Krysae Sniper Rifle

The Krysae Sniper Rifle is a sniper rifle in Mass Effect 3.

Krysae Sniper Rifle
Type	Sniper Rifle
Location	Firefight Pack
Fire Mode	Semi-Automatic
Weight	80%
Capacity	10%
Fire Rate	2%
Damage	60%
Accuracy	75%
Ammunition
Clip Size	3
Reserve	9
Type	Sniper Rifle
Location	Multiplayer Store with Rebellion Pack
Fire Mode	Semi-Automatic
Weight	80%
Capacity	10%
Fire Rate	2%
Damage	60%
Accuracy	75%
Ammunition
Clip Size	3
Reserve	9

Description

This turian antimateriel [sic] rifle is modified to kill Reaper enemies. The Krysae's scope uses a rangefinder that adjusts to keep the target in proper proportion to the shooter, which comes in useful when the sniper is forced into close range. Its specialized ammunition is both armor-piercing and explosive. In a desperate move, the turians released its specifications over the extranet so that nearly anyone with a fabricator could manufacture this weapon to help the war effort.

Acquisition

Single-player

The Krysae Sniper Rifle is available after downloading the Mass Effect 3: Firefight Pack.

In Legendary Edition it is available from the Cipritine Armory terminal in the Presidium Commons for a base amount of 10,000 credits.

Multiplayer

Weapons are randomly rewarded through purchases of item packs. The Krysae is categorized as rare and requires the Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack.

Player Notes

• General
• Single-player
• Multiplayer

General

• The Krysae is unique among sniper rifles as it fires explosive projectiles.
  • Despite the weapon description mentioning that it is armor-piercing, the Krysae, along with other weapons that fire explosive rounds, cannot penetrate objects; however, its damage is not penalized for striking enemy armor, though armor plating on opponents like Brutes and Atlases can often block its damage. Additionally, it deals 50% bonus damage to armored targets.
  • As with other weapons that utilize explosive munitions, the Krysae cannot deal extra damage to enemy heads or weak points.
• There is a fairly lengthy delay between firing and hitting targets at longer ranges, so predictions must be made against moving targets. Also, be aware that even if a shot is fired while scoped, if you are unscoped when the shot lands, the "hip firing" sniper rifle damage penalty will apply.
• Similar to the M-37 Falcon, the Krysae has a proximity fuse and deals area of effect damage in the form of an explosion; this can be utilised to not only shoot enemies behind cover by aiming above their heads, but also to damage large groups of enemies.
  • However, the proximity fuse means that if a round passes near any enemy, it detonates. This means that it is very tricky to shoot enemies that are behind other enemies with precision. Ravagers are particularly difficult as the projectiles detonate as they pass over the Swarmers that come from the Ravager's sacs. On the plus side, this makes the Krysae effective at cleaning up Swarmers.
  • Due to the proximity fuse, it is impossible to hit a Guardian by shooting through his shield's eye slit—the round detonates in front of the shield, and the Guardian takes no damage. A tactic to overcome this is to rely on the area of effect damage by shooting at a surface near (but not so close that it detonates prematurely) the Guardian. Another tactic is to aim just over the top of his riot shield; if aimed correctly, the shot will airburst past the shield.
  • The proximity fuse will even detonate when it passes near cloaked enemies. This makes the weapon very effective against Phantoms and Geth Hunters as you can shoot near them and it will damage them. Phantoms are also especially vulnerable to explosive weaponry, being unable to dodge the shots with their acrobatics.
• Balance changes on July 24, 2012 drastically decreased the performance of the Krysae in both multiplayer and single-player by reducing its damage, rate of fire, and spare ammo as well as increasing the recoil by 100%. Much like with the Falcon assault rifle, this relegates the Krysae to more of a crowd-controlling support role on higher difficulties, flushing enemies from cover and stunning enemies in groups. A Krysae round deals a little more than double the base damage of a Falcon round, but it must be fired while scoped to avoid a damage penalty and the rate of fire is lower. Note that these changes do not apply in Legendary Edition.
• The Krysae's splash damage works well with area-debuffing powers such as Cryo Blast or Proximity Mine.
• This weapon works best when it can be spammed into a choke point, as this maximizes the usefulness of the weapon's explosive area damage.
• Although the explosion is visually large, the area of effect damage radius is much smaller.
• Enemies are completely destroyed when killed because of the Krysae's high explosive rounds, which can deny Cannibals bodies to consume.
• The Sniper Rifle Spare Thermal Clip can mitigate the Krysae's low magazine capacity.

Single-player

• Legendary Edition: As Legendary Edition is not based on the latest balance-patched version of the original game, the Krysae deals about 25% more damage, as well as having a higher rate of fire, greater spare ammo capacity, and less recoil.
• The Krysae's shots can be "held" by holding the fire button down, similar to the charging feature of weapons like the Venom Shotgun or the Graal Spike Thrower. This does not cause the Krysae to do additional damage. The shot is fired immediately on release.
  • Holding down the Fire button in this way increases the scope magnification from 2x to 10x. This can be done while unzoomed and then on zooming the magnification will be at 10x, though if this is done the number in the scope still reads 2.0 instead of 10.0.
  • Holding the shot in this way can be advantageous for an Infiltrator, as a shot that is being held will not break Tactical Cloak, nor will firing a "pre-held" shot. This is the only way for all 3 shots in the magazine to benefit from the damage bonus of a single use of the cloak.
• Like the Falcon, the Krysae's consistent triggering of ammo power effects makes it devastating to unprotected infantry in tandem with Cryo Ammo's rank 6 Damage Combo evolution; 1 shot can shatter Husks in groups even on Insanity difficulty.
• The Krysae can be very effective against troops debarking from a Cerberus shuttle.

Multiplayer

• The damage bonus of a single use of Tactical Cloak can apply to up to 2 shots, the Krysae fires too slowly for all 3 shots in a magazine to benefit.
• The Krysae's current low rate of fire can be ameliorated by using Marksman, available to the Turian Soldier and Quarian Marksman Soldier. This allows it to become a viable weapon for these characters, though it is still not their best sniper rifle option.
• The Krysae can be effective when combined with all of the weapon damage bonuses available to the Geth Hunter Infiltrator from Tactical Cloak, Hunter Mode and Networked AI. It can take out groups of weaker unprotected enemies in one shot on Gold.
• Weapons that fire explosive munitions normally ignore enemy shield gates, except for the Krysae Sniper Rifle in multiplayer. This makes Disruptor Rounds or Phasic Rounds an attractive option, potentially enabling damage to make it through the gate.

Trivia

• The Krysae was originally designed to have a scope that auto-zoomed on targets for easier aiming. According to Mass Effect 3 lead combat designer Corey Gaspur, the mechanic was abandoned because it ended up making players motion sick: "If you were aiming at six guys, it was going in and out and in and out, and it made people nauseous."