Best Mods for Cyberpunk 2077 (2026): 10 Essential Mods

Why mod Cyberpunk 2077?

Cyberpunk 2077 is in great shape after update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty — but the modding community still makes it better. The ten picks below are compatible with the current build, cover combat, immersion and cosmetics, and are all free on Nexus Mods.

The 10 essential mods at a glance

Here's the whole list up front. Jump to any section for the full rundown — every pick is expanded below.

Combat mods

Damage Scaling (formerly Level Scaling)

Retunes enemy scaling so Night City stops rubber-banding to your level. A staple for anyone who wants fights to stay tense without full difficulty overhauls that can break save files dozens of hours in.

Best for players who want a consistent challenge from Act 1 to the end credits without touching difficulty settings.

Custom Quickslots

Deepens V's pockets from two utility items to ten. Far more convenient mid-combat, with less menu-diving for healing items and grenade types.

Best for anyone who hates pausing mid-fight to dig through the menu for a heal.

Cyberware-EX

Overhauls cyberware progression and lets you run multiple combat cyberware at once — like the projectile launcher and mantis blades together. A big flexibility win for late-game builds.

Best for late-game builds that want to stack combat cyberware instead of picking just one.

Stealth Finishers

Replaces the default chokehold with proper stealth takedown animations. Simple, and it makes going quiet feel as good as it should.

Best for stealth-focused V's who want takedowns to feel as weighty as the rest of the game.

Immersion mods

Night City ALIVE + NCPD Prevention Police Enhancement

A pair of mods that make the streets actually feel lived in: gangs patrol in force while the NCPD only respond to the most serious threats. Turns the city into the warzone the news keeps talking about.

Best for players who felt Night City's streets were too quiet between missions.

Real Vendor Names

Labels vendors on the minimap so you can finally track down that one boutique or ripperdoc you were hunting. Fixes a baffling vanilla omission.

Best for completionists hunting a specific ripperdoc or boutique across the six districts.

Responsive V

Restores cut voice lines and animations — bump into pedestrians and V reacts with the venom you remember from the trailers. Great for fans of V's personality.

Best for fans of V's personality who want the streets to talk back.

React to Horn

Pedestrians actually get out of the way when you honk. More realistic traffic, and far fewer accidental manslaughter charges.

Best for drivers who honk in traffic — and for pedestrians tired of getting bumped.

Cosmetic mods

ReLUX (Lighting Redux — Accurate Lighting)

A total lighting overhaul that replaces the game's often flat lighting with hand-crafted, realistic light sources. The single biggest visual upgrade you can install.

Best for players who want the single biggest visual upgrade you can install without touching your GPU settings.

Phantom Liberty — Hair Collection

A pack of high-fashion hairstyles that suit Vs of every background. If you spend any time in photo mode, this is an instant add.

Best for photo-mode regulars who want V to look the part in every shot.

Getting started

Installing mods for Cyberpunk 2077 takes about five minutes with a mod manager. Here's the whole flow:

1. Download the Vortex mod manager from Nexus Mods and install it.
2. Launch Vortex and add Cyberpunk 2077 as your game — it prompts you to install the game's modding plug-ins, which it needs to handle the game's archive files.
3. Open the Nexus page for each mod above and click the Vortex button to subscribe. Vortex downloads and enables the mod for you.
4. Launch the game through Vortex once your picks are enabled, and check that Night City boots clean.

Most of these mods need only the base game. A few lean on Phantom Liberty content, so grab the full edition if you can — compare Cyberpunk 2077 key prices or go straight for the Ultimate Edition with Phantom Liberty included, then mod it to your liking.

How we picked these mods

Every mod on this list is free, works with the current 2.x build of Cyberpunk 2077, and comes from well-regarded Nexus Mods projects that keep showing up in the community's "essential mods" discussions. We don't take sponsored or paid placements — and if a pick stops being maintained or breaks on a future update, we'll drop it from the list.

FAQ

Are these mods really free?

Yes. All ten are free downloads from Nexus Mods. Nexus offers an optional paid membership for faster downloads and better tools, but no mod on this list requires it.

Which version of Cyberpunk 2077 do I need?

The current 2.x build — post-2.0, with or without Phantom Liberty. This list was checked against that build in August 2026; mods made for older, pre-2.0 versions of the game generally don't work anymore.

Do I need the Phantom Liberty DLC?

Most picks work with the base game alone. A few — like the Phantom Liberty Hair Collection — rely on content from the expansion, so install the DLC if that's on your list. The Ultimate Edition bundles both in one key.

Can mods break my game or my save?

Mods change game files, and an unlucky combination can cause crashes or visual glitches. Install through Vortex, keep your mods updated, and back up your saves before big installs. The picks here are all widely used — heavy community adoption is the strongest safety signal a mod can have.

Do mods affect multiplayer?

Cyberpunk 2077 is a single-player game and these mods change its single-player files, so there's no multiplayer mode or online matchmaking to worry about.

Article updated August 11, 2026; mod compatibility verified against the current 2.x build.