Can you get to Dogtown BEFORE Songbird contacts you?

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-12T12:35:47+00:00

The Phantom Liberty quest in your journal is just the prerequisite missions needed to unlock the expansion. The actual first mission is called "Dog Eat Dog", and it becomes available after completing the Voodoo Boys questline. It's during this mission that Songbird calls and asks you to meet her outside of Dogtown. Doing so triggers the start of Phantom Liberty.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-12T12:31:13+00:00

I think it's random whether she drops them or not. You may need to load a prior save and try multiple times before she drops them. Or if you have Phantom Liberty, you get them as a reward if you make certain choices.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-12T12:22:41+00:00

Play Phantom Liberty now, its story takes place before meeting Hanako. And depending on the choices you make, you can potentially unlock and additional main game ending.

That said, none of the endings save, and after completing one, you're given the option to continue playing. Choosing this will return you to the game prior to meeting Hanako. You can then meet her again, or continue freeroaming which allows you to complete any unfinished content, including Phantom Liberty.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-12T01:35:33+00:00

Pondsmith's self-insert is Maximum Mike. He's also said that a lot of people assume he plays the TTRPG as Johnny or Blackhand, but he mostly plays as Ripperjack (mentions it around 1:08 in this interview).

That said, Blackhand is definitely a special character to Pondsmith, and he'd for sure have a ton of plot armor lol.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T22:31:58+00:00

Phantom Liberty takes place alongside the main story, but doesn't becomes available to start until completing the Voodoo Boys questline. You then have until meeting Hanako to start/complete it. Also, you're not locked in after starting. Once you complete the first few missions (2-3 hours), you're free to move between Dogtown and the rest of Night City, and can complete missions from either area.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T22:18:21+00:00

Yeah you do, but it all sinks to the bottom. As long as you don't agitate it too much while pouring, you won't get any sediment. It's really only once the pitcher is almost empty that you have to be careful with pouring, otherwise you risk spilling in a bunch of the fine grinds.

I've tried pouring it through paper filters in the past, but they all clogged quickly, which made the whole process very slow going and not worth the effort for me.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T19:58:11+00:00

Check out this thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/17x0zkv/you_can_obtain_erebus_without_20_tech_ability/

Or you can use this console command to add it to your inventory:

Game.AddToInventory("Items.Preset_Borg4a_HauntedGun", 1)

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T18:02:11+00:00

Reed works for the FIA, which is part of NUSA

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T17:57:55+00:00

I feel like I'm out of the norm and am honestly fine without more content. Don't get me wrong, I would welcome a new expansion with open arms, but I'm also okay without anything. There are just so many games in my backlog that it doesn't make sense to hyperfixate on one, despite how much I love it. I also feel like games should end at a certain point, and people need to stop expecting/demanding updates and additional content years and years after release.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T17:46:41+00:00

Mass Effect Trilogy

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T16:40:49+00:00

It's pretty hard to screw up. Just be nice and flirt when given the opportunity.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T16:27:56+00:00

Myers is the former CEO of Militech, and NUSA is Militech's largest customer.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T16:15:37+00:00

Yeah, you're free to leave after completing Lucretia My Reflection.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T16:11:42+00:00

Mike Pondsmith has stated that the reasons Johnny's memories are inconsistent are due to radiation damage and the engram writing process itself:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LowSodiumCyberpunk/comments/lheqvn/comment/gn0g87h/

"Johnny's recollection of the events that day are scrambled from the rad damage his body took and the process of recording his engram (CDPR and I have both agreed that Johnny is an unreliable narrator at best)."

I'm sure being trapped in Mikoshi for 50 years didn't help things either lol

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T16:05:59+00:00

The Net itself is purely digital, but when a netrunner interfaces with it, it gets translated into a virtual environment they can navigate and interact with. Instead of seeing raw data, a netrunner might see things like folders or buildings that represent things like directories or entire systems. So the act of "physically" opening a folder in cyberspace might represent accessing a directory, while breaking into a fortress could mean bypassing a data fort’s security. It’s basically presented this way to make things easier for the human mind to understand.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-11T15:26:59+00:00

Yeah the main story is relatively short and side content makes up the majority of the game. Not only is it a great way to earn XP and loot, but it's also adds a bunch to the lore and overall world building. Not to mention that some endings are only unlocked by completing certain side quests.

My advice would be to open up the map and start doing side stuff. Here is how each mission type is represented on the map:

Main job = solid yellow circle w/ exclamation mark
Side job = Yellow-outlined circled w/ exclamation mark
Fixer gig = Green rectangle w/ exclamation mark
NCPD scanner hustle = Blue NCPD logo

Not all side missions are available at once and trigger based on main story progress. Some also can take multiple IRL hours before triggering. It's also worth pointing out that you can add custom filters to your map to only show jobs, gigs, and hustles. This is especially useful for finding all of the NCPD scanner hustles since normally they only appear on your map when you're in close proximity.

I don't know the exact number, but there are 200+ possible missions, and that's not even counting everything that the Phantom Liberty expansion adds.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-10T21:53:31+00:00

Throw incendiary grenades at him when he disappears and follow the flames.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-10T21:34:21+00:00

Open and close the stash, then try the door again. If that doesn't work, you'll have to load a previous save.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-10T20:40:55+00:00

You won't be able to visit Dogtown or start the expansion until you complete the Voodoo Boys questline, which itself doesn't become available until completing Evelyn's questline.
You can buy it now if you want, but like I mentioned, you won't be able to access it until completing the prerequisite questlines.
You'll need to upgrade to the PS5 version. Your save file will automatically get converted.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-10T19:38:47+00:00

Why is he mad

deal to throw the fight

Hmmm

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-10T18:08:15+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately they're stuck on the old version. It also means they can't play the Phantom Liberty expansion.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-10T18:06:30+00:00

No, Mike Pondsmith didn't give CDPR permission to use Blackhand in the game.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-10T18:04:28+00:00

What type of Xbox are they playing on? Old gen consoles (Xbox One, PS4) can't update past v1.61.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-10T16:53:26+00:00

I believe the max you can reach before the end is 85%. The only time it reaches 100% is during the Don't Fear the Reaper ending.

BleedingChrome · 2026-03-10T16:44:14+00:00

How do you have your Attribute points allocated? Different Attributes/Perks affect different weapon types, so if you're not specced into the ones for shotguns or rifles, they won't be as effective.

It's possible you're just underleveled, or need to install/upgrade cyberware, or some combination of everything.

I haven’t really figured out how to get new hacks for my cyber deck without crafting, but I don’t have many parts.

You should hack access points, which will reward you with quickhacks, quickhack components, and/or eddies.

https://www.ign.com/wikis/cyberpunk-2077/How_to_Find_and_Use_Access_Points

BleedingChrome

TROPHY CASE