Okay, let's get real. Back in the day, who here honestly thought Adam Smasher was a challenge? Come on, admit it! He was less of a final boss and more of a speed bump on your way to an ending. You'd waltz into that room, pop a few shots, and he'd fall over like a rusty toaster. Pathetic, right? But then, glorious 2023 arrived with the legendary 2.1 patch, and CD Projekt Red decided to give us a taste of what a REAL monster should be. They didn't just buff him; they gave him a PhD in kicking our asses. And you know what? We players absolutely love it! In fact, some of us love it so much we can't stop. How else do you explain five separate mercs—myself proudly included—taking him down over ONE HUNDRED TIMES each? That's not just dedication; that's a beautiful, violent obsession with teaching Arasaka's pet cyberpsycho who's boss. Since the Phantom Liberty DLC dropped, the arena with Smasher has become our second home. Why settle for one victory when you can have a hundred?
The Glorious Pain of Patch 2.1: From Pushover to Nightmare
Remember the old complaints? "He's a pushover!" "Underwhelming!" "I spent more time fighting random gangoons!" Oh, we screamed it from the rooftops, and CD Projekt Red heard us loud and clear. With the 2.1 update, they did more than just tweak a few numbers. They essentially rebuilt Smasher from the ground up! They gave our boy some shiny new move sets, made his attacks far more aggressive and punishing, and then, just to rub salt in the wound, they gave him the one thing we all coveted: Sandevistan.
Can you imagine the sheer terror the first time I saw it? One moment, I'm dancing around a room-sized hunk of metal, the next, time just... stops. For him. He blurs out of existence and reappears right behind me, fist already halfway through my chest. They gave him the anime protagonist power! It's the same operating system that made David Martinez a legend in Edgerunners! This wasn't just a difficulty increase; this was CD Projekt Red saying, "You wanted a challenge? Here's a challenge that can slow down time to make your death last longer." It completely transformed the fight. Gone were the days of mindless bullet sponges. Now, it was a brutal, tactical dance of death. It's almost poetic, isn't it?
The Path to a Century of Smashes: A Merc's Manual
So, how does one rack up a triple-digit body count on a single boss? It's not like Night City has a Smasher Respawn-O-Matic. CD Projekt Red's post left us all wondering: did we play the final mission 100 times? Or did we just keep reloading our save right before the big fight? For me, and I suspect for my fellow centurions, it was a beautiful combination of both. Why grind through the entire "Point of No Return" sequence when you can create the perfect, most efficient revenge loop?
My personal roadmap to 100+ looked something like this:
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The Perfect Build: I'm not talking about just any old build. I'm talking about a meticulously crafted weapon of vengeance designed for one purpose and one purpose only: dismantling Adam Smasher. This involved:
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Maxed-out Cyberware: Chrome so thick you could see your reflection in it.
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The Ultimate Loadout: A mix of high-damage weapons to exploit his weaknesses.
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Skill Synergy: Every perk point spent with the sole intent of outmaneuvering his Sandevistan.
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The Save Slots: Oh, the beautiful save slots. One dedicated file, parked right at the door to Embers, ready for another round. Another parked in the lobby of Arasaka Tower, just before the ascent. Efficiency is key!
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The Challenge Runs: Once you've beaten him "normally," the real fun begins. Can you beat him with only a knife? What about only using quickhacks? Or no cyberware at all? The possibilities for humiliation are endless!
The Psychology of a One-Hundred-Time Victor
Why do it? Why subject yourself to that kind of punishment over and over? It's simple, really. It's the pure, unadulterated satisfaction of revenge. Every time I load up that fight, I'm not just playing a game. I'm righting a wrong. I'm aviding Jackie, I'm aviding all the poor souls Smasher crushed. Each victory is a message: "This is OUR city, you oversized tin can!" The thrill of mastering his patterns, of countering his Sandevistan with perfectly timed dodges of my own, of finding new and inventive ways to turn him into scrap metal... it's addicting. It's the ultimate power fantasy in a world designed to crush you. CD Projekt Red said it themselves: "Sometimes, mercs take on a job just for the satisfaction of revenge." They get it! We're not doing it for the eddies; we're doing it for the catharsis. Each of those 100+ victories is a tiny, pixelated declaration of independence from every corpo overlord in the game.
The Elite Five & The Endings Paradox
Now, let's talk about my fellow legends. CD Projekt Red never named us, but we know who we are. We're the ones who see Adam Smasher not as an obstacle, but as a willing participant in our favorite pastime. The post mentions this is since Phantom Liberty—that means we dedicated hundreds of hours after the main story and the amazing DLC just to keep coming back for more. Isn't that the mark of a truly great game? When the core combat loop is so satisfying that you create your own endgame?
Here's the funny part, though. Not every ending in Cyberpunk 2077 even features this fight! There are six major endings, but our buddy Smasher only shows up to get his chrome handed to him in four of them. So, for the truly dedicated, you have to specifically choose the paths that lead to his door. It makes the act of seeking him out even more intentional. We're not just finishing the story; we're going out of our way to find him for a rematch. Or a re-re-match. Or a... you get the idea.
To anyone still struggling with the new and improved Adam Smasher, I say this: don't get discouraged. Each death is a lesson. Learn his tells, upgrade your gear, and embrace the struggle. Because on the other side of that struggle isn't just an ending slide; it's the beginning of a beautiful, repetitive, and deeply satisfying hobby. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the sixth name on that unspoken list. See you in the arena, choom. 🤖💥