start with a quick overview before I go into more details on each of these for our Starter Build for Cyberpunk 2077. If you follow this list, you will be off to a great start in Night City. This will take 2-4 hours depending on how fast you are clearing the NCPD missions.

Regular Start (Don’t skip ahead to Phantom Liberty).
Buff Routine: After the prologue, you are in your apartment. Sleep & shower to gain Skill XP and HP regen.
Once you are out of your apartment and go downstairs, before you enter the elevator, do go to:
1. Weapon Vendor: Buy the Iconic pistol Dying Night.
2. Coach Fred: Capacity Boosters (in case you get over capacity so you can still move).
Watson Clean Sweep (NCPD Missions):
1. Watson is the first district you play in.
2. Clearing all missions takes 1-2 hours. This will give you at least 10 levels, 15 Street Cred and over 150k Eddies Cash.
3. Loot all enemies and either disassemble for materials or sell them at the vendor for extra Eddies.
Get the Fenrir SMG from the monk mission. This SMG is insanely good at the start because it often stuns enemies.
Visit a Ripperdoc at level 10: After you have enough money, it’s time to get chromed up.
1. Reinforced Tendons (Legs): Allow you to double jump
2. Kerenzikov (Nervous System): Slows Time by 60% for 2s.
3. Synaptic Accelerator (Nervous System): Slows time by 20% for 2s when enemy detection reaches 50%.
4. Whatever else you can fit!
Time to start playing for real. The Pickup mission is waiting for you!

1. Regular Start

I always recommend picking the “Regular Start” option at the beginning of the game. Otherwise, you will miss out on a lot of content.

2. Right After The Prologue – Inside the Apartment

Immediately after the Prologue in Cyberpunk 2077, you should sleep and take a shower. Optionally, you can also eat a Burrito.

Sleep = Rested status that gives +10% Skill XP.
Shower = Refreshed status that gives you HP regen.
Burrito = Nourishment status Max Health and HP regen.
You can see the effects in your weapon wheel or once you leave the apartment top left side.

Make sure to sleep first, because when you sleep, all other buffs disappear due to time skipping. Now that you are ready, it’s time to leave your apartment!

3. Right After The Prologue – Leaving the Apartment

Immediately after the Prologue in Cyberpunk 2077, you can leave your apartment. Once you are out of your room, walk down the stairs and continue the way ahead.

Coach Fred

You will find a guy and a robot boxing. Talk to him; he is called Coach Fred.
Buy 2x Capacity Booster from him. This is nice in case you get overencumbered.
You can eat it and then have extra capacity to walk to the next store to sell stuff instead of having to dump it.

Weapon Vendor Wilson

Enter the weapon vendor and talk to Wilson.
Buy your first iconic pistol called Dying Night.
Use this weapon for now, it deals overall good damage.

4. Watson District NCPD Missions

The Watson District is the starter district of Cyberpunk 2077. Wheny ou open the map you will find plenty of NCPD missions that you can complete. These are small side quests that require you to sweep an area clear of thugs. Easy money!

Clearing all missions takes 1-2 hours.
This will give you at least 10 levels, 15 Street Cred and over 150k Eddies Cash.
Loot all enemies and either disassemble the loot for materials or sell it at the vendor for extra Eddies.

5. Acquiring the Fenrir SMG (Best early game SMG)

Getting the iconic Fenrir SMG is important in early game in Cyberpunk 2077. The Fenrir SMG is a heavily modified Saratoga SMG and one of the best early-and midgame weapons. It deals electrical damage and has a high chance to trigger an EMP blast that deactivates enemy cyberware and stuns them.

The Mission: “Losing My Religion” (sometimes called Sacrum Profanum).

How to Get It: Head to the northwest docks of Watson (Northside, see image). You will find a Bhikkhu (Monk) who asks you to save his brother from a gang of Maelstrom boosters who have kidnapped him.
What to Do: Raid the Maelstrom warehouse nearby. You can do this stealthily or guns blazing. Once you clear out the gangleaders inside the main warehouse, look at the metal crate/table directly next to where the captive brother is being held. The Fenrir will be sitting right there next to a computer monitor, bathed in a red neon light.
Quick Tip: Do not lose or sell the Fenrir SMG! Unlike standard weapons, you can use the Crafting > Upgrades menu to level Fenrir up from Tier 2 all the way to Tier 5++ as you progress through the game, keeping it viable for your entire playthrough.

6. Visit a Ripperdoc at Level 10

By the time you have cleared most of the NCPD Missions, you should have reached level 10. Now it’s time to visit a Ripperdoc and add some well-deserved chrome to your character! You can open the map and search for the Ripperdoc symbol, all of them sell the same stuff.

Reinforced Tendons (Legs): Allow you to double jump.
Kerenzikov (Nervous System): Slows Time by 60% for 2s when dashing while aiming.
Synaptic Accelerator (Nervous System): Slows time by 20% for 2s when enemy detection reaches 50%.
Whatever else you can fit!

How to get and upgrade Cyberware

Finding vs. Buying: Cyberware can be found as world loot or bought from Ripperdocs. Both world loot and Ripperdoc store inventories are strictly locked to your character’s level. You cannot buy higher tier cyberware than your level allows.
Level Tiers:
- Tier 1 – Level 1-9
- Tier 2 – Level 10-19
- Tier 3 – Level 20-29
- Tier 4 – Level 30-39
- Tier 5 – Level 40+
Upgrading: While you can’t buy high-tier cyberware early, you can upgrade any cyberware you already own all the way to Tier 5++ at any Ripperdoc, regardless of your level, as long as you have the required item components.

Ripperdocs Inventory

All Ripperdocs in Night City have the same inventory, except the Ripperdoc in Dogtown (Phantom Liberty DLC), who has exclusive iconic Cyberware.

Night City Ripperdocs – Standard Cyberware (Tier 1-5).
Dogtown (Phantom Liberty DLC) – Standard Cyberware + Iconic Cyberware

Level 15 Starter Build Setup for Cyberpunk 2077

After having cleared all NCPD Missions you should be around level 15 with your character in Cyberpunk 2077. Additionally, your Street Cred should be around level 27 and you should have 100-150k cash to spend on whatever you like.

Let’s take a look at what stuff you should have by now at level 15:

Weapons
- Iconic Pistol Dying Night
- Iconic SMG Fenrir
- You can also use any other weapon you like.
- Don’t forget to upgrade them to your current level tier.
Cyberware Must-Haves
- Reinforced Tendons (Legs): Allow you to double jump.
- Kerenzikov (Nervous System): Slows Time by 60% for 2s when dashing while aiming.
- Synaptic Accelerator (Nervous System): Slows time by 20% for 2s when enemy detection reaches 50%.
More Cyberware (Optional)
- Subdermal Armor (Integumentary System): Gives extra armor.
- Titanium Bones (Skeleton): Increases carry capacity.
- Mechatronic Core (Frontal Cortex): 20% more damage against robots, mechs, turrets, and drones.

This is all you really need for the start; now you can keep upgrading Cyberware and make sure not to forget to upgrade your weapons, otherwise they might start to feel weak when the enemies keep leveling up with you.

Must-Know Basics in Cyberpunk 2077

Here are some basics that you should know to make your Cyberpunk 2077 playthrough easier.

How to make Money in Cyberpunk 2077

It is actually fairly easy to make money in Cyberpunk 2077. The best way to make money is to clear all the NCPD and Cyberpsycho missions in each district. As previously mentioned, clearing most of the Watson district NCPD mission alone already gives you approximately 150k Eddies Cash.

Upgrade Weapons

This often gets overlooked, but you can upgrade early-game weapons in Cyberpunk 2077. Go to the crafting section, then move to the Upgrade tab. Here you can upgrade all weapons if you have the necessary crafting components.

Gear Scaling in Cyberpunk 2077

Gear scaling is automated in Cyberpunk 2077. The moment you reach a certain level, you will start finding more and more high-quality items. Meaning the faster you reach a higher level the sooner you will find better gear from chests or enemies. That counts for Gear, Weapons, Quickhacks, Cyberware, Outfits, etc.

Tier 1: Level 1-9
Tier 2: Level 10-19
Tier 3: Level 20-29
Tier 4: Level 30-39
Tier 5: Level 40-44
Tier Iconic: Level 45-50

How to get Perk Points in Cyberpunk 2077

Perks are the bread and butter of any CP2077 Build, as they allow you to unlock more Perks in your skilltree.

You get one Perk Point per character level.
Skill Progression awards you with Perk Points.
You can farm up to 13 Perk Shards (10 base game, 3 Phantom Liberty DLC)

Perk Point per Character Level

Not much needs to be said here; leveling up gives you one extra Perk Point.

Skill Progression

This is often overlooked; the Skill Progression system also awards you Perk Points at 15 and 35. So you can get an additional 10 Perk Points from this.

Character menu > bottom right Skill Progression.