Cyberpunk 2077 River Ward: Your Complete Guide to Romance
River Ward in Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the romantic options for V. You can romance him and start a relationship if you are the female V. Ward is the NCPD investigator because of his pursuit in upholding justice in the Night City. But things go south starting from the quest “I Fought the Law” in which the former mayor was killed. Ward is quite a charming character, especially when he changes from seeking procedural justice to delivering the outcome justice. This post will guide you through the quests, walk you through the stories, and lay out the options you can choose in the game.
Who is River Ward, and What’s His Story?
In Cyberpunk 2077, River Ward is an NCPD officer and a romance option for the female V in the game. He is a big guy with brown skin, looking quite rough but with impressive candidness and a sense of justice. Unlike people who want to escape the corruption and low-life in the Night City, River wishes to stay in the city and make a difference.
From the conversations over the beer in “Following the River”, you will know that River and Joss’s parents used to run a farm. Then, the corporations take over, and his parents turn to running a small business at a shop. The family was having a hard life, with four of them being cramped up in a small apartment.
Then life only turns harder. Several robbers stormed the case at the shop and asked for more. They killed River’s father straight up because he said there was no more cash at their place. The robbers also shoved the gun to River and asked him to shoot his mother. But running out of patience, the robbers shot her directly and ran away.
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In Cyberpunk 2077, River Ward is a fun contrast to Johnny Silverhand. While Silverhand finds his calling in rebelling against the system and resorting to terrorism, River intends to fix the system through its own procedure at first. Ironically, Silverhand’s way of doing things works in the Night City better than River’s way.
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Cyberpunk 2077 River Ward’s Quests Walkthrough
I Fought the Law
This is the first mission where you get to know River Ward as an NCPD detective. After this quest, River will get suspended and consider being a police consultant.
You will get a call from the Peralezes. They are running for the next mayor after the death of Mayor Lucius Rhyne. However, they suspect foul play in this abnormal death and ask you to investigate into this. As River is the detective who finds out about Peter Horvath (a hitman), you get to collaborate with him.
The clues from the braindance offered by the Peralezes will lead you to a place controlled by the animals. It is called Red Queen’s Race. The computer there stores a video of Han (River’s partner) trying to cover up the mayor’s death. If you go to the room in the video and wear the braindance, you will find out that the mayor was killed by a small prick on the device.
This quest does not involve any romance options with River. Completing this quest will lead you to the next quest with River. However, the quest does reveal River’s personality as upright and respectable. River does not tolerate corruption or foul play. That’s the very reason why he joins NCPD in the first place and why he goes solo later.
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The Hunt
“The Hunt” is the main side quest with River Ward, as he contacts you and tells you to meet up with him at his car. In Cyberpunk 2077, River will ask you to help him find his missing nephew, Randy. In this side quest, you will follow the clues from the lab and Randy’s room and try to find the location where “Peter Pan” Anthony Harris keeps all the abducted kids.
The NCPD Lab
At the start of the mission, River will lead you directly to the NCPD lab, hoping to find the braindance file related to Anthony Harris because at this point, Harris has already been shot in the head by the police and become bedridden and brain-dead.
If you don’t have enough technical ability to open up the door marked by the mission exclamation mark directly, this will be your way in:
To find the relevant file, you need to walk down the alley and jump onto the platform right next to the garbage dumps. After hopping off the platform on the other side, there is a flight of stairs where you can get into the lab through the window.
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Circle around the main file room, and you will find the other side of the door open. Go to the room lit with pink light, where you can find the file related to Anthony. But Yawen, River’s ex, will come in and stop you, telling the two that Anthony does not have any braindance file, considering his coma status.
Fun fact: You can find a file related to Melissa Rory on the computer of the lab as well, claiming that her antisociopathic personality is returning.
Randy’s Room
The next lead is to search Randy’s room to find anything that might evoke Harris’s memory and provide a braindance revealing the location where he kept the kids.
There are three major clues in Randy’s room:
- the drug bottle on the bathroom floor
- the game in the lock (The key is on the shelf right to the entrance.) -> codes of the sender’s address
- the high-tech laptop under Randy’s bed (It may take you a while to find this laptop because the black color blends in pretty good with the darkness under his bed.) -> IP address of the website owner
It would be best if you could obtain the codes (by unlocking the locker) and the IP address (by cracking the laptop using the Intelligence) as clues to locate the Edgewood Farm here, in case you might leave out any clues from the braindance.
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On the laptop, you will find the emails between Anthony Harris and Randy, Harris’s website of “Drugsarebad”, and a cartoon video (ATT_CART_VIDEO) of a farm and some cows being milked.
River will take over the next step of contacting Yamen to make Harris dream with the cartoon video as the stimulation.
All the clues from Randy’s room tell the story of Anthony Harris preying on drug-addicted kids and promising them a cure and a bright future (like Peter Pan promising the kids a beautiful wonderland). Randy has been down and locking himself up since his father passed away. The drug bottle indicates that he’s been doing drugs secretly. That’s when Anthony Harris comes in and earns Randy’s trust with the game, the laptop, and his fake trauma story. Randy happily puts down his guard and meets up with Harris afterward.
Related: Where is Johnny Silverhand’s grave?
Edgewood Farm
To locate the Edgewood Farm as the location where all the kids are kept, you need to obtain enough clues from the laptop and the three braindances (the school, the barn when Harris was young, and the barn with the adult Harris).
If you have already got the sender codes and the IP address from Randy’s room, you only need to obtain the following clues from the braindances:
- school: the teacher and the billboard
- barn with the young Harris: the cow, Anthony’s father, the control on the left side of his father, the injection control on the right side of the passway, and the cartoon
- barn with the adult Harris: the clock, victims, the lighted buildings outside the barn, solar box, the infusion pump, and the AV sounds
River will tell you directly that it is Edgewood Farm if you have obtained enough clues. The easiest way is to hack into one of the surveillance cameras and deactivate all the turrets. That way, you can deal with the turrets once and for all. You still need to be careful with the mines (a lot of mines around the barn).
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It turns out that Anthony Harris has been treating the kids like the cows in the cartoon. He gave them feeds and hormones when they are unconscious. This antisocialpathic behaviour might root from his childhood trauma of being abused by his father at the barn.
Note that even if you deactivate the turrets, River will still act very tense as if you haven’t deactivated them. It may be a bug, but his screaming and yelling can give you a startle.
To romance River, you need to successfully rescue Randy and asking him not to seek revenge. (If you ask him to revenge, he won’t express his feelings to you when you get his call.)
Related: Discover another romance option in Cyberpunk 2077 — Panam Palmer.
Following the River
A couple of days later, River will give you a call asking if you’re interested in his family dinner. This triggers the “Following the River” side quest. This quest is mainly for romancing River Ward without any other additional goals.
At his place, River will ask you to help him with stirring the jambalaya and playing with the kids.
If you want to romance River, at the dinner table, you can agree with Joss about getting together with him. River will then take you directly to the water tower for the final romancing options.
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At the water tower, River will hand you over his gun as he thinks that you will be a better owner for it. As he drops more and more hints, you still have the chance of rejecting him until the final kiss.
The next day you can either tell him:
- River, I… can’t make plans, look to the future. (telling him about the engram)
- Heavy convo for the morning… (not telling him about the engram)
Either way, this quest will come to an end with your romantic trip with River Ward. For me, it is quite an abrupt ending because the next time you will have interactions with him is at the end of the game, and he cannot help you like Panam Palmer.
I Really Want to Stay at Your House
After successfully romancing River in the previous job, you need to wait a period of time before River contacts you again. He will text you and ask to meet up at your place.
You can choose any apartment to meet up from your property list and different apartment will unlock different responses and interactions.
At the end of the date, a message about delivering gifts to your partner will be sent to you. You can choose what kind of gift you want to deliver to your romance partner.
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FAQs
What happens if you kiss River as a guy?
In Cyberpunk 2077, River will reject and push you aside if you are a male V. But, the gender difference of V won’t change other dialogues, so River may still sound like he is trying to flirt with you.
How do you get River Ward in Cyberpunk 2077?
To romance River, you need to be a female V and complete the three quests: I Fought the Law, The Hunt, and Following the River. Accept River’s kiss on the water tower, and River will become your romance partner.
Should I romance River Ward?
In Cyberpunk 2077, River Ward is the only male romance option in the game. It is definitely the only choice for a heterosexual female V. Other than that, River Ward can strike you as a very uprightious figure in the corrupted Night City, not to mention the details of his trying out cooking jambalaya for the first time just to impress you. Another consideration is if you enjoy the family life that comes with River. The conversations and scenarios with him always bring up Joss and her three kids.
Conclusion
Although River Ward still stands as a convincing character, the story with River Ward in Cyberpunk 2077 is a bit too short. Both “I Fought the Law” and “The Hunt” focus on working with River. Only “Following the River” develops the romance tension between River and V. The transition from a working partner to a life partner seems to be awkward when there are not enough hints in the conversation dropped prior to the third quest.
The romance and interactions with River are barely reaching the convincing and believable level, and they fall short in delivering a satisfying result. As the relationship with River lacks in build-ups and maintenance, the game gives you the impression that the relationship is casual without deeper connections. Considering all these, would you still vote for romancing River Ward?
