Cyberpunk 2077 update 1.5 brings better AI, reworked perks, and appearance customisation Rock Paper Shotgun Support us Join our newsletter Visit our store Sign in / Create account If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Cyberpunk 2077 update 1.5 brings better AI, reworked perks, and appearance customisation Plus, new apartments to rent News by Alice O'Connor Associate Editor Published on Feb. 15, 2022 50 comments CD Projekt Red have finally launched Cyberpunk 2077's long-awaited Update 1.5, which for us here on PC means newness including a rebuild of the perk trees, AI improvements, the ability to change V's appearance, new apartments to buy, and loads more. Oh, and Update 1.5 will bring the long-awaited next-gen version to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Xeriex XS. Watch on YouTube Cyberpunk 2077 was in a sorry state when it launched in December 2020, riddled with a great many obvious bugs and underbaked systems. CDPR fixed some of the most intrusive bugs with but even today the game feels unfinished. I'm glad to see Update 1.5 will address some of those areas. So! NPC combat AI is improved to make them smarter and more active, as well as making members of different factions behave differently. NPC pedestrians should feel more alive too, with some being armed and willing to join nearby violence, and crowds less of a fondness for despawning when V turns around. NPC drivers are more lively too, with the new ability to panic and flee when in danger. Perk trees are reworked, with some bad perks removed and others rebalanced. They most notorious perk getting binned is Commando, which makes enemies unable to detect you when you're underwater-in a game where you might spend only 30 seconds underwater in a full 100-hour playthrough. The Stealth tree has morphed into Ninjutsu too, to reflect its slightly different focus. The perk changes are enough that when Update 1.5 hits, you'll have all your points refunded. The kinda-useless throwing knives will now automatically return to V's hands after a time, with higher-rarity ones returning sooner. Good. Or you can pick them up manually. Romances are expanded a touch too, with new messages and interactions, including the possibility of sleeping alongside them in bed. The long-awaited mid-game appearance customisation has arrived, with options to change V's hair, makeup, and piercings accessible at apartment mirrors. They've also added new makeup styles plus new colours for hair and makeup. This is one of the 'free DLC' bits. Not every platform gets every change, mind. V's home can get fancier too. Along with four new apartments she can buy around Night City, it adds the option to buy makeovers for her Megabuilding H10 home. They've also added mood-building bits to apartment, like lighting incense, playing the guitar, and smoking a ciggy. Apartment activities can give buffs and all. And apparently Nibbles, the cat V tempts into living with her, has some new... stuff? CDPR are cagey about what specifically they've added with Nibbles. The third freeLC doodad is two new rifles, new scopes, and a new attachment type, muzzle breaks. They're available easily from Wilson's, the gun store in V's apartment building, or as plain ol' drops. Let's see, what else. The PC version is getting has a benchmark mode, letting you test performance. We're getting an option to walk rather than run everywhere, which I do appreciate as a video game tourist. The economy is rebalanced, with higher cash rewards and lower prices on cyberware and vehicles. And... lots. The patch changes lots. See the Update 1.5 patch notes for more. It's a big patch, and there is a lot more. It should be out right now on PC. While I'll likely not replay Cyberpunk 2077 to check all this out until CDPR release a full-on expansion, the patch does sound more like the game Cyberpunk 2077 should have been 14 months ago. Still not the game CDPR suggested it would be, but I don't expect it'll ever be that. But, I like the game it currently is well enough. "Cyberpunk 2077 is huge, sprawling, complex, and deeply flawed," Graham said in our Cyberpunk 2077 review at launch. "It's at its best as a fairly straightforward singleplayer action game, with likable characters and thrilling capers in a fascinatingly detailed open world that looks better than any game before it. It's at its worst if you want it to be an RPG, an approach-as-you-please Deus Ex successor, or a polished piece of software. I enjoyed my time with it a lot, and I even want more of it, though I'm going to spend years complaining about its flaws. I'll enjoy the complaining, too." More News Jack King-Spooner's next handcrafted game has a teaser demo out Judero brings chat and action in the Scottish Borders Alice O'Connor 17 hours ago 1 If you were hoping for any Overwatch 2 balance changes then you'll have to wait until season two The next season begins in December CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 3 The Dead Space remake will chuck random Necromorphs at you as you wander the Ishimura In space, no one can hear you proper bricking it CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 8 Valve register mysterious new Neon Prime trademark in the US It doesn’t seem to be for a particularly colourful Steam Deck CJ Wheeler 20 hours ago 11 Latest Articles What are we all playing this weekend? Well? Alice O'Connor an hour ago 22 Past Wordle answers Here's an archive of previous Wordle words Ollie Toms 2 hours ago 1 Wordle answer today (Saturday 15 October) Hints and the answer to today's Wordle word Rebecca Jones 9 hours ago Overwatch 2 hero tier list Which are the best heroes in Overwatch 2? Ollie Toms 16 hours ago Supporters Only You're probably better than me at One Many Nobody You go on without… uh, you? Sin Vega 17 hours ago Supporter podcast - The Nate Files episode 13: dry bones Bad science is also FUN science! Alice Bell 18 hours ago Japanese dating show Love Wagon has surprising parallels with Yakuza and Persona My new obsession Ed Thorn 2 days ago If you're hankering after Bayonetta 3, Valkyrie Elysium might be a good substitute It's not out on PC until next month, but the console demo has been a surprise charmer Katharine Castle 1 week ago 4 We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes Buy RPS stuff here