Balls to the Wall is a neat branching quest with multiple outcomes in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. You get some good rewards doing this Side Job the right way too, so feel free to use this in-depth guide on how to save Paco and Babs in Phantom Liberty.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty Balls to the Wall Quest Guide: Where to Find & Start it
The Balls to the Wall quest opens up after completing the third main quest in Phantom Liberty titled Spider and the Fly. Once this is done, head to the Golden Pacific fast-travel terminal to start this quest.
When you reach the marker, you’ll find two Barghest soldiers named Paco and Babs who need your help covering for their theft of generators from the Barghest Colonel Yuri. Like most side quests in Cyberpunk 2077, you’re free to either help them or shrug them off.
Should You Take the Deep Dive?
If you sit down to listen to their woeful tale, Paco will insist you take a couple of whiffs of the Deep Dive drug. If you refuse (like I did the first time), you will simply ignore the side quest and keep Paco and Babs sitting there forever.
But c’mon, you want to see this quest through. Take the Deep Dive and you’ll re-enact Paco’s moments leading up to his current dilemma. The first re-enactment consists of a fistfight between Kurt Hansen and Paco. You’ll actually be controlling Kurt during this part, so don’t worry about having to overcome the DLC’s final boss early. Dialogue choice makes no difference either, and you can’t lose the fistfight, so punch away!
Accept the next Deep Dive session and Paco will have you re-enact the mission of getting the generators just before it all went south. This section controlling Kurt Hansen is more difficult, involving vehicle combat and waves of enemies. You have unlimited ammo as Kurt, but only have his Bad Eagle gun and Fang knife at your disposal (not to be confused with the Blue Fang knife). Just pop some headshots and run to cover if your health gets low.
Should You Frame Yuri, Run for the Hills, or Call for Help in Balls to the Wall in Phantom Liberty? Outcomes Explained
When V returns to the real world again, you will have a choice to make. Below are the three options and their physical rewards.
- Choose to frame Yuri (a couple of random low-grade weapons)
- Move Paco out of town (iconic Carmen assault rifle, 8,000 eddies)
- Call in some favors to ship some containers for Paco and Babs (iconic Carmen assault rifle, skill shard)
- Smuggle Babs and Paco out of Dogtown via the Aldecados
Framing Yuri
One option is to frame Kurt’s Colonel Yuri for the theft of the generators. This can be done by contacting
Do be warned, though, that framing Yuri is the worst choice out of the three you can make during the Balls to the Wall quest in Phantom Liberty. It nets you no unique items or rewards, and forces you to kill off a character in the process.
The only upside of this choice is that it presents you with a boss battle against Yuri himself. While this is a unique hidden encounter, the rewards are miniscule and you don’t even get any iconic gear when all is said and done. C’mon, Yuri; certainly you have better gear than that!
Run for the Hills
Telling Paco to move out of Dogtown results in the best physical rewards, but the second worst outcome for Paco and Babs. Babs will refuse to leave and stay behind, resulting in you driving Paco past the Dogtown gate to escape on his own. After that, you’ll need to drop him off at the Grand Imperial Mall.
He gives you 8,000 eddies right then and there and says he’ll text you in a couple of days. When he contacts you, you’ll be tasked with meeting him at the Afterlife and he’ll give you his iconic rifle.
In the process though, you’ll learn that he joined some scavs and is destined for a less-than-respectable life. Even Johnny Silverhand is disgusted by this turn of events, capping off the quest with a bittersweet feeling of tragedy.
Call in Some Favors
The third choice, which entails helping Paco and Babs via favors from your friends and contacts, is the best from a narrative perspective. It doesn’t net you the 8,000 eddies, but you’re rewarded with a Skill Shard instead and can make use of any allies you made during the base game. Plus, both Paco and Babs get out of their predicament together and without any repercussions.
There are three possible contacts available for V to call: Panam, River, and Rogue. Note that they’ll only be able to help you if you completed all of their Side Jobs. Likewise, Rogue and River are interconnected in how they help you, so you’ll need to have completed both of their storylines before contacting them.
If you did Rogue’s side quest setting her up with Johnny at the theater and completed all of her Gigs, she’ll be an option for getting new generators. You can contact her to find out the NCPD confiscated some that would be perfect for the job, and River can help you obtain them after that so long as his storyline has reached its conclusion.
If you completed Panam’s questline and solved her dilemma with the Alvocados, she’ll help smuggle Paco and Babs off without any incident. Paco and Babs will then be taken out of Dogtown completely, instead starting a new life in Kenya far away from the vices of Night City.
We’d be inclined to call this the best solution from a story perspective, as it gets Paco away from Dogtown and into an environment which won’t draw him into as many bad decisions.
Regardless of the outcome you go for, the end result is a good ending to this quest where Paco and Babs escape their problem together. You’ll get Carmen iconic rifle and a skill shard too, which can be found in the tent from the start of the quest.
That’s our guide on how to save Paco and Babs in Phantom Liberty. We have many more tips and tricks to help you along your journey through Dogtown, so check them out down below.
