What Life Path Is Best in Cyberpunk 2077?

When you start a new playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077, one of the first decisions you’ll have to make is which Life Path you want to choose for your character. Here’s a look at which Life Path you should pick in Cyberpunk 2077, including our pick for the best choice.

Which Cyberpunk 2077 Life Path Is Best

There are three Life Paths to choose from in Cyberpunk 2077, but the one I found most impactful was Corpo. They don’t drastically change the way you play the game by any means. However, they do offer some nice characteristics, dialogue options, and side missions to really make your character feel like they came from that particular background. Here are all of the Life Paths in Cyberpunk 2077 and what makes them stand out:

Street Kid Is the Best Life Path for Realists

The Street Kid Life Path is one of the most immersive of the options you can choose. Your background for V will be that you’re born and raised in the struggles of being broke in Night City. In the Prologue, V had attempted to move to Atlanta and lead a new life there. It doesn’t work out the way they want it to, so they head back to Night City to start over. After getting into a lot of trouble alongside Jackie Welles, they become the best of buddies and work together to make it as big, bad mercs in Night City.

It sets up a very believable story, and you’ll get a lot of Night City street-smart dialogue options that will help you navigate the various gangs in the underworld. It’s the more standard of the Life Paths, yet the least impactful. It’s a great choice but far from the most interesting.

Nomad Is the Best Life Path for Materialists

The Nomad Life Path is like choosing to live a life akin to that of the Wild West. This background sees V grow up in the desert badlands surrounding Night City. Originally part of a clan in the area, V leaves after clashing with them. V looks for a fresh start in Night City and takes on a job to smuggle some contraband across the border with Jackie Welles. It ends up being the most intense intro of all three. Featuring cars, combat, and action right off the bat. As you progress through the game, your extra dialogue options will lean into V learning to adapt to city life.

Related: All Hidden Trophies & Achievements for Cyberpunk 2077

Partway through the main story, you’ll also gain access to a Nomad-specific side quest, “These Boots Are Made for Walkin.” This side quest lets you go back after the pretty sweet vehicle you were in during the prologue and acquire it to use again. Getting an awesome new vehicle is a pretty great reason alone for choosing this Life Path!

Corpo Is the Most Useful Life Path

The Corpo Life Path in Cyberpunk 2077 is pretty awesome! You start out as a higher-up working at Arasaka. You get to boss around your employees before being dragged into the big boss’ office and told to go assassinate his annoying corporate rival. You get to see what it’s like on the inside of these big corporate organizations, and it sure is fascinating. You also get a ton of Corpo dialogue options that can really come in handy, especially when you’re dealing with any missions involving other corporations! It’s a Life Path that makes you feel like an important badass until you get stabbed in the back and end up going for the mercenary life with Jackie Welles instead.

I found the influence of this Life Path to carry the most weight throughout my playthrough. You’ll be above most others in Night City in terms of intelligence. Your keen business sense will also let you feel out when you’re being played by others. You’ll be able to negotiate better mission rewards and even entirely different paths to take in certain missions with your Corpo dialogue options as well. Overall, I would say that this is the best Life Path to go for. It’s interesting, fun and impactful!

That covers all the Life Paths you can choose from in Cyberpunk 2077. Despite Corpo being my favorite, you should choose whichever sounds the most fun to you personally.

Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. If you’re looking for more, check out our explanation of when Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty takes place on the game’s timeline.

The above article was updated on 3/15/2024 by Escapist Editorial to clarify information about Cyberpunk 2077.