How to Get the Militech Hercules 3AX in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Ever since the Phantom Liberty expansion dropped back in 2023, one weapon has remained a top-tier pick for any V looking to tear through Dogtown with style—the Militech Hercules 3AX. This iconic smart assault rifle isn’t just a flashy piece of tech; it’s a game-changer that turns tense firefights into one-sided meltdowns. The good news is that it’s available almost immediately after you start the DLC, provided you know where to look and which strings to pull in Mr. Hands’ network. By 2026, the community has perfected the run to grab it early, and if you haven’t added it to your arsenal yet, here’s exactly how to make that happen.

The Hercules 3AX isn’t lying around in some random gig crate—it’s the signature reward from the Roads to Redemption side job, a mission handed out by Dogtown’s fixer-in-chief, Mr. Hands. The catch? This gig won’t pop up on your map until you’ve completed several other tasks for him. Hands likes to keep his operatives on a need-to-know basis, so you’ll have to grind through a few of his earlier assignments before the stadium icon finally appears. Some players report needing to finish three or four other gigs, but once you’ve proven yourself, the EBM Petrochem Stadium fast travel point lights up with the mission marker. Head there and brace yourself for a layered infiltration.

Once you’re inside the stadium complex as part of Roads to Redemption, fight through the initial waves of guards and make your way toward the objective “Find the production area in the old swimming pool.” This is where the path splits from a straightforward shootout into a short treasure hunt. After clearing a few rooms filled with Barghest soldiers and automated turrets, you’ll enter a large hall dominated by a drained pool. The air is thick with toxic runoff, and the lighting makes it easy to miss the prize. Look for a rusted control booth overlooking the pool—inside, there’s a weapon case that isn’t marked by standard quest waypoints. Pop it open, and the Hercules 3AX is yours. If you’re having trouble spotting it, think of the layout: the case sits on a desk near a broken monitor, half-hidden by debris. A quick scan with your Kiroshi optics reveals the legendary glow.

So, what makes this assault rifle worth the detour? Let’s break down its stat block. The Hercules 3AX comes with a +50% headshot damage multiplier, which is already a juicy boost for any build. Combine that with +25% armor penetration and a super-snappy 1-second lock-on time, and you’ve got a smart weapon that shreds through armored targets faster than most tech rifles. There’s also a +20% poison chance baked into every round, meaning each burst can stack debilitating DoT effects on enemies. For a standard smart assault rifle, those numbers are absurdly high, placing the Hercules above even the classic Divided We Stand in terms of raw crowd control.

What truly sets the Hercules apart, however, is its iconic ability—a feature the community has lovingly dubbed the “acid bath.” If you neutralize an enemy rather than delivering a killing blow, the rifle doesn’t just leave them unconscious. Instead, it remotely triggers a second-stage effect that detonates the target in a burst of corrosive acid, splashing the immediate area. Any nearby foes caught in the puddle take additional damage over time and often stumble, creating easy openings for a follow-up. This mechanic makes the Hercules an absolute monster in close-quarters maps and cramped interiors, where enemy clusters are common. It also means you can finish off subdued targets without wasting a bullet, which is a quiet nod to the weapon’s mil-spec origin as a tool for ruthless clean-up operations.

In practice, the Hercules 3AX trivializes many of the DLC’s toughest encounters. Take the Chimera boss fight, for example. That hulking machine has multiple armor layers and a series of weak points that are finicky to hit with projectile weapons. The Hercules’s armor penetration and instant lock-on let you drill into its exposed parts without needing perfect aim, and the poison procs steadily chip away at its health pool even while you’re dodging missiles. Similarly, during the high-stakes finale against MaxTac or the NUSA special forces, the acid splash can turn a volatile room into a no-go zone for enemies, giving you breathing room to hack or heal. Even if you don’t lean heavily into a smart weapon build, the rifle’s baseline performance is strong enough to carry you through most of Phantom Liberty’s narrative.

A few pro tips for your acquisition run: first, don’t sleep on the technical requirements. The weapon case in the control booth needs a Body or Technical Ability check of at least 12 to force open, or you can simply use the keycard dropped by the squad leader in the adjacent room. Second, if you’re a completionist, clear the entire gig first before backtracking for the loot—the swimming pool area stays accessible after the mission concludes, so there’s no risk of permanent lockout. Third, once you have the Hercules, consider pairing it with the Feedback Circuit cyberware and the Smart Link hand implant to maximize lock-on speed and refund RAM on kills. The synergy turns every engagement into a feedback loop of death.

Given that this weapon has been a community staple since 2023, it’s remarkable how well it holds up against newer gear introduced in patches 2.1 and 2.2. Even with adjustments to smart weapon accuracy and poison damage scaling, the Hercules remains a top-tier choice for both stealth-oriented netrunners and loud, proud Solo builds. Its ability to confirm kills with an acidic explosion hasn’t been replicated by any other iconic rifle, making it a collector’s dream and a practical powerhouse. If you’re stepping into Dogtown fresh in 2026, make the Hercules one of your first stops. You’ll wonder how you ever survived the streets of Night City without it.