What is Overheating in Cyberpunk 2077 and how do you stop it?

In Cyberpunk 2077 you can get up to all kinds of hacker tricks that will interfere with enemies, but they can do the same to you. One such mechanic is called Overheating, which you may have come across in the middle of a firefight.

This is a status that disrupts your ability to fight, potentially costing you your life in tense moments of combat. It happens because another character is hacking you, either with a direct line or sight or through a camera. Yes, all those cool tricks you know can be turned back against you, and it’s not nice at all. It can even damage you, which is never good in a close fight.

To deal with this, you have a couple of options. First, make sure you are dealing with any and all cameras that you find when you are on a job. NPCs can use the cameras to see you, thus giving them the chance to hack you. You can also be hacked by other characters, so when you see the Overheating message appear on the screen, you want to break line of sight with everything. This means enemies and cameras.

Because it is hard to know who is actually hacking you, you can purchase the I Spy perk under the Intelligence and Quickhacking tree to reveal them when they are in the process of doing it. This allows you to focus them out of the fight and kill them before they can do any real damage.