Yeah, I had meant to write it sooner, but never really got around to it... Been thinking about buying borderlands, might have to check it out

Basically, I'm a big fan of this game, in particular multiplayer, and wanted to give my two cents on the available weapons. I own and have used almost all of them (special pre order weapons like the collector rifle discluded) so I feel most of my opinions are credible and mor the most part original. Let me know what you think/ if you disagree with my analysis of certain weapons, please respond. Also, apologize for any typos or gramatical errors. There will be some.

** denotes a gun I do not have

Assault Rifles

Rare Level- Common

M- 8 Avenger- The avenger is the standard issue assault rifle in ME 3, dealing low damage, and having an average thermal clip, but boasting good accuracy, very low weight, and a fast reload time. The Avenger is about as standard as it gets. Personally, I preferred it to any of the other starting weapons, but quickly abandoned it once I unlocked other assault rifles (nearly all are preferable).  On bronze and silver difficulties, it can be useful when paired with another gun or with a power dependent class due to its extremely low weight, but dont even bother on gold.

Rare Level- Uncommon

M- 15 Vindicator- The Vindicator is a three shot burst rifle, but is otherwise fairly similar to the Avenger. It deals low damage, but has good accuracy, weighs next to nothing, reloads fast and has good range capabilities. If you can manage consistent headshots, it has a higher damage output than the avenger, but it is weaker on the move and at close range due to its burst nature. The Vindicator always reminds me of the battle rifle from halo 2, incredibly standard. I always favored the vindicator in campaign, particularly ME 2, but there are better options in ME, particularly for multiplayer.

M- 96 Mattock- The Mattock is a semi automatic rifle dealing good damage per shot, high accuracy, less than average weight, and having 16 shots per clip standard. The Mattock is a very useful gun for many classes because it both is accurate and deals high damage. If you can consistently land headshots, you can dispatch even shielded enemies quickly. It works great with the scope, thermal clip, and damage mods. I particularly liked this gun early on with the asari adept and vanguard, as you could freeze enemies with stasis and then repeatedly headshot them. Frankly, I found the Mattock to be one of the better assault rifles above even some of the rare ones, a skilled player can make great use of it, especially in combination with power usage.

Rare Level- Rare

M- 37 Falcon-  The Falcon is a semi automatic rifle that fires mini grenades. It does good damage per shot, has slightly higher than average weight, a slow rate of fire, but deals splash damage.  Despite its cool name, Im not a huge fan of the falcon. While the splash damage and staggering effects are nice against groups of weak enemies, it simply takes too many hits to kill considering it fires grenades. It also fires very slowly, and more often than not, some douche teammate will steal your kill(s) while you are in between firing shots. It also is surprisingly useless against big enemies like banshees and atlases. It can be a fun gun to use when coupled with powers like adrenaline rush, marksman or devastator mode, but dont expect too much from the falcon, because it simply wont deliver.

M- 76 Revenant-  The Revenant is a powerful fully automatic machine gun capable of shredding targets at close to medium range. It has a sizeble clip, deals heavy damage, and is about average weight, but unfortunately is very inaccurate.  There are several ways to mitigate the accuracy weakness whether through a stabilization module, a gear/equipment bonus, or certain characters have accuracy bonuses. Without said upgrades, it suffers at medium to long ranges, but its power helps to make up for this. The Revenant is a fun gun to use, and when upgraded, is flat out deadly. There are other assault rifles I prefer, but this is an overall very solid one that also is quite satisfying to use.

Geth Pulse Rifle- The Geth Pulse Rifle is a highly accurate fast firing assault rifle. Its strengths include its virtually inexistent recoil, its large clip (second largest among projectile firing assault rifles), and its lower than average weight. Its single flaw is its low damage, particularly against armor. The GPR is a pretty good gun against most types of enemies; it is very accurate making sustained headshots easy, it fires very fast and has a large clip meaning you can take out multiple enemies in one clip, and it doesnt weigh too much. The damage is understandably low against health shields and barriers, but is painfully low against armor. I made the horrible mistake of using the GPR on gold against reaper, and let me tell you I had a bad time. Even at levels V-X it still is pathetically weak against armor, so dont even bother. As a result good when paired with an armor piercing gun, or with powers like incinerate/flamer/warp.

Phaeston- The Phaeston is a light assault rifle characterized by low damage, a large clip, and fast firing. Although it often times is compared to the avenger, I have found that it is fundamentally very similar to the geth pulse rifle, although it does slightly more damage, has a smaller clip, and is a little less accurate. The Phaeston is essentially a nerfed version of the Geth Pulse Rifle because even though it does more damage per shot, it still unloads much less damager per clip with comparable mods. The one clear cut advantage the Phaeston has over the GPR is that it is better in close quarters due to its spray. Its a well balanced assault rifle, especially in campaign, but in multiplayer there are better options.

Striker Assault Rifle-  The Striker is an automatic assault rifle that fires explosive high damage rounds. These perks are offset by high weight and a small thermal clip. The striker is comparable to the falcon as it fires explosive rounds dealing damage to a small area. It differs from the falcon in that it is automatic, albeit a slow rate of fire for an automatic and limited shots before reload. The Striker is pretty mediocre in my opinion, able to take out a group of light enemies, but incapable of doing real damage to heavy enemies. The magazine upgrade, and powers like marksman and adrenaline rush make it more effective, but at the end of the day all you have is a heavy assault rifle that deals average damage and is somewhat hard to aim.

Rare Level- Ultra Rare

M- 99 Saber- The Saber is a single shot assault rifle dealing massive damage per shot. It weighs more than most assault rifles, but its sheer power more than compensates for the weight. Personally, this is one of my absolute favorite guns for silver difficulty, as when equipped with the extended barrel is a one shot headshot on unprotected enemies. Combine this with a shield draining power like overload or energy drain and you have an unstoppable killing machine if you can pull off the headshot consistently. One of my most favorite classes is the turian sentinel with a saber, as turians gain a bonus to weapon stability, and your powers are overload and warp to weaken any defenses. The main drawback of the Saber is its high recoil and slow fire rate, making it challenging at close ranges. It doesnt seem to suffer much if any damage reduction for hip fire, so can effectively be used when no scoping. Even on gold, this thing packs a punch.

Cerberus Harrier- The harrier is a fully automatic assault dealing high damage per shot, but being restricted by a small clip. I only recently acquired the harrier, but it quickly became one of my favorite guns, as it should be due to its impressive stats. The harrier is equitable to a fully automatic mattock, meaning that it can deal massive damage in a short time. It also is surprisingly accurate for such a powerful gun, having significantly less recoil than the saber or striker. Its main flaw is its ammo limitation. You only begin with 20 shots per clip and 80 reserve, so youll find yourself both reloading often and needing to visit ammo crates sometimes multiple times a round. It also is rather heavy, but as you may or may not know, all the best weapons are heavy. Anyway, the harrier is capable of dispatching even shielded enemies as if they were swarmers, but be prepared to camp the ammo crate.

Particle Rifle- The particle rifle fires a sustained laser beam that expands to deal more damage after a few seconds. Rather than firing rounds, the particle rifle has an energy supply that starts at 100 and drains as the fire is held down. If the ammo reaches 0 you are in for a long cooldown and reload time, so try to stop when it is near 0 as opposed to depleting all the energy. You may have guessed that the particle rifles energy depleting style necessitates the magazine upgrade, which can almost double the amount of time you can fire it. This greatly increases the effectiveness of the gun, as it is capable of killing most enemies in a couple seconds, especially when fire is concentrated on their domes. I really like the particle rifle as a secondary weapon on classes that dont rely on powers such as Krogan. It is fairly good against all defenses, and can weaken even large enemies like atlases and ravagers surprisingly quick. I wouldnt recommend it for close quarters or in most cases as a standalone weapon because for it to be useful, you need to be standing still firing for a prolonged period of time. The Particle rifle is very fun to use, but its high weight and forced exposure make it the worst of the ultra rare assault rifles.

**N-7 Typhoon- The Typhoon is a heavy machine gun that has high recoil a large clip, and good damage. While the Typhoon is the heaviest assault rifle in the game by a fair margin, it does good damage in addition to having a standard 100 round clip making it capable of dealing massive damage per clip. It is one of those guns that  increases in rate of fire up to a maximum speed. Since the Typhoon is one of the guns I dont have, I cant speak to my personal feelings on it, but Ive seen players rack up kills particularly with classes like the devastator or other soldiers due to the weight tradeoff aspect.

Basically, I'm a big fan of this game, in particular multiplayer, and wanted to give my two cents on the available weapons. I own and have used almost all of them (special pre order weapons like the collector rifle discluded) so I feel most of my opinions are credible and mor the most part original. Let me know what you think/ if you disagree with my analysis of certain weapons, please respond. Also, apologize for any typos or gramatical errors. There will be some.

** denotes a gun I do not have

Shotguns

Rare Level- Common

M-23 Katana- The Katana is the standard shotgun option in Mass Effect 3. As compared with other shotguns it has a large clip, low weight, low damage, short range, and a fast reload time. While it is a decent weapon due to its large clip, its low damage and range make it impractical as you will need to be close range to kill anything with it, yet it takes several shots to defeat most enemies. Essentially if you miss a shot you are in serious trouble, and good luck with multiple enemies. Not a bad secondary weapon due to its low weight among shotguns.

Rare Level - Uncommon

M- 27 Scimitar- The Scimitar is an interesting shotgun in that it is automatic but also functions as semi automatic. With the exception of the Reegar (if you even count that as a shotgun), it has tied for the largest clip among shotguns with the Piranha. Coincidentally, it has the lowest damage per shot. Personally, I havent used the Scimitar much at all, not since I first started playing multiplayer because there frankly are much better shotgun options capable of taking out enemies. The Mass Effect Wiki points out that in the right hands, the Scimitar can be very effective and just as efficient as nearly any other shotgun. I however, am inclined to disagree because the longer a gun takes to kill any enemy, the more you are exposed to gunfire and attacks from other enemies. Sure, that wont make much of a difference on bronze or early waves of harder difficulties, but try defending a hack objective on gold difficulty with a Scimitar. You will be fkd.

**M- 22 Eviscerator-  The Eviscerator is a lightweight shotgun with a small clip, decent damage, and good accuracy. It is comparable to the Katana, except it is slightly lighter, does a good bit more damage, and only has 3 shots per clip. As you can see, the Eviscerator is one of the 4 guns I do not have and therefore have not used along with the Typhoon, Talon, and Paladin. It seems quite unremarkable which explains why other players seldom choose it. I should mention though, that its light weight make it a nice secondary choice for a weapon.

Rare Level- Rare

M-300 Claymore-  The Claymore is an extremely powerful shotgun that fires 1 round per clip, does devastating damage, and weighs a ton. Due to the implications of its weight, I typically like to use the Claymore with power irrelevant classes like Krogans. For example, the Krogan Sentinel is a great class to use the Claymore with along with another heavy weapon as two of its 3 powers (tech armor and cluster grenade) dont require recharge to effectively make a killing machine, albeit one that cant use powers. Otherwise, the claymores weight makes it difficult to use in a power concentrated class even at level X.  It is very effective against shields and especially armor, and still moderately effective against barriers. Overall, a very good shotgun, but its weight and one shot clip necessitate the right class.

Disciple-  The disciple is a light semi automatic shotgun with four shells per clip dealing low damage, but retaining high accuracy for a shotgun.  It also has an effect that staggers most targets (even shielded targets) and can stun enemies.  The Disciple has great stats on paper, but personally I hardly ever use it. My feelings regarding shotguns is that unless it deals moderate to high damage it is useless, because other weapon classes are typically lighter and more effective while dealing comparable damage.  While the disciple can make a good backup weapon for certain classes such as vanguards, there are much better choices, and considering the fact that it is a golden rare item, it takes a while to level up.

Geth Plasma Shotgun- The GPS is a heavy shotgun that fires a three shot round consisting of three plasma particles in a triangle arrangement. It can also be charged for critical damage.  The Geth Plasma shotgun is one of my personal favorites as it has multiple shots per clip, 3-5 depending on if you charge the weapon or not, does very good damage, has a nice rate of fire, and is surprisingly accurate at close range. It also has a tracking effect that seems to improve both as you charge the gun and as you level it up. This effect makes it effective at both close and medium/medium long range.  The mass effect wiki points out that there is a lag in between firing and impact, which can make hitting moving opponents a challenge, but I have found that the tracking effect helps negate that, and its 5 shot clip allows you to fire from the hip without too much worry. Personally, I like the GPS with vanguards, but it can be effectively utilized with many classes, not to mention the possible damage bonus with geth characters. If you need any convincing of this weapons usefulness, Geth Hunters, some of the most difficult and annoying enemies in the game, utilize the geth plasma shotgun.

Graal Spike Thrower- The Graal Spike Thrower also is a heavy semi automatic shotgun capable of charging up single shots to fire a more powerful version.  It is fundamentally very similar to the Geth Plasma Shotgun, although it has a slightly smaller clip and does slightly less damage.  It does make up for this though with a natural armor piercing ability which ignores the damage penalty of armor. Some people think this effect makes it better than the geth plasma shotgun, particularly on higher difficulties, but I would favor the GPS slightly. They are both the same rare level, so I guess it comes down to preference and which one you are randomly rewarded more often.

N-7 Piranha- Despite its N7 classification, the Piranha is a rare shotgun that has a large clip, medium weight, low recoil, and good damage. I only recently unlocked it, so havent gotten to explore it with a variety of classes, but holy **** is it good.  Along with the Scimitar it has the largest clip of any shotgun, with a standard 8 round magazine. It also fires very quickly with low recoil allowing it to be used ideally fired from the hip while moving. Ive really enjoyed using it with the batarian sentinel as that class grants it a bonus in magazine size, and it compliments ballistic blades very nicely, although Im sure there are lots of good combinations for the piranha. Useful against most enemies, and personally, I think it is the best shotgun overall.

Reegar Carbine-  The Reegar Carbine is an automatic shotgun that fires a continuing current at close range. It is limited by range and its clip empties quickly.  However, it deals devastating damage at close range, capable of taking out multiple basic footsoldiers or even shielded enemies in one clip very quickly. The only thing that keeps the Reegar classified as a shotgun is its near point blank range capabilities. Despite these capabilities, it is very powerful, and in addition does extra damage to shields and barriers. I like to think I was original in pairing this gun with my Vorcha Sentinel, but if you look at any guide, theyll tell you the same thing. Both Vorcha classes have the bloodlust power which increases damage and health regeneration which negates the damage you take while moving into carbine effective range. They also both have the flamer power, which is devastating against armor making you equipped to deal with any enemy.  Otherwise the Reegar burns through ammo at an annoying pace, and may cause you to take too much damage to make it practical. Even with classes like vanguards it can be dangerous, because for maximum effectiveness you stand still and aim leaving you exposed.

Rare Level- Ultra Rare

M-11 Wraith-  The Wraith is a light powerful shotgun holding two shots per clip. You might look at the wraith and wonder why it is marked as ultra rare, but it actually is a very versatile weapon. For one it low weight, being one of the lightest shotguns making it practical for use with another weapon and or a power heavy class. Also, it deals good damage while being decently accurate, especially with the smart choke upgrade. Finally, it has a very fast reload time allowing for more shots per minute (did I just make that term up?) than most shotguns. Equipping the damage and accuracy upgrades, or using a class with bonuses in these areas makes the wraith very effective. Its biggest flaw is probably the time in between shots, but you still can get the two shots off pretty quick. Overall, very useful and versatile.

Rare Level- N7

N7 Crusader- The Crusader is a highly accurate semi automatic shotgun dealing good damage and weighing in as a heavyweight. The Crusader is an interesting take on the shotgun, and in my opinion is not even a shotgun at all. It fires a single round to a point rather than a spray, making it useful at much longer ranges than other shotguns. In fact there is no range penalty with the crusader, so if you feel so inclined you actually can use it like a sniper or semi auto assault and go for headhsots although its four shot per clip capacity and high recoil are somewhat restrictive. Its less adept at close range as you can miss much more easily, but it still proves to be useful against big enemies that are easy to hit like atlases and brutes, especially with powers like adrenaline rush. It also is one shot headshot on silver on unshielded enemies which is fun. Its major drawback is its massive weight. Along with the claymore, it is the heaviest shotgun in the game, and one of the heaviest weapons overall, so dont plan on bringing powers to the party.  Im not a huge fan due to the weight problem, but it is kind of fun to snipe with a shotgun, and it does do good damage per clip with certain passive powers. More of a novelty gun in my opinion than a useful one.

Overall rank of shotguns

1. Piranha
2. Geth Plasma Shotgun
3. Wraith
4. Claymore
5. Reegar Carbine
6. Graal Spike Thrower
7. Crusader
8. Disciple
9. Katana
10. Scimitar

*Eviscerator

Pistols

Rare Level- Common

M- 3 Predator- The Predator is your standard heavy pistol dealing decent damage per shot, being semi automatic in form, and having a decent sized clip. While much less powerful than the other pistols, and most guns overall, the predator can fire surprisingly quick for a semi auto gun and retains good accuracy while firing. Despite this weapons low weight, and comfortable clip sizes, it simply is too weak to make it a practical choice on silver or above unless you plan on keeping shooting to a minimum and power spamming to a maximum.

Rare Level- Uncommon

M- 5 Phalanx- The phalanx like the Predator is a fairly standard pistol dealing more damage per shot than its basic counterpart, but firing slower and having a slightly smaller clip. I consider the Phalanx to be an upgrade to the predator because it does more damage and seems to be more accurate at virtually no additional weight. On higher difficulties the name of the game is dispatching enemies quickly so as to minimize the damage you take during the fight, so the Phalanx is generally preferable to the Predator, but is inferior to other pistols.

Rare Level-  Rare

M- 6 Carnifex-  The carnifex truly embodies the term heavy pistol as it starts to introduce the pistols in mass effect that more closely resemble magnums of today. It weighs a good deal more than the Predator or Phalanx, but packs a much greater punch. A few headshots with the Carnifex can take out most shielded enemies, and one clip will be able to kill almost any non boss enemy with good accuracy. Another one of my most favorite classes is the Asari Adept with just the carnifex, because a stasis carnifex combo can kill any enemy without armor fairly quickly even on gold. The main weakness of the carnifex is its small clip size (only 6 shots). You can use the magazine upgrade but personally Im a big fan of the scope/ headshot upgrades which further increase its utility when paired with stasis. Very well balanced sidearm.

Acolyte- The Acolyte is a light pistol specifically designated for taking out shields and barriers. It does good damage overall, but has a small clip and requires a charge to fire. I personally am very biased against the Acolyte because I see pistols as fast firing guns to be used at close range and deal good damage quickly. The Acolyte excels at none of these things. You have to charge it which can be very annoying in a firefight, its projectile is slow moving and susceptible to gravity, and it only has three shots per clip. To be fair, the acolyte really is more of a utility weapon for dealing with shielded and barrier enemies than a standalone weapon, but even against some of those enemies it proves ineffective. Phantoms Banshees, and other fast moving enemies will prove difficult to land hits on with the acolyte and by missing you leave yourself quite exposed. Not one of my favorites.

Arc Pistol- The arc pistol is an interesting pistol capable of both fast semi automatic fire and a slower more powerful charged shot. Due to these capabilities, the arc pistol is very versatile as it can be charged and used like a Carnifex/Paladin, or fired quickly to be used like the Phalanx. Unfortunately, it is heavier than most other pistols, and charging it consumes extra time and ammo, so unless you plan on using both firing modes extensively, I wouldnt recommend the Arc Pistol. I also must note that it stuns geth enemies naturally making it particularly useful against geth.  I was a little disappointed with this gun after using the arc projector basically the whole time in ME 2, but when upgraded the arc pistol is a nifty gun.

Ultra Rare

**M-77 Paladin- The Paladin is a more powerful version of the carnifex weighing slightly more, and doing more damage, but having 4 shots instead of 6.  Ive really been badly wanting this gun since I started playing ME3 and probably have bought close to 100 premium spectre packs to no avail. From using the paladin in campaign, I can say it is a very fun gun to use. Its high power make it a one or two headshot kill on the majority of enemies, and is capable of dealing punishing damage against armor too. Unfortunately, its ultra rare status makes it that much harder to obtain than the carnifex, so you likely will have it at a much lower level than other pistols. Its one of the rarer guns to see overall, as even players who have it will tend to favor other classes of weapons, but paired with the right class it can be a standalone armada. (When I got the N-7 Paladin, for a second I thought it was the gun, and then nearly broke some stuff out of frustration)

**M-358 Talon- The Talon, popularized by guardians, is a heavy pistol that functions very similarly to a shotgun. Once again I dont have the talon, so can only speculate, and even more so than the Paladin, it is one of the rarest guns to see in multiplayer action. Its basic stats reveal that it is very heavy but deals massive damage, particularly at close range. This would suggest it is a useful gun as a backup for soldiers or for vanguards who can rapidly close large distances with biotic charge. Unfortunately I cant speak to how it stands up against shotguns in general, but it seems like an interesting gun.

Scorpion- The Scorpion is a heavy pistol that fires time fuse explosives that stick to enemy units and neutral surfaces. The scorpion has a small clip and high weight, but deals good damage and can damage multiple enemies with a single shot. The scorpion is more of a novelty than an actual useful weapon in my opinion. Dont get me wrong, its very fun to use and can take out enemies and get you serious assist points, but it is far too slow and limited to be useful. In addition to only having 4 shots per clip (magazine upgrade is a must), its shots take what seems like forever to explode. I cant tell you the number of times Ive stuck an enemy with one of the rounds only for some douche teammate to steal the kill. If youve played ME 3 you know all too well how people squabble over kills and points, and that makes using the Scorpion frustrating and challenging. It also is surprisingly ineffective against large enemies like banshees and atlases. Overall, I cant think of many reasons to use the Scorpion over other rare and ultra rare guns, especially at its weight.

Rare Level- N7

N7 Eagle-  The eagle is a fully automatic pistol with the largest clip among pistols, a good fire rate, and low weight, but expectedly doing low damage per shot.  The eagle is a pretty good gun because it does decent damage due to its automatic nature, and has both low weight and recoil making it useful for power dependent classes and close range hip fire. Using a magazine upgrade, or character that has ammo bonuses, it can deliver serious damage in no time at all. Its low weight make it a viable sidearm for nearly any class, and I would speculate it has one of the best weight: damage per clip ratios of any gun in the game, not to mention the fact that it can be effectively used on the move.  Difficult to obtain, as it can only be acquired via weekend challenges, but worth the wait.

My rank of Pistols

1.       Carnifex

2.       Eagle

3.       Arc Pistol

4.       Phalanx

5.       Scorpion

6.       Acolyte

7.       Predator

**Paladin

**Talon

Basically, I'm a big fan of this game, in particular multiplayer, and wanted to give my two cents on the available weapons. I own and have used almost all of them (special pre order weapons like the collector rifle discluded) so I feel most of my opinions are credible and mor the most part original. Let me know what you think/ if you disagree with my analysis of certain weapons, please respond. Also, apologize for any typos or gramatical errors. There will be some.

** denotes a gun I do not have

Weapons

Sniper Rifles

Rare Level- common

M-92 Mantis- Standard single shot sniper rifle that comes equipped automatically. While relatively weak compared with some of the other single shot rifles, the mantis is also lighter than most other sniper rifles making it useful for power heavy sniper classes such as engineers or adepts.  Overall a decent sniper if you want good power, relatively low weight and can consistently pull off a headshot.

M- 97 Viper The Viper is a low weight semi automatic sniper with a clip size of six that does low to moderate damage. Like the mantis, the Viper is lower in weight than most of the rarer, more powerful sniper rifles. Personally, I rarely use the Viper so cant speak to its ideal class accompaniment, but I would speculate using it with a character that has overload/energy drain would be useful. The mass effect wiki recommends adepts with stasis as a good choice. At level X , the viper can do serious damage, that coupled with a six round clip can make it useful. Its main drawback would be its relatively low damage, especially on higher difficulties.

Rare Level- uncommon

M- 13 Raptor-  The raptor is a semi automatic sniper with low damage, low recoil, and a high rate of fire. It is fairly comparable to the assault rifle, Mattock. Due to its relatively large clip and low damage, the raptor is best equipped to handle groups of lightly protected enemies with a mobile character. Since it requires multiple shots to bring most enemies down, you risk being exposed, but the virtually inexistent recoil allows for quick kills especially with a good marksman. Overall, not particularly useful until upgraded, but nice for certain situations. It also boasts a relatively low weight among snipers.

M- 29 Incisor- The incisor is a three round burst sniper rifle dealing low damage per shot, but compensating with a high rate of fire, a large clip, and low weight. Personally, I find the incisor to be the clear worst sniper in the game due to its moderate recoil. The recoil makes it difficult to make headshots, particularly on moving targets, thus lowering the incisors already meek damage. Its low weight makes it useful as a secondary long range weapon, but there are better choices in the viper and raptor.

Rare Level- Rare

M- 98 Widow- The Widow is a heavy single shot sniper rifle dealing massive damage. If youve played ME 2, you know how deadly the widow can be, and this is unchanged. While it is not as powerful as say the Javelin, it deals significant damage, especially when coupled with a leveled infiltrator using tactical cloak. Once moderately upgraded, the widow is capable of taking out any enemy on silver with a single headshot besides  Atlas, Brute, Banshee, and Phantoms making it very useful in the hands of a good sniper. Its reload time is modest, while its heavy weight is its major drawback. Its single shot nature necessitates a secondary weapon, and its weight necessitates a secondary weapon with ultralight materials.  Dont let that fool you though, for a rare gun its fairly common (first gun I got to level X in MP), and one of my favorite classes is a geth infiltrator with a widow and plasma smg.

Kishock Harpoon Gun- The Kishock is an interesting single shot sniper in that it is capable of firing a charged shot for extra damage. I also believe it ignores certain defense and results in bleeding damage on most targets. While it can be incredibly powerful due to these effects, its projectile is slow moving with there often being an observable lag between firing and impact, and also potential gravity effects on the bullet trajectory. Im not a fan of the Kishock as compared with other single shot guns, but apparently it is the only sniper capable of one shot killing shielded enemies on the gold difficulty. It also has lower weight than most of the other high power sniper rifles, and a slightly larger ammo capacity.

Krysae Sniper Rifle-  The Krysae is a semi automatic sniper with a three round magazine that fires explosive rounds. Its benefits include a blast radius of the rounds making it useful against groups of enemies, 2x and 10x zoom capacity, and a relatively good weight to damage ratio.  On a more intangible level, it is also incredibly fun to use, as enemies will often explode into bits upon death. Once upgraded, is capable of significant damage per shot, but for me has proven to be rare. I also am not a fan of the unique scope used by the Krysae that only serves to limit your field of vison. Its also worth mentioning that the Krysae is still useful at close range due to its exploding rounds

Rare Level- Ultra Rare

Black Widow- The Black Widow is similar to the Widow, except that it is semi automatic and has three rounds per clip instead of just one. It has a higher damage per shot than any of the other semi automatic snipers including the Valiant, making it good against armored opponents and guardians. Ironically, the Black Widow was one of the first snipers I got in a Spectre pack, and it has proved to be one of my favorites. It manages to boast impressive damage along with three shots per clip making it able to take out most enemies in a magazine, yet still useful against large enemies like ravagers and brutes. Its major drawback is its weight, as it is one of the heaviest weapons in the game along with the Widow, Javelin, Crusader, and Claymore.  Overall, very fun and very useful with soldiers and infiltrators especially.

 Javelin-  The Javelin is a single shot sniper, dealing the most damage per shot of any sniper and second most among all weapons behind the Claymore. It also comes standardly equipped with a scope that can see outlines through smoke, and it can pierce light cover like the Widow and Black Widow. Despite its apparent strengths, the Widow presents a challenge to snipers because it has the lowest capacity of any sniper, the highest weight, and a long reload time. Like the Widow it absolutely necessitates a low weight smg or pistol as a sidearm which inevitably causes powers to recharge slower than the gun, so infiltrators using tactical cloak will find their cloak will not regenerate fast enough to keep up with the Javelins firing rate. Overall very good, capable of taking out nearly half of the armor of an atlas in one shot when coupled with tactical cloak. The built in enhanced scope also allows for both the damage and ammo capacity bonuses to be installed.

M- 90 Indra- The Indra is the only automatic sniper in mass effect three, boasting low weight, the largest clip among snipers, and the fastest fire rate. These perks are balanced out by low damage.  Its low recoil and high rate of fire make it ideal for good snipers who can track the heads of enemies well. It also can be effectively combined with armor piercing rounds to make it an all purpose sniper.  Due to its high rate of fire, it burns through clips fast, but the short reload time offsets that somewhat. An allaround useful sniper against most enemies, and low weight,  make the Indra an excellent choice.

Rare Level- N7

Valiant- The Valiant is a semi automatic sniper with three bullets per clip. Compared with the Black Widow it does less damage, and cannot naturally pierce cover, but is much lighter, has less recoil, and reloads much faster. Personally, I think the Valiant is the best sniper because it is powerful, light, fast, and versatile in that it can be effectively wielded by almost any class of character, especially with characters that have overload.  Unfortunately since it is an N7 weapon, the only way to acquire it is to get it in commendation or victory packs by completing weekend challenges. Totally worth the effort though.

My overall rank of snipers from best to worst

1. Valiant
2. Indra
3. Javelin
4. Widow
5. Black Widow
6. Krysae
7. Viper
8. Mantis
9. Kishock
10. Raptor
11. Incisor

Sub Machine Guns

Rare Level- common

M-4 Shuriken-  The Shuriken is the standard issue sub machine gun of Mass Effect 3, sporting 6 round bursts, high recoil, low weight and low damage. Personally, Im not a big fan of it as it is intended for medium range combat, but most assault rifles and even shotguns prove more effective at medium ranges. Its six round burst does however prove useful when applied to headshots, although the recoil can make accuracy a problem. Its low weight coupled with ultralight materials make its power recharge penalty negligible, so if you want a second weapon useful at closeish ranges, not a bad choice.

M- 9 Tempest- The Tempest is a surprisingly good SMG for only being a rare level uncommon. Its strengths include a large clip, high rate of fire, good damage, and manageable recoil. It also instantly reaches its peak rate of fire unlike the Geth Plasma SMG making it for useful in close quarters. When coupled with the magazine upgrade or heat sink, you arrive at a smg that can dish out significant damage per clip, taking out multiple infantry before needing a reload. Good compliment for snipers.

Rare Level- uncommon

M-12 Locust- The Locust is a very accurate SMG with low recoil, a small clip, and average damage.  Personally, I have  found the Locust to be pretty worthless. Its redeeming qualities are its relative effectiveness at medium to long range, but there really is no reason you should be using an SMG at anything but close range with the possible exception of the Geth Plasma SMG. I guess if you want to keep low weight, you might choose this to compliment a shotgun, but overall it doesnt do much and its paltry 20 round mag make this one a benchwarmer.

Rare Level-  Rare

M- 25 Hornet- The hornet is a 3 round burst SMG similar to the assault rifle, Vindicator. When compared to other SMGs it is heavy, does high damage, has high recoil, is highly accurate, and has a relatively small clip.  Despite its mediocre appearance on paper, the hornet is actually a pretty useful SMG, as it can be accurately fired from the hip, is useful at all ranges, and when fired from cover, remains fairly accurate. All around good SMG that can be effectively applied to a variety of situations

Geth Plasma SMG- The Geth Plasma SMG is a very unique gun in that it has a huge clip, an absurd rate of fire, and is very accurate. Its drawbacks are low damage per shot, and the fact that it takes a couple seconds to reach its maximum rate of fire. Despite its impressive statistics, I have several complaints about the Geth Plasma SMG. For one its not great at close range due to its high accuracy. While this may seem counter intuitive, other smgs like the tempest and hurricane spray bullets more, making them highly effective at close range, while the Geth Plasma SMG shoots them in a line. Try using it on a charging husk at close range and youll see what I mean. Also, on higher difficulties, most shielded enemies like centurions and marauders will roll out of the way once they are being hit in the head, so it can prove difficult to maintain headshots, which is absolutely critical with this gun. Finally, the lag time between starting firing and max rate of fire can leave you dangerously exposed, for several seconds, which come wave 8-10 will make all the difference. Overall, Im not a huge fan of the geth plasma SMG and use it mainly for taking down shields and barriers on some of the boss enemies.

Rare Level- N7

N7 Hurricane- The Hurricane is a fully automatic SMG with high weight, a large clip size, decent damage, and a very high rate of fire. The Hurricane suffers in its accuracy and high recoil. I personally love the Hurricane because it represents the ideal SMG; great at close quarters and crowd control, a great compliment to a sniper or single shot rifle. In fact the Hurricane is arguably the best weapon in the game at point blank range as its large clip can allow you to adjust your aim and still kill/stagger enemies.  Can take a  long time thought o acquire/level up as you can only get it through the weekend challenges.

My overall rank of SMGs from best to worst

1. Hurricane
2. Hornet
3. Tempest
4. Geth Plasma SMG
5. Shuriken
6. Locust