The Clampdown mission is the centerpiece of Cyberpunk 2077's Update 2.5 Edgerunners 2 content. It drops V into a Night City Prison alongside King's netrunner Meshuga, with the goal of breaking out a crew member named Miguel. Crucially, this quest is set before the events of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, so there are no spoilers waiting for you inside. Finish it and you walk out with King's full five-piece outfit and the Coronation Iconic Tech Revolver.
How to unlock the Clampdown quest
Here's the short answer: you need two things done before Wakako Okada will reach out.
- Complete The Heist main story mission, then finish its immediate follow-ups Love Like Fire and Playing for Time to open the full Night City open world.
- Complete any two gigs for Wakako Okada (Japantown fixer). Jobs like Tyger and Vulture and We Have Your Wife both count.
Once those boxes are ticked, Wakako sends a text titled "A Request from King" that automatically flags the quest in your journal. Read it to start the chain. If the message still hasn't arrived after completing both conditions, reaching Street Cred level 16 should force the trigger.
Meeting King at BuryGer
The rendezvous point is a BuryGer joint near the MLK & Brandon fast travel point in Santo Domingo. Sit at the table and wait. King won't show in person. He calls instead and lays out the job: extract Miguel from Night City Prison. Your dialogue choices here have zero impact on the quest outcome, so say whatever you want and accept.
Conveniently, the prison is directly across the road from the meeting spot.
Entering the prison
Walk to the visitor entrance and use the intercom to the right of the door to talk your way inside. Follow the guard through security and place your hand on the scanner at the desk ahead.
The hand scan reveals V's criminal record. You get arrested, beaten down, and thrown into a cell with an inmate named Wex, who explains that all prisoners have a Reaper chip installed. Guards can trigger it remotely to kill any inmate who steps out of line.
How do you escape your cell?
After Wex is removed from the cell and Meshuga contacts you, look up and hack the camera above the door opposite your cell using your Cyberdeck. Use the Camera Control quickhack to enter the prison's camera network, then cycle to Camera 117: Security Cortex. From that feed, apply Remote Deactivation to the door terminal visible in the frame. Your cell cracks open.
Finding the smuggled package
Head through the gate into the BD cell hallway, continue to the bathroom at the end, and go through the door on the right. The smuggled package is a duffle bag under the bench directly ahead. Interact with it to equip King's full gear set.
What's in the package?
| Item | Type |
|---|---|
| Coronation | Iconic Tech Revolver |
| King's Coat | Outer Torso |
| King's Bulletproof Vest | Inner Torso |
| King's Glasses | Head |
| King's Pants | Legs |
| Icon America Dust Devil Utility Boots | Feet |
These are your permanent rewards for completing Clampdown. There are no Eurodollars paid for this job.
Reaching the Security Cortex
Leave the bathroom and kill the group of guards waiting outside. Loot one body for an Access Badge, then follow the path back through the gate, past your cell, and into the hallway ahead. Turn left and eliminate the next guard to reach the security room.
Jack into the large computer at the back of the room (not the smaller terminals). Navigate to the files section and read the criminal records for V, Miguel, and optionally Wex to gather Reaper chip IDs for Meshuga.
Next, find the server tower in the smaller red-lit room nearby and jack in.
Whose Reaper chip should you deactivate first?
You face a timed decision with three options. The correct order matters.
- Deactivate your own Reaper chip first. This removes the time pressure entirely.
- Deactivate Miguel's Reaper chip. Required to progress.
- Deactivate Wex's Reaper chip (optional). This is a blue dialogue choice. If you want to save Wex, do it before deactivating Miguel's. Wex escapes during the subsequent riot but doesn't appear again either way. Skip it and Wex dies in prison.
Getting to the Armory
After Meshuga triggers the alarm, leave the Security Cortex through the hallway, kill the guards blocking your path, and take the elevator down to the Armory level. The Prison Yard outside the elevator has multiple guards and a heavily armored one mixed in. Clear them all, listen to King's brief, then push through to the Armory. Defeat the guards inside and retrieve your gear and the mine from the rack at the back.
Clear the yard to reach the Armory
Reaching the Crisis Control Room
A locked door blocks the path forward. You have three ways through:
- Force it open (requires 11 Body/Strength)
- Fry the circuits on the panel to the left (requires 9 Technical Ability)
- Hack the panel on the right via Cyberdeck
Take the elevator down to the Crisis Control Room. Defeat the guards that flood in, then jack into the Reaper chip server in the center of the room.
Should you listen to Meshuga or King?
This is a timed choice with two paths:
- Listen to Meshuga (Activate Reaper Chips): All prisoners are killed, clearing a path for King's crew to escape without fighting through a riot.
- Listen to King (Deactivate Reaper Chips): Prisoners riot, giving King's crew cover during the escape.
King prefers you deactivate the chips, but the reward is identical either way and King's crew survives both outcomes. Pick whichever fits your V.
Leaving the prison
From the Reaper server, turn left, open the hatch on the left wall, and climb through the vent system. Go up the ladder, through the next vent, and open the hatch at the end to drop into a mechanic's room. Open the shutter to enter the yard.
How to beat Darius Bale
Darius Bale is the boss waiting in the yard, armored in a mech suit. The fight is straightforward if you know where to aim.
- His weak spot is the fuel pack on his back. Run around him to bypass his front shield, which significantly reduces incoming damage.
- Quickhacks work well for bypassing the shield entirely.
- Darius is weak to Shock damage. Short Circuit quickhack or any weapon with electrical damage will accelerate the fight.
- Use the panels around the yard as cover between attacks.
Once he's down, loot his body for an Access Badge needed to exit the yard.
Target Darius's back pack
Reaching the exfil point
Go through the doors at the back of the yard into the hallway leading to the Morgue sector. Continue through the Morgue and plant the mine on the back wall. Step back and hide behind the door before it detonates. Walk through the gap in the wall.
Losing the NCPD
Four-star pursuit kicks in immediately. Call your vehicle or run on foot until the wanted level drops to zero. It takes some distance, so keep moving. Once you're clear, Meshuga calls to wrap up, then passes you to King. Dialogue choices here don't matter. The quest ends when the call does.
For everything else added alongside Clampdown, including dual-wielding with the new Double Trouble perk and the full patch notes breakdown, check the Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.5 patch notes and Edgerunners 2 explainer and the Update 2.5 features overview. The full Cyberpunk 2077 strategy guides collection covers builds, weapons, and everything else Night City throws at you.
Clampdown quest FAQ
Does Clampdown require Phantom Liberty? No. It's part of the base game update and available to anyone who owns Cyberpunk 2077 and has downloaded Update 2.5.
Can you fail Clampdown permanently? The only hard fail is causing a scene at the prison entrance before you're inside. Everything else, including the Reaper chip choices and the Meshuga vs. King decision, resolves without a fail state.
Does saving Wex change anything later? Wex escapes during the prison riot if you deactivate their chip, but they don't appear again in the quest or in Night City afterward.
Is there an Eddies reward for completing Clampdown? No. King's crew explicitly isn't paying for this job. The reward is the full King gear set, including the Coronation Iconic Tech Revolver.
What Street Cred level do I need? The quest can trigger before Street Cred 16 if you've completed The Heist and two Wakako gigs. Street Cred 16 is the fallback requirement if the text still hasn't arrived.
