Cyberpunk 2077: Everything You Need To Know About Non-Lethal Combat (2024)

Most mercs will run through Cyberpunk 2077 with swords swinging and guns blazing, leaving poor gangoons with their guts hanging out. But that's not the only way to make money in Cyberpunk. Unless your fixer says otherwise, most gigs will pay the same amount whether you kill the guards blocking your way or just knock 'em out.

Believe it or not, you can totally get through Cyberpunk 2077 without killing anyone. It's not exactly easy, but the path of the pacifist merc is one that some will find truly rewarding in a zen sort of way. If this fits your V's aesthetic, read on to learn how to stop yourself from killing people.

Updated February 11, 2024, by Sean Murray: A lot's changed in Cyberpunk 2077, including non-lethal combat. We've updated this guide to reflect the changes made in the 2.0 rework and updated its formatting to be a little easier on the old Kiroshis.

How Can You Tell If Someone Is Dead Or Alive?

There are a couple of ways to tell if an enemy is still alive. Sometimes it's as obvious as seeing them move around or breathe, but sometimes it is hard to tell.

The best and most obvious solution to finding out if an enemy is living or dead is to pull out a weapon and hover the reticle over them. If the reticle turns red, they're among the living. If not, they must have died either by your hand or some other cause.

The last method, which is best for when V needs to knock out someone from afar, is to scan them with V's optics since your scanner will specify whether the target is currently alive or dead.

Do Unconscious Enemies Wake Up In Cyberpunk 2077?

The short answer is "no." In Cyberpunk 2077, unconscious enemies might as well be permanently comatose because they will never wake up again.

Once an enemy hits the floor, you can feel safe knowing they won't wake up. And no matter how tough the enemy is, once they are unconscious, all it takes is one hit/shot to finish them off, even with a non-lethal weapon.

Going Non-Lethal Does Not Impact The Story

The biggest problem with non-lethal combat in Cyberpunk is that it does not matter. Even in the Gigs where V’s Fixer tells you not to kill the target, the only thing that changes if you manage to keep them alive is the number of credits at the end.

And, if you make sure not to shoot the target in a way that would kill them, they’re likely to get knocked out anyway, even with lethal weapons.

It’s a shame, but Pacifist vs. Lethal playthroughs of Cyberpunk 2077 are virtually the same experience. Just look at the whole Panam & Nash side mission. If you kill Nash or leave him alive, Panam still talks like he’s dead, and he never shows up again.

Non-Lethal Weapons In Cyberpunk 2077

The good news for pacifists is that most firearms in Cyberpunk 2077 can be used non-lethally. Blunt weapons are non-lethal by default, and moddable firearms can be made non-lethal with the use of the Pax modification.

Here is a list of all non-lethal and lethal damage sources in Cyberpunk 2077.

Blunt Weapons, Fists, and Gorilla Arms

Solos (i.e. those who run down the Body perk tree) will find their melee damage to be entirely non-lethal. All blunt weapons and V's fists (whether they've been upgraded with Gorilla Arms or not) deal non-lethal damage.

The Pax Mod

Pax Mod

Makes the weapon non-lethal. +20% damage outside of combat −10% to 0% damage in combat (depending on tier)

The easiest way of turning almost every gun in the game non-lethal is to install the Pax mod. This mod is available through weapon vendors and can sometimes be found pre-installed on weapons looted from defeated enemies. This mod reduces the damage you perform in combat while increasing out-of-combat damage. Any enemies "killed" with a Pax-modded gun are just knocked out.

System Crash Quickhack

System Collapse

Untraceable Knocks out the enemy without making noise by crippling their nervous system. −12 RAM cost for a short time after reducing trace progress. Stacks 2 times.

Netrunners will want to invest in the System Collapse quickhack for quick and easy non-lethal takedowns. This quickhack requires 28 RAM (which is a lot), but it can be reduced to 16 after reducing race progress (either by neutralizing the tracing netrunner or uploading the Memory Wipe quickhack).

Benefits Of Going Non-Lethal

Besides the Cyberpsycho quest and the odd gig where you're incentivized to capture a target alive, there's really no benefit to going non-lethal. The Pax mod provides an out-of-combat damage bonus, but you can achieve similar damage bonuses with other mods. And the System Collapse quickhack can be exchanged for its lethal counterpart, Suicide.

The one benefit to going non-lethal comes from slightly short takedown animations. The choke-hold takedown is slightly faster than snapping an enemy's neck, making stealth missions a little easier.

Non-Lethal Damage Can Still Be Inconsistent

Even after Cyberpunk 2077 received its 2.0 rework, non-lethal damage can still be a little inconsistent.

Most inadvertent kills from non-lethal damage can be attributed to accidentally striking the target after they'd already been rendered unconscious. Fast punches or rapid strikes with a blunt weapon are the usual culprits.

Non-lethal takedowns from the status grenades (EMP, BioHaz, and the CHAR Incendiary grenades) are likewise hit-or-miss. Most damage-over-time effects stop after the enemy's health drops to zero, but area-of-effects can sometimes linger after death, dealing a little extra damage and killing the target.

You'd expect things like fire and shock to be lethal sources of damage, but even the Short Circuit quickhack is known to knock enemies unconscious rather than killing them outright. Similarly, Gorilla Arms with the Jailbreak ability that can launch enemies like they've been hit by a truck aren't lethal either (unless you knock them over a cliff).

Ultimately, how you play Cyberpunk 2077 is totally up to you. Yes, non-lethal playthroughs are possible, but you shouldn't be too concerned if you accidentally kill someone while trying to be a pacifist. Night City is a dangerous place, after all.