Cyberpunk 2077: How to complete the Shot by Both Sides quest in Phantom Liberty

Shot by Both Sides is a side quest given once you have started to get into the meat of the new campaign from the Phantom Liberty DLC for Cyberpunk 2077. It will become available once you have completed The Damned and Get It Together quests.

The mission revolves around a journalist named Bree Whitney, who is hiding due to having a ton of corpos on her back. You are left in the dark as to why she is being hunted, but since she is a journalist, it’s safe to assume she is onto something big that could expose prominent corpos. 

From a gameplay perspective, it doesn’t matter why Bree is in danger; all that matters is you find her to complete your mission.

Now we have the essential details on the mission, let’s go through the Shot by Both Sides quest in Phantom Liberty with this handy walkthrough.

Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty Shot by Both Sides mission walkthrough

Go to Bree’s Apartment

Once you have responded to the text from Mr. Hands, you will be directed to Bree’s apartment in Night City to search for a Militech access card.

In his text, Mr. Hands will explain you need to look for a bamboo plant once you get there, as the card is in a safe box underneath.

Head to the apartment via the marker on your map and ride the elevator up once you get to the building. When you get to the front door, you must open it via technical ability or force. You only need a few points allocated to each skill—three points for either—so you should have enough to do so by this stage.

When you get into the apartment, Johnny will make a point about Bree’s place being pretty nice, considering journalists back in his day (around the 2020s in the Cyberpunk timeline) were usually poor. Ah, the struggles of the modern-day journalist; I know them well. Thanks for the reminder, Johnny.

As you enter the apartment, you will find the bamboo plant in the room on the right. Interact with it, and a small compartment underneath it will open up. Grab the access card, and Johnny will speak up to say how it looks to be at least 60 years old, which is a slight hint as to how things aren’t as they seem with our intrepid journalist Bree.

Now that you have the Militech card text Mr. Hands to let him know. As you go to leave Bree’s place, you’ll hear a knock at the door. Open it, and you will see Bree’s “neighbor,” who asks about her whereabouts. Remember him, he’ll make his return later. It doesn’t matter what dialogue option you choose here, as he will let you leave the apartment without any trouble (other than a snarky comment here or there, depending on what you say).

Return to Dogtown

Access card in hand, it’s time to get back to Dogtown to find Bree before the corpos do. Follow the mission marker back to Kress Street and hop on the elevator to the lowest possible level in a block of apartments.

Navigate the Lower Levels

Once you are on the lower levels, you’ll need to use your scanner to find where to go next. Switch to your scanner, and some blue footprints are highlighted on the ground.

Follow them, and you will climb a ladder down to a maintenance tunnel. Enter the tunnel and crouch down to walk through it. You will come to an old railway track when you come out of the tunnel. Follow these tracks, and it will lead you to a large hole in the wall. Start crawling through this gap to continue through the collapsed area. As you crawl, Bree will suddenly pop up, aiming a gun. For the sake of your pride, be wary of the potential jump scare to be had here.

Talk to Bree

There is an opportunity to disarm Bree here if you have a high enough skill level, but if you still need to, all you need to do is show her the access card to convince her you are here to help. Bree will then lead you into the old underground Militech facility, though it’s clear that she is pretty paranoid about the whole situation and unwilling to tell you all the details. Even if you ask, she will be as vague as possible.

Deal with the defense systems

When Bree gets you into the facility, you must escort her. Unfortunately, the place is packed with different defenses, so you must try and deactivate the other defense systems. The defenses you will come across are turrets, security cameras, and laser mines.

There are a few different ways to eliminate the facility’s defenses. The turrets are the most deadly threat here but will only come online if a security camera spots you. If you have enough tech points, you can turn off the security cameras altogether, but you must do so before they spot you to avoid the turret fire.

You can also take control of the security cameras and use them to deactivate the laser mines that are harder to spot from your position (as long as you have enough tech points).

If push comes to shove, you can permanently destroy the security cameras by shooting at them. The laser mines can also be destroyed if you shoot at them, but they can also be deactivated via quick hacks.

One of the rooms you come across while making your way through the building will have a door on the right-hand side that leads to a security room where you can deactivate all the defenses at once. The room is well guarded with cameras and laser mines, so the best way to access it is to hack into the camera nearest the door and use it to disarm the laser mine blocking the way.

If you have enough skills allocated to the Body or Technical skills, you can open the door and get into the security room to switch off everything.

Side with Bree or Dante

When you reach the building, you’ll come to the facility’s main computer room, which Bree has been itching.

She will access the terminal there, and you will need to watch three videos that reveal a secret project Militech was working on. It becomes clear this is the kind of project that could rain hell down upon the corporation’s head should the information leak.

Bree is determined to write her article about the project to expose Militech, but a familiar face appears just as you are both about to leave. Remember Bree’s neighbor? He is a Militech operative named Dante trying to silence Bree. It might seem like siding with Bree is a no-brainer here, but if you listen to what Dante says, it becomes clear that things aren’t all as they seem. Dante argues Bree is a compulsive liar who will say anything to get her way and to get more eddies.

Not only that, but he also outs her as a former Militech employee. 

Bree argues she worked at the corporation so she could scope them out from the inside, but it becomes increasingly difficult to believe what she is saying as Dante convincingly exposes her.

This is where the extensive choice of the mission comes into play: will you side with Bree and kill Dante, or will you side with Dante and allow him to kill Bree?

Shot by Both Sides Rewards

Killing Dante will grant the player access to two Iconic weapons: Dante’s Ol’ Reliable Power Revolver and Bree’s Riskit Power Pistol. The revolver can be looted from Dante’s body, while Bree will place the pistol down in the server room for you to take. You will also get more eddies if you choose to kill Dante, as Mr. Hands will offer you a bonus and approval for a job well done, which totals 5,000 Eurodollars. 

This choice has a downside, though, as it turns out Dante was right about Bree only being in this for herself. Rather than write an article, as she told you, Bree sells the data to Netwatch. Because of this, Netwatch agents eventually come after you to tie up their loose ends.

This is frustrating, but it’s not the end of the world, as you do get a sizeable chunk of cash and two Iconic Cyberpunk 2077 weapons to boot.

If you allow Dante to kill Bree, you will only get the one Iconic weapon, Bree’s Riskit pistol and 5,000 eddies.

Should you side with Bree or Dante in the Shot by Both Sides mission in Phantom Liberty?

The best outcome was siding with Bree and killing Dante, even though I was very much pissed off when I realized she had sold me out for her monetary gain. 

Many hints along the way suggest she is out for herself more than anything else, such as the messages on the computer in her apartment that show her trying to get away on an expensive vacation as quickly as possible. However, the facts behind her betrayal don’t add much to the grander scheme.

Sure, Netwatch agents will try and take you down at some point because of her, but you can take them out with one of your two new fancy Iconic weapons you got from siding with Bree. You could also buy a new weapon to prepare for the Netwatch agents with the 5,000 eddies Mr. Hands will give you should you complete the mission as planned. Siding with Dante might be better for your ego because you won’t have to deal with being conned, but it is the less rewarding outcome in every other aspect.

With all that in mind, I vote to side with Bree and kill Dante for the extra money and two cool weapons that help your Phantom Liberty playthrough.