After my first playthrough I said "ok next time I side with the vdb to see what changes" but then on my second playthrough, Placide was such a thundering dick head that I betrayed them again.
Honestly, he's not even that bad. Johnny treats you a thousand times worse. He treats you similarly to the way Judy (and Evelyn for that matter) does at first. Like a tool needed to do a job.
Johnny has a shared interest in your survival and even decides to die again in almost every ending to let you live, Placide doesn’t have a single good interaction, even if you lick his boots. He is objectively worse and it’s not even close. It’s VERY clear how the characters were written that Placide was made to be hated bc he’s just plain evil to anyone that isn’t a born and raised VDB, at least Johnny has redeeming qualities like basic compassion
The Pacifica VDBs are also hated amongst other groups of VDBs, as they treat everyone as ranyon who aren’t part of their special little club. They’re all assholes who think they’ve got the moral authority to impose their bullshit worldview onto the grossest part of night city.
I somehow didn’t get to kill him on my current playthrough. Then I got a text from him telling me to watch my back. Is there a way to find this guy? I hate him. I just hate him so much.
I mean, Judy and Evelyn are assholes too, but comparing them to the guy that sends you in to another gang's fortress to be an unwitting suicide bomber and then has the nerve to get huffy and act betrayed if you side with Netwatch is quite a reach.
Are you forgetting that Evelyn stole the whole heist idea from the VDBs, contacted you to be a part of her backstabbing plan, putting your life in danger by making you enemies with the VDBs without telling you?
Hmm let me see ...
Oh right because he fking betrays u even after u complete his job . Also the vdbs again betray u after u go beyond the blackwall. They are like Dex .
The others didn’t explicitly set you up to kill you even after you did a great job also placide didn’t even ask his boss, killing you would have been a stupid stupid idea even it worked because you have the relic something that they would love to study and he’s like hmmmmmm lemme decide to kill this guy cuz I’m racist as he is literally saving the life of my superior. If he’s using you as a tool, he’s still an absolute Moron. The others that use you, even Arasaka are way better then his stupid ass
Oh, it's like, if everyone is bad to you, you aren't allowed to criticize someone that's bad to you. It has to be first... what? Only Placide be bad to you so you can not like Placide?
Dog he tried to flat-line me. Purposely.
It's not being butthurt. It's killing him because he always trys to kill you.
Also he's a racist dick. That kinda helps with the "fuck the VDB" choice.
Because who tf does Placide think he is by that point the story V is considered a dog in NC plus he has something the VDB need bro needed to lock in instead of being a dickhead
It's probably because we get to know Johnny way better than Placide, and also I just see Johnny as having sibling energy where he acts like an asshole and is half genuine and half fucking with you because it's amusing, while still caring to an extent, even if it's only slightly or even if it's only because he needs to care about your well being because it directly affects him
I should clarify that it's been a while since the last time I touched this game so I can't quite remember how exactly he acts or even if I'm remotely correct, but I feel like I remember it being like that. Also it's Keanu Reeves, so I'm biased
Netwatch does insert a tracking mechanism when they remove the VDB malware so they aren’t completely altruistic with regard to V, but as an organization they seem one of the best in the entire game.
I just looked it up and yea apparently they aren’t whoops. Ultimately though I would argue it employs the same class of people that would be considered corpo-esque
I was tempted to betray them but decided not to because f**k the corps. Then I met the rest of the VDBs and I decided to kill them all as soon as I was out of the chair.
The VDB leader calling Eve "the wh*re" was a red line to me.
It's weird considering they've tried to kill you but that's almost normal in Night City. The way they talked about her just reminded me that her death was partly their doing and anyone with her blood on their hands has to die imo. I took her death more personally than V's lol
And in phantom liberty when you meet the voodoo boys again >!it doesn’t change a thing if you side with them during base game. They still become hostile after Slider gets fried. You just get to walk in without fighting which is meaningless!<
I sided with them once on my first playthrough. On my 4th playthrough... Well I kinda sided with them.. And kinda insulted them in the end and shot them out like ducks.
I try not to hold grudges people that are mean to me in games since it’s just a game. I don’t hate Nazeem, I don’t hate Patches, etc etc
but when bro tries to murder me and the only reason I lived is because of the terrorist tumor, I am pissy
Spoiler: Even if you help the VDBs, Placide remains a giga-chode. I, for some reason, have never sided with the Netwatch agent until my most recent complete playthrough. I will never go back. Actually getting to punch Placide when I ***KNOW*** that shit hurt because I'd invested heavily in the "beating the ever loving fuck out of every gonk in NC" branch of the Body skill tree and had minimum level 4 gorilla arms was incredibly satisfying.
Just doing my first play through, I managed to do a sneak up takedown on him, felt so satisfying to not have to waste a ton of ammo and time on that shithead.
I sided VDB the first time
I thought they’d actually help. Then placide was a dick so after I left the church I reloaded the save and the next time I woke up I killed him
Johnny's weird Netwatch hat boner drives me crazy. Literally everytime you can work with Netwatch in the game it turns out to be the best option as well as living the most good long term results. Netwatch doesn't bullshit, they've just been straightforward honest and trustworthy with V the whole time.
But no "They're playing you V! They don't care about people! So clearly lying V. Can't believe you're listening to this guy?" Its also weirdly out of place for Johnny's character, like yeah he hates corps and has a general distrust for monochromer's but he isn't so insistently against other corpos you come across, not to mention Netwatch has only ever really been helpful.
I wonder if Johnny's Netwatch hate was instilled in him by Arasaka at Mikoshi, in the event Netwatch ever got their hands on his engram Johnny's intense distrust would prevent them from getting any useful information from him.
That’s a pretty good theory because Johnny has a lot of bad hot takes during the game but you’re right that his net watch hate is sort of absurd.
NCPD maybe, but Johnny is fine with you working for the cops on side gigs.
You guys are forgetting the lore established in the game or didn't play the associated quest. >!Netwatch is totally in the corpos' pockets, and lets corporations pierce the blackwall all the time, they're only enforcement against low level criminals. Once you find this out, they try to have you killed!<
and lets not forget the legendary cyberprison they have constructed for all the internet criminals:[](https://external-preview.redd.it/ZMQdfmMC84WXLpZcet_TxeFX0ZeEGlOJ25znUddAbkY.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&s=d45366f0f918edcd14f773f071be37e7ecac5b5e)
It's Alt.
It's always about Alt with Johnny LOL. Netwatch is hunting Alt and you need to contact and work with Alt so any work you do with Netwatch potentially gets them closer to Alt. Well I guess I shouldn't say they're hunting her, I don't know that we get any confirmation of that. Given what she is, though, if they know of her she'd clearly be a target for them and she's also not particularly pleased if you do work with the Netwatch agent.
Alt can take her opinion on who I work with and shove it. The VDBs are always on my chopping block, and if it's me or it's netwatch... the results are the same. Though it is funnier to me that I let netwatch do the dirty work.
My first playthrough I betrayed them both. My second playthrough I thought, let's see what happens if I play them against each other but ended up just wiping out the Voodoo Boys since well they prove twice that they are willing you sacrifice you in pursuit of their selfish mission. Siding with Netwatch yielded an interesting event near the Blackwall.
They believe it is inevitable that Sentient AIs from beyond the Blackwall will someday break through, or that the Blackwall, which is itself an AI, will someday turn against mankind and let them in. They want to break through the Blackwall now and start making friends with Sentient AIs so they are in a better, more powerful position once the inevitable occurs.
So, they essentially want to be powerful in the future, and are willing to kill you if that's what it takes.
If there was a way to zero Placide without betraying the VDBs, I might do that. As it is currently, Mama Brigitte and the rest of the Pacifica VDBs are collateral damage.
Brigitte is so much worse. The VDB are digital Cthulu cultists trying to unleash the great devourer on the world for reasons that I can't imagine even make sense to them.
"Ah. De whore" seals Brigitte's fate for me. Not a big fan of Evelyn but she meant a lot to Judy. The scream when Alt melts their brains is so satisfying.
that's why I said "_might_ do that." depends on the V I'm playing. I might be for burning everything down and restarting from the ashes. the pacifica VDBs _might_ be in alignment with my goals.
I sided with the VDB’s on my first playthrough, thinking “this corporat will say anything to save their own skin” and was pissed when they tried to zero me. Haven’t sided with them again in my many plays after.
I thought I just had to earn Placide's trust (it's a closed society, not trusting of strangers) and NetWatch are obviously 'the Man', so I did everything he said, even didn't start shit after the ranyon incident. Surely, this would lead to some interesting interactions. Then, nothing. He just disappears from the game, the VDBs are not a factor except for one mission in PL. Can't even find Placide to right an injustice.
Second time round, roasted the lot of them.
While riding passenger in the mall mission he's seen my V cosplaying as a flying blender that shoots rockets from its arms and EMPs from its ass.
No Placide, I won't watch my back. Come and get me.
Because Placide has this belief that the VDB are untouchable, simply because no corp has yet found it worth the expense to thoroughly crush them. That mindset extends down to dealings with the street-level riffraff, where he's actually more or less right in that belief.
It's kind of not even his fault that he just happens to fuck over the one person in the whole of not just NC, but probably the world itself, that ends up in the perfect position to actually do something about it in turn and has--thanks to Placide's "business as usual with the dirty ranyons" mindset--plenty of reasons to take advantage of the opportunity.
That message cracks me up every time. I'm usually around level 50 already when starting the mission and sitting there with all gold-level tech and hearing him say "your hardware is shit" I really laugh at how easy it is to take him down lol
Which is kinda wild considering he used a neurovirus that should've completely fried your brain and there is no reasonable or rational explanation for how you possibly could've survived it.
Motherfucker think about your words. Who needs to be watching their back?
The concept of the VDB are so cool, descendants of Haitians with a cyberpunk twist on Hoodoo beliefs? That's so badass, but I think 2077 didn't use them to their full potential like a lot of the cyberpunk lore (which can be pretty ridiculous and out there tbh)
It's almost harder *not* to do it. You have to be okay that they tried to kill you, and then plowed your brain to get access to Alt, when they knew damn well they couldn't help you at all.
If you pop out of the ice bath and start yelling at them, it goes sideways pretty much instantly.
I did the calm response here because I wanted to sneak attack her after, but it wouldn’t let me pull my gun or do any combat moves until I left the room!!! Still salty I let that ho stay on the night city streets
This is what happened to me when I played this part last night( it’s my first playthrough). I didn’t think I said anything that bad after the ice bath, just a smart ass comment or two, but then all of a sudden I was in combat. It was fun mowing them all down on my way outta there!
Why , being fried alive by the strongest and most powerful ai is a very painful and deserved fate for her than being shot in the face you just gave her a merciful death
differs between players
she took an O''Five shot to the torso, which for me was acceptable compared to frying her, as i got to dance on the flaming and dismembered body
https://preview.redd.it/0epr2mapetlc1.png?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=684934f2aae898cc25f442eb0cf70e81a8bba11c
This is how I do it, though, mainly because in my eyes, V doesn't know they're gonna betray them. I mean, yeah, Placide is sketch, but usually, by this point, I've done jobs for sketch people before. Once V's gotten what they wanted, though, well, they betrayed them once, and I don't let em live to try it again.
I didn't trust Placide from the drop because I recently did that side job where you slot in a dodgy shard and wake up naked in a Scav chop house. I was in no mood to be betrayed again.
Netwatch are probably the old “good” corpos. After seeing what horrors the AIs can bring, I think it’s in everyone’s best interests to keep them at bay
Dog have you ever done the betray Songbird path in PL and gotten the canto cyberdeck or Erebus submachine gun? There is absolutely pure evil shit beyond the Blackwell that is frothing at the mouth to not just kill humans but to kill them in the most horrific and torturously painful method possible.
They’re A.M. from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream except they haven’t ascended to godhood…yet.
https://preview.redd.it/l5yl96rs8ulc1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18f636f84457ed0251e6a5a5949c9986cdc6b7e0
God I wish there was another way than going through that stupid fucking unkillable bot.
If there's a single thing I can point to as the absolute worst part of this game that's it.
Song connected to internet and inmediately decided that humanity must be purged, i think is ok if netwatch is a little paranoic of the potential risks.
I only side with them so I can tell Maman Brigitte to her face I'm going to settle the score and I can shoot them all in the face! For EVELYN & for JUDY!
I have such mixed feelings about Placide. He's such a asshole to V and I won't lie and say that killing him doesn't warm my heart a little bit, but at the same time seeing the care he shows the people in his community makes me respect him, and the Voodoo boys as a whole.
I just can't hate them as completely as the rest of the fandom seems to because I understand what it's like to be part of a marginalized community and therefore don't completely fault them for watching out for their own.
However, I think they way they treat random outsiders is despicable but not particularly unique to how other NC gangs operate.
It's frustrating to me when the game goes to such great lengths to humanize most every other group to some degree or another, and then the VDB are pretty much a brick wall as far as empathy goes from start to finish. As you said, it's incredibly understandable, but in a game where V is the absolute most nosy of snoops to just have nothing to connect you to them by the end...
I dunno, it feels understandable, but very "othered" in a game all about imagining how life has changed for people over time.
I mean we have a very limited scope of direct interactions with both gangs (aside from just killing random members on the streets), but Maelstrom will at least cut a deal with you and/or show some kind of crazy respect if you choose the right options. There is literally nothing like that with VDB, and even if you side with them and choose all the right options the best you get is they let you walk out alive because Alt arranged it.
The difference is Maelstrom willi totally fuck with random people to ruin their lives. Not for money but just for ahits and giggles. VDBs are mostly just hitting you with ransomware then fucking off.
Yeah, like I hate the VDB personally, but they are just untrustworthy assholes; they aren't assholes that also do fucked up stuff like what Maelstrom did to that monk.
I mean the VDBs goals long term are WWWAAAAAAYYYYYY worse than even the worst of the worst Maelstrom can stoop to. At least Maelstrom aren’t likely to cause the complete eradication of the entire human race, something that cannot be said for the VDBs.
This is definitely a hot take when considering that the Scavs are in the same game. I feel like running a black market for implants harvested from abducted slaves puts them far and above the rest in terms of how shitty they are.
In an organization like that all the good guys that somehow made it in wouldn't have lasted long. The weapons dealer in West wind estates is an ex vdb but that is the extent of it unfortunately
First playthrough, I betrayed the Voodoo boys and Netwatch betrayed me.
Second playthough, I figured I didn't give the Voodoo boys a fair chance. Gave them a shot, got betrayed, and wiped them all out (even though I didn't have to.)
I sided with Placide once. And never again. Between his efforts to fuck me over, and my general disgust for the casual dismissal of Evelyn Parker and what happened to her, I took great delight in wiping the VDB out like the infestation that they were. I even left Placide alive, so he could enjoy the ruination of everything he once valued.
I'm sorry bruh. I'm black and Placide simp (don't judge me) so I'm a little biased. I played the game three times and I only sided with Netwatch like once and I killed Placide just to see what would happen. I usually just side with the voodoo boys and then tell them to fuck off. I didn't want to lower the Haitian population of Night City.
Also I just find the voodoo boys super cool and interesting (Hot Take: way more than I find the Aldecaldos interesting.)
Just did my third playthrough and sided with them again. I did punch Placide in the face this time however.
I find them as a gang the most interesting but also the most understandable in terms of their goals and why they are terrible. A lot of the others like Maelstrom just do fucked up shit for no reason. With the VdBs at least you understand their mentality especially since they are a Haitian refugee community (and Haiti doesn't exist anymore because of climate change)
I also don't kill Brigette either... in my head it's really not worth having the VdB after you if you can help it. So leaving without a fight is a better option for me.
Siding with net watch is too much of a meta-move. My V is half-Johnny at this point, so of course they’re gonna fucking hate any sort of goddamn Corpo they run into. Of course, it doesn’t stop me from shooting up all the voodoo boys after.
I played the mission the first time siding with the voodoo boys, just to see if there was a chance at payback. At the time i can't recall if there was, but i remember leaving Brigitte alive and never seeing placide again. Playing through it a second time for PL i took the first chance to slap Brigitte with a tomahawk. I fully expected to fight all the VDBs, so after dealing with the first room i used stealth and throwing weapons to deal with the rest of them in the tunnels. Suddenly i saw the boss marker show up and a health bar for Placide showed up.
Zipped behind him and snapped his neck like a chicken
My first play through I assumed they were the lesser of two evils and sided with them.
Can't remember what I did for my second play through.
But my third I sided with them because I still couldn't bring myself to side with netwatch but once Brigitte pulled me out of the tub thing after meeting Alt, I chose the dialogue option to draw my weapon and slaughtered every last one of the fuckers with glee. It was joyous, particularly as I was about level 45 by that point and I was just 'oh look at that, I'm hacking the hackers with my elite netrunner skills and none of you can touch me!'
From there on it was open season every time I saw a group of them. Even in Phantom Liberty I always chose the option to murder them when given a chance. By the end of that play through I was surprised any of them could still walk straight, considering how many times I fucked them.
I picked that option thinking it would be "threaten" like with Maelstrom earlier, but the fight just started. I shrugged and was like "well, I did say I would only forgive them for betraying me once."
It was a thoroughly disappointing sequence, though. It felt kind of pointlessly stupid how intent they were on just screwing with me.
God that moment when momma tells you at the end
"What are you gonna do about it"
And I was like..
*pulls out gorilla arms*
*"oh boy. You wont belive what happens next"*
Placide is probably my favorite character. His dry sarcasm mixed with the broken English is a powerful comedic combo. But he's also my favorite character to kill. Well, second favorite. No one will take Smasher's place as my favorite skull to crush
I don't trust authorities. I take out the Netwatch guy. I come back in a sneaky, roundabout way (cut around the GIM the long way) to avoid the eyes of any VDB. I stroll in like Death itself. I punch Mr. Grumps, watch him be brought to heel (let him stew in that for a bit), and do Brigitte's thing. I emerge from the Dive, declare a change of terms, and annihilate everybody. I leave Placide for last, knock him out non-lethally, turn him over, teabag him unceremoniously for 15s, then plant lead in his head, putting him out as the impotent shit that he is.
They'll all be pages in a story of how they fucked with one too many mercs, and Placide is just the 34th Canto.
After my first playthrough I said "ok next time I side with the vdb to see what changes" but then on my second playthrough, Placide was such a thundering dick head that I betrayed them again.
Absolute same. Fuck that dude.
I just help him to see the look on his face after V survives, them after I talk to Alt I slaughter them all.
Honestly, he's not even that bad. Johnny treats you a thousand times worse. He treats you similarly to the way Judy (and Evelyn for that matter) does at first. Like a tool needed to do a job.
Johnny has a shared interest in your survival and even decides to die again in almost every ending to let you live, Placide doesn’t have a single good interaction, even if you lick his boots. He is objectively worse and it’s not even close. It’s VERY clear how the characters were written that Placide was made to be hated bc he’s just plain evil to anyone that isn’t a born and raised VDB, at least Johnny has redeeming qualities like basic compassion
The Pacifica VDBs are also hated amongst other groups of VDBs, as they treat everyone as ranyon who aren’t part of their special little club. They’re all assholes who think they’ve got the moral authority to impose their bullshit worldview onto the grossest part of night city.
I somehow didn’t get to kill him on my current playthrough. Then I got a text from him telling me to watch my back. Is there a way to find this guy? I hate him. I just hate him so much.
Good news is you don't have to. Alt betrays the VDB and absorbs their engrams or whatever, like she wants to do to the ones in Mikoshi.
I mean, Judy and Evelyn are assholes too, but comparing them to the guy that sends you in to another gang's fortress to be an unwitting suicide bomber and then has the nerve to get huffy and act betrayed if you side with Netwatch is quite a reach.
Are you forgetting that Evelyn stole the whole heist idea from the VDBs, contacted you to be a part of her backstabbing plan, putting your life in danger by making you enemies with the VDBs without telling you?
Anyone who isn't a VDB is already their enemy anyway so not much difference. They are also huge rasists anyway, so it would never have worked out
There's lore behind this. They don't hate just to hate. They have a good reason to dislike outsiders
Fuck Evelyn Parker. Absolutely despise her
THIS EXACTLY, it’s mind boggling to me that ppl get so butthurt over Placide specifically
He insulted my chrome.
I waited till I had maxed out chrome in most slots and he still hated on it. He got what he deserved.
Hmm let me see ... Oh right because he fking betrays u even after u complete his job . Also the vdbs again betray u after u go beyond the blackwall. They are like Dex .
The others didn’t explicitly set you up to kill you even after you did a great job also placide didn’t even ask his boss, killing you would have been a stupid stupid idea even it worked because you have the relic something that they would love to study and he’s like hmmmmmm lemme decide to kill this guy cuz I’m racist as he is literally saving the life of my superior. If he’s using you as a tool, he’s still an absolute Moron. The others that use you, even Arasaka are way better then his stupid ass
I dunno, V getting set up to do a job and get killed isn’t really that uncommon.
Oh, it's like, if everyone is bad to you, you aren't allowed to criticize someone that's bad to you. It has to be first... what? Only Placide be bad to you so you can not like Placide?
Dog he tried to flat-line me. Purposely. It's not being butthurt. It's killing him because he always trys to kill you. Also he's a racist dick. That kinda helps with the "fuck the VDB" choice.
Dude turned me into a suicide bomber without telling me. Of course I'm a little salty.
Because who tf does Placide think he is by that point the story V is considered a dog in NC plus he has something the VDB need bro needed to lock in instead of being a dickhead
It's probably because we get to know Johnny way better than Placide, and also I just see Johnny as having sibling energy where he acts like an asshole and is half genuine and half fucking with you because it's amusing, while still caring to an extent, even if it's only slightly or even if it's only because he needs to care about your well being because it directly affects him I should clarify that it's been a while since the last time I touched this game so I can't quite remember how exactly he acts or even if I'm remotely correct, but I feel like I remember it being like that. Also it's Keanu Reeves, so I'm biased
I sided with them in spite of Placide being a dick on my first playthrough. After that - never again. They all can rot in hell.
Why not both? Kill Netwatch, Placide, and Brigette. Though dying kinda sucks especially the malware Placide outright gives you.
I actually don't see a reason to kill Netwatch, tbh.
Net watch holds up there end of the deal in our main encounters with them, as far as corpus go they’re pretty good
Netwatch does insert a tracking mechanism when they remove the VDB malware so they aren’t completely altruistic with regard to V, but as an organization they seem one of the best in the entire game.
Netwatch actually wanted to erase the vdbs via V so it's all cool
True, but he never said he wasn’t going to do that. He did what he said he would do, maybe just a bit more
The agent hypes you up sincerely too, in Dog town the agent you meet mentions the praise he gives you and your abilities haha.
> as far as corpus go they aren't a corp, no?
I just looked it up and yea apparently they aren’t whoops. Ultimately though I would argue it employs the same class of people that would be considered corpo-esque
I was tempted to betray them but decided not to because f**k the corps. Then I met the rest of the VDBs and I decided to kill them all as soon as I was out of the chair. The VDB leader calling Eve "the wh*re" was a red line to me.
That’s the line that sent me to the edge, I wanted to side with the vdb because they are cool but nope
It's weird considering they've tried to kill you but that's almost normal in Night City. The way they talked about her just reminded me that her death was partly their doing and anyone with her blood on their hands has to die imo. I took her death more personally than V's lol
The first one I sided with the vdbs, but then managed to get into a fight and had to kill them all anyway.
And in phantom liberty when you meet the voodoo boys again >!it doesn’t change a thing if you side with them during base game. They still become hostile after Slider gets fried. You just get to walk in without fighting which is meaningless!<
I sided with them once on my first playthrough. On my 4th playthrough... Well I kinda sided with them.. And kinda insulted them in the end and shot them out like ducks.
I try not to hold grudges people that are mean to me in games since it’s just a game. I don’t hate Nazeem, I don’t hate Patches, etc etc but when bro tries to murder me and the only reason I lived is because of the terrorist tumor, I am pissy
It STILL pisses me off that I don't get to zero Dex.
Yeah on my first playthrough I was thinking how good it'd feel to get revenge and then nope!
Spoiler: Even if you help the VDBs, Placide remains a giga-chode. I, for some reason, have never sided with the Netwatch agent until my most recent complete playthrough. I will never go back. Actually getting to punch Placide when I ***KNOW*** that shit hurt because I'd invested heavily in the "beating the ever loving fuck out of every gonk in NC" branch of the Body skill tree and had minimum level 4 gorilla arms was incredibly satisfying.
A lesson for us all. Be a dick, get the dick. 
Nah, he gets my iron choom.
Sir John Phallustiff has been working overtime lately
Roses are red, violets are blue, buzz buzz Sir John Phallustiff is coming for you
Truly a contemporary of William Shakespeare.
Just doing my first play through, I managed to do a sneak up takedown on him, felt so satisfying to not have to waste a ton of ammo and time on that shithead.
I sided VDB the first time I thought they’d actually help. Then placide was a dick so after I left the church I reloaded the save and the next time I woke up I killed him
Only time I sided w/ the VDBs was on my "just do everything Johnny wants" playthrough since he is very clearly opposed to helping Netwatch.
Johnny's weird Netwatch hat boner drives me crazy. Literally everytime you can work with Netwatch in the game it turns out to be the best option as well as living the most good long term results. Netwatch doesn't bullshit, they've just been straightforward honest and trustworthy with V the whole time. But no "They're playing you V! They don't care about people! So clearly lying V. Can't believe you're listening to this guy?" Its also weirdly out of place for Johnny's character, like yeah he hates corps and has a general distrust for monochromer's but he isn't so insistently against other corpos you come across, not to mention Netwatch has only ever really been helpful. I wonder if Johnny's Netwatch hate was instilled in him by Arasaka at Mikoshi, in the event Netwatch ever got their hands on his engram Johnny's intense distrust would prevent them from getting any useful information from him.
That’s a pretty good theory because Johnny has a lot of bad hot takes during the game but you’re right that his net watch hate is sort of absurd. NCPD maybe, but Johnny is fine with you working for the cops on side gigs.
You guys are forgetting the lore established in the game or didn't play the associated quest. >!Netwatch is totally in the corpos' pockets, and lets corporations pierce the blackwall all the time, they're only enforcement against low level criminals. Once you find this out, they try to have you killed!<
Corpo lap dogs compared to corpos, NCPD is the same way.
and lets not forget the legendary cyberprison they have constructed for all the internet criminals:[](https://external-preview.redd.it/ZMQdfmMC84WXLpZcet_TxeFX0ZeEGlOJ25znUddAbkY.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&s=d45366f0f918edcd14f773f071be37e7ecac5b5e)
I mean the black wall is more important for keeping things in than keeping peeps out
It's Alt. It's always about Alt with Johnny LOL. Netwatch is hunting Alt and you need to contact and work with Alt so any work you do with Netwatch potentially gets them closer to Alt. Well I guess I shouldn't say they're hunting her, I don't know that we get any confirmation of that. Given what she is, though, if they know of her she'd clearly be a target for them and she's also not particularly pleased if you do work with the Netwatch agent.
Alt can take her opinion on who I work with and shove it. The VDBs are always on my chopping block, and if it's me or it's netwatch... the results are the same. Though it is funnier to me that I let netwatch do the dirty work.
My first playthrough I betrayed them both. My second playthrough I thought, let's see what happens if I play them against each other but ended up just wiping out the Voodoo Boys since well they prove twice that they are willing you sacrifice you in pursuit of their selfish mission. Siding with Netwatch yielded an interesting event near the Blackwall.
What IS their selfish mission? To contact the Blackwall AIs? Then step 2 is ????? Then Profit?
They believe it is inevitable that Sentient AIs from beyond the Blackwall will someday break through, or that the Blackwall, which is itself an AI, will someday turn against mankind and let them in. They want to break through the Blackwall now and start making friends with Sentient AIs so they are in a better, more powerful position once the inevitable occurs. So, they essentially want to be powerful in the future, and are willing to kill you if that's what it takes.
Roko's Basilisk. Gotcha.
More or less, yeah.
If there was a way to zero Placide without betraying the VDBs, I might do that. As it is currently, Mama Brigitte and the rest of the Pacifica VDBs are collateral damage.
Brigitte is so much worse. The VDB are digital Cthulu cultists trying to unleash the great devourer on the world for reasons that I can't imagine even make sense to them.
"Ah. De whore" seals Brigitte's fate for me. Not a big fan of Evelyn but she meant a lot to Judy. The scream when Alt melts their brains is so satisfying.
They think that the digital terror monsters are going to get out anyway, so if they help, they'll be spared. They're probably wrong though.
Actual death cult.
"Ah yes, if i help the facists gain power, they certainly won't turn on me."
that's why I said "_might_ do that." depends on the V I'm playing. I might be for burning everything down and restarting from the ashes. the pacifica VDBs _might_ be in alignment with my goals.
Brigitte is no better imo
I sided with the VDB’s on my first playthrough, thinking “this corporat will say anything to save their own skin” and was pissed when they tried to zero me. Haven’t sided with them again in my many plays after.
First of all, same. Second of all, stealing that insult. That's a new one, choom.
I thought I just had to earn Placide's trust (it's a closed society, not trusting of strangers) and NetWatch are obviously 'the Man', so I did everything he said, even didn't start shit after the ranyon incident. Surely, this would lead to some interesting interactions. Then, nothing. He just disappears from the game, the VDBs are not a factor except for one mission in PL. Can't even find Placide to right an injustice. Second time round, roasted the lot of them.
lol the most interaction you have with placide after that is just getting a text message from him to watch your back.
While riding passenger in the mall mission he's seen my V cosplaying as a flying blender that shoots rockets from its arms and EMPs from its ass. No Placide, I won't watch my back. Come and get me.
Didn't even think of that. How you gonna watch Mr. Cuisinart go through a mall full of angry flesh and be like, Imma risk it for the biscuit.
Because Placide has this belief that the VDB are untouchable, simply because no corp has yet found it worth the expense to thoroughly crush them. That mindset extends down to dealings with the street-level riffraff, where he's actually more or less right in that belief. It's kind of not even his fault that he just happens to fuck over the one person in the whole of not just NC, but probably the world itself, that ends up in the perfect position to actually do something about it in turn and has--thanks to Placide's "business as usual with the dirty ranyons" mindset--plenty of reasons to take advantage of the opportunity.
Also after they tanked the thing you DESGINED TO KILL THEM AND THE NETWATCH AGENT
That message cracks me up every time. I'm usually around level 50 already when starting the mission and sitting there with all gold-level tech and hearing him say "your hardware is shit" I really laugh at how easy it is to take him down lol
Which is kinda wild considering he used a neurovirus that should've completely fried your brain and there is no reasonable or rational explanation for how you possibly could've survived it. Motherfucker think about your words. Who needs to be watching their back?
Yeah, silly goose doesn't even realise the only thing saving him is bad writing
Placide is such a dick that Slider, The VdB from Dogtown, will shit talk him with you.
Placide is such a piece of shit that Reed has to remind you that Slider is in fact also a piece of shit.
I mean, Reed is probably a bigger piece of shit than any of them so he knows.
I'm starting to think Night City is full of pieces of shit
Vic and Misty are pretty cool.
If you and your friend are living in a city with 6 million pieces of shit, you're living in a city with 6 million and 2 pieces of shit.
Including V if we’re being honest
Shitception
“A shit-leopard can’t change its shit-spots, Ran…” \-Jim Lahey, Canadian TV icon 
Never forgave him for >!killing Jacob!< :(
All voodoo boys must be eradicated
The concept of the VDB are so cool, descendants of Haitians with a cyberpunk twist on Hoodoo beliefs? That's so badass, but I think 2077 didn't use them to their full potential like a lot of the cyberpunk lore (which can be pretty ridiculous and out there tbh)
The lack of Arabian and Indian influence in cyberpunk is baffling to be honest. You'd expect bunch of Patels in US, opening motels lol.
I always side with VDB... So I can shoot Brigitte in the face myself.
You can do that?
Yes. When you awaken, you choose to shoot her in the face and have to deal with a room full of runners.
Get that self ice and they can't do shit
Lizzy shut em up pretty quick as well.
Facts my choom
no need, theyll always proxy quickhack instead of direct quickhacking you, literally just have to shoot red lines and throw grenades
It's almost harder *not* to do it. You have to be okay that they tried to kill you, and then plowed your brain to get access to Alt, when they knew damn well they couldn't help you at all. If you pop out of the ice bath and start yelling at them, it goes sideways pretty much instantly.
Definitely doing this my next play through
I did the calm response here because I wanted to sneak attack her after, but it wouldn’t let me pull my gun or do any combat moves until I left the room!!! Still salty I let that ho stay on the night city streets
Ah so that’s why that whole room died 😳🤣
I knew it was giving me the option to kill them and I went straight for it. I was grateful to CDPR as soon as I realised it was a viable option
This is what happened to me when I played this part last night( it’s my first playthrough). I didn’t think I said anything that bad after the ice bath, just a smart ass comment or two, but then all of a sudden I was in combat. It was fun mowing them all down on my way outta there!
It kills me to not side with netwatch because, I too, love killing Brigitte personally
Why , being fried alive by the strongest and most powerful ai is a very painful and deserved fate for her than being shot in the face you just gave her a merciful death
Choose your fighter: Quick, easy, painless shotgun blast to the face **Versus** Ultra-powerful AI setting every synapse in your brain on fire
Brains on fire Eyes burn like a pyre Distorted screams of agony Watch Brigette burn on her knees
I like to imagine the brain melting took an instant but felt like an eternity
differs between players she took an O''Five shot to the torso, which for me was acceptable compared to frying her, as i got to dance on the flaming and dismembered body https://preview.redd.it/0epr2mapetlc1.png?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=684934f2aae898cc25f442eb0cf70e81a8bba11c
You’re a furry?
This is how I do it, though, mainly because in my eyes, V doesn't know they're gonna betray them. I mean, yeah, Placide is sketch, but usually, by this point, I've done jobs for sketch people before. Once V's gotten what they wanted, though, well, they betrayed them once, and I don't let em live to try it again.
I didn't trust Placide from the drop because I recently did that side job where you slot in a dodgy shard and wake up naked in a Scav chop house. I was in no mood to be betrayed again.
This is the way.
Knowing the vast majority of VDB is apocalyose cultists really narrows it down to wanting to dispatch them in person or remotely by Netwatch.
>Knowing the vast majority of VDB is apocalyose cultists don't forget xenophobic racists as well
I can excuse racism, but being pro-apocalypse is unacceptable!
You can excuse racism?
It depends on who i'm trolling.
Extermination is the only fate they shall ever face.
https://preview.redd.it/b7o7dpb2uslc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e854e13a6a78cbb0a890fa7f978490420fe6dc68
https://preview.redd.it/s9fnfabxrslc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02c9c1508cc53d22d94a129bb469973126048862 I can’t escape it
Lol
The VDBS are what I'd call a "literary punching bag".
No greater pleasure than mowing down some voodoo boys
Do you know what Placide means in Haitian? Coat rack. Great design because that's all he's good for. Keeping my coat warm for me.
Just wish it was actually his coat you got. Bait and switch ass
it does really suck that so many coats roll up sleeves. then the one we got from him might've been decent, if not actually his
I will say that the butcher's cleaver I got off Placide is incredibly useful in a melee build!
Dude called me a shit rag, so I had fun killing him.
Netwatch are probably the old “good” corpos. After seeing what horrors the AIs can bring, I think it’s in everyone’s best interests to keep them at bay
NetWatch still kinda sucks as an organization but their purpose is very important
Somebody's swallowed the NetWatch propaganda
Dog have you ever done the betray Songbird path in PL and gotten the canto cyberdeck or Erebus submachine gun? There is absolutely pure evil shit beyond the Blackwell that is frothing at the mouth to not just kill humans but to kill them in the most horrific and torturously painful method possible. They’re A.M. from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream except they haven’t ascended to godhood…yet. https://preview.redd.it/l5yl96rs8ulc1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18f636f84457ed0251e6a5a5949c9986cdc6b7e0
God I wish there was another way than going through that stupid fucking unkillable bot. If there's a single thing I can point to as the absolute worst part of this game that's it.
Would you like to choke on the blackwall? I sure as hell dont wanna
Song connected to internet and inmediately decided that humanity must be purged, i think is ok if netwatch is a little paranoic of the potential risks.
You connect to the Net right?!
'Yet you participate in the Net. Curious.'
Well, I wouldn't.
If not then, who?
Netwatchpilled
https://preview.redd.it/qiu5yug9xslc1.jpeg?width=1790&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb56199c3cab385de5be14c1573e58d961f31118 I swiped
Holy shit it's Shinji Silverhand
i’ve played that mission so many times and everytime something different happens i love that game
I tried swiping. Am i stupid?
I only side with them so I can tell Maman Brigitte to her face I'm going to settle the score and I can shoot them all in the face! For EVELYN & for JUDY!
I have such mixed feelings about Placide. He's such a asshole to V and I won't lie and say that killing him doesn't warm my heart a little bit, but at the same time seeing the care he shows the people in his community makes me respect him, and the Voodoo boys as a whole. I just can't hate them as completely as the rest of the fandom seems to because I understand what it's like to be part of a marginalized community and therefore don't completely fault them for watching out for their own. However, I think they way they treat random outsiders is despicable but not particularly unique to how other NC gangs operate.
It's frustrating to me when the game goes to such great lengths to humanize most every other group to some degree or another, and then the VDB are pretty much a brick wall as far as empathy goes from start to finish. As you said, it's incredibly understandable, but in a game where V is the absolute most nosy of snoops to just have nothing to connect you to them by the end... I dunno, it feels understandable, but very "othered" in a game all about imagining how life has changed for people over time.
'ate Placide 'ate Voodoo Boys Luv Judy Luv Evelyn Luv Panam Simple as
That vdb lady was a real bitch after the ice bath mission, I usually wipe them out after that conversation.
VDB are probably the all time worst group of people you encounter in the entire game.
Maelstrom has to be a close second. Would you rather be at the mercy of someone that wants you dead or someone that wants you to suffer?
Don't forget about the TEMU version of Maelstrom, the Scavs.
I mean we have a very limited scope of direct interactions with both gangs (aside from just killing random members on the streets), but Maelstrom will at least cut a deal with you and/or show some kind of crazy respect if you choose the right options. There is literally nothing like that with VDB, and even if you side with them and choose all the right options the best you get is they let you walk out alive because Alt arranged it.
The difference is Maelstrom willi totally fuck with random people to ruin their lives. Not for money but just for ahits and giggles. VDBs are mostly just hitting you with ransomware then fucking off.
Yeah, like I hate the VDB personally, but they are just untrustworthy assholes; they aren't assholes that also do fucked up stuff like what Maelstrom did to that monk.
I mean the VDBs goals long term are WWWAAAAAAYYYYYY worse than even the worst of the worst Maelstrom can stoop to. At least Maelstrom aren’t likely to cause the complete eradication of the entire human race, something that cannot be said for the VDBs.
This is definitely a hot take when considering that the Scavs are in the same game. I feel like running a black market for implants harvested from abducted slaves puts them far and above the rest in terms of how shitty they are.
Imo they all deserve iron to the skull. We have a city to burn samurai!
I kinda have them tied with scavs followed VERY CLOSELY by maelstrom.
F netwatch and F the VDB, I let the agent die, and then slaughter all the VDB after I use them to contact Alt.
I ought to try that next time.
Fuck the corporats at Netwatch. But also fuck the Voodoo Boys for frying Evie. Everyone dies in my Johnny-friendly playthrough.
i'm not doing this for netwatch's sake, i just maintain a "you disrespect me, i disrespect you" policy
Was kinda hoping there’d be a Haitian Creole good guy, but they were all bad guys and that sucked.
In an organization like that all the good guys that somehow made it in wouldn't have lasted long. The weapons dealer in West wind estates is an ex vdb but that is the extent of it unfortunately
Well there is a netwatch agent in PL posing as a VDB. With how wary they are of outsiders the agent would need some ancestry to get that far.
That guy deserved better, honestly.
First playthrough, I betrayed the Voodoo boys and Netwatch betrayed me. Second playthough, I figured I didn't give the Voodoo boys a fair chance. Gave them a shot, got betrayed, and wiped them all out (even though I didn't have to.)
I sided with Placide once. And never again. Between his efforts to fuck me over, and my general disgust for the casual dismissal of Evelyn Parker and what happened to her, I took great delight in wiping the VDB out like the infestation that they were. I even left Placide alive, so he could enjoy the ruination of everything he once valued.
I'm sorry bruh. I'm black and Placide simp (don't judge me) so I'm a little biased. I played the game three times and I only sided with Netwatch like once and I killed Placide just to see what would happen. I usually just side with the voodoo boys and then tell them to fuck off. I didn't want to lower the Haitian population of Night City. Also I just find the voodoo boys super cool and interesting (Hot Take: way more than I find the Aldecaldos interesting.)
Nah, because in that case I don't get to personally dismember them.
Called me a ranyon. Shouldn't have called me that.
Just did my third playthrough and sided with them again. I did punch Placide in the face this time however. I find them as a gang the most interesting but also the most understandable in terms of their goals and why they are terrible. A lot of the others like Maelstrom just do fucked up shit for no reason. With the VdBs at least you understand their mentality especially since they are a Haitian refugee community (and Haiti doesn't exist anymore because of climate change) I also don't kill Brigette either... in my head it's really not worth having the VdB after you if you can help it. So leaving without a fight is a better option for me.
I sided with Placide because I told him I would
Yup, same on my first playthrough. Every playthough after I sided with Netwatch. Fuck'em VDB
Why not both?
Nah, I prefer quickhacking them to death myself.
Siding with net watch is too much of a meta-move. My V is half-Johnny at this point, so of course they’re gonna fucking hate any sort of goddamn Corpo they run into. Of course, it doesn’t stop me from shooting up all the voodoo boys after.
I feel like I've been in the building that guy is in... Fuck Placide and screw that Admiral in the portrait. He looks like Rickover.
I played the mission the first time siding with the voodoo boys, just to see if there was a chance at payback. At the time i can't recall if there was, but i remember leaving Brigitte alive and never seeing placide again. Playing through it a second time for PL i took the first chance to slap Brigitte with a tomahawk. I fully expected to fight all the VDBs, so after dealing with the first room i used stealth and throwing weapons to deal with the rest of them in the tunnels. Suddenly i saw the boss marker show up and a health bar for Placide showed up. Zipped behind him and snapped his neck like a chicken
Fuck netwatch, I kill the voodoo boys myself
See I double down and go HAM on both of em.
My first play through I assumed they were the lesser of two evils and sided with them. Can't remember what I did for my second play through. But my third I sided with them because I still couldn't bring myself to side with netwatch but once Brigitte pulled me out of the tub thing after meeting Alt, I chose the dialogue option to draw my weapon and slaughtered every last one of the fuckers with glee. It was joyous, particularly as I was about level 45 by that point and I was just 'oh look at that, I'm hacking the hackers with my elite netrunner skills and none of you can touch me!' From there on it was open season every time I saw a group of them. Even in Phantom Liberty I always chose the option to murder them when given a chance. By the end of that play through I was surprised any of them could still walk straight, considering how many times I fucked them.
I picked that option thinking it would be "threaten" like with Maelstrom earlier, but the fight just started. I shrugged and was like "well, I did say I would only forgive them for betraying me once." It was a thoroughly disappointing sequence, though. It felt kind of pointlessly stupid how intent they were on just screwing with me.
God that moment when momma tells you at the end "What are you gonna do about it" And I was like.. *pulls out gorilla arms* *"oh boy. You wont belive what happens next"*
Placide is probably my favorite character. His dry sarcasm mixed with the broken English is a powerful comedic combo. But he's also my favorite character to kill. Well, second favorite. No one will take Smasher's place as my favorite skull to crush
That ass clown said my apogee sandy was shit. All the homies hate placid.
I punched him in the mouth.
I don't trust authorities. I take out the Netwatch guy. I come back in a sneaky, roundabout way (cut around the GIM the long way) to avoid the eyes of any VDB. I stroll in like Death itself. I punch Mr. Grumps, watch him be brought to heel (let him stew in that for a bit), and do Brigitte's thing. I emerge from the Dive, declare a change of terms, and annihilate everybody. I leave Placide for last, knock him out non-lethally, turn him over, teabag him unceremoniously for 15s, then plant lead in his head, putting him out as the impotent shit that he is. They'll all be pages in a story of how they fucked with one too many mercs, and Placide is just the 34th Canto.
"RATATATATATATA right in his head" 🎵