Cyberpunk 2077 Street Cred | Bounties, Organised Crime Activity, Assault-in-Progress
Up your reputation
Your rep gets you a long way in Night City, and as your notoriety grows in Cyberpunk 2077, so does your Street Cred.
Alongside your regular XP bar in the top left corner or the screen, there’s another nice green one, perched on top like the jaunty trilbies you loot from expired gangsters - this is your Street Cred XP.
There are a few things that are specifically locked by your Street Cred, including some of Cyberpunk 2077’s best weapons, vehicles, and lucrative gig opportunities, so it’s well worth investing a little time into raising your level.
- What does Street Cred do in Cyberpunk 2077?
- How to increase Street Cred in Cyberpunk 2077
- How to gain Street Cred fast in Cyberpunk 2077
- Bounties
- Reported Crimes, Organised Crime Activity, Assault in Progress, and Cyberpsycho Sighting events
- Dress for success (with a Samurai Jacket)
What does Street Cred do in Cyberpunk 2077?
Basically, Street Cred has a couple of main functions in Cyberpunk 2077:
- Unlocks new stock at Ripperdocs, weapon vendors, and clothing stores around Night City.
- Improves your relationship with the varied roster of Fixers, unlocking new items to buy from them, as well as more lucrative Gigs.
When you open up the trade menu at a shop, a lot of items will likely be crossed out. These might be items you’re lacking the funds to stump up for or, if they’re marked with a green “SC”, are things you need more Street Cred to equip.
This includes some of the most fun and interesting Cyberware items in the game. The basic Rare Mantis Blades and Gorilla Arms for instance require 20 Street Cred, while the Epic versions need 25 Street Cred and so on.
Levelling up your Street Cred quickly lets you make use of these upgrades earlier in the game, which is only ever a good thing.
Also, when you reach a new Street Cred level, you might notice at the bottom of the pop-up it says “Gigs Unlocked” then a number.
Gigs are lucrative side contracts dished out by Night City’s many fixers across all districts of Cyberpunk 2077.
These combat and stealth-heavy missions task you with becoming a hitman, stealing a precious object, sabotaging a rival gang, or other illicit activities.
They’re great diversions from your main quests and let you build up the funds to purchase big-ticket items.
How to increase Street Cred in Cyberpunk 2077
Broadly speaking, V's Street Cred increases with the number of dangerous situations they've navigated successfully. This generally involves going toe-to-toe with one (or several) of Night City's wanted criminals.
This can range from going up against enemies in the main story — and since unsurprisingly a lot of people V encounters have a criminal record, you'll almost always gain some Street Cred from every mission, even if you don't actively seek it out — but you can also try your hand at hunting bounties or assisting the NCPD with street crimes.
Is it weird that an anti-establishment figure like V gains reputation with their equally shady acquaintances by actively helping the police to clear out the city's criminal element? Yes, but it's a very good way of getting the Street Cred you need, so it's probably best just to go with it and not think about it too hard.
But if teaming up with the NCPD too often gives you a crisis of conscience, you can also increase Street Cred by completing Gigs. Gigs are not dissimilar in practice to bounties or street crimes, but instead of uncovering them yourself as you traverse the map they are given to you by your black market Fixer contacts. So this is honest-to-goodness mercenary work, rather than selling out by deputizing for the police.
You unlock more varied and lucrative Gigs as your Street Cred increases, and in turn successful completion of a Gig improves your Street Cred. It's a cyclical relationship that builds your trust with the Fixers, which has additional benefits like unlocking some of the coolest vehicles in the game that they have exclusively for sale.
Street Cred is capped at Level 50, at which point you'll have access to every related item and opportunity in the game.
How to gain Street Cred fast in Cyberpunk 2077
Bounties
You’ll naturally accrue more and level up your Street Cred as you play through Cyberpunk 2077, but if you want to grind out more efficiently, you’ll have to turn bounty hunter.
When you scan particular enemies, you’ll see an additional pop-up showing their criminal record in Night City, and the price on their head. They appear all throughout the city, in gigs and side quests, and in main missions as well, so it's worth keeping an eye out for them wherever you go.
As well as a small cash bonus from the NCPD, you’ll earn Street Cred for defeating that enemy.
Reported Crimes, Organised Crime Activity, Assault in Progress, and Cyberpsycho Sighting events
However, if you want to intentionally search out more wanted criminals instead of waiting to run into one in the street, try looking for Reported Crimes and other crime-related world events on the map, where they're marked with a blue icon.
Not only do these also reward you with cash and a chance at Iconic blueprints, but often feature tons of wanted enemies to grind up your level with.
Dress for success (with a Samurai Jacket)
Some items of clothing give V a small boost to their Street Cred gains while wearing them. A notable example is the Samurai Jacket, which increases the rate at which Street Cred accrues by 5%. You get the jacket for completing the "Chippin' In" side job. It's worth keeping an eye on the stats of any clothing you acquire to see if you can get any additional increases from them.
For more on Night City, check out our list of the best Cyerpunk weapons. Or if it's story help you're after, here's how to get the best ending!