Cyberpunk 2077 Lifepaths: Nomad, Street Kid and Corpo Compared
The short version
Nomad, Street Kid and Corpo each give V a different background, starting location and prologue mission, and all three lead to a partnership with Jackie Welles. The lifepath does not change your stats, perks or leveling, only some dialogue options later.
On this page
What a lifepath is#
A lifepath is V's backstory, picked in character creation. It sets V's starting location, the prologue mission and V's first outfit. It gives no advantage in attributes, perks or leveling.
What it does give you is dialogue options. They draw on V's history, so a Street Kid reads the streets and gangs differently than a Corpo reads a boardroom. Common misconception: this is not a class. Nobody is locked out of hacking because they grew up in Heywood.
Nomad#
Nomad V grew up in a clan in the Badlands and left it, and the clan was the Bakkers. The prologue starts in a mechanic's garage in Yucca, southwest of the border crossing into Night City. V's car is falling apart, and V has to get across the border.
V is smuggling a package with Jackie Welles, who meets V at an abandoned farm near the border. At the crossing, V bribes the guards to say the cargo was lost on arrival. The missions are The Nomad and These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. It opens in sand and sun, which makes the neon hit harder later.
Street Kid#
Street Kid V was raised in Heywood, left for Atlanta and came back no better off. The prologue starts at the El Coyote Cojo bar in The Glen, where the bartender Pepe owes money to Kirk Sawyer, a small-time fixer.
V agrees to steal a Rayfield Aerondight from a corporate's garage in Westbrook to clear the debt. Jackie Welles turns up with the same idea, the NCPD catches both of them, and Jackie invites V to breakfast afterward. The missions are The Streetkid and Small Man, Big Mouth. Two thieves, one car, one very bad plan: that is the Jackie origin story in a sentence.
Corpo#
Corpo V is an Arasaka employee and second-in-command of the Counterintelligence Division. A data leak in Frankfurt threatens the company's standing with the European Space Agency. V's boss, Arthur Jenkins, resents Director of Special Operations Susan Abernathy for taking his promotion, and tells V to arrange an assassination.
The plan fails when Abernathy's security contractors confront V, which ends the career and starts V's life as a freelance Solo. Jackie is already V's longtime friend here, and V talks to him over a holo call. The missions are The Corpo-Rat and War Pigs. Opinion: the only opening where V is the one who started the mess.
What changes later#
In Night City itself, the lifepath shows up as extra dialogue choices during missions. Street Kid is strong on street and gang knowledge, Corpo on the corporate world, and Nomad is an outsider who knows how to acquire and move corporate goods.
The main story is the same afterward. All three prologues feed the same heist, the same Relic and the same endings, and our Cyberpunk 2077 story page covers them.
Fixer's notes#
Our read: Street Kid is the best first pick if you want to understand Night City. Corpo is the shortest route to the Arasaka angle, and Nomad is the most visual opening, since it starts in the desert.
Since the choice carries no stat penalty, play another one on a second run. Each prologue is short, and the Jackie meeting plays differently in all three. See our Cyberpunk 2077 page for platforms and updates.
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