CYBERPUNK: How to defeat kurt hansen
WARNING: THIS GUIDE CONTAINS HEAVY STORY SPOILERS FOR THE END OF CYBERPUNK: PHANTOM LIBERTY
Content for this guide was captured on PlayStation 5
Kurt Hansen, a former NUSA soldier turned arms dealer and self-proclaimed leader of Dog Town. You have so few interactions with him directly throughout the game, but when you first meet him face to face in the Black Sapphire, he wastes no time asserting his dominance over you. From then on, you may have hoped that you would eventually go toe to toe with him yourself; as it turns out, you can, depending on how you handle the game's ending choices.
Make the right choice
During the sequence where you enter the Neural Matrix Codes, select the “Betray Songbird” option. Doing so will trigger the ending that contains the fight with Hansen. If you betray Reed, Alex will kill Hansen, locking you out of the fight.
The Pursuit - Grab You Gear!
Finish off the Barghest Soldiers
Whether or not you pick up your gear, there’ll be plenty to loot from the many enemies still in your way. As you fight your way through, make sure to loot as many of them as possible, as you may find something useful for the fight with Hansen.
The Fight
How to gain the upper hand from the start
When the smoke grenade goes off, Hansen will emerge guns blazing with two Barghest soldiers behind him. Ignore him, run left into the back of the garage, and get into cover behind the divider. From here, you can take out the support soldiers quickly. If you don’t, the fight will be much more brutal to manage going forward.
You Vs. Hansen
From here, a firefight will take place between you and Hansen. Use the environment to stay in cover while you engage him. Once his health drops below 70 percent, he’ll start coming at you with special attacks, chasing you around the arena using his speed implants. You’ll need to use the environment to keep separation from him.
Establish Patterns to keep your distance
First, you’ll want to watch your mini-map as much as possible. Since Hansen can move at blinding speeds with his implants, he’ll often already be on top of you by the time you spot him. Using your mini-map will help you keep tabs on how close he is to you at all times.
While taking cover in the garage, watch which direction Hansen enters from. If he enters from the left, exit from the right side using the divider for cover. He’ll run out of gas trying to get around it, giving you a chance to keep your distance. Use that chance to shoot/hack him when he stops until he begins pursuing you again.
From here, run for cover behind the blockade on the other side of the arena. You can shoot/hack him from here safely until he begins chasing you again. Once he chases you out of this spot, return to the back of the garage behind the divider where you started and take cover. Once he stops, you can engage/hack him for more damage.
By rinsing and repeating this process, you can keep your distance from Hansen while doing consistent damage. This method takes patience and focus, but it’ll easily win you the fight if done right.
How to deal with Hansen’s physical attacks
Hansen brings a knife to a gunfight, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. From a distance, he will throw his combat knife at you. If it lands, you’ll be incapacitated, and a sequence will follow where he attempts to finish you off for good.
This sequence will bring your health down to 1, nearly killing you. You'll regain control after V knocks themselves free from Hansen's grasp, which in turn knocks him to the ground. Once in control, you may be tempted to run or engage Hansen to do some extra damage. In this moment, you’ll need to heal before you do anything else. Hansen will recover after a few seconds with a follow-up attack that’ll flatline you if it lands. Heal, and then run to safety at the other side of the arena. At this point, you can reengage him from cover.
As Hansen chases you through the arena, he’ll also try taking you down by jumping you. If he catches you, a sequence will play out where you struggle against him until you knock yourself free. Once you regain control of V, immediately heal and run for cover.
It’s important to note that for both of these encounters if your health is too low, the attack sequence could flatline you before you have a chance to regain control of V. So make sure you have as much health built up as possible at all times during this fight.
Don’t forget to cash in
After you defeat Hansen, you’ll have the chance to pick up his loot, which is pretty valuable.