Should you frame Yuri during Balls to the Wall in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty?
This side mission gives you a difficult choice.
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Balls to the Wall is a side mission in the new Cyberpunk 2077 expansion, Phantom Liberty, and if you make the right choice, it will net you one of the new iconic weapons. You can pick the quest up once you're through the opening story missions that introduce you to Dogtown, and when you're able to explore the area freely.
You can find the quest northeast of the Golden Pacific fast travel point. Speak to Paco and Babs to get it started, and you'll need to agree to take the Deep Dive in order to continue. Most of the quest is pretty straightforward, but you'll be presented with a choice near the end. If you're stuck trying to figure out what you should go with, here are the consequences for each Cyberpunk 2077 Balls to the Wall choice, to help you pick the right one.
Cyberpunk 2077 Balls to the Wall side mission
Balls to the Wall lets you relive the experiences of Paco, from his initiation into the Barghast organisation to his first job. You'll see the action play out from the perspective of Hansen, thanks to the Deep Dive drug, and most of it is self-explanatory.
On the first "hit" talk to Yuri—you can pick any of the dialogue options here as they all lead to the same result—then head down the stairs and win the fight with Paco. You'll return to the present and you're prompted to take a second Deep Dive. You can refuse and save your game here if you need a breather, then speak to Paco again to continue.
This time you're thrown into a car chase and you'll need to gun down your pursuers. You'll soon have to continue the fight on foot but luckily, Hansen's firearms are pretty pokey, so you won't have much trouble taking down the scavengers. If you think you've killed all of them but the quest won't progress, try shooting any explosive barrels in the area. I shot a small one directly outside the building on the left, and that seemed to do the trick.
Should you frame Yuri or tell Paco to run for the hills?
Once you make it through the sections as Hansen and come out of the Deep Dive, you'll speak to Paco in the present time, and learn that he decided to steal some power generators from Hansen. He wants your help to get him out of the situation. These are the choices you can present him with:
- Gotta frame Yuri.
- At this stage… run for the hills guys.
- See if I can't call in some favors. Could work somethin' out. (This option is only available if you've met up with several main characters from Night City.)
If you attempt to frame Yuri, Paco will end up dead. You'll need to fight Yuri and you'll get a couple of guns from his body, but other than that, there isn't much to be said for this option.
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The best choice overall is to run for the hills. Tell Paco to get out of Night City, and drive him to a marked location at the Grand Imperial Mall. He'll transfer you 8000 eddies for your trouble, then you need to pass two in-game days. Wait for the text from Paco asking you to meet him at the Afterlife. You should have a fast travel point that takes you there and you can find him sitting outside.
You'll discover that he's joined the Scavs but he does give you an iconic weapon, the Carmen assault rifle, so at least there's that. Plus the guy's alive, which he definitely won't be if you choose to frame Yuri.
If you have the third option available, you'll also get the Carmen assault rifle as a reward, so you can go with that choice too if you fancy chatting with some of your old contacts from Night City.
Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.