6 best Cyberpunk 2077 mods (2023): E3 visuals, Enemies of Night City & how to install after 2.0 update

If you've already played Cyberpunk 2077, there are some great mods out there that make improvements and changes to tailor the game to the experience that you want in Night City and beyond - so here are our recommendations for the best ones to download in 2023.

Cyberpunk 2077 may have had a rough start, but years of changes and the new 2.0 update ahead of Phantom Liberty have left the game in a much better state.

There are many mods available to download that have changed dramatically with the improvements that have been made to the base game, so keep reading for a rundown of how you can install the best mods following the 2.0 update.

• For everything new, check out the 7 biggest changes in Cyberpunk 2077 patch 2.0

How to install mods in Cyberpunk 2077 after 2.0 update

Click to enlarge

Modding Cyberpunk 2077 works much the same way post-2.0 update as it did before, so here are the steps you need to follow:

• Install REDmod (This can be found as a free download on Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG)
• Go to the Cyberpunk 2077 install location on your PC
  • Open the r6 folder
  • open the cache folder
  • create a folder named "modded"

With that, you are ready to go to Nexus Mods and download some mods:

• If the mod has a REDmod tag, you can just drag and drop the mod into the main Cyberpunk 2077 folder
  • If not, drag the mod directly onto the mods/bin folder, whichever folder the mod is labelled as
• Launch the game to bring up REDLauncher, then click the gear icon beside the play button
  • select "enable mods" to enable the mods you have installed, then hit play

How to install Cyberpunk 2077 mods (GOG version)

GOG users do not have REDLauncher, so to enable mods for the GOG version of Cyberpunk 2077, you'll want to do the following:

• Go to the Cyberpunk 2077 page in GOG
• Click the settings button at the top of the screen
• Select Manage Installation, then click Configure
• Select Features, then scroll to the bottom and click the Enable mods check box

Click to enlarge

Will previous mods work following Cyberpunk 2077's update?

The good news is that most mods for Cyberpunk 2077 should work after the 2.0 update, although many have been made obsolete as the changes they brought have become part of the game. Sadly, this does mean that some of your favourite mods may not work right now.

As with all updates to the game, things are changed and those changes can potentially break mods. Modders are used to and aware of this - and are likely already working on updating their mods to work with the new version of the game.

To learn more, check the mod pages on Nexus Mods for updates on when the mods are likely to work with the new game. Many have already made posts about this topic, and how long they expect the changeover to take.

That said, if you have mods installed from the previous version of the game, you probably want to uninstall them now. Many players have reported issues and outright crashes when attempting to play the game after the 2.0 update, and the cause has been their installed mods.

Your best course of action to avoid this is to uninstall all mods now. If you do have any serious issues when playing the game after uninstalling mods, you may need to reinstall the game itself.

• Edgerunners fans should check out these Cyberpunk 2077 anime Easter eggs

Best Cyberpunk 2077 mods to download after patch 2.0

With installation instructions and things to look out for out of the way, let's get into a rundown of the best mods you can currently download today in Cyberpunk 2077. 

E3 Visuals Remastered

Click to enlarge

Have you ever watched an E3 preview of a game, only to be disappointed when the game launches and doesn't look nearly as good as the preview? This is an all-too-common occurrence, which modders have sought to rectify.

The E3 Visuals Remastered mod seeks to bring the look of Cyberpunk 2077 more in line with the various previews we saw of the game at E3 in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The mod is customisable to make the game look like it did from each of those previews, meaning fans who want to play the game they saw back then can finally have that experience.

Stealthrunner

Click to enlarge

Cyberpunk 2077 gives the player stealth options, but does not necessarily reward playing stealthily. To remedy this, the Stealthrunner mod is one of the best choices to download for Cyberpunk 2077 as it adds stealth challenges to each job and encounter, such as completing the job without being seen, silently taking out enemies, or rescuing civilians.

Completing these tasks will reward you with experience for a whole new stealth perk tree, which adds new abilities like pickpocketing. The mod also adds more options for stealth, with improved optical camo.

Silent Silencers and Throwing Knives

Click to enlarge

This Cyberpunk 2077 mod goes hand-in-hand with the one above, as the Silent Silencers and Throwing Knives mod greatly improves stealth gameplay. It very much does what it says on the tin, and drastically reduces the noise made by using silencers or throwing knives.

Without the mod, hitting enemies with silent weapons instantly alerts them to your presence and location. The mod allows you to tweak the settings, so depending on how close you are to the target, they may not know where the shot came from.

• If you are planning on trying the expansion, here is what we know about the Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty download size

Car Modification Shop

Click to enlarge

With so many cars to buy - and even more added with the Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 update and the Phantom Liberty expansion - the Car Modification Shop mod is one of the best downloads to have in your game. Although there are many different vehicles you can own in the game, some are just a lot better than others -meaning your favourite might not be the best to use.

With the CMS mod, you can tweak and improve the performance of every car you own. Increasing speed, improving handling, everything you could need to turn any old jalopy into a total sleeper. Unfortunately, this mod only changes the performance of the car and not the visual appearance, so we cannot turn Cyberpunk 2077 into Need For Speed Underground just yet.

Enemies of Night City

Click to enlarge

The Enemies of Night City mod is a favourite of players who have mastered the game, beaten it several times, and are looking for a more worthy challenge, overhauling the weaponry and abilities of many of the enemies in the game.

Enemies of Night City gives each enemy group (gangs, police, corps) unique features, making your fights against each of them different from the others. For example, the Tyger Claws are largely immune to smart weapons, Maelstromers are strong against fire but weak to electricity, and many of the Sixth Street Gang are equipped with Sandevistans.

This mod is not necessarily an increased difficulty mod, but certainly broadens the challenge of the game, making it an excellent addition for anyone who wants to change things up.

Level Scaling and Balance

Click to enlarge

This mod, on the other hand, is absolutely a difficulty mod. Level Scaling and Balance alters a feature that has been a part of CD Projekt RED games for a while. Typically, enemies do not scale in level, meaning low-level enemies will still appear when you have reached higher levels, and will likely be a complete breeze for you to defeat.

The Level Scaling and Balance mod changes that, by allowing enemies to scale their level with you. If you are level 20, all enemies you meet will be at least level 20. The mod is highly customisable, allowing you to choose exactly how level scaling and even damage scaling, and determine exactly how much of a challenge you want.

So, that's our list of picks for the best mods you can currently download in Cyberpunk 2077. Be sure to head to our Cyberpunk 2077 homepage for guides like the Cyberpunk 2077 vehicle list or all of the Tarot card locations.