Cyberpunk secret ending: what makes it different and why it is worth the effort
The Cyberpunk secret ending, formally titled “Don’t Fear (The Reaper),” is the only ending in Cyberpunk 2077 that you reach without going inside the Embers restaurant for the final meeting with Hanako Arasaka. It is a solo mission that V chooses to take on alone after the rooftop conversation with Johnny Silverhand, and it is gated by a long chain of side jobs and a friendship percentage that many players never realize they have to raise. The For additional context, IGN guide to unlocking the secret ending documents this chain as the deciding factor, and it is worth treating that chain as a checklist rather than a vague suggestion, because the rooftop will silently remove the option if you arrive underprepared.
For a player, the practical question is not “what is the secret ending” but “what do I need to have done before I sit on that rooftop.” The rest of this article answers that question in the order the game actually asks it: prerequisites, the side-job chain, the relationship threshold, the dialogue that locks the option in, and the things that commonly break the path. From a game-design lens, this ending is also a small case study in how CD Projekt RED used a side-content relationship meter as a hard gate for a branch, which is why so many players miss it on a first run.
If you are reading this on a first playthrough, the only thing you need to take away right now is that the secret ending cannot be improvised. It must be set up across the main story, the Johnny-related side jobs, and specific dialogue choices. The next sections walk through each of those layers, with a focus on the checkpoints where players lose the path and how to recover when they do. The rest of the article is written for English-speaking players who already own the game on PC or console, and it assumes a save somewhere between the Voodoo Boys arc and the Embers mission.
Prerequisites before you ever sit on the rooftop
The secret ending is locked by three things: a story progress gate, a side-job chain, and a friendship percentage with Johnny. None of these are optional, and none are obvious from a single quest log entry, so it helps to understand what each one requires before you start checking them off. The order in which you complete them also matters less than people think, because the game only checks the final state when you reach the rooftop, not the order you arrived there.
Story progress gate
You must have reached the quest “Embers,” which is the mission where V returns to talk to Hanako Arasaka in the abandoned restaurant. This is the last main story quest before the ending sequence, and the rooftop conversation with Johnny happens during its opening. There is no way to access the secret path before this point, because the option is presented in the rooftop dialogue that opens the quest itself. The rooftop is a short cinematic conversation that ends with a four-way choice, and only one of those four ways is the secret path.
Players who skipped side content will find themselves on the rooftop with only the default options available, and the game will not warn them that anything is missing. Treat “Embers” as the checkpoint where the real prerequisite list begins, and resist the temptation to fast-travel past the rooftop when the quest starts; the conversation is short but it is where the gating is read.
Side-job chain around Johnny Silverhand
The IGN guide on the secret ending states that you must have completed a series of side jobs centered on Johnny before entering Embers. These are not random gigs; they are the character-driven side jobs in Johnny’s personal storyline, which include “Chippin’ In,” “Blistering Love,” and “Holdin’ On” at a minimum, plus the precursor jobs that introduce Johnny as a presence. The full chain is best understood as “everything that builds Johnny as a person,” because CD Projekt RED uses the side jobs both for narrative payoff and to feed the friendship meter that unlocks the option. Each job is marked in the quest log with a small character icon next to the name, which is the easiest way to filter for Johnny-related content in a long playthrough.
Players who ignored Johnny’s side jobs in favor of main story will still reach “Embers,” but the rooftop will not offer the secret route. From a game-development perspective, this is a deliberate choice: the studio used side content as a gate so that the secret ending felt earned rather than stumbled into. The same gate is also what makes the secret ending a useful subject for editors: the requirements are not visible from any single screen, so a written checklist is the most reliable way to confirm them.
Friendship percentage with Johnny
Beyond the side jobs themselves, you need a Johnny friendship value of at least 70 percent at the moment you sit on the rooftop. The in-game way to check this is to open the main menu and hover over the large rectangular icon near the top of the screen; the value is shown there rather than in a quest log. This step is the one most players miss, because the friendship meter is invisible during normal play and only becomes visible when the player actively inspects the relationship screen. The value is also cumulative across the Johnny side jobs, so a player who finishes the chain but picks hostile dialogue will see a number well below 70 percent even with every job checked off.
If your value is below 70 percent, you can still raise it during “Chippin’ In” by selecting the answers that align with Johnny’s attitude. The IGN walkthrough for that quest lists the correct dialogue, and following it during a single play session is usually enough to push the value over the threshold if the prior side jobs are already done. The 70 percent figure is also the only numeric threshold in the unlock; there is no second meter, no hidden stat, and no equipment check on the rooftop itself.
Preparing the side-job chain in the right order
The side-job chain does not have a single rigid order, but it does have a natural reading order. The earlier jobs introduce Johnny as a voice in V’s head, the middle jobs establish his history in Night City, and the final jobs tie off his relationship with the people he left behind. Skipping any of these layers is what causes the friendship meter to stall, because the friendship gains are not spread evenly across the chain. The table below summarizes how the chain is usually organized so you can audit your save file before you reach “Embers.”
| Story layer | Representative side jobs | What it contributes |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny’s introduction | Tapeworm, The Ballad of Buck Ravers, A Like Supreme | Establishes Johnny as a presence and starts the friendship meter from zero |
| Johnny’s past in Night City | Chasing the Phantoms, The Gun, Shoot to Thrill | Builds the friendship value through attitude-aligned dialogue in mid-act |
| Johnny’s personal arc | Chippin’ In, Blistering Love, Holdin’ On, Transmission | Delivers the dialogue choices that can finish the 70% threshold and seed the rooftop branch |
The order above mirrors how CD Projekt RED paced the Johnny content across the act structure, but the game does not enforce a strict order. What it does enforce is presence: every side job in the table must be marked complete, and the friendship meter must be at 70 percent or higher when you enter “Embers.” If even one job is left in the “available” state, the rooftop will treat the chain as incomplete. The same is true for jobs that are marked as “failed” in the log; a failed Johnny side job still counts as not done from the rooftop’s perspective.
A useful audit habit is to filter the quest log for Johnny’s name and confirm that no Johnny-centered side job is left in the “available” state. Side jobs that have not been picked up are not the same as side jobs that have been started and abandoned; the latter are more dangerous because the quest log will show them as “in progress” and a player can easily assume that “in progress” means “counted.” A second habit is to look for the small character portrait that the game uses on Johnny-tagged quests, which is faster than reading every entry in a long playthrough.
There is one more practical detail worth keeping in mind. Some Johnny-adjacent side jobs are triggered by exploring specific districts rather than by reading the quest log, and a player who walks past the trigger without entering the right building will never see the job appear. This is the most common reason a save looks “almost done” but is missing a single job from the chain, and it is the reason the audit step is worth doing rather than guessing.
Driving the friendship value to 70 percent
The friendship percentage is the most common reason a player arrives at the rooftop with no secret option, so it deserves a closer look. The meter is fed by two streams: passive gains from completing the Johnny side jobs, and active gains from the specific dialogue options you pick during those jobs. A player can do every side job in the chain and still be below threshold if the dialogue choices were repeatedly neutral or hostile to Johnny. The passive gains are not enough on their own; the dialogue options are the variable that decides whether the chain crosses the line.
The single highest-leverage side job for the threshold is “Chippin’ In.” During its key moments, the dialogue lets you either side with Johnny’s worldview or push back against it, and the IGN guide explicitly lists the dialogue answers that raise the meter. If you reach “Chippin’ In” under the 70 percent line, this is the side job that closes the gap, and you do not need to replay earlier jobs to recover the value. The gains from “Chippin’ In” are also weighted more heavily than the gains from the introduction jobs, which is why a single play session is often enough to recover from a low value.
For players who want a more methodical approach, the friendship meter responds to several categories of choice across the side-job chain. The list below is a practical summary of the choice patterns that consistently raise the value.
- Acknowledge Johnny’s perspective on the people and events he describes rather than dismissing them as rock-star posturing.
- Pick the humor and sarcasm that match Johnny’s voice during the lighter conversations, especially in the diner scenes.
- Side with Johnny’s stated preferences when he asks for a personal favor in his side jobs, including the visit to the oil fields.
- Avoid threatening Johnny or framing him as a parasite in the more confrontational dialogue branches, where the meter swings fastest.
- Choose the options that let Johnny speak for himself in scenes where he is given a choice of action rather than letting V decide for him.
These categories are useful as a mental model, but the precise wording matters. The IGN dialogue reference for “Chippin’ In” remains the most reliable place to confirm the exact lines, especially because small phrasing changes can swing the meter one way or the other. A useful test is to save before the key conversation, pick the most Johnny-aligned answer, and check the relationship value before saving again; if the value moves the wrong way, reload and pick a different line.
Choosing the secret path on the rooftop
Once the prerequisites are met, the rooftop scene offers a different set of dialogue options than it does for an unprepared player. The default rooftop branches into the well-known choices of going inside with Johnny, sending Johnny in alone, or going in alone together. The secret ending adds a fourth option: walk away and take the job yourself. The option appears only when the side-job chain is complete and the friendship value is at 70 percent or higher, which is why the rooftop is a soft gate rather than a hard one. A “soft gate” in this context means the game does not refuse to start the quest; it just refuses to show the fourth choice until the gate is satisfied.
The choice itself is short, but it is worth understanding what it commits you to. Selecting the secret path exits the Embers mission and starts a new solo mission. There is no turning back from that selection within the save, and the game does not give a confirmation prompt, so a player who selects it by accident will need to load an earlier save to return to the standard ending branch. This is intentional design; the secret ending is meant to feel like a unilateral decision rather than a menu choice. The cinematic is also shorter than the standard rooftop, which is part of the reason the choice feels decisive.
Players who want to see both the standard and secret endings on a single playthrough cannot, because the secret path replaces the standard finale. The standard solution is to keep a manual save before the rooftop and reload it after the secret ending is seen, which is a workflow the game quietly supports by leaving “Embers” available in the quest log until the rooftop choice is made. Console players who do not have manual saves can rely on the autosave that fires at the start of “Embers,” which captures the same checkpoint for the purposes of replaying the rooftop.
What the secret ending actually contains
The content of “Don’t Fear (The Reaper)” is a self-contained mission that follows V alone, without the support of any of the allies who appear in the other endings. Mechanically, the mission is short and combat-heavy, and it ends with a fixed cutscene whose outcome depends on choices made earlier in the main story rather than on decisions inside the secret mission itself. This is one of the more interesting design choices in the game, because the secret ending is gated by relationships and dialogue rather than by skill checks, and the mission itself is essentially a pay-off sequence for the gating you did earlier. The combat also re-uses the late-game enemy roster rather than introducing new types, which keeps the focus on V’s build rather than on a new challenge curve.
For a GameDev audience, the structural lesson is that the secret ending is a long arc with a short climax. The gating is distributed across most of the game, the rooftop is the only concentrated decision point, and the mission itself is small. That shape is what makes it feel earned, and it is also what makes it easy to miss: the game does not show the chain as a single line on the HUD, so the player has to assemble it from the quest log and the relationship screen. The shape is also a useful counter-example to the more common pattern where a heavily gated path delivers a long, anticlimactic sequence; here, the gating is heavy and the climax is short on purpose.
A second lesson for editors and developers is that the secret ending doubles as a soft tutorial on the relationship system. A player who goes looking for the secret path is forced to learn how the friendship meter is read, where it is shown, and how dialogue choices move it, which is information that is useful across the rest of the game even if the player decides to take a different ending. The same lesson applies in reverse: a player who never opens the relationship screen during the main story will find the secret path invisible, which is a fair design trade for a system that wants to reward the players who engage with it.
Common reasons the secret ending is not available
Players who arrive at the rooftop and see no secret option usually fall into one of a small number of failure modes. Identifying which one applies is faster than replaying the chain, and it also clarifies what the development team chose to treat as a hard requirement. The table below maps the most common symptoms to their likely cause and to the smallest check that will confirm or rule out the cause.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| No fourth option on the rooftop | Friendship value under 70% | Open the relationship screen via the main-menu icon and inspect Johnny’s value |
| No fourth option, value looks high | One Johnny side job still in “available” or “in progress” state | Filter the quest log for Johnny’s name and confirm every related job is complete |
| Fourth option absent after side jobs are done | Wrong dialogue choices in Chippin’ In or earlier jobs | Reload the Chippin’ In save and pick the answers listed in the verified guide |
| Option appears, mission does not start | Saved mid-rooftop, not committed | Confirm the selection and wait for the cutscene transition before saving again |
| Option absent after a major patch | Side-job chain extended with new Johnny content | Re-audit the quest log against the current patch notes before reloading an old save |
Each row in the table corresponds to a real player failure pattern. The most expensive mistake is the second row, because the quest log can show several Johnny side jobs as complete while one remains unstarted; the friendship meter looks fine, but the gating is still incomplete because the chain was not finished. Auditing the quest log by name rather than by category is the only reliable check, because the category view can group Johnny-adjacent jobs under different labels depending on the save.
The fifth row is the one that catches returning players. A save that was valid on an earlier build can quietly stop being valid after a patch that adds new Johnny-adjacent side jobs, because the rooftop treats the new content as part of the chain. The mitigation is the same as for the other rows: re-audit the log, re-check the relationship value, and keep a recent manual save before “Embers” so the rooftop can be replayed from a known-good state.
Version and patch notes that affect the secret ending
Like every branching ending in Cyberpunk 2077, the secret ending’s gating is tied to specific quest states rather than to a single version of the game. CD Projekt RED has not changed the friendship threshold across the major patches, but the side-job chain has been quietly extended in some updates with new Johnny-adjacent content. Treat the chain as a moving target, and re-audit the quest log after any large update before assuming that a previously valid save is still valid. Patch notes tend to mention the new content by name, which is the fastest way to know whether the chain has grown.
For a GameDev editor, the broader lesson is that secret endings are fragile to live-service changes. Any patch that adds or removes a side job, or that rebalances friendship gains, can quietly invalidate a save that was correct on an earlier build. The mitigation is to keep a manual save before “Embers” and to treat the relationship screen as the only ground truth for the 70 percent requirement. The same logic applies to any branching ending that depends on a relationship meter, not just the secret path in Cyberpunk 2077.
There is also a small but useful workflow point. The most reliable way to survive a patch is to keep two saves before “Embers”: one that is the current playthrough’s clean state, and one that was captured on the previous patch. If a patch changes the chain, the old save can be loaded long enough to confirm what the chain looked like before, and the new save can be used to plan the rest of the run. This is a heavier workflow than most players need, but it is the workflow that the development team implicitly assumes when they ship a patch that touches the chain.
Save management around the rooftop
Because the rooftop is a one-way decision, save management is a practical part of the unlock. The cleanest workflow is to keep a manual save before starting “Embers” and to leave it untouched until you have committed to one ending. If you want to see the other endings without replaying the entire chain, the same save can be reloaded and the rooftop replayed with the standard options instead of the secret path. The quest state at the start of “Embers” is the only state that needs to be preserved, because the secret path is fully determined by the rooftop choice plus the prerequisites you already met. The autosave that fires when “Embers” starts is a useful fallback, but a manual save is more reliable because the autosave is overwritten as soon as the rooftop cinematic begins.
Players who play on console without manual saves have fewer options, because the autosave at the start of “Embers” is the only one that reliably captures a valid state. Cloud saves typically preserve the same checkpoint, but the practical recommendation is the same: commit to one ending per playthrough and plan a second playthrough if you want to see the other branches. A second playthrough is also the cleanest way to compare the secret ending with the standard branches, because the comparison benefits from a fresh relationship build rather than from a save that has been edited mid-playthrough.
For players who want to keep one playthrough clean, a useful pattern is to plan the ending choice before the final mission rather than during it. The side-job chain is long enough that deciding to pursue the secret path on a first run, and then executing the chain, is easier than deciding to pursue it on a second run. The reverse is also true: a player who is curious about the secret path but unsure about committing to the chain can finish the game on the standard branches, then start a second playthrough with the chain planned from the start.
Design notes for developers looking at the secret ending as a pattern
From a development perspective, “Don’t Fear (The Reaper)” is a useful case study because it sits between two common design patterns. It is more gated than a hidden dialogue branch, because the gate is a friendship meter that takes a full playthrough to raise. It is less gated than an achievement or a collectible hunt, because the prerequisites are narrative rather than mechanical. The result is an ending that feels personal to the player who set it up, and invisible to the player who did not. The same pattern can be adapted to other games by swapping the friendship meter for any relationship system that is fed by side content, and by checking the value at a single late-game decision point.
There are three structural choices worth noting. First, the gate is split across many side jobs rather than placed in a single quest, which spreads the player’s effort and makes the secret path feel like a project rather than a checkbox. Second, the friendship meter is checked only once, at the moment of the rooftop choice, so the player is never warned that the threshold is approaching; this is what makes the secret ending feel like a discovery. Third, the secret mission itself is short, which keeps the gating-to-pay-off ratio tight and avoids the pattern where a heavily gated path delivers a long, anticlimactic sequence. The same three choices are also what makes the secret ending a useful writing prompt: it rewards a player who has been paying attention to the relationship system, and it punishes a player who has been ignoring it.
The pattern generalizes: a relationship meter that is fed by a narrative side chain, checked only at a single decision point, with a short pay-off mission, is a reliable way to deliver a secret ending that feels earned. The risk is that players miss it entirely, and the mitigation is to keep the meter visible on a relationship screen that the player has a reason to open for other reasons as well. A second mitigation is to surface the chain in the quest log with a clear label, so that a player who is curious about the secret path has a way to find the chain without reading external guides. A third mitigation is to keep the rooftop choice visually distinct from the standard branches, so that a player who reaches the rooftop with the prerequisites met does not miss the fourth option by accident.
Troubleshooting checklist before you commit to the secret ending
Before you sit on the rooftop, it is worth running through a short checklist to confirm that every gate is closed. The list below is the minimum set of checks the game expects, in the order the game actually checks them. The order matters because each check is faster than the one below it, and a failed earlier check is usually the cause of a failed later check.
- Confirm “Embers” is the active quest and that you have not already passed the rooftop dialogue.
- Open the main-menu relationship screen and confirm Johnny’s friendship value is at or above 70 percent.
- Filter the quest log for Johnny’s name and confirm every side job in the chain is marked complete, not “available” and not “in progress.”
- Re-read the Chippin’ In dialogue choices against the verified guide to confirm that the attitude-aligned answers were selected.
- Keep a manual save at the start of “Embers” so the rooftop choice can be replayed if needed.
If every item on the list is satisfied, the rooftop will present the fourth option. If any item fails, fix that item first; reloading a save from before the failing step is usually faster than replaying the chain. A useful pattern is to fix one item at a time and re-check the rooftop, rather than fixing several items at once and re-checking the rooftop only at the end, because the chain is sensitive to small changes and a single fix is easier to attribute to a single result.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Cyberpunk secret ending called?
It is called “Don’t Fear (The Reaper).” It is the only ending branch where V walks away from the Embers rooftop and takes the job solo, without going inside the restaurant with Johnny or sending him in alone. The branch is named in the final mission card and on the achievements list, and the title is a reference to the Blue Öyster Cult song that Johnny listens to during the side jobs.
Do I need to finish every Johnny side job to unlock the secret ending?
You need to finish the side jobs that are centered on Johnny Silverhand, not every side job in the game. The exact chain is described in the verified IGN walkthrough, and it includes the jobs that introduce Johnny, the jobs that explore his past, and the personal arc that ends with “Chippin’ In.” Skipping a job in the chain is what silently removes the option. Jobs that are tagged with Johnny’s character portrait in the quest log are the ones that count.
What friendship percentage with Johnny is required?
At least 70 percent at the moment you start the “Embers” quest. The value is checked once, on the rooftop, and the game does not warn you if you are below the threshold. You can check the current value from the main menu by hovering over the relationship icon at the top of the screen. The value is also cumulative, so earlier jobs feed the number that the rooftop reads.
Can I raise the friendship value during Chippin’ In if I am below 70 percent?
Yes. “Chippin’ In” is the most efficient place to close the gap, because the dialogue is designed to test your stance on Johnny and to reward attitude-aligned answers with a friendship gain. The verified IGN walkthrough lists the specific lines that raise the meter, and selecting them in a single play session is usually enough to cross the threshold if the prior side jobs are already complete. A save before “Chippin’ In” makes the experiment easier if the first attempt does not move the value enough.
Does the secret ending change V’s outcome?
It changes the path that leads to V’s outcome, and the final scene depends on choices made earlier in the main story. The secret mission itself is a short combat sequence, and the cutscene that follows is fixed. From a game-design perspective, this is what makes the secret ending a pay-off for the gating rather than a separate story in its own right. Players who want a different final scene should look at the other ending branches rather than expecting the secret path to deliver one.
Can I see the secret ending and another ending in the same playthrough?
No. The secret path replaces the standard finale once it is selected, and the game does not let you return to the Embers branching after the secret mission starts. The standard solution is to keep a manual save before the rooftop and reload it to replay the standard branches. A second playthrough is the cleanest way to compare the endings side by side.
Will a patch ever raise the friendship requirement?
CD Projekt RED has not changed the 70 percent threshold across the major patches, but the side-job chain has been extended in some updates with new Johnny-adjacent content. Treat the chain as a moving target and re-audit the quest log after any large update, because a new side job can quietly become part of the gating without the threshold itself moving. The patch notes are the most reliable place to confirm whether the chain has grown.
Is the secret ending harder than the standard endings?
Mechanically, the secret mission is more combat-heavy than the other endings because V goes in alone, without the allies who appear in the standard branches. Difficulty depends on build and gear, but the mission is designed to be completable with the equipment a player has accumulated by the late game, and it does not introduce new enemy types beyond the late-game roster. A well-specced V with a good cyberdeck or a reliable ranged weapon is usually enough.
Why did the rooftop not give me the secret option even though I did every side job?
The most common cause is a friendship value that is technically high but sits just under 70 percent, or a single Johnny side job that was started and abandoned rather than completed. Open the relationship screen to confirm the value, and filter the quest log by Johnny’s name to confirm that no related job is still marked “available” or “in progress.” If both checks pass, the next step is to revisit the Chippin’ In dialogue against the verified guide and reload the save if needed. A failed Johnny side job, in particular, can look like a completed job in the quest log and still not count toward the chain.
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