If you’ve come here wondering if you can ignore Panam’s personal quest and still get The Widow Maker Iconic Precision Tech Rifle. Short answer is YES you can! The additional bonus here is that you also get a car from Rogue (apparently it doesn’t affect your romance options with Panam Palmer – I can’t confirm this because I was playing female V and this is my first time not doing the mission).
As I’ve mentioned in my latest Cyberpunk coverage of Finn Gestatt’s punchout! and the never hatching iguana egg, I’m doing a bit of a different Cyberpunk playthrough this time leaning hard into the roleplay aspect of my female V. A huge part of that roleplay is not putting up with Panam’s selfish BS!
Ghost Town Mission: Skip Panam’s Revenge and Rogue Gifts You the Archer Quartz “Bandit”
Upon meeting Panam Palmer, after the quick Rogue Amendiares introduction, she’s bristly and she wants to get her car back from Nash Bane, whose defected from the Nomad’s to the Raffan Shiv’s.
Now, ordinarily I’d just play through this side-quest mission as intended, as it’s one of many that I’ve just done a certain way (see Fingers). You do Panam’s car mission first, THEN you kill Nash Bane, you get his cool tech rifle Widow Maker and then Panam helps you do your mission to get Anders Hellman.
But not this time. Once I helped get her car back, I refused to go after Nash Bane… the deal is we go down that Kang Tao AV.
Here’s the thing: I thought I was sacrificing the Widow Maker this time, because you never ambush Nash Bane in his lair – the Corp Bud Mine; we did my mission, I went and did many more unrelated ones (including Mitch’s mission which I will detail later). I had totally forgotten about Panam’s selfish side quest to knock off Nash Bane!
Since I’ve never skipped the mission before, wasn’t I tickled pink when Queen of the Afterlife herself, one Rogue Amendiares hit me up on the holo to gift me the Archer Quartz “Bandit”! This little speedster is electric orange and black, resembling the Jen Rowley’s colour scheme, but also has a CrystalCoat that can be altered to whatever colour’s your heart desires. The car was named after Billy “Bandit” McCarty (AKA Billy the Kid – an in universe NPC racer, named after the famous outlaw that you unfortunately can’t meet), after he was approached by Archer to improve the chassis, and far exceeded their expectations – ending Quadra’s dominance of the Night City drag racing scene.
The Bandit Easter Eggs: Smokey and the Bandit and Billy the Kid
As we know CD Projekt Red love a good easter egg – we’ve covered Blade Runner’s Roy Batty Easter Egg & Syd Mead. So it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to consider this their Smokey and the Bandit easter egg. An homage to the 1977 film set exactly 100 years later.
Seeing the “Bandit” as the trade-off for not doing the Nash Bane mission it wasn’t until Queen of the Highway rolled around that I got my second surprise – Nash Bane appears in the attack on the camp.
The Bandit Firebird Tee
Become the bandit 100 years after the original; Time to go East Bound and Down in Night City!
Queen of the Highway Mission: Nash Returns and the Widowmaker Is Yours
During the Militech Basilisk tutorial when Panam puts you through your paces strafing and gunning, and honing your missile precision the Aldecados Nomad Camp is attacked by Wraith’s – including one Nash Bane. You and Panam still get to give him his comeuppance, but this time from the snug safety of the Super-OP Basilisk, firing heat-seeking barrages into his Raffen Shiv horde, decimating their ranks, and killing their leader in the process.
As you waltz over to ole Nashy boy, you’ll notice the familiar yellow icon for the unique weapon; and by skipping Panam’s revenge mission you get both the car and the gun! and you might say a far more satisfactory obliteration of Nash Bane!
Ghost Town FAQ: Nash, Panam and the Widowmaker
Can you still romance Panam if you don’t kill Nash?
Yes. Panam’s annoyed on the drive back and gives you the cold shoulder for a while, but it doesn’t close anything off. Her questline and romance carry on as normal. One catch: Panam can only be romanced by a V with a masculine body and voice, so a female V like mine was never on that path anyway.
Should I help Panam kill Nash in Cyberpunk 2077?
It comes down to who you want to keep happy. Helping Panam gets you the Widowmaker on the spot, but it annoys Rogue and you lose the free car. The Bandit goes on sale later for 69,000 eddies instead. Sticking to the job keeps Rogue onside, and she gifts you the Archer Quartz “Bandit” outright.
Is it better to kill Nash or not?
On rewards alone, skipping him wins. Walk away and you get the Bandit free from Rogue, then the Widowmaker later in Queen of the Highway. Help Panam and you get the Widowmaker straight away, but the Bandit only goes on sale for 69,000 eddies at the Autofixer after a text from El Capitan. Skipping Nash is the only path that gets you both for free.
What happens if you don’t kill Nash with Panam?
Panam gets angry, Rogue rewards your professionalism with the Bandit, and Nash survives. He turns up again in Queen of the Highway, leading the Raffen Shiv raid on the Aldecaldo camp. Take him out from the Basilisk and loot the Widowmaker from his body.
How to get the Widowmaker in Cyberpunk 2077?
There are two ways, both through Nash Bane. Help Panam ambush him during Ghost Town and loot it from his body there. Or skip the ambush and take it from his corpse after the Raffen Shiv attack in Queen of the Highway. It’s an iconic tech precision rifle, so look for the yellow loot icon.
Dan
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