Cyberpunk 2077’s sparse new DLC has players disappointed

By Otto Kratky Published August 19, 2021

Before it was released, CD Projekt Red promised that Cyberpunk 2077 would receive both paid and free DLC, much like The Witcher 3. Well, the day has finally come, and along with a massive 1.3 patch, players are also getting the first batch of free DLC. But even though it won’t cost players a single penny, it still appears to have left fans disappointed.

Cyberpunk 2077‘s first batch of DLC consists of three new items. The first is a new appearance for Johnny Silverhand that leaves him shirtless, wearing a jacket, and with his hair slicked to the side. The second is a two-parter, with two new jackets that players can get. The Multilayered Syn-Leather Deltajock Jacket and Luminescent Punk Jacket are added to the player’s stash after completing The Ride mission. While these jackets are of high quality, they won’t be very useful to players, since they lack any mod slots.

Recommended Videos

The third and final part of Cyberpunk’s first free DLC is a new car that players can purchase depending on the choices they make during the Ghost Town mission.

The final free DLC reveal today is an alternate look for Johnny

CDPR guy: "He looks like a poser"

lmao man pic.twitter.com/MspMtzWs2I

— Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) August 17, 2021

While a developer at CD Projekt Red described this DLC pack as the “cherry on top” of Cyberpunk 2077‘s enormous 1.3 update, reactions to the cosmetics and car haven’t been positive. During most of the stream, which aired on CD Projekt Red’s Twitch channel, chatters were expressing either their disappointment or boredom. On Twitter, others criticized a CD Projekt Red developer for comparing developing a patch for a live game to “open-heart surgery.”

Even with a lackluster batch of free DLC, Cyberpunk 2077‘s 1.3 patch is a major one, with pages upon pages of bug fixes and performance improvements across all platforms. A full list of patch notes can be found on the game’s website.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…

Topics

Gaming

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Relic guide

Songbird in a dress in Phantom Liberty.

The first and only expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 has far more than just a new area and missions to fill your time. Phantom Liberty is part of the 2.0 update that almost completely overhauls the systems introduced in the base game to be more in line with the original vision, It also adds new mechanics to flesh out the experience even further. Once you start the expansion, the first thing you will probably notice is the completely revamped skill system, which now includes a brand new tree called the Relic tree. These skills are all brand new, and alone could be reason enough to start a fresh adventure in Night City. But these Relic skills don't function like the other skills where you simply need to level up to unlock and upgrade them. Don't worry, Samurai, we'll transfer all the data you need on how to get Relic skills and what each of them does.
How to get Relic points
The new Relic skill tree is the only new feature in terms of skills that you need to purchase the Phantom Liberty expansion to access. Once you begin the expansion, the tree and a few starting points will be given to you automatically from a new character. To get more Relic points, you have to track down a new feature called Militech Data Terminals rather than simply leveling up. These points will only pop up on your map once you're close to them, so you will need to search them out for the most part.
All Relic skills

The Relic skill tree is broken down into three branches: Jailbreak, Emergency Cloaking, and Vulnerability. Just like any normal skill tree, you need to unlock each skill in order to gain access to the next one, so planning out which branch you want to invest in before spending your precious points is vital, especially since some trees have many more levels to them than others. Here's what each branch gives you:
Jailbreak
Jailbreak: Unlocks new abilities for your Arm Cyberwear, including the Mantis Blades, Gorilla Arms, Projectile Launch System, and Monowire.

Gaming

Cyberpunk 2077: How to start Phantom Liberty DLC

A pyramid from Cyberpunk 2077.

The rehabilitation of Cyberpunk 2077 finally culminates in both the release of the 2.0 update and the substantial DLC expansion called Phantom Liberty. Between these two, plus all the changes made in the years since launch, the once unstable and buggy game is finally living up to its potential. While everything up until this point has been free, including the 2.0 changes, Phantom Liberty is the first and only piece of paid content. Giving players an entirely new area in Dogtown to explore, plus a lengthy main story and tons of new side missions, it's the biggest reason to reinstall this ambitious title. But how exactly can you start the DLC since it is meant to slot into the story of the main game rather than take place before or after? We've hacked in and downloaded all the data you need on how to start the Phantom Liberty DLC.
How to start Phantom Liberty
There are actually a few different ways to get into Phantom Liberty depending on your preference and whether or not you've played the base game. The easiest way to get directly into it is through the main menu. With the DLC installed, you will have an option to jump directly into the expansion, even if you haven't played the main game yet. This sounds great for those who want to see the new stuff right away, but it isn't recommended if you haven't played the base game at all. You will be given a character automatically leveled up and placed at the proper point in the story for the DLC to take place with no context or tutorial on how to play. Note that picking this option doesn't lock you out of any of the base game content.

For new players who want to experience Phantom Liberty more naturally, you will need to play the opening hours of Cyberpunk 2077 until you complete the "Transmission" mission before the quest that starts the DLC will trigger.

Computing

Cyberpunk 2077 might force you to upgrade your CPU

Cyberpunk 2077 running on the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8.

The highly anticipated expansion to Cyberpunk 2077 is just around the corner, and with the release of Phantom Liberty, many gamers might need to start thinking of upgrading their PCs. Now, CD Projekt Red has shed a little more light on the matter. It seems that some people might need to swap to one of the best CPUs, and even those already running modern hardware should still look into their cooling systems because Cyberpunk 2077 is just about to become a lot more CPU-intensive.

Filip Pierściński, who is a leading scene programmer at CD Projekt Red, shared an update regarding the game's CPU utilization going forward. Cyberpunk 2077 is famous for requiring one of the top GPUs, but it historically hasn't made the most out of the CPU. In fact, players had to rely on mods to boost CPU utilization, as the game itself wasn't able to effectively utilize Intel's hyper-threading (HT) and AMD's simultaneous multi-threading (SMT). The good news is that those mods can now be put to rest, but the bad news is that if your hardware is a little outdated, it might struggle to run Cyberpunk 2077 for a whole new reason now.