Cyberpunk 2077 Player Spends Way Too Long Maxing Level Before Even Starting The Main Campaign

One Cyberpunk 2077 player has taken on the challenge of reaching the max level in the game before they start the mission that kicks off the main campaign. How long did it take them? A staggering 40 hours and 30 minutes of grinding–an impressive feat given the restrictions in place during the early parts of the game before starting the mission that sets V on their path and introduces Johnny Silverhand.

Reddit user uO__Ou detailed how they first completed the handful of introductory missions in Cyberpunk 2077 and how they then used an exploit to escape the Watson area so that they could focus on reaching the level cap of 50.

At this early point in the game, the various gigs and missions aren’t available to players yet, but engaging in various activities in certain areas helped uO__Ou slowly grind away and earn experience points. “Go to Pacifica, Batty’s Hotel for, in my experience, the best farming spot,” the determined Cyberpunk 2077 player explained. “Repeat it over and over and over. Took me 40 hours but to be honest, if I did this more efficiently, it can take me less than 35 hours. Just don’t forget to sleep every hour for [an] XP boost and to use different weapons, for your sanity and for skill progression.”

It is much easier in the main campaign as opposed to constantly fighting gangsters in Pacifica, as campaign missions reward players with generous amounts of experience points. As noted by the game-tracking website How Long to Beat, Cyberpunk 2077 takes, on average, over 25 hours to complete the primary story, but with all of that hard work, most of the game should be a walk in the park for uO__Ou now.

If you’re morbidly curious and you want to spend a few days grinding away, you can grab Cyberpunk 2077 and its Phantom Liberty expansion for just $40 during Black Friday, on PS5 and Xbox Series X.

In related news, don’t expect to see Cyberpunk 2077 upgraded for PS5 Pro, but you can–technically–play the upcoming sequel early when CD Projekt Red hosts playtests for it in the future.