Cyberpunk 2077 Should you use Skippy’s Stone Cold Killer or Puppy-Loving Pacifist mode?

Cyberpunk 2077‘s Night City is bursting with unique weapons just begging to find their way into the hands of an unscrupulous mercenary, but none are quite as special as Skippy, a smart gun equipped with a slightly unorthodox onboard AI.

Upon stumbling upon Skippy in an alley in Heywood, you’ll be presented with the choice of two operating modes and asked to choose between them: Puppy-Loving Pacifist will have Skippy always aim for an enemy’s extremities, while Stone Cold Killer will have him always aim for the head. While it may initially seem innocuous enough, this choice comes with a catch that won’t become apparent for several hours of gameplay.

What’s the best choice for Skippy in Cyberpunk 2077?

Although Stone Cold Killer might seem like the obvious choice, players should actually select Puppy-Loving Pacifist. The reason why is simple, but not immediately obvious: After fifty kills (or incapacitations) in either mode, Skippy will switch to the mode you didn’t choose, and this time the change is permanent. That means any aspiring pacifists are going to start racking up a staggering body count before long, and any stone-cold assassins will perplexingly start leaving their targets alive. Therefore, for maximum efficiency in combat, selecting Puppy-Loving Pacifist is the way to go—as long as you don’t mind racking up the fifty kills necessary to switch lanes.

As if Skippy’s constant commentary wasn’t annoying enough, the game gives you absolutely no indication that this switch is coming, which is admittedly in tune with CD Projekt Red’s hands-off game design philosophy but can also severely hamper the gun’s utility regardless of which playstyle you’re aiming for. At least the quips are kind of funny.

I would say you’re better off sticking to one of Cyberpunk 2077‘s other Iconic weapons, which there are certainly no shortage of. But beware: you won’t be able to sell Skippy or otherwise remove it from your inventory until you’ve completed its associated quest, including making those fifty kills and eventually deciding whether or not to return it to its owner. It might be best to just avoid that alleyway entirely and become an unstoppable cyber ninja instead. Or, if your heart is yearning for a talking gun, the Erebus SMG fills that niche with no strings attached… except for maybe just a tiny chance of getting corrupted by a rogue AI from beyond the Blackwall. Nobody’s perfect!