Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos Guide

Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos is a late-game mission with a planning stage in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, and it has multiple was to approach it. Reed will also help you take out the hostiles. Our guide discusses the choices that you can pick during Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos, as well as what to expect from the encounter. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains spoilers.

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

To complete Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, you must do the following:

• Choose to help Reed capture Songbird in Firestarter, then defeat Colonel Hansen.
• Make preparations by talking to Mr. Hands and Yoko, and by selecting the defenses to be placed along the perimeter.
• Eliminate the four MaxTac guards/soldiers.

How to Complete the Planning Stage and Prepare Defenses

The Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos mission has its own planning stage. As soon as the mission begins, you have the option to call Mr. Hands, and then pay him 15,000 credits for his help. This leads you back to Yoko, the Edgenet vendor in Kabuki Street. She’s also got a proposal that you can agree to.

Next up, return to Reed and talk to his operatives. A convoy that’s transporting Songbird will be passing through the area, and you can lay down traps to stop them. Here are the options:

• Choose between turrets or mines, as well as their placements.
• Choose to use smoke grenade or not.
• Decide on your starting point: balcony, stairs, or street.

In my case, I opted to go with mines, and I had them placed along the road. These would disable the vehicles quickly. Likewise, I chose the use of smoke grenades—these allowed me to get closer to the hostiles, although Reed’s line of sight will be limited early on. Lastly, I chose the street as my starting point so I can quickly close the distance.

How to Defeat the MaxTac Guards

Once the convoy passes, Reed and co. will blow up everything along the highway. You should then be able to take out the initial wave of troops. However, once you open the armored truck, four MaxTac soldiers will appear. Here’s what you need to know:

• All four have high health and resistances, and they’ll relentlessly chase you down.
• Forget about using quickhacks since one of their netrunners will block you.
• Reed will provide covering fire. Look for the red laser that pinpoints a specific target, since Reed will disable that opponent for a couple of seconds.

I suggest staying mobile to avoid the enemies, while waiting for Reed to incapacitate one of them. While that MaxTac guard is being electrocuted, quickly blast them with high-end weapons, such as the Ba Xing Chong from the base game, the Wild Dog dropped by Colonel Hansen, or the Rasetsu from the earlier mission where you helped Reed as a sniper.

With a bit of luck and patience, you should be able to whittle down your foes until you only have one or two remaining. Things will get a lot easier from there. Sadly, these MaxTac guards don’t seem to drop iconic weapons at all.

That’s it: that’s everything you need to know about how to complete Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. After this, you’ll need to avoid a Cerberus robot in the Somewhat Damaged mission. For other tips and strategies, you can check out our Cyberpunk 2077 guides hub.