Sovereign
| Sovereign | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Shotgun |
| Type | Power |
| Ammo | Shotgun Ammo |
| Tier | Iconic |
| Headshot | +85% |
| Armor Pen | 75% |
| Attack Speed | 5 |
| Range | 8 m |
| Projectiles | 6 |
| Weight | 9.6 |
| Location | Japantown |
Sovereign is an Iconic Rostović DB-4 Igla, a double-barrel shotgun built for fighting face to face. Every shot fired at point-blank range is a guaranteed crit. Hitting an enemy in the torso also speeds up V's reload and movement for a short time. Together, the two effects reward a player who walks straight into the enemy, fires, reloads fast and moves on to the next target. It is a crafted Iconic, so V first has to get its spec from a crime boss in Japantown. Sovereign is crafted in the middle of the game. Its spec drops at a Suspected Organized Crime Activity in Japantown, Westbrook.
Combat
Sovereign is a Power double-barrel shotgun, so it holds just two shells before each reload. Its whole design pushes V into close range. Shots from point-blank range always crit, which makes the first blast of a fight hit very hard. Shotguns can also knock enemies off their feet. A crit at close range often kills the target or leaves it helpless.
The second effect keeps V moving. A torso hit grants a short boost to reload speed and movement speed. A double-barrel holds only two shells, so the faster reload matters a lot. The extra speed helps V get close to the next enemy before they can react.
The point-blank crit does nothing to an enemy standing across a room, so Sovereign is weak at range. It works much better in tight interiors, gang hideouts and corridors than on open streets.
How to Get Sovereign Guide
- Explore Japantown in Westbrook until the Suspected Organized Crime Activity led by Shinobu Imai appears on the map.
- Defeat Imai and his crew.
- Loot the Sovereign crafting spec from Imai's body.
- Craft Sovereign in the crafting menu.
- If the spec was missed, buy it from Herold Lowe at the black market in the EBM Petrochem Stadium, Dogtown, with Phantom Liberty.
Sovereign Map Location
Sovereign map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Crafting Spec
Shinobu Imai drops the Sovereign spec at the Suspected Organized Crime Activity in Japantown. The spec lets V craft Sovereign in the crafting menu. Every spec in the game is listed on the Crafting Specs page.
Upgrades
Sovereign is crafted from its spec, then raised through the tiers in the Upgrades tab of the crafting menu. Both steps cost crafting components. A spec picked up early must be crafted at a low tier, which makes the later upgrades costly. Disassembling spare weapons is the quickest source of components.
The table shows what each tier step of Sovereign 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
Shotguns use the Body tree. Die! Die! Die! adds crit chance at low Stamina. It also adds fire rate and handling as Stamina drops. Like A Feather removes the movement penalty for shotguns, which helps on a weapon that needs V close. Bullet Ballet reduces the spread while moving. Spontaneous Obliteration and Close-Quarters Carnage add the chance to Obliterate weakened enemies at close range. Rush Of Blood speeds up reloads after a dismemberment. Rip And Tear doubles the damage of the next quick melee attack after a shotgun hit. The reverse is also true. It works well with a gun that is always used right next to an enemy.
For cyberware, a Sandevistan slows time and gives V time to get close and fire. Jenkins' Tendons boost sprint speed, which also helps V get close. Kiroshi Cockatrice Optics raise crit chance, which helps the shots that are not point-blank.
Select a Build
Dashes close the gap so the shotgun can blast enemies at point-blank range. A quick melee hit after a shot boosts the next one through Rip and Tear. The shotgun and LMG perks grow stronger at low Stamina, so the build keeps shooting and dashing without a pause.
Attributes: Body 20, Reflexes 20, Technical Ability 20, Intelligence 3, Cool 18.
The perks, cyberware and weapon mods for this build are listed below.
| Name | Image | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painkiller | 
|
Body 4 | Slow Health regeneration in combat |
| Dorph-Head | 
|
Body 4 | Brief full Mitigation after using a Health item |
| Speed Junkie | 
|
Body 4 | Faster Health regeneration while sprinting |
| Die! Die! Die! | 
|
Body 9 | Higher crit chance and fire rate at low Stamina |
| Bullet Ballet | 
|
Body 9 | Less bullet spread while moving |
| Like A Feather | 
|
Body 9 | No speed penalty with Shotguns and machine guns |
| Don't Stop Me Now | 
|
Body 9 | Mitigation at low Stamina |
| Adrenaline Rush | 
|
Body 15 | More Health and the Adrenaline Rush mode |
| Juggernaut | 
|
Body 15 | More speed and damage during Adrenaline Rush |
| Unstoppable Force | 
|
Body 15 | Immunity to knockdown and other status effects during Adrenaline Rush |
| Calm Mind | 
|
Body 15 | Adrenaline lasts longer before it decays |
| Spontaneous Obliteration | 
|
Body 15 | Chance to instantly kill enemies at low Health |
| Close-Quarters Carnage | 
|
Body 15 | Higher Obliterate chance at close range |
| Skullcracker | 
|
Body 15 | Quick melee hits harder at low Stamina |
| Dread | 
|
Body 15 | Ranged attacks strip enemy armor |
| Rush Of Blood | 
|
Body 15 | Faster reload after a dismemberment |
| Bloodlust | 
|
Body 15 | Dismemberments refill Adrenaline |
| Rip And Tear | 
|
Body 20 | Shotgun shots and quick melee attacks boost each other |
| Onslaught | 
|
Body 20 | Light Machine Gun kills refill ammo |
| Pain To Gain | 
|
Body 20 | Kills recharge Health items during Adrenaline Rush |
| Dash | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Unlocks the Dash and makes it cheaper |
| Air Dash | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Dash in midair |
| Tailwind | 
|
Reflexes 20 | Stamina back from Air Dashes and double jumps |
| Health Freak | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | One more Health item charge and faster recharge |
| All Things Cyber | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | Stronger cyberware stats |
| License To Chrome | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Stronger cyberware, more armor and a Skeleton slot |
| Ambidextrous | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | A second Hands cyberware slot |
| Name | Image | Slot | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| ThreatEvac | 
|
Circulatory System | Faster movement at low Health |
| Mechatronic Core | 
|
Frontal Cortex | More damage against drones, robots and mechs |
| Self-ICE | 
|
Frontal Cortex | Blocks an enemy quickhack |
| Microgenerator | 
|
Hands | Reloading an empty gun charges an electroshock shot |
| Painducer | 
|
Integumentary System | Turns part of damage taken into damage over time |
| Reinforced Tendons | 
|
Legs | Double jump |
| NeoFiber | 
|
Nervous System | More Mitigation Chance and Strength |
| Militech Apogee Sandevistan | Operating System | Slows time by 85% with crit bonuses | |
| Epimorphic Skeleton | 
|
Skeleton | More max Health |
| Spring Joints | 
|
Skeleton | Stronger Mitigation |
Lore
The Igla started life as a hunting gun. Its database entry says Rostović designed it to shoot ducks in the swamplands of Serbia. In Night City it is seen as an antique, and many complain that it makes more noise than damage. Sovereign turns that old hunting shotgun into something far more dangerous. Its in-game text has a single line: become the king of the hunt.
The spec is carried by Shinobu Imai, the boss of a Suspected Organized Crime Activity in Japantown. It is one of the NCPD scanner hustles that appear on the map as V explores Westbrook. Clearing out the crew and looting Imai's body gives V the Sovereign crafting spec. The same spot also holds a shard titled "workers".
Notes
- Sovereign is the Iconic variant of the DB-4 Igla.
Weapon Categories
All Shotguns
Every shotgun is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.
Iconic Shotguns
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabai | 
|
+85% | 25% | Dogtown |
| Amstaff | 
|
+150% | 25% | |
| Ba Xing Chong | 
|
Northside | ||
| Bloody Maria | 
|
+85% | 25% | Little China |
| Dezerter | 
|
+85% | 75% | Dogtown |
| Guts | 
|
+85% | 75% | Corpo Plaza |
| Mox | 
|
+85% | 25% | Kabuki |
| Order | 
|
+50% | 100% | Dogtown |
| Pozhar x-MOD2 | 
|
+85% | 25% | Dogtown |
| Sovereign | 
|
+85% | 75% | Japantown |
| The Headsman | 
|
25% | North Oak |
Standard Shotguns
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnage | 
|
+85% | 50% | Downtown |
| Crusher | 
|
+135% | ||
| DB-2 Satara | 
|
+85% | 50% | |
| DB-2 Testera | 
|
+85% | 50% | |
| DB-4 Igla | 
|
+85% | 25% | Northside |
| DB-4 Palica | 
|
+35% | ||
| L-69 Zhuo | 
|
+35% | 25% | |
| M2038 Tactician | 
|
+85% | 25% | |
| VST-37 Pozhar | 
|
+85% | 25% |