While engaged in combat in Cyberpunk 2077, you might sometimes notice being set on fire and dealt constant incendiary damage for a couple of seconds. This is due to a combat mechanic called Overheating. It is not uncommon for some implants to get overheated in a world full of high-grade tech and cybernetics.
What is Overheating?
During combat, your character gets overheated due to a netrunner (netrunner is a name given to hackers in Cyberpunk 2077) hacking into your system, causing your cybernetics and other components to overheat and deal incendiary damage to V.
If you can hack enemy players, you shouldn’t be surprised that your enemies will try to hack you back. You can only get hacked by netrunners if you are in their direct line of sight. You can also get hacked if you’re not in their line of sight, but instead in front of a security camera as it reveals your position.
Avoid Overheating
Overheating can be annoying, and it can cause a lot of damage over time if the incendiary damage is stacked on top of the damage from enemy attacks. Here are some of the ways you can follow to minimize the risk of getting hacked and overheating:
- Disable Cameras: Survey the area and disable any security cameras by quick hacking. This will allow you to sneak into an area easily without worrying about netrunners keeping tabs on you. You can also find netrunners by taking control of these cameras.
- Identify Netrunners: As mentioned previously, hack into the cameras to survey the area and scan enemies to find which ones are capable of netrunning. You can read their details when scanning and if they can netrun, it will be mentioned under the ‘Abilities’ section of the detail interface. After identifying the netrunners, you can take them out.
- I Spy Perk: You can spend a single perk point on a handy perk called ‘I Spy’ in the Quickhacking section of Intelligence. You need to have at least Intelligence level 5 to unlock the I Spy perk. I Spy helps you identify the netrunners when they are hacking you.
Normally, you wouldn’t be able to tell until you scan them. But, with this perk, you will be able to locate netrunners when they attempt to hack you. This is useful since you will get a chance to take them down before they manage to overheat you.
