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Disambiguous This article is about the weapon in Mass Effect: Andromeda. For the playable class in Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer, see N7 Shadow Infiltrator.

The Shadow is a sniper rifle in Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Description[]

Remnant particle technology is the cornerstone of the Shadow's design, though the Andromeda Initiative is responsible for the rest. This scoped rifle fires a continuous beam with pinpoint precision, only stopping if it overheats. As with all reverse-engineered Remnant tech, the Shadow should be considered experimental.

Features[]

The Shadow is essentially a longer-ranged version of the P.A.W. assault rifle. Its damage output is about twice that of the P.A.W., and its pinpoint accuracy ensures that its entire firepower hits exactly where the targeting reticule is pointed. Its continuous fire makes the Shadow a more forgiving weapon in the hands of inexperienced shooters than regular sniper rifles, but its lack of instant high-damage shots means that enemies are liable to evade the beam by either jumping to the side or running for cover. It also makes the "pop and drop" method of rising from cover for a quick killshot largely impossible to pull off, which tends to expose snipers to more enemy fire than they might be used to.

Being a Remnant-based weapon, the Shadow is subject to all the advantages and drawbacks of this weapon family.

Its internal heat sink gives it infinite spare ammunition, but its small clip size and immense rate of fire means that it empties its clip very quickly, which forces it into its lengthy cooldown animation if the player fails to keep an eye on their ammo count. There is no way to alleviate this shortcoming except for upgrading the weapon since there are no mods available to increase the clip size of sniper rifles.

The Shadow is the only Remnant-based firearm that does not suffer as much from the weapon family's arbitrary maximum range. It will still stop dealing damage past a certain range, but in its case this range is long enough that it should not be an issue under most circumstances.

Like all Remnant weapons, the Shadow can only be acquired by crafting it at a Research Station. It will never appear as random loot or in APEX loot containers.

The Shadow is unable to use a Sniper Rifle Clip Mod or a Sniper Rifle Receiver Mod.

The weapon received several changes during multiplayer balance updates. Aside from damage improvements, its recharge time has been slowed by 33%. The Shadow's damage output increases the closer it gets to overheating, though the weapon will overheat faster.

Strategies[]

  • The Shadow can properly utilize an SR Vented Barrel: as a continuous-beam weapon, the rate of fire penalty can be ignored, allowing for greater damage output at the mod's higher levels compared to the regular SR Barrel.

Singleplayer
  • There are only five Mods for sniper rifles. The Shadow can't use a Sniper Rifle Receiver Mod or a Sniper Rifle Spare Clip Mod, so there is no point in adding a Double Mod Extension augmentation to the Shadow to add 2 extra mods slots.

Multiplayer
  • The Shadow can be thought of as a "poor man's P.A.W.", being only rare and more likely to appear in crates than the ultra-rare P.A.W., and therefore more likely to access its variants faster than the P.A.W.

Stats[]

Singleplayer
Rank Damage Rate of Fire Max Clip Size Max Ammo Accuracy Weight
I 64 600 20 65 55
II 68 600 21 70 52
III 72 600 22 73 49
IV 76 600 23 75 46
V 81 600 24 76 43
VI 85 600 25 78 40
VII 89 600 26 79 37
VIII 93 600 28 80 34
IX 97 600 29 81 31
X 101 600 30 81 28

Multiplayer
Rank Damage Rate of Fire Max Clip Size Max Ammo Accuracy Weight
I 93 600 20 65 55
II 95 600 21 70 52
III 97 600 22 73 49
IV 99 600 23 75 46
V 101 600 24 76 43
VI 102 600 25 78 40
VII 104 600 26 79 37
VIII 106 600 28 80 34
IX 108 600 29 81 31
X 112 600 30 81 28

Development[]

Rank Rd icon remnant orange Research Cost Remnant polymer icon Remnant Polymer Silicon icon Silicon Lithium icon Lithium Element zero icon Element Zero MEA Augmentation Slot For Tables Augmentation Slots
I 125 20 100 50 10 0
II 140 30 110 50 10 3
III 155 30 130 60 20 3
IV 170 30 140 70 20 3
V 185 40 160 80 20 3
VI 200 40 170 80 20 3
VII 215 40 180 80 20 3
VIII 230 40 190 90 20 3
IX 245 50 190 90 20 3
X 260 50 200 100 20 3
Total 1925 370 1570 750 180 N/A
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