What the Cyberpunk 2077 Overheat attack warning means and how to stop it

A police officer in Cyberpunk 2077 on fire due to the overheat quickhack. — (Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

If you're wondering why you keep seeing the Cyberpunk 2077 Overheat warning, don't worry, you're not alone. This frustrating pop-up isn't explained particularly well so as a result, it can be tough to know how to fix it. It isn't a bug though, and when you know what causes Overheat damage, it becomes much easier to fix. Here's what you need to know about how to stop the Overheat warning in Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk 2077 Overheat attack explained

The Cyberpunk 2077 Overheat hack in the menu. — (Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

The Cyberpunk 2077 Overheat option is one of the Cyberpunk 2077 hacking attacks you can launch on other people. It burns them from a distance using your cyberware and is a great way to damage enemies from a far, or from stealth. However, if it's done to you it can quickly get frustrating to see the Overheat warning and not know how to stop whoever's doing it, or avoid taking thermal damage from the hack.

To prevent taking damage from an Overheat attack you'll have to find the person trying to hack you. You might not even have to do anything either, as just getting close enough will usually make them break off the hack to defend themselves.

However, that's easier said than done in the chaos of a gun fight so another good option is to use the I SPY option in your quickhacking perks, which you can find in the Intelligence section of your Character tab, here:

The I Spy perk in the Cyberpunk 2077 menus. — (Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

If you choose that perk, you'll see a yellow directional indicator on screen if someone's using Overheat and you can use it to help you locate the hacker attacking you. They'll also appear outlined in yellow, instead of the usual red to help you locate them. That should make it much easier to locate them and throw some aggro their way to stop the overheat dead.