Longsword II 203 ERSR

The Longsword II 203 ERSR, also referred to by the term "Sniper Rifle," is a weapon in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The weapon is a follow-up of the Longsword 202 ERASER that appeared in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Overview
The sniper rifle has an integral scope and offers high per-shot damage together with semi-automatic firing. In many ways, this rifle is a bigger, more expensive, and more specialized version of the SB-762 Battle Rifle. The sniper rifle has enough range to cover any combat range in the game.

A notable limitation of the sniper rifle is its inability to accept a silencer. For silenced lethal sniping, it is necessary to instead use the Lancer or the combat rifle. Other limitations include its long dry reload animation (the longest of any weapon in the game), its high recoil and poor handling (which can be compensated by the Cybernetic Weapon Handling augmentation), the rarity of the weapon and its ammunition, and its initially small magazine size. Additionally, the weapon is tied with its non-lethal sister rifle as the largest item in the game in terms of taking up inventory space.

The majority of ammunition, particularly the more useful armor-piercing variety, must be bought at a premium from merchants. Despite the high listed damage of the weapon, armor piercing rounds are still required to defeat helmets and properly armored opponents without wasting too much ammunition. See the main article on sniper rifle ammunition for a list of locations.

Like the Lancer and the tranquilizer rifle, the sniper rifle lacks an aiming reticle for aiming of the weapon without using the scope. This shortcoming is resolved by attachment of a Laser Sight.

Gameplay
Standard ammunition for this weapon is actually very useful, as it packs more than enough punch to kill almost every unarmored or lightly armored target in a single shot, and anyone without a helmet in a headshot from any range. Fully upgraded, it takes two (or occasionally three) bodyshots at typical ranges to take down armored cops using standard ammunition. A single armor piercing bullet to the body at pointblank is enough to bring their health to critical levels (very similar stopping power of revolver AP ammo), and will sometimes kill them outright. Note also that targets hit by sniper fire will stagger or occasionally fall over, making it easier to land successive hits. Sniper fire also breaks the morale of all but the bravest of enemies (armored police, elite Shadow Operatives), and even they will eventually take cover after taking enough casualties.

The majority of sniper rifles Adam come across are placed in convenient elevated positions, and typically have some ammunition close by. This is primarily how you'll be using the sniper rifle. For...sniping. However, if you have the resources, patience, praxis, and a laser sight on hand, then the sniper rifle becomes a versatile weapon that is suitable for any kind of combat, against any enemy, regardless of range, especially in conjunction with the recoil compensation and reload speed upgrades in the Cybernetic Weapon Handling augmentation branch. When fully upgraded, the sniper rifle boasts a higher rate of fire, bigger magazine, more controllable and predictable recoil, superior damage, and a much clearer scope compared to the battle rifle, without the long downtime between shots of the Lancer. The sniper rifle is well complemented by other weapons that benefit from Cybernetic Weapon Handling, such as the revolver.

As noted above, the sniper rifle is unable to accept a silencer as compared to the Lancer. However, the sniper's significantly higher rate of fire and similarly high damage from armor piercing rounds, which are able to kill all human-sized targets in one headshot, makes it possible to take down a squad at long range before they notice they're under fire. In other words, a silencer is not necessary to take down enemies at long range while avoiding detection, making it possible to outperform the Lancer in long-range sniping while still not getting detected. A fully upgraded sniper rifle can take down a whole squad of targets fast, especially with the Focus Enhancement augmentation.

Although the sniper rifle can be built into a versatile marksman rifle, the resource cost of upgrading the weapon, as well as the praxis necessary for recoil compensation and reload speed upgrades in the Cybernetic Weapon Handling augmentation branch, make it painfully expensive to spec out Adam and the rifle for big game hunting. Additionally, the sniper rifle requires 14 inventory slots, as well as 4 additional slots for both types of ammunition - ammunition that's expensive and somewhat uncommon, especially when compared to 7.62mm ammo for the battle rifle. A very big investment, indeed, but a maxed out sniper rifle and support augs is as close as the game lets you get to any kind of 'ultimate' weapon. Despite the wanton destruction promised by making such a build, it's usually more cost-effective to simply acquire a 4x scope and attach it to a battle rifle.

Within roughly 40 meters, the damage potential of the sniper rifle is on par with the classic revolver, but the revolver has the advantage in fire rate. However, the classic revolver is limited to a range of 50 meters.

When wielded by enemies, the sniper rifle can inflict up to 90 damage to Adam per hit, without Rhino Dermal Armor, on "Give me Deus Ex" difficulty. It goes without saying that enemy snipers are rather dangerous, and should be terminated very quickly.

Notable locations

 * A sniper rifle, along with ammunition, can be obtained in the atrium of the first mission in Dubai (M1: Black Market Buy) on the ledge where the Task Force 29 troopers are initially positioned. At the top of the atrium, go into the right-side elevator shaft to the right of the two stacked crates (the entrance to the shaft is a broken elevator door). At the bottom of the shaft, turn around to access the ledge with the TF29 troopers. The sniper rifle is on the floor near the TF29 troopers.
 * One of the TF29 troopers here is carrying a sniper rifle with a laser sight. It is possible to knock her out and take the weapon for yourself.
 * A sniper rifle is found in the Task Force 29 Headquarters, inside a weapon display locked by a level 5 lock. No keycode to the lock is known, but it can be readily opened using a multi-tool.
 * A sniper rifle is found in the hidden room in Jim Miller's unit in the 33 Hlavní Apartments, along with 6 .416 AP cartridges and a box of 10 standard rounds.
 * The arms dealer Mikael sells sniper rifles on all three visits, but they are very pricey.

Trivia

 * If left idle for too long, Jensen will start fiddling with the rifle scope's magnification adjustment knob, though this does not affect the zoom level when aiming back in later.
 * In the real world, belted .416 cartridges have been used to hunt big and deadly game since 1911.
 * The 203 ERSR quite heavily resembles the M82A1, if a bit sleeker and more futuristic, and with the notable difference that at no point in the game does either Adam or his opponents feel the need to unfold the underbarrel bipod.

Renders
Снайперская винтовка LONGSWORD II 203 (ERSR)