Cyberpunk 2077offers hundreds of weapons for V to choose from as they make their way around Night City. Some of these weapons were designed with damage in mind while others were designed around special abilities. You’ll also run into quite a few weapons that are more about style rather than substance. If you’re a fan of assault rifles, you’ll be happy to know that they offer a mix of everything.
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Assault rifles are a staple of many shooters, and Cyberpunk 2077 is no exception. As of Phantom Liberty, you’re able to find 15 different types of ARs in the game, some more difficult to acquire than others. Creating a definitive ranked list of all these weapons is by no means an exact science, but we tried to come as close as possible to one by taking into account not just their stats but also their abilities and modding potential. With that in mind, join us as we take a look at every assault rifle in Cyberpunk 2077, ranked from worst to best.
Updated by Jason Moth on July 31, 2025:This article has been completely rewritten to reflect the myriad of changes introduced by Update 2.0.
Cyberpunk 2077
15DA8 Umbra
Not The Best Assault Rifle, But Better Than Nothing
The DA8 Umbra is arguably the weakest assault rifle in the game as of Update 2.0, however, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad weapon. While its damage and range are nothing to write home about, the weapon does have good handling and better attack speed than most of its counterparts. Besides, the mere fact that it’s an assault rifle automatically makes it superior to some of the other weapons in the game.
Having said all that, the DA8 Umbra was clearly designed to be an early-game weapon. Despite having three open mod slots and decent passive effects, it’s hard to justify using this AR past the early game. You can make it work with the right mods, but it seems like a pointless exercise when there are so many objectively better options out there.
Maximum Tier
Attack Speed
Reload Speed
Effective Range
Weapon Handling
Good Headshot Damage Multiplier, But Not Much Else To Recommend It
The Nowaki is another assault rifle that will serve you well in the early game, but you’ll want to chuck it away as soon as you find something better, which won’t be particularly difficult to do. Featuring an abysmal firing rate of just 4, the Nowaki is easily one of the slowest assault rifles in Cyberpunk 2077. On the other hand, it does have good range and excellent handling, so it’s definitely not all bad.
Much like the DA8 Umbra, the Nowaki also comes equipped with three mod slots, though only two of them will be open. The third slot is automatically filled with a non-removable rare mod, which can be seen as either a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. What’s less subjective is the weapon’s generous +150% headshot damage multiplier passive effect. That alone prevents the Nowaki from ranking dead last on our list.
13HJSH-18 Masamune
Excellent Handling, But Nothing Else To Write Home About
The HJSH-18 Masamune does little to differentiate itself from some of the other assault rifles in Cyberpunk 2077, but it does just enough to allow it to stand out from the likes of the Umbra and the Nowaki. The weapon’s biggest selling point is its handling stat, which is one of the best in the game. If you find yourself struggling to control the recoil of other, more powerful assault rifles, you may want to give the Masamune a shot.
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Handling aside, the Masamune comes with the usual pros and cons you would expect from a low-tier rifle. You’ve got three open mod slots for customization along with a decent headshot damage multiplier and some armor penetration. Again, this is more of an early-game weapon, so nothing, particularly interesting here. Even when fully upgraded, the Masamune isn’t very impressive compared to most of the other assault rifles in the game.
12M251S Ajax
The Best Low-Tier Assault Rifle
The M251S Ajax is a well-rounded assault rifle that surpasses the Masamune in a couple of areas, though not by much. Attack speed, reload speed, and damage are all better on this weapon, however, that does come at the cost of range and handling. Still, that’s enough to earn the Ajax a higher spot on our list. The stats are overall pretty good for a non-Iconic weapon.
Outside of slightly above-average stats, the Ajax doesn’t have much else to offer. The passive effects are just the standard affair and similar to those of other weapons we’ve discussed so far. The same goes for the three open mod slots. Funnily enough, the biggest drawback of the Ajax is that its Iconic version is hands-down one of thebest weapons in Cyberpunk 2077. By comparison, the standard variant is just sort of meh.
11D5 Sidewinder
Decent Early Game Smart Assault Rifle
The D5 Sidewinder is the first Smart assault rifle on this list, and it’s a pretty good one all things considered. Smart weapons, in general, have a few distinct advantages over other types of guns, especially since Update 2.0. The fact that you don’t have to manually aim the thing is obviously a huge advantage and makes the handling stat more or less irrelevant. Hence, why the D5 Sidewinder manages to rank higher than other ARs despite having significantly worse handling.
The D5 Sidewinder has a fairly long lock-on time for a Smart weapon, but 1.44 seconds isn’t an eternity in the grand scheme of things. As far as the passive effect is concerned, +50% headshot damage multiplier doesn’t sound like much, but it’s worth remembering that landing headshots is an absolute breeze with a weapon like this. The main reason why the D5 Sidewinder doesn’t rank even higher is because it only comes with a single mod slot and it gets automatically filled by default. In other words, no customization.
10D5 Copperhead
Best Non-Iconic Assault Rifle
The D5 Copperhead is the best assault rifle you’ll come across outside of Iconic weapons. Granted, that doesn’t say much given thatCyberpunk 2077 has a ton of Iconic weapons, but it does mean that the D5 Copperhead is quite a bit easier to obtain than a lot of the assault rifles found higher up on this list. All in all, the D5 Copperhead has similar or slightly higher stats compared to all the other assault rifles discussed so far and can be considered a direct upgrade to any of them.
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The only non-Iconic AR that could be considered better than the D5 Copperhead in certain situations is the D5 Sidewinder. However, in order to use Smart weapons you’ll need specialized Cyberware. In addition, you’ll also need a couple of specific perks to get the most out of these weapons. You don’t need anything to make the most out of a Power assault rifle like the D5 Copperhead and you get three open mod slots to boot. While the Sidewinder would be better for certain builds, the Copperhead is preferable in most cases.
Worst Iconic Assault Rifle, But Still A Pretty Good Weapon All Things Considered
We’ve finally reached the first Iconic assault rifle on this list, and this is where things start getting really interesting. Carmen is an Iconic version of the DA8 Umbra that’s better than its common counterpart in pretty much every way. The extra damage and armor penetration are particularly noteworthy, however, the weapon does have a minor drawback in that it only comes with a single open mod slot.
The biggest highlight of Iconic weapons, aside from their increased stats, is a unique passive effect that gives them an edge in combat. In the case of Carmen, this unique effect gives the AR an increased crit chance when targeting limbs. This makes the headshot damage multiplier a bit pointless in most situations, but it’s still nice to know it’s there just in case you do want to focus on headshots. While V is on the move, Carmen also gets improved handling, damage, and Bleeding. Pretty good bonuses all around.
5++/Iconic
8Hercules 3AX
Combines Some Of The Best Aspects Of Smart And Power Assault Rifles
The Hercules 3AX is a hybrid weapon that combines the best aspects of Smart and Power assault rifles. Its damage is a bit underwhelming for an Iconic weapon, but the Hercules 3AX has the highest handling stat of any assault rifle in Cyberpunk 2077 and its range isn’t too bad either. The Hercules 3AX only becomes a Smart weapon when fired in ADS, but otherwise works like a regular Power assault rifle, hence the excellent handling. It’s interesting to note that the Smart targeting works even without aSmart Link, which makes the weapon even more versatile.
The Hercules 3AX’s unique effect is good, but isn’t as reliable as those of other Iconic assault rifles. Namely, the weapon gets a 20% chance to Poison enemies with every shot. The AR’s attack speed is pretty good so expect the Poison to proc fairly often, but obviously not all the time. As a side effect, killing an enemy that’s been Poisoned causes them to explode and deal damage to nearby foes. But while the Hercules 3AX is certainly a flashy weapon, we do have to subtract some points because it can’t be customized. What you see is what you get with this one.
Power/Smart
7Divided We Stand
Best Smart Assault Rifle In The Game
Divided We Stand is the only other Smart assault rifle in the game and the best of the bunch. This is an Iconic version of the D5 Sidewinder that comes with identical stats except for the damage, which is slightly higher here. In addition, the weapon benefits from a lower lock-on time and has a 20% chance to Poison enemies, much like the Hercules 3AX. Just like the previous two weapons on our list, Divided We Stand cannot be customized.
The main aspect that gives this weapon its Iconic status is a unique effect that allows it to Smart-target up to five enemies at once. Combine that with the Poisoned projectiles and it’s easy to see how Divided We Stand can easily trigger a chain reaction that can take out small groups of enemies in one fell swoop. The only downside of this effect comes from the fact that the weapon starts losing accuracy once it locks onto the maximum number of targets.
6Psalm 11:6
Powerful Unique Effect, But Comes With A Few Drawbacks
Next up on our list, we have Psalm 11:6, an Iconic version of the D5 Copperhead. This is a pretty strange one because, on paper at least, the Iconic weapon doesn’t seem that much better than the standard variant. In fact, Psalm 11:6 has a shorter range and a worse handling stat while dealing only a moderate amount of extra damage. Moreover, the weapon only has two mod slots compared to the Copperhead’s three. Having said all that, Psalm 11:6 is unquestionably the better weapon thanks to its unique effect.
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Psalm 11:6 is the only assault rifle in Cyberpunk 2077 that fires explosive rounds by default. you’re able to add the Pyro mod to other weapons to achieve the same effect, but why bother when you can just use Psalm 11:6 instead? Besides, the Pyro mod only gives projectiles a 15% Burn chance while this bad boy gives them a 30% chance. Sadly, Psalm 11:6 is a one-trick pony that doesn’t have anything else to offer aside from the explosive projectiles. The effect is certainly powerful, but there are more interesting weapons to be found in the game.
