Cyberpunk 2077: The Hunt (River) walkthrough Cyberpunk 2077 guide, walkthrough

Last update: 10 February 2021

This page of the Cyberpunk 2077 game guide contains a walkthrough of the side job - The Hunt. This is River Ward's second quest. He's a detective you can romance as female V. This mission is quite long and from our guide you will learn, among other things, where to find clues in the NCPD laboratory and trailer, how to complete three braindance scenes, and where to find and how to properly save Randy.

• Meeting with River Ward
• Getting into the NCPD laboratory
• Finding the right cabinet in the laboratory
• Meeting with Joss and examining Randy's trailer
• Analysing the 3 braindance recordings
• Finding the farm where Randy is imprisoned
• Rescuing Randy from Edgewood farm
• Final conversation with River - potential romance

Meeting with River Ward

How to start the quest: You have to complete detective River Ward's first side job, namely I Fought the Law. After some time has passed, River Ward will call you, asking for help.

You can meet the detective in The Glen sub-district of Heywood. The meeting takes place in the evening, but you can sit on the curb so that the game can speed up the passage of time, if necessary. Get in River's car and view the footage he sent you. You will find out about the disappearance of his nephew Randy and the possibility that he may have been kidnapped by a serial killer. You can help River in finding the boy.

Getting into the NCPD laboratory

As River has been removed from the investigation, it will be necessary to break into the police lab to watch the dreams in the form of BD recordings.

You cannot use the main entrance. Go into the side alleyway. If you have at least 12 points in Technical Ability, you can open the side door and get inside the lab faster. Otherwise, you will have to climb up from the back of the building to reach the window blind. Once you draw the blinds, you can enter the building.

Finding the right cabinet in the laboratory

You don't have to thoroughly examine all the laboratory rooms and Quick Scan all the objects within. You can immediately find the room pictured in the above image - you will recognize it by the braindance stations. Scan and examine the cabinet containing BD equipment.

Our characters will be discovered by Dr. Packard, although she is acquainted with River and you don't have to fear her raising the alarm. No matter how you behave, you may convince the woman to help our characters in their search and rescue mission for Randy. Go with Packard to the adjacent room to finish the conversation.

Meeting with Joss and examining Randy's trailer

Return with River to his car. You will arrive at Joss Kutcher's home at Rancho Coronado in Santo Domingo. She is mother of the missing Randy. During the ride you can ask River any questions you wish. You can arrange to go on a beer date with River after you find Randy, but this is not a mandatory step to romance him.

Furthermore, the meeting with Joss is insignificant (you can, but don't have to tell her immediately about Randy's kidnapping) because you won't get any crucial information out of her.

The next step is more important - you need to examine Randy's trailer. A variety of clues can be found here and the Quick Scan feature will make it easy to locate them. The main clue necessary to move the investigation forward is the laptop in the bedroom - you will find it under the bed. After finding the laptop, the characters decide to check its contents.

The laptop is protected and you can gain access in one of 2 ways:

1. Hack into the laptop - This is only possible if V has at least 9 points in the Intelligence attribute.
2. Search for the password to the laptop - Investigate the record player pictured in the image above. The name of the last song played is Liberum Arbitrium and it turns out to be the password.

Start by reviewing all 8 Messages and 3 Files. Each item should prompt a short comment. Then go to the Net section where the Drugs Are Bad website should already be opened. Clicking on the red image on the left side of the text will take you to the Tony's Shelter page.

On the Tony's Shelter page, investigate two sections: Join Us and Files. The latter is more important - you will see a movie title, the same one you could have already found saved on Randy's laptop.

Close the Net tab and return to the "main" tab - Files. Turn your attention to the cartoon, that is the ZAL_KRES_VIDEO file - ATT_CART_VIDEO. The characters will notice that both files have identical filenames.

If you have at least 12 points in the Intelligence attribute, you can acquire Harris' IP, but this is an optional objective and will not affect your chances of finding Randy. V and River will return to Joss and the resulting conversation is not crucial either. You can ask the woman a few more questions or immediately leave to take a rest.

Analysing the 3 braindance recordings

The next day River will wake you up. You will be given the task of analyzing 3 braindance recordings, which will help to determine Randy's current location. Only the third recording is in any way significant, as it contains 2 clues that will help you identify the location you are looking for. Consequently, you don't have to pay too much attention to the first and second braindance.

The first braindance is a recording from a school. It's very simple, as you only need to scan the teacher and the two blackboards to proceed to the next recording.

The second braindance is a recording from a barn. In order to proceed to the final BD, scan the cow, the father, the control panel, the antibiotic injection device and the supplements.

As has been previously mentioned, the third braindance contains major clues and therefore must be analyzed meticulously.

1. Start by watching the whole recording - it takes 1 minute and 35 seconds.
2. Pause at 0:24 and scan the Solar Panel pictured in the above image. This is the first of the two key clues.

1. Pause at 0:30 and scan the industrial Clock mounted above the doorway.
2. Pause at 0:33 and scan the turret and mine production Parts.
3. Pause at 0:35 and scan the Fuel Barrels.
4. Go to the audio layer and turn the camera towards the sounds heard in the direction of the ceiling (pictured above).

1. Pause at 0:39 and scan the person lying on the table.
2. Pause at 0:44 and scan the Infusion Pump. There is also a person to scan in this segment.
3. Pause at 0:46 and scan the Certificate and the next person.
4. Pause at 0:48 and scan from a large distance the Computer located in the side room.
5. Pause at 0:54 and scan the person lying on the ground.
6. Pause at 0:59 and scan the Farm Model Number pictured in the above image. This is the second necessary clue.
7. Finally, scroll to 1:13, move your camera outside of the farm building and scan your surroundings.

Finding the farm where Randy is imprisoned

Going through all 3 braindances will initiate a cutscene where you analyze the clues you found with River. It can conclude in three different ways:

1. River will guess the correct farm - This will happen if you have examined the 2 aforementioned important clues in the third braindance.
2. River won't guess the farm, but V will reach the collect conclusion - Edgewood farm is the place you need to visit.
3. River won't guess the farm and V will select the wrong one - this is definitely the worst possibility as it may result in Randy's death and/or failing River's romance path.

Rescuing Randy from Edgewood farm

As a reminder, Edgewood farm is the location you need to visit in order to save Randy. Randy may die if you don't get to Edgewood farm right away or if you leave the site prematurely.

There are active turrets and mines on the farm. Try to sneak and use the Quick Scan ability to search for mines. An exploding mine can easily kill V. Walk over them or, preferably, walk around them while keeping a safe distance. First of all, turn your attention to the building on the right to disable the security systems. There are 2 main ways to reach the hut:

1. Use the Technical Ability to draw the blind on the right window.
2. Go around the building from the back and reach the door located near one of the turrets.

Go upstairs and examine the room with the computer. In the spot pictured in image no. 1, you will find a button. Pressing it will unlock the secret room on the right. There you will find the Iconic Melee Weapon Tinker Bell and another computer. Interact with it and select the Local Network tab. Turn off the generator (image no. 2). This will cause all the turrets to shutdown AND all of the mines to deactivate, so you no longer have to avoid them.

Now you can finally turn your attention towards investigating the barn. The barn's main entrance is blocked. Use the ladder left of the barn to get into the building through a hole in the roof. You may check on the other captives or wait until River finds Randy.

You have to turn off the braindance machine. To do this, head to the control room, which you might remember from the previously viewed recordings. After switching off the machine, return to the main area of the barn and start freeing the captives (some of them may be dead).

Eventually River will call you over and ask for your help in freeing the boy. Press the interaction button several times to save Randy.

Final conversation with River - potential romance

You will regain control of V after the police arrive at the farm. Talking to River is necessary to continue the potential romance with this character. This romance will only trigger if you selected the female body type for V. In order to successfully romance River in the remainder of the game you need meet the following requirements:

1. Save Randy, i.e. follow all the aforementioned steps without making any mistakes.
2. During the conversation with the River, choose the first or second dialogue option, i.e. either discourage him from taking revenge or promise to help him.

Additionally, in order to initiate the romance, you need to show that you're interested in River during the final conversation. It is worth noting that this is only the beginning of the romance, as you will be able to take bolder steps to progress the relationship in the subsequent job - Following the River.

Regardless of what occured during the course of this job, it will soon be completed.