Sniper Rifles

Sniper rifles are the long-range guns of Night City. They are slow to fire and slow to reload, but a single round hits extremely hard. They work best in a patient Cool build that clears a camp from a rooftop. They also work in a Technical Ability build that shoots through walls.

Combat

Pros

Sniper rifles carry the highest headshot damage in the game. Most of them have +300%.
Armor matters little. Most carry 50% armor penetration, and Breakthrough reaches 100%.
Tech sniper rifles such as Nekomata and Rasetsu fire charged rounds through cover.
Breakthrough and Overwatch reach an effective range of 90, the longest of any gun.

Cons

The fire rate is very low. Overwatch, O'Five and Sparky have an attack speed of 0.4.
Heavy rifles slow the user down. SPT32 Grad slightly lowers movement speed and jump height. O'Five also prevents sprinting, dodging and dashing.
Ashura is the Smart sniper rifle. It locks onto only one enemy at a time and has half the usual headshot damage of the class.

Weapon Categories

Best Sniper Rifles

Name	Image	Why
Breakthrough		100% armor penetration, rounds pierce walls uncharged
Overwatch		+300% headshot damage, silencer and faster reload
Rasetsu		Charged rounds bend to hit several enemies
O'Five		Explosive rounds that set enemies alight
Sparky		Electric bolts on every headshot
Nekomata		Standard Tech rifle with +300% headshot damage
SPT32 Grad		Standard Power rifle with +300% headshot damage
Ashura		The Smart sniper rifle

Breakthrough has the highest armor penetration in the class. It also ties for the highest headshot damage and the longest range. Overwatch is the best choice for stealth, because of its custom silencer.

Character Builds

Cool perks improve sniper rifles, along with pistols, revolvers and precision rifles. Sniper rifles have the biggest headshot bonus in the game, so the Cool headshot perks hit hardest with them.

Deadeye adds +10% headshot and weak spot damage. While it is active, Nerves Of Tungsten-Steel guarantees crits on headshots and weak spots. It also adds up to +25% damage with distance.
Long Shot keeps full damage at any range while Deadeye is active.
Focus starts when aiming at full Stamina. Deep Breath slows time by 25% while Focus lasts.
Head To Head resets Focus after each ranged kill made during it.
High Noon speeds up the next reload after a headshot kill, and slows time during that reload.
California Reaper restores 30% Stamina after a headshot or weak spot kill.

The Headhunter skill grows with Cool. At its milestones it adds headshot damage. A later milestone removes weapon sway while crouched.

The Technical Ability perk Bolt helps Tech sniper rifles. Shock Value makes Bolts ignore enemy Armor. Kiroshi Stalker Optics connect to an equipped Tech weapon and show enemies behind cover.

For cyberware, Visual Cortex Support adds crit chance the farther away the target is, up to its maximum at 30 metres. Tyrosine Injector adds headshot damage after each takedown. Optical Camo keeps the shooter hidden.

Notes

Breakthrough's rounds pass through walls without a charge, then ricochet several times. It can also be charged while firing from the hip.
Panam Palmer gives Overwatch at the end of Riders on the Storm.
Rasetsu comes with You Know My Name. It starts on a mounted stand on top of the Black Sapphire. It can be taken after the long series of fights there.
O'Five can be won from Buck Arnold in Beat on the Brat: Arroyo. V needs enough Body to provoke him into betting it.
O'Five reloads faster and gains crit chance the more enemies are burning at once.
Sparky is in the gated cache of the SCAVENGERS Increased Criminal Activity. The key comes from the Arasaka drone.
O'Five is a very heavy weapon with +50% crit damage and +30% Burn chance. It gives up mobility for firepower.
The crafting spec for Ashura sells at the weapon vendor in Downtown. Paul Craven drops it during Desperate Sons-of-Bitches.
Power sniper rifles take a silencer, and Tech sniper rifles do not. Overwatch comes with its own.
Nekomata and Rasetsu fire like ordinary rifles until the trigger is held for a full charge. Rasetsu's charged rounds pass through enemies and bend to hit several at once.

All Sniper Rifles

Every sniper rifle is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.

Iconic Sniper Rifles

Name	Headshot	Armor Pen	Location
Borzaya			Dogtown
Breakthrough	+300%	100%	Rancho Coronado
Foxhound
O'Five		50%	Arroyo
Osprey			Dogtown
Overwatch	+300%	50%	Badlands East
Rasetsu	+300%	50%
Sparky	+250%	50%	Dogtown