Just as I get out of my car in Cyberpunk 2077, I receive a text message from Panam. Given that I’ve clocked a little over 1,000 hours in CD Projekt Red‘s RPG at this point, it’s one I’m no stranger to, but it still hits me like it’s the first time. “You were right, V. It’s good being back with your people,” the message begins. “In NC I felt like the loneliest person in the world.”
A photo of Panam and the Nomadic Aldecaldos accompanies the text, and while they’re all sitting around a fire, the warmth of the snapshot comes from the found family portrait it captures. As I take in the image again, I’m reminded of why I’m so consistently drawn to the Nomads as a group above all.
In a dystopian setting like Night City – where ruthless gangs such as the scavs kidnap and harvest people, and cold corporations care only for raking in more eddies – the Nomads exist on the fringes of the neon-tinted metropolis. There, they can give you something more valuable than any souped-up cyberware: a sense of belonging. No matter how many times I play, the Aldecaldos and their found family dynamic are the highlight of my experience as V, and the group are partly why I’ve come to the conclusion that the best Cyberpunk 2077 lifepath is Nomad.
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Outsider No More
Every lifepath in Cyberpunk 2077 offers something I enjoy from a role-playing standpoint. I love the way playing as a Street Kid often gives me the upper hand when I’m dealing with the many rival gangs that populate Night City. Being a Corpo, on the other hand, can give V an entirely different vibe and viewpoint, and it’s fun to try and channel the ruthless edge so many corporations have .
But the Nomad lifepath is the most satisfying from a role-playing and story perspective overall – particularly when it comes to the Aldecaldo questlines. After leaving the Bakkers who were once your Nomad clan before they decided to join Snake Nation, V is now adrift with no backing or support system to speak of. As the codex shards you can find in the world will tell you, to be a Nomad is to adopt a lifestyle built upon family and freedom, and you protect your family and clan first and foremost. So, being a Nomad like V who’s without one is a very lonely and vulnerable position to be in.
This background makes it all the more meaningful when you meet the Aldecaldos. Fiercely supportive and loyal to one another, they represent something V’s lost: family. To want to belong is universal, and it’s easy to get attached to the Aldecaldos because of the way they can give you that. Once you help them out, they have your back no matter what, and isn’t that what family should be all about? Night City is a lonely place, after all, regardless of which V you’re playing, and the Nomadic group really do feel like they bring some light and love to an otherwise harsh world.
Since I’m something of a virtual gearhead who loves driving in games, I also have a natural affinity for the Nomads as a group and lifepath. Aside from being your ride or dies in a familial sense, they also deeply care about the actual rides they drive. As Mitch, one of my favorite clan members, puts it, “those wheels are our life”. Not only do they rely on their vehicles out in the Badlands, but they also customize them as though they’re an extension of themselves. I immediately connected to this idea, and I love that in the lifepath, you get a set of wheels that feels personal to you, too, which you can even reclaim later on – it’s such a welcome role-playing touch.
The Star
The characters who make up the Aldecaldo family are really what hooks me in time and again. The way Cyberpunk 2077 introduces you to the Nomads through Panam brilliantly establishes the hardships of going it alone, what the group are all about, and how much the Aldecaldo’s care when it comes to a member of their clan. Having stepped away from the family, Panam is on a similar road to you when you first meet her. But as you help her out and get to know her, you can play a part in re-establishing her connection with the Aldecaldos.
Sometimes hotheaded, obviously lonely, but with so much strength and heart, Panam is a beautifully flawed, relatable character I quickly got very attached to, but I can honestly say I felt a kinship and fondness for all of the Aldecaldos in their own right. Throughout their questlines, they banter with one another, have disagreements, and share intimate, fond moments like any real family, and I always just want to spend more time with them.
“They are the engine of things”
Tomasz Marchewka, lead writer
While the Nomads’ found family bond and the lifepath resonate, the role they play in Night City is also quite fascinating. I was reminded of this fact last year, when I had the chance to sit down and talk with lead writer, Tomasz Marchewka, for Cyberpunk 2077’s five-year anniversary. Diving into the antagonistic setting, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk about the Nomads and express my love for the group. While I said that in some respects, they feel like they rebel against the city by going their own way, Marchewka explained that they’re such a vital part of it – even if they’re on the outside of things.
“When you think about it for a second, Nomads are crucial to make this ecosystem [in Night City] work,” Marcheweka said. “Yeah, they seem to be outside of the city, but the city wouldn’t be itself without Nomads running around bringing stuff from the other places with them, being the link between different cities. They need to be there. They are part of the ecosystem. They are kind of the blood flow, like they make the system run from under the hood. Using that metaphor, they are the engine of things. So the city wouldn’t be itself without them, even though they seem detached, it’s not that easy, they are connected to it.”
I really love this idea that they’re the “blood flow”, or “engine” of the city who keep things running, even if it’s from “under the hood” or out of sight. As an in-game shard details, it’s said that it’s actually “thanks to the Nomads that the cities were rebuilt after the wars and catastrophes that marked the first half of the 21st century”, meaning that many cities wouldn’t remain without them, even if they often seemingly exist outside of them. The opening of the Nomad lifepath even sees you smuggle something into Night City, which speaks to Marchewka’s note about “being the link between different cities”.
As you can probably tell I’ve thought about all of this too much, and dissected my attachment to the group a lot, but if nothing else, that speaks to how deeply invested I’ve become in the Nomads across my many playthroughs. Ultimately, the main reason for that will always come back to that photo from Panam. The Aldecaldos are a family – V’s family – and I’ll forever want to sit beside the fire with them.
Phantom Liberty didn’t change my mind about the best Cyberpunk 2077 ending.
