M-77 Paladin

The M-77 Paladin is a heavy pistol in Mass Effect 3.

Description
The Paladin is a reliable, durable weapon developed by law enforcement looking for a high-powered but easily concealed sidearm for undercover agents. Surprisingly small for its hitting power, the Paladin is a variant on the Carnifex pistol. While it has a smaller clip than the Carnifex, its shots are unquestionably more powerful.

Acquisition

 * Single-player: Can be bought from the Spectre Requisitions on the Citadel, Embassies level, for 200,000 credits.
 * Multiplayer: Randomly rewarded by purchasing a multiplayer item pack

Player Notes

 * Much like the Carnifex, the Paladin is a longer-ranged pistol with a low rate of fire, but very high damage. This allows you to easily pick off targets at long range, but also leaves you more vulnerable at short range.
 * The Paladin has one of the highest power to weight ratios in the game, making it an ideal backup weapon for classes reliant on powers such as Adepts and Engineers.
 * This gun is also ideally used as a sidearm for players whose primary weapon has a higher rate of fire and larger clip size (such as Assault rifle-wielding soldiers)
 * Infiltrators already wielding powerful, slow-firing weapons, such as the Black Widow and Mantis sniper rifles, would not gain many added benefits from the Paladin.
 * The Paladin's main drawback is its extremely low thermal clip and reserve capacity: only 3 shots in the thermal clip and 21 in reserve without upgrades. In order to maximize effectiveness, it is recommended to go for headshots whenever possible or weaken the target with powers first.
 * The Paladin is also a very effective weapon against armor even without the piercing mod.
 * A Paladin X, especially if modified with scope and magazine upgrades, can act as a substitute for a sniper rifle; at this point having similar statistics and range.

Trivia

 * The Paladin's color/light is not affected by the Pistol Piercing or the Pistol Magazine mods.