It's always essential to make a first impression. Even in Cyberpunk 2077. When you meet a character you want to romance, the protagonist should be courteous. When you meet a business partner, you want to be professional. And when you meet an enemy, you want to show them you are not a person to be trifled with.
Saying "hello" with a sniper rifle is the best way to do just that. You can always switch to an assault rifle or melee weapon later, but your opening salvo should be with one of these scoped and accurate weapons that ensure your first shot is the best. They are not all created equal, but the competition to be the best is a tough one to rank.
Updated 11th of May, 2023, by Michael Llewellyn: Thanks to Cyberpunk 2077's updates and patches, the selection of weapons, unique and otherwise, has increased the already rich library of weapons on offer. Many of the best iconic weapons and their legendary variants utilize different powers to defeat V's enemies. Whether it's self-guided bullets or ammo so destructive it can penetrate walls, you will find a weapon that suits your playstyle in Cyberpunk 2077. This list has been updated to include more unique sniper rifles to make short work of the villains in Night City and the Badlands.
O'Five
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Epic/Iconic Sniper Rifle |
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Power Weapon |
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Thermal damage |
44% Critical Chance |
6% Burn Chance |
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All ammo types become explosive. |
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The O'Five might be the lowest of the unique sniper rifles, but it's still pretty great. The damage is solid, the aim feels good, and the explosive ammo adds more impact. It is obtained in the optional side quest Beat on the Brat: Arroyo. V must get Buck to agree to put up his O'Five sniper rifle as a bet in a fistfight. After beating him, Buck and his gang will try and kill V, so defeat them by any means necessary - guns - to take them down. After the fight, loot Buck and collect the weapon.
Visually, it's fun to fire a shot and watch the ragdoll from the explosive effect. The real issue here is that the ricochet doesn't matter, and the slow firing time means the thermal damage usually isn't applicable.
Breakthrough
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Epic/Iconic/Legendary Sniper Rifle |
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Tech Weapon |
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Bullets can penetrate and ricochet from walls |
The Breakthrough might not have the damage of those ranked higher, but it has one advantage that none of the others can boast. Using Quick Hack and ping on one enemy will reveal all of V's enemies. Then you can get behind cover and clear a room with the targets completely unable to see you.
An uncharged shot is enough to kill most standard enemies with a single headshot. Using tech power, anyone except a boss or cyber psycho will be out of commission. This is the gun for fans of the intelligent attribute. The Breakthrough is obtained using the crafting spec found on Olga Elizabeth Longmead after killing her in the Suspected Organized Crime job called New Boss, New Rules.
Widow Maker
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Rare/Inconic Precision Sniper Rifle |
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Tech Weapon |
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Shoots with chemical damage |
Chance of poison |
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Holding the trigger can charge and fire two shots |
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The model is based on an assault rifle, but the single shots and their sheer power emphasize over and over that this is a sniper rifle. They don't call it a Widow Maker for no reason. If you're married and decide to go against somebody with this, you should ensure your will and life insurance policies are in order.
The rifle can fire two shots at once. The damage is as wild as it sounds on paper. Also, don't forget that this is a tech weapon, so it charges up for multiplied damage. That's magnified damage on both shots if you can line it up. The Widow Maker is obtained by completing the Ghost Town side job, but V must choose to help Panam to get it.
*Tsunami Nekomata
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Iconic/Legendary Sniper Rifle |
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Tech Weapon |
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Can be charged for a more powerful shot |
300% head damage |
The Nekomata sniper rifle comes in Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants. Naturally, you will want to obtain the highest-tier version as early as possible. The good news is it can be purchased earlier in Cyberpunk 2077's story from the Iron & Lead weapons vendor in Northside. The bad news is it costs 200,000 Eurodollars.
It's a powerful weapon, but the Legendary Nekomata has a slower fire rate when compared to other weapons on this list. If you don't feel like parting with 200,000 Eurodollars, the Nekomata can be looted from Arasaka snipers in the Gimme Danger mission. The legendary variant can be crafted using the Edgerunner Partisan perk with a crafting skill level of 18.
Techtronika SPT32 Grad
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Iconic/Legendary Sniper Rifle |
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Power Weapon |
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300% head damage |
Can be modified to increase stats |
The SPT32 Grad is a bolt-action sniper rifle with a low fire rate but high damage output if V has body attribute stats at level 10. Without the correct stats, V can't run with the rifle drawn, and recoil and sway make it less controllable in a gunfight.
The Legendary variant of the SPT32 Grad rifle can't be crafted, but it can be purchased from the weapon vendor in the Arroyo and Wellsprings subdistricts. Better still, the Legendary SPT32 is a reward from Dakota after completing the We Gotta Live Together quest. There is also a chance that V will find it on a Scavenger in the Beat on the Brat: Pacifica side quest.
Tsunami Ashura
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Inconic/Legendary Sniper Rifle |
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Smart Weapon |
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Fires self-guided micro-projectiles |
4.6x Headshot Damage |
The Legendary variant of the Tsunami Ashura is the most effective smart weapon in Cyberpunk 2077. It fires self-guided ammunition and can shoot enemies hiding on corners or behind obstacles. It is hard to miss an enemy using the Ashura. The rifle can be modified with better scopes for improved accuracy.
The Tsunami Ashura can be purchased for 250,000 Eurodollars from the 2nd Amendment, Heywood, and The Glen vendors. Or it can be obtained for free after completing the Riders on the Storm side quest found in the Badlands district. V must collect it from the catwalk above the main building's entrance.
Overwatch
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Rare/Iconic/Legendary Sniper Rifle |
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Power Weapon |
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A built-in silencer that doesn't lower damage output |
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Chance to apply bleed |
Faster reload speed |
At first, there are not too many eye-popping extras on the Overwatch. The bleed effects don't matter much for sniper rifles, and the fact that it's a powerful weapon is strange because you don't count on bullet ricochet when you're using a slow, scoped weapon. But two things make this the unquestionably best sniper rifle but perhaps the best gun in the game.
Silencers are great, but adding one to your weapon decreases its damage. The Overwatch has a silencer built in that does not reduce the damage. Maybe they accidentally added some digits and forgot to correct it, but the gun deals five-digit damage. It's a simple one-shot kill on pretty much everything. The Overwatch is obtained after completing The Riders on the Storm side quest.