M-97 Viper

The M-97 Viper Sniper Rifle is a sniper rifle from Mass Effect 2.

In-Game Description
Rapid-fire military sniper rifle. Incredibly accurate and deadly at long range, these weapons are popular amongst infiltrators and assassins. Very effective against armor, somewhat effective against shields and biotic barriers. Upgrades the Mantis sniper rifle.

Rosenkov Materials developed this deadly weapon in response to the rising prevalence of kinetic barriers. While kinetic barriers still offer some protection from this weapon, its sheer power and rapid rate of fire make it capable of quickly killing almost any target, regardless of its defenses.

Acquisition
The M-97 can be found during Thane's recruitment mission, near the service elevator that takes you to the bridge. The rifle is in a dead-end corridor, to the right of the elevator, when your back is against its door. If missed, it can be also acquired later in the same mission, next to the Comm Terminal just before going to the roof.

Squad Use
This weapon can be used by Garrus, Legion, Thane, and Zaeed. Squadmates deal 35% less damage than Shepard.

Recommended Use

 * General Notes
 * While the M-97 Viper does less damage per shot than the M-92, it features semi-automatic fire, a twelve round clip and a relatively large spare ammo capacity. These factors help to mitigate the liability of missing a shot. Whether these factors constitute an upgrade is a matter of personal preference.
 * The M-97 is best used for stripping shields and barriers and, while not as efficient as the M-92 or M-98, in the role of soft-target interdiction, the M-97 Viper can still kill lower ranked enemies with two or three shots to the head, however, this requires careful aiming to compensate for enemy movements.
 * The M-97 can have the highest base damage rate of the sniper rifles if the fire rate is 'feathered'.
 * Class Specific Notes
 * The M-97 can be a worthwhile primary support weapon choice onboard the Collector Cruiser for the weapons-light classes such as the Adept, Sentinel and Engineer, who are less likely to require the one-shot kill capabilities of the single-shot sniper rifles.
 * If Shepard is a Soldier, then the rifle's problem with low damage can be remedied with powers such as a fully upgraded Heightened Adrenaline Rush, and rifle upgrades such as the Scram Pulsar, allowing Shepard to perform one-shot kills on many weaker enemies depending upon difficulty level.

Trivia

 * While the M-97 looks nearly identical to the alternate sniper rifle from Mass Effect, the fluted heavy barrel's holes pass horizontally instead of vertically.