You’ll Either Kill or Recruit Bronkin Bucko in High on Life 2 – Here’s How Both Paths Really Work

Kill or Recruit Bronkin Bucko: The Short Version

The Movie Star Bronkin Bucko contract is the fourth bounty in High on Life 2, and the game deliberately hands him to you in the open to bait a reflex headshot. That headshot works — but it quietly locks you out of the better outcome.

• Kill him (lethal): Shoot Bronkin on the sidewalk, win the firefight, and his twin Peter takes over and joins you at Quarters. Fast, but you lose the achievement.
• Recruit him (non-lethal): Hold your fire, walk him to 8th & Central, sit through his full monologue, pick Gus’ dialogue option, and Bronkin survives and joins your team.
• Reward for the slow path: the missable Starstruck achievement.
• Point of no return: the moment Bronkin walks past you after the informant chat. One shot at him or a guard commits you to lethal.

This guide walks both outcomes step by step: how long to wait, which dialogue to pick, and exactly when you are about to lock yourself into the kill.

Getting the Bounty and Reaching Damian Coldstone

Bronkin Bucko opens up after you clear the first three bounties. Back at Quarters, interact with the Bounty Hunter 5000 and select the contract for Movie Star Bronkin Bucko. It sends you to Circuit Arcadia, the neon district you have already passed through during earlier story beats.

Bring the right loadout before you head out:

• Gus equipped: you need Gus’ dialogue option to recruit Bronkin on the non-lethal route.
• One fast-firing gun: for clearing security if the fight breaks out (Kenny-style weapons handle the first wave well).
• Skateboard ready: you will be weaving around cars and cover if combat starts.

Follow the waypoint into Circuit Arcadia. The mission marks an alley near the tower west of the district, where your informant Damian Coldstone is waiting — the first of three informants the team points you toward. Walk in and talk to him. The dialogue flavour does not matter; triggering the conversation is what counts. Back out, and the real setup begins: Bronkin Bucko walks past on his way to a commercial shoot, flanked by bodyguards.

This is where most players see “target in the open” and start blasting. That is Path 1. If you want the non-lethal Path 2, this is where you hold back.

Bronkin on the Sidewalk: The Real Point of No Return

As you step out of Damian’s alley, you will see Bronkin walking down the street, two bodyguards behind him, and civilians milling around a busy film-set vibe leading toward his shoot. The game tempts you to take the shot: the HUD highlights him, your guns crack jokes, and it reads like a rare easy bounty. That is deliberate — the mission is testing whether you grab the low-effort kill or hang back.

From here you have two routes:

• Route 1 — Lethal: shoot Bronkin now, fight security, meet Peter.
• Route 2 — Non-lethal: hold fire, walk him to 8th & Central, listen to the full monologue, and recruit him.

Both are broken down below so you pick the one you want instead of the one your trigger finger picks by reflex.

Route 1 — Lethal: Take the Shot and Let Peter Take Over

Step 1: Kill Bronkin in the Street

Aim at Bronkin and fire. A headshot drops him, but any focused burst does the job. The moment he goes down:

• His two bodyguards aggro immediately.
• Extra security and set personnel spawn in around cars and cover.
• The sidewalk turns into a mid-sized firefight arena.

To clear it cleanly:

• Use the skateboard to keep moving across the street when enemies group up.
• Swap to a fast-firing weapon to melt the first wave of guards.
• Take cover behind parked cars and props when the farther shooters start chipping your health.

It is not the hardest fight in the game, but higher difficulties punish standing in the open. Once every hostile marker is gone, the game points you back to Bronkin’s body.

Step 2: Approach the Body and Meet Peter

Walk up to Bronkin’s body. A short scene triggers: the body stands back up and addresses you — there is someone else inside, his twin brother Peter. The game plays it straight for dark comedy. What matters:

• Peter says he is not involved with Rhea Pharma.
• He knew Bronkin was dirty and shrugs off his brother’s death.
• He offers his legal expertise and joins your side.

There is no meaningful choice here. The bounty completes, and Peter effectively replaces Bronkin as the person you see later at Quarters.

Step 3: Return to Quarters

With the fight over and Peter introduced, head back to Quarters, interact with the Bounty Hunter 5000 to turn in the contract, and look around your base. Peter hangs out there with quips about contracts, liability, and doing things by the book.

Lethal route summary:

• Time: fast — essentially one street fight.
• Outcome: Bronkin is dead, Peter joins you.
• Pros: quick, straightforward, fun combat.
• Cons: you miss the Starstruck achievement and never see Bronkin as an ally.

Route 2 — Non-lethal: Escort Bronkin and Unlock “Starstruck”

The non-lethal route is simple to describe and easy to fail: do not shoot, and do not get impatient.

Step 1: Holster Your Gun and Wait

When Bronkin walks past after the chat with Damian, do not fire at him or his guards. Walk up close enough to trigger his dialogue. After some banter, he asks you to lead him to 8th & Central. At this point:

• Keep your gun holstered — do not aim at anyone.
• Stay near Bronkin so he keeps following you.
• Do not shoot or melee his bodyguards; they peel off naturally as you move away.

One stray shot that tags a guard flips the scene into a firefight and shoves you back onto the lethal path. This is the point where you have to unlearn the shoot-first reflex.

Step 2: Lead Bronkin to 8th & Central

Follow the marker toward the intersection. There is no required route, but a few things keep it smooth:

• Do not rush far ahead on the skateboard — if Bronkin drops off-screen too long, he slows or stops.
• Glance back regularly to confirm he is still following and not stuck on geometry or NPCs.
• If he snags on a corner, walk back toward him; stepping close again frees him.

At 8th & Central, Bronkin stops and starts opening up about his situation, Rhea Pharma, and how trapped he feels in the arrangement.

Step 3: Let the Full Monologue Play

This is the make-or-break step. Bronkin goes into a long confession — roughly 3 to 5 minutes of continuous talking. Do not wander off, do not shoot anything, and do not interrupt. As he talks, he lays out how deep Rhea Pharma’s ties go, his discomfort with what they are doing, and his growing desire to walk away from all of it.

The design rewards patience. Wander toward a side alley before the speech ends and the scene breaks — nothing special happens and you have to reload. Stand still and listen until the very last line.

Step 4: Pick Gus’ Dialogue Option to Recruit Bronkin

After the monologue, a set of dialogue choices appears, one per talking gun. To stay on the non-lethal path and turn Bronkin against Rhea Pharma, pick Gus’ dialogue option.

Gus pushes the angle of leaving the pharma deal behind and doing some actual good. Choose it, and Bronkin agrees to break ties with Rhea and join your team instead of dying on the sidewalk. Pick a more aggressive or cynical voice and you risk talking yourself back into a lethal outcome — if you are after the achievement, go with Gus.

Step 5: Completion, “Starstruck,” and Back to Quarters

Once Bronkin agrees to join, the bounty completes without a shot fired. You still get your reward, and you unlock the Starstruck achievement for resolving the contract non-lethally and recruiting the movie star instead of killing him. Head back to Quarters, cash in at the Bounty Hunter 5000, and you will now find Bronkin Bucko himself at your base, reacting to later story beats as an ally rather than a corpse on the pavement.

Non-lethal route summary:

• Time: slower — you walk him over and sit through the full monologue.
• Outcome: Bronkin survives, joins your side, Starstruck unlocked.
• Pros: unique dialogue, the achievement, and a fun twist on standard bounty design.
• Cons: easy to ruin by shooting too early or interrupting the speech.

Common Mistakes

• Reflex-shooting Bronkin: if you kill him but wanted the non-lethal route, reload the last checkpoint — the autosave sits close to the Damian conversation, so you lose only a couple of minutes.
• Tagging a bodyguard by accident: any stray shot that starts combat pushes you toward the lethal outcome. Either commit to the firefight or reload immediately.
• Walking away during the monologue: stray too far while Bronkin is talking at 8th & Central and the scene fizzles out. Stay put until the dialogue choices appear.
• Picking the wrong gun’s dialogue: skip Gus at the end of the speech and you can miss the recruitment. If the conversation heads the wrong way, reload and try again.

What Changes Later Depending on Your Choice

Either route advances the main story: you complete the fourth bounty, bank the payout, and push the Rhea Pharma plot forward. The differences are flavour and achievements:

• Lethal: Peter appears at Quarters with legal-themed jokes and commentary.
• Non-lethal: Bronkin himself hangs out at Quarters, commenting on showbiz, the bounty world, and his decision to turn on Rhea Pharma — plus you bank the Starstruck achievement.

Neither path locks you out of future missions, but the non-lethal outcome is easy to miss on a blind playthrough. If you want the full cast in Quarters and as many achievements as possible in one run, do the slower escort-and-monologue version at least once.

For the rest of the contracts, the same instinct applies — read the setup before you shoot. If this mission tripped you up, the next one will not: see how to play the Berkel bounty correctly. And if you got stuck earlier, here is how to escape High on Life 2’s prison by building a gun from junk.

Practical Takeaway

Bronkin’s bounty is less about difficulty and more about restraint. Get the bounty from the Bounty Hunter 5000, reach Damian Coldstone in Circuit Arcadia, then decide before Bronkin walks past: shoot for the fast kill and Peter at Quarters, or hold fire, escort him to 8th & Central, sit through the 3-to-5-minute monologue, pick Gus, and recruit him for the missable Starstruck achievement. The non-lethal path is the only way to keep Bronkin alive, so do it on the run where it matters.