M-98 Widow

The M-98 Widow Anti-Material Rifle is a sniper rifle in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.

Description
Accurate and deadly anti-material [sic] rifle. Effective against armor, shields, and biotic barriers. Upgrades the Viper Sniper Rifle.

Weighing in at 39 kilograms, the Widow Anti-Material Rifle is primarily used by sniper teams in assault missions against armored vehicles or krogan. While kinetic barriers offer effective protection on vehicles, the kind generated by conventional military field generators are far too weak against the Widow.

The Widow was never designed to be carried and fired by a human. Although this modified model can be carried, no ordinary human could fire it without shattering an arm.

Acquisition
'''Note: This weapon is exclusive to either Infiltrator/Soldier Shepard or Legion. No other character(s) may choose to use it.'''
 * The Widow is acquired as one of three possible weapons on the Collector Ship mission for Soldiers and Infiltrators. This allows Shepard to use the weapon.
 * Conversing with Legion about upgrades will make the weapon available for research. Only Legion can use this Widow.

Squad Usage
Legion is the only squad member who can use the M-98 Widow. Legion deals 43% less damage than Shepard.

Player Notes

 * The Widow is capable of one-shot kills at any range. To do this requires a clean headshot with as many damage modifiers as possible including: fully evolved powers such as Assassination Cloak, Armor-Piercing Ammo, Warp Ammo, Shredder Ammo, Heightened Adrenaline Rush and/or Commando; upgrades such as the Scram Pulsar series, the Combat Scanner, and the Tungsten Sabot Jacket; and armor modifications such as the Kuwashii visor. Note that the one-shot, one kill policy will only apply to lower ranked enemies and will vary depending on the difficulty level.
 * The Widow functionally replaces the Mantis sniper rifle, as it deals more damage and has a higher spare ammo capacity; however, some players may prefer the Viper sniper rifle since it has a larger magazine, despite doing lower damage.
 * The M-98 Widow is already very powerful when you first acquire it. However, when fully upgraded, it becomes a seriously devastating weapon, capable of inflicting significant damage to almost any type of enemy personnel with a single shot, making it an ideal choice for emergency situations and boss/mini-boss fights.
 * This weapon also scales extremely well with the difficulty setting of the game. In fact, on lower difficulties, most shots with this weapon would be overkill, since the Mantis or Viper rifles can do the same with one or two shots. However, on Hardcore or Insanity mode, this weapon can still fulfill the 'one shot, one kill' policy where others may not, thus making it ideal for situations where breaking cover to fire for more than a few seconds can be fatal.
 * The Widow, with all damage and bonus upgrades becomes severely damaging when used in Heightened Adrenaline Rush. With a headshot, the Widow can apply 1600 damage to armor, and around 1200 to shields and health. However, if used in Heightened Adrenaline Rush with Tungsten Ammo, it can deal a whopping 1900 damage to armored foes, which on any mode except Hardcore and Insanity is usually enough to take out most opponents in one hit, with certain exceptions (Heavy Mechs, Praetorians, Scions, sometimes Harbinger). Inferno Ammo also generates similar damage.
 * Despite the Widow's impressive one-shot, one-kill potential, it loses a great deal of its killing power punching through a shield or barrier. If you're going up against a multitude of enemies protected by shields and barriers, make sure to prepare accordingly (by using Disruptor or Warp Ammo to compensate). Alternatively, you could simply use another weapon or power to remove the shield/barrier in order to ensure a kill shot.

Description
Several research firms spent a considerable fortune trying to redesign the Widow sniper rifle. Their goal was to retain the geth weapon's considerable firepower while reducing its recoil, so that the gun could be fired without breaking a nonsynthetic's arm. After much trial and error, one company finally produced a usable model rolled out to the galactic market.

Acquisition

 * Single-player: Found during Priority: Thessia on the ledge with the asari sniper. (Purchasable from Kassa Fabrication if missed during mission.)
 * Multiplayer: Randomly rewarded by purchasing an item pack.

Player Notes

 * Single-player
 * A viciously powerful sniper rifle capable of killing most unprotected enemies in a single shot at any range, regardless of which body-part is targeted. It is ideal for situations where breaking cover to fire for more than two seconds can be fatal. Its inherent ability allows it to penetrate thin cover or barriers and pierce multiple enemies in a single shot if lined up correctly.
 * As a single shot rifle with a low rate of fire, it must be reloaded after each shot before reacquiring your target to make each shot count; or risked being overrun by enemies. Powers such as Adrenaline Rush, Operational Mastery and the Concentration Module allows the Widow to hit moving targets with ease due to its time-dilation effect.


 * Multiplayer
 * This weapon is one of four sniper rifles in multiplayer capable of armor piercing without using the aid of Armor-Piercing Ammo or the use of Piercing modification. It has a native 50cm penetration rate, which is enough to pierce most thin cover.
 * It cripples players who want to use powers frequently. Even if using a level 10 (or rank-X) on its own, with weight-reduction evolutions and without a second weapon, it is still weighty. A solid weapon for Soldiers as they're more reliant on bullets and grenades, and less so on powers. Other classes and races may have weight problems with it and should be mindful of the extra cooldown time on Powers and abilities (i.e. you'll rarely see an Adept running with it).
 * Ammunition for the unmodified Widow is even more scant than the M-92 Mantis. Equipping a Spare Thermal Clips modification and/or Ammo Capacity evolution is recommended until the Widow can be fully upgraded, but won't fix the problem completely.
 * The Widow's effectiveness is drastically diminished on Insanity (Gold) difficulty, as excess damage beyond protections from a single bullet will be negated, no matter how high the damage is. This is known as a shield gate. Even when utilizing maxed weapon damage modifications, munitions, upgrades and powers (e.g. Tactical Cloak, Hunter Mode, headshot evolution, etc.), no protected enemy can be killed with a single bullet. This can be countered however by first using the Overload power, or by using a Salarian Infiltrator and combining Tactical Cloak and Energy Drain powers together. Using Overload first, or using the Cloak then Drain (with damage upgrades), said powers can strip away the shields of these enemies, leaving them vulnerable. After this is done a single shot to the head will kill any enemy, with the exception of the Phantom, who often needs at least 2 overloads (or 3 Energy Drains) before she is vulnerable, but the Widow still kills in one shot to the head afterwards.
 * Despite being of geth design, the Widow is not considered a geth weapon for the purposes of Networked AI's geth weapon damage bonus.

Trivia

 * In both the Mass Effect 2 research project and the Mass Effect 3 in-game description, the rifle is referred to as being of geth origin, yet geth snipers do not use this weapon; only Legion is seen wielding it. In addition, during the mission Rannoch: Geth Fighter Squadrons, one of the geth memories from the original geth uprising shows a unit picking up the M-98 Widow; when Shepard remarks that it is the same weapon Legion used, Legion extrapolates that it is "an efficient model." While its presence during the conflict implies that it may be of quarian design, the exact origins of the rifle are unknown.
 * The rifle is referred to as an "Anti-Material Rifle", which appears to be a misspelling of the term Anti-Materiel Rifle, which is the designation given to large-caliber rifles designed to be used against military equipment (or "matériel"), as opposed to enemy soldiers (or "personnel").
 * The Widow can be seen leaning against a railing on board the derelict Reaper ship, and can be scanned for a sniper rifle damage upgrade.
 * The M-98 Widow is roughly tied with the Javelin (in multiplayer Javelin has been changed to deal more damage) and the M-300 Claymore as the highest damage-per-shot non-heavy weapon in the game; the relative ranking of the guns depends on effective-ranges, upgrade-modifications, power-evolutions and type of target.
 * The Black Widow is an Alliance variant of the Widow.