Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City is home to a whole host of colorful characters, but among them, Judy Álvarez stands out. Not only is she a pivotal character in the early hours of the game’s main storyline, but she’s the very first romance option you’ll meet on your quest through Night City and comes with a beefy questline all her own.
Maintaining a decent relationship with her isn’t difficult as long as you follow context clues, but it should be noted—as every romance option in the game has its own rigid sexuality—that she won’t be willing to take things to the next level with V unless they have both a feminine voice and body type. Either way, she’s still a handy ally to have in your corner, and her questline is worth running through for any aspiring merc.
Every Judy Álvarez quest in Cyberpunk 2077
With her main story quests included, Judy has more missions than any other character in the game (unless you count any of Night City’s fixers). Each one of them is broken down below in the order you’ll progress through them, from starting conditions to optimal choices.
The Information
The Information is one of the first quests you can pick up in Cyberpunk 2077’s opening hours, handed directly to you by ill-fated fixer Dexter Deshawn. The quest will introduce you to both Evelyn Parker, the client for the massive Arasaka heist you’re about to pull off, as well as Judy herself. As this quest is largely a tutorial for the braindance investigation mechanic, there are no important choices or ways to derail it. On to the heist!
Automatic Love
Well, that didn’t go as planned. Automatic Love is one of the three quests you can pick up post-heist to investigate a cure for your condition and sees you tracking down Judy to get information on Evelyn. You’ll be sent off to the Clouds club after pressing Judy for intel, but Judy will ask you to call her with any updates after investigating the club. While this is optional, it’s probably best to do so in the interest of maintaining a good relationship with her.
The Space In Between
Leading on directly from Automatic Love, this quest will task you with following up on your lead from Clouds at a seedy back alley ripperdoc clinic only a few blocks away. Judy will be here regardless of whether you called her at the end of Automatic Love or not, albeit with a few choice words for you if you didn’t. The way you treat the ripperdoc Fingers during the interrogation won’t affect your relationship with Judy, but he definitely deserves to be smacked around a little for his treatment of Evelyn, regardless.
Disasterpiece
Disasterpiece starts immediately after Automatic Love as you hop from one lead to the next. The braindance investigation mechanic makes a return, and you’re eventually able to narrow Evelyn’s location down to an abandoned power plant, where she’s faced near-constant abuse from the scavenger gang Fingers pawned her off to.
The bulk of this quest is a rescue mission with Judy by your side—and when you do find Evelyn, it’s best not to press her for information immediately, as this runs the risk of angering Judy. Either way, Evelyn is brought back to Judy’s apartment, and the next quest begins.
Double Life
Double Life is another short, largely choice-free job, tasking you with investigating two braindances extracted from the catatonic Evelyn. With Judy’s help, you’ll deduce that the reclusive netrunner gang known as the Voodoo Boys are actually the ones behind the heist, albeit indirectly, and it’s off to Pacifica to keep following this thread—and eventually unlock the Phantom Liberty questline while you’re at it.
This quest marks the end of Judy’s involvement in the main story, but her questline will continue through a series of side quests. If you want to romance Judy or just get closer to her, the following quests shouldn’t be ignored.
Both Sides, Now
This quest will trigger a few days after Double Life, with Judy asking you to come over in a phone call bereft of details. While it’s a short affair, largely consisting of an extended cutscene, it’s heartbreaking to see Evelyn lose her battle with the mental trauma inflicted on her, and Judy will be left directionless. It’s sad, but there’s not much you can do about it… for now.
Ex-Factor
Judy will call you back a few days later, incensed as a result of Evelyn’s death and cooking up a dangerous idea: taking over the Clouds club that threw Evelyn to the curb and attaining its independence from its Tyger Claw owners with the help of its de facto manager, one Maiko Maeda. You can choose to accept or deny her request for help, but it goes without saying that turning her down will end both the questline and your chance at a romance. Whatever you say to Maiko in your meeting with her, you and Judy will get shut down and dismissed under threat of death.
Notably, if you left Clouds’ “talent scout” Woodman alive during Automatic Love, Judy will ask you to kill him on your way out of the building as retribution for Evelyn. In the interest of keeping her happy, you should take her up on this, as it’s not an overly difficult fight.
Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution
A few days after Ex-Factor, Judy will call you with good news: Maiko has come around to the plan to take over Clouds, swayed by a program that will turn its workers into lethal combatants to accomplish this task. You’ll be invited over to her apartment to witness the tech in action and discuss the plan, and you will be given one last chance to opt out—but if not, it’s time for the moment of truth.
Pisces
Finally, after a few more days, it’s time for the assault on Clouds. Your job is to sneak into a meeting with the Tyger Claw bosses and let them know that the club is under new management, but things go awry when Maiko declares an alternative plan: that she will take Clouds over from its current manager and secure a better position for herself without incurring a possible retaliation, albeit still under the Claws’ yoke.
Here, you’re given the chance to either help Maiko in her bid to take over Clouds for herself or continue Judy’s plan for independence. If you’re attached to Judy, and I assume you are because you’re reading this guide, the latter option is the one to take. Judy will be angry at you for killing Maiko (who attacks you first!), but it doesn’t last long.
Pyramid Song
This is what it’s all been leading to. Pyramid Song is your chance to dive into Judy’s backstory—literally—and lock in your romance with her, so long as you haven’t drawn her ire earlier in the questline. It’s a sweet, heartfelt walk through the life Judy gave up for Night City, and provided you’ve followed the steps outlined here, you’ll be able to romance Judy once it’s all over. If not, she’ll leave Night City behind for good, albeit with quite the treasure trove left behind for you, including an extra apartment.
It’s also worth noting that if you’ve romanced Judy, she will appear in the epilogue depending on the ending you’ve chosen. She’s a shockingly real-feeling character in a city full of them, and you could certainly do worse than her, but there are plenty of fish in the sea if things don’t end quite as planned.
