Modifications in Cyberpunk 2077 offer a range of benefits and bonuses for your equipped weapons, ranging from plain damage mods to quicker attack speeds, reload time and higher rates of fire. In this comprehensive guide, you will find fifteen of these modifications, their locations, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they can alter different gameplays. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Mods
Modifications are chipsets or additions designed to add or enhance specific stats for weapons and armor. They can be crafted using the Crafting Specs, looted by dismantling weapons with the ‘Waste Not Want Not’ crafting perk, or purchased from weapon vendors and Ripperdocs. It’s important to know that mods have different utilities, and their overall usefulness will depend on the kind of build you’re working with.
Weaken
Weaken is a gun mod that reduces a target’s shooting accuracy by 10% for ten seconds when hit with a weapon equipped with this mod. It’s a rare mod that has a noticeable effect on enemies in Hard mode or during the early game. This mod, when compared to the rest, doesn’t do much for players to gain an advantage during combat. Enemy groups remain a serious threat. The only viable strategy is to shoot all the enemy targets once at the beginning of a fight to gain a slight edge, and players can be a bit carefree with their defence.
It also has a short duration time of ten seconds. This mod can be stacked four times on legendary weapons in the latter stages of the game to reduce the enemy’s shooting accuracy by 40%, but by then, there are more effective mods players can utilize. This mod can be acquired from Robert Wilson at the Second Amendment store below V’s apartment building.
Neon Arrows
A rare weapon mod that reduces a weapon reloads time by 5%. The Neon Arrow mod can be stacked four times to give us a total 20% reduction in reload time. This doesn’t sound bad, but its availability is the main issue for this mod. The Neon Arrow mod is rare and can’t be crafted or bought from any weapon vendor. There’s only one confirmed location for this mod, a shipping container at the Northside Docks in Watson. The scanner hustle, through which it can be acquired, is aptly called “A Needle in a Haystack.”
As it’s not craftable, buyable, or common, it could have been one of the top guns mods in the game. If you find more, equipping it with the Sovereign Shotgun or the Comrade Hammer seems to be the perfect fit. Combined with using Sandevistan to slow down time, it makes for a deadly combat combo. Both are single-shot weapons, and when stacked enough, this mod can technically shoot as fast as it can reload. This makes it super effective when cornering or clearing a large cluster of enemies. These guns will speed up due to this mod, and the Sovereign Shotgun feels faster than a pump-action shotgun.
Vendetta
The Vendetta mod increases Headshot damage by 10%. Similar to the Neon Arrow mod, this highly rare mod is difficult to find and is rumored to be found in the Valentino hotspots in the Heywood area. The confirmed location of this mod is an ‘Assault in Progress’ near the Glen Apartments in Heywood. This mod is great for equipping the Death & Taxes pistol, increasing Headshot damage significantly.
It can also be used with sniper rifles or Smart weapons, considering the player is an ace sharpshooter. As its availability is dire and because Headshots are already powerful damage multipliers, adding another 10% of the damage doesn’t make that much of a difference. This mod offers no additional rewards, and its rarity prevents it from being a viable part of most combat builds.
Pulverise
For players with a Spray-and-prey attitude, the Pulverise mod increases damage to limbs by 5%. This weapon can be stacked for a maximum of 20% increased limb damage. It can be acquired easily from the Second Amendment store. If it doesn’t appear, press refresh until it appears in Robert Wilson’s inventory. The Second Amendment store is handy for this method as you don’t have to leave to skip time and can press skip several times.
An uncommon mod, it can be purchased for 375 eurodollars and is a good early game mod to be equipped onto disposable guns for that extra bit of damage. The Defender light machine gun is a good weapon to stack this mod on, and players don’t have to worry about accuracy as hitting the limbs is much easier than, say, headshots. Players will want to swap this mod out for Crunch mods for the game’s latter stages.
Pax
For the pacifists among us, the Pax mod renders your weapon non-lethal, allowing you to damage enemies without killing them. This uncommon mod increases damage by 3%. Alternatively, pacifist players can install the Target Analysis mod that makes your weapon non-lethal and can be switched off anytime, unlike Pax. The Pax mod benefits those using the Skippy smart gun, allowing it to shoot headshots without killing enemies. This mod can’t be crafted but can be bought cheaply from the Second Amendment store.
White-Knuckled
The rare White-Knuckled mod increases critical chance by 2.5% for melee weapons. It can be bought from all melee weapon vendors for 180 eurodollars. Stacking this on a legendary melee weapon will give us a 7.5% increased critical chance. Four melee weapon mods are available in the game, this being the weakest. Using this on a Satori Katana seems ideal as it has 500% critical damage, so getting that damage is essential.
Perks in the Reflexes skill tree, like the Blessed Blade, increase the critical chance by 10%. So equipping this mod on all three mod slots seems a bit excessive. It is also possible to use some weapons that increase crit chance to 100% without using this mod. This mod doesn’t offer significant value as compared to its melee counterparts.
Cold Shoulder
The rare Cold Shoulder mod increases overall damage by 5%. The staple mod for any melee weapons, this mod can be stacked for an effective 15% increase in overall damage. There’s an epic variant available in the Lower Gardens, north of Embers, which gives 6% increased damage per mod. This mod should be used on melee weapons with high base damage, as players can cheaply scale them up for extra damage.
It should be equipped with fast-swing clubs like Cottonmouth and Sir John Phallustiff, as they don’t need the extra critical chance or attack speed, but using the Cod Shoulder mods will boost their damage significantly. Players can also equip them with random household items, which count as weapons in the early game to make their gameplay easier. All melee weapons vendors in Night City have this crucial mod in their inventory.
Phantom
The uncommon Phantom mod increases the rate of fire by 5%. This weapon mod can be stacked up to four times to increase our firing rate by 20% effectively. This mod should be equipped with automatic weapons such as the Yinglong or, my favourite, the Problem Solver. The Problem solver is the fastest-firing weapon in the game, and stacking four of the Phantom mods makes it a very fun weapon to wreak damage from.
The only issue is the scarcity of Phantom Mods. They can’t be crafted nor bought and can only be found in Rocky Ridge. Players can acquire them early in the game when heading to Rocky Ridge with Panam. The mods are scattered around the saloon in several crates, housing the Scourge and Phantom mods. It’s a matter of luck, as players can find a minimum of two and a maximum of six Phantom mods.
Scourge
The rare Scourge mod increases critical damage by 10%. Unlike Phantom, this melee mod can be acquired from all melee weapon vendors in Night City. This mod works extremely well with melee weapons with high critical chances. The Jinchu-Maru blade has a 100% critical chance when under the Kerenzikov effect, so unquestionably stack this mod to the maximum on the blade. Similarly, the Scalpel blade has a 50% critical chance under Sandevistan, so this mod should be equipped. The Scourge mod is more effective and worthwhile than the White-Knuckled mod.
Penetrator
The legendary Penetrator mod increases critical chance by 3%. This weapon mod boosts the critical chances by 12% when fully stacked and should be equipped on weapons having high critical damage. The Sovereign Shotgun is ideal for this build, significantly boosting electrical and short-circuit damage.
The crafting specification for this mod can be found by looting crates worldwide, or if you’re out of luck, head over to Japan Town’s weapon dealer and keep refreshing until this mod comes up. The common variant of this mod only gives a 1% critical chance compared to the legendary variant’s 3%. Be sure to use the legendary variant on the legendary high-powered guns.
Kunai
The rare Kunai mod increases the melee weapon’s attack speed by 0.3. The Kunai is the final melee weapon mod in this guide, and it can yield significant results with specific weapons. The Caretaker’s Spade sees a vast improvement as Kunai doubles its original speed, causing more damage. Alternatively, this mod doesn’t work that well with Katanas. It only increases the number of strikes from 4 to 5, with negligible change in damage. Use this mod for heavy-handed melee weapons to deal more damage. This mod is available from all melee weapon vendors.
Crunch
The legendary Crunch mod is the game’s most basic but undoubtedly effective mod. This mod increases your base damage by 7%. It has many variants, with the legendary mods stacking to deal 28% increased base damage. It pairs perfectly with almost any weapon but should be reserved for handguns such as Death & Taxes, Comrade’s Hammer, and the Dying Night. By equipping this mod with these handguns, the weapon will effectively One-Shot kill enemies in the game. This mod has a crafting specification which can be found by exploring rooftops and looting loot boxes worldwide. This mod should be used in mid-game to bring One-shot weapons into the realm, allowing you to execute enemies in stealth efficiently, making gameplay much easier.
Pacifier
The legendary Pacifier mod increases critical damage by 7%. This can be stacked upto 28% in legendary weapons, allowing you to deal a quarter more critical damage to your enemies. This essential mod can be equipped with the Death & Taxes handgun and assault rifles with a high critical chance. This weapon mod can be bought from the weapon dealer located Downtown. If the weapon doesn’t show up, keep refreshing until it is in the inventory. By stacking this mod, you can One-Shot kill enemies and turn your gun into a stealth shooter.
Countermass
The only weapon mod available at the base tier of Epic, Countermass eliminates horizontal recoil from your weapons. This is a useful and welcome benefit for players keen to use automatic weapons. The Problem Solver is the fastest-firing gun in the game but suffers from recoil and sway, decreasing accuracy. This mod which doesn’t need to be stacked as one does the job eliminates horizontal recoil and bullet spray and turns the Problem Solver into a precise instrument of death. Utilizing one mod slot leaves the three mod slots empty for additional modifications. The only downside to this mod is its high cost. This mod is priced at 1238 eurodollars and is available at the Heywood weapon vendors. This mod isn’t craftable.
Combat Amplifier
The iconic Combat Amplifier increases the chance to apply the damage-related status effects by 5%. This can be stacked four times to increase the chance by 20%. This means that guns with elemental damage on them, e.g., Fenrir deals Fire damage, and Divided We Stand deals poison, will have a 20% more chance for that elemental damage to take effect. This mod overpowers elemental damage guns to a very high extent, giving the players a huge advantage in combat.
But there’s a broken effect to this mod as well. For guns with no elemental damage, stacking four of these mods will result in a 20% chance to apply bleed, stun, poison, and burn effects and an 80% chance to apply lingering elemental damage. This completely breaks the combat in the hands of the players with this incredibly powerful mod. The Combat Amplifier costs 675 eurodollars, and crafting specs are available by refreshing the Downtown weapons vendor.