Cyberpunk 2077: Skippy quest location & choice guide

There's a whole lot of weapons in Cyberpunk 2077 - a number that is ever-expanding in 2023's version 2.0 update. But some weapons are more unique than most - and none are quite as unique as the gun with a name, Skippy. As you'd expect, this particular gun is tied to the Skippy quest, and you'll need to know the quest location to nab the gun - and then reckon with a bit of player choice that'll determine what happens to the chatty piece of iron.

How to get Skippy: The Skippy Quest Location

In Cyberpunk 2077, Skippy is a regular old pistol that uses the standard-issue pistol ammo - but there's a twist. As well as being one of Cyberpunk's many unique weapons, Skippy is especially unique as it's a gun with an artificial ingelligence inside. The AI is called Skippy, thus the name, and it's represented by a sweet little hologram of a grinning bullet that pops out of the gun.

Skippy is found in the Vista Del Rey area of Night City's Heywood District, and unlike a lot of other weapon pick-ups this little guy is marked by a unique side quest marker all of its own.

Head to Vista Del Rey, and look for a quest marker disappearing up an alleyway. It's near College Street in Heywood. Here's a map image highlighting the Quest Marker as it first appears, as an undiscovered side job:

In the alley, you'll find a dead NPC and you'll be able to pick up Skippy, who will instantly begin chatting to you. This quest will initially be an Undiscovered marker, but will open up the 'Machine Gun' side job. 

In weapon terms, Skippy is based on one of the more basic weapons in Cyberpunk 2077 - the HJKE-11 Yukimura. It's a smart pistol, and its exact stats will scale based on the user's level. The gun cannot be stashed, sold, or broken down for crafting components.

Despite being smart, Skippy's smart targeting functionality works regardless of if you have the correct Cyberware usually required for smart targeting installed. It is different-looking to the basic gun, of course, with a bright color scheme and Skippy's name inscribed into the top. 

Plus there's the talking - and the fact that on occasion Skippy can fire on its own - which can make it a nightmare for stealth. This gun quite literally has a mind of its own. Which perhaps makes it appropriate that it makes you make some hard choices...

The First Skippy Choice: Choosing a Mode

When you first pick up Skippy, it'll chat to you and then give you the first of two choices for the Skippy quest. This first choice impacts the functionality of the gun, asking you to choose between trwo different modes:

• Stone Cold Killer mode makes Skippy always shoot for the head, to kill.
• Puppy-Loving Pacifist mode makes Skippy shoot for the legs, aiming to maim but not kill.

However, there's a twist here: after a number of in-game days and downing 50 enemies with the gun, Skippy will pipe up again and then switch to the opposite mode. You have no say in this: Skippy is just a pain.

You can get around this, however. To get around this, first choose the non-lethal Puppy-Loving Pacifist mode, then telling Skippy that "Killing is wrong" when it later queries your choice. If you do that, Skippy can stay in the pacifist mode forever.

However, this isn't your first Skippy Quest choice, of a sort - but the second involves the actual final quest objective around this unique gun.

Returning Skippy to its owner - and how to keep it

Once you abscond from the alleyway with Skippy haven chosen a mode, you're free to use the gun. The next phase of the quest will trigger after Skippy has annoyingly switched modes from your initial choice - and Skippy will ask to be returned to its rightful owner, Regina Jones. Regina is one of your Fixers - the one getting you to take down Cyberpsychos. 

You basically have a couple of choices here:

• If you refuse to return Skippy, you keep the gun, but it will scream at you unpleasantly when you use it from now on - and this can't be undone. However, you can put Skippy into the stash in V's apartment, where it becomes one of the weapons on display.
• If you return Skippy, this will ultimately end the quest, and you'll lose access to Skippy. However, you'll be compensated with credits.

Skippy isn't really that good of a gun - so unless you're going for stash display completion, you're safe to complete the quest and hand it over. It's worth noting that if you're a completionist, the 'Machine Gun' quest will remain in your quest log until you hand Skippy back to Regina Jones in Kabuki.

Update: Version 2.0

As of the 2.0 update, Regina will call a few days after the player completes the Machine Gun job and return Skippy to her. Regina will tell the player that they can retrieve Skippy from her location in Watson, though now the AI has been removed. This will allow players to add Skippy to their Stash after the completion of the side quest.