Starfield: Where to get a sniper rifle

There are plenty of solid weapons that you can use during your adventure in Starfield. From laser weapons to high-powered shotguns, you can kill your enemies with just about any kind of gun or weapon. However, this doesn’t mean that all of these weapons are easy to acquire. For many players, including myself, the sniper rifle has been a difficult weapon to find in any part of Starfield thus far.

While you can find variants of a sniper rifle, such as the Old Earth Hunting Rifle, those don’t deliver the damage of a normal sniper. As such, shooting enemies from a distance isn’t too viable of an option in Starfield, as you don’t have the proper weaponry to take on battles at those ranges.

Luckily, I have managed to find a guaranteed spawn for a sniper rifle and it’s not too far into the game at all.

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Finding a sniper rifle in Starfield

For this spawn, you will need to progress the United Colonies quest line quite far. I don’t want to spoil anything in the quest line, but you need to make it to the base on Mars after helping Vae Victis and finding the lost robot that was a part of the Xenowarfare team back during the Colony War. When you find the robot, you will return with it to the Red Devils base on Mars and speak with Hadrian.

Here, Hadrian will lay out a plan for you to follow in the next part of the quest line. Before you leave the base to embark on your next mission, though, can speak to a man named Lt. Gualter Azevedo. Speaking to him is an optional objective after you’re done talking to Hadrian.

Azevedo will be able to restock your supplies for the next leg of the quest. If you agree to trade with the Lieutenant, you can find a sniper rifle for sale in his inventory. The sniper rifle is called the “Modified” Hard Target, and it will cost you around 25,000 credits to purchase.

The Modified Hard Target has a suppressor, long range scope, and deals 140 damage per hit. It’s not the best sniper rifle in Starfield, but it’s the one I was able to find first.

If you don’t want to pay for the Modified Hard Target, though, you can actually get a free one a little later on in the United Colonies quest line. When you’re on the planet Londindian, you will once again be able to stock up your supplies. Laying on a table is a free Modified Hard Target identical to one you could purchase earlier.