You have an entire building between you and that netrunner — wherever the hell they are. You can’t see them and you’re pretty sure they can’t see you. At least not anymore. Nonetheless, that quickhack progress bar keeps showing up on your UI and, no matter what you do, you can’t seem to stop the thing from reaching 100%. Running around in circles and jumping up and down, surprisingly, didn’t help. Neither did blocking, shooting at the sky in frustration, or headshotting random passer-bys for no clear reason.
If this sounds familiar to you, read on.
How to Stop Overheating and Other Hacks
As soon as an enemy netrunner lays eyes on you, they’ve got you locked. Crouch behind cover all you want — once they’ve obtained a direct line-of-sight on you, it’s done. They have everything they need.
Despite taking place in a future replete with fantastic technologies nigh-indistinguishable from magic itself, the best ways to deal with an enemy Netrunner are as old as mankind itself. No fancy antivirus or instant faraday cage — no. We’re talking old fashioned fight or flight, folks.
Fight!
A surefire way to end an enemy upload is to, well, end the enemy. It’s kind of hard to launch a malware attack without a CPU — or a head. Once the netrunner has started launching attacks on you, the clock is ticking; you’ll have to get your hands (or mantis blades) on them as soon as possible, otherwise the attacks will continue. This is where the I Spy perk comes in handy by revealing netrunners the moment they make a cyber-assault on you. Once you’ve been hacked, locate the Netrunner, and neutralize them ASAP.
Flight!
The only other tried and tested method of extinguishing an enemy quickhack attempt is putting your ego in your pocket and running away. It’s not glorious, but as many a gazelle will attest to, flight is a perfectly viable defensive strategy. But be prepared to hoof it or consider pressing V and summoning your ride to get out of range — it’s surprisingly far. Don’t think of it as running away so much as slipping a jab in a boxing match; it’s a defensive maneuver designed to counter an attack. You can always u-turn and try running everyone over. Either way, getting out of range lets you reset the encounter so you can prepare for the enemy netrunner. Instead of going in with an SMG, maybe pick off the netrunner from afar with a sniper rifle or stealth your way close with a silencer and get a critical headshot on them.
What’s your favorite way to counter netrunners? Be sure to check back in as our coverage and analysis of Cyberpunk 2077 expands, right here on dsuprb.
