It’s practically raining weapons in Cyberpunk 2077. With so many at your disposal, you’ll eventually have to pick a few to run with, and it’s worth figuring out what Cyberpunk 2077’s best weapons are early on so you can plan ahead. While there are some good base guns and melee options, almost all of the finest are Iconic weapons, covering power, tech, smart, and melee choices.
This Cyberpunk 2077 guide breaks down where to find the best Iconic weapons of the lot, including their locations and the side jobs and main jobs you have to complete.
Cyberpunk 2077 Best Iconic Weapons
You can buy decent guns and melee weapons from any vendor around Night City, but the best weapons Cyberpunk 2077 has to offer are Iconic weapons. Not only do these pack more power and better perks, they also don’t outlive their usefulness. Most standard weapons can’t be modified, but Iconic weapons let V add several mods and, sometimes, different attachments to augment their capabilities even more.
You’ll find some Iconic weapons during random organized crime incidents in key parts of Night City. Some can only be crafted, while others V earns as rewards for completing specific missions. Some of the best Iconic weapons are obtainable only in certain ending routes, though it seems you can’t bring those back for another playthrough.
Dying Night Pistol
The Dying Night Iconic pistol is the first Iconic weapon in Cyberpunk 2077, and it’s found in a side mission in the prologue.
After finishing The Rescue, head to the 2nd Amendment Gun Store near V’s apartment.
Assuming The Gun’s bug has been fixed by now, you should see and hear the NPC Wilson call out to you. If not, you might just see his subtitled speech, because Wilson frequently glitches out. Either way, interact with him (if you can), and you’ll start The Gun side job. All this entails is finding the gun, which costs nothing, in the store and selecting it.
Dying Night is a power weapon, so the emphasis is hitting enemies hard and planning ricochet shots. The big appeal here, apart from mod potential, includes more attacks per second and almost double the headshot multiplier bonus.
It’s nothing super special in the long run, but it’s definitely worth grabbing as one of Cyberpunk 2077’s best early game weapons.
Fenrir Revolver
If you want something more powerful in Act 1, head to the Watson sector and the docks there. Follow the quest icon to a monk who asks for your help rescuing his brother in the Losing My Religion side job. You’ll find Fenrir sitting near the brother after rescuing him, and it’s fantastic.
Fenrir deals thermal damage, burning enemies. It does have reduced spread and higher recoil than some other weapons, but that’s a small price to pay for the extra power boost.
Skippy the Talking Pistol
Skippy is an interesting Iconic weapon that’s worth finding for more than one reason. Head to College Street in Heywood, then check your map. Go to the quest icon shown there, and interact with the dead body you’ll find in the alley to pick up Skippy.
Skippy is a smart weapon, meaning its shots track your foes, and it works regardless of the Cyberware V equips. Skippy also scales with your level, which is handy. There’s a catch, though.
Skippy has two modes, lethal (Stone-Cold Killer) and non-lethal (Puppy-Loving Pacifist). You have to choose which mode you want for Skippy once you find it.
If you choose lethal mode, Skippy switches to pacifist mode after killing 50 enemies and then switches back after attacking 50 more. The only way around Skippy’s mode switch is setting it to Puppy-Loving Pacifist from the start.
If all that or the chattering gets on your nerves, complete the quest that starts when you acquire Skippy by returning it to Regina Jones for a nice cash reward.
Satori Katana
Cyberpunk 2077‘s Satori katana is one of the easiest Iconic weapons to miss because you have a very short span of time to get it. Your chance comes during The Heist, towards the end of Act 1.
Events unfold, and V and Jackie need to make a hasty retreat from Yorinobu’s penthouse. As you enter this part of the quest, T-Bug unlocks a door onto a balcony for your escape route. Ignore that, and go upstairs to the helipad.
Take out the foes there, and you’ll find Satori on the AV. Satori deals less base damage than other weapons, but it has a higher chance of inflicting critical hits.
Kongou Pistol
While you’re in Yorinobu’s penthouse during The Heist, you may as well raid his bedroom. The Iconic pistol Kongou is on Yorinobu’s bedside table, free for the taking.
Kongou lets you ricochet bullets without having specific Cyberware equipped, has a higher rate of fire, and also has reduced recoil, though its magazine capacity is smaller.
La Chingona Dorada Pistol
Spoilers ahead. Skip this section if you want to remain unspoiled on parts of Act 1’s ending.
Jackie’s pistol, La Chingona Dorada, can (and should) be yours if you make the right choices. Choose to send Jackie back to his family at the end of Act 1, and you’ll get the full Heroes side job once Act 2 starts.
Mama Welles calls and invites you to Jackie’s ofrenda. Go to Coyote Cojo when you’re ready, and agree to take part in the ofrenda. Mama Welles gives you a key to their garage behind the bar, where you’ll find Misty.
Speak with her and scan the garage to find something for Jackie’s offering table, ideally the tequila. Once the quest ends, you can go back to the table in Coyote Cojo and grab the pistol someone left there.
Despite the questionable ethics involved, taking the dead man’s memorial offering doesn’t affect your relationships with anyone.
La Chingona Dorada has one additional mod slot, reloads faster than other pistols, and can both burn and stun enemies.
Gold-Plated Baseball Bat
During Second Conflict, after exploring Totentatz, you’ll end up at Denny’s mansion. There’s a pool full of cement there, and if you scan it, you’ll find the Gold-Plated Baseball Bat sticking out of the cement.
Grab it, because it’s Cyberpunk 2077’s best melee weapon. In addition to hitting hard, the bat has a high chance of causing bleed and a lower chance of causing stun.
Archangel Revolver
Archangel is pretty easy to obtain. After finishing Second Conflict in Act 2, made much easier if you free Brick earlier on, you’ll start A Like Supreme after getting a call from Nancy.
Head to Red Dirt in the evening, or wait outside while the day passes, and you’ll start a chain of events where Johnny takes over and performs with Samurai one last time.
At the end of the performance, Kerry gives you Archangel, a revolver with reduced recoil and a chance to stun enemies.
Doom Doom Revolver
The flipside of Archangel is Doom Doom, and you can only get this one if Dum Dum survives during The Pickup. That means siding with Maelstrom against Militech. You’ll get the revolver from Dum Dum during Second Conflict, and it’s quite a doozy.
Doom Doom fires four shots per action, with increased damage and a chance to dismember foes. The downside is increased recoil and spread.
Malorian Arms 3516
Johnny Silverhand’s gun is definitely one of Cyberpunk 2077’s finest weapons because it has a whopping four mod slots. You’ll need to do some legwork to get it, but fortunately for you, we’ve got an entire guide dedicated to the side job Malorian Arms 3516 is part of.
Lizzie Pistol
The Lizzie tech pistol is just sitting around Lizzie’s bar, waiting for you to acquire it.
After you finish The Space Between early in Act 2, head to Lizzie’s bar, and you’ll see the pistol on a table outside Lizzie’s room. Some players are reporting you have to begin the Automatic Love side job for this to happen, so if you don’t see it, try that. You can speak to Judy in Lizzie’s bar to start the mission.
Lizzie fires an extra round each action, and its charged shots deal more damage.
Cocktail Stick Katana
While you’re working on Automatic Love, pick up the Cocktail Stick Iconic weapon. Go to the makeup room in Clouds, and you’ll see it just sitting there.
The Cocktail Stick isn’t anything super special on its own, but it does deal higher base damage than most other katanas and has no drawbacks, unlike some other Iconic melee weapons.
Widow Maker Assault Rifle
You can find the Widow Maker assault rifle towards the end of Act 2 during the Ghost Town main job. The job kicks off at Afterlife once you speak to Rogue and cough up the info fee.
Follow the quest through until you have to make a choice with Panam. You can only get Widow Maker if you choose to go along with her quest for vengeance to Nash’s hideout, so obviously, pick that option.
Once the hideout is cleared of everyone, including Nash, grab his Widow Maker rifle for yourself. It fires two rounds per shot and deals chemical damage, with a chance to inflict poison. Widow Maker’s charged shots are more powerful than usual.
Prototype Shingen: Mark V Submachine Gun
Prototype Shingen: Mark V is another hard-to-miss Iconic weapon. Unlike most, you’ll get the chance at this one during a main job, Act 2’s Gimme Danger.
During the job, you’ll head to Arroyo and a warehouse in Arasaka Industrial Park. Shipping container 667 holds this submachine gun, but mind how you go. It has traps rigged around it.
Prototype Shingen: Mark V fires explosive rounds and has four mod slots. These explosive, target-seeking rounds are more powerful than non-Iconic explosive rounds.
Divided We Stand Assault Rifle
Obtaining Divided We Stand is a little trickier. Head to Santo Domingo’s 6th street, and you’ll see a side job called Stadium Love. There’s a ruckus going on when you get there and an NPC with an objective marker over his head standing on a roof. Climb up there and speak with him, but make sure you choose the following options:
- Chill
- Having yourself a competition? I want in.
Choosing the other options gets V into a shootout with everyone there, which means almost certain death.
Your goal is to shoot all yellow targets whilst becoming gradually more inebriated. It’s challenging, but winning the competition gets you the excellent Divided We Stand assault rifle.
Divided We Stand targets five enemies, deals chemical damage, and can poison enemies. Some players are reporting higher critical hit chance with it as well.
Overwatch Sniper Rifle
Overwatch is one of the most powerful rifles in Cyberpunk 2077, and you’ll acquire it through completing some of Panam’s quests.
These start with Ghost Town, though it seems like you can continue with Panam’s quests even if you don’t raid Nash’s hideout with her. We’ve only chosen to raid it, so we can’t confirm 100%. Since you gain absolutely nothing from not raiding it, you may as well go along for the ride.
Twelve in-game hours after completing Life During Wartime, Panam calls you for another mission, Riders on the Storm. You’ll get the Overwatch sniper rifle for finishing it and saving Saul.
Overwatch is fantastic because in addition to being more powerful as an Iconic weapon, it features faster reloading times and a custom silencer.
If wondering how to romance Panam, make sure to check out our romance guide to find out what else you should be doing during Riders on the Storm.
That’s it for how to find all of Cyberpunk 2077‘s best Iconic weapons, but be sure to check out our other Cyberpunk 2077 guides for more tips on becoming a Night City legend.
