Key Takeaways
Foxhound is a Phantom Liberty-era Iconic Smart submachine gun whose value comes from guided targeting rather than a single universal damage figure. Its performance must be read alongside its weapon tier, Smart Link access, and the current post-2.0 progression system.
Smart-SMG identity
Foxhound belongs to the Smart weapon system, so its defining combat behavior is target-assisted projectile guidance rather than Power-weapon ricochet or Tech-weapon charging. Its weapon technology is central to how it should be evaluated.
Phantom Liberty availability
Foxhound is tied to the Phantom Liberty weapon pool and is therefore not a standard base-game acquisition. The acquisition section should identify its specific Dogtown route and any recovery condition separately.
Smart Link requirement
Reliable Smart targeting depends on the Smart Link cyberware system. Without the required targeting support, Foxhound does not provide the same guided-fire experience that defines its intended role.
Strength at practical engagement ranges
Its main advantage is reducing the tracking burden against moving targets, making Foxhound especially relevant to players who want an SMG that can maintain pressure while targets reposition. This does not remove the need to manage range, cover, and lock-on conditions.
Tier-sensitive progression
Foxhound should not be assigned one context-free damage value: Cyberpunk 2077’s post-2.0 weapon system makes ordinary firearm statistics tier-dependent. Its Iconic status and upgrade path must be documented separately from its base weapon technology.
Different trade-off from Power and Tech SMGs
Compared with Power and Tech submachine guns, Foxhound prioritizes Smart targeting over ricochet or charge-based behavior. The most useful comparison is therefore technological role and handling, not an unsupported cross-system damage ranking.
Overview
Foxhound is an Iconic Smart submachine gun in Cyberpunk 2077, introduced with Phantom Liberty. It belongs to the expansion’s Dogtown-era arsenal and is defined first by Smart-weapon targeting rather than by a universally applicable damage figure. Its role is a mobile, close-to-mid-range automatic weapon for players who want guided fire without giving up the handling profile of an SMG.
Foxhound occupies the space between a conventional automatic weapon and a more specialised Smart firearm. Its projectiles use the Smart-weapon system’s targeting behaviour, making the weapon less dependent on perfectly lining up every shot than a comparable non-Smart SMG. That does not make it a universal replacement for Power or Tech weapons: its value depends on the user’s access to Smart-weapon support, the engagement distance, and whether the target situation allows the tracking system to work as intended.
As an Iconic weapon, Foxhound is more than a generic SMG with a different name. Its identity comes from the combination of the Smart class, the SMG’s sustained-fire role, and its unique expansion-era status. The exact tier and any tier-dependent combat values should be read from the weapon’s current in-game state; Cyberpunk 2077’s post-2.0 system does not support treating one unqualified damage figure as Foxhound’s permanent value.
Foxhound is therefore most relevant to a Smart-weapons character or to a player looking for a compact automatic option in Phantom Liberty content. It can serve as a flexible alternative to Smart pistols and longer-ranged Smart rifles, trading some of their specialised engagement profiles for faster close-range pressure. Players who do not use Smart targeting, or who prefer deliberate charged shots and penetration, have clearer reasons to choose a Tech weapon instead.
The weapon should be evaluated within the post-2.0 Cyberpunk 2077 framework and not against pre-2.0 versions of the game’s weapon system. Phantom Liberty availability, Iconic status, tier progression, and any weapon-specific modifier belong to Foxhound’s current expansion context; they should not be silently generalised to the base-game roster or presented as a fixed value across all upgrades.
Statistics
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Class | Sniper Rifle |
| Subtype | Sniper Rifle |
| Technology | Tech |
| Ammo | Sniper Ammo |
| Stat Scaling | Tier-dependent |
| Iconic | Yes |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Content Scope | Phantom Liberty |
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar sniper rifles
| Attribute |  Foxhound | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class | Sniper Rifle | Sniper Rifle | Sniper Rifle | Sniper Rifle | Sniper Rifle |
| Technology | Tech | Power | Tech | Smart | Power |
| Ammo | Sniper Ammo | Sniper Ammo | Sniper Ammo | Sniper Ammo | Sniper Ammo |
| Iconic | Yes | — | — | — | Yes |
How to Obtain
- Phantom Liberty access and entry to Dogtown.
- Access to Mr. Hands's Dogtown gig “The Man Who Killed Jason Foreman.”
- The weapon is tied to this gig's location and is not established as a guaranteed enemy-drop reward.
- 01Travel to Dogtown in Phantom Liberty and accept Mr. Hands's gig “The Man Who Killed Jason Foreman.”
- 02Complete the gig and search the final interior area before leaving. Foxhound is obtained there as a fixed weapon pickup in the mission location, not as a random world drop or vendor purchase.
- 03If the weapon container was missed, revisit the completed-gig area and check whether the pickup remains accessible; no separate base-game, New Game Plus, or vendor route is established for Foxhound.
Availability
Phantom Liberty — Dogtown
Foxhound is associated with the Phantom Liberty weapon pool and is not a separate Story-versus-Online item. No reliable universal price or level requirement is stated here; vendor and tier availability can vary with progression and the current weapon system.
- Requires
- Phantom Liberty expansion
Mechanics and Handling
Foxhound is handled as a Smart firearm rather than as a conventional assault rifle. Its defining behaviour is target acquisition: with the required Smart weapon support active, the weapon can establish a lock and guide fired rounds toward the selected enemy. This makes target tracking and lock quality more important than simply keeping the crosshair perfectly centered, but it does not remove the need to manage sightlines, exposure and enemy movement.
The weapon does not use a charge-up or melee-style timing window as part of its normal attack pattern. Its practical rhythm is instead governed by the time needed to acquire a target, maintain a useful lock and control the weapon through sustained fire. Breaking line of sight, changing targets or fighting enemies in positions that interfere with the lock reduces the benefit of its Smart system, so Foxhound is most consistent when the user can keep targets visible and allow the targeting system to work before committing to a burst.
Smart targeting changes how Foxhound is aimed
Foxhound’s homing behaviour is most valuable against moving targets and during fights where ordinary aim has to follow lateral movement. The guided rounds can compensate for some reticle-tracking difficulty after a lock is established, but the system should not be treated as a substitute for positioning. Enemies behind solid cover, targets outside the weapon’s effective engagement conditions and situations where the lock cannot be maintained still require the user to reposition or choose another target.
The targeting system also makes target selection part of the weapon’s handling profile. Switching rapidly between enemies can interrupt the pressure that a locked target receives, while concentrating on one exposed opponent lets the weapon’s tracking behaviour contribute more consistently. This is a different decision pattern from a Power firearm, where recoil control and manual projectile placement carry more of the aiming burden.
Range, cover and target selection
Foxhound is easier to use when the battlefield offers clear views of enemies rather than dense cover or frequent obstructions. Its Smart behaviour can help at the moment of engagement, but it does not turn every angle into a valid firing lane. Use cover for the same defensive reason as with other firearms, while favouring positions from which the intended target remains visible long enough for the weapon to acquire and retain its lock.
At close range, the main advantage is the reduced demand for exact manual tracking against a moving enemy. At longer distances, the weapon’s usefulness depends more heavily on whether the lock remains available and whether the target can be kept exposed. These conditions make Foxhound a better fit for deliberate target selection than for indiscriminate fire into groups or through uncertain cover.
Smart weapon support and practical limitations
Foxhound’s Smart functionality depends on the character’s compatible weapon-support setup. Without that support, its defining targeting behaviour is not available in the intended form, so the weapon should not be evaluated as though it were a standard manually aimed rifle. Perks, cyberware and other effects that improve Smart-weapon use are therefore more relevant to its handling than generic bonuses aimed at a different technology class.
Foxhound does not replace the need to manage ammunition, reload timing or exposure. A lock can help place shots, but it cannot prevent an interrupted reload, compensate for poor target priority or guarantee that an enemy remains vulnerable. Its strongest handling pattern is to acquire a priority target from a defensible position, keep that target in view, and use the Smart system to reduce manual tracking demands rather than treating it as an automatic hit mechanism.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Foxhound is an Iconic firearm, so its weapon-specific modifier gives it a defined role beyond the variable stat line of an ordinary tiered weapon.
- Its performance can be maintained through the post-2.0 tier and upgrade system rather than being limited to the tier at which it was acquired.
- It is a reasonable loadout choice when the Foxhound-specific effect is actively supporting the rest of the build; the modifier, rather than an unqualified damage comparison, is the basis for choosing it.
Weaknesses
- Foxhound does not have one universal damage profile: its displayed firearm values depend on tier and upgrade state, so comparisons made without matching those states are unreliable.
- Choosing Foxhound uses an Iconic weapon slot that could instead support another weapon with a more directly relevant effect, making it a poor fit when its modifier is inactive or redundant.
- Its value is less obvious in a generic loadout than in a build deliberately designed around its weapon-specific behaviour; players who want only a broadly interchangeable firearm may prefer a non-Iconic alternative.
Best uses
- Use Foxhound in a build where its Iconic modifier is consistently triggered or otherwise contributes to the intended combat loop.
- Use it as a dedicated primary firearm after comparing weapons at the same tier and upgrade state, rather than treating its listed damage as a fixed value.
- Keep it as a situational Iconic option when its effect fills a role that the rest of the loadout does not already cover.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Attribute | Foxhound | Militech Ajax |  Moron Labe |  Psalm 11:6 |  Hercules 3AX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class and technology | Iconic Power rifle for sustained mid-range fire. Its weapon-specific Iconic effect should be evaluated separately from the shared Power-weapon behaviour. | The conventional Power assault-rifle reference point in the comparison; it lacks Foxhound's Iconic identity. | An Iconic Ajax-family alternative whose value comes from its own modifier rather than from a different weapon technology. | An Iconic Power assault rifle with a distinct elemental-status focus, making its build considerations different from a general-purpose Foxhound setup. | An adjacent automatic-fire option using Smart technology rather than Power behaviour. Targeting support changes its handling and cyberware requirements. |
| Role distinction | Choose it when its Iconic effect supports a conventional rifle build and you want a named alternative to standard assault rifles. | Use it when you want a straightforward Power rifle without building around a unique weapon effect. | Compare it with Foxhound when choosing between two Power-rifle Iconics for sustained automatic fire. | Prefer it when the build is specifically organised around its status effect; use Foxhound for a less specialised rifle role. | Consider it when automated tracking and close-to-mid-range mobility matter more than Foxhound's conventional Power-rifle handling. |
| Best comparison use case | — | — | — | — | — |
