Black Widow

The Black Widow is a sniper rifle in Mass Effect 3.

Description
The Alliance wanted to reduce the reload time of the original Widow rifle, without sacrificing its stopping power. The solution was to increase the number of shots the gun could fire before it needed a fresh thermal clip. Heavy for a sniper rifle, the Black Widow's firepower more than compensates for its encumbrance.

Acquisition

 * Single-player: Can be bought from the Spectre Requisitions on the Citadel, Embassies level, for 250,000 credits. This can be reduced through certain upgrades acquired from certain intel.
 * Multiplayer: Randomly rewarded by purchasing a multiplayer item pack.

Player Notes

 * The Black Widow seeks to improve on the M-98 Widow's faults. The result is a powerful rifle, still capable of dealing significant damage, while at the same time giving the Black Widow three shots instead of one before reloads are needed. However, it does less damage than the standard Widow.
 * The main strength is that the Black Widow has much higher damage than any other semi-automatic rifle, which allows it to serve a dual purpose. The first, is that it can kill weaker enemies outright in one shot to the body, and where needed the second, allows it to pick off stronger targets with a single headshot. The high damage, combined with the semi-automatic firing means that this rifle can achieve much higher damage per second than most sniper rifles and against armor it is virtually unparalleled.
 * The biggest problem, however, is that it weighs as much as the M-98 Widow, making it certain to increase power cooldown times. Because of this, it would be highly recommended to avoid using this weapon on classes which rely heavily on their powers, such as Adepts, Vanguards, or Engineers.
 * Much like its earlier counterpart, the Black Widow can pierce through Guardian shields, and light cover. It has an innate 25cm of penetration, which is the least of the weapons with innate penetration. While it wont be as likely to score a one shot kill anywhere to the body, it can still kill a Guardian with one headshot. With the "Piercing" mod, you can penetrate thick layers of cover, albeit with less damage. Combined with Armor-Piercing Ammo, you will be able to shoot through almost any cover.
 * Another, less serious issue with the Black Widow, is the rate of fire is slightly slower than the M-97 Viper, although this can also act as a strength as it encourages precision.
 * Spare ammunition is another major factor, as you cannot carry much more than with a basic Widow. Frequent trips to resupply are needed to keep using the Black Widow. This can be countered with the Spare Thermal Clip mod, giving you 50-90% extra ammunition on reserve.
 * Another weakness is its high reset time after firing a shot (the time it takes to recenter the crosshairs). This makes it difficult to place follow-up shots up quickly, further reducing the potential rate of fire. This can be lessened by releasing zoom between shots.
 * It is recommended to use the Black Widow with Adrenaline Rush. Adrenaline rush compensates for the loss of damage. It is recommended to have extra ammo and armor piercing. The Black Widow does not have the armor penetration of the Widow and the Javelin. You can get off at least 2 clips with the Widow while in Adrenaline rush.
 * The Black Widow does have a steep initial purchase price. However after initital purchase, the cost to upgrade the weapons will be the same as any other weapon's upgrade cost (eg: fom V level to VI level)