This Cyberpunk 2077 guide covers everything: apartment buffs, the best XP-farming routes that won't make you yawn, quick Street Cred without exhausting grinds and even console commands for PC players who want to skip the whole business. There is information about glitches too, but a warning upfront: patches keep arriving, and some methods may stop working over time.
My main Cyberpunk 2077 hub has more guides and mods. Right now, we're focusing on leveling V quickly so you can fully enjoy your build. Let's go!
What to do before farming XP
Before specific routes and methods, we need to lay the groundwork that makes everything else more effective. Think of this as your pre-game warm-up, except it actually matters.
Sleep in your apartment. Before every XP-farming session, visit any apartment and sleep. Rested gives +20% skill XP for one hour. Importantly, this doesn't increase character-level XP, but it makes a huge difference to developing individual skills such as Solo and Shinobi. Those skills open up the genuinely powerful builds that make the game more entertaining.
Don't fast travel immediately after sleeping. Just don't. Fast travel cancels the buff, wasting the time you spent getting it. Walk, drive, do whatever you like. Simply avoid teleporting straight away.
Set difficulty to Hard. I know: sounds counterintuitive when you're farming efficiently, right? Most methods involve one-shotting enemies, so higher difficulty won't slow you down. The final two difficulties award the same XP. Hard still gives more than lower settings. More experience for the same actions? I don't know about you, but I'll take that trade.
You can apply other apartment buffs at the same time:
- Shower for Refreshed: health regeneration in combat for one hour.
- Make coffee for Energized: maximum stamina and recovery bonuses for one hour.
Less important than sleep, but free stats, choom.
The fastest ways to level your character
Story missions give huge XP, but take forever
Main story missions are the biggest XP payouts. Sometimes a single mission is enough for an entire level. The catch? They're long. Some take 30-40 minutes or more depending on your playstyle, and that's before accounting for dialogue.
If you were planning to follow the story anyway, great: you'll level naturally. For deliberate level farming, though, story jobs aren't the most efficient use of time. They're packed with cutscenes, dialogue and objectives you can't speed up. Good for natural development, poor for pure farming.
Gigs: the sweet spot
Here's where it gets interesting. Gigs are short fixer missions found throughout Night City, perfect for XP farming. Each usually awards 500-1500 XP. Most take just a couple of minutes if you know what you're doing.
The beauty of gigs is that they're everywhere. You're always close to one, and they need less commitment than a full story mission. Go in, finish the objective, usually stealing something, killing someone or both, collect XP and Street Cred, then move on.
Early on, I moved between gigs within one district, clearing a few and adding NCPD activities en route. Repeat. Not thrilling, but effective.
NCPD Scanner Hustles: your foundation
NCPD Hustles appear as blue icons across the map.
They award enemy-clearing XP and another 125 XP simply for opening the evidence container afterward. Free XP for pressing a button :). Press button to win, as they say.
Perfect between missions. Got a spare minute? Clear an Assault in Progress for easy XP.
The best XP-farming spots in Cyberpunk
Knowing what to do is one thing. Knowing where to do it is another. I've tested plenty of farming routes. These are the ones that actually work.
Clearing Watson early
Early in the game, before The Heist, Watson is your playground. You can clear almost the entire district and reach character level 24 with Street Cred 50 before the story properly gets going.
Focus between Megabuilding H11 and Totentanz. Maelstrom, Scavs and Tyger Claws spawn consistently. Ideal for learning, testing playstyles and gaining a big level advantage before the world fully opens.
I wish I'd known this initially. Starting the main story at 24 drastically changes combat.
Pacifica farming route
Start at Grand Imperial Mall in Coastview, Pacifica. The route is ridiculously efficient because enemies respawn as you return to the start.
Here's the route:
- Start at Grand Imperial Mall's terminal.
- Clear the entrance forecourt first, usually containing a few enemies.
- Move left toward the barbecue area and its enemies.
- Continue through the open area with several spawning groups.
- Check near Hotel Rindo for encounters.
- Loop back; everything respawns.
A fast loop takes around 3-4 minutes. Plenty of weak enemies and chooms relaxing in small barbecue groups, often clustered perfectly for grenades.
The Glen apartment loop in Heywood
This route is harder, but has far more enemies. Start at the Glen apartment fast-travel point, get your buffs, and you'll have a circular route containing more than 20 constantly respawning enemy groups.
Essentially, circle the fast-travel point. You'll mainly clear Valentinos, with other gangs depending on the territory. It takes longer than the Pacifica route, but awards more XP for a complete loop.
I used this when combining XP farming with new weapons and builds. More targets mean more opportunities to experiment without running out of enemies.
Santo Domingo for XP and loot
Santo Domingo has several good routes. The bonus is that you aren't just earning experience: you also collect crafting components and decent loot along the way.
I don't have one specific Santo Domingo route. Several good ones blend together. Pick a fast-travel point such as Rancho Coronado, clear groups and keep moving in one direction.
Enemy density, mainly 6th Street, gives you plenty to do.
How to max Street Cred quickly
Street Cred develops separately and can matter more than character level. It unlocks better weapons, cyberware and vendor stock. Watching the number hit maximum is satisfying too. 😉
Gigs award the most Street Cred
As with character XP, gigs are king for Street Cred farming. Each awards 500-1500 Street Cred depending on difficulty and length. If you're specifically grinding Street Cred, prioritize these above everything else.
NCPD jobs: steady but smaller gains
Each police event gives 300-500 Street Cred. Individually modest, but it quickly adds up when you clear several in succession. Treat these as useful activities while waiting for more gigs or traveling between districts.
Cyberpsycho Sightings are worthwhile
Cyberpsychos are tough optional bosses around Night City. Each gives 350-800 Street Cred, depending on threat. Longer than Scanner Hustles, shorter than gigs, with solid rewards.
They're also a welcome change from repeatedly shooting the same gang members.
How skills develop in version 2.0+
Update 2.0 completely overhauled skills, and the new system is much better. There are now five main skill tracks, each developing according to how you actually play.
The five skills and how to level them
- Headhunter: Headshots, precision weapons such as pistols and sniper rifles, and stealth kills. Develops naturally for snipers and stealth builds.
- Netrunner: Quickhacks, device hacking and Intelligence-related actions. Hack everything: devices, cameras, access points.
- Shinobi: Blades, assault rifles, SMGs and acrobatics such as dashing. Use katanas or Mantis Blades, slide and dash in combat. Acrobatics earn skill XP separately from kills.
- Solo: Shotguns, machine guns, fists, Gorilla Arms and blunt weapons. The heavy-weapons and melee skill.
- Engineer: Tech and smart weapons, grenades and crafting. Like creating or exploding things? This is yours. Spam grenades while farming and level it naturally.
This system encourages experimentation with different playstyles. On my first post-2.0 run, I focused heavily on Netrunner and Headhunter as a stealth hacker. For the second, I went full Solo with shotguns. It felt like a completely different game.
Netrunner build? You'll need the right cyberdeck. My ranking covers every deck, explaining which deserve your eddies and which are junk.
The best cyberdecks in Cyberpunk 2077
XP through console commands and cheats
On PC with Cyber Engine Tweaks installed, you can simply skip all this farming business and give yourself levels directly through the console.
No judgment. Sometimes you want a max-level build test, or it's your third run and grinding is tedious. Here's what you need:
Character-level cheats
Set player level: both numbers must match:
Game.SetLevel("Level", x, x)
Level 50 example:
Game.SetLevel("Level", 50, 50)
Set Street Cred level:
Game.SetLevel("StreetCred", x, 1)
XP and skill-point commands
Add skill points:
Game.AddToInventory("Items.PerkPointSkillbook", x)
Add attribute points:
Game.AddToInventory("Items.AttributePointSkillbook", x)
This bypasses normal progression and rather breaks the game. Still, it's single-player. Play how you like.
That's the tip of the iceberg. My full command guide covers item spawning, stat changes and other entertaining ways to break things with CET.
Cyberpunk 2077 commands and cheats
Perk points, skill shards and crafting
Skill Shards
Skill Shards give 5,000 XP instantly to a particular skill. Use one from inventory for a large boost.
Buy one per skill from Frank's junk shop at Petrochem Stadium in Phantom Liberty. They also drop randomly from enemies and containers throughout the game. The shop sells a Perk Shard too.
Perk Shards
Perk Shards provide full perk points. There are 13 specific locations across Night City and Dogtown.
Perk Shard locations
Phantom Liberty: Dogtown
- Dog Eat Dog: Inside a blue Villefort's trunk in the EBM Petrochem Stadium basement. Missable if you advance the story.
- Stadium junk shop: Buy one for about 17,000 eddies. The shop references CD Projekt Red's founders.
- Coastal slums: Behind destructible cardboard boxes in a narrow corridor beneath the junk shop.
Base game: 10 shards in Night City and surroundings
- Watson, Northside: warehouse marked A, B and C. Destroy the drones, then check the rear crate.
- Westbrook, Japantown: Scanner Hustle east of Japantown South. On a body in a car.
- City Center, Corpo Plaza, 2 shards: one on a roof above Metro: Republic Way, another at the Assault in Progress by Metro: Memorial Park.
- Heywood, The Glen: Scanner Hustle reward northwest of Ventura & Skyline.
- Santo Domingo, Arroyo: Scanner Hustle reward southeast of Red Dirt.
- Santo Domingo, Rancho Coronado: during Reported Crime: Welcome to Night City.
- Arasaka Industrial Park, Santo Domingo: possibly available during Gimme Danger. May be missable depending on version.
Crafting to level Engineer
Crafting items awards Engineer XP. Turn that pile of unused components into skill levels.
The problem with this method is that it's boring. Mind-numbingly boring. You sit in a menu making the same item over and over. It works, but at what cost to your sanity?
XP glitches that sometimes work
Glitches get patched, so no guarantee they'll work when you read this. At the last check:
Duplicating Skill Shards
Put bodies into dumpsters or trunks, pressing pause and shard pickup together if the body contains one. Done correctly, it can award infinite skill XP. A blatant exploit: use at your own risk.
Incapacitate, then finish
Knock enemies out non-lethally, then kill them while unconscious. Supposedly awards XP twice, for incapacitation and death. I've tried a few times, but it's hard to tell whether it still works meaningfully or gives peanuts.
Efficient leveling without endless grinding
You don't have to farm. The game lets you advance naturally through missions.
Play naturally and keep the XP buff active
If farming routes sound awful, focus on story missions, side jobs and NCPD events while keeping your sleep buff. You'll level at a reasonable pace and enjoy the game instead of turning it into a checklist simulator.
Natural leveling tips:
- Prioritize story missions for large XP gains.
- Do side jobs and gigs between story sections for steady XP and cash.
- Don't ignore NCPD events: Quick XP you'll pass anyway.
- Use different weapons to develop multiple skills.
- Sleep in your apartment before sessions for the buff.
- Don't waste time killing random cops or civilians: They award almost no XP.
Use interactive maps
I've collected interactive maps covering farming spots, hidden locations and collectibles. Better than wandering Watson for 20 minutes looking for the quest or stash you swear was right here…
Cyberpunk 2077 interactive maps
Normal content is enough to reach high levels. Grinding is for min-maxers and third-run players wanting max level before Act 2.
Time to go level V
That's everything I know about fast Cyberpunk 2077 leveling: apartment buffs, essential sleep, farming routes, my favorite Pacifica, gigs and Hustles for Street Cred, skill advice and PC console commands.
Your method depends on how you play. Optimizing every second? Farm Pacifica or The Glen until your eyes glaze over. Here for the story? Play normally. On PC and can't be bothered? Commands exist for a reason.
The most effective approach combines them. Sleep before playing, do gigs en route and avoid hard grinding unless you urgently need a gear requirement. Night City has enough to do without making it homework.
Leveling questions answered
Stuck at level 15 after 60 hours: why isn't XP increasing?
A known bug or a consequence of playstyle. Killing random street enemies or police instead of completing missions yields very little. Random kills give minimal XP.
Focus on gigs and NCPD icons. Killing cops gives no XP, cash or loot.
Why does level scaling make enemies bullet sponges?
Enemies scale to your level. Your strength comes from perks and cyberware rather than the level number. By 40+, powerful abilities they lack put you well ahead.
Does higher difficulty give more XP?
Yes, with a catch. Hard and Very Hard award the same XP, so farm on Hard. Skill XP increases more noticeably than character XP. Roughly: Easy, 36 XP; Normal, 40 XP; Hard, 48 XP.
Can you max every attribute?
No, there are hard limits. Max level is 60 with DLC, with 71 attribute points. You can max 3 attributes at 20, raise another to 18 and leave one at minimum. Around 82 perk points are available.
Why does picking up shards remove the XP buff?
A bug: Skill Shards sometimes cancel Rested. Shower after sleeping as a workaround. Refreshed acts as a shield, disappearing first and protecting the XP buff.
