If you’re just starting your adventure in Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, there’s a million things to do and a hundred different quests in your quest log. Simply walking in the city itself will also eventually lead you up to various gigs and side missions, some of which might feel repetitive and others which are surprisingly unique and fun to play through.
Even if the main quest might seem like the most exciting part of the game initially, it’s definitely recommended to play through as many side missions as possible. These side quests do in fact affect the amount of options you’ll have available towards the end of the game, past the point of no return. Here’s which missions are actually worth playing through, in terms of story and rewards.
Updated April 7th, 2021 by Anastasia Maillot: With a huge patch fixing a ton of in-game issues dropped by CD Projekt Red, many are gravitating back to Cyberpunk 2077 despite the lack of new content. These quality-of-life fixes have really helped to make the game a more enjoyable experience for PC players in particular, and so there’s no better time to get stuck in Night City’s multitude of quests.
Although there’s nothing brand-new in terms of story and side quests, these additional missions are sometimes overlooked and much more entertaining than some give them credit for. If you’re looking for something to do in the game, these are some of the game’s small gems when it comes to side quests.
15 Small Man, Big Mouth
Street Kids might vaguely (or very vividly) remember Kirk from their lifepath sequence as the untrustworthy fixer they first meet. Well, once the quest Heroes has been completed and you’ve participated in Jackie’s funeral, you’ll receive a phone call from Kirk asking you to meet him for a job.
As one would expect, a job with Kirk is never quite as straightforward as one would imagine. It’s a bit of fun retribution after getting royally played by him in the lifepath sequence, so it’s recommended to actually do the job for him.
14 Send In The Clowns
Night City has its fair share of weird NPCs, and Ozob the Clown is one of them. This side mission is available after you’ve completed the main quest Transmission, and you’ll be contacted by Ozob for a pick up. The quest is fairly straightforward and just involves you driving him to a set location and help him clear some enemies.
The reward, however, is the crafting recipe for the special grenade that’s stuck on his nose. The grenade actually homes in on enemies and deals significant amounts of damage. For any builds relying on explosives, it’s the perfect quest.
13 Sweet Dreams
Remember your very first mission with Jackie in the Scav haunt? In case you ever wondered what Sandra Dorsett felt like, there’s now a mission that puts you into her very shoes. After you’ve received the quest I Fought The Law, a side mission in Japantown nearby the marketplace becomes available.
Approach Stefan, who will ask for 20 000 eddies for an amazing braindance. After you wake up, you’ll find yourself in an all too familiar place, with all of your items gone. It’s advised to have some cyberware like mantis blades to help you get through this part, or potentially really good netrunning skills to hack the Scavs from afar and sneak your way through. Remember to grab all your items on the way out from the locker.
12 I’ll Fly Away
A select few quests in the game will alter the appearance of V’s apartment with various cool memorabilia. One of such items is the Scorpion statue that appears on a small table nearby V’s bed and is a nice reference to Mortal Kombat. To get this statue, you need to help Mitch after completing the quest With A Little Help From My Friends for the Aldecaldos.
This quest can’t be done after a certain point, so make sure to do it as soon as possible. Help Mitch set up a nice memorial for Scorpion by speaking to him at the Nomad camp, and he’ll award you with the Scorpion statue and a special weapon known as the Stinger.
11 Violence
Real life artist Grimes received her very own character in the game, and she makes an appearance in the side mission Violence as NPC Lizzy Wizzy. V will receive an anonymous message from someone asking them to meet at the No-Tell Motel. Turns out, Lizzy Wizzy wants to know if her boyfriend Liam is being faithful to her.
Investigating Liam reveals an extremely sinister plot against Lizzy. The second part of the quest will actually reveal with Lizzy chooses to do in response to Liam’s betrayal, and it’s up to V once more to help her deal with the consequences.
10 The Hunt
After meeting River Ward, who’s one of the romance options in the game, he’ll call V and ask for help in a personal matter concerning his teenage nephew Randy. The quest will send both V and River hunting down for clues on a sick criminal who was recently captured by the NCPD.
This quest has a bit of everything: detective work, action and even braindance analysis. It’s also one of the most disturbing and unique quests in the game, one that fans of true crime will definitely appreciate.
9 Chippin’ In
Johnny Silverhand doesn’t come across as the nicest guy in the city, and with him stuck in V’s head, he can be incredibly annoying to deal with. However, having a good relationship with Johnny and agreeing to help him set his past straight opens up additional options in the end for V.
Johnny asks V to find and end Adam Smasher with the help of Rogue. The quest involves sneaking into Maelstrom territory and interrogating an old friend of Smasher. Most importantly, however, it’s the opportunity for V to get their hands on Johnny’s aviators, jacket, shoes, pistol and even his car. This is also an achievement of its own if you manage to collect all of them.
8 Sinnerman
Let’s talk about another immensely disturbing quest, or rather a series of quests. The ordeal starts with a call from Wakako, who sets you up with a man who wants you to accompany him as he kills a convicted prisoner. However, things don’t quite go as planned after a wild car chase that tests your driving skills.
Sinnerman is the first in the line of several quests involving a prisoner who’s on death row and is deeply religious. Depending on V’s choices, they might end up watching the man get crucified alive or walk away with a hefty stack of cash. The choice, as always, is yours.
7 Stadium Love
In case you’re looking for a unique opportunity to interact with some of the gangs of Night City in a friendly way, the 6th’s Streets unique Stadium Love quest is the way to go about it. Head to Rancho Coronado’s southeastern corner, and a special quest should pop up for you.
V will have the opportunity to walk into a 6th Street party and play a game of shooting on a makeshift gun range. In order to get your hands on a special weapon called Divided We Stand, you need to hit 44 targets during the shooting game. Feel free to reload for this one, as it can be tough to get past the gang members initially.
6 Heroes
The beginning of Act 2 is basically the start of the meat of the game. You’re finally ready to roam Night City free to do whatever you want, except that your car got wrecked by a stray Delamain vehicle. Luckily, or maybe unfortunately, Mama Welles, Jackie’s mother, invites you to come and pay your respects to your former choom.
Heroes is a pretty simple and straightforward quest, but to get it you’ll need to have sent Jackie in a car to either a ripperdoc or to his family. If not, you won’t receive a message from Mama Welles. At his funeral, it doesn’t matter what choices you make, as Mama Welles will offer you the keys to Jackie’s bike regardless, which comes in handy in a much more irritating quest known as Epistrophy.
5 Machine Gun
There are some truly unique weapons in Cyberpunk 2077, but none of them are quite like Skippy. In Vista Del Rey, head into a back alley where a question mark or exclamation point is located, and you’ll find a peculiar weapon inside an open suitcase next to a dead body.
After activating Skippy, use it on several enemies, approximately 50 kills and then wait for three days for Skippy to recall the name of its former owner. You can choose to return Skippy to its true owner or just keep it yourself if you fancy this weird weapon with basically an aimbot installed inside of it.
4 Riders On The Storm
If Panam Palmer is the best girl in your eyes, this is a must-finish quest. It’s basically the prime opportunity for V to finally romance her. Plus, the quest itself is actually quite challenging and fun, showcasing yet again how there are multiple ways of going about dealing with enemies.
After rescuing Saul from the Raffen Shiv camp, a sandstorm will hit V and the rest, forcing them to refuge inside an abandoned shack. This is where the interaction to romance Panam appears. The next day, Panam will reward you with one of the best unique sniper rifles in the game, named Overwatch.
3 Dream On
At some point during Act 2 of the game, V will be contacted by the Peralez couple. Elizabeth and Jefferson are the high and mighty of Night City, and Jefferson in particular is running for mayor without any plans of selling his soul to a corporation. However, as a result, the couple is questioning their security.
The quest leads V to discover an insanely dark secret and conspiracy within the family, which reveals just how far the strong and powerful in Night City are willing to go to control politics. It’s mostly investigative work, but it pays off beautifully in an exciting storyline.
2 Pyramid Song
Forget about Panam, if Judy Alvarez is your girl, this is the quest you should wait for in order to romance her. After matters are handled at Clouds during the quest Pisces, Judy will eventually contact V and ask her out on a date at the dam outside Night City. This is most likely one of the first times you’ll get to go underwater in your playthrough.
The quest will have V and Judy dive into the depths of the dam to discover something that’s deeply important to Judy and her past. Later on, you have the opportunity to romance Judy as you return to the shack by the dam.
1 Queen Of The Highway
The last tangle with the Raffen Shiv will ensue here, in this quest with Panam. Following the successful stealing of the basilisk from Militech, V can now pilot the thing and practice moving around with it. It’s also an opportunity to romance Panam briefly again.
Most importantly, it’s just immensely empowering to use the basilisk to defeat the Raffen Shiv who attack the Aldecaldo camp. As you leave the camp by foot (which you should do) and get on the road back to the city, you’ll drive through the cave in which you previously fought Nash and his goons. You’ll also discover a free, luxurious vehicle in a shipping container: the Bugatti Veyron.
