Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty’s story offers quite an impactful choice in the form of the Firestarter mission in the game. You can choose to help Songbird and let her escape Hansen’s clutches, or side with Reed and capture Songbird for her own safety.
While choosing to side with one of these two main characters in the new DLC might not seem like that big of a deal, these choices drastically change your game’s story while also taking part in deciding Phantom Liberty’s end game.
If you’re also in the dilemma of whether you should help Songbird or Reed, here are some details to make the decision a little easier.
The Firestarter Mission in Phantom Liberty
The Firestarter mission is next in line after the “I’ve Seen That Face Before” quest in Phantom Liberty. In this mission, you must drive to the Stadium and have a conversation with Kurt Hansen and then join Songbird as she hacks the mainframe and proceeds with the plan of escaping the Stadium and Kurt Hansen’s FIA once and for all.
During your conversations with Songbird, you are given two choices:
- “I’m with you” – Help Songbird escape
- “One more second”- Help Reed capture Songbird
Choosing to help Songbird
If you choose to help Songbird escape the Stadium, Songbird comes to your aid and helps you escape the Stadium with her hacking skills and Alex who was disguised as Aymaric the whole time kills Kurt Hansen.
After you have successfully escaped the Stadium, Songbird will contact you once again with the new mission “The Killing Moon” which leads you to the final step of one of the Phantom Liberty endings.
Although Alex killing Hansen saves you from his time-consuming boss fight, it does also take away the option to collect three legendary weapons in the game. You can still get the Iconic Murphy Law by taking down Murphy (Hansen’s head of security) on your way out of the Stadium.
Choosing Reed instead of the help Songbird Option
You must install the ICEbreaker on Songbird’s system if you decide to side with Reed in the Firestarter mission. Songbird will take note of your betrayal and immediately snitch on Alex, getting him killed at the hands of Kurt Hansen. She will also rampage around Dogtown due to the ICEbreaker’s Cyberpsychosis effects while you escape the Stadium on your own and eventually get captured by MaxTac and the Night City’s security forces.
Kurt Hansen will be hot on your trails and engage you in an epic boss fight. Winning the fight will award you the Fang, Bald Eagle, and Wild Dog iconic weapons in the game. Escaping the scene with Reed will prompt the start of the “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” mission which eventually leads to yet another ending of the Phantom Liberty DLC.
Should I help Songbird in Phantom Liberty’s Firestarter Mission?
Whether you choose to help Songbird or let her get captured, the choice is completely based on your own ideals and which character you may have resonated more with, in the game. Helping Songbird might be the morally correct choice since her escape would mean freedom from all those years of torment by Hansen’s FIA troops.
But, if you’re aiming for those legendary weapons, joining hands with Reed might be the right choice for you.
Just make sure to save your game before the big decision so that you can roll back to the previous save point and enjoy both choices at their own pace.
