Sniper rifle

For the unique variant of this weapon added by the Odyssey DLC, see Unique sniper rifle.

The sniper rifle is a slightly heavier, single-shot firearm in RimWorld which deals a high amount of damage per shot; a long time between shots; very long range and high overall accuracy.

Acquisition[edit]

Sniper rifles can be crafted at a machining table once the Precision rifling research project has been completed. Each requires 60 Steel, 8 Components, 45,000 ticks (12.5 mins) of work modified by the general labor speed of the crafter, and a crafting skill of 7.

Sniper rifles can also be purchased from outlander and orbital combat suppliers or from outlander faction bases, or recovered from raiders:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Mercenary sniper	99.89%	Normal	70-320%

Analysis[edit]

Sniper rifles have the longest range of all standard weapons, and have excellent long-distance accuracy. They also have high per-shot damage and high AP, making them notorious for destroying body parts, but their DPS is poor due to their sluggish firerate. For regular pawns, their overall DPS is inferior to the bolt-action rifle at all ranges the bolt-action rifle can hit, let alone burst-fire weapons like assault rifles and charge rifles.

Therefore, sniper rifles are a specialized weapon - they are great at picking off sieges, kiting long range enemies like lancers, and are the safest hunting weapons. They can also allow children to gain Shooting experience while not putting them at much risk. For kiting low-range enemies like tribals, snipers are a weaker and more tedious option than assault rifles.

As snipers function best at long distances, they are best for high skill shooters, who are better at firing from afar regardless of their weapon type. For reference, a shooter with a Shooting Accuracy of 95% (Shooting 6) would have a 0.95^30 chance, or only ~21%, to hit a target from 30 tiles. A shooter with Shooting Accuracy 99% (Shooting 20) would have a ~74% shooter-side chance to hit from 30 tiles, a DPS increase of +252%.

Compared to the bolt-action rifle, the sniper rifle has worse firerate, DPS, and close-range accuracy in exchange for higher range, extra per-shot damage, and improved long-distance accuracy. However, Aiming Time reductions can cause the sniper to be better - see below for details.

Aiming Time[edit]

Due to the sniper's massive warmup time, Aiming Time reductions are especially good at improving their DPS. A trigger-happy shooting specialist will have an Aiming Time of 1%, causing it to have a equal or faster firing cycle than most weapons. A shooting specialist affected by another specialist's Marksman Aura will reach 10% Aiming Time, which still provides a great boost to sniper rifle DPS.

On a trigger-happy shooting specialist, an excellent sniper rifle will outright beat an excellent charge rifle for average theoretical DPS if firing at medium range (25 tiles) or further. However, the charge rifle retains several practical advantages:

Charge rifles are better at short ranges.
Charge rifles are better if the sniper rifle is limited by the overall accuracy cap, such as against centipedes or on pawns with Combat in darkness.
Charge rifles have burst fire, which is more likely to get at least 1 hit in. If the sniper rifle misses or hits a finger, much of the damage is wasted.

In addition, at legendary qualities, the charge rifle is better within its range (as the sniper reaches the cap of 100% gun accuracy at excellent, while the charge rifle continues to benefit from legendary's accuracy boost).

Stats[edit]

Against an unarmored human, the sniper rifle can kill with 2 shots to the torso or 1 shot to the head, brain or any vital organ. It'll generally take around 3 hits (~20.9 seconds average) to incapacitate that human from pain shock.

Attack table

Ranged

Sniper rifle			Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
Quality	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
Awful	22.5	34.2%	40%	56%	70.4%	72%	4.5	1.8	2.52	3.15	3.24	265
Poor	25	38%	45%	63%	79.2%	81%	5	2.25	3.15	3.95	4.05	395
Normal	25	38%	50%	70%	88%	90%	5	2.5	3.5	4.4	4.5	530
Good	25	38%	55%	77%	96.8%	99%	5	2.75	3.85	4.85	4.95	660
Excellent	25	38%	60%	84%	100%	100%	5	3	4.2	5	5	795
Masterwork	31.25	47.5%	67.5%	94.5%	100%	100%	6.25	4.25	5.94	6.25	6.25	1,325
Legendary	37.5	57%	75%	100%	100%	100%	7.5	5.63	7.5	7.5	7.5	2,650

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality. Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band.
The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Melee

Feature	Toggle
Attacks

Sniper rifle			Stock (Blunt)					Barrel (Blunt)					Barrel (Poke)					Human: Left & right fist (Blunt)					HP	Value
Quality	DPS^[1]	AP^[1]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	HP	Value
Awful	3.98	11.6%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 37.5%	100	265
Poor	4.07	11.82%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 20%	100	395
Normal	4.4	12.75%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	530
Good	4.74	13.73%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	660
Excellent	5.08	14.7%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	795
Masterwork	5.92	17.14%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	1,325
Legendary	6.59	19.09%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	2,650

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality.}

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Note: This is the actual base average derived from the melee verb system updated in 1.1.2610, it may sometimes disagree with the listed value in the in-game infobox.
It may also change depending on the stats and the melee verbs available to the wielder if the weapon is wielded by some other than a baseline human.
↑ Chance for attack to be selected, assuming the weapon is wielded by a baseline human. It may change depending on the melee verbs available to the wielder

Version history[edit]

Aproximately A9 - Name changed from M-24 to Sniper Rifle, sprite changed.
Beta 19 - Received a great reduction in damage dealt, but fires slightly faster; overall, its DPS was massively nerfed.
Beta 19/1.0 - Barrel melee attack damage reduced 10 -> 9, cooldown increased from 1.9s -> 2s. Stock cooldown increased from 1.8 -> 2.
1.6.4518 - Cooldown reduced from 2.3 to 1.5 seconds, medium range accuracy increased from 86% to 88%, and long range accuracy increased from 88% to 90%.
Odyssey DLC release - Added unique version.