One of the main jobs early in Cyberpunk 2077 is called The Pickup. Jackie and V are hired for a job involving retrieval of a drone, but they encounter some roadblocks along the way. One such roadblock is Royce, new leader of the Maelstrom gang, and Jackie and V need to retrieve the Flathead bot from him by any means necessary. Anyone having trouble with The Pickup quest in Cyberpunk 2077 should know about all outcomes and the best choices to make.
Best Choices and All Outcomes for The Pickup Quest in Cyberpunk 2077
When starting this mission, you’ll have the option of calling Meredith Stout. Doing so will lead to a “negotiation” that ends with you getting your hands on a valuable data chip with a virus inside. If you elect to remove the virus from the chip, you’ll be able to complete the mission with Maelstrom staying on your good side. This will unavoidably lead to a shootout, though, so be prepared before trying it out.
When you meet Royce and his goons, the conversation always ends either by getting yourself killed or entering a tense standoff. You’ll have multiple dialogue options, but they all lead down the same road. Eventually, you’ll be presented with two options:
- [Draw Weapon]
- [Take down Royce] Requires six Body points
Either of these options will set you up for the big decision of either paying or shooting Royce, so it doesn’t matter which one you choose. If you don’t have enough Body attribute points, you’ll be forced to draw your weapon. From here, there are three main decisions you can make.
Pay With the Militech Chip
If you haven’t removed the aforementioned virus, the Maelstrom gang will become hostile and you will have to fight Royce. Defeating him nets you an iconic pistol known as Chaos as well as a Maelstrom jacket and some Eurodollars. Removing the virus will lead to a shootout with Militech, leading to no greater unique rewards but granting access to a different iconic revolver later on. This will also lead to an encounter with Gilchrist, locking you out of meeting with Meredith in the future, so be wary when choosing this option.
Shoot Royce
If you didn’t get the Militech chip from Meredith Stout, then shooting Royce is another route you can take. There aren’t any surprises with this choice, and it goes just about how you’d expect. V shoots and kills Royce and then the remaining Maelstrom gang members become hostile. After a shootout with the gang, you can loot Royce’s Chaos pistol and scavenge the materials from the other Malestrom bodies before leaving All Foods.
Pay With Own Money
This is another fairly straightforward option, but it’s one that you probably won’t be able to choose this early in the game due to its high price. Royce wants 10,000 Eurodollars for the Flathead bot, and because this mission happens within the first few hours of the game, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll have that much in your bank account. If you do manage to scrounge up the cash before meeting with Royce, however, you can pay him and get out of the situation without any bloodshed.
Related: Cyberpunk 2077 Solo Skill Leveling Guide
Best Outcomes for the Cyberpunk 2077 Pickup Quest
All resolutions that end with a positive response from Maelstrom will make you lose access to the Chaos pistol while granting access to the Doom Doom revolver later on. You can also find and free Brick during this quest, which will grant more options for a later mission. Being vigilant in this manner will also let you find an email pointing to Gilchrist as the mole, so keep this in mind if you want to do everything you can in this quest.
If you’re focusing on immediately useful money and items, avoid hacking the chip but refuse to pay with it, instead opting to defeat Royce and his goons. Doing this will unlock a number of useful interactions and items, making negotiations a less-than-ideal route for many players.
