There are many different ways to play Mass Effect 3. A shotgun can be used up close and personal, a SMG or a pistol can be used for power, and an assault rifle can be used at medium range. A sniper rifle may be the way to go for those who prefer to keep combat at a distance and nail enemy forces with devastating head shots. 

But which one is the best? Many of the options will require a large number of credits, and unless you carried over a save from Mass Effect 2 or completed every single side mission and picked up a quest, you may not have enough to purchase them all. 

Read on as we rank all twelve snipers that can be found in the game, so you can save your credits for the upgrades. mods and cool-looking armour. 

12. Collector Sniper Rifle 

Collector sniper rifle multiplayer gameplay 

The Collector sniper rifle is first on our list. All things considered, it is a fun gun, but it is unfortunately a multi-payer exclusive weapon, and even then you will need to be lucky enough to get it from one of the game's numerous loot boxes. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Collector_Sniper_Rifle  

11. M-92 Mantis 

M-92 Mantis gameplay 

The M-92 Mantis is the starting weapon for the infiltrator class and does a good job for the first few missions. Anything past that, though, I would recommend getting one of the other sniper rifles found on this list, otherwise it might make you regret using it. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/M-92_Mantis#Mass_Effect_3  

10. M-13 Raptor 

M-13 Raptor acquisition and gameplay 

The M-13 Raptor is a mediocre sniper rifle found during the Priority: Sur'Kesh mission and later at Batarian State Arms in the Citadel. It doesn't deal a great amount of damage, so it might not be considered an upgrade to the Mantis, but it has a quick reload and can fire off shots in fairly rapid succession while staying accurate. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/M-13_Raptor 

9. M-97 Viper 

M-97 Viper gameplay 

The M-97 Viper is a great upgrade to the Mantis, and it can be found for free during Priority: Palaven or later bought for Kassa Fabrication on the terminal. It has a fairly large clip size for a sniper rifle and is one of the lightest snipers in the game, so you can rely on your powers a little more than you might with any of the other snipers on this list. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/M-97_Viper#Mass_Effect_3  

8. M-29 Incisor 

M-29 Incisor gameplay 

The M-29 Incisor is a burst-fire sniper that you can get toward the middle of the first half of Mass Effect 3. It can be gained either during Tuchanka: Bomb or bought from Kassa Fabrication afterwards. 

It doesn’t deal a great amount of damage, so don't feel the need to spend credits to buy it. But if you did pick it up during the mission, be sure to pair it with the Sniper Rifle Extended Barrel mod so you can get the most out of it until you have the credits for the guns at the top of the list. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/M-29_Incisor#Mass_Effect_3  

7. Krysae Sniper Rifle 

Krysae sniper rifle acquisition and gameplay 

The Krysae sniper rifle is a unique rifle in that it fires explosive projectiles rather than standard bullets. I can be bought from the Cipritine Armoury terminal on the citadel for 10,000, or in the base game as a part of the Firefight Pack DLC.  

Unfortunately, its explosive bullets remove a lot of the benefits of using a sniper rifle, as it will not get the bonus from targeted shots such as head shots or other weak locations. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Krysae_Sniper_Rifle  

6. Kishock Harpoon Gun 

Kishock Harpoon Gun gameplay 

The Kishock Harpoon Gun is a good-looking sniper rifle that you can buy from the Batarian State Arms terminal for the reasonable price of 10,000 credits. It has a couple of cool features, but overall, it's probably not worth too much of your time as you can get better guns around the same time, so it will be up to you if you want to give it a spin.  

This sniper has the neat feature of charged shots and can deal up to 175% base damage on a full charge. It is also the only sniper to deal bleed damage, so it is great against the extra-swift enemies, as you will just need to hit them once. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Kishock_Harpoon_Gun  

5. Javelin 

Javelin gameplay 

The javelin is an excellent early-game sniper rifle, which you will find during the mission Rannoch: Admiral Koris or afterwards at Elkoss Combine Arsenal Supplies on the citadel. The reason it is so great at the beginning is that it has a built-in 100 cm penetration rate, so you can save your mod slots for damage and ultralight mods. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Javelin  

4. M-90 Indra 

M-90 Indra gameplay and acquisition  

The M-90 Indra is a fairly easy-to-acquire sniper rifle, which you can get early as long as you have 10,000 credits. It is the only fully automatic sniper in the game, so if you are just getting the hang of sniping, this might be the gun for you. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t deal a great amount of damage per bullet, so be prepared before engaging by making sure that you have suitable mods equipped at the loadout screen. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/M-90_Indra  

3. N7 Valiant 

N7 Valiant gameplay 

The N7 Valiant is a fantastic semi-automatic sniper rifle, but it comes at a high price: 250,000 credits at the Spectre Requisition Terminal if you want to try it out in the legendary edition. In the base game, though, it was free with the N7 Collector's Edition. 

This is a good gun to use with the infiltrator class, as the rate of fire allows it to fire all three rounds before the Tactical Cloak deactivates. It is also fairly accurate while firing from the hip and has one of the lowest amounts of recoil, so if you are playing as a soldier and want to give a sniper a spin, it might be the best option for you. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/N7_Valiant  

2. M-98 Widow 

M-98 Widow gameplay 

The M-98 Widow is an amazing sniper brought over from Mass Effect 2. It can be found during Priority: Thessia, about midway through the game, or, in case you miss it, it can be found in Kassa Fabrication after you complete the mission.  

This is a great sniper and probably deals the most base damage out of all the normal weapons found in the game. Unfortunately, it only holds a single bullet and is painfully slow to reload, so make sure you are confident in your shots or you might pay the price. It is probably best for infiltrators, so you can protect yourself with the tactical cloak. 

Full details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/M-98_Widow#Mass_Effect_3  

1. Black Widow 

Black widow gameplay and acquisition  

While the Black Widow is weaker than our number 2 widow, the reason that it is at the top spot on the list is that you get three shots in the clip, and it will still one-shot most enemies if you headshot them. It can be bought from the Spectre Requisitions terminal for the hefty sum of 125,000 credits, but it is well worth the cost. 

It is a little on the heavy side, so it is not recommended if you want to blast off powers. But if you're playing a sniper build, that shouldn’t matter. Because of the damage reduction compared to the widow, it is strongly advised to pair it with ammo power and the sniper rifle piercing mod. 

Full Details: https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Widow  

For more about Mass Effect 3 check out these:

[Top 5] Mass Effect 3 Best Armor From Early Till Late Game

Best Mass Effect Games To Play (Ranked From Fun To Most Fun)

Mass Effect 3 Best Assault Rifles (All Assault Rifles In The Game Ranked)

Mass Effect 3 Best Shotguns (All Shotguns In The Game Ranked)