Those still playing Cyberpunk 2077 despite its amalgam of irritating bugs and glitches may be running into the same problem many open-world RPG fans have: figuring out what loot they should sell, dismantle, or keep. This conundrum is one that rears its ugly head in most games in this genre, and many gamers have a voice in their head that insists they might need something later. Thus, they end up hoarding items they will never use.
There is a place for hoarding certain items, of course, but most of the loot can be discarded through selling or dismantling, with the money or components earned put toward weapons, clothing, or cyberware that is more useful. The hard part is deciding what makes the cut of staying in players’ inventory. For that, there are two primary philosophies depending on whether gamers are fans of crafting in Cyberpunk 2077: dismantle and sell everything and only use crafted gear or dismantle and sell everything that is not a direct upgrade (the scavenger’s way).
Loot to Sell, Dismantle, or Keep in Cyberpunk 2077 - Crafters
Crafting is the best method for obtaining some of Cyberpunk 2077’s most powerful weapons and clothing. For players who prefer to create their arsenal themselves, the way they approach selling, dismantling, or keeping is a little different than those who prefer to forego crafting all together. The basic principle for this playstyle is to either sell or dismantle everything that gets looted to favor using crafted equipment.
There is some nuance to this, however, as fans must still decide whether to sell or dismantle a specific piece of loot. Junk, for example, should always be dismantled, and obtaining the Scrapper perk in the Crafting tree (within the Technical Ability attribute) makes this easy, as it allows junk to automatically be dismantled when picked up. This is a quick way for gamers to accumulate components for common and uncommon crafted items.
Though, this still means players need to decide whether to dismantle or loot weapons, clothing, mods, and cyberware. For crafters, dismantling items that will only generate components of a lower quality than they wish to use, such as uncommon components when seeking to craft epic items, is useless. Crafters should only focus on dismantling loot that provides the proper tier of components they are seeking to craft. Rare crafters should only dismantle rare and epic loot and sell uncommon and common loot.
Note that rare and epic items, when dismantled, also provide common and uncommon components along with the rare and epic ones. Relying on the lower tiers of equipment for those materials becomes unnecessary once able to craft rare, epic, or legendary items. Thus, sell everything that does not produce components at the desired tier. As far as what to keep, players should focus on crafting those weapons and clothing they intend to use depending on their playstyle. Also, keep medical stims; never dismantle or sell those.
Loot to Sell, Dismantle, or Keep in Cyberpunk 2077 - Scavengers
Scavengers are those players who prefer to forego crafting and spend their Cyberpunk 2077 attribute and perk points on more active skills and talents. There is nothing wrong with this playstyle, as crafting can often feel mundane and tedious, especially when considering the upgrade process and hoarding materials. For scavengers, however, the philosophy of what to dismantle versus what to sell or keep is a little different.
While scavengers do not wish to craft as their primary source of upgrading their arsenal, they should still accumulate some components by dismantling common and uncommon items. The reason behind this is to craft, at a bare minimum, medical stims for tougher encounters. Taking damage is inevitable in Cyberpunk 2077, especially in boss fights or when significantly outnumbered. Having ways to heal is paramount and relying on looting the medical items or purchasing them is inefficient in the long run. Craft them.
Other than medical stims, there is no reason for scavengers to craft. So, they should focus on determining what to sell and what to keep when not in need of healing items. The way to determine this is easy: if it is not a direct upgrade, sell it.
This becomes more difficult when looting an item that is an upgrade but does not mesh with the fan’s playstyle. In this case, selling it is fine if the increase in utility is negligible. However, significant upgrades should never be sold, as they can come in handy when tackling more difficult content, where the real loot-rich scenarios occur (players will find something they like there). Besides, those upgrades that do not adhere to a fan’s playstyle can be sold, and the money can be used to buy upgrades they like.
Eventually, scavengers will be looting rare, epic, and even legendary equipment during their journey, or they will have enough eddies (money) to purchase the high-quality equipment they covet. The difference between those items and crafted ones is negligible and should not be a deciding factor when deciding which way to play. All the game’s content is beatable on the hardest difficulties either way.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with upgraded versions coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.