M-29 Incisor

The M-29 Incisor is a sniper rifle in Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, and Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Mass Effect 2

M-29 Incisor
General Stats
Type	Sniper Rifle
Location	N/A: DLC item, LE: Citadel
Accuracy	High
Recoil	Moderate
Fire Mode	3-Round Burst-Fire
Fire Rate	600 RPM (Per Burst)
Ammo Per Clip	15
Damage & Bonus Multipliers
Base	53.6 (Per individual bullet)
Armor	×1.25
Shields	×1.25
Barrier	×1.25
Spare Ammo Capacity
Default	30
Armor Pack	33
Upgraded	N/A
Both	N/A
Pickup Amount (Min - Max)	2 - 5 (LE: 16 - 30)

Description

The Incisor is one of a new wave of military and police sniper rifles designed to overload active defenses such as shields. Firing three shots with each pull of the trigger, the Incisor's burst is so fast that all three rounds will be in the target by the time the barrel has moved a millimeter, increasing its stopping power without sacrificing accuracy. As an added benefit, the noise of the burst is comparable to a single rifle shot in duration, making it no easier to locate the sniper by sound.

Acquisition

Initially only available as part of the Digital Deluxe Editions of Mass Effect 2 for PC, but is now available for all platforms through purchase of the Aegis Pack DLC. An e-mail from the Illusive Man is received upon acquisition of the weapon.

Shepard, Miranda was reviewing your weapons' auto-recorded telemetry, particularly the hit-to-kill ratio. Being the busybody she is, she sent a request for additional firepower. The techs think something long-range and anti-shield would be useful, so we've issued you an Incisor sniper rifle. It will be in the Normandy's armory. Put it through its paces, and let us know what you think.

In Legendary Edition, it may be purchased from Rodam Expeditions on the Citadel.

Squad Use

This weapon can be used by Garrus, Legion, Thane, and Zaeed.

Player Notes

• Although the Incisor's damage is lower than the other sniper rifles, it has a higher damage multiplier to both shields and barriers.
• Contrary to the in-game description, there is enough time between the rounds of a burst for a moving target to be missed. While the three-round burst fire mode is one of the Incisor's defining features, this makes landing headshots with all three rounds difficult because enemies may stumble and cause the second and third rounds to miss. For this reason, the Incisor is most reliable when aiming center of mass (i.e. "body" shots). The Infiltrator and the Soldier possess time-dilation abilities that can make it possible to accurately place all three rounds from a single shot burst. It is also possible to make each round from a shot land on 2-3 separate targets.
• The Incisor possesses more ammo than the Mantis but less than the Viper, and thermal clip pickups are only worth on average about four rounds, making this weapon relatively ammo inefficient (Legendary Edition: thermal clip pickup yields between 16 and 30 rounds, making ammo usage much less of a constraint).
• Squad members don't suffer from recoil, crosshair bloom, or random bullet spread at range with any weapon, and they never run out of ammo. Since they maintain a high rate of fire with the Incisor, it is easily the most effective sniper rifle for them.
• Like the Collector Assault Rifle, the Incisor does not change its name designation like other weapons when upgrades are researched, according to Christina Norman this is a bug that applies to DLC, but only affects the name and performance is in fact upgraded. This is caused by an incorrectly formatted string in the DLC files.
• If the number of rounds left in the magazine is not divisible by three (which can happen if picking up thermal clips restores four or five rounds) the next pull of the trigger will fire only one or two rounds to bring the total down to a number divisible by three. Example: having 11 rounds left will cause the next shot to fire two instead of the normal three rounds.
• When firing without the use of the scope, the Incisor is just as inaccurate as any other sniper rifle. However, because of the three-shot burst, at least one, maybe even two shots have a decent chance at hitting the intended target, even at medium ranges.
  • The scattering effect of "firing from the hip" with the Incisor can even be useful with Cryo Ammo on missions such as the Reaper IFF or the N7: Abandoned Mine assignment when being swarmed by large numbers of husks. With sniper rifles having a higher chance activating ammo power effects it is possible to hit three husks at once with a single burst, freezing each one resulting in three downed husks.

Mass Effect 3

M-29 Incisor
Type	Sniper Rifle
Location	Tuchanka: Bomb
Fire Mode	Three-round burst
Weight	60%
Capacity	35%
Fire Rate	41%
Damage	23%
Accuracy	66%
Ammunition
Clip Size	15
Reserve	120
Type	Sniper Rifle
Location	Multiplayer Store
Fire Mode	Three-round burst
Weight	60%
Capacity	35%
Fire Rate	41%
Damage	23%
Accuracy	66%
Ammunition
Clip Size	15
Reserve	120

Description

The Incisor is a sniper rifle designed to overload active defenses. Firing three rounds with each pull of the trigger, the Incisor was initially advertised as having negligible recoil, although under real combat conditions the second and third rounds frequently climb in difficulty. The noise of the burst is comparable to a single rifle shot in duration, making it no easier to locate the sniper by sound.

Acquisition

Single-player

The M-29 Incisor is found during the mission Tuchanka: Bomb, on the left side of the first ramp. It is also purchasable from Kassa Fabrication post-mission if it was missed.

Multiplayer

Weapons are randomly rewarded through purchases of item packs. The M-29 Incisor is categorized as uncommon and requires no multiplayer expansion packs.

Player Notes

• General
• Multiplayer

General

• Burst Fire: The Incisor is a semi-automatic burst-fire weapon; one three-round burst is fired per trigger pull, but the trigger can't be held to continuously fire. It is one of several similar such burst-fire rifle weapons, along with the M-15 Vindicator, the N7 Valkyrie, and the M-55 Argus; the Incisor is the only burst-fire sniper rifle.
  • Unlike in Mass Effect 2, the Incisor has a much slower burst, thus its description of "the noise of the burst is comparable to a single rifle shot in duration" is no longer true. This also affects gameplay: most infantry enemies can now roll or dodge to evade the second and third rounds. Players should always anticipate this before firing.
  • As with most burst-fire weapons, the weakness of the Incisor is recoil causing each shot in the burst to climb, making it difficult to concentrate damage on enemy heads or weak points. For this reason, it's recommended to compensate by pulling your aim down with each trigger pull. Sniper rifles cannot equip any mods that reduce recoil. Firing from cover will increase stability and reduce the amount of disruption caused to aim by taking damage.
  • Most burst weapons can be improved significantly with Marksman. Maximizing the rate of fire bonuses also works to increase accuracy as well, as the shots in the burst all fire before the muzzle has jumped as far.
• The Incisor is a fairly unattractive option, with its burst fire making it less precise than most sniper rifles. It also deals fairly low damage for its weight; if you're looking for a better light sniper rifle option, the M-97 Viper, M-13 Raptor, and the fully automatic M-90 Indra are all lighter, more accurate, and more damaging. The N7 Valiant is only slightly heavier, but it has far higher punch, accuracy, and rate of fire.
• One of this weapon's few good features is a large supply of spare thermal clips.

Multiplayer

• The Barrage Upgrade Gear and Stabilization Modules are handy to reduce recoil, which also serves to make burst weapons like the Incisor more accurate.
• The Incisor's recoil can be drastically reduced by playing as a turian class or as the Geth Juggernaut Soldier and evolving the class power to increase stability. This makes it much easier to place every shot in the burst at the same location. Even so, there are still more damaging sniper rifle options that don't require stabilization to be effective.
• With the increased fire rate offered by Hunter Mode, a Geth Infiltrator can fire two bursts from the Incisor followed by a Proximity Mine before Tactical Cloak's damage bonus wears off.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Incisor
General Info
Category	Sniper Rifles
Rarity	Uncommon
Tech Type
Mod Slots	2
Base Stats
Damage	82-134
Rate of Fire	585
Max Clip Size	15
Max Ammo	120-150
Accuracy	75-94
Weight	50-25
Base Stats
Damage	144-181
Rate of Fire	585
Max Clip Size	15
Max Ammo	120-150
Accuracy	75-94
Weight	50-25
Bulwark
Damage Resistance (1 Ally): 15-25 Damage Resistance (2 Allies): 22-37 Damage Resistance (3 Allies): 30-50
Concussive
Area Damage: 800-1500 Radius (m): 7.50
Siphon
% Damage Returned as Health: 3-3.75 % Heal Bonus per kill: 4.5 Kill Streak Duration (s): 7 Max. Kill Bonus: 3

Description

Capable of three-shot bursts, the Incisor was part of a new wave of Milky Way sniper rifles designed to overload a foe’s defenses. It was advertised as having negligible recoil, though the second and third rounds frequently “climb” in combat conditions, distributing damage along a vertical line.

Features

The Incisor's displayed damage is per shot, as reflected in the Mass Effect: Andromeda APEX HQ app.

According to patch notes, The weapon's recoil per shot has been reduced and its muzzle flash no longer lingers.

Stats

• Singleplayer
• Multiplayer

Singleplayer

Rank	Damage	Rate of Fire	Max Clip Size	Max Ammo	Accuracy	Weight
I	82	585	15	120	75	50
II	88	585	15	123	81	47
III	94	585	15	127	84	44
IV	99	585	15	130	86	42
V	105	585	15	133	88	39
VI	111	585	15	137	90	36
VII	117	585	15	140	91	33
VIII	123	585	15	143	92	31
IX	128	585	15	147	93	28
X	134	585	15	150	94	25

Multiplayer

Rank	Damage	Rate of Fire	Max Clip Size	Max Ammo	Accuracy	Weight
I	144	585	15	120	75	50
II	148	585	15	123	81	47
III	152	585	15	127	84	44
IV	156	585	15	130	86	42
V	161	585	15	133	88	39
VI	165	585	15	137	90	36
VII	169	585	15	140	91	33
VIII	173	585	15	143	92	31
IX	177	585	15	147	93	28
X	181	585	15	150	94	25

Development

Rank	Blueprint Unlocked	Omni-Gel Canister	Iron	Lithium	Element Zero	Augmentation Slots
I	Level 1	20	80	40	10	0
II	Level 6	20	90	40	10	2
III	Level 11	20	100	50	10	2
IV	Level 21	30	110	50	10	2
V	Level 31	30	130	60	20	2
VI	Level 41	30	140	70	20	2
VII	Level 51	30	145	70	20	2
VIII	Level 61	40	150	70	20	2
IX	Level 71	40	155	70	20	2
X	Level 81	40	160	80	20	2
Total	N/A	300	1260	600	160	N/A

Trivia

• The M-29 Incisor's icon appears lower than other weapons while in game in both the PC and Xbox 360 versions, such as in the lower left corner where your ammo is displayed and in the weapon select part of the action menu bar.
• In Mass Effect 2, if you are using the Incisor with an ammo power and you enter a conversation, the glowing effects of the ammo power on the weapon will appear above Shepard's or a squadmate's shoulder, where with other sniper rifles, the effect goes down Shepard's or the squadmate's back.
• Mass Effect: Infiltrator features a superior model of the M-29 Incisor that fires rounds slightly quicker than the original model. Unlike its Mass Effect 3 counterpart, the M-29 Incisor in the mobile game will generate heat instead of using thermal clips. This variation also features a Cerberus black/yellow finish.
• Mass Effect: Andromeda doesn't use the M-29 designation that prior Mass Effect games use for this sniper rifle.
• The advertised feature of firing three rounds before "the barrel has moved a millimeter" could be a reference to the prototype Heckler & Koch G11 which used novel caseless ammunition to fire a burst before its recoil could be felt.