Cyberpunk 2077: Should you fight or recruit the strangers in Phantom Liberty?

Friend or foe?

Four people stand in an apartment in Cyberpunk 2077.
Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Cyberpunk 2077’s new DLC, Phantom Liberty, sees you work your way through the underbelly of Dogtown in order to meet the mysterious Songbird, whilst doing your best to save the…President of the New United States of America? No small mission indeed.

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Upon arriving at the safehouse where you and President Meyers are supposed to meet Songbird you instead get to make the acquaintance of a couple of Dogtown locals. Are they friend or foe? You’ll have to choose.

How to recruit the strangers in Phantom Liberty

If you want to recruit the strangers, tell Meyers that you want to try talking first. If you miss the prompt, Meyers will start shooting and you’ll be forced to kill them.

Keep your distance and wait for a dialog prompt to appear. Navigate through the conversation and keep things friendly. Do so and you’ll recruit Jacob and Taylor to your cause.

Turns out they both have no love for Kurt Hansen and in return for a million eurodollars they’ll help you and the President. You can speak to them to get a little bit of background, like how Jacob lost his leg to Kurt Hansen’s goons and Taylor used to be a nomad but betrayed his people.

A man with bright yellow hair in Cyberpunk 2077.
Jacob’s alright. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Go to sleep and the next morning Taylor will be there when you wake up but Jacob will be downstairs trying to get an angle on where a supply drop landed. Go down and meet him and he’ll point you in the direction of the drop. It’s hard to miss, just look for the big red plume of smoke.

What happens if you kill the strangers in Phantom Liberty?

A dead body lies on the floor of an apartment in Cyberpunk 2077.
RIP, Choom. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

If Meyers goes guns blazing then it’s you or them. After you’ve killed Jacob and Taylor, Meyers will tell you to dump their bodies down a garbage chute in the hallway. Once they’ve been disposed of, you’ll head off to bed.

There aren’t any immediate consequences to killing the strangers but you never know, this choice might come back to haunt you later. Head downstairs and Johnny will point out the red smoke to you instead of Jacob.

Johnny Silverhand from Cyberpunk 2077.
Here’s Johnny. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Should you fight or recruit the strangers in Phantom Liberty?

We recommend recruiting the strangers. They’re friendly and may be helpful later. Sure, they might also betray you later, but they’re just as likely to be killed for helping you right here, right now. It’s a leap of faith but they seem to be trustworthy.

How to find the supply drop in Phantom Liberty

To get up to the supply drop, approach the building where the smoke is coming from. There’s an elevator at the base you can take up to the top.

There will be a couple of groups fighting over it, once you’ve taken them all out the supply drop is yours to claim.

Author
Image of Alexander Eriksen
Alexander Eriksen
Alex is a seasoned games journalist covering business, news, and guides for Dot Esports.