Intelligence

Intelligence
Class	Attribute
Skill	Netrunner
Per Point	+1 max RAM per 4 points
Perks	Intelligence Perks

Intelligence is the attribute of netrunning. It decides how much RAM V has to spend on quickhacks, how well a smart weapon tracks what it is pointed at, and how much of Night City's network V can take apart from a distance. A build that raises it fights the room before entering it. It is the attribute for a netrunner and for anyone carrying a smart weapon.

Tiers

The four gates are the same as elsewhere. Rookie opens with the first points, Pro with a solid run, Phenom deep into the attribute and Legend at the end of a committed build.

The shape behind them is clear. Rookie is about RAM and about the city's cameras and access points, Pro introduces quickhack queues and the damage that comes from layering effects, Phenom holds Overclock and the long queues, and Legend holds the perks that take a netrunner past what the bar can pay for.

Weapons

Raising Intelligence improves V's proficiency with smart weapons and opens up the full range of a netrunner's work. Smart weapons fire rounds that steer themselves towards a locked target, which makes them the natural weapon for a build whose attention is on a deck rather than a reticle.

The smart weapon branch is about holding the lock. It widens the targeting reticle, keeps the lock through reloads, stance changes and weapon swaps, allows more than one target at once and finally ties lock-on and damage to the cyberdeck and to Overclock.

Checks

Intelligence lets V into local subnets, which is how a camp is scouted, a turret is turned around or a door is opened without touching it. In conversation it opens replies that show off knowledge of the Net, usually to people who assumed V did not have any.

Those checks change the shape of a job rather than the shape of a fight. A netrunner who can reach a subnet often finishes a gig without being seen at all.

Skill

The Netrunner skill rises with Intelligence, levelling from kills with smart weapons and the Monowire, from quickhacking enemies, devices and vehicles, from uploading daemons at access points and from crafting quickhacks. Its rewards run from RAM and RAM recovery through smart weapon lock-on range to cheaper device hacks, longer control and covert hacks, a much longer Overclock, and finally an Overclock that reveals enemies and hacks through cover.

Branches

Optimization starts everything, raising the rate at which RAM returns. Embedded Exploit above it rewards softening a target before attacking it and opens the branch that leads to Overclock, the mode in which hacks can be paid for with health.

Hack Queue and Queue Acceleration carry the queue branch, where several hacks are stacked on one enemy and the length of that queue feeds RAM recovery, healing and damage. Eye In The Sky carries the device line, turning cameras into cheaper and longer lasting hacks and the city's hardware into explosives. Acquisition Specialist carries the smart weapon branch to Smart Synergy, where the deck and the gun finally work together.

Notes

Intelligence pairs with Technical Ability, since a better cyberdeck needs capacity and the Monowire is an arm implant. It also pairs with Cool, because a netrunner who can get close without being seen pays less for every hack.

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All Attributes

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Every attribute V spends points in is listed below, with the skill it levels and what one point buys.

Name	Image	Skill	Per Point	Perks
Body		Solo	+2 max Health	Body Perks
Reflexes		Shinobi	+0.5% Crit Chance	Reflexes Perks
Technical Ability		Engineer	+2 Armor	Technical Ability Perks
Intelligence		Netrunner	+1 max RAM per 4 points	Intelligence Perks
Cool		Headhunter	+1.25% Crit Damage	Cool Perks
Relic		-	-	Relic Perks