Malorian Arms
CDPR
I get the question “who needs balance in a PvE single player game??” a lot when I talk about that topic, but as it turns out, developers also believe that’s the case. Fortunately, that type of game does allow for a lot more buffs than nerfs, and now with Cyberpunk 2077 patch 2.02, we’re seeing just that.
Nearly everything here is a buff minus a few katanas that had apparently gotten out of line. Melee is very strong in Cyberpunk right now, but a fellow melee staple, Mantis Blades, got a bunch of buffs. They really, really want you to use Mantis Blades, with two full relic upgrades focused on them in the new skill tree.
So, here are the weapons, most of them iconic, that got buffed in this new patch:
- Malorian Arms 3516 – Recoil is easier to handle even at low Stamina, +20% Damage, +60% Quickmelee Damage, +10% Damage against Elite enemies
- Mantis Blades: +5% Damage, +10% Attack Speed, -12% attack Stamina cost
- SOR-22: +7% Damage
- Widow Maker: increased clip size from 8 to 10
- Headsman: +5% Damage
- Pariah: -25% Tech Penalty, +25% Headshot Damage, extra shots in Burst to maintain Stealth Bonus during the hit
- Rosco: Added more force to limb shots
- Dezerter: +5% Damage
- Warden: increased clip size from 30 to 40
Cyberpunk 2077
CDPR
And the katana nerfs:
- Byakko: -10% Attack Speed Bonus
- Scalpel: removed the x1.1 intrinsic damage increase
The biggest buff on the list is to Johnny’s signature Malorian Arms pistol, which had fallen behind others when Phantom Liberty hit, and has now been significantly buffed to keep pace and excel.
The Mantis Blade buffs are significant, but most of the others are not all that major, a couple 5, 7% damage increases. I do sort of wonder how those decisions are made. Curious about the Rosco “more force to limb shots” as does that like, make enemies spin around or instantly drop? It was already a cool gun before this.
I’m not sure what was up with the katanas. I know katanas have been strong for a very long time, well before Phantom Liberty, and now they have entire skill trees dedicated to them. I wonder if somehow the new ability to deflect bullets may have something to do with the changes to these two, as that didn’t exist before, but who knows.
Anyway, get back out there and keep shooting and slashing.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
