![[Top 11] Warframe Best Sniper Rifles Ranked (And How To Get Them)-01](/sites/default/files/styles/responsive_image_2x_1240xauto/public/2022-11/top_11_warframe_best_sniper_rifles_ranked_and_how_to_get_them-01.webp?itok=80fTPXRu "Warframe Sniper Rifles Main Photo")
Warframe can be a very fast-paced game where you have to jump in and out of the action at a second’s notice. However, it’s also a very diverse game where all sorts of playstyles are welcome. You don’t have to be super sweaty and constantly min-maxing all the time.
Sometimes, you just want to play it cool and shoot down Grineer from across the Plains of Eidolon without them even realizing what just happened. Or maybe you just have to practice your 360 no-scoping skills.
The point is: sniper rifles, really fun, maybe not the best in every situation, but they’ll get you through a lot of the game’s content nonetheless.
There are currently 11 sniper rifles in the game (not counting the Vulklok for your sentinel pets or the Knell which is a sniper pistol) and here they are ranked:
11. Sporothrix
When the zombies get tired of getting shot in the head all the time, they make their own rifle
The Sporothrix is a sniper rifle corrupted by the infestation. It fires barbs that dig into its target before exploding and dealing viral damage.
The problem with this weapon is that it has an identity crisis. It tries to be both a sniper rifle and a crowd control weapon, it doesn’t really make much sense and it doesn’t stand out in either category. Its critical chance is nonexistent which is bad for a sniper rifle and you have to proc the viral status effect before you can start dealing any major damage.
Don’t get me wrong though, still a fun and unique weapon, and it’s still great if you mod it right. You can even give it some decent critical chance with abilities and mods that give additive critical chance instead of multiplicative. If you enjoy it, there’s a way to make it work well. That’s what’s great about the game.
What the Sporothrix excels at:
- Spreading like the plague:
The Sporothrix has the highest status chance out of all sniper rifles (53%). Add in some more elemental and status chance mods to fully maximize each shot’s potential to proc an effect. Status effects aren’t usually the focus of sniper rifles, but it is with this one,
- Popping heads:
Zooming into the 2.7x zoom mode will give the Sporothrix 50% bonus damage toward headshots. Use this to quickly take out priority targets.
- Area of Effect (AoE):
Weird for a sniper rifle, I know, but the Sporothrix’s shots explode 0.9 seconds after they make contact and deal viral damage in a 1.7-meter radius. Fire at the enemy in the middle of a group to spread chaos and hopefully give them all a viral status effect to make them more vulnerable to your next shots.
Sporothrix Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 1%
- Critical Multiplier: 3x
- Fire Rate: 1.83
- Status Chance: 53%
- Total Base Damage: 371 (42% slash)
How to get the Sporothrix:
The Sporothrix’s blueprints and parts are obtainable from the hardest difficulty (Lvl 50-60) Isolation Vault Bounties and its respective Arcana bounties. Each stage of the bounty has different chances of dropping a Sporothrix part. Each part is accessible in a different rotation of the bounty while the blueprint is always accessible. Isolation Bounties rotate once every 2.5 hours.
Here’s the complete drop table for the Sporothrix blueprint and parts:
Sporothrix blueprint: Any Rotation - 6.25%, Arcana Any Rotation Stages 2 & 3 - 7.81%, Arcana Any Rotation Final Stage 12.50%
Sporothrix Barrel: Rotation A - 3.75%, Arcana Rotation A Stages 2 & 3 - 4.69%, Arcana Rotation A Final Stage 7.50%
Sporothrix Receiver: Rotation B - 3.75%, Arcana Rotation B Stages 2 & 3 - 4.69%, Arcana Rotation B Final Stage 7.50%
Sporothrix Stock: Rotation C - 3.75%, Arcana Rotation C Stages 2 & 3 - 4.69%, Arcana Rotation C Final Stage 7.50%
10. Snipetron
Armor-piercing rounds primed
The Snipetron is a weird one. It’s a ballistic sniper rifle designed as a Corpus weapon. But wait a minute… the Corpus don’t use ballistic weaponry. They use energy weapons. Realizing this contradiction, but not wanting to change the Snipetron to shoot lasers, the developers basically just sacked the weapon so now obtaining it is extremely difficult.
All that aside, the Snipetron is a pretty standard rifle with no weird gimmicks to it. It’s focused on critical hits and deals puncture damage making it good against armored enemies.
What the Snipetron excels at:
- Crits galore:
The Snipetron has a great critical chance of 30%. You’ll be able to regularly land critical hits and deal big damage to the enemy.
- Cracking skulls:
In its first zoom (2.5x), the Snipetron gives you a 25% bonus damage on headshots. In its second zoom (6.0x), it increases to 50%. Aim for the head and watch them drop.
- Piercing armor:
The Snipetron’s main damage type is puncture. This type is great against Grineer armor and Corpus robotics. Use this weapon against enemies with those health types to make the best use of it.
Snipetron Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 30%
- Critical Multiplier: 1.5x
- Fire Rate: 2
- Status Chance: 12%
- Total Base Damage: 180 (80% puncture)
How to get the Snipetron:
The Snipetron is occasionally available at certain events. However, most of these events are already over, with no sign of returning. It is currently unobtainable but chances are it will be available from Nakak in Cetus on Earth when the event Operation: Plague Star returns since that’s a recurring event with the Snipetron in it.
As of now, there is no news of the Plague Star making a comeback. Keep on the lookout for DE’s announcements.
9. Snipetron Vandal
Better armor-piercing rounds primed
The Snipetron’s Vandal version features improved base damage, critical multiplier, status chance, magazine, and reload time. It has a minuscule amount of critical chance removed (2%) so its only downgrade is hardly noticeable.
Aside from the stat changes, the Snipetron Vandal functions basically the same as the Snipetron. You’ll probably get the Vandal version sooner than you get the base version anyways so I advise you stick to this if you like the feel of the Snipetrons.
What the Snipetron Vandal excels at:
- Crits galore:
The Snipetron Vandal has a critical chance of 28%. This is still pretty good and you’d hardly notice the difference once you start equipping it with critical chance-boosting mods.
- Cracking skulls:
In its first zoom (2.5x), the Snipetron Vandal gives you a 30% bonus damage on headshots. It was just 25% for the regular Snipetron. In its second zoom (6.0x), it turns into 50%. Which is the same as the regular Snipetron.
- Piercing armor:
The Snipetron Vandal sacrifices its slash and impact damage to deal even more puncture damage than the base Snipetron. This makes the Vandal version even better at blasting through armor and robotics.
Snipetron Vandal Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 28%
- Critical Multiplier: 2x
- Fire Rate: 2
- Status Chance: 16%
- Total Base Damage: 200 (90% puncture)
How to get the Snipetron Vandal:
The Snipetron Vandal’s blueprint and parts are acquired as a reward in Invasions. Keep in mind that you need to participate in the Invasion three times to get the reward.
8. Komorex
Zoom to boom
This is a cool transforming sniper rifle based off of the Amalgam designs of Alad V when he merged Corpus and Sentient technology together. The Komorex boasts a beefy magazine and a fast fire rate.
The main draw of this weapon is its zooms. Upon the first zoom (2.0x), the Komorex will get reduced recoil and a higher punchthrough.
The second zoom (3.5x) doubles the damage it deals as well as causing the shots to blow up on impact and deal viral AoE damage similar to the Sporothrix. The second zoom comes with a cost of 75% reduced fire rate though.
What the Komorex excels at:
- Inflicting status effects:
The Komorex has a pretty meh critical chance but an amazing status chance. Use this to proc whatever status effects you want on your enemies. This works better for the Komorex than the Sporothrix because the Komorex has an immensely better fire rate so it can shoot and proc status effects more often.
- Flexibility:
Due to the change of modes the Komorex’s zooms give it, it can excel as both a single-target and a crowd-control weapon. Change your zooms freely to match up with what your situation calls for.
- Being viral:
Since it has a high status chance, use the viral explosion from the max zoom mode to coat your enemies with the virus and make them incredibly more vulnerable to your next shots.
Komorex Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 16%
- Critical Multiplier: 2.1x
- Fire Rate: 6
- Status Chance: 35%
- Total Base Damage: 87 (48% slash)
How to get the Komorex:
You can research and obtain the Komorex’s blueprint in the Energy Lab of your clan dojo.
Alternatively, the blueprint and components can be traded between players. Just keep in mind that you need to have a Mastery Rank of 5 or higher so it can be traded to you.
7. Vulkar
Those Ballistas must love their jobs if they get to use these things
The Grineer’s weapon of choice when it comes to long-range combat. The Vulkar is an impressive sniper rifle that is honestly pretty simple and easy to use.
It primarily deals impact damage and even forces a big stagger effect on most enemies it hits. So on the off-chance that someone survives, they’ll be dazed and confused and all set up for further shots.
What the Vulkar excels at:
- Scope zoom variety:
One of the things that make the Vulkar great is that it has three zoom options (2.5x, 4.0x, and 8.0x). Most sniper rifles in the game only have one or two. This variety in zooms makes the Vulkar more useful for any distance short, middle, or long.
- Making heads go boom:
Each of the Vulkar’s zoom ranges gives the weapon a boost in headshot damage. The zooms give you 35%, 55%, and 70% boosts respectively.
- Slowing foes down:
As mentioned above, the Vulkar’s shots force a big stagger effect on their target so they won’t be able to retaliate right away and you can keep on firing.
Vulkar Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 20%
- Critical Multiplier: 2x
- Fire Rate: 1.5
- Status Chance: 25%
- Total Base Damage: 225 (80% impact)
How to get the Vulkar:
You can simply buy the Vulkar’s blueprint from the in-game market. You can access the market from the console across the console where you access your quests.
Alternatively, you get the blueprint for completing the Mars-to-Ceres Junction.
6. Lanka
ZAP
Now, this is a more accurate representation of Corpus firepower. The Lanka is a sniper rifle that you can hold to charge and unleashes an electric shot. It takes 1 whole second for the shot to fully charge but don’t worry because you can let the shot go as soon as the charge reaches 33% (0.33 seconds) although with reduced damage.
Weirdly though, the Lanka isn’t a hit-scan weapon; the projectiles have travel time. But the projectiles travel fast enough that you’d hardly notice it most of the time. Just lead your shots a little when firing from extreme distances.
What the Lanka excels at:
- Lotsa zooms:
Like the Vulkar, the Lanka also has three zooms. Near, far, wherever they are, no enemies are safe from the Lanka’s electric beams.
- Massive crits:
Instead of boosting its headshot damage, each of the Lanka’s zoom ranges gives it a boost in critical chance instead. The zooms give it a 20%, 30%, and 50% critical chance boost respectively.
- Pin-point accuracy
I know that this should go without saying since it’s a sniper rifle. But the Lanka’s accuracy is better than even other sniper rifles. Even when fired from the hip, the rounds won’t go wild and will hit the exact center of your reticle. So, you don’t even have to zoom into your scope to fire an accurate shot. That’s amazing for fighting when on the move.
Lanka Stats (uncharged):
- Critical Chance: 20%
- Critical Multiplier: 2x
- Charge Time: 0.33s
- Status Chance: 25%
- Total Base Damage: 200 (100% electricity)
How to get the Lanka:
You can research and obtain the Lanka’s blueprint in the Energy Lab of your clan dojo.
5. Rubico
Watch those criticals pop off
Now we move on to a sniper rifle made for the Tenno themselves. In the lore, the Rubico was what Ivara used to fight the Warframe-slaying monster known as the Myrmidon (for the fellow Greek myth nuts out there, Myrmidon was also the name of a type of Greek warrior).
It only makes sense that the Rubico and its Prime brother are the most sought-after weapons when hunting Eidolon, the massive kaiju that roam the Plains of Eidolons at night. The reason is that they have immense raw damage and critical chance potential.
What the Rubico excels at:
- Fighting Eidolons:
Though the Rubico is easily overshadowed by its Prime version when it comes to combating these giant monsters, the Rubico is a pretty decent substitute if you don’t have the Prime one yet.
- Combo-ing like crazy:
The Rubico and the Rubico Prime have the lowest shot combo requirement among sniper rifles.
The shot combo rifle is a function that all sniper rifles in Warframe have wherein if you land a specific number of shots before your combo counter decays, the sniper rifle gains bonus damage. The combo can stack multiple times, increasing the rifle's damage as long as you keep hitting enemies with it.
- Amazing crits:
The Rubico’s zooms increase its critical multiplier. The first zoom (3.5x) increases the multiplier by 35% while the second zoom (6.0x) increases it by 50%. Together with its high critical chance, the Rubico is an outstanding weapon that will take down most enemies in a single shot.
Rubico Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 30%
- Critical Multiplier: 3x
- Fire Rate: 2.67
- Status Chance: 12%
- Total Base Damage: 180 (80% impact)
How to get the Rubico:
You can simply buy the Rubico’s blueprint from the in-game market. You can access the market from the console across the console where you access your quests.
4. Vectis
One shot wonder
The Vectis is a heavy-duty sniper rifle. It may need to be reloaded after every shoot but whoo boy, does each shot COUNT. It deals massive damage and it reloads considerably fast so the single-shot feature isn’t even that bad.
Other than that, the Vectis is pretty normal. It has no special effects to it, just good old big damage.
What the Vectis excels at:
- Taking down high-priority targets:
What makes the Vectis so good is that it deals incredible damage. Use this to take out tanky or high-priority targets that are trying to get away or are causing a lot of trouble for you and your squad.
To further boost its damage, you can also use either Charged Chamber or Primed Chamber which are mods that increase the damage of the first shot in the magazine. Since the Vectis only has one bullet per magazine, that’s every shot.
- Erasing cranial cavities:
The Vectis’ first zoom (3.0x) gives it a 30% bonus toward headshots. The second zoom (4.5x) gives it a 50% bonus. Aim for the head to maximize the damage that each of your shots deals.
- Crits and stats:
Both of the Vectis’ critical and status chances are pretty good so you can build up the weapon mainly for critical hits (I advise you should to maximize the damage) and you’ll still be able to regularly proc status effects.
Vectis Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 25%
- Critical Multiplier: 2x
- Fire Rate: 1.5
- Status Chance: 30%
- Total Base Damage: 225 (40% impact)
How to get the Vectis:
You can simply buy the Vectis’ blueprint from the in-game market. You can access the market from the console across the console where you access your quests.
3. Vulkar Wraith
Watch the Grineer turn green with envy
The Vulkar Wraith has better base damage, fire rate, and magazine size. This makes it a straight upgrade compared to the base version.
Aside from the stat changes, the Vulkar Wraith functions essentially the same as the base form. A trend you might have noticed with these sniper rifles and their different versions.
What the Vulkar Wraith excels at:
- Diverse zoom distances:
Similar to the Vulkar, the Vulkar Wraith has three zoom options (2.5x, 4.0x, and 8.0x). Most sniper rifles in the game only have one or two. This variety in zooms makes the Vulkar Wraith more useful for any distance short, middle, or long.
- Making heads go bye-bye:
Each of the Vulkar Wraith’s zoom ranges gives the weapon a boost in headshot damage. The zooms give you 35%, 55%, and 70% boosts respectively.
- Staggering:
Like the Vulkar, the Vulkar Wraith’s shots force a big stagger effect on their target so they won’t be able to retaliate right away and you can keep on firing.
Vulkar Wraith Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 20%
- Critical Multiplier: 2x
- Fire Rate: 2
- Status Chance: 25%
- Total Base Damage: 273 (90% impact)
How to get the Vulkar Wraith:
The Vulkar Wraith can be bought from Baro Ki’Teer whenever he shows up in a Tenno Relay. However Baro Ki’Teer’s inventory changes with every appearance so this weapon might not be for sale the next time you go check on him. He sells it for 300,000 credits and 450 Ducats.
Alternatively, unranked Vulkar Wraiths bought from Baro can also be traded between players.
2. Vectis Prime
You only need one shot
Compared to the regular Vectis, the Prime Version has higher base damage, critical chance, fire rate, magazine size, reload time, zoom distances, and even the headshot boosts from the zooms are better!
When it comes to taking down any enemy as quickly as possible, few weapons do it better than the Vectis Prime.
What the Vectis Prime excels at:
- One-shotting tanky enemies:
What the Vectis does, the Vectis Prime just does better. It’ll be able to take down even tougher enemies with a single shot with this weapon.
The Vectis Prime is also an excellent candidate for the Charged Chamber or Primed Chamber mods since it’s also a single-shot sniper rifle.
- Obliterating faces:
The Vectis Prime’s first zoom (3.5x) gives it a 40% bonus toward headshots. The second zoom (6x) gives it a 60% bonus. Aim for the head to maximize the damage that each of your shots deal.
- Crits and stats:
The Vectis Prime’s critical and status chances are equally great so you can build up the weapon mainly for critical hits (I advise you should to maximize the damage) and you’ll still be able to regularly proc status effects.
Vectis Prime Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 30%
- Critical Multiplier: 2x
- Fire Rate: 2.67
- Status Chance: 30%
- Total Base Damage: 350 (45% puncture)
How to get the Vectis Prime:
Like most Primed weapons, the Vectis Prime’s blueprints and parts are obtainable by cracking Void Relics or trading them with other players. A list of the Void Relics containing this weapon’s blueprints and parts can be found on the “Vectis Prime Wiki” link above.
1. Rubico Prime
Killing Eidolons and the rest of existence
The Rubico Prime features higher total damage, critical chance, status chance, fire rate and faster reload time, and lower zoom (which makes aiming at fast-moving targets easier) compared to the base Rubico.
This sniper rifle is most known for being a beast during Eidolon hunts, but it is amazing at everything else as well. So amazing, that the Rubico Prime is actually the 5th most used primary weapon based on the Warframe 2021 statistics.
What the Rubico Prime excels at:
- Eradicating Eidolons:
The Rubico Prime is hands-down the most popular weapon in Eidolon hunts. Its raw damage will allow you to one-shot any Eidolon’s limbs if you mod it right and bring the right Warframes to the job.
- Aiming well:
The Rubico Prime has a reduced zoom compared to the regular Rubico. That might sound bad, but it’s actually a plus when needing to aim for quick-moving targets and flinging Eidolon arms and legs.
- Being the king of crits:
The Rubico Prime has ridiculous crit stats. It has a 38% critical chance and a 3x critical multiplier. Then you add the bonuses to the critical multiplier that you get from zooming the scope, 35% at the 2.5x zoom and 50% for the 5.0x zoom. All of this adds up to the perfect critical hit-focused sniper rifle.
Rubico Prime Stats (unzoomed):
- Critical Chance: 38%
- Critical Multiplier: 3x
- Fire Rate: 3.67
- Status Chance: 16%
- Total Base Damage: 187 (80% impact)
How to get the Rubico Prime:
Like most Primed weapons, the Rubico Prime’s blueprints and parts are obtainable by cracking Void Relics or trading them with other players. A list of the Void Relics containing this weapon’s blueprints and parts can be found on the “Rubico Prime Wiki” link above.
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