Cyberpunk 2077 Relic Skill Tree explained: all skills and abilities

There is plenty of fresh, new content to look forward to when jumping into the Phantom Liberty DLC for Cyberpunk 2077, and one of the most exciting is the Relic Skill Tree. But what exactly is this skill tree, and what abilities does it unlock for V? 

Below, we dive into everything you need to know about the Relic Skill Tree, including how to earn relic points and what skills it offers.

What is the Relic Skill Tree in Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty?

The Relic Skill Tree is an new feature available only with the Phantom Liberty DLC, offering some exciting upgrades to V’s cyberware. You are first introduced to the Relic Skill Tree at the very beginning of the Phantom Liberty DLC, when Songbird gives you access to it, referring to it as “preem Militech combat software,” which has been “lyin’ around gatherin’ dust.” Songbird then gives you three Relic Points that you can spend straight away on the abilities in the skill tree. Not a bad way to get started.

This skill tree is similar to the others found in the game, though the abilities it offers are a little different, and they are unlocked via Relic Points rather than Perk Points or Attribute Points. For those who like to switch up their play style, getting your hands on the Phantom Liberty DLC will be worth it for the Relic Skill Tree alone. 

How do you earn Relic Points in Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty?

To unlock abilities on the Relic Skill Tree, you need to obtain Relic Points. These points can only be used on this particular skill tree and are available via Militech Data Terminals in Dogtown, the DLC’s new district. These terminals are marked with the blue Relic symbol, a small, blue techie looking square. If you aren’t sure what icon to look out for, navigate to the character tab in the game menu, and you will find the symbol at the bottom of the abilities tree, in between the Intelligence and Cool traits. 

These icons appear on your map as you get closer to them when traversing Dogtown. When use the terminals, you can download combat logs and operational data from old Militech databases. This then gives you a Relic Point, which you can spend on the Relic Skill Tree however you please.

What skills are available on the Relic Skill Tree in Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty?

Now that we know what the Relic Skill Tree is and how to acquire Relic Points so that you can start unlocking the abilities on it, let’s now look at the abilities themselves and the kind of play styles they have to offer.  

Jailbreak 

This skill unlocks some unique abilities specifically for the cyberware in V’s arms, including the Mantis Blades, Monowire, the Projectile Launch System and Gorilla Arms. If you are all about melee attacks or are a fan of the ability to use your arms like rocket launchers (as with the Projectile Launch System), this is definitely a Relic skill you want to invest in. 

For the Mantis Blades (my personal favorite arm weapons in the game, as I like to slice and dice), Jailbreak unlocks the ability to charge your next Leap Attack by performing a Finisher move or dismembering an enemy. 

A charged Leap Attack with Mantis Blades has +30 m. longer reach and deals massive damage with a wide slash that hits the target and other nearby enemies. If you kill an enemy with this attack, it also dismembers them. 

With the Monowire arm cyberware, you now have a dedicated slot for Control quickhacks. Charge up your Monowire, and when fully charged, release the attack to deal damage and upload the quickhack without paying its RAM cost. 

Jailbreak also offers an overcharge ability for the Projectile Launch System cyberware attachment, which launches a burst of 5 projectiles that cover a larger area. 

Last but not least is the Gorilla Arms cyberware, which—when upgraded with Jailbreak—can now be charged up when attacking. When fully charged, a Strong Attack deals massive damage and creates a shockwave, staggering nearby enemies. If you neutralize an enemy with this method, you send them flying through the air (which is always good for a laugh). 

There are four additional individual upgrades for each of the arm cyberware abilities on top of the main Jailbreak upgrade. These can be unlocked with a Relic Point each, but the Jailbreak ability needs to be unlocked before you can access them. Let’s take a closer look at each of them. 

Mantis Blades—Spatial Mapping, costs one Relic Point

All Leap Attacks with Mantis Blades now cripple enemies and increase the chance of dismemberment against those same enemies for 10 seconds. 

Monowire—Data Tunneling, costs one Relic Point

When an enemy is affected by a Monowire uploaded quickhack, normal Monowire attacks which hit that enemy and other enemies simultaneously spread the quickhack to them. 

Projectile Launch System—Launch Capacity Override, costs 1 Relic Point

Adds an additional charge to the Projectile Launch System. 

Gorilla Arms—Limiter Removal, costs 1 Relic Point

The shockwave from a charged Gorilla Arms attack now knocks down all enemies within range. 

There are two other subcategories of abilities on the Relic Skill tree. Whereas Jailbreak deals with arm cyberware, the other two categories focus on evasive stealth and targeting enemy vulnerabilities. Let’s look at them all a little more closely. 

Evasive Stealth Skills

Emergency Cloaking—costs three Relic Points

This is an upgrade for your optical cyberware, specifically improving V’s Optical Como cyberware. Activating Optical Como during combat cause senemies to lose track of you, giving you a chance to escape and exit the combat scenario entirely. This is a must for players who prefer to engage stealthily rather than all guns blazing. It is also very helpful if you find yourself in a sticky situation and need to make a quick getaway. 

Remember that you can only use this ability if you have Optical Como equipped to your Combat Gadget quickslot. 

Sensory Protocol—needs Emergency Cloaking skill to be unlocked, costs one Relic Point

Another stealthy skill, unlocking Sensory Protocol slows down time when you are detected by an enemy whilst crouching. This gives you a chance to escape either by dashing or dodging out of the enemy’s line of sight. The cooldown for this ability is 120 seconds. 

Targeting Enemy Vulnerabilities Skills

Vulnerability Analytics—costs three Relic Points 

This ability allows you to detect Vulnerabilities in enemy Armor and cyberware during combat. Hitting these Vulnerabilities offers +100 Crit Chance, +25% Armor penetration and Weakspot damage bonuses buffs against enemies. 

When you deal enough damage to a Vulnerability spot, it will explode and generate an EMP blast that damages enemies within 3 m. 

Machine Learning— needs Vulnerability Analytics skill to be unlocked, costs one Relic Point

Destroying an enemy Vulnerability grants +10 frequency of new Vulnerabilities appearing as well as +5% Crit Damage against Vulnerabilities. The Machine Learning ability lasts for 25 seconds, with the effect and the duration able to stack 5 times. When you reach maximum stacks, these effects will be doubled. 

Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty Relic Skill Tree: final thoughts

So there you have everything that you need to know about the Relic Skill Tree, which is only available in the Phantom Liberty DLC for Cyberpunk 2077. While there may not be a huge range of abilities to be found on the Relic Skill Tree, the skills that are there can definitely make a difference to players looking to change up their play style.

Not only that, but these skills are likely to be incredibly appealing to those who already engage in the particular play style that these abilities are geared towards. For instance, those who like to engage in stealthy tactics and who like to know that they have various options available to them should they need to escape a combat situation are sure to find the Emergency Cloaking and Sensory Protocol abilities an excellent and helpful addition to V’s skills in the game. 

Another example would be in regard to the upgrades available for V’s arm cyberware. Those who enjoy using their arm cyberware are getting a lot of great options with the Jailbreak upgrade, alongside the additional abilities for each of the four arm skills, all of which encourage personalization of your chosen arm cyberware. 

Those looking for new abilities in relation to weaponry might be a little disappointed with the Relic Skill Tree, but the complete overhaul of the Cyberpunk 2077 skill trees in the 2.0 update should be enough to satiate those looking to run and gun more effectively. All in all, the Relic Skill Tree from Phantom Liberty offers some fun ways to play as V during your time in the Dogtown district.