Will stealth be required on Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty's missions?

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty's setting is like a spy thriller - so do you need to use stealth? While talking to CD Projekt RED's Pawel Sasko, one of the topics that came up was the notion of stealth. Not all players like sneaking around - and some are bad at it. Stealth missions can often feel incredibly frustrating to some, so we asked if it would be required.

Thankfully, the answer to this question will delight many players, while some might be disappointed, but that's the great thing about this game. Even in Phantom Liberty, players can explore the game however they please. Here's what you need to know about stealth in the upcoming expansion.

---

Cyberpunk 2077 dev discusses stealth in Phantom Liberty

Is stealth required in Phantom Liberty? Not at all - but nothing's stopping you from doing it (Image via CD Projekt RED)

During our exclusive interview with Pawel Sasko, one of the topics brought up was the nature of stealth. When you think of a spy thriller, you typically think of "sneaky." In many films and games based on this topic, you avoid combat. However, player choice is essential to CDPR:

“Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is an RPG and player expression through playstyles was important for us. So you still have a choice of how to deal with obstacles and enemies in quests.”

The developers have allowed players to be a sneaky spy if they want. You have all the tools to stealth through missions if that is how you want to approach the Phantom Liberty expansion. That's one of Cyberpunk 2077's high points. As Sasko pointed out:

“Stealth is of course an option — it may seem pretty alluring, seeing as the expansion is a spy thriller, but it’s also perfectly fine to use the rest of V’s abilities.”

Thankfully, it's not a necessity. What's the point of building a fierce combat build if you have no choice but to sneak around? To some people, stealth gameplay has a different philosophy: If no enemies remain alive, they can't sound an alarm.

Stealth means different things to different people (Image via CD Projekt RED)

This fits nicely alongside some significant gameplay changes in Phantom Liberty. The entire skill tree is reworked, removing the minor buffs like stat changes. Instead, players will have useful attacks and abilities to use.

Theoretically, this could make stealth more accessible and enjoyable in Cyberpunk 2077. Conversely, you could also find powerful new attacks to slaughter your foes as you go through the main story coming in this expansion.

One thing that makes Cyberpunk 2077 so great is that it continues to let players choose how they want to approach the story. If you're going to play a Netrunner and hack through problems, you can. If you want to stealth, do it! No matter how you play the game, do it in a way you enjoy - that's the important thing.

---

Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty expansion releases on September 26, 2023, for the Xbox X|S, PlayStation 5, and PCs.