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Adam Smasher is most vulnerable when you expose the cybernetic heart on the right side of his chest, then combine electrical or physical damage with disruption tools. Break the armor plate covering that point, punish his recovery animations, and leave every red rocket-impact circle immediately. Frag grenades, Weapon Malfunction, and Cyberware Malfunction make the fight safer; stealth can remove a large amount of health before the open battle begins.
The battle occurs during the Totalimmortal main job in Arasaka Tower and has three practical phases. His weapons, movement, and reinforcements change as his health falls, so a single tactic is less reliable than a plan that preserves mobility, RAM, ammunition, healing items, and an escape route.
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Why Adam Smasher is dangerous
Smasher combines a heavy ranged arsenal with punishing close-range attacks. His right-hand cannon can force you out of cover, while charges, punch combinations, and a jumping strike punish anyone who stays in one place. He can also destroy cover, so a position that is safe for a few seconds may not remain safe. Chemical damage is a poor primary choice because encounter guidance lists resistance to it.
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The arena becomes more dangerous in the middle of the fight. Smasher calls reinforcements as his health drops, adding enemies that can interrupt a dodge, block a retreat, or force you to look away from a rocket marker. The safest approach is therefore not simply “stay behind cover and shoot.” Keep a route around the arena, move before cover fails, and use control effects to reduce the pressure while you attack his exposed weak point.
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Phases and the behavior changes to expect
The following thresholds are approximate observations from encounter guidance, not universal damage calculations. Difficulty, build, and game patch can alter the exact timing.
| Phase | Approximate trigger | What Smasher does | Your priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening | Start of the fight to roughly 60% health | Uses his full arsenal, including the right-hand cannon, charges, jump attacks, punches, and cover-destroying fire. | Break the chest plate, target the heart, and use cover only as a temporary tool. Save a dodge or dash for a charge or jump. |
| Middle | After about 60% health; he loses the right hand | Calls reinforcements and relies more heavily on rocket barrages, movement, and melee pressure. | Clear enemies that can close your escape route, watch for red impact circles, and shoot during his travel or recovery windows. |
| Finish | Below about 15% health | Is severely weakened and has been deprived of his main weapons, but remains dangerous at melee range. | End the fight decisively without standing in front of a final punch combo or jump landing. |
His clearest weak point: the cybernetic heart
The target to prioritize is the cybernetic heart on the right side of Smasher’s chest. It is protected by a front armor plate, so shooting the general torso first is less effective than deliberately breaking that plate. Once the point is exposed, concentrate accurate fire on it for increased damage.
How to expose it
- Position yourself where you can see the front of his torso without standing in a rocket marker or melee range.
- Use controlled shots on the front chest plate until it breaks. Avoid wasting a magazine on limbs or armor while the plate is still intact.
- As soon as the heart is visible, switch your aim to that exposed point. Continue moving laterally so you are not stationary when he retargets you.
- When he turns away, kneels after a jump, or travels between positions, use that short opening for your most accurate burst.
The heart is a damage opportunity, not permission to ignore the arena. A good hit is worth less than a safe position if a rocket circle or a charging Smasher is already on top of you.
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Right-hand cannon
During the opening phase, the cannon supplies sustained long-range pressure. Use available cover to break line of sight, but do not assume a single barricade will last because Smasher can destroy cover. Peek only long enough to fire at the chest plate or heart, then relocate before the position is demolished.
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Charges and punch combinations
His punch strings inflict significant melee damage. If he begins closing the distance, move laterally rather than backing straight into a wall or another enemy. A Weapon Malfunction quickhack can reduce the effectiveness of his ranged threat; it does not replace the need to leave melee range.
Jump attack
A jump attack can knock V down. A quick lateral jump, dash, or clean exit from the landing area avoids it. After he lands, he briefly kneels; that is one of the most reliable moments to punish him, provided you are not already inside the next attack’s range.
Rocket barrages
Rocket attacks are telegraphed by a kneeling or forward-leaning animation. Red circles then mark the impact zones on the floor. Leave each marked area immediately. Do not try to finish a reload, trade damage, or revive an ally while standing inside a circle. Once the barrage ends, re-establish a line to the chest and use the recovery window.
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Cover buys time but is not permanent protection. When a barrier starts failing, move to the next piece of cover before the cannon or rockets force you into the open. If Smasher turns away or walks between positions, treat the travel animation as a controlled shooting window rather than chasing him into a bad angle.
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Reinforcements
Reinforcements arrive in the middle phase. They are not merely extra targets: they can interrupt your escape from rockets and make a heart shot impossible. Eliminate enemies that occupy your movement lane first, then return to Smasher. If your build can disable or stagger these enemies safely, use that control while you preserve ammunition for the boss.
Electrical damage and disruption tools
Electricity
Encounter guidance identifies Smasher as susceptible to electrical damage. An electrical weapon or effect is therefore a sensible primary damage type when your build supports it. Electricity does not make you immune to rockets or punches; pair it with movement and chest targeting.
Frag grenades
Frag grenades damage Smasher and his cyberware. Throw them when he is committed to a landing, recovery, or narrow route, and use them to pressure him while you change position. Do not stop moving to line up a perfect throw during a rocket warning.
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Weapon Malfunction reduces the effectiveness of long-range attacks. Apply it when the cannon is controlling the arena or when you need a safer window to cross between cover. It is a threat-reduction tool, so its value is highest before you expose yourself for a heart shot.
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Cyberware Malfunction
Cyberware Malfunction is described as a high-damage quickhack. Use it when you have enough RAM to upload it without leaving yourself unable to respond to a sudden rocket or melee sequence. Its exact damage and upload time vary with build, difficulty, and patch.
A practical open-combat procedure
- Prepare a circuit. Before firing, identify two or three pieces of cover and a clear lane around the arena. Do not choose a position that ends at a wall or a reinforcement spawn.
- Open on the chest plate. Use your most accurate weapon or electrical attack to break the plate over the right-side heart. Keep a reserve dodge or dash available.
- Exploit recovery animations. Fire during the brief kneel after a jump, while he turns, or while he travels between positions. Stop attacking and move when a charge begins.
- React to rockets first. When Smasher kneels or leans forward and red circles appear, leave the circles immediately. Reacquire the heart only after the barrage has finished.
- Handle the middle phase deliberately. At roughly 60% health, expect the right hand to be gone and reinforcements to appear. Clear anything blocking your route, then resume heart shots.
- Spend disruption before desperation. Weapon Malfunction, Cyberware Malfunction, and frag grenades are most useful when they create a safe damage window, not after you are already trapped.
- Finish without overcommitting. Below roughly 15% health, Smasher is in the finish phase, but melee range is still hazardous. Keep circling, take the final heart or head-level shots your weapon allows, and leave any new impact marker.
Stealth and pre-fight damage
Stealth is a legitimate alternative to a full frontal opening. Break line of sight, reboot his optics, or distract him with cameras to leave combat. The encounter guide reports that a first stealth attack can remove up to 40% of his health. That is an opportunity reported for the encounter, not a guaranteed percentage on every difficulty or build.
After additional enemies are dealt with, further stealth opportunities may be possible. The practical sequence is to separate from the fight, remove or distract nearby threats, and attack only when Smasher’s detection has been broken. If he reacquires V, switch to the open-combat procedure rather than repeatedly attempting a risky reset in the same lane.
How a netrunner build can beat him
Quickhacks work, but they are not free. You need a cyberdeck, and each hack consumes RAM. Intelligence attributes and perks influence the available hacking options, RAM recovery, and queueing behavior. CD PROJEKT RED describes hacking as a way to reach information from afar and infect networks or manipulate groups of objects and enemies; in this fight, that means you can weaken Smasher while staying outside immediate melee range.
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RAM management
- Keep enough RAM for an emergency control or disruption hack after the first upload.
- Do not queue every available hack at once if doing so leaves no resource for the next rocket warning.
- Use RAM recovery and queueing perks according to your build rather than assuming a fixed upload speed.
- Expect exact damage and upload times to vary by Intelligence investment, difficulty, cyberdeck, and patch.
Recommended quickhack order
- Use Weapon Malfunction when the cannon is the immediate threat.
- Apply Cyberware Malfunction when you have a clear upload window and enough RAM to keep an emergency reserve.
- Move while the hacks resolve; never stand still simply because an upload bar is active.
- Use the resulting opening to expose the chest plate or attack the heart with a weapon that benefits from electrical or physical pressure.
A netrunner still has to read the arena. Quickhacks do not cancel red rocket circles, the jump knockdown, or reinforcements. Treat hacking as control layered onto movement, not as an invitation to remain stationary.
Build choices by risk and resource type
| Approach | Strength in this encounter | Main risk | What to manage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical ranged build | Matches the identified electrical susceptibility and can attack the heart from safer distance. | Reloading or aiming in a rocket circle; cover may be destroyed. | Ammunition, healing, lateral movement, and a reserve dodge. |
| Physical ranged build | Reliable pressure on the chest plate and exposed heart without depending on a specific hack. | Long sightlines can leave you exposed to the cannon and rockets. | Ammo, cover rotation, and timing around kneels and travel. |
| Melee build | Can punish jump landings, turns, and other recovery windows heavily. | Must enter the range of punches, charges, and the jump knockdown. | Stamina, dodge timing, and a route out before rockets land. |
| Netrunner | Can reduce ranged pressure and deal cyberware damage from a distance. | Running out of RAM or being interrupted during an upload. | Cyberdeck RAM, upload timing, Intelligence investment, and emergency control. |
| Stealth opener | Can front-load substantial damage before the open fight. | Detection or nearby enemies can end the reset attempt. | Line of sight, optics disruption, cameras, and the follow-up route. |
Preparation checklist
- Carry at least one weapon suited to electrical or strong physical damage; do not build the plan around chemical damage.
- Equip Weapon Malfunction and, if your cyberdeck and RAM support it, Cyberware Malfunction.
- Restock frag grenades, ammunition, and healing items before entering the encounter.
- Choose an escape lane that remains usable after cover is destroyed.
- Reserve a dodge, dash, or equivalent movement option for charges, jump attacks, and rockets.
- If using quickhacks, verify your cyberdeck, RAM capacity, recovery options, and Intelligence perks.
- Expect reinforcements and avoid spending every resource during the opening phase.
Common mistakes and fixes
Trying to tank the rockets
Red circles are a movement instruction. Leave them immediately, even if Smasher is nearly defeated.
Firing at armor without a target plan
Break the right-side chest plate, then move your aim to the exposed heart. Random limb fire extends the dangerous phases.
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Because Smasher can destroy cover, rotate between positions and keep a clear route rather than crouching behind one barrier for the whole fight.
Ignoring reinforcements
Enemies that block your route can be more dangerous than a small delay in boss damage. Clear the threats that can interrupt your escape, then return to the heart.
Spending all RAM or ammunition early
The middle and finish phases still demand resources. Keep an emergency reserve for control, healing, and the final movement sequence.
Version and timing caveat
CD PROJEKT RED’s Patch 1.5 notes documented improvements and fixes to enemy combat AI, including Adam Smasher boss-fight behavior. Exact animation timing, damage, and quickhack performance should therefore be described with the game version or patch in mind. The phase thresholds and attack cues above are practical guide observations; they are not a promise that every difficulty, platform, or later patch will produce identical numbers.
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