Seeing this, I've decided that my first 2.0 Phantom Liberty playthrough is gonna be one where V is actually short for Vergil. Hell, Projectile launcher can work for his ranged Judgement Cuts.
I love combining the Optical Camo with the Sandi, you can run right past a group of enemies if you need stealth and they'll just be like "Huh, must have been the wind"
Super boring tbh. That’s why I use chitin instead of the optical camo. Extra health and 200% regen is way more fun than taking no damage and being invisible. To each their own though if that’s how boring you want your encounters to be.
super-aggressive stealth with throwing knives will always hold a dear place in my heart, as my first cyberpunk character was a sandy knife build. glad to see it holds up in 2.0
Straight up. stealth tomahawk is basically your suppressed overture now so damn good took me some time to get a hang of it but zero g helped me land head shots more consistently due to the weapon no longer having drop combined with juggler to make up for the slower returns or mad dash if you don't kill with a head shot or crit
@@shutupkittyxDthe xmod 2 claw is so good for this. Zero gravity and boomerang pretty much allows me to play a diet knife build even though I only have 9 points in cool right now (15 strength, 20 reflex, 20 tech, 9 cool at the moment. Plan on getting it to 15 next). I've got Sandy, so I just throw the claw, if it doesn't comeback I quick swap to a tier 5++ Nue with a silencer and armor penetration mods to either move to the next target or finish off the guy that took the claw to the head if he's not dead. By that time the claw is usually back in my inventory to switch back into. This could also work with a punk knife as a secondary, but I don't like using two weapon slots for throwing. Plus you kind of feel like John Wick when you swap into a silenced pistol after throwing a weapon.
I'm personally a HUGE fan of using Errata as my katana, simply just for the cool factor because damn does that thing look good. And you can get it super early into the game.
Errata pairs well with the thermal monowire. Slice a cluster of MaxTac with monowire once, and every subsequent hit with Errata as guaranteed crit. Alternative, napalm grenades and friendlier fire also works.
Personally, I like taking out the Black Unicorn, and losing the adrenaline booster. The Unicorn doesn't attack slower when out of stamina, so you don't need stamina unless you need to dash. I also use guns (a tech sniper and Her Majesty for stealth or Lizzy for not stealth) and lean more into stealth with an endless sandy for when/if it goes to shit.
I used this build equivalent a lot before phantom liberty and skill tree rework happened, and honestly Byakko Sandy was solid then and its a unique feeling to see your main accidently become one of the most powerful things in the game because of an attack speed addon
Suggestion: In these "Build" videos you should include a detailed list in the description. Yeah I know there's the possibility that people might grab the list and run, but I think most would want to stick around to see WHY these stats/cyberware and more importantly HOW to use the build (since most people are trying something new-ish)
I found myself speccing into a build similar to this on my playthough. It was crazy fun clearing a room at hyperspeed then turning off sandy, and watching them all fall down simultaneously like some kinda anime scene.
It’s so overwhelming the amount of customisation when it comes to builds in this game, which is why i like to watch a RUclips tutorial on how to make a good build without wasting skill points on unnecessary skills … i just started a new game (again) and i’m gonna follow along with this video as i rank up. Thankyou!
The biomonitor paired with blood pump adn axolotl is insane, you never have to focus on healing, if you have adrenaline rush then you gain substantially more health for healing and ever enemy you kill gives heal recharge
Yep, I don't use health on kill. Blood pump, bio monitor, and stamina on kill (I play a lot outside sandy, love it). 7% health on kill is nice, but blood pump paired with bio mon gives you health and double over time on top of adrenaline. And the kills you're supposed to do to have the %health back give you recovery for blood pump from all your perks. Oh, btw you mentioned axol, but blood pump use the rules of health items which it replaces, not cyberware. That why there's no cooldown indicated on its description. Its cooldown is the one of the health items, affected by all the body and tech perks.
Underrated comment, this combo is overpowered and negates the need for second heart and heal on kill. Got board and did the max tac fix and not playing intelligently on very hard still managed to survive longer than with a second heart. In a normal fight I rarely see my health drop out of the yellow once activated.
@@darcymctavish5937 i think it depends. My character isn't this high a level yet, but there are enemies that can one shot me from full health (about 250, so admittedly low compared to the fully fleshed out builds listed) so i gain quite a bit from second heart since health monitor and blood pump cannot prevent you from dying from a one shot.
To everyone who watches this now. The poles have nerfed sandevistan again. It seems they just don't want you to enjoy their game. Just use Falcon + Quantum Tuner. It's much better combination now.
Hey bro just a heads up there is wrong information in this vid but it's mostly good information Perks affecting melee DO NOT affect blades! Signed a David Martinez samurai build player
I'd got most of the way through a playthrough with your previous iteration of this before a few other things got in the way, then 2.0 came out and I decided to restart, but life, Starfield and a slight lack of motivation had stopped me... now you've made this, I feel I'm going to lose a lot of my weekend haha
Always love playing as a cyberninja V, Sadly the Cyberware capacity bug kinda holds back the true insanity of this build, its really annoying that in 2.0 PL you kinda have compromise between mobility and durability when you can have them both
I thought I was experiencing the cyberware capacity bug at first, but it turns out it actually wasn't defecting my capacity that much. every time I would get a cyberware capacity shard, it would remove my arm cyberware from counting towards the total. I think people think the bug is larger than it is, all that's happening is every time you get a shard it removes the total from your cyberware arms without actually removing them so it looks like you gained more than you did. all you need to do is remove the arms, and you will have two more cyborg capacity than you used to like you should.
@@DrivingGod21 the thing is that in some situations you can no longer get cyberware capacity shards at all. For example for last 25 hours i have not get any shards at all (even tried to kill cyber psychos in dogtown but they do not drop shards for me at all). Some people say that it is because of bug with looting an iconic cyberware. But if it really the reason i have no idea. Anyway the bug is real
@@starchess I've heard many people say that they don't get cyberware shards anymore, but I think people are looking in the wrong places. I never found a single cyberware chard in Dogtown, or on an enemy in a main quest. every single cyberware shard I have found has been during an NCPD scanner hustle. I thought they were completely broken because I didn't find a single one until I completed the PL campaign and the left dog town to do base game stuff. When the update dropped, there w6as people saying that the game doesn't allow them to spawn after level 40 but that's just not true.
@@DrivingGod21 the problem is that these cyberpsychos in dogtown SHOULD drop shards (at least it is how it usually work for other people). If you do not have any problems with shards you should be able to get shard from these cyberpsychos. And I know about ncpd missions and i get some shards before from them. But at some point shards just stop dropping at all. Maybe after i will end PL campaign I will be able to get shards. But in any way this is 100% bug. Also I might try my other save where I end PL campaign to see if I be able to get shards. If I do that I will update my comment.
This is awesome! This is exactly the setup I was trying to figure out. Appreciate the thoroughness too to cover the weapons, cyber, perks, etc. as well as the alternate throwing build.
Double barreled shotguns in particular are amazing with sandevistan since the reload is not slowed (but tech charging is slowed). I particularly like using Order, the iconic Satara with sandevistan; you can charge while taking cover while recharging sandy and absolutely ruin whoever comes around a corner, or through the cover if you don’t want to wait. Plus, it fires both barrels at once, which means there is no refire delay during sandevistan so you just get straight to reload. It’s actually insane the amount of damage output it does even with regular shots in sandimode and I don’t see anyone ever talk about it.
This was basically my first build in 2.0 although i used throwing weapons. The projectile launcher is a really good complement for them because everytime you use it and pull your knife back out it counts as drawing the weapon and will trigger buffs. Really fun mechanic
Strangely, you haven't mentioned Isometric Stabilizer. Sure it's costly but in many circumstances it's simply op combined with byakko's infinite attacks. That's why I substituted Adrenaline Booster for it. Quantum Tuner is difficult to fit in but so damn tempting, specifically for Smasher fight to make sure he dies in seconds. It's passive effect is also so very useful. Great video!
Dude same. I use Tsumetogi and I noticed it with or without Dense Marrow (preferably with). It's more efficient all around instead of being neutralization reliant. I wish they made some chrome with Quantum Tuner's passive effect. Just 5% would make a huge difference for my build and create opportunities for some fun and balanced builds. I even see the potential for some truly OP builds.
I like to add Archangel to the first katana build and invest in gunslinger perks too, I enjoy swapping weapons and playstyles back and forth during a fight, it is very satisfying to do with Archangel revolver
With all due respect is there a way you can share the build via cyberpunk build-planner, it may just be me that's having issues keeping up with your video, but it seems to fly by at the speed of light, and I can't really easily tell the difference between "This is the main build i'm showing you" and "This is alternate skills you could be using instead for X" Great video though I always appreciate people who take the time to test and share builds to help others who may lack the patience and understanding to make cool builds that are just crazy powerful.
Yeah, so I thought I was following along with the video until I got to the "Cool" perks I can't even put anything into Scorpion sting because there's not enough in cool. Though i'm also not accounting for the 10 additional stats for PL since I don't own the DLC yet.
I think in this kind of build even mantis blades shine a lot with the new relic ability to leap towards enemies at a ridiculous 40m range. of course the byakko still outshines any other blade in terms of pure damage but in a large crowd with no bosses, only skull head enemies, you actually benefit a lot from the extra mobility the mantis blades offer while also instantly dismembering non skull enemies when leaping from a big distance.
Man I have been pushing this build with mantis and for real it is so bad. Swapping to katanas is like removing limiters... mantis are cool but super clunky, the leap is bugged af, and it gets disabled by hacks and EMP grenades...I am about to give up really...feels really weak...all mantis Relic perks are situatuonal at best (pretty much useless against bosses and the other arms are better against crowds) Honestly, only good for style.
@@doriangrayest dunno with the blade perks, dense marrow and microrotors they feel pretty strong. wouldnt recommend them at all during the playthrough while the build isnt optimized yet but they feel pretty good during lategame (yes im playing on very hard)
@@vareos9874 you definitely need to back mantis blades up with a plan B, but they can be pretty solid. I used them in cloud, because they could not be confiscated and it was pretty nice.
The Tailwind and Bullet Deflection perks are actually great for those times that your Sandy runs out (especially after the rebalancing). By continually double jumping and air dashing around your enemies while holding block and keeping them in view, you will reflect everything they shoot at you while constantly refilling your own stamina. Even if you don't do that much damage with the reflected bullets, it's worth it for the simple fact that you won't be taking damage while doing this, letting you easily refill your bar until it's time to slow time again. This is how I survived against MaxTac when there was nobody else around to kill, and not only did it work, it worked _really well._ I often wouldn't need to use even a single healing item while I waited for my cooldown to reset.
Same. I also figure that since Byakko isn't great for boss fights, just stick with the Scalpel. It works just as well against a big group or a lone boss.
I've been sticking with my black unicorn so even out of stamina you slash relentlessly. Or occasionally I'll switch to the one with optical camo bonuses since that's been fun to combo with the apogee slowdown time. I literally never run out of sandy time unless it's in a main boss fight where I can't kill cooldown the timer while it's up .
Unpopular opinion maybe, but due to the nature of how this style fights i think carapace is a good pick for the 20% bonus armor when attacked from sides and rear which ends up being most of the damage you are taking as your enemies often surround you outright.
My build is similar but with Guts and the Launcher instead of a Katana. The shotgun capstone ability helps mitigate Guts’s poor fire rate and keeps me in Sandy mode basically forever. Pyromania is also a huge help and shooting my feet is great for groups.
So I have finished the game with the expansion on very hard with a variant of this build. My 2 cent: get painducer! Any elite enemy on very hard can one shot you no matter how good your reflexes. The painducer allows some amount time for your biomonitor to be triggered, thus saving you from many embarassing flatlines. Also, you want to use jump and air dash as much as possible since there's a perk from the reflex tree that boosts your mitigation everytime you are airborne. In general, the game will reward you for being adequately aggresive without going overboard into button-mashing territory
Always been a fan of the Satori / Nehan combo of Katana/Knife. The bleed on boss fights, hemorrhage and health restore is a bit of added oomph that doesn't rely on other enemies being around. You still seem to be able to keep up near infinite Sandy time though I tend to do the full cyber slot/edgrunner/cyborg setup so I tend not to squeeze axoltol so go more with the Newton and then usually the blood pump and run other things to boost passive healing as well like heal on kill, painducer, etc. I tend to spend a bit more time out of Sandy and the amount of passive healing using this setup can take on MaxTac and Don't Fear the Reaper.
Sovereign Iconic Shotgun with Microgenerator Hands Cyberware is ridiculous. Literally can one shot 99% of enemies. Really makes it feel like that scene from Edgerunners where the first Cyberpsycho uses his sandy and one-taps all the cops.
Was actually very glad to find another one of your videos after the update. Absolutely loved your video on the qian warp dancer, but after pretty much finalizing that build i didnt pick up the game again which, i actually regret bc the 2.0 update had come out not long after. So when i opened the game back up a few days ago and my qiant wasnt legendary and felt really bad i was very confused. Thankfully i found this video and im level 32 with max street cred so ill be able to get that sandi real soon
Just one alternative I'm finding to be fun (even though I'm not optimized for it right now) is popping sandy with gorilla arms after the relic upgrades. You build up charge for your gorilla arms so fast in Sandy, allowing you to unleash a charge twice per sandy pop (maybe even more if I wasn't specd for blades right now) if there's enough enemies around. Plus there's just something about throwing grenades, popping sandy, and then beating the crap out of enemies in bullet time as they're still mid air from the grenade, only to then go running up with your charged arms to the skull enemy afterwards to wreck them. I feel like a damn super Saiyan when i do that haha
I've been running a similar build, one you called an offshoot -- throwing knives with most of what you're advocating for here it turns this game into a Shinigami simulator if you're familiar with Bleach I love cyberpunk for this.
This is literally the build I finished my Phantom Liberty run with on very hard. I carried a tier 5++ knife with tier 5 mods with like 2 sec return time as my ranged weapon, Byakko as my main weapon, and Agaou as my third weapon. I also carried Scalpel as my backup. Fun thing I did was running right next to a boss, turning on Sandevistan, and spamming Agaou on their face. Since you are standing right next to them it comes back right away and you can just keep throwing it at them. I did regular stuff like gigs and NCPD hustles after PL and it was hilarious. I just toggled my Sandevistan run in throwing knives in people's faces without any worry.
Hell yea I’ve been using a similar build on my most recent playthrough and I don’t think I can ever go back to anything else. This is both maximum fun and maximum broken
This is my build. Katana, throwing knife, and i ise the tech shotgun, the legendary one that leave an electric trail. I love this build because you dismember everyone all the time regardless of what you choose.
So im doing a lil experiment with a weird yet whacky yet intresting (to me of corse) build This build is a sandy build utilizing A tech revolver (RT-46 BURYA) A throwing knife (Nehan) And the Katana to synergize with it (Satori) Its using quick hacks too, to cause some good amount of destruction while dealing with bigger groups But heres the build [Technical] Maxed out all things cyber Maxed out license to chrome Edgerunner Ticking Time Bomb Maxed out pyromania Burn this city Friendlier fire Doom launcer Maxed Bolt and all its other sub perks Chain lightning [Body] Pain killer and all its sub perks Maxes adrenal rush and all it's sub perks Pain to gain [Reflexs] Maxed out the middle and right of the reflexes except bullet deflect and bullet time [Cool] Maxed out on the throwable perks and feline perks Maxed out on all the focuse perks but not deep breath Max out dead eye and its sub perks Nervese of tungsten steel [Intelligence] Max out on the quick hack queue but not the nanowire Those are the perks and the cyber deck im thinking of using is the arasaka using combat quick hacks like short circute, over heat, and grenade detantor Tho for now this is it for now idk what the other cyberware ill be using but im using the projectile wrist for a big boom and long distances Your guys thoughts
I got the Byakko but I usually just use the Scalpel because sometimes there aren't a lot of guys to kill. Plus, why slash a guy fifty times when you can just chop his head off in one hit? I'm also using the Pride with a good silencer on it. That works incredibly well with the Sandevistan. Press "E", shoot everyone in the head, press "E" again, pick up the loot.
Personally I've settled on a Cool/Tech build for sandy. Revolver, specifically Rosco for maximum crit headshots and a throwing knife for when you shot 6 times but there is an extra dude left in the room. Add to that the tech tree for 6 spammable flashbangs and finally electrified projectile launcher with PL relic skills. Turns out, if you charge it up and then turn on Sandy before release, you shoot the salvo at full speed while everything is in Dio time, esentially spawning a shock barrage in an instant. Great for when there is a bunch of enemies stacked up in tight corridor, especially when first blinded with a flash. Then just stroll over in dio time and cap them in the head while they are on the ground for that extra damage from Rosco's perk
Surprisingly, double barrel shotguns like Dezerter works really well with this. Since all ammo is expended in one trigger pull, there is no gun mechanism cycling for Sandy to slow down, and reloading is not slowed down by it either. And it works best point blank, which the Sandy easily lets you. Lastly, if you run out of ammo, just make sure you have Emergency Cloaking as your Relic perk and activate it, which will force you out of combat even in boss fights and let you craft more ammo. Just don't do quick melee since it seems to be bugged with Sandies.
Interesting idea. Sounds fun. I have been struggling on very hard in Phatom liberty with a Sandvistan Mantis blade combo so moving to Byakko is appealing
Byakko gives you more attack speed IF you feed it. While it's really great and totally fit the Sandevistan, I find you don't need that extra speed against regular enemies. And against bosses, as you mentioned, there can be the problem of feeding. So I'm surprised you didn't mention the new Phantom Liberty chimera's core mod. It is designed to go against bosses and things like max tac . Things you don't kill in one or two hits. Of course, when its ability triggers, it won't outright kill the boss, but it will trigger a finisher. That's how I interpret it because when facing boss types, it can sometimes trigger finisher after finisher at such a fast pace. I tried, with a non final cyberware, max tac for fun (playing extra hard), and died on their 4th squad just because I started playing like a gonk. I was surprised I could sustain that much heat with a non final build. The core is obtainable at the beginning of Phantom Liberty, so it's not an end game only item. Also, the Errata and Gerald's blade (for those who have the Witcher 3) are also really good.
This is sort of the build I went for my sandy bladerunner build, I still put 9 in intelligence for just extra cyberware capacity from a certain perk in tech but it’s unnecessary. Very fun would recommend
i did this kind of build but specced into dashing with shotguns and throwing weapons. specifically used rebecca's shotgun, but didn't have any specific throwing knives or axes. definitely wasn't the most efficient use of perks, cyberware, or available weapons, but was still really fun to just run around blasting fellas
If you play on very hard, I suggest you neglect armor cyberware in the skeleton slots for mitigation cyberware. It offers better protection. Edit: Also Scalpel is better than Byakko for Sandevistan builds. Better crit chance, better damage and shock + bleeding means more finishers.
I'd say Scalpel is better up until you reach lvl 60 Shinobi (skill perks fixed in 2.02), at which point you have one of two choices - 1) get rid of crit-based cyberware in favor of others (i love kiroshi oracle, feels like i'm wall hacking the game) since you have 10% from reflexes, 15% from sandy itself, and another 80% while using sandy, or 2) go byakko to speed up mob clears. Scalpel has the highest base damage in the game from what I've seen, so it's extremely strong for sure, especially considering how early you get it. However, I will say that Errata > Scalpel until you can build crit chance to ~60%, since Errata + incendiary grenades gives you 100% crit damage uptime, especially if you build into projectile arms and benefit from pyromania's damage + mitigation boosts as well.
I'd like to see you make a video breaking down all the buff icons at the top of the screen, been playing since launch and mostly still confuse the hell out of me 🤔
My favorite build is still my Chrome compressor + Electric Doom Launcher + Tech Weapon build, 1 shot Dont Fear the Reaper on very hard without breaking a sweat; but Sandy + Throwing weapons and Gorilla arms is becoming one that I enjoy as well.
Meanwhile Netrunner casually queuing up endless pain without lifting a finger like a true server admin. Anyhow, great guide, great build. I might explore that for my next playthough.
Can confirm this build + scalpel demolishes Smasher before the guards arrive on very hard don't fear the reaper. You can kill him in one sandy charge, it's very busted. Oh and for turrets you can pop out and use bullet reflect to kill them pretty quick.
Hmm maybe switch the knife out for Nehan and then use Saburo as your 3rd weapon for the synergy of bleed procs maybe it’d help when there’s less of a crowd but I’m not entirely caught up on how those two weapons work together just a thought Edit: Wrong katana, Saburo I think it is, not satori. Whether it’s more viable or not than the scalpel is dependent on the build I’m pretty sure, I’m sure it would benefit for more stealth builds than anything.
Sick fuggin build! I was railed by police at up to the dog town entrance, and took out at least 12 (and three citizens by accident) before eating it. Many thanks! 👍🏾
Perfect timing for this, currently doing a second playthrough doing melee sandy and good to see I came up with a proto-version of this myself. Off to go swap the Scalpel out for the Byakko and go RUIN some Scav's day.
I'm curious what your thoughts are on an "invisible sandi assassin" build that I was considering. Forgive me for maybe misnaming various components, but I only started fiddling with it last night, and I technically don't have one of the fundamental components of it unlocked yet. But basically it's built around combining the various Optical Camo perks with the Apogee Sandi to regenerate usage time, coupled with the various crouch/mitigation/stealth perks. I'm giving the broad overview of this, because I honestly don't know if it will work, as I've heard ALL of the skill progression perks are currently broken. But in short order, basically combining the lvl 60 Shinobi perk that regenerates 15% optical camo time on a kill (if undetected), with the Apogee sandi ability to regenerate slow time on a kill, plus the various perks that let you move really fast while crouching, while also massively boosting your damage mitigation while crouched/sprinting/etc (which translates to increased stealth with that one cool perk). The katana you would use for this build, is the Jinchu-Maru, which makes all attacks 100% crit chance while Optical Camo is running. Ideally, you would be able to keep moving from kill to kill, due to speed boosts for neutralizing an enemy, the dash ability/slide/etc (all of which boost your mitigation, and thus your stealth rating), to keep moving from person to person so they never actually detect you. Possibly tossing in the Gag Order perk, so that if you do get spotted but take them down fast, it won't reveal you? Not sure how viable it is, and I'm not sure what other cyberware or weapon mods might help facilitate this overall idea, but it seems like it might be fun to try out.
With how overpowered stealth and sandevistan is these days, i feel like you are vastly overcomplicating it. If i was you i would just use throwing knives or even just takedowns for this.I played something very similar with throwing knives and with how easy it is to stealth through everything you can pick off every enemy easily with reliable headshots. I think "melee stealth" just isnt really a necessary or viable strategy beyond a "challenge mode" takedowns only situation
@@MeandMonkeyLP I don't think it's any more complicated than this build in the video. specifically designed to feed the cooldown/recharge effects of other perks/cyberware, to extend your OP status beyond the normal duration. It's just focusing on stealth as the other metric for the build. I mean it doesn't HAVE to be a katana, but i saw the katana that has a perk specifically for use with Optical Camo, and various other things that build off that, and felt it would be a fun build to try and work out. I mean the invisible ninja katana assassin that zips around killing everyone before they even know he's there, is kind of a trope of the genre. So I don't see why not to try it out as a build. 🤷♂
Big problem with the EMP is that it will kill civilians, triggering the cops. That makes it super annoying to have for about 90% of content. The damage itself is also laughable, but that 50% reduction is nice enough that it's probably worth having anyway. I run the build as a blunt weapon user myself. I find that the stun/knockdown on blunt weapons (not fists) helps to keep close range enemies from doing any damage at all while I murder them, and the damage is pretty crazy. I also have the option to switch to Sasquatch Hammer if I need crazy damage like against MaxTac. The build is 20 body, 20 reflex, 20 tech, and I don't care about cool or int aside from the Renaissance Punk boost and dialog, so 9 each as a last priority, the few last points don't matter. The highest priorities are Cyberware, Movement, and Health/defense. The blunt weapon perks are not particularly important, the core perks increase damage/efficiency a bit but things like blocking or superhero landing aren't actually worth using in a sandy build. That also means that the level 20 perks in both Body and Reflex aren't strictly necessary, but there's nothing better in Cool or Int for a melee (not thrown) build anyway. For weapons, my main blunt weapon is typically a baseball bat with 2 mod slots (both with the KO mod). Does around half the damage of Sasquatch Hammer per hit, without the movement penalty. Way better than any of the Iconics unfortunately. I did use Sir John for a lot of the game, just for the fun factor though. Build is strong enough already you don't NEED the best weapons possible. However, be careful about the Edgerunner perk as well, taking that perk early can cause you to have less cyberware in the long run. The game stops dropping cyberware shards at about 320 cyberware capacity, and if you have Edgerunner and/or Renaissance Punk it calculates those as part of the 320. Once you are cut off, you are cut off forever even if you drop the perks. So you'll want to max out your natural capacity first, THEN unlock the perks (or at least make sure to deactivate them before you hit 320).
I’ve been playing similar to this. Using The Headsman as a quick swap from Byakko while spec’d into the shotgun tree, and a Burya if I want a cheeky charged headshot while the Sandy is active. I might go back to throwing knives instead of the pistol because it feels more fun, but cracking heads with the shotgun and hopping from person to person with the katana is legitimately one of the most fun play styles I’ve tried.
All katana's perform about the same, but the Scalpel is arguably the strongest. It has the highest base damage, does electrical damage (best damage type in the game), has a huge % crit chance, and does guaranteed bleeding to enable fast finishers. It is the most efficient weapon to kill MaxTac on very hard in the game. All katana's can 2-shot most enemies so the faster attack speed the Byakko has against low health enemies is weaker then it seems. Any katana can deal well with low health / normal enemies. The real question should be which katana is the best at killing enemies with large health pools like MaxTac.
It's doesn't have the highest base damage and it's effects are kind of pointless in late game. Those that stack Crit Chance especially have no use for it and that's pretty easy to come by. Slaughterhouse guarantees bleeding even without Sandy as well so in the end it's effects are kind of useless Tsumetogi actually has the highest base damage. It has 5% less Shock Chance but it amps your Electrical Damage by 10%. On top of that you can further boost damage by simply using nonstadard attacks. Like you said, it comes down to which does better against Maxtac and bosses. Well through testing I found Tsumetogi does much more damage with Sandy on or off. Even when you just use the standard strikes. That's how I know Tsumetogi can actually oneshot most enemies. I stacked Headshot Damage and with it Tsumetogi can explode heads but the rest of the swords can't. I even compared Scalpel, Jinchu Maru and Tsumetogi and it's a fact that Tsumetogi is hands down the best sword. It's the most versatile, practical, highest damage and its effect isnt dependent on anything but your skill but without the skill it still wins. With the skill you can put out so much more damage with its ridiculous.
@s3eriousbl9ck26 You are right Tsumetogi has the highest base damage. You are reacting to a post of 5 months ago when Tsumetogi and Scalpel had the same base damage, but they nerfed the Scalpel. But I still fully agree with you though. I have tested all katana's on 5 stars against MaxTac on highest difficulty a while back. Berserk is now stronger for melee then Sandi. The strongest weapon with Berserk active is Byakko, because of it's speed buff. Without Berserk active Black Unicorn was the best from my testing. What is still true though is that the differences between the katana's is negligible. They all can kill MaxTac comfortably in the right build. They are the optimal choice for killing MaxTac. Also note they indirectly nerfed Tsumetogi. Previously you could stack both % electric damage and % melee damage. Now you can only have either one of those modifiers on a weapon. I must say the Tsumetogi is a very underrated katana not many people talk about. Everyone talks about Byakko. I noticed myself too how good Tsumetogi is just for raw damage. In my testing attack speed is more important though. That is why Byakko and Black Unicorn performed better against MaxTac.
Byakko is a Japanese deity (edit: A Chinese deity in origin, brought over to Japan) that had strong affinities to lightning, thunder and the wind. Byakko is known as the guardian of the west, Byakko roughly translating to white tiger . The apogee-dash-air dash-byakko build could definitely just be Punishment of Byakko. P.o.B. Or flashes of white, it could be named many things It takes one kill then chains and gets more devastating after that one, respect the gods, especially the shrine gods.
I'd like to see a build based around a Nomad-themed loadout I read about once (Overwatch, Sovereign, Amnesty), suitable for roleplaying that lifepath. I'd also like to see builds and loadouts themed on the other lifepaths.
For the hands you should equip V+Johnny tattoo and Smart Tyger Claws Tattoo, which both cost 0 and are required to have Cyborg and Projectile launcher at the same time.
I've done something very similar and just first-tried the reaper ending up to Smasher, then third-tried Smasher, because of two times being purely oneshotted on his 25%. Also first-try PL intro mission, including Chimera and first-try killing moon. My optimizations are: * don't go past extra healing item in tech, but take all healing item recharge perks; * I probably had good capacity, so I had Cocatrice, and with it and with lvl60 shinobi you have 100% generic crit when Sandy on if you upgraded both Sandy and optics and have Reflex 20, so no need in hand wrapper. I did keep melee and throwing crit chance though. * I took optical camo, because first stealth missions, second it's the best defensive item in the game rn, because you can go out of combat and often even save. * I took Chitin and Sundermal Armor, because I aimed at all slots filled for -15% cooldown perk. I don't like close damage reduction, because while you have someone close, you're probably also shot from the distance. I like chitin more. * I took all crouch-sprint because it's cool. * I only equipped proj launcher to fill the slot, never fired actually, because I have the axe. Launcher is a better slot filler because you don't switch to it while scrolling through weapons. * I used blue fang as third weapon because stun is a thing. And all of this just shreds.
Thanks for the video, first time trying a proper sandy build and this is just so damn fun and powerful, it's so good that my game can't even handle it (i'm on console) and after several waves of maxtac i got heavy FPS drops 😂
I wish that these rpg games would let you level up your character quicker so you can do fun stuff like this while still experiencing the story for the first time.
I use most of the same cyber ware in a one-shot shotgun build using sovereign and deserter and it is so much fun to move at light speed obliterating every enemy! Haven’t tested it against don’t fear the reaper but will soon.
For the boss battles I use Satori and Nehan. The hemorrhage effect is POWERFUL. It's basically like running with a constant bounce back on top of your other heal effects that's also doing continuous damage to the target. Just subjectively, I would use this combo in cyberpsycho battles, and it would drain the last 5% of health before running out. You specifically want to use this combo on beefy boys. Keeping Byakko in slot 1, Nehan in 2, and Satori in 3 is a powerful combo when you know you won't have to fight aerial enemies. A note on using Satori though. You don't have to fully sheath Satori to trigger the draw strike, you just have to sprint long enough for V to take the sheathed posture, which is only 5-10 meters. So a good way to activate this is to throw the Nehan, and follow it up with a sprint into draw strike with Satori, then move on to other enemies while your health tank keeps you topped off, and slowly weakens a tough foe to clean up later.
Adam smasher has had a ROUGH 12 months. When he saw your character pop the Sandy and start chopping on him he mustve just been like "FUCK ME.... not this shit again -_-"
My build is apogee,axolotl,thermal mantis blades,dense marrow,titanium bones,epimorphic skeleton,stabber,synaptic accelerator,chitin,peripheral inverse,optical camo,heal on kill,bio monitor, adrenaline booster,fortified ankles,cockatrice eyes with nothing on hand currently because of cyberware cap. For my load out it’s her majesty,malorian arms, and o five.
So, by combining the sandevisdan with EMP blasts and katanas; you literally become “the storm that is approaching”
Amazing
Seeing this, I've decided that my first 2.0 Phantom Liberty playthrough is gonna be one where V is actually short for Vergil. Hell, Projectile launcher can work for his ranged Judgement Cuts.
@@kinorris1709holy shit I'm booting up rn
yasuo
@@kinorris1709gotta be electric launcher tho
I love combining the Optical Camo with the Sandi, you can run right past a group of enemies if you need stealth and they'll just be like "Huh, must have been the wind"
With the crouch sprinting it's so fun to use stealth now
Or if you want to wipe a room with optical camo sandy before they even detect you use junchi maru or her majesty
@@irrelevantotaku I personaly found such a playstyle boring but I understand the satisfaction. :)
Super boring tbh. That’s why I use chitin instead of the optical camo. Extra health and 200% regen is way more fun than taking no damage and being invisible. To each their own though if that’s how boring you want your encounters to be.
Combine that with the pistol you get from Alex “Her Majesty” and honestly it’s stupidly insane how easy fights can be lol
super-aggressive stealth with throwing knives will always hold a dear place in my heart, as my first cyberpunk character was a sandy knife build. glad to see it holds up in 2.0
It thrives in 2.0 my man
Yeah it's completely cracked atm
Straight up. stealth tomahawk is basically your suppressed overture now so damn good took me some time to get a hang of it but zero g helped me land head shots more consistently due to the weapon no longer having drop combined with juggler to make up for the slower returns or mad dash if you don't kill with a head shot or crit
@@shutupkittyxDthe xmod 2 claw is so good for this. Zero gravity and boomerang pretty much allows me to play a diet knife build even though I only have 9 points in cool right now (15 strength, 20 reflex, 20 tech, 9 cool at the moment. Plan on getting it to 15 next).
I've got Sandy, so I just throw the claw, if it doesn't comeback I quick swap to a tier 5++ Nue with a silencer and armor penetration mods to either move to the next target or finish off the guy that took the claw to the head if he's not dead. By that time the claw is usually back in my inventory to switch back into. This could also work with a punk knife as a secondary, but I don't like using two weapon slots for throwing.
Plus you kind of feel like John Wick when you swap into a silenced pistol after throwing a weapon.
Playing Skyrim stealth archer in Cyberpunk
jumpscare timestamps 🙏🙏
0:59 "perks" jumpscare
6:33 "cyberware" jumpscare
11:23 "weapons" jumpscare
16:13 "throwing weapon version" jumpscare
Boost
The hero we dont deserve
I still got scared
Lmao ong fr no cap
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm personally a HUGE fan of using Errata as my katana, simply just for the cool factor because damn does that thing look good. And you can get it super early into the game.
Errata pairs well with the thermal monowire. Slice a cluster of MaxTac with monowire once, and every subsequent hit with Errata as guaranteed crit. Alternative, napalm grenades and friendlier fire also works.
@@Stiggandr1As does the Thermal Projectile Launch System, my proffered pairing.
@@Stiggandr1 I love the grenades yeah
Scalpel does more dmg & synergize much better with sandevistan as it's iconic perk gives more crits & electrical dmg wile in sandevistan.
Personally, I like taking out the Black Unicorn, and losing the adrenaline booster. The Unicorn doesn't attack slower when out of stamina, so you don't need stamina unless you need to dash. I also use guns (a tech sniper and Her Majesty for stealth or Lizzy for not stealth) and lean more into stealth with an endless sandy for when/if it goes to shit.
I used this build equivalent a lot before phantom liberty and skill tree rework happened, and honestly Byakko Sandy was solid then and its a unique feeling to see your main accidently become one of the most powerful things in the game because of an attack speed addon
Suggestion: In these "Build" videos you should include a detailed list in the description. Yeah I know there's the possibility that people might grab the list and run, but I think most would want to stick around to see WHY these stats/cyberware and more importantly HOW to use the build (since most people are trying something new-ish)
I found myself speccing into a build similar to this on my playthough. It was crazy fun clearing a room at hyperspeed then turning off sandy, and watching them all fall down simultaneously like some kinda anime scene.
It’s so overwhelming the amount of customisation when it comes to builds in this game, which is why i like to watch a RUclips tutorial on how to make a good build without wasting skill points on unnecessary skills … i just started a new game (again) and i’m gonna follow along with this video as i rank up. Thankyou!
Just finished my second playthrough with an op Lucy netrunner build and am gonna immediately replay the game and follow this guide, thank you!
The biomonitor paired with blood pump adn axolotl is insane, you never have to focus on healing, if you have adrenaline rush then you gain substantially more health for healing and ever enemy you kill gives heal recharge
Yep, I don't use health on kill. Blood pump, bio monitor, and stamina on kill (I play a lot outside sandy, love it). 7% health on kill is nice, but blood pump paired with bio mon gives you health and double over time on top of adrenaline. And the kills you're supposed to do to have the %health back give you recovery for blood pump from all your perks.
Oh, btw you mentioned axol, but blood pump use the rules of health items which it replaces, not cyberware. That why there's no cooldown indicated on its description. Its cooldown is the one of the health items, affected by all the body and tech perks.
Underrated comment, this combo is overpowered and negates the need for second heart and heal on kill. Got board and did the max tac fix and not playing intelligently on very hard still managed to survive longer than with a second heart. In a normal fight I rarely see my health drop out of the yellow once activated.
@@invalidusername4011 The axolotl still effects it though, maybe its an oversight but I hope not
@plexyglass429 it does? Well, triple dip then, won't complain.
@@darcymctavish5937 i think it depends. My character isn't this high a level yet, but there are enemies that can one shot me from full health (about 250, so admittedly low compared to the fully fleshed out builds listed) so i gain quite a bit from second heart since health monitor and blood pump cannot prevent you from dying from a one shot.
Going to have to redo this one for the 2.11 Patch as Apogee Sandivestan got Nerfed hard
It’s always nice to see a video from you choom
To everyone who watches this now. The poles have nerfed sandevistan again. It seems they just don't want you to enjoy their game. Just use Falcon + Quantum Tuner. It's much better combination now.
Damn Poles
Really, how much worse?
What’s the difference that makes the Falcon better now?
What u jus named, do these help sandevistan or are they completely diff. Jus got game today
@ChochaHair So quantum tuner is something you get at the end of the dlc (I don’t wanna spoil it) and the falcon is a type of sandevistan
WOW! I was going for a katana-based Sandy build already, and this just gives me the perfect way to dial it in as I get into the high levels. Thanks!
as a grammar rule there is no , before and
Hey bro just a heads up there is wrong information in this vid but it's mostly good information
Perks affecting melee DO NOT affect blades!
Signed a David Martinez samurai build player
@@wildhunt6350actually, 🤓 there commonly is a comma before and. Do you know the Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma?
@@Linkman8912 yes i know it the rule and its a stupid one english is retarded anyway
I'd got most of the way through a playthrough with your previous iteration of this before a few other things got in the way, then 2.0 came out and I decided to restart, but life, Starfield and a slight lack of motivation had stopped me... now you've made this, I feel I'm going to lose a lot of my weekend haha
Always love playing as a cyberninja V, Sadly the Cyberware capacity bug kinda holds back the true insanity of this build, its really annoying that in 2.0 PL you kinda have compromise between mobility and durability when you can have them both
I thought I was experiencing the cyberware capacity bug at first, but it turns out it actually wasn't defecting my capacity that much. every time I would get a cyberware capacity shard, it would remove my arm cyberware from counting towards the total. I think people think the bug is larger than it is, all that's happening is every time you get a shard it removes the total from your cyberware arms without actually removing them so it looks like you gained more than you did. all you need to do is remove the arms, and you will have two more cyborg capacity than you used to like you should.
Just use the capacity dupe glitch and get as much as you want. Makes the game much more fun
@@DrivingGod21 the thing is that in some situations you can no longer get cyberware capacity shards at all. For example for last 25 hours i have not get any shards at all (even tried to kill cyber psychos in dogtown but they do not drop shards for me at all). Some people say that it is because of bug with looting an iconic cyberware. But if it really the reason i have no idea. Anyway the bug is real
@@starchess I've heard many people say that they don't get cyberware shards anymore, but I think people are looking in the wrong places. I never found a single cyberware chard in Dogtown, or on an enemy in a main quest. every single cyberware shard I have found has been during an NCPD scanner hustle. I thought they were completely broken because I didn't find a single one until I completed the PL campaign and the left dog town to do base game stuff. When the update dropped, there w6as people saying that the game doesn't allow them to spawn after level 40 but that's just not true.
@@DrivingGod21 the problem is that these cyberpsychos in dogtown SHOULD drop shards (at least it is how it usually work for other people). If you do not have any problems with shards you should be able to get shard from these cyberpsychos. And I know about ncpd missions and i get some shards before from them. But at some point shards just stop dropping at all. Maybe after i will end PL campaign I will be able to get shards. But in any way this is 100% bug.
Also I might try my other save where I end PL campaign to see if I be able to get shards. If I do that I will update my comment.
This is awesome! This is exactly the setup I was trying to figure out. Appreciate the thoroughness too to cover the weapons, cyber, perks, etc. as well as the alternate throwing build.
Double barreled shotguns in particular are amazing with sandevistan since the reload is not slowed (but tech charging is slowed). I particularly like using Order, the iconic Satara with sandevistan; you can charge while taking cover while recharging sandy and absolutely ruin whoever comes around a corner, or through the cover if you don’t want to wait. Plus, it fires both barrels at once, which means there is no refire delay during sandevistan so you just get straight to reload. It’s actually insane the amount of damage output it does even with regular shots in sandimode and I don’t see anyone ever talk about it.
This was basically my first build in 2.0 although i used throwing weapons. The projectile launcher is a really good complement for them because everytime you use it and pull your knife back out it counts as drawing the weapon and will trigger buffs. Really fun mechanic
Strangely, you haven't mentioned Isometric Stabilizer. Sure it's costly but in many circumstances it's simply op combined with byakko's infinite attacks. That's why I substituted Adrenaline Booster for it. Quantum Tuner is difficult to fit in but so damn tempting, specifically for Smasher fight to make sure he dies in seconds. It's passive effect is also so very useful.
Great video!
Dude same. I use Tsumetogi and I noticed it with or without Dense Marrow (preferably with). It's more efficient all around instead of being neutralization reliant.
I wish they made some chrome with Quantum Tuner's passive effect. Just 5% would make a huge difference for my build and create opportunities for some fun and balanced builds. I even see the potential for some truly OP builds.
I like to add Archangel to the first katana build and invest in gunslinger perks too, I enjoy swapping weapons and playstyles back and forth during a fight, it is very satisfying to do with Archangel revolver
With all due respect is there a way you can share the build via cyberpunk build-planner, it may just be me that's having issues keeping up with your video, but it seems to fly by at the speed of light, and I can't really easily tell the difference between "This is the main build i'm showing you" and "This is alternate skills you could be using instead for X" Great video though I always appreciate people who take the time to test and share builds to help others who may lack the patience and understanding to make cool builds that are just crazy powerful.
Yeah, so I thought I was following along with the video until I got to the "Cool" perks I can't even put anything into Scorpion sting because there's not enough in cool. Though i'm also not accounting for the 10 additional stats for PL since I don't own the DLC yet.
@@akaipandatv7194 same here.
I think in this kind of build even mantis blades shine a lot with the new relic ability to leap towards enemies at a ridiculous 40m range. of course the byakko still outshines any other blade in terms of pure damage but in a large crowd with no bosses, only skull head enemies, you actually benefit a lot from the extra mobility the mantis blades offer while also instantly dismembering non skull enemies when leaping from a big distance.
Man I have been pushing this build with mantis and for real it is so bad. Swapping to katanas is like removing limiters... mantis are cool but super clunky, the leap is bugged af, and it gets disabled by hacks and EMP grenades...I am about to give up really...feels really weak...all mantis Relic perks are situatuonal at best (pretty much useless against bosses and the other arms are better against crowds)
Honestly, only good for style.
@@doriangrayest dunno with the blade perks, dense marrow and microrotors they feel pretty strong. wouldnt recommend them at all during the playthrough while the build isnt optimized yet but they feel pretty good during lategame (yes im playing on very hard)
@@vareos9874 you definitely need to back mantis blades up with a plan B, but they can be pretty solid. I used them in cloud, because they could not be confiscated and it was pretty nice.
The Tailwind and Bullet Deflection perks are actually great for those times that your Sandy runs out (especially after the rebalancing). By continually double jumping and air dashing around your enemies while holding block and keeping them in view, you will reflect everything they shoot at you while constantly refilling your own stamina. Even if you don't do that much damage with the reflected bullets, it's worth it for the simple fact that you won't be taking damage while doing this, letting you easily refill your bar until it's time to slow time again. This is how I survived against MaxTac when there was nobody else around to kill, and not only did it work, it worked _really well._ I often wouldn't need to use even a single healing item while I waited for my cooldown to reset.
Always a good day when Sam Bram posts!
Scalpel I’ve found is the best for this build. You don’t need the leap from byakko anymore and the extra crit out dmgs in most combat situations
Yeah i mean thunderclap and flash works with scalpel so you can leap at them even with scalpel. With cockatrice eyes you crit almost every single hit.
Same. I also figure that since Byakko isn't great for boss fights, just stick with the Scalpel. It works just as well against a big group or a lone boss.
True and don't forget it scales with % electric damage on cyberware as well and it has a higher base damage.
@@saprone8885 It also adds Bleeding, as well.
I've been sticking with my black unicorn so even out of stamina you slash relentlessly. Or occasionally I'll switch to the one with optical camo bonuses since that's been fun to combo with the apogee slowdown time. I literally never run out of sandy time unless it's in a main boss fight where I can't kill cooldown the timer while it's up .
My brain can't disassociate every time I hear "Flash and Thunderclap" as Hekireki Issen
Problem Solver is a great iconic to use for those annoying out of reach enemies as it’s firing rate works really well at Sandy Speed.
Unpopular opinion maybe, but due to the nature of how this style fights i think carapace is a good pick for the 20% bonus armor when attacked from sides and rear which ends up being most of the damage you are taking as your enemies often surround you outright.
My build is similar but with Guts and the Launcher instead of a Katana. The shotgun capstone ability helps mitigate Guts’s poor fire rate and keeps me in Sandy mode basically forever. Pyromania is also a huge help and shooting my feet is great for groups.
So I have finished the game with the expansion on very hard with a variant of this build. My 2 cent: get painducer! Any elite enemy on very hard can one shot you no matter how good your reflexes. The painducer allows some amount time for your biomonitor to be triggered, thus saving you from many embarassing flatlines.
Also, you want to use jump and air dash as much as possible since there's a perk from the reflex tree that boosts your mitigation everytime you are airborne.
In general, the game will reward you for being adequately aggresive without going overboard into button-mashing territory
Always been a fan of the Satori / Nehan combo of Katana/Knife. The bleed on boss fights, hemorrhage and health restore is a bit of added oomph that doesn't rely on other enemies being around. You still seem to be able to keep up near infinite Sandy time though I tend to do the full cyber slot/edgrunner/cyborg setup so I tend not to squeeze axoltol so go more with the Newton and then usually the blood pump and run other things to boost passive healing as well like heal on kill, painducer, etc. I tend to spend a bit more time out of Sandy and the amount of passive healing using this setup can take on MaxTac and Don't Fear the Reaper.
Sovereign Iconic Shotgun with Microgenerator Hands Cyberware is ridiculous. Literally can one shot 99% of enemies.
Really makes it feel like that scene from Edgerunners where the first Cyberpsycho uses his sandy and one-taps all the cops.
If anyone is following this build my advice is to not overthink it or try to mix it up with something else, just follow his instructions. Awesome job!
Always a good day when you upload!
Was actually very glad to find another one of your videos after the update. Absolutely loved your video on the qian warp dancer, but after pretty much finalizing that build i didnt pick up the game again which, i actually regret bc the 2.0 update had come out not long after. So when i opened the game back up a few days ago and my qiant wasnt legendary and felt really bad i was very confused. Thankfully i found this video and im level 32 with max street cred so ill be able to get that sandi real soon
Just one alternative I'm finding to be fun (even though I'm not optimized for it right now) is popping sandy with gorilla arms after the relic upgrades.
You build up charge for your gorilla arms so fast in Sandy, allowing you to unleash a charge twice per sandy pop (maybe even more if I wasn't specd for blades right now) if there's enough enemies around.
Plus there's just something about throwing grenades, popping sandy, and then beating the crap out of enemies in bullet time as they're still mid air from the grenade, only to then go running up with your charged arms to the skull enemy afterwards to wreck them.
I feel like a damn super Saiyan when i do that haha
I've been running a similar build, one you called an offshoot -- throwing knives with most of what you're advocating for here
it turns this game into a Shinigami simulator if you're familiar with Bleach
I love cyberpunk for this.
Call this build "Speed Demon" I think it sounds fitting
This is literally the build I finished my Phantom Liberty run with on very hard. I carried a tier 5++ knife with tier 5 mods with like 2 sec return time as my ranged weapon, Byakko as my main weapon, and Agaou as my third weapon. I also carried Scalpel as my backup. Fun thing I did was running right next to a boss, turning on Sandevistan, and spamming Agaou on their face. Since you are standing right next to them it comes back right away and you can just keep throwing it at them.
I did regular stuff like gigs and NCPD hustles after PL and it was hilarious. I just toggled my Sandevistan run in throwing knives in people's faces without any worry.
Given the speed & EMPs. Surely this should’ve been called the Eternal Lightning build or something like that.
Pistols instead of knifes, I was using errata now you have shown me this I shall change….thanks.
I don’t even need to say it this time do I
!!!SAY IT!!!
@@Zamu273 Sam Bram Devi Stan
@@Thereisnogreatersword HE SAID IT HE SAID THE THING
LMFAO
@@Zamu273i don’t understand why when you said “HE SAID IT HE SAID THE THING” got me i giggled so hard I almost Inked
I’d smash this build into a bloody smear with my Berserk Sir John Tank Em and Shame Em build!
Great job, dug the video buddy!
As another commentor has pointed out, this is pretty close to lore accurate Vergil in Cyberpunk. I now know what I'm doing when I start my next run.
Hell yea I’ve been using a similar build on my most recent playthrough and I don’t think I can ever go back to anything else. This is both maximum fun and maximum broken
This is my build. Katana, throwing knife, and i ise the tech shotgun, the legendary one that leave an electric trail. I love this build because you dismember everyone all the time regardless of what you choose.
Grrr stop being so entertaining, I spend way too much time watching your videos!1!11!!1 But in all seriousness, keep being amazing as always dude! 😊
The block using samurai when shot is awesome
So im doing a lil experiment with a weird yet whacky yet intresting (to me of corse) build
This build is a sandy build utilizing
A tech revolver (RT-46 BURYA)
A throwing knife (Nehan)
And the Katana to synergize with it (Satori)
Its using quick hacks too, to cause some good amount of destruction while dealing with bigger groups
But heres the build
[Technical]
Maxed out all things cyber
Maxed out license to chrome
Edgerunner
Ticking Time Bomb
Maxed out pyromania
Burn this city
Friendlier fire
Doom launcer
Maxed Bolt and all its other sub perks
Chain lightning
[Body]
Pain killer and all its sub perks
Maxes adrenal rush and all it's sub perks
Pain to gain
[Reflexs]
Maxed out the middle and right of the reflexes except bullet deflect and bullet time
[Cool]
Maxed out on the throwable perks and feline perks
Maxed out on all the focuse perks but not deep breath
Max out dead eye and its sub perks
Nervese of tungsten steel
[Intelligence]
Max out on the quick hack queue but not the nanowire
Those are the perks and the cyber deck im thinking of using is the arasaka using combat quick hacks like short circute, over heat, and grenade detantor
Tho for now this is it for now idk what the other cyberware ill be using but im using the projectile wrist for a big boom and long distances
Your guys thoughts
You can't hack with a Sandevistan equipped.
I got the Byakko but I usually just use the Scalpel because sometimes there aren't a lot of guys to kill. Plus, why slash a guy fifty times when you can just chop his head off in one hit?
I'm also using the Pride with a good silencer on it. That works incredibly well with the Sandevistan. Press "E", shoot everyone in the head, press "E" again, pick up the loot.
Yeahhh i was waiting for this
Personally I've settled on a Cool/Tech build for sandy. Revolver, specifically Rosco for maximum crit headshots and a throwing knife for when you shot 6 times but there is an extra dude left in the room. Add to that the tech tree for 6 spammable flashbangs and finally electrified projectile launcher with PL relic skills. Turns out, if you charge it up and then turn on Sandy before release, you shoot the salvo at full speed while everything is in Dio time, esentially spawning a shock barrage in an instant. Great for when there is a bunch of enemies stacked up in tight corridor, especially when first blinded with a flash. Then just stroll over in dio time and cap them in the head while they are on the ground for that extra damage from Rosco's perk
Bodies was a great show! I binged it twice in 3 days. Woulda been 2 days, but i had to work and game between viewings
There are so,so many cool builds in this game! Gotta catch em all!
You can also find the Militech "Apogee" Sandevistan in a gig in Watson Kabuki in the "The Ho-Oh" Casino Club gig name "Monster Hunt"
Surprisingly, double barrel shotguns like Dezerter works really well with this. Since all ammo is expended in one trigger pull, there is no gun mechanism cycling for Sandy to slow down, and reloading is not slowed down by it either. And it works best point blank, which the Sandy easily lets you. Lastly, if you run out of ammo, just make sure you have Emergency Cloaking as your Relic perk and activate it, which will force you out of combat even in boss fights and let you craft more ammo.
Just don't do quick melee since it seems to be bugged with Sandies.
Could you put this on cyberpunk build planner and leave it in description because I find the build confusing to follow
yeah i wish he did that for his builds.
yeh the videos are like he is speedrunning through them XD
Interesting idea. Sounds fun. I have been struggling on very hard in Phatom liberty with a Sandvistan Mantis blade combo so moving to Byakko is appealing
Byakko gives you more attack speed IF you feed it. While it's really great and totally fit the Sandevistan, I find you don't need that extra speed against regular enemies. And against bosses, as you mentioned, there can be the problem of feeding. So I'm surprised you didn't mention the new Phantom Liberty chimera's core mod. It is designed to go against bosses and things like max tac . Things you don't kill in one or two hits. Of course, when its ability triggers, it won't outright kill the boss, but it will trigger a finisher. That's how I interpret it because when facing boss types, it can sometimes trigger finisher after finisher at such a fast pace. I tried, with a non final cyberware, max tac for fun (playing extra hard), and died on their 4th squad just because I started playing like a gonk. I was surprised I could sustain that much heat with a non final build. The core is obtainable at the beginning of Phantom Liberty, so it's not an end game only item.
Also, the Errata and Gerald's blade (for those who have the Witcher 3) are also really good.
This is sort of the build I went for my sandy bladerunner build, I still put 9 in intelligence for just extra cyberware capacity from a certain perk in tech but it’s unnecessary. Very fun would recommend
So, I tried this one. After 15 min toe to toe with Barghest and Max-Tac, I can confirm this is just stupid op
i did this kind of build but specced into dashing with shotguns and throwing weapons. specifically used rebecca's shotgun, but didn't have any specific throwing knives or axes. definitely wasn't the most efficient use of perks, cyberware, or available weapons, but was still really fun to just run around blasting fellas
If you play on very hard, I suggest you neglect armor cyberware in the skeleton slots for mitigation cyberware. It offers better protection.
Edit: Also Scalpel is better than Byakko for Sandevistan builds. Better crit chance, better damage and shock + bleeding means more finishers.
I'd say Scalpel is better up until you reach lvl 60 Shinobi (skill perks fixed in 2.02), at which point you have one of two choices - 1) get rid of crit-based cyberware in favor of others (i love kiroshi oracle, feels like i'm wall hacking the game) since you have 10% from reflexes, 15% from sandy itself, and another 80% while using sandy, or 2) go byakko to speed up mob clears. Scalpel has the highest base damage in the game from what I've seen, so it's extremely strong for sure, especially considering how early you get it.
However, I will say that Errata > Scalpel until you can build crit chance to ~60%, since Errata + incendiary grenades gives you 100% crit damage uptime, especially if you build into projectile arms and benefit from pyromania's damage + mitigation boosts as well.
I use similar except go body 20 for infinite healing. Lots of fun
I'd like to see you make a video breaking down all the buff icons at the top of the screen, been playing since launch and mostly still confuse the hell out of me 🤔
My favorite build is still my Chrome compressor + Electric Doom Launcher + Tech Weapon build, 1 shot Dont Fear the Reaper on very hard without breaking a sweat; but Sandy + Throwing weapons and Gorilla arms is becoming one that I enjoy as well.
Meanwhile Netrunner casually queuing up endless pain without lifting a finger like a true server admin. Anyhow, great guide, great build. I might explore that for my next playthough.
and sandy user has fun. does netrunner have as much fun?
@@plaguenplay3516 One is at work, the other is participating in leisure activity. I'm pretty sure you will figure it out 😂
Can confirm this build + scalpel demolishes Smasher before the guards arrive on very hard don't fear the reaper. You can kill him in one sandy charge, it's very busted. Oh and for turrets you can pop out and use bullet reflect to kill them pretty quick.
Hmm maybe switch the knife out for Nehan and then use Saburo as your 3rd weapon for the synergy of bleed procs maybe it’d help when there’s less of a crowd but I’m not entirely caught up on how those two weapons work together just a thought
Edit: Wrong katana, Saburo I think it is, not satori. Whether it’s more viable or not than the scalpel is dependent on the build I’m pretty sure, I’m sure it would benefit for more stealth builds than anything.
Sick fuggin build! I was railed by police at up to the dog town entrance, and took out at least 12 (and three citizens by accident) before eating it. Many thanks! 👍🏾
Perfect timing for this, currently doing a second playthrough doing melee sandy and good to see I came up with a proto-version of this myself. Off to go swap the Scalpel out for the Byakko and go RUIN some Scav's day.
Scalpel is just better cause of the electric damage and shock chance not to mention crit chance. Don't bother switching.
Fyi Byakko doesn't really shine until you have a very high crit chance - I'd recommend sticking with Scalpel or Errata until then.
The electrified hatched is the best throwable weapon in the game. That weapon in sandy mode is ludicrous
I'm curious what your thoughts are on an "invisible sandi assassin" build that I was considering. Forgive me for maybe misnaming various components, but I only started fiddling with it last night, and I technically don't have one of the fundamental components of it unlocked yet. But basically it's built around combining the various Optical Camo perks with the Apogee Sandi to regenerate usage time, coupled with the various crouch/mitigation/stealth perks. I'm giving the broad overview of this, because I honestly don't know if it will work, as I've heard ALL of the skill progression perks are currently broken. But in short order, basically combining the lvl 60 Shinobi perk that regenerates 15% optical camo time on a kill (if undetected), with the Apogee sandi ability to regenerate slow time on a kill, plus the various perks that let you move really fast while crouching, while also massively boosting your damage mitigation while crouched/sprinting/etc (which translates to increased stealth with that one cool perk). The katana you would use for this build, is the Jinchu-Maru, which makes all attacks 100% crit chance while Optical Camo is running. Ideally, you would be able to keep moving from kill to kill, due to speed boosts for neutralizing an enemy, the dash ability/slide/etc (all of which boost your mitigation, and thus your stealth rating), to keep moving from person to person so they never actually detect you. Possibly tossing in the Gag Order perk, so that if you do get spotted but take them down fast, it won't reveal you?
Not sure how viable it is, and I'm not sure what other cyberware or weapon mods might help facilitate this overall idea, but it seems like it might be fun to try out.
With how overpowered stealth and sandevistan is these days, i feel like you are vastly overcomplicating it. If i was you i would just use throwing knives or even just takedowns for this.I played something very similar with throwing knives and with how easy it is to stealth through everything you can pick off every enemy easily with reliable headshots. I think "melee stealth" just isnt really a necessary or viable strategy beyond a "challenge mode" takedowns only situation
@@MeandMonkeyLP I don't think it's any more complicated than this build in the video. specifically designed to feed the cooldown/recharge effects of other perks/cyberware, to extend your OP status beyond the normal duration. It's just focusing on stealth as the other metric for the build. I mean it doesn't HAVE to be a katana, but i saw the katana that has a perk specifically for use with Optical Camo, and various other things that build off that, and felt it would be a fun build to try and work out. I mean the invisible ninja katana assassin that zips around killing everyone before they even know he's there, is kind of a trope of the genre. So I don't see why not to try it out as a build. 🤷♂
Big problem with the EMP is that it will kill civilians, triggering the cops. That makes it super annoying to have for about 90% of content. The damage itself is also laughable, but that 50% reduction is nice enough that it's probably worth having anyway.
I run the build as a blunt weapon user myself. I find that the stun/knockdown on blunt weapons (not fists) helps to keep close range enemies from doing any damage at all while I murder them, and the damage is pretty crazy. I also have the option to switch to Sasquatch Hammer if I need crazy damage like against MaxTac. The build is 20 body, 20 reflex, 20 tech, and I don't care about cool or int aside from the Renaissance Punk boost and dialog, so 9 each as a last priority, the few last points don't matter.
The highest priorities are Cyberware, Movement, and Health/defense. The blunt weapon perks are not particularly important, the core perks increase damage/efficiency a bit but things like blocking or superhero landing aren't actually worth using in a sandy build. That also means that the level 20 perks in both Body and Reflex aren't strictly necessary, but there's nothing better in Cool or Int for a melee (not thrown) build anyway.
For weapons, my main blunt weapon is typically a baseball bat with 2 mod slots (both with the KO mod). Does around half the damage of Sasquatch Hammer per hit, without the movement penalty. Way better than any of the Iconics unfortunately. I did use Sir John for a lot of the game, just for the fun factor though. Build is strong enough already you don't NEED the best weapons possible.
However, be careful about the Edgerunner perk as well, taking that perk early can cause you to have less cyberware in the long run. The game stops dropping cyberware shards at about 320 cyberware capacity, and if you have Edgerunner and/or Renaissance Punk it calculates those as part of the 320. Once you are cut off, you are cut off forever even if you drop the perks. So you'll want to max out your natural capacity first, THEN unlock the perks (or at least make sure to deactivate them before you hit 320).
I’ve been playing similar to this. Using The Headsman as a quick swap from Byakko while spec’d into the shotgun tree, and a Burya if I want a cheeky charged headshot while the Sandy is active. I might go back to throwing knives instead of the pistol because it feels more fun, but cracking heads with the shotgun and hopping from person to person with the katana is legitimately one of the most fun play styles I’ve tried.
I actually feel like the Volkodav (Iconic Machete) works really well with the Sandy. It has, for me, redeemed Machetes as Viable Weapons
I am highly tempted to do one with the Cut-o-Matic x-MOD2 now. Severence definitely and hopefully Slice 'Em Up is actually obtainable in-game.
i like how you say quantum tuna xD
All katana's perform about the same, but the Scalpel is arguably the strongest. It has the highest base damage, does electrical damage (best damage type in the game), has a huge % crit chance, and does guaranteed bleeding to enable fast finishers. It is the most efficient weapon to kill MaxTac on very hard in the game. All katana's can 2-shot most enemies so the faster attack speed the Byakko has against low health enemies is weaker then it seems. Any katana can deal well with low health / normal enemies. The real question should be which katana is the best at killing enemies with large health pools like MaxTac.
It's doesn't have the highest base damage and it's effects are kind of pointless in late game. Those that stack Crit Chance especially have no use for it and that's pretty easy to come by. Slaughterhouse guarantees bleeding even without Sandy as well so in the end it's effects are kind of useless
Tsumetogi actually has the highest base damage. It has 5% less Shock Chance but it amps your Electrical Damage by 10%. On top of that you can further boost damage by simply using nonstadard attacks.
Like you said, it comes down to which does better against Maxtac and bosses. Well through testing I found Tsumetogi does much more damage with Sandy on or off. Even when you just use the standard strikes. That's how I know Tsumetogi can actually oneshot most enemies. I stacked Headshot Damage and with it Tsumetogi can explode heads but the rest of the swords can't. I even compared Scalpel, Jinchu Maru and Tsumetogi and it's a fact that Tsumetogi is hands down the best sword. It's the most versatile, practical, highest damage and its effect isnt dependent on anything but your skill but without the skill it still wins. With the skill you can put out so much more damage with its ridiculous.
@s3eriousbl9ck26 You are right Tsumetogi has the highest base damage. You are reacting to a post of 5 months ago when Tsumetogi and Scalpel had the same base damage, but they nerfed the Scalpel.
But I still fully agree with you though. I have tested all katana's on 5 stars against MaxTac on highest difficulty a while back.
Berserk is now stronger for melee then Sandi. The strongest weapon with Berserk active is Byakko, because of it's speed buff. Without Berserk active Black Unicorn was the best from my testing.
What is still true though is that the differences between the katana's is negligible. They all can kill MaxTac comfortably in the right build. They are the optimal choice for killing MaxTac.
Also note they indirectly nerfed Tsumetogi. Previously you could stack both % electric damage and % melee damage. Now you can only have either one of those modifiers on a weapon.
I must say the Tsumetogi is a very underrated katana not many people talk about. Everyone talks about Byakko. I noticed myself too how good Tsumetogi is just for raw damage.
In my testing attack speed is more important though. That is why Byakko and Black Unicorn performed better against MaxTac.
I’ve done the exact same build but got bored of meleeing so I’ve gone arm cannon shotgun without melee it’s so fun and you just Become a menace
You also mentioned in the Blunt Weapons video that this works with the blunt version of Byakko, Baby Boomer from Lina Malina.
Byakko is a Japanese deity (edit: A Chinese deity in origin, brought over to Japan) that had strong affinities to lightning, thunder and the wind. Byakko is known as the guardian of the west, Byakko roughly translating to white tiger . The apogee-dash-air dash-byakko build could definitely just be Punishment of Byakko. P.o.B. Or flashes of white, it could be named many things
It takes one kill then chains and gets more devastating after that one, respect the gods, especially the shrine gods.
I been trying this build out & damn it’s satisfying slicing n dicing everything in slow mo 😂
U could always deflect kill the turrets
I'd like to see a build based around a Nomad-themed loadout I read about once (Overwatch, Sovereign, Amnesty), suitable for roleplaying that lifepath. I'd also like to see builds and loadouts themed on the other lifepaths.
For the hands you should equip V+Johnny tattoo and Smart Tyger Claws Tattoo, which both cost 0 and are required to have Cyborg and Projectile launcher at the same time.
I've done something very similar and just first-tried the reaper ending up to Smasher, then third-tried Smasher, because of two times being purely oneshotted on his 25%. Also first-try PL intro mission, including Chimera and first-try killing moon.
My optimizations are:
* don't go past extra healing item in tech, but take all healing item recharge perks;
* I probably had good capacity, so I had Cocatrice, and with it and with lvl60 shinobi you have 100% generic crit when Sandy on if you upgraded both Sandy and optics and have Reflex 20, so no need in hand wrapper. I did keep melee and throwing crit chance though.
* I took optical camo, because first stealth missions, second it's the best defensive item in the game rn, because you can go out of combat and often even save.
* I took Chitin and Sundermal Armor, because I aimed at all slots filled for -15% cooldown perk. I don't like close damage reduction, because while you have someone close, you're probably also shot from the distance. I like chitin more.
* I took all crouch-sprint because it's cool.
* I only equipped proj launcher to fill the slot, never fired actually, because I have the axe. Launcher is a better slot filler because you don't switch to it while scrolling through weapons.
* I used blue fang as third weapon because stun is a thing.
And all of this just shreds.
Thanks for the video, first time trying a proper sandy build and this is just so damn fun and powerful, it's so good that my game can't even handle it (i'm on console) and after several waves of maxtac i got heavy FPS drops 😂
I wish that these rpg games would let you level up your character quicker so you can do fun stuff like this while still experiencing the story for the first time.
I use most of the same cyber ware in a one-shot shotgun build using sovereign and deserter and it is so much fun to move at light speed obliterating every enemy! Haven’t tested it against don’t fear the reaper but will soon.
For the boss battles I use Satori and Nehan. The hemorrhage effect is POWERFUL. It's basically like running with a constant bounce back on top of your other heal effects that's also doing continuous damage to the target.
Just subjectively, I would use this combo in cyberpsycho battles, and it would drain the last 5% of health before running out. You specifically want to use this combo on beefy boys.
Keeping Byakko in slot 1, Nehan in 2, and Satori in 3 is a powerful combo when you know you won't have to fight aerial enemies. A note on using Satori though. You don't have to fully sheath Satori to trigger the draw strike, you just have to sprint long enough for V to take the sheathed posture, which is only 5-10 meters. So a good way to activate this is to throw the Nehan, and follow it up with a sprint into draw strike with Satori, then move on to other enemies while your health tank keeps you topped off, and slowly weakens a tough foe to clean up later.
Hilariously if you pair this with the gorilla arms you basically become star Platinum
imma use my mantis blade but new build gonna go hard
Neat build, but i will stick to my guns, chrome compressor und cloak.
**steps away invisibly and shoots at anyone with a silenced Nue**
funny posting today. Just this morn I was literally thinking about how my sandy build which is not too far off from yours give "bankai" vibes lol
I think it’s safe to assume cdpr watches your vids lol
Both the apogee and the axolotl have been nerfed hard
Adam smasher has had a ROUGH 12 months. When he saw your character pop the Sandy and start chopping on him he mustve just been like "FUCK ME.... not this shit again -_-"
Raiden, the flash, and bullseye all combine into one death machine of never ending slice and dice! Also this is going to be expensive 😂
My build is apogee,axolotl,thermal mantis blades,dense marrow,titanium bones,epimorphic skeleton,stabber,synaptic accelerator,chitin,peripheral inverse,optical camo,heal on kill,bio monitor, adrenaline booster,fortified ankles,cockatrice eyes with nothing on hand currently because of cyberware cap. For my load out it’s her majesty,malorian arms, and o five.