How to start Phantom Liberty story in Cyberpunk 2077

Andrew Highton
dogtown in cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC was released to rave reviews as the game had an exceptional story with a phenomenal cast to support it. So, if you’re wondering how to start Phantom Liberty in the game, here is everything you need to know about how you can start the new content.

Phantom Liberty adds not only a new storyline, missions, weapons, and more to Cyberpunk, but also a whole new region to Night City – Dog Town. The expansion is massive, and truly exceptional (check out our review).

With the release of the expansion as well as the 2.0 patch, CD Projeckt Red’s original vision for Cyberpunk 2077 has finally come to fruition. Phantom Liberty brings a new district to explore, new weapons, vehicles, and so much more, and many fans will understandably be desperate to hop into the game’s new content.

So, here’s everything you need to know about how to start Phantom Liberty and whether or not whether or not you need to play the base game first.

Cyberpunk 2077 First-Person Driving

When can you start Phantom Liberty in Cyberpunk 2077?

As confirmed by CD Projekt Red themselves, the Phantom Liberty story will become available after you finish the Transmission quest in the main game.

In this quest, you will encounter Maman Brigitte of the Voodoo Boys for the first time. After completing this mission, Songbird will reach out, allowing you to commence the Phantom Liberty quests.

Of course, if you are playing on a save where you are past this point, then Songbird will contact you shortly after you load in.

The new district of Dogtown is home to Phantom Liberty. By reaching this location, players will gain access to Pacifica – and in turn Dogtown. This is approximately halfway through the game’s main story missions, so it’ll be a few hours before you can see what’s new.

However, if you have already completed the game, it’s a bit more complicated – as Phantom Liberty can actually have an impact on the endings. You’ll either need to backtrack to an earlier save, or play through the final mission until you make the choice about storming Araska Tower. Here, you can either go through with Rogue or Panam’s plan or head to Dogtown to start Phantom Liberty quests for an alternate story path.

Another option to play the DLC straight away is to pick the new content from the Cyberpunk 2077 main menu. Doing this will allow you to bypass everything and hop into Phantom Liberty. Do note that you’ll have to make a new character if you choose this option.

How to play Phantom Liberty instantly in Cyberpunk 2077

Main Menu of Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty
You can skip the core game story and head directly to Phantom Liberty DLC.

However, there is also another way, if you don’t want to start a whole new game to reach this point. If you haven’t played Cyberpunk 2077 at all, you can use the Phantom Liberty option in the main menu which will allow you to simply jump right into new DLC.

Do note that you’ll have to make a new character if you choose this option. You also still need to own a copy of the base game.

However, with Update 2.0 out a few days before the expansion itself, there is some time to start a playthrough and get familiar with the gameplay first, before the expansion goes live.

Do you need to finish Cyberpunk 2077 to play Phantom Liberty DLC?

No, you don’t need to beat Cyberpunk 2077 to play the Phantom Liberty DLC.

Again, just follow either of the instructions above. You can jump in blindly with a new character, or see what the game has to offer until you encounter the content naturally.

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About The Author

Andrew Highton is a former Games Writer for Dexerto. He has a Creative Writing degree from Liverpool John Moores University and has previously written for games websites such as Twinfinite and Keengamer. With 13,000+ PlayStation Trophies to his name, Andrew is a fan of a huge variety of video games, his favourites being God of War and Metal Gear Solid. Contact him at andrew.highton@dexerto.com, on Twitter @AndyHighton8 or at www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-highton.