Corkscrew rockets and a couple of perks: why few players choose the rocket launcher arm in Cyberpunk 2077

Of the four cyberarm options in Cyberpunk 2077, the Projectile Launch System sounds the most "cyberpunk" on paper, yet in practice it remains the least noticed.

Mantis Blades have long been the calling card of the game, Gorilla Arms crush skulls and open stuck doors, and Monowire became a favorite toy of netrunners after Phantom Liberty.

The forearm-mounted rocket launcher, meanwhile, seems to live somewhere on the outskirts of Night City, even though firing rockets from your own arm is every merc's dream.

The problem starts with expectations. In the Edgerunners anime and in the Adam Smasher fight in the game itself, the arm weapon works like a full-fledged gun, but V gets what is essentially a slow grenade launcher that takes up the grenade slot and has a long cooldown.

Many players equip it expecting a primary weapon, get disappointed after the first shot, and go back to Gorilla Arms. One player summed it up neatly:

I already got a projectile launch system, i call it "a gun".

The ballistics are the cherry on top. The rocket doesn't leave at the moment it visually fires from the forearm, but at the very end of the animation, so any camera movement in that split second sends the shot straight into a wall.

The projectile doesn't fly in a straight line either. It corkscrews clockwise and slightly homes in on the nearest enemy. Experienced players recommend aiming not at the target but at the floor, a wall, or a crate next to them, since the reticle noticeably pulls to the left.

The Phantom Liberty expansion rehabilitated the launcher with the Relic skill tree. Perks from there turn a single shot into a burst, and paired with Pyromania from the Tech tree, the cooldown almost stops being noticeable and the launcher can be fired nearly nonstop.

The electric variant also deals well with vehicles and enemies weak to electricity, but the path to that power takes serious investment. Other cyberarms have nearly entire trees to level up, while the launcher gets just a couple of perks.

The launcher has still found its niche in melee builds. A katana and Sandevistan deal the main damage, and a single rocket, with no weapon switching, sends a sniper on the other side of the arena ducking for cover while V deals with everyone else.

Some pick it for roleplay reasons too. Since cyberware appearance customization arrived, it's possible to build a silver arm like Johnny Silverhand and play out V's gradual transformation into a rockerboy.