What is the Max Level in Cyberpunk 2077?

In Cyberpunk 2077, the maximum level your character can reach is level 50. Upon hitting the max level, you will stop acquiring any more experience points (XP) from activities and quests. This cap allows you to fully upgrade three attributes to 20, half the perk tree branches, and reach maximum street cred. There‘s still plenty to do after hitting level 50, but getting there lets you access the game‘s most powerful builds, gear, and challenges.

Leveling Up to 50 in Cyberpunk 2077

Here‘s a deeper look at how leveling works in Cyberpunk and what to expect on the journey to level 50:

• You earn XP from almost all activities – main jobs, side jobs, gigs, assaults, reported crimes, and more all award experience points. Typically, more difficult content grants more XP.
• The amount of XP needed to level up increases with each level, starting around 7,000 XP to reach level 2 and reaching over 100,000 XP by level 45+.
• Based on averages compiled from multiple gamers, hitting level 50 will take approximately 80-100 hours for most players. Those focused specifically on rapid leveling can shave this down to 60-70 hours.
• Higher difficulties like Very Hard provide a 50% XP bonus, cutting required time significantly. But enemies are tougher and lethal – expect to retry challenges.
• Equipping clothing that boosts XP gain by 5-15% can help reduce leveling time. Iconic gear tied to certain events or builds often has this bonus.
• Once level 50, you not only stop gaining XP but cannot lower your level either. You are permanently capped outside starting a brand new game.

For players looking to optimize leveling speed instead of enjoying the journey, here are a few tips:

• Prioritize story missions over exploration early on – these reward some of the biggest XP chunks.
• Take on the highest difficulty gigs, assaults, and reported crimes you feel comfortable attempting. One-shotting normal enemies with a sniper rifle works great for padding XP quickly.
• Use non-lethal melee takedowns on weaker enemies then finish off the last one with a gun – this nets bonus XP for mixing it up.
• Respec your perks as needed to match new iconic gear with XP gains unlocked through certain missions like Transmission, Search and Destroy, or Automatic Love.

Attribute Level Caps and Costs

In addition to your overall character level, you also increase separate Attribute ratings from their starting levels using points gained whenever you level up:

• 5 core Attributes tied to different builds and playstyles: Body, Reflexes Technical Ability, Intelligence, Cool
• Attributes affect damage, HP, stamina costs, critical chance, hacking, item loot levels, stealth, and much more.
• Each Attribute costs progressively more points to upgrade every level – 2 to level 5, then 3 per level up to 20.
• With 56 total Attribute points from 1-50, you can max out three attributes to 20, while the remaining two will reach ~15.

For min/maxed builds, most players recommend putting points into Reflex, Int, and one of Body/Cool early since these cover both hacking, damage, and survival. But any trio works based on your preferred playstyle.

Here is how much it costs to increase each Attribute level:

Note that you cannot reset Attribute points after spending, so choose carefully!

Maximizing Your Street Cred to 50

Street Cred represents your reputation in Night City‘s seedy underworld. Improving it unlocks access to exclusive items:

• Complete gigs, reported crimes and other activities to earn varying Street Cred XP based on difficulty/actions taken.
• Breakpoints every 5 levels (15, 20, 25, etc.) open up new gear/vehicles for purchase.
• At max street cred (50), top-tier legendary equipment becomes available.
• You cannot lose Street Cred, only gain it through jobs.

Here are some tips for getting your street cred maxed quicker:

• Buy the suitable clothes that offer bonus street cred % – a rare jacket might boost gain 10-15%.
• Focus on high-threat organized crime assaults once available – cleaning out a gang hideout nets big street cred and XP.
• If given a choice on completing jobs, pick dialogue options labeled [Street Kid] even if another path suits your history better – these provide bigger street cred bumps.
• Once past 40, try to save side activities involving fixers and gangs until you hit 50 – that way the unlocked legendary loot will scale to your level.

Planning Your Builds to Utilize Max Level

To make the most of the Attribute points and perk options available at max level 50, planning out your progression carefully is important:

• Map out early which three attributes you want to max out to synergize with your weapons, cyberware, and playstyle preferences. Are you a sneaky hacker? Tanky shotgunner? Assassin with blades? This will determine your priorities.
• In your branching perk trees, focus first on skills that increase damage or functionality for your main gear and abilities before general bonuses. For melee builds, stuff like Merciless and Steel and Chrome are key early before health boosts or vendor discounts.
• Don‘t be afraid to respec and remove perks to swap builds as you level and gain access to new ability combinations and iconic gear. 20 perk points back from respecing can transform a mediocre build into something devastatingly effective with your max attributes backing it up.
• Mix perks across several trees once points allow instead of maxing out just one area – combining Cold Blood‘s damage boosts with handgun and stealth bonuses achieved through multiple epic quickhacks melted enemies on Very Hard.

Here are two sample max level builds focused on different playstyles to give you inspiration on planning out your perk and attribute progression:

Max Reflex/Cool Netrunner Takedown Build

• 20 Reflex
• 20 Cool
• 20 Intelligence
• Mix Cold Blood (Reflex) damage perks with Stealth (Cool) ambush bonuses and max out Quickhacking (Intelligence) to one-shot groups before they detect you.

Max Body/Reflex Melee Tank

• 20 Body
• 20 Reflex
• 14 Technical
• Grab health boosts from Body then all physical damage buffs from Reflex tree plus the best melee skills. Tech gives bonuses to armor mods and resistance. Heal while slaughtering groups with swords!

What to Do After Hitting Max Level?

While reaching that max level 50 caps off one aspect of progression, the world of Cyberpunk 2077 still offers challenges for the absolute best geared and specced out V:

• Iconic solo missions open up at level 45-50 ranging from the secret Chippin‘ In gig to fighting the Metzger bot or Adam Smasher at the end of story arcs. These let you test builds against the deadliest enemies with specific legendary loot rewards.
• Several dozen unique clothing pieces, vehicles, and weapons remain locked behind missions/content that only appears after hitting higher Street Cred thresholds.
• You can tie up any remaining romances through completion of storylines for characters like Panam, River, Judy, and Kerry – these often involve difficult andemotional missions.
• There are still open world crime events, unexplored corners of the map, racing challenges, buying apartments, and playing the market with expensive cars or clothes left to accomplish for completionists.
• And while reaching 50 caps out raw power growth, it takes finesse and skill to handle the secret ending fight sequences on max difficulty without overpowered buffs active.

In closing, level 50 represents a raw milestone, but also enables you to see all there is to offer with build customization and challenge at its peak potential. After spending so long leveling up, don‘t neglect to test out those powerful perk combinations against the deadliest foes Night City still has lurking!

Let me know your thoughts on maxing out level 50 or if you have any other questions on optimizing progression at endgame!