Hercules 3AX
| Hercules 3AX | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Assault Rifle |
| Type | Smart |
| Ammo | Heavy Ammo |
| Tier | Iconic |
| Headshot | +50% |
| Armor Pen | 25% |
| Attack Speed | 10 |
| Range | 42 m |
| Weight | 7.2 |
| Location | Dogtown |
The Hercules 3AX is a Militech prototype, an Iconic assault rifle from Phantom Liberty that mixes Power and Smart technology in one gun. Fired from the hip, it sprays explosive rounds on curved paths. When aimed, its bullets home in on targets, because the tracking is built into the gun itself. Its rounds can badly Poison enemies. Poisoned enemies take more crit damage. Every kill bursts into a pool of acid. It is a rifle for handling crowds, for players who want smart-gun tracking without first putting points into Intelligence. The Hercules 3AX is a Phantom Liberty find during the gig Roads to Redemption. It is inside the weapons factory under the EBM Petrochem Stadium in Dogtown.
Combat
The Hercules 3AX has two ways of firing. From the hip, it fires explosive rounds on a curved path, so a burst can swing around cover and hit a group. When aimed, the rounds track the target like those of a smart gun. The huge magazine lets V keep the trigger down through a whole fight.
Its Iconic effects build on each other. Hits have a chance to apply a heavy Poison, which deals Chemical damage over time and lowers Armor. Poisoned enemies then take more damage from crits. When an enemy dies, it explodes in Chemical damage. It leaves a pool of acid that keeps hurting anyone who stands in it. Against packed gang members or a squad moving through a corridor, one kill can weaken the rest.
How to Get Hercules 3AX Guide
- Take the gig Roads to Redemption from Mr. Hands in Dogtown.
- Meet Nele Springer at the EBM Petrochem Stadium and get the factory code 1701.
- Enter the stadium's weapons factory, the Nighthawks Rehabilitation Center.
- Search the shooting range and storage section for the cache holding the Hercules 3AX.
- If the rifle was missed, buy it later from Herold Lowe at the black market in the stadium.
Hercules 3AX Map Location and Quest Guide
- Take the gig Roads to Redemption from Mr. Hands in Dogtown.
- Join Nele at her table and get the factory code 1701.
- Enter the stadium's weapons factory, the Nighthawks Rehabilitation Center.
- Search the shooting range and storage area for the cache.
- Take the Hercules 3AX from the cache.
Hercules 3AX map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Upgrades
The prototype rifle can be raised through the tiers from the crafting menu, under Upgrades. Each step costs crafting components, which V earns by looting, crafting and dismantling spare weapons. The Hercules 3AX has to be in V's inventory, not the stash, for the upgrade to appear.
The table shows what each tier step of Hercules 3AX costs.
| Upgrade | Components | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 to Tier 1+ | 75 Tier 1 components | - |
| Tier 1+ to Tier 2 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 2 to Tier 2+ | 75 Tier 2 components | - |
| Tier 2+ to Tier 3 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 3 to Tier 3+ | 75 Tier 3 components | - |
| Tier 3+ to Tier 4 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 4 to Tier 4+ | 75 Tier 4 components | - |
| Tier 4+ to Tier 5 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 5 to Tier 5+ | 75 Tier 5 components | - |
| Tier 5+ to Tier 5++ | 200 Tier 5 components | Phantom Liberty |
Character Builds
The rifle uses perks from two attribute trees, Intelligence and Reflexes. As a Smart weapon, it benefits from the Intelligence perks for smart targeting. Acquisition Specialist widens the smart targeting circle and speeds up lock-on. Targeting Prism adds multiple target locks while aiming. No Escape resets a fading target lock when V shoots that enemy. Recirculation restores RAM after a Smart weapon kill. It keeps quickhacks available in a build that mixes guns and netrunning.
As an assault rifle, it also uses the Reflexes tree. Sharpshooter improves aim speed and weapon control. Practice Makes Perfect gives crit chance and crit damage for each Sharpshooter stack. Crits are doubly useful here, because poisoned enemies take more crit damage. Black Mamba cyberware adds damage of all other kinds against poisoned enemies. A Sandevistan with crit bonuses, such as the Militech Apogee, lets a long burst land more crits while time is slowed.
Select a Build
Control quickhacks and Smart weapons are the focus of the build. A fight opens with a high jump and Projectile Launch System shots that trigger Pyromania. Overclock then goes on, and the Hercules 3AX finishes the rest.
Attributes: Body 18, Reflexes 20, Technical Ability 20, Intelligence 20, Cool 3.
The perks, cyberware and weapon mods for this build are listed below.
| Name | Image | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painkiller | 
|
Body 4 | Slow Health regeneration in combat |
| Adrenaline Rush | 
|
Body 15 | More Health and the Adrenaline Rush mode |
| No Escape | 
|
Intelligence 9 | Shooting a target keeps its Smart lock |
| Precision Subroutines | 
|
Intelligence 9 | Smart weapon accuracy grows with max RAM |
| Target Lock Transfer | 
|
Intelligence 15 | Smart locks survive weapon swaps and hip fire |
| Targeting Prism | 
|
Intelligence 15 | Lock on to more targets at once |
| Acquisition Specialist | 
|
Intelligence | Bigger reticle and faster lock on for Smart weapons |
| Ready, Rested, Reloaded | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Cheaper rifle and SMG fire and faster reloads |
| Dash | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Dash replaces the dodge |
| Gundancer | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Full speed while aiming and shooting while vaulting |
| Practice Makes Perfect | Reflexes 15 | Crit chance and crit damage per Sharpshooter stack | |
| Sharpshooter | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Faster aim and Stamina stacks on hits |
| Air Dash | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Dash in midair |
| Salt In The Wound | 
|
Reflexes 20 | Bonus damage after 7 hits on one target |
| Machine Learning | 
|
Relic | Crit damage builds on enemy Vulnerabilities |
| Vulnerability Analytics | 
|
Relic | Hits on enemy Vulnerabilities always crit |
| All Things Cyber | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | Stronger cyberware stats |
| Chrome Constitution | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | Less damage taken with full Skeleton and Integumentary slots |
| License To Chrome | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Stronger cyberware, more armor and a Skeleton slot |
| Edgerunner | Technical Ability 20 | Cyberware past the capacity limit for a small Health cost |
| Name | Image | Slot | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heal-On-Kill | 
|
Circulatory System | Health on each kill |
| Behavioral Imprint-Synced Faceplate | 
|
Face | A disguise that escapes the police |
| Quantum Tuner | 
|
Frontal Cortex | Resets a used cyberware cooldown |
| Smart Link | 
|
Hands | Smart targeting for Smart weapons |
| Cogito Lattice | 
|
Integumentary System | More armor when RAM runs low |
| Kerenzikov | 
|
Nervous System | Slows time when aiming during a slide or dodge |
| NeoFiber | 
|
Nervous System | More mitigation chance and strength |
| Rara Avis | 
|
Skeleton | More armor |
Lore
The rifle is a Militech prototype with a Smart Link built into the gun itself, so V does not need the cyberware. It also has a 90-round magazine. Militech combines that homing tech with poison rounds that make their targets explode.
The gun turns up in Roads to Redemption, a gig from Mr. Hands. The client is Nele Springer, a member of Crimson Harvest, a terrorist cell that bombs Biotechnica targets. Nele wants out and needs V to sabotage the cell's next weapon. V meets her at the stadium and takes the entry code 1701. The job leads into the stadium's weapons factory, the Nighthawks Rehabilitation Center. From there it goes down to a production area in an old swimming pool. There V uploads Nele's software into a Net-nuke. The Hercules 3AX is stored in a cache in the shooting range and storage section on the way. Afterwards, Biotechnica agents try to take Nele. V decides whether to hand her over or fight for her.
Notes
- The Hercules 3AX is missable during the gig, but Herold Lowe sells it afterwards.
Weapon Categories
All Assault Rifles
Every assault rifle is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.
Iconic Assault Rifles
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmen | 
|
+100% | 50% | Dogtown |
| Chinook | 
|
|||
| Divided We Stand | 
|
+50% | Rancho Coronado | |
| Hawk | 
|
+175% | 25% | Dogtown |
| Hercules 3AX | 
|
+50% | 25% | Dogtown |
| Kyubi x-MOD2 | 
|
+150% | 25% | Dogtown |
| Moron Labe | 
|
+85% | 25% | Badlands South |
| Pit Bull | 
|
|||
| Prejudice | 
|
+100% | 25% | Little China |
| Psalm 11:6 | 
|
+100% | 25% | Northside |
| Umbra x-MOD2 | 
|
+100% | 25% | Dogtown |
Standard Assault Rifles
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D5 Copperhead | 
|
+100% | 25% | |
| D5 Sidewinder | 
|
+50% | ||
| DA8 Umbra | 
|
+100% | 25% | |
| HJSH-18 Masamune | 
|
+125% | 25% | |
| Kyubi | 
|
|||
| M251s Ajax | 
|
+100% | 25% | |
| Nowaki | 
|
+150% |