Skippy
| Skippy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Pistol |
| Type | Smart |
| Ammo | Handgun Ammo |
| Tier | Iconic |
| Headshot | +85% |
| Attack Speed | 6.7 |
| Range | 30 m |
| Lock-On Time | 1.2 s |
| Location | Vista Del Rey |
Skippy is the talking smart pistol of Night City, an Iconic HJKE-11 Yukimura with an AI of its own. It chats, jokes, hums and sometimes fires on its own, and it reacts to what V does with it. V can pick it up early in Heywood. Its smart targeting works even before a Smart Link is installed. Skippy is a rare chance to try a smart pistol in any build. The downside is its mood. Skippy picks a fire mode and later changes its mind. It also asks to go home to its real owner. Skippy is an early find in an alley in Vista del Rey, Heywood, close to the College St. fast travel point.
Combat
Skippy is a smart pistol, so its rounds curve toward a locked target and can hit enemies behind light cover. It fires in bursts when V aims down sights and on full auto from the hip. The mode decides where those rounds land. Stone Cold Killer locks onto heads when V aims, which works well in a lethal headshot build. Puppy-Loving Pacifist locks onto limbs. It keeps targets alive, but large groups take a long time to clear.
Hip-fire is the easy fix for the Pacifist mode. Firing from the hip lets V put rounds into the torso and head, and it switches the pistol to full auto. A slow Pacifist Skippy then becomes a usable gun against a crowd.
The AI is the gun's biggest weakness. Skippy can open fire with no input, shoot when V raises it outside combat, or make every shot miss for the rest of a fight. It also chats and makes threats in the middle of combat. For all these reasons, it is a poor choice for stealth.
How to Get Skippy Guide
- Fast travel to College St. in Vista del Rey, Heywood.
- Head south to the side job marker in the alley.
- Climb the boxes and jump the fence at the end of the alley.
- Pick up Skippy from beside the body and choose a mode.
- To get it back after Machine Gun, wait for Regina's message and collect it at her place in Kabuki.
Skippy Map Location
Skippy map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Upgrades
Skippy is an Iconic weapon, so it can be raised through the tiers in the Upgrades tab of the crafting menu. Each step costs crafting components of a matching quality. The pistol must be in V's inventory to show up there. Disassembling unwanted loot is the quickest source of components, and the Lucky Day perk adds more from looting. Skippy is found early, so it starts at a low tier and needs regular upgrades to stay useful.
The table shows what each tier step of Skippy costs.
| Upgrade | Components | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 to Tier 1+ | 75 Tier 1 components | - |
| Tier 1+ to Tier 2 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 2 to Tier 2+ | 75 Tier 2 components | - |
| Tier 2+ to Tier 3 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 3 to Tier 3+ | 75 Tier 3 components | - |
| Tier 3+ to Tier 4 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 4 to Tier 4+ | 75 Tier 4 components | - |
| Tier 4+ to Tier 5 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 5 to Tier 5+ | 75 Tier 5 components | - |
| Tier 5+ to Tier 5++ | 200 Tier 5 components | Phantom Liberty |
Character Builds
Skippy uses perks from two attribute trees, Intelligence and Cool. Intelligence holds the smart weapon perks. Acquisition Specialist widens the targeting circle and speeds up lock-on. Target Lock Transfer keeps a lock when V switches between aiming and the hip. Targeting Prism lets the pistol track one more target at a time. Smart Synergy gives instant lock-on and extra damage on hacked enemies while Overclock is active. That perk makes Skippy a good fit for a netrunner build.
Cool holds the pistol perks. Focus unlocks Focus mode when V aims at full Stamina, and Deadeye adds headshot damage. Both work well with a Stone Cold Killer Skippy. Run 'N' Gun removes the Stamina cost of hip-fire, which helps when a Pacifist Skippy fires from the hip. Quick Draw speeds up the swap to the pistol.
For cyberware, Smart Link still adds target-lock duration and crit damage with smart weapons, even though Skippy aims without it. Kiroshi Cockatrice Optics raise crit chance for every shot.
Select a Build
Each fight starts with Overclock, then a control quickhack, then a combat quickhack. Smart guns lock on and finish the hacked enemies while Dashes and air Dashes keep the character moving. Silenced Smart guns and stealthy quickhacks also handle quiet gigs.
Attributes: Body 18, Reflexes 20, Technical Ability 20, Intelligence 20, Cool 3.
The perks, cyberware and weapon mods for this build are listed below.
| Name | Image | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painkiller | 
|
Body 4 | Slow Health regeneration in combat |
| Adrenaline Rush | 
|
Body 15 | More Health and the Adrenaline Rush mode |
| Optimization | 
|
Intelligence 4 | Faster RAM recovery |
| Embedded Exploit | 
|
Intelligence 9 | Quickhacks hit harder on controlled enemies |
| Precision Subroutines | 
|
Intelligence 9 | Smart weapon accuracy scales with max RAM |
| No Escape | 
|
Intelligence 9 | Shooting a fading lock resets it |
| Recirculation | 
|
Intelligence 9 | Smart weapon kills restore RAM |
| Acquisition Specialist | 
|
Intelligence 15 | Wider Smart reticle and lock kept through reloads |
| Overclock | 
|
Intelligence 15 | More quickhack damage and the Overclock mode |
| Power Surge | 
|
Intelligence 15 | Overclock heals on activation |
| Sublimation | 
|
Intelligence 15 | RAM recovery heals during Overclock |
| Target Lock Transfer | 
|
Intelligence 15 | Wider Smart reticle and locks kept on swap |
| Targeting Prism | 
|
Intelligence 15 | Lock onto more targets |
| Terminal Velocity | 
|
Intelligence 15 | Faster Smart rounds after a kill |
| Smart Synergy | 
|
Intelligence 20 | Instant lock and more damage during Overclock |
| Spillover | 
|
Intelligence 20 | Quickhacks spread during Overclock |
| Dash | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Unlocks the Dash and makes it cheaper |
| Ready, Rested, Reloaded | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Cheaper rifle and SMG fire and faster reloads |
| Sharpshooter | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Faster aim and stacks that ease Stamina use |
| Air Dash | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Dash in midair |
| Submachine Fun | 
|
Reflexes 20 | SMG swaps reload and raise fire rate |
| Tailwind | 
|
Reflexes 20 | Stamina back from Air Dashes and double jumps |
| Glutton For War | 
|
Technical Ability 4 | Kills recharge Health items and grenades |
| Health Freak | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | One more Health item charge and faster recharge |
| All Things Cyber | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | Stronger cyberware stats |
| License To Chrome | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Stronger cyberware, more armor and a Skeleton slot |
| Edgerunner | Technical Ability 20 | Cyberware past the capacity limit for a small Health cost |
| Name | Image | Slot | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blood Pump | 
|
Circulatory System | A Health item that heals over time |
| Heal-On-Kill | 
|
Circulatory System | Health back from each kill |
| Memory Boost | 
|
Frontal Cortex | Kills restore RAM |
| Smart Link | 
|
Hands | Turns on Smart weapon tracking |
| Defenzikov | 
|
Integumentary System | Mitigation after Kerenzikov ends |
| Reinforced Tendons | 
|
Legs | Double jump |
| Kerenzikov | 
|
Nervous System | Slows time when aiming during a slide or dodge |
| NeoFiber | 
|
Nervous System | More Mitigation Chance and Strength |
| Visual Cortex Support | 
|
Nervous System | More crit chance at long range |
| Militech Paraline | 
|
Operating System | Cyberdeck with Smart weapon bonuses |
| RAM Recoup | 
|
Skeleton | Damage taken restores RAM |
Lore
The in-game text calls Skippy a smartgun with a voice interface that is slightly unpredictable. Skippy lies next to a dead body at the end of a back alley, and it starts talking the moment V picks it up. After a long chat, it asks V to choose how it should behave. Stone Cold Killer aims for the head. Puppy-Loving Pacifist aims for the legs and leaves enemies alive.
Skippy does not keep that promise for long. Once a set number of enemies have gone down by its hand, the AI starts a new conversation. It then swaps to the other mode for good. Later still, Skippy reveals that it found data on its previous owner. That owner is Regina Jones, the fixer in Kabuki who hires V to deal with cyberpsychos. Skippy asks to be taken back to her, which opens the minor job Machine Gun.
Machine Gun ends at Regina's place in Kabuki. V sets Skippy down, and Regina runs a diagnostic on it. A Pacifist Skippy gets a factory reset and the new name Daisy. V is paid in eurodollars for the trouble. Some time later, Regina sends a message offering the pistol back, but with its personality removed.
Notes
- Pick Puppy-Loving Pacifist first to end up with Stone Cold Killer after the switch. Answering "Killing is wrong" at the second talk keeps Pacifist mode.
- Refusing to return Skippy keeps the AI, but it shouts "no" and "bad user" until it goes back to Regina.
Weapon Categories
All Pistols
Every pistol is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.
Iconic Pistols
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambition | 
|
+150% | 25% | |
| Apparition | 
|
+150% | 50% | Kabuki |
| Catahoula | 
|
|||
| Chaos | 
|
+150% | 50% | Kabuki |
| Cheetah | 
|
+150% | Dogtown | |
| Crimestopper | 
|
+85% | Dogtown | |
| Death and Taxes | 
|
+125% | Japantown | |
| Dying Night | 
|
+125% | 25% | Little China |
| Genjiroh | 
|
+85% | Japantown | |
| Her Majesty | 
|
+150% | ||
| Kappa x-MOD2 | 
|
|||
| Kongou | 
|
+150% | Arasaka Waterfront | |
| La Chingona Dorada | 
|
+100% | 25% | The Glen |
| Lexington x-MOD2 | 
|
+175% | Little China | |
| Lizzie | 
|
+150% | Kabuki | |
| Malorian Arms 3516 | 
|
+150% | Northside | |
| Ogou | 
|
+50% | 25% | |
| Pariah | 
|
|||
| Plan B | 
|
+200% | Badlands East | |
| Pride | 
|
+150% | Corpo Plaza | |
| Riskit | 
|
+150% | 25% | |
| Rook | 
|
Dogtown | ||
| Scorch | 
|
|||
| Second Opinion | ||||
| Seraph | 
|
Little China | ||
| Skippy | 
|
+85% | Vista Del Rey |
Standard Pistols
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-22B Chao | 
|
+85% | ||
| AR Raygun Supreme 9000 | 
|
Badlands East | ||
| HA-4 Grit | 
|
+125% | ||
| HJKE-11 Yukimura | 
|
+85% | ||
| JKE-X2 Kenshin | 
|
50% | ||
| Kappa | 
|
|||
| Liberty | 
|
+150% | ||
| M-10AF Lexington | 
|
+125% | ||
| M-76e Omaha | 
|
50% | ||
| Nue | 
|
+125% | 25% | |
| Slaught-O-Matic | 
|
+150% | 25% | |
| Tamayura | 
|
+150% | 25% | |
| Ticon | 
|
50% | ||
| Unity | 
|
+150% |