Cyberpunk 2077 may not have achieved Bethesda levels of modding, but it is currently the seventh most modded game on Nexusmods with over 7,000 mods available and almost 200 million mod downloads.
CD Projekt Red also conveniently has its own game launcher that includes built-in mod support, meaning that downloading mods for Cyberpunk is very user-friendly and simple. In this guide, we’ll provide you with a list of all the different must-have mods in Cyberpunk 2077 separated into different categories.
Cyberpunk 2077: The best mods for 2.0
Because of the recent 2.0 patch, this can be a difficult time to download mods for Cyberpunk, as many of the most popular mods have not yet been updated for compatibility with version 2.0 of the game. All of the mods in this list are current and will work with the latest version of the game.
An important caveat when it comes to modding is knowing what you’re looking for so you can narrow down your search. Do you want to improve graphics or performance? Fix bugs? Add Overwatch characters into the game? All of these things can be done with modding, and because they’re so different, we’re giving them each their own category in this guide.
Best performance and graphics mods in Cyberpunk 2077
Is your PC a potato? Don’t worry, there’s a mod to simplify graphics and resolutions in the game. Or, if your PC can run everything at max graphics settings, there are also mods to vamp up Cyberpunk. In this section, we’ll list the best mods that alter graphics in Cyberpunk 2077.
FX Begone
Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot of noise on the screen. Every time Johnny appears, the game tricks you into thinking your monitor is dying. This effect is awesome for people who like that sort of thing, but for anyone who has a sensitivity to flashing lights or simply finds it too distracting, this effect can make the game unplayable.
FX Begone removes the glitching effects from the game, making it much smoother and less intense on your eyes. You can even choose which effects you want removed, or simply tone them down.
You can download FX Begone from Nexusmods.com. The mod is up-to-date and fully compatible with version 2.0 of Cyberpunk 2077. The author of the mod has tons of other fantastic and similar mods, we recommend checking them all out.
Restore Hair Shadows
When patch 2.0 released, hair and beard shadows actually were removed from Cyberpunk 2077. It isn’t clear whether this was intentional or a mistake from CDPR. If the devs do plan to fix it, a modder has already beat them to it.
This mod does exactly what the title implies—it restores shadows cast by hair and beards. This may be a minor change, but lighting and shadow consistency go a very long way in making a game look better and more realistic.
This mod can be downloaded from Nexusmods and is fully up-to-date and compatible with Cyberpunk 2.0.
More FPS and Clear Image
This mod was released after Phantom Liberty and promises an FPS increase of 10 to 15 regardless of graphics settings. The only thing to be aware of here is that the mod also removes all motion blur. If that isn’t something you can live without, this mod isn’t for you.
If you don’t mind playing Cyberpunk without any motion blur, then you should go ahead and download this mod. I’ve tested it myself, and the FPS increase is legit. With that said, I didn’t end up keeping it downloaded, but only because I love motion blur and my FPS was fine to begin with.
Best gameplay tweak mods in Cyberpunk 2077
These mods will all alter gameplay in a lore-friendly way. You won’t find any god-power-type mods in this list, but rather simpler things like stealth and romance hauls that are designed to not break immersion in any way.
Romance Enhanced
This author has made mods to enhance romance options with Panam, Judy, and River—all of which are compatible with 2.0. The goal of these mods is to make relationships feel more like actual relationships.
With these mods, romanced characters will eat and drink in front of the player more, take showers, and have the option to hug V.
We’ve gotta say, it’s nice to see a romance mod that is totally safe for workspace and wholesome. This link will take you specifically to Panam Romance Enhanced, but you can find all of the author’s other mods on the same page.
Stealth Finishers
This is a simple and fantastic mod—it allows you to perform stealth takedowns with melee weapons (instead of just unarmed takedowns) and also allows you to perform takedowns without grabbing an enemy first.
This totally changes the feeling of stealth kills and makes sneaking around to systematically dispose of enemies so much more satisfying.
The mod was last updated on Oct 2 and can be downloaded here.
Lawless Areas
This simple mod adds tons of realism to the gameplay in Cyberpunk 2077. All it does is change police response time based on what area you’re in. In rougher neighborhoods, police may take quite a bit of time to show, or even not show at all occasionally after a crime is committed. In more affluent neighborhoods, police will show up as quickly as they do in the vanilla game.
Having this mod enables adds tons of immersion to the game, and causes you to be really aware of what part of town you’re in.
Lawless Areas can be downloaded from Nexusmods and is compatible with 2.0.
Best cosmetic mods for Cyberpunk 2077
The mods in this section are all mods that won’t affect gameplay or graphics in any way but will add customization options to the game. This can mean more hairstyles, more tattoo options, are the ability to change more things about V from mirrors and the like.
Appearance Menu Mod
This mod is the absolute best all-in-one cosmetic option you can get. This allows you to change NPCs’ outfits, spawn NPC companions in photo mode, control NPCs’ poses in photo mode, alter V’s appearance anywhere, and so much more.
If you’re at all interested in photo mode and getting that perfect shot, this mod is a must-have. It’s been around for a while now but has been updated to be fully compatible with Cyberpunk 2.0. Download the mod here.
Virtual Atelier
This mod is a framework that allows all other clothing mods to be immersively added into the game. With Virtual Atelier, custom clothing from mods can be distributed seamlessly to clothing stores and NPCs so that you’d never even know the item wasn’t part of the initial game.
Virtual Atelier is available on Nexusmods and is compatible with version 2.0 of Cyberpunk.
Published: Oct 10, 2023 08:00 am