Cyberpunk 2077 The Hunt Walkthrough

The Hunt is a Side Job in Cyberpunk 2077 (CP77). This walkthrough will guide you through all steps of The Hunt Side Quest.

Starting Area: Heywood (The Glen)
Quest Giver: River Ward
Requirement: Completed Side Job “I Fought the Law“.
Reward: 1447 Street Cred XP (only if you saved Randy)
Mission Info: So some depraved maniac’s kidnapping boys, and lo and behold, your badge is caught up in the middle of it. Gotta be honest, this doesn’t look good. Peter Pan’s just another manifestation of this fucked up city – probably already ended those poor brats. But on the off-chance Randy’s still alive… if I were you, I’d go save him. Especially if “breaking the law” is involved. NCPD boy in blue gives you a holler and you come runnin’ like an obedient dog? This ain’t gonna become a habit is it? Well, whatever – sounds like he’s got an errand for you, real personal kind. Least it’s better than chasing dead politicians. Just do me a favor – don’t get used to it.

Objectives:

• Read the message from River
• Meet with River Ward in the evening
• Sit and wait for River
• Get in River’s car
• Follow River
• Find a way inside the lab / Get inside the lab
• Talk to River
• Use Kiroshi to find the right cabinet
• Search the cabinets
• Talk to Yawen Packard
• Return to River’s car
• Talk to Johnny (Optional)
• Talk to River
• Follow River
• Talk to Joss
• Follow River
• Look for clues to help find Randy
• (Optional) Open the locked cabinet
• Learn the password to the computer
• Sit at the computer
• Search Randy’s computer for his activity on the net
• View the page Randy mentioned
• Click on the image on the Drugs Are Bad site
• Search for Anthony Harris’s hidden page
• Check the cartoon in the file folder
• (Optional) Get Harris’s IP address
• Talk to River / Follow River
• Talk to Joss
• Listen to River
• Watch the recording
• Relive the braindance
• Scan for clues
• Go to the next section of the braindance
• Relive the braindance / (Optional) Look for clues to help find Randy / Exit the braindance to proceed to the next section
• Relive the braindance / Scan for clues / Exit the braindance
• Plan the next move with River
• Get to River’s car / Wait for River
• Drive to the farm with River
• Find a way into the barn
• Look around the barn
• Turn off the braindance machine
• Help the other victims
• Go to River

This is River Ward’s 2nd Side Job and one of the quests that leads to River Ward’s Romance (can only be romanced with female body type). The important choices for the romance are marked in red throughout this walkthrough.

River Ward’s Side Questline:

1. I Fought The Law
2. The Hunt
3. Following The River

Starting Location: The Hunt

Starts when you get a message from River Ward a few days after “I Fought the Law“.

Read the message from River

After completing River Ward’s first Side Job “I Fought the Law“, alternate between skipping time in 24-hour increments and driving around until you get a call from River Ward. After the call read his text message “Come Here Please” to start the quest. It can take a few in-game days to get his call.

Meet with River Ward in the evening / Sit and wait for River

 

River wants to meet in Heywood. Head to the quest marker. If it’s not evening already, you can sit there to and it will automatically skip time until River arrives in his car.

Get in River’s car

Enter his car. Can’t pick any wrong dialogues here, they all lead to the same outcome. He needs your help to find Randy, his nephew who disappeared a few days ago.

Follow River

Just walk with River to the entrance of the police lab.

Find a way inside the lab / Get inside the lab

You’re supposed to find a way in. The main door is locked so you must go around the back. If you have 12 Technical ability you can open the door in the back alley.

If not, a new questmarker will show on the minimap, leading you to climb some containers in the back alley and over a wall. Then you can drop down into the garage area, climb a ladder and climb in through the window.

 

Talk to River

Once you’re inside the police lab, have a quick chat with River who will explain you must find some files in a cabinet.

Use Kiroshi to find the right cabinet

You must use your eye scanner / to scan the cabinets that are marked yellow. To find the correct cabinet location, go to the central main room (middle of the area), then enter the connected side room (looks like a children’s waiting room with some toys and arcade machines). Below is an image of it, see minimap in top right corner for reference.

Search the cabinets

Search the above cabinet.

Talk to Yawen Packard

A colleague of River will show up (Yawen Packard). There will be a bunch of timed dialogue choices.

What you say, or whether you say nothing at all, doesn’t matter for the progression of the quest. All options lead to the same result here. Even if you say nothing then River Ward will do the talking but he will give you a weird stare.

When I went for his romance I picked the following (these are in support of River, which may help improve the relationship): “Hasn’t let me down yet” > “I wanna see for myself”.

Return to River’s car

Return to River’s car. On the way back Johnny will appear.

Talk to Johnny (Optional)

When talking to Johnny I picked “River’s all right” on my romance playthrough (showing your loyalty to River). For the purpose of pure quest progression it’s not important.

Talk to River

During the car ride you can pick some dialogues with River. For the romance pick “Sign me up for that beer” – this is the friendliest choice that shows your interest in him (other choices here don’t matter). You can skip the ride after that dialogue.

Follow River

After the car ride, walk with River through the trailer park.

Talk to Joss

Here you will meet Randy’s mother. When talking to her it doesn’t matter what you say, or if you say nothing at all and let the timed choices run out. Either way it leads to the same outcome to search through Randy’s things.

Follow River

Follow River over to Randy’s house.

Look for clues to help find Randy / (Optional) Open the locked cabinet

There is one optional clue (locked cabinet in Randy’s bedroom) and one main clue (laptop under Randy’s bed) that you need to advance. The other clues don’t matter.

The Hunt – How to open the locked cabinet in Randy’s Room:

1. First you must find the key in Randy’s kitchen, on the cupboard left of the orange kitchen table.
   
2. Go back to Randy’s bedroom to open the cabinet. This gives you a game with a shipping address as an optional clue.
   

The main clue to advance is the laptop under Randy’s bed. Scan it ( / :lb ). Then River will come to pull it from under the bed.

Learn the password to the computer

The laptop needs a password. If you have 9 Intelligence Attribute you can hack it right away. Otherwise, you must turn on the record player in the hallway, which reveals the name of an album called “Liberum Arbitrium” – that’s the correct password. Return to River and tell him “Punch the track title”. Computer unlocked.

Sit at the computer

Access the laptop.

Search Randy’s computer for his activity on the net

First you’ll want to click on all Messages. River will comment on each one, just let the dialogue play out. After going through all messages you will learn of a suspicious webpage Randy visited.

View the page Randy mentioned

Click on “Net” in the top right corner of the computer. This will bring up the “Drugs are Bad” webpage.

Click on the image on the Drugs Are Bad site

Click the red image on the left side of the webpage.

Search for Anthony Harris’s hidden page

After River is done talking, click the “Join Us” and “Files” links in the top right corner of Tony’s Shelter webpage. River will make some comments here again.

Check the cartoon in the file folder

Click the “Files” tab at the top of the laptop menu. Then click “ATT_CART_VIDEO” file and watch it.

(Optional) Get Harris’s IP address

Exit the computer / . If you have 12 Intelligence Attribute you can pick the dialogue “Definitely” to get Harris’s IP address. Don’t worry if you can’t do this, it won’t void anything and you can still find all clues you need in braindance section that’s coming up shortly.

Talk to River / Follow River

Follow River to Joss.

Talk to Joss

Sit down in the kitchen and talk to Joss.

Here you must agree to help River (Dialogue: “‘Course”). If you don’t help (say “Can’t, unfortunately”) the questline will fail here, you won’t get his other quests, will miss out on the trophy / achievement “To Protect and Serve”, and he can no longer be romanced. But you can still reload the previous autosave if this happens. 

Listen to River

You will automatically go to sleep after the last conversation. River wakes you, just listen to him.

Watch the recording

Press / to start watching the Braindance chip River gives you.

Relive the braindance

To speed up the process, hold / to scroll through the timeline.

Scan for clues

Important: In the 3 Braindances that follow, you should carefully scan ALL clues. If you do, you will figure out Randy’s location automatically and River Ward will drive there with you automatically (best outcome). If you fail to scan important clues (failing to figure out Randy’s location), you get a dialogue to guess the correct farm. The correct answer is “Edgewood”. You HAVE TO go to the correct farm and save Randy. If you mess this up (i.e. didn’t find the clues, guessed wrong and drove to wrong farm) the questline will fail here and you will miss out on everything to do with River Ward. But you can still reload the previous autosave if this happens. 

Enter editing mode / . Scan the 4 clues.

Clue #1: The adult man.

Clue #2 (1:23): Trophy in cabinet at end of hallway, where the adult man stops.

Clue #3/#4 (1:19): Bulletin Boards in cafeteria.

Go to the next section of the braindance

Exit the braindance /  to exit the 1st braindance and start the 2nd one.

Relive the braindance / (Optional) Look for clues to help find Randy / Exit the braindance to proceed to the next section

As before you can just fastforward to save time. There are 6 clues here to scan.

Clue #1 (end of recording): Cartoon on screen

Clue #2 (1:04): Dietary Supplements, at end of barn

Clue #3 (1:00): Injection System, on a yellow object on the side of the barn

Clue #4 (1:00): Anthony Harris’ Father, standing in the barn

Clue #5 (0:14): Console, next to the Father.

Clue #6 (0:04): Cow, scan it from behind.

Exit the braindance when done.

Relive the braindance / Scan for clues / Exit the braindance

In the 3rd Braindance there are 14 clues you can scan.

Clue #1 (1:19): Victim – the boy being attacked.

Clue #2 (1:13): The city lights in the outdoors (past the tree / outer part of farm). Can only be scanned when the farm door is up.

Clue #3 (1:07): Number – the number plate of the farm that is top left of the farm door.

Clue #4 (1.07): Infusion Pump – an object on the left near the farm exit door

Clue #5 (0:53): FDNC Certificate – a certificated hanging on the wall

Clue #6 (0:52): Computer – left of the certificate.

Clue #7 (0:49): Victim – another victim laying on the right side.

Clue #8 (0:46): Victim – another victim laying on the left side.

Clue #9 (0:42): Fuel Barrels – some barrels standing at the end of the path.

Clue #10 (0:42) Victim – another victim laying on the left side.

Clue #11 (0:38): Electrial Parts – a turret in the middle of the building.

Clue #12 (0:34): Clock – hanging above a doorway.

Clue #13 (0:26): Solar Panel – straight ahead of where you’re walking

Clue #14 (0:39): Audio cues – press / to switch to the green timeline. Scan the exhaust at the ceiling.

Exit the braindance when done.

Plan the next move with River

If you found all clues, River will automatically know the right farm. If you missed important clues, the correct farm is Edgewood.

Get to River’s car / Wait for River

Join River in his car.

Drive to the farm with River

River will drive you there. Dialogues here don’t matter.

Find a way into the barn

Run towards the building on the right. Then run over to the building on the left (avoiding the mines and turrets) and climb up the ladder around the left corner of the barn. Then drop through the barn roof.

Look around the barn / Turn off the braindance machine

Run to the end of the barn (where you scanned the screen with the cartoon earlier). Next to the cartoon screen you can turn off the braindance machine.

Help the other victims

Remove the masks of all victims.

Go to River

Go to River and help him release Randy. The boy is save. By doing this you have also unlocked River’s last quest “Following the River”.

River Romance – Important Moment: After rescuing Randy, when talking to River pick the dialogues that show romantic interest in him and that you are looking for a relationship (only available for female characters). Also pick “I’ll help you” > “Just remember you can count on me” –> Important: You must show romantic interest in River, otherwise you will only be friends and not romantic partners. You should agree to help him to get his next quest (if say “Do whatcha gotta do, but count me out” you still get the quest but it might not be as good for the romance).

 

This finishes The Hunt side quest job in Cyberpunk 2077 (CP77). If you saved Randy, then River will reach out later for his next quest “Following the River“.

For all other Quest Walkthroughs, check out the complete Cyberpunk 2077 Walkthrough.