Increasing Cyberware Capacity in Cyberpunk 2077

How does the new Cyberware Capacity system work?

Update 2.0 introduced a limit: your body can handle only so much chrome before… problems. Each implant has a cost in yellow numbers, and your total capacity determines what you can install.

V starts with 24 Cyberware Capacity at level 1. The formula is simple: 21 + (3 * your level). At level 60, leveling alone gives 201 capacity. Decent, but far from enough for truly outrageous builds.

The hard cap is 450, or 500 with Edgerunner. Most players can realistically reach 424-430 without glitches or mods. CDPR confirmed 424 as the intended maximum in 2023, which feels low given Dogtown cyberware costs.

Here’s the thing: more powerful chrome takes more room. Those shiny iconic implants from Phantom Liberty? Some consume 35-55 capacity points apiece.

What’s the maximum capacity?

Here’s where every point comes from:

Without Chrome Compressor: 201 + 15 + 20 + 54 + 14 + 6 = 310 base
+50 from Edgerunner = 360 maximum

With Chrome Compressor: 310 + 70 = 380 base +50 from Edgerunner = 430 maximum

Most builds won’t raise all 5 attributes to 9+, because that weakens specialization. Realistically:

• Without Edgerunner/Compressor: 306-320
• With Edgerunner: 350-370
• With Chrome Compressor: 376-400
• With both: 426-450

Hard caps:

• Base hard cap: 450
• With Edgerunner: 500
• Beyond that: UI problems, a disappearing capacity bar and strange glitches.

I reached 410 capacity with Chrome Compressor and Edgerunner. I could probably have squeezed out another 10-20 by hunting every shard and optimizing attributes, but 410 was enough to install everything I wanted.

How do you increase Cyberware Capacity?

Leveling: boring but reliable

Every level gives you +3 Cyberware Capacity. No extra effort: it simply happens. By level 60, you’ll have 201 capacity in total. Not particularly exciting, but guaranteed, unlike those shards that refuse to drop once you reach max level. Seriously, the drop rates become terrible.

Engineer skill progression

Engineer progression under Technical Ability provides capacity bonuses at particular milestones. Level 10 gives +5, and level 30 adds another +10. That’s 15 free points simply for leveling a skill you’ll probably be using anyway.

Engineer is easy to level. Use Tech weapons, which are good now, throw grenades, hack cameras and turrets, craft items and dismantle junk. I usually reach Engineer 30 naturally through normal play and gigs.

Renaissance Punk

This perk requires 9 Technical Ability and the prerequisite All Things Cyber perk. Once you take it, you gain +4 Cyberware Capacity for every attribute raised to 9 or higher.

The maximum is +20 with all five attributes at 9+. Realistically, most builds get +16 from four qualifying attributes. Spreading points further usually weakens the build. You can raise all five, but then you’re chasing capacity numbers instead of specializing.

Still, 16-20 free capacity for planning attributes? I’ll take it.

Edgerunner

Technical Ability’s final perk requires 20 points. It’s powerful and risky, depending on how you play.

Edgerunner allows 50 extra capacity. Great, until the drawback: -0.5% maximum health for every point over the limit. Use all +50, and you lose 25% health. That’s substantial. One-mistake-and-you’re-dead substantial.

It also grants a chance to enter Fury: 0.1% per excess capacity point, totaling 5% at +50. Fury gives +10% damage, +30% critical chance and +50% critical damage. Nice, but relying on chance isn’t a dependable combat strategy.

I’ve used Edgerunner builds. They work, but bring good armor and quick reflexes.

Chrome Compressor operating system

Exclusive to Phantom Liberty. Sold by Dogtown ripperdocs and obtainable from airdrops.

Chrome Compressor adds +40 to +70 capacity depending on tier, reaching the full +70 at 5++. That’s a huge, build-defining amount.

The catch? It replaces your operating system. No Sandevistan time slowing, Berserk or cyberdeck hacking. You’re trading your active ability for raw capacity.

Great for pure gun builds that don’t rely on OS abilities. Netrunners and Sandevistan melee players should probably skip it. There’s also a confirmed bug preventing removal after installation, so save before equipping it.

All Things Cyber

It doesn’t directly raise capacity, but deserves mention. Level 2 reduces the capacity cost of Skeleton and Integumentary System cyberware by 20%.

Depending on your build, that can save 20-40 capacity points altogether. It’s like gaining extra capacity without actually increasing the number: you’re simply getting more use out of the budget you already have.

Let’s talk Cyberware Capacity Shards

These small upgrade shards are scattered around Night City and Dogtown. Picking them up permanently raises capacity. No manual activation: grab and go.

Shard rarities and bonuses

• Uncommon, green: +2 capacity
• Rare, blue: +3 capacity
• Epic, purple: +4 capacity
• Legendary, yellow/orange: +6 capacity

Available tiers depend on character level. Higher levels unlock better shards.

What that means: Rushing at low level can hurt you later because guaranteed shards drop at lower tiers. I learned that on my first run, finishing Psycho Killer at level 18 for +4 instead of the +6 awarded at 25+. Live and learn.

How many capacity shards exist?

Base-game random drops total 54 capacity, with a limit for each tier:

• 7 green shards: 14 points
• 4 blue shards: 12 points
• 4 purple shards: 16 points
• 2 yellow shards: 12 points

Phantom Liberty adds +13 to +14 capacity through DLC content. Five guaranteed Dogtown cyberpsycho drops give 2 each, totaling 10, plus mission rewards and hidden locations.

Playing without Phantom Liberty means missing a substantial chunk of capacity. The DLC isn’t merely story content. It literally gives your build a larger power budget.

How do shard drops work?

This gets technical, but understanding it helps you farm efficiently.

• Base enemy drop chance is 5% before level 60. A pity system adds +1% for every enemy without a shard. Once it reaches 100%, a shard appears within the next 2-3 kills. Then it resets to 5%.
• At level 60, drop chances collapse. Legendary shards fall from 5% to 0.6%, and pity increases by only 0.1%. Max-level farming hurts. The “maybe I’ll use the console” kind of hurt.
• Each rarity has a drop limit. Once you’ve found every available shard of a tier, it stops dropping. That’s why shards suddenly vanish around 300-350 capacity: you’ve capped several tiers.

Your character level also determines which tiers can drop. Low-level characters can’t find Legendary shards, however lucky they are. The game locks higher tiers behind level requirements. That makes lore sense, since level-10 V probably shouldn’t find top-end military chrome lying everywhere, but it feels restrictive in gameplay.

The best shard-farming locations

Dogtown cyberpsychos and cyberjunkies

Phantom Liberty added 7-11 cyberpsychos/cyberjunkies around Dogtown. Five guarantee Tier 2 shards, +2 each, totaling 10.

Confirmed locations I’ve personally checked:

• Luxor High: Down the road, in the building on the right. Climb toward the generator area.
• Tunnel beneath Luxor High: Directly below the large sign. Hard to miss.
• Terra Cognita metal dome: The large dome structure. Take the elevator or pass the nearby NPCs.
• Terra Cognita junkyard: Inside a hole in the dump. Tricky to spot, but it’s there.
• Terra Cognita blade encounter: Just behind the junkyard area.
• Golden Pacific: Near Hansen’s tower, in an alley. Usually guarded by Barghest.
• Generator repair encounter: Also around Luxor High.

Others include Wesley Hunt by the boxing arena, Maggie Isley at the stalls, Jacob Bernard on a rooftop and Sean McMillan in sewer tunnels. Prioritize those first five guaranteed drops.

Dogtown airdrops

Random events marked by red smoke and a low pulsing beep. They contain high-tier loot and sometimes capacity shards.

Airdrop encounter types:

• Shootout: kill everyone, then loot.
• Capture: a few enemies and a quick fight.
• Ambush: initially unguarded, with enemies spawning when you loot. A fun surprise. 🙄
• Grab: free loot, no combat.
• Custom: unique encounters with bits of lore.

Open the drop through a Breach Protocol puzzle. Loot quality varies, but I’ve found Epic and Legendary shards across several playthroughs. The catch? Drops appear randomly, making reliable farming impossible. Explore Dogtown and hope one lands nearby.

NCPD Scanner Hustles

NCPD Scanner Hustles throughout Night City can award capacity shards from high-threat enemies. Emphasis on “can”: the drop chance is fairly low, and you’re relying on the same randomness as with ordinary enemies.

I wouldn’t farm them specifically for shards. If you’re already clearing them for Street Cred or loot, you may get lucky. I’ve found perhaps 3-4 shards in 100+ hours, so don’t expect miracles.

El Capitan’s vehicle contracts

Complete El Capitan’s vehicle theft and delivery missions, then check their reward crates. Some contain capacity shards. Again, it’s not guaranteed, but worth doing because El Cap’s jobs are usually quick and pay reasonably well.

Dogtown cyberjunkies are your best guaranteed source. Everything else is RNG hell, worsening at level 60. Serious farmers should visit the five guaranteed encounters first, then pray to the loot gods.

Console commands for spawning shards

Sometimes you want to test a build without 20 hours of farming. This is technically cheating and may affect achievement tracking depending on platform.

Install Cyber Engine Tweaks (CET), press ~ or your assigned console key, then enter:

Game.AddToInventory(“Items.CWCapacityPermaReward_Legendary”)

A Legendary Tier 5 shard, worth +6 capacity, enters your inventory. It activates automatically, immediately increasing capacity.

Commands for other tiers:

Game.AddToInventory(“Items.CWCapacityPermaReward_Uncommon”)

Game.AddToInventory(“Items.CWCapacityPermaReward_Rare”)

Game.AddToInventory(“Items.CWCapacityPermaReward_Epic”)

Game.AddToInventory(“Items.CWCapacityPermaReward_Legendary”)

Copy the desired tier, press Enter and watch the number rise. Easy. Perhaps too easy: finding shards naturally is satisfying, even if it takes forever.

Shard duplication glitches: use at your own risk

These are exploits that may be patched by the time you read this. I’m documenting them for reference and because some of you want maximum capacity without a 30-hour grind.

Double-shard glitch: still works on patch 2.31+

This bug doubles the capacity awarded by a shard rather than duplicating the item itself.

• Green shards: +4 instead of +2
• Blue shards: +6 instead of +3
• Purple shards: +8 instead of +4
• Yellow shards: +12 instead of +6

How to do this:

1. Find a Cyberware Capacity Shard from a cyberpsycho, mission reward or other source.
2. As you pick it up, immediately press two buttons together: PC: F + ESC; PlayStation: Square + Options; Xbox: X + View/Start.
3. Done correctly, the shard disappears from view.
4. Make a quicksave.
5. Load that quicksave.
6. Check capacity. It should have increased by twice the usual amount.

Timing is critical. Press simultaneously with looting or immediately afterward. Too early or late, and it fails. I succeeded about 60% of the time. Practice helps.

It survived several patches, 2.0 -> 2.31+, because it isn’t conventional item duplication. The save/load timing issue is harder for CDPR to fix without disrupting other systems. Still, there’s no guarantee it works forever.

Trunk duplication: mostly patched

The old method placed NPC bodies in particular car trunks, creating a floating bag that respawned items. Mostly fixed in 2.02+, though I’ve seen reports of occasional success under specific conditions.

Steps, unlikely to work on recent patches:

1. Defeat a cyberpsycho carrying a capacity shard.
2. Pick up the cyberpsycho’s body.
3. Carry it to a suitable car trunk near Terra Cognita, Golden Pacific or similar areas.
4. Put the items, including the shard, in the trunk.
5. Put the NPC body in the trunk.
6. A floating bag should appear above the car.
7. Take everything except the shard from the bag.
8. Move 30-40 meters away.
9. Return. The items should have respawned.
10. Repeat.

Discovered when players noticed NPC inventories glitching in trunks, this was patched quickly once widely known. An older patch or unupdated copy may work, but don’t count on it.

Common bugs and fixes

Shards don’t increase capacity

You pick up a shard and see the notification, but capacity doesn’t change. Extremely frustrating.

Possible solutions:

• Reload a save from before picking it up.
• Check that you haven’t reached that tier’s drop limit. The game stops registering shards once every available one of that rarity is found.
• Check that the shard entered your inventory. Some bug out and register incorrectly.
• Contact CDPR support with save details.

This happened to me twice. A full restart fixed one case. The other required an earlier save and collecting the shard again, which worked on the second attempt.

The capacity bar disappears

The bar vanishes from the ripperdoc UI, usually beyond 416 capacity with Edgerunner or past the 450 hard cap.

Fixes:

• Unequip cyberware until below the threshold.
• Load a save from before the bug.
• Check mod conflicts. Enhanced Cyberware Capacity can cause this when misconfigured.

The UI can’t handle such high numbers. Capacity still works, so it’s not critical, but losing the bar is annoying.

Shards stop dropping entirely

You reach around 300-350 capacity, and shards vanish regardless of how many enemies you kill.

Drop limits partly explain this. Each rarity has a maximum per playthrough. Collect every shard of a rarity, and it stops appearing.

CDPR confirmed 424 as the legitimate maximum without glitches in 2023. If you’re short, you probably missed guaranteed mission shards.

Arms-slot capacity bug

Arm cyberware costs, such as Gorilla Arms and Mantis Blades, register incorrectly while holstered. Capacity numbers fluctuate randomly at ripperdocs.

Re-equip the arm cyberware, or switch to another type and back. A ripperdoc visit usually fixes it.

Capacity differences between Phantom Liberty saves

Characters created in 2.0-2.02 can reach 366 without Chrome Compressor. Characters created after 2.1 max out at 354.

In 2.1, CDPR moved some capacity into Chrome Compressor buffs, lowering the base maximum for newly created characters. An intentional rebalance rather than a bug, slightly disadvantaging newcomers.

If your capacity limit seems odd, check the patch your character was created on. It may explain the difference.

Mods that improve Cyberware Capacity

Enhanced Cyberware Capacity

What it does: edits maximum capacity, removes the 450 hard cap, adds flat bonuses and applies character-level multipliers. Includes a Native Settings interface for in-game configuration without editing files.

Essentially god mode for capacity. Set 1000, 5000 or unlimited, add flat bonuses beyond leveling, or tweak the formula for balance. I used it during build tests across several playthroughs. Farming shards for 10 hours just to test a concept gets tedious.

More Cyberware Capacity Per Level

What it does: doubles per-level capacity. Vanilla: 21 + 3 × level; modded: 21 + 6 × level. There are x4 and x5 options if you’re feeling generous.

At level 60, it gives 381 capacity instead of 201. That’s 180 extra points from levels alone, enough for most powerful builds without shards or perks.

Actual Chrome Compression

What it does: makes Chrome Compressor compress cyberware costs instead of merely adding capacity. Reduces installed costs by 5-30% depending on tier, reaching 30% at 5++.

This makes Chrome Compressor more competitive with other operating systems. Instead of just +70, you effectively get +70 plus 30% off everything installed. That can add 60-90 capacity’s worth of value depending on build.

Checklist for maximum Cyberware Capacity

That’s practically everything I’ve learned about capacity across several playthroughs and far too many build-testing hours.

Maximum-capacity priority checklist:

1. Reach level 60 naturally: +201.
2. Reach Engineer 30: +15.
3. Take Renaissance Punk and plan at least 4 attributes at 9+: +16-20.
4. Farm 5 guaranteed Dogtown cyberjunkie shards: +10.
5. Complete Psycho Killer at level 25+: +6.
6. Collect the parking-area shard during Dog Eat Dog at high level: +4-6.
7. Farm random drops until tier limits: +38-44.
8. Decide whether Edgerunner’s health trade is worthwhile: +50.
9. Consider Chrome Compressor if you don’t need OS abilities: +70.

Follow this route for 400+ capacity without glitches or mods. Add commands or the double-shard exploit to speed things up if you want. No judgment.

Remember: higher capacity doesn’t automatically make a better build.

Quick answers to your questions

How does Cyberware Capacity limit installed implants?

Cyberware Capacity is a hard limit on how much chrome you can install. Each implant has a yellow-number cost. Once the combined cost exceeds your limit, you can’t install more. The system forces you to prioritize implants strategically rather than equipping everything.

Which enemies drop Cyberware Capacity Shards?

Regular enemies and gang members have a base 5% drop chance. High-threat enemies and mini-bosses have better chances. Dogtown cyberjunkies guarantee drops: 5 of 11 drop green shards at 100%. Shards can’t drop from containers, bosses or MaxTac.

Can ripperdocs sell Cyberware Capacity Shards?

No, ripperdocs don’t sell Cyberware Capacity Shards. They only sell and install cyberware. Capacity shards must be found as random enemy loot or earned as mission rewards.

How much capacity do endgame builds need?

Most optimized endgame builds need 300-350 capacity. Demanding Sandevistan builds need more because of expensive iconic cyberware. The theoretical maximum is 424-430, but most builds work well at 320-360.