Run This Town serves as a sort of epilogue job to Cyberpunk 2077‘s Phantom Liberty DLC. I cannot stress the word “epilogue” enough—stop reading right now if you don’t want the ending of Phantom Liberty spoiled.
Okay, you were warned. In Run This Town, V has to decide who is going to, well, run this town now that Kurt Hansen has been iced (either by V or Alex depending on your choices in Firestarter).
There are two options for Dogtown’s predecessor, and each comes with its own benefits and drawbacks. Read on for a breakdown of completing this gig, what choices you need to make and how they will affect the future of your play-through, and perhaps most importantly—what happens every time a person lights a cigar in Havana.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty: Run This Town gig guide
Unfortunately, V doesn’t get to nominate any new leaders of Dogtown or fill the role themself. Rather, Mr. Hands has already taken things into his own—you get the idea. There is a candidate that Mr. Hands wants to take over Dogtown, a Lt. Colonel and career soldier that Mr. Hands thinks would be strong and simple in all of the right ways.
However, Jago, an ambitious Barghest accountant, is also making a play for the throne. V will ultimately have complete control over who ends up running Dogtown, and Mr. Hands has hired you to ensure that Bennett is that someone. Of course, this is Cyberpunk 2077, so it’s your call on whether or not you actually do what Mr. Hands wants.
How to begin Run This Town
You don’t need to have finished Phantom Liberty in its entirety to start this gig, but you do need to get pretty damn close. Once you have completed Firestarter, Mr. Hands will call you after a few days regardless of whether you sided with Reed or Songbird.
Once you receive that call, the gig will begin, however, you may encounter an unclear roadblock.
What to do if you see “complete the previous contract you received from Mr. Hands” in Run This Town
I received this gig objective—I’m not sure if it’s a bug, but it’s pretty wonky. I had this objective, and it gave a journal link to Spy in the Jungle, which I had completed way prior. For whatever reason, this seems to always be the gig that will be linked, regardless of which one is preventing you from beginning Run This Town.
For me, Heaviest of Hearts was the actual culprit. If you receive an objective to complete the previous contract you received from Mr. Hands in Run This Town, check your Journal for any gig that you’ve begun that specifically mentions Mr. Hands as a contact. You don’t need to have completed every gig from Mr. Hands, but you cannot be halfway through any gigs.
Meet with Mr. Hands at the Heavy Hearts Club
Go to Mr. Hands’ private suite in Dogtown’s hottest club, and he will lay out the basics of the gig. Hands thinks it’s in everyone’s best interest for Bennett to follow the late Colonel Hansen as the leader of Dogtown, but an ambitious young accountant is getting in the way of that.
Simply put, Jago would be too difficult to keep in line if he is given control of Dogtown, and the chances that the status quo would be maintained are very low. Whether that status quo is a good thing or a bad thing is up to you to decide, but it certainly is something Mr. Hands wants to continue.
To influence the political race, Mr. Hands wants V to impersonate Aguilar—a renowned Cuban assassin who is apparently the John Wick of the Cyberpunk universe. If Aguilar tells you to withdraw your candidacy, you withdraw your candidacy.
Hands has a behavioral imprint that will change your voice and appearance just like in Firestarter, you’ll get a new handgun, and a sleek grey suit to top it all off.
Once your disguise is ready to go, it’s time to meet with Jago for some universal diplomacy.
- Go to Heavy Hearts Club
- Listen to Mr. Hands’ briefing
- Use the Aguilar behavioral imprint and equip Aguilar’s suit and gun
Meet with Jago as Aguilar
Just like Mr. Hands explained, Jago has paid off the Voodoo Boys to assist his power grab. You need to take them out as Aguilar before you can speak with Aguilar.
Head to the location indicated by the gig tracker, and you’ll find the Voodoo Boys in position waiting for Jago. There are a couple of different dialogue options that seem to imply that you don’t have to kill the Voodoo Boys, but I couldn’t find a single other way. All roads lead to murder, it seems.
Dispose of the Voodoo Boys, and Jago will show up shortly after. Here’s the interesting thing about this interaction: it quite literally does not matter what you say or do. It’s shocking and very un-Cyberpunk, but you only have the illusion of choice here.
No matter what you say, Jago’s bodyguard will attack you, and you will have to kill him. Jago will survive the encounter, and he will inform you that Bennett is in bed with Arasaka.
- Kill the Voodoo Boys and wait for Jago
- No matter what you say or do here, Jago will survive the encounter
Meet with Bennett as Aguilar
You have a choice to make after meeting with Jago and learning about Bennett’s deal with Arasaka. You can call Mr. Hands to let him know or keep the information to yourself. This doesn’t have any impact on the gig at all, so do what you feel is right.
If you call Mr. Hands, he will explicitly tell you not to speak with Bennett before Hansen’s funeral like Jago suggested, but again—it’s your call. Mr. Hands will be annoyed if you do, but he trusts V by this point in the game. The only consequence of going against Mr. Hands’ instructions here is a bit of sass.
When you meet with Bennett, you will have to murder his driver who has done nothing wrong. There is no way around this.
Wait for Bennett in his car, and after he gets in, you will once again receive the illusion of free will in Run This Town. Bennett cannot be killed here—the worst that can happen is a fight that ends with his surrender. Say and do whatever you like in this section, because we still haven’t gotten to the part of the gig where your decisions matter.
- (Optional) Call Mr. Hands and tell him that Bennett is working with Arasaka
- Kill Bennet’s driver and wait for him to enter the vehicle
- No matter what you do, Bennett survives this encounter
Attend Hansen’s funeral and select the new leader of Dogtown
Now that you know both candidates’ dirty little secrets, it’s time to actually have some control over Run This Town. At Kurt Hansen’s funeral, your dialogue choices matter greatly and can lead to either Jago or Bennett’s death.
Head up into the Black Sapphire and find Jago and Bennett standing over Hansen’s coffin. Once you join them, a dialogue between the three of you will begin, and you really need to watch what you say here. There are three ways this can go:
- Bennett and Jago reluctantly agree to work together
- Bennett kills Jago
- V (Aguilar) kills Bennett
It doesn’t matter what you did previously in Run This Town—the outcome is all decided by your dialogue choices over Hansen’s casket.
Option one: Bennett and Jago work together
This outcome is easily achieved but is somewhat counter-intuitive. During the dialogue, Bennett will demand that Jago submit his list of secret contacts across Night City. To keep both Jago and Bennett alive, you must respond with:
- “(Show your weapon) You would plunge Dogtown into chaos?”
This response makes Bennett realize the potential consequences of his demand, and Jago will agree to work under Bennett so long as he is allowed that bit of autonomy.
Option two: Bennett kills Jago
Alternatively, if you support Bennett by telling Jago to do as Bennett says, Jago will become upset. Be aware that once you select this dialogue option, one of the two is getting killed. If you want that person to be Jago, select the option:
- “Show some respect for the dead.”
This causes Bennett to shoot Jago. Mr. Hands will not be happy with this outcome, as he didn’t want Jago to be killed, he wanted Jago to work for Bennett.
Option three: V kills Bennett
During the dialogue route leading to Jago’s death, you have a clear-cut option to shoot Bennett instead of allowing him to kill Jago. Alternatively, this outcome can be reached by selecting the dialogue option:
- “No, Bennett. You do not get a new toy.”
When you do this, Bennett becomes upset, and you have the option to permanently soothe his anger. Mr. Hands absolutely hates this outcome, but you will still be able to complete gigs for him afterward.
Which outcome is the best in Run This Town?
Let’s start with the most important thing—the consequences. There are none. Seriously, none at all. Mr. Hands will like or dislike certain things, but this gig doesn’t have any effect on the future of Cyberpunk in any way. Disappointed? I was too.
That said, there are different morality angles and role-playing elements that you may or may not prefer. If you want a detailed breakdown of what I think is the best outcome, check out our “Should you side with Jago or Bennett in Phantom Liberty?” guide.
If you aren’t concerned as much with the RP and strictly want to know what will tangibly happen based on your decisions in this gig, the answer is nothing at all. You can choose either Jago or Bennett as the next leader of Dogtown without any repercussions or rewards.
Published: Nov 2, 2023 02:41 am