Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty: the complete guide to Dogtown, Kurt Hansen and the secret cure ending (patch 2.3, 2026)

Three years after its release, Phantom Liberty remains the best entry point for rediscovering Cyberpunk 2077, and the July 2026 patch 2.3 has put it back in the spotlight in Night City. This spy thriller sends you to Dogtown, a lawless district locked down by the Barghest militia, to save a president caught in a trap. Behind the plot lies the game's heaviest decision and the only way to unlock the famous secret cure ending. Here's the complete guide to playing through it all without missing anything, from your first contact with Solomon Reed to the final wide shot.

Phantom Liberty in 2026: what patch 2.3 changes

Patch 2.3 didn't change the expansion's story, but it smoothed out everything around it. Free-flow driving, new vehicles, and above all the free attribute reset let you approach Dogtown with a completely reworked build. In practical terms, you can now reallocate your Body, Reflexes, Intelligence, Cool, and Technical Ability points before starting the campaign, which is ideal for setting up a stealthy Netrunner profile or a ballistic tank suited to the district's heavy firefights. The content itself remains the same: a roughly ten-hour main storyline, a flood of gigs, and a brand-new skill tree.

Important prerequisite: Phantom Liberty requires you to have completed the Transmission quest from the base campaign. If you're starting a new playthrough, expect around fifteen hours before you get the call that triggers the expansion. Level 15–20 and decent cyberware are recommended, since Dogtown shows no mercy.

Arriving in Dogtown: how to start the expansion

It all begins with a message from Songbird, a mysterious netrunner who contacts V directly inside their skull. She guides you to Dogtown's perimeter wall to start the Dog Eat Dog quest. As soon as you enter, the presidential plane crashes right before your eyes: the President of the New United States, Rosalind Myers, ends up trapped deep in Barghest territory. Your mission: get her out alive.

From this very introduction, the game sets its rules. Optical Camo and a good Sandevistan are worth their weight in gold for getting past patrols, and a well-placed Optical Reboot can disable the turrets locking down the crash site. Take the time to explore: Dogtown is full of alternate access points that brute-force approaches simply ignore.

Dogtown, Barghest and Kurt Hansen: the new playground

Dogtown is a closed-off district, a former real estate project gone bust turned into a lawless enclave. It is ruled with an iron fist by Kurt Hansen, an ex-Militech colonel turned warlord. His militia, the Barghest, controls every street, every checkpoint, and above all the black market set up in the EBM Petrochem stadium. Hansen is the expansion's central antagonist, and confronting him is the climax of the storyline.

The district introduces several brand-new activities found nowhere else in Night City:

• Airdrops: loot crates dropped at random locations, which you must hack and defend against waves of Barghest. The loot found here is often iconic.
• Mr. Hands' gigs: the new local fixer hands out a series of side missions rich in dialogue and choices.
• Stadium black market: exclusive cyberware and rare clothing sold by Ripperdocs and merchants found only here.

Don't rush the campaign: clearing a few airdrops and gigs before the major story beats will level you up and fill your inventory with solid gear. Dogtown also rewards verticality, with rooftops, walkways, and vents offering unmatched infiltration angles; a patient netrunner can neutralize an entire checkpoint without ever firing a shot, chaining Short Circuit, Overheat, and Suicide on isolated Barghest. Conversely, a Body-focused V with ballistic cyberware will turn those same streets into a frontal battlefield. Whatever your build, always keep a stock of health injectors and mobility cyberware on hand, since the district offers few safe havens once the alarm is raised.

The main storyline: Songbird, Reed and President Myers

Once Myers is safe, the plot shifts into pure espionage thriller territory. To extract the president from Dogtown, you must track down Solomon Reed, an FIA sleeper agent played by Idris Elba. The duo you form with him carries the best quests in all of Cyberpunk 2077: infiltrating a high-society party in Lucretia My Reflection, tailing missions, double-crosses, and chain-reaction twists.

At the heart of it all is Songbird, aka So Mi. This genius netrunner has a deal to offer you: she claims she can cure V of the Relic that's killing them, in exchange for your help escaping both Hansen and the president. Reed, meanwhile, is hunting her down on behalf of the FIA. Bit by bit, you come to realize that no one is telling the whole truth, and that the promised cure isn't as straightforward as advertised.

The confrontation with Hansen in You Know My Name marks a turning point. While searching his private bunker, you get your hands on his stash of iconic weapons: the Guts shotgun, the Order katana, the Rasetsu precision rifle, and the Hercules 3AX tech rifle. This stash alone is reason enough to search the place thoroughly.

The crucial choice: betray Songbird or save her

The entire expansion builds toward a single decision, made during the Firestarter quest. Songbird flees, wounded, and asks you to help her reach a space launcher so she can disappear. Reed, for his part, begs you to hand her over to him. Two paths then open up, and they are mutually exclusive:

Narratively, neither path is entirely happy: Phantom Liberty commits to a morally gray script where every loyalty comes at a cost. But if your goal is to cure V, betraying Songbird is what opens that door. Save your game before Firestarter so you can explore both versions.

The secret ending: V's cure and the Cynosure bunker

Handing Songbird over to Reed triggers Somewhat Damaged, one of the most striking sequences in the game. V descends alone into the Cynosure bunker, a sealed Militech lab guarded by overpowered Cerberus units. It's an oppressively atmospheric dungeon, punctuated by puzzles and fights where Optical Camo and a well-built Sandevistan make all the difference. At the end of the road awaits an ultimate choice regarding Songbird, followed, back in the base campaign, by an entirely new ending.

This ending, exclusive to Phantom Liberty, allows V to be truly cured of the Relic. The price is terrible: two years in a coma, a Night City that has moved on, and a body that now rejects all heavy cyberware. V survives, but can never be a merc again. It's the game's most bittersweet conclusion, and the only one that involves neither Arasaka nor the sacrifice of Johnny Silverhand.

It's also in the Cynosure bunker that you obtain the Erebus, an experimental smart SMG from Militech linked to the lab's AI. This iconic weapon, which seems to literally talk to you, is one of the most original in the game and one of the few tangible rewards of the cure path.

The Relic skill tree: the real build-defining addition

Phantom Liberty's biggest mechanical addition is the Relic skill tree. It's unlocked by collecting Militech data fragments (Datashards) hidden throughout Dogtown, often guarded by Barghest or tucked away up high. Each fragment grants a Relic point to spend on perks that transform your playstyle:

• Emergency Cloaking: triggers free Optical Camo when you're spotted, perfect for stealth builds.
• Vulnerability Analysis: Optical Camo marks weak points and boosts your damage upon exiting it.
• Spatial Awareness: reveals enemies through walls while using Sandevistan, a must for close-quarters combat.
• Jailbreak: unlocks a devastating ultimate for each weapon cyberware (Mantis Blades, Monowire, Gorilla Arms, Projectile Launch System).

This tree is independent of your regular attributes, making it an ideal complement after patch 2.3's free reset: you can specialize V fully in Mantis Blades or Monowire, then top it all off with a Jailbreak ultimate.

Iconic weapons you shouldn't miss

Beyond Hansen's stash, Dogtown is a veritable armory. Here are the pieces worth securing before you leave the district:

• Erebus — smart SMG, cure path (Cynosure bunker).
• Guts — iconic shotgun, from Kurt Hansen's stash.
• Order — fast katana, ideal for a Sandevistan build.
• Rasetsu — technical precision rifle that pierces through cover.
• Bald Eagle — heavy pistol handed over by Reed depending on your choices.

Only consider scrapping these weapons if you already have something better: several of them remain competitive well into the late game once upgraded at a Ripperdoc or a crafting bench.

Side activities: airdrops, gigs and elite showdowns

Dogtown is perfectly suited for farming experience and gear. Airdrops are the best source of random loot: spot the signal, rush to hack the crate before the Barghest do, then hold your ground. Mr. Hands' gigs, meanwhile, are worth it mainly for their writing, and sometimes unlock cyberware exclusive to the stadium black market. Finally, several points of interest hide scripted showdowns against elite Barghest units, ideal for testing out a freshly reset build.

A pacing tip: alternate between one main quest and two or three side activities. This will help you avoid the difficulty spike of the final missions, where the Cerberus units in the Cynosure bunker demand a V at the top of their game. Also remember to stop by the black market Ripperdoc between gigs: Dogtown's exclusive cyberware, often absent from clinics elsewhere in Night City, can turn a borderline build into a war machine. Finally, never sell off a legendary component without checking whether it's needed to craft an iconic weapon upgrade, or you may end up buying it back later at a steep price.

Conclusion: where to start tonight

If you're firing Cyberpunk 2077 back up with patch 2.3, first take advantage of the free reset to set up a coherent build, then head straight for the Dogtown wall to start Dog Eat Dog. Pick up Militech Datashards as you explore to feed your Relic tree, empty out Hansen's stash, and above all, save before Firestarter: that's where the secret cure ending and the Erebus reward are decided. Whether you choose to save Songbird or betray her, Phantom Liberty remains the best way to say goodbye to V one more time — or, finally, to give them a second chance.