Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty airdrops: Best rewards and unique guns

Cyberpunk 2077 Airdrop on a skyscraper
(Image credit: CD Projekt)
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(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

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Finding Phantom Liberty airdrops is one of the pastimes you can try out while exploring Dogtown in the new Cyberpunk 2077 expansion. Since Night City's most infamous district is landlocked, the only way Colonel Hansen and Barghest can get supplies is by having them dropped in via air, presenting an opportunity for other gangs and enterprising thieves such as yourself.

In terms of investment vs. reward, airdrops are one of the most lucrative activities in the game, giving you weapons, mods, Cyberware, shards, and even some unique Iconic guns. All you need to do is take out whoever happens to be standing guard or trying to steal it for themselves.

How to unlock airdrops

Jacob will point out an airdrop when you exit the hideout (Image credit: CD Projekt)

Phantom Liberty will first introduce you to airdrops in the Lucretia My Reflection quest, after you get President Myers to the hideout. Sleep there, talk to Myers about finding Solomon Reed, and then take the elevator down to street level. If you previously chose to let Jacob and Taylor stay, you can find Jacob hanging around out front, where he'll tell you that an airdrop for Hansen's soldiers just fell nearby. You'll be able to spot the airdrop by the red smoke, which in this instance you'll see coming from the top of a nearby building. As you explore Dogtown, more airdrops will land across the city at intervals.

How to complete an airdrop

After spending a bit of time in Dogtown, you'll come to recognise the sound of an incoming airdrop. A very loud AC will fly over and dump a cargo container with thrusters that will land nearby before letting out a plume of red smoke that lets you track it. There are different versions of the airdrop activity, so what you'll find upon getting there is mostly random. 

Here are the types I've encountered so far:

  • Gunfight: Barghest soldiers will be fighting another gang over the airdrop—usually Voodoo Boys or scavs. Defeat them or use the chaos to open the container and escape.
  • Ambush: The container will seemingly be abandoned, but once you open it and take the loot, soldiers will arrive in vehicles, and you'll have to either kill them or run away.
  • Junk: This airdrop is seemingly abandoned, but once you open it, you'll realise that's because it contains junk and a note from an angry supplier who didn't get paid.
  • Guarded: The container will be surrounded by Barghest soldiers or another gang, so simply kill them, or sneak up to the container and open it

To access the airdrop, you'll need to jack into the container and complete the usual hacking mini-game, but once that's done you can take the loot and be on your way.

Airdrop rewards and unique guns

There are a variety of rewards you can loot from airdrops, including:

  • Cyberware
  • Weapons
  • Capacity Shards
  • Skill Shards
  • Mods
  • Clothing
  • Item Components

Most important of all, there are three Iconic weapons you can only get from airdrops. These are:

  • Alabai (Power Shotgun)
  • Taigan (Power Revolver)
  • Laika (Tech Revolver)

These three guns drop randomly and all share the same unique Techtronika perk, with a chance to inflict a unique burn on enemies. When you shoot these burning enemies, you'll always deal crit damage, plus the more burning enemies, the more crit damage you deal. There might be more Iconic airdrop weapons than just these three, but I've done lots of them, and at a certain point, new Iconic weapons stopped dropping.

Sean Martin
Guides Writer

Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.