Cyberpunk 2077’s first (and only) DLC, Phantom Liberty, is finally here. It’s been a long three years, but the wait is finally over. Plus, the game recently received a facelift that reinvigorated numerous mechanics and systems, which is a huge boon. While the DLC adds new missions, weapons, and rides, the main draw is its new questline, which takes place in an equally new section of Night City, Dogtown.
If we could sum up the narrative of Phantom Liberty, it would be Ghost in the Shell meets Escape from New York, starring Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves. Sounds fun, right? You probably want to start this mission as soon as you can. Well, here’s how.
Technically, you don’t have to do anything too out of the ordinary to unlock Phantom Liberty’s content. The only requirement, aside from owning the DLC, is completing the main story mission “Transmission,” i.e., the one where you do some netrunning for Brigitte in a tub filled with ice.
Once you mark that item off your checklist, you will receive a call from Songbird, and she will give you the mission “Dog Eat Dog.” Just follow the quest markers, and you’ll enter Dogtown and start the DLC quest soon enough. If you load an existing save file well past “Transmission,” Songbird will call you the next time you go to sleep — at least that’s what happened to one of Gamespot’s writers.
If you haven’t finished “Transmission” but want to jump into the Phantom Liberty campaign immediately, you can do so but at a cost: You have to start a new game from scratch. If you select “New Game” at the startup menu, Cyberpunk 2077 will bring up two options, “Regular Start” and “Skip Ahead to Phantom Liberty.” The first one, obviously, lets you create a new V and experience all of Update 2.0’s new skills, lifepath changes, and other improvements.
CD Projekt RED recommends this option since it will help you get a handle on the patch’s new features, but if you would rather learn as you go, you can jump into the Phantom Liberty content with the second option. If you do so, the game will generate a pre-made V with set attributes and perks — but you can still alter their background appearance. Don’t worry, you can respec your V’s perks and attributes later.
After you’re done, the game will drop you into V’s apartment at level 15 and with 20,000 Eddies to your name. Songbird will call you and give you the mission “Dog Eat Dog.” As usual, just follow the quest markers, and you’ll get swept up into the events of Phantom Liberty before you can say “braindance.”
And that’s all you need to know about starting Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty campaign. Are you a chromed-up enough choom to rescue the president? Only one way (ok, two ways) to find out.