How to get the Despondent Assassin legendary rifle in Starfield

Starfield‘s criteria for “Legendary Weapon” doesn’t necessarily mean a weapon has to be the best or even among the best weapons, only that it is a unique item with three or more mods.

This holds true for the Despondent Assassin, which is a Legendary Weapon that happens to be legendary in both senses—it is a unique item with three or more attachments, but it is also one of the absolute best legendary rifles you can get in Starfield.

Where to get the Despondent Assassin in Starfield

There is no level requirement for obtaining the Despondent Assassin in Starfield, and you don’t have to have advanced the main story to any specific point. In fact, all you have to do is travel to Akila City and complete a few straightforward missions (and technically defeat a boss).

To acquire this item, you must complete the mission Leader of the Pack, which is the end of three linked missions in Akila City.

The first of the three is a mission called Defensive Measures, which can be started with no prerequisites. As soon as you enter Akila City, you will see Shepherd’s General Store on your left. Immediately past the general store, take a left. As soon as you take that left, you will encounter a group of NPCs arguing: Davis, Keoni, and Bailey. Listening to their argument will automatically start the mission Defensive Measures.

Completing Defensive Measures will automatically start the mission False Positives, and completing that will start Leader of the Pack, which awards the Despondent Assassin upon completion. The missions themselves are straightforward and give markers for each step, so you won’t have to do any guesswork or problem solving.

All three primarily revolve around Akila City’s Ashta problem, and conclude in a boss fight that shouldn’t be particularly challenging, even at lower levels.

During the missions, you will have a few opportunities to make choices, however, none of your decisions will affect whether or not you receive the Despondent Assassin. So long as you finish Leader of the Pack, Keoni will give you the Despondent Assassin as a reward.

The weapon itself is a legendary Old Earth Hunting Rifle that has the Demoralizing, Hitman, and Anti-Personnel traits, as well as the Small Magazine and High Powered mods.

Console command for the Despondent Assassin legendary rifle in Starfield

If playing the game as Todd intended isn’t your thing for whatever reason, you can spawn the Despondent Assassin using console commands. Open the console by pressing the tilde key (above tab on a keyboard), and input player.placeatme 14920B. This will spawn the Despondent Assassin at your feet.

I don’t really recommend using this method, as the missions to acquire this legendary weapon are straightforward and engaging—but you do you.