How To Complete Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

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Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos is the 12th mission in the Phantom Liberty DLC and is available only if you choose the Reed side during the Firestarter quest. In this guide, you will face a difficult battle against MaxTac, who have captured the Songbird and are hiding in one of the convoy vehicles, which you will need to stop. To complete Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, you’ll need to find a netrunner that will determine the movement of the convoy, and then create a strategy to sabotage and eliminate all enemies. Don’t worry, we’ve done everything for you and have described tips for each of the points.

Finding the Netrunner

Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos in Cyberpunk 2077: Call Mr. Hands — Image Source: CD Projekt Red via Shark R Screenshot

Immediately after completing the Firestarter mission, if you chose to help Reed capture Songbird, you will start this mission. To find out more about the convoy and gain advantages during the battle, you’ll have to find Netrunners. There are two ways to choose a Netrunner for the mission:

Interactive characters: If you’ve played through the main story before starting the DLC, you probably have someone in your phonebook who can help you. There are 4 characters in total: Carol Emeka, Sandra Dorset, Chang Hoon Nam, Nix. Among them all, we recommend choosing Nix because he will quickly cope with the task and give you some classic Cyberware.
Call Mr. Hands: If you don’t have access to the above-mentioned characters, or rely more on Mr. Hands, then this option is a viable alternative. All you need is 15,000 Eurodollars to arrange a deal with him, and then you just need to wait until you are contacted.

Regardless of which option you choose, you will soon receive information about the convoy’s movements, so you must follow the quest marker to the next part of the Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos mission.

Meet Reed and Prepare for the Raid

Cyberpunk 2077: Reed — Image Source: CD Projekt Red via Shark R Screenshot

The first step in preparing is to meet with Reed and to do so, message him to get the coordinates. You’ll find him on the left side of Pacifica, at West Wind Apartaments. When you go inside and explore the area, you will find Reed with the leader of the 6th Street gang. This is where the bulk of the preparation for the sabotage begins.

After talking to them, you’ll be taken outside to one of the gang members who knows how to fly a drone. Also, he will tell you about the traps you can set along the way:

Mines
Smoke Grenades
Turrets

Among them all, we recommend choosing Turrets because of their effectiveness and advantage in combat. All other methods will be less effective, due to the lack of damage of Smoke Grenades and only 1 charge of Mines. When you’re done with your strategy and positioning, you can move on to the next step of the quest and wait for the convoy.

Stop the Convoy and Defeat MaxTac

Cyberpunk 2077: Dallas Foster — Image Source: CD Projekt Red via Shark R Screenshot

The last and most important part of the Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos mission in Cyberpunk 2077 starts after you talk to Reed. When you do, choose a place to be during the ambush, the best choice is high ground so that you can fully see the area and use your sniper rifle.

When the convoy arrives at the designated point and stops, you can start acting. First, you’ll be surrounded by a group of cops who are responsible for the convoy’s safety. Fortunately, it won’t be difficult to defeat them, especially if you’re holding a powerful shotgun.

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After you’re done with the guards, 4 MaxTac members will get out of one of the cars. This is where the fun begins because each of them has unique abilities and a lot of HP. So here are the basic tips on how to defeat them:

Team up with Reed: In battle, you are not alone, but with Reed, and he, in turn, does a lot of the work. Your partner will cover you from the back, shooting enemies in their weak spots with a sniper rifle. Pay attention to the targets at which he shoots (the laser sight will be a landmark) because, after each hit, they become vulnerable for a while and can take damage.
Kill the enemies one by one: It will be difficult to deal with 4 enemies at once, so we recommend killing them one at a time to ensure that you take less damage per second.
Prioritize your opponents: It’s worth noting that all enemies are different and have unique attacks, so you’ll need to focus on the strongest ones first. Dallas Foster will be the most difficult opponent, and Jasper Collins the weakest, so build your strategy based on this information.

After you deal with the opponents, you can check on Reed, and if it turns out that he is wounded, then you will need to follow the trail of Songbird. The fact is that she stole a truck and drove off in an unknown direction. It’s not hard to follow her because when you get in the car and drive along the highway, you’ll see an accident at an intersection, as well as a large wall with a hole in it that Songbird punched in the MaxTac vehicle. Thus, Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos mission will be completed.