If you can find enough .308 ammo to use ‘em, sniper rifles are awesome weapons in Fallout 3. One silent pull of the trigger and you can watch a Raider’s head explode. There’s little more satisfying than that sneak attack critical.

The Victory Rifle, one of the two unique sniper rifles available in the game, adds a twist that makes it much more useful against big monsters – like Super Mutant Masters. Whenever you score a critical hit with the weapon, it knocks the target down for a couple of seconds.

Larger mobs typically have too many hit points for you to kill with one sneak attack critical, so this gives you time to make a couple of head shots before they get a bead on you and start shooting.

So where is it? Locked up nice and tight in an abandoned shack. Hope you’ve been practicing your lockpicking.

Illustrated Walkthrough

First, here’s a quick walkthrough via screenshots to guide you to the Victory Rifle.

Detailed Instructions

First, head to Rockbreaker’s Last Gas. It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere – about three to four squares due west of Arefu.

While standing at the gas station, turn and look westward. There’s a pretty big mountain in view, and at the top of the mountain you should be able to see an Abandoned Shack. That’s where you’re headed.

If you head around to the left (the south side of the mountain), you should be able to find a path up. Once you’re at the top, enter the Abandoned Shack.

Inside, you’ll see a number of locked containers straight ahead – an ammo box, a safe, and a locker. The locker has a Very Hard lock (requires 100 lockpicking) and will contain you Victory Rifle. You have been practicing that lockpicking, right?

After you open the locker and grab the rifle, be sure to open up the ammo box. There is probably some .308 ammunition inside to test out your new weapon.

But I Don’t Have 100 Lockpicking…

Shame on you.

I quickly decided that Lockpicking and Science were two of the most important skills in the game. Repair probably comes in at a close third.

But I suppose you’re entitled to skill up the way you want. There are a variety of bugs that will allow you to snag the Victory Rifle without opening the locker.

The simplest method is to bring Dogmeat along. When you talk to Dogmeat you can ask him to find a weapon. In the Abandoned Shack, he’ll sniff around the locker and yank out the Victory Rifle for you.

If you try and tell me that you don’t have Dogmeat with you… well then I can’t help you.

Now all you have to do is find something to snipe. Enjoy!