A side gig to be found in the new Dogtown district only available in the Phantom Liberty Cyberpunk 2077 DLC, Waiting for Dodger revolves around a couple of NCPD cops who have found themselves in quite the predicament.
Trapped inside the base of Dodger, one of the henchmen of Dogtown’s big bad boss, Kurt Hansen, the fiancée of one of the officers, has enlisted the help of your fixer, Mr. Hands, to get them to safety. He allocated the gig to you due to its unique and particularly dangerous nature, so it’s down to you to get the cops out of there before it’s too late. It would seem that even the law enforcement of Night City is relying on you to take care of business this time around.
In this guide, we are going to be walking you through the mission as well as discussing the choice that comes about towards the end of the gig, including the consequences of the decision and what rewards are up for grabs.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty Waiting for Dodger mission walkthrough
Have a chat with Bill’s fiancee Stella
The cops in question are Bill and Charlie, and your first point of contact for the mission is Stella, Bill’s fiancee. Once you have ended your phone conversation with Mr. Hands, a marker will appear on the map directing you to Stella so you can talk to her and get some more deets.
When you arrive, you will find that Stella is in a spot of trouble, as members of Dodger’s gang are surrounding her car. Take care of all of them and Stella will beckon you to get into the car with her. She is trying to remain as cautious as possible. Can you really blame her, seeing as gang members were just trying to shoot up her car?
Because of this wariness, she will ask you to join her in reclining the car seat all the way back so that you are practically lying down whilst you talk to her. Not the most natural position for a conversation, but you can still ask a few questions about Bill and Charlie or just skip to the main dialogue.
Go into the NCPD building
Ironically, Dodger’s base is located in an old NCPD building. Stella has an access keycard to get in as she is also a cop, so take it from her and head across the street from where her car is parked to get there. The building has a large NCPD sign on the front, so it’s easy to find.
Stealth it or shoot em’ up
You will now have a choice to either sneak your way through the base or start taking out Dodger’s gang members. This will make a difference later on, as the main choice of the side gig will differ depending on whether you left the gang members alive. It can be difficult to make sure that they are all alive, though, especially if you are trying to knock them out rather than kill them.
I played through the mission twice and during my second playthrough, I made an effort to try not to kill any of Dodger’s men, and yet I still got the outcome that occurs when some of them are dead. Be vigilant if you opt for the stealth route, as leaving even one of Dodger’s men dead can ruin your perfect non-lethal takedown streak and affect the mission’s ending.
Go to the basement after reading the computer message
Bill and Charlie are in the basement of the building, so you can head straight there or confirm it by checking out a message found on a computer in one of the main rooms. Be careful, as there are a few goons hanging around near it. If you are trying to go the stealth route, there are a few electronic items around that you can hack to distract them. If you’re quick enough, you should be able to get to the computer, read the message and hide behind a particularly large pillar in the center of the room to conceal yourself again before they have a chance to see you. Otherwise, just go in all guns blazing and take them all down before you go to the terminal.
Once in the basement, you will see that there is a goon trying to open the door to get to Bill and Charlie. He has his back towards you, so it’s pretty easy to take him out stealthily so long as you crouch towards him so he doesn’t hear. Talk to the person on the other side of the door once the gang member is out of the way, and you will discover that this is Charlie. You can either help him pry the door open or open it yourself if you have enough points invested in the Body skill.
When the door is open, you will be greeted by a man covered in blood. It’s Charlie, but luckily, the blood is not his own. Follow him into the back room, where you will meet Bill. You will also be greeted with a corpse lying on a table with his stomach cut to pieces. So, what the hell is actually going on here? Prepare yourself for the full story from the finest that the NCPD has to offer.
Drug bust gone wrong
Whilst trying to catch one of Dodger’s gang members, Bill and Charlie were outplayed when the guy decided to swallow the entire drug bag in one go (while also shouting, “fuck you, pigs!” Well played, sir). Driven to a panicked frenzy after realizing that Dodger would be out for their blood after the discovery of his dead teammate, Bill and Charlie decided that the best course of action would be to try and cut the drugs out of the guy’s stomach to destroy the evidence.
The thing is, the guy died from an immediate overdose, which only happened because the drugs dissolved immediately into his system. The things that people can do when panicked are known to be extreme, but this is a level of stupidity that is kind of hilarious. Gory, but hilarious. With the story told, and the ineptitude of Bill and Charlie revealed, it becomes all the more apparent that you are their only hope at getting out of here alive.
Get to the garage
The NCPD nitwit duo informs you that their squad car is in the garage, so you’ll need to escort them down there so they can get to safety. First off, follow the two of them down the stairs. Once they have argued over what the door code is, they will lead you to a room with a large double door that needs to be opened.
Of course, Bill and Charlie aren’t much help, so you will have to open it yourself. If your Body skill is high, you can pry open the doors yourself, but you have to have a significant amount of skill points invested into it. If not, follow the red cables coming out of an electrical box next to the door. The cables will lead you to a back room and to a circuit breaker box. Flip the switch, and the door will open.
There are still a bunch of Dodger’s men in the building, and Bill and Charlie don’t make it easy to avoid them entirely, especially Charlie, who knocks over something and accidentally draws their attention. I have a great deal of respect for you if you managed to get past this section without alerting any more of the gang members. Follow Bill and Charlie (or the map marker if you don’t trust them, and I honestly don’t blame you if you don’t), and you will eventually get to the garage.
As you are traveling through the building, make sure to check in a crate that you can find in the corner of the room where Charlie almost alerts the guards. You’ll find the Volkodav Iconic Machete in there, a great melee weapon that can afflict its victims with a burn debuff.
Speak with Dodger
As Bill and Charlie are about to escape in their squad car, Dodger shows up and asks you what the hell is going on and why the officers are covered in blood. He asks Bill and Charlie for the story, but Charlie chokes completely whilst Bill spins a ridiculously unbelievable story. This is where the major choice kicks in.
What will you say to Dodger?
There are three options that you can choose from when Dodger asks you about the truth behind Bill’s story. Those options are to lie and say that Bill is telling the truth, to draw your weapon and immediately start fighting Dodger, or to tell Dodger that Bill is lying.
Lie to Dodger
If you lie to Dodger and try to convince him that Bill’s story is true, he will know straight away that you are full of crap. Because of this, he and his gang members will start to attack you. There isn’t much consequence to killing Dodger, not even in the moral sense, as he is said to be a dangerous criminal whose presence in Dogtown won’t be missed by the everyday people. You do get a cool weapon if you loot his body once he is dead, though, that being the Rosco Iconic Power Revolver. Iconic weapons are some of the best to be found in the game, so if you are trying to collect them all or are just looking for a particularly powerful gun to add to your inventory, then you might as well take Dodger out.
Attack Dodger
Attacking Dodger will—as you can imagine—immediately initiate a firefight between you, Dodger, and his goons. Bill and Charlie will survive this no matter what, so you don’t have to worry about their safety. The fight isn’t particularly difficult either, and of course, you get that awesome Iconic weapon once Dodger is down and looted.
Tell the truth
This is the only option with a chance not to fight Dodger, but only if you haven’t killed any of his men while in the building. If you get Bill to tell Dodger the truth, he will be so amused by the story and the hapless nature of the cops that he will be willing to let them go.
As the conversation ends, Dodger will ask his henchmen to check the vital signs of the guys upstairs. If even one of them is dead, he will retract his offer and start fighting you. You’ve got to appreciate the loyalty of the guy, if nothing else. There is no particular benefit from Dodger surviving this encounter, and you don’t get his Iconic weapon either, but if you prefer to do things the diplomatic way, then you will need to make sure that all of Dodger’s men are still breathing by the time you get to the garage.
Leaving the garage
If Dodger is alive, he will let Bill and Charlie drive away with their heads intact. If he is dead, the mission ends the same way, and the two will drive off. Leave the garage, and Mr. Hands will call you to close the gig.
Final verdict on the Waiting for Dodger mission in Phantom Liberty
When it comes to the major decision in this mission, I would argue that the Rosco Iconic revolver is worth killing Dodger for. The gun has some great stats—such as 25% armor penetration, a 150% headshot multiplier, and 50% critical damage—and Dodger isn’t exactly an upstanding member of the community, so you won’t have to deal with any crippling guilt should you kill him to get it. There are no benefits to be had from the ending wherein Dodger lets Bill and Charlie go, so you might as well kill two birds with one stone and rid Dogtown of one of its prolific criminal gang leaders while getting a badass gun in the process. Everyone’s a winner.
Published: Oct 1, 2023 12:53 pm