Cyberpunk 2077 features an impressively diverse range of playstyles and ways to customize your experience, further enhanced in the recent 2.0 update. You’ll be faced with many choices on your journey through Night City, and the first one is at the very beginning of the game.
Before even creating your character, you’ll need to pick one of three Lifepath choices that determine V’s background, experiences, and initial motivations. You must choose between Nomad, Streetkid, and Corpo, and this is a permanent choice that will strongly shape your early game experience.
If you’re wondering which Lifepath to choose in Cyberpunk 2077, this article will help you decide.
Which path should you choose in Cyberpunk 2077?
Your choice between Nomad, Streetkid, and Corpo will determine your starting area in Night City, as well as the items you begin the game with and your introductory missions. Each Lifepath has a unique tutorial that introduces V to Cyberpunk 2077’s setting, characters, and mechanics, and eventually sends V toward the main quest. Additionally, the origin of V’s relationship with their best friend, Jackie Welles, is different in every Lifepath.
Later in the game, each Lifepath gets one additional mission related to their background with a few unique rewards. Lifepaths also unlock special dialogue options to use in conversations in NPCs throughout the game. They’re fun and flavorful but don’t usually lead to alternative mission outcomes. Other than this, your choice of Lifepath has no further impact on your gameplay, so you’re free to pick the one you find most appealing.
Corpo
As a Corpo, you start the game as an executive employee for the Arasaka Corporation. In stark contrast to the other two Lifepaths, this background sees you starting off high-up on the corporate ladder, in comfortable employment, and with stacks of Eddies in your account.
You’re tasked with covering up a harmful leak that could damage Arasaka’s relationship with the European Space Agency. Things go south when your boss, Arthur Jenkins, tasks you with assembling a team to assassinate his superior, Arasaka’s Director of Special Operations, Susan Abernathy.
The Corpo Lifepath offers a unique perspective of Night City—one of a life of luxury, wealth, and power—although it doesn’t take long before it all comes crashing down and V has to survive on the streets as a mercenary.
As a Corpo, V gets exclusive access to the War Pigs mission that appears during the Tapeworm main job in Act 2. You’ll be contacted by Frank Nostra, a former Arasaka colleague, who tasks you with incriminating Abernathy to prevent her from purging Frank from the company. It’s only a short quest, but it’s a nice throwback to the Corpo introduction and a cynical reminder that Night City’s corporate elite still have the power.
You should choose Corpo if you’re interested in looking down on Night City from above, or if you’re after a unique perspective not seen in the other two Lifepaths. Corpo is also a great pick for experienced players who are already familiar with Cyberpunk 2077, as it has less focus on driving and combat than the other Lifepaths. As a Corpo, you’ll be talking your way through the first few missions.
Nomad
As a Nomad, you’ll be driving on the rough roads of Cyberpunk 2077 right from the get-go. Having recently parted ways with your clan, you’ll start the game at a garage in the Badlands just outside Night City. You’re heading to the city in search of work and stopped off for repairs on the way.
Unlike the Corpo and Streetkid, the Nomad doesn’t start the game within the bustling confines of Night City, so the opening chapters feel strikingly different as a result. The barren plains bordering the city aren’t usually what you think of when it comes to Cyberpunk, so the Nomad path is a great way to experience the unfamiliar rural side of Cyperpunk’s dystopian futuristic setting.
It’s also a perfect choice if you want to get straight into driving, as this Lifepath sees you driving your own car as soon as you leave the garage.
Later in the game, Nomads are offered a unique mission, These Boots Are Made for Walkin’. The mission appears after you’ve met Rogue and Panam. You’ll be tasked with retrieving your car from the introductory chapter, and you’ll find it out in the Badlands. Like the extra mission for Corpos, it’s only short, but it’s another nice callback to your roots, and it gives you an interesting decision to make.
The Nomad Lifepath is a great choice for new players, as it chronicles V’s journey to Night City, rather than starting as someone already familiar with its lifestyle. It’s also ideal for those who want to get stuck into gameplay as soon as possible, as you’ll be driving your car within the first few minutes.
Streetkid
As a Streetkid, you know Night City like the back of your hand. You were raised on the streets, and are intimately familiar with Night City’s criminal underbelly, gangs, and the less favorable members of society.
This Lifepath is a great pick for anyone who wants to experience the essence of Night City from within. It’s the ideal way to immerse yourself in CD Projekt Red’s futuristic dystopia, and it offers the grittiest perspective of Night City out of the three Lifepaths.
After agreeing to help a bartender get a local loan shark off his back, V quickly becomes embroiled in Night City’s criminal underworld. You’ll be tasked with stealing a high-end car from an Arasaka Corpo, and it only escalates from there. This is a fun and frantic intro to Cyberpunk 2077 with a lot of action, so it’s a great choice if you’re excited to get stuck in.
Streetkids get their own unique mission later in the game, Small Man, Big Mouth. After the Heroes side job, where you choose an item for Jackie’s ofrenda, V’s old friend Kirk Sawyer recruits you to steam some experimental cyberware. Like the unique missions for Corpo and Nomad, this is another short quest that doesn’t contribute to the main plot.
You should choose Streetkid if you favor action and combat over dialogue and exploration, or if you want to experience Night City from within.
Aside from the unique introductory chapter, unique dialogue options, and extra mission later in the game, your choice of Lifepath has no further influence on your gameplay in Cyberpunk 2077. For this reason, it’s worth choosing whichever Lifepath you find most interesting, or the one you feel best suits the character you’re building. Night City is a vast, dangerous place, and you’ll be better at surviving if you’re playing the character you’re most comfortable with.
