The next mission in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty’s main mission list is The Damned, which will begin after Solomon Reed has called V after two in-game days since the previous mission, Lucretia My Reflection. During this phone call, Solomon Reed will give players their next objective for the next Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty mission.
The Damned continues to weave conspiracy and mistrust as the FIA team tasked with finding and rescuing Songbird grows with one more member. In this mission, players will also involve themselves with the Voodoo Boys, and if they have progressed through the Cyberpunk 2077 main missions, they might know that the Voodoo Boys spells nothing but bad news.
Head to The Moth Bar
Towards the south of Dogtown, players can locate a small market district with The Moth bar as the primary reason for heading here. Players need to wait until the evening to head into The Moth, and they can do so by either coming here late at night or by sitting outside the bar. After a while, Solomon will call, and mention that he’s on his way, but players should meet him inside.
Heading in, they will be welcomed by the very cheery bartender, Daphne. Players can sit at the bar and purchase a drink of their choice, or just wait for Solomon to show up. Yet, once Solomon does make his way into the bar, Daphne is none too happy about it, and tells all other patrons, except V and Solomon, to leave.
Talk to Alex
Solomon introduces Daphne to V and reveals that Daphne is actually Alex, the FIA agent who has been stranded in Dogtown for the past 7 years, with no outside contact, and with the belief that Solomon Reed had turned coat and left. She holds a gun to Solomon’s head and reveals that she has a digital camouflage to disguise her true identity as Alex.
Players can defuse the situation just by following the dialogue options, or remaining quiet, but they can show off their skills if they have 15 Attribute Points in Reflex, and disarm Alex’s weapon. Either way, they can talk with her and show her the FIA coin to get her to calm down. She will leave the building to go outside for a cigarette, leaving Solomon concerned for his friend’s condition. With that, it’s a good idea to head outside and talk to Alex to try and make the situation with Solomon Reed less tense.
Once outside in the fresh air, players are free to ask Alex some questions. No matter what they say to her, she will make her demands clear. She wants to retire out of Dogtown, a retirement befitting of a spy, and with that promise, she will join the team and head back inside to talk to Solomon.
Talk to Alex and Reed
With Alex now on board with the plan, she adds her own layers to the story by telling Reed and V that they need to get their hands on Slider. Slider is a blind Netrunner who works for the Voodoo Boys, and Alex will give V the coordinates that they need to leave The Moth. From here, players should leave the bar for their marked destination, and allow Solomon and Alex to have a much-needed catch-up after 7 years.
Talk to Johnny
After leaving The Moth, Johnny will make an appearance and proceed to walk down the steps. If players follow Johnny to the tree in the center of the market, they can get sentimental about the meaning of a tree being dedicated to remembering the dead. Players can use this as an opportunity to learn more about Johnny, and to further bond with the Afterlife Legend. Alternatively, they can tell him to get lost and leave the tree, but it’s always nice to get Johnny’s input on the situation.
Meet Reed Near Slider’s Hideout
Following the marker, players can drive or walk to Slider’s hideout, which is in a Voodoo Boys base. This compound has many enemies, and they can wait outside for Solomon Reed to arrive and provide some help. There is no point in trying to talk to the Voodoo Boys’ guards, as they will not let V in with mere words. Regardless of what choice players make to enter Slider’s hideout, death will follow.
Fight Inside
Players can grab their iron and go guns blazing, blitzing through the Voodoo Boys inside. There are quite a few guards, so killing them may not be an easy task. Players also have to juggle killing the Voodoo Boys as well as their Daemon server, which has its own dedicated boss fight health bar. The Daemon server can be killed after timed attacks and should be the focus of the player’s fury. There are a total of 4 servers on this monolith and countless enemies, but once they are all dead, players can explore the small compound for loot, or head deeper inside to find Slider.
Sneak Inside
Solomon will comment about a way to sneak inside the compound to try and avoid violence, so if players want to choose the sneakier way, then they can find a hole in the wall to the right of the entrance, in which they will need 20 Strength to force the door open. Alternatively, heading outside the building, players can climb the roof by jumping onto a red crate to the right and walking along the scaffolding to find an open drop to sneak into the Voodoo Boys’ compound. This way is a little longer than just killing everyone inside, so it might be easier to go loud for this segment. If players are dedicated to stealth, then they are going to want to continue through the ventilation shaft and avoid the traps that lurk within that they can disarm with 3 Intelligence.
Find Slider
Regardless of whether players used stealth or violence to get through the compound, players need to head to the back of the room and to the right, where they will find some industrial shutters that players need to use to open up the inner sanctum of Slider. Slider may not be able to see, but when he is connected to his Netrunner chair, he can see all, and he will welcome V and Solomon Reed into his fortress.
From inside this room, Slider will recognize V as the person who killed Mama Brigitte, if that is the path that they chose in the main missions to Cyberpunk 2077 outside Phantom Liberty. It’s a nice acknowledgment of V’s story, but it doesn’t offer any extra ways to deal with Slider. Nevertheless, Slider doesn’t care if the player blasted their way in or used stealth, as it’s all the same to him in the end, as this is not a negotiation but an extortion of his abilities.
Talk to Songbird
Since Slider won’t haggle or negotiate any demands, he will ask V to jack in so that he can see the Relic and whatever Songbird has done to it. Even if players decline, they have no choice but to jack in. Doing so will reveal that Songbird has been using the Blackwall, which is extremely dangerous for every living being. Slider has no choice but to act as a bridge between the two hosts, Songbird and V, by using the Blackwall protocol.
During this conversation, V will come in and out of the Blackwall, and they should ask their questions to Songbird quickly. Outside the Blackwall, this interaction is killing Slider, and once the conversation has finished, players need to quickly jack out. However, Slider has suffered the consequences of being the bridge, and the Blackwall has swallowed him, ending the conversation in his death and the explosion of the Voodoo Boys’ Daemon server (if they hadn’t fought it during their fight inside). There is no way to save Slider in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, and it’s strongly indicated that Solomon Reed was going to kill him anyway, adding more shadiness to his character. Players can also spot Johnny watching Slider, with a judgmental eye on Solomon.
Leave the Compound and Talk to Solomon
With the Daemon server destroyed and Slider dead, the Voodoo Boys will be on high alert. Players can try and sneak back out the way they came, but it’s best to just finish off the Voodoo Boys and kill them all since they do not have their precious Daemon server to help them. After destroying yet another part of the Voodoo Boys’ faction, it’s time to leave the compound.
Just outside, players will talk to Solomon and go over the details of their conversation with Songbird. The next course of action involves giving their Fixer, Mr. Hands, a call, and this will conclude The Damned, as Solomon walks away to stake out an important piece of the puzzle ahead.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is out now for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.