Payday 2: Difference between revisions

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((Removed outdated info after gun and skill rebalance, more tips on heists))
 
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- Buy the Gage Mod Courier DLC first.
== What to Buy ==


- HOLD F to do things, don't just press it.
* Almost all DLC for the game comes with the "Ultimate Edition", which is discounted slightly if you have the base game, and more if you have some DLC already.


- Don't rush off on your own. Payday 2's like Left 4 Dead, in that being a loner will get you blown away.
* You do not need the Ultimate Edition to play DLC heists, just to host them. A ton of good weapons and equipment is only available in the full version, though.


- The AMCAR and Chimano that you have at first absolutely suck. Ditch them as soon as possible.
* The base game has hundreds of hours of gameplay. The full version has around two thousand. Your call.


- The CAR-4 is a freaking Lego gun. Buy two, and mod one for stealth and the other for war.
== General ==


- 42 damage is the magic number for weapons, and as much accuracy and stability as possible (although it's still gonna be low on high ROF guns). On Overkill and under, it'll let you kill most regular units in 1-2 headshots. I believe 48 is the magic number for Death Wish.
* There is now a pair of tutorial heists that explain some of the game's basics. They're worth running through first to get a feel for the underlying mechanics.


- Always mark special units by hitting F on them. Not only does it let you see them everywhere, but it warns your team about them too.
* HOLD F to do things, don't just press it.


- Playing offline is not that great compared to online due to boneheaded AI, but playing heists on Normal will help you get used to them. Also, Shadow Raid Deathwish offline is an incredibly good way to gain EXP.
* The AMCAR and Chimano 88 that you have at first absolutely suck. Ditch them as soon as possible.


- Stealth is pretty much learned by doing it. Don't be afraid to mess up--unless you terminate the contract or you're on a Pro job, you have unlimited attempts.
* The CAR-4 is incredibly customize-able, just like in real life. Buy two, and mod one for stealth and the other for war.


- After killing a guard in stealth, be sure to answer his pager. Otherwise, an alarm will sound. Your team can only answer a max of 4 without an alarm going off, though.
* Some weapons and weapon parts that come with the Ultimate Edition are locked behind achievements. Look up their descriptions to see exactly how to unlock them.


- Practice getting headshots while hip-firing. The more you can land, the more unstoppable you become.
* Always mark special units, guards and cameras by hitting F while looking at them. Not only does it let you see them everywhere, but it warns your team about them too.


- If you don't know what secondary to pick, bring the Locomotive or a good SMG. Complement your primary; if you have a low-accuracy but high ammo main, bring an accurate secondary to help pop snipers.
* When starting out, choose one perk deck and stick with it until you max it. All decks have some incredibly useful skills in common, including increased ammo pickup and 45% more experience gained. Armorer and Muscle are both solid starting perk decks and do not require DLC.


- If you don't know what skill tree to try first, try Enforcer. It helps you shoot guys, bring more ammo, and wear lots of armor, and those are all very useful things for a group.
* Once you complete a perk deck, only use it and other completed decks until you earn the points to complete all the other ones - one of the perk deck bonuses is increased XP, which also means faster perk points.


- There's a fuckload of skill trees and a lot of skills to pick in each one. Just go with what looks good, the skill rebalance made any build pretty good.
* "Infamy" is the game's prestige system. It costs a ton of money the first 5 times you do it, but it also reduces skill tier requirements those first 5 times. Levels after that are purely cosmetic.


- Inspire Ace is insanely good but has a 20-second cooldown. If a teammate's not in dire need (say, downed by a special with no other enemies nearby), you may want to pull him up by hand to save the Inspire for later.
* "Continental Coins" are gained by completing safehouse raids, daily missions, and Crime Spree. They're used to upgrade the safehouse and buy gun parts. Safehouse upgrades are 99% cosmetic, get gun parts first.


- Call out specials with the shout button whenever you can. Especially if you do not use a microphone.
* "Crime Spree" is a sort of endless heisting survival mode for advanced players. It's also a huge continental coin sink. Don't bother with it until you've gotten gud.


- Familiarize yourself with each special unit's sounds. Cloakers in particular. The sound you hear when they are very close was changed a while back and it is easily drowned out by gunfire.
* "Holdout" is an infamously ill-balanced multi-wave survival mode with limited maps, poor rewards, bugs galore and completely broken, nonsensical difficulty. There is no reason to play it other than to get special associated masks for completing weekly challenge runs. Find a full team of expert masochists if you want to do it.


- It is okay to disengage in a bad situation. Even if it is a single bulldozer that you are not equipped to handle easily. Call it out and stick with your team.
== Stealth ==


- It is also okay to NOT try and revive someone who has been downed in a terrible place. If you do, thin the enemy near your teammate as much as possible before attempting to get him up.
* Stealth is pretty much learned by doing it. There's a lot of map-specific weirdness to grok. Don't be afraid to mess up; unless you terminate the contract, you have unlimited attempts.


- Related to the above, all players now have the ability to dominate enemies without spending any skill points. An easy way to get a great boost to your domination chance is to knock the dude down. Whittling them down to low HP and catching them in the middle of reloading also help.
* After killing a guard in stealth, be sure to answer his pager. Otherwise, an alarm will sound. Your team can only answer a max of 4 without an alarm going off.


- ALWAYS shoot snipers. Pubbies have something against killing them, resulting in a pile of downed players.
* Some stealth maps have only 4 guards-killing them all and tying down any civilians/other threats will make them "safe". Bank heists are an example of this. Most maps have more than 4 guards and require greater care.


- No, seriously, shoot snipers. Not only do they have hacker-level aim, but their shots bleed through armor into health, which no other enemy does.
* Some maps have a civilian or guard monitoring a camera bank. Taking them out or tying them down effectively turns off cameras (though guards will still freak out if they spot a broken camera). Beware, though! Some heists have no camera operator, meaning cameras are a persistent threat, and a couple have two operators in different locations.


- Headshots at every opportunity.
* The Burglar perk deck is basically dedicated to stealth. It's similarly a good idea to have a dedicated stealth build - you can unlock all the relevant stealth skills and have spare points in one build.


- For anyone just starting out, choose one perk deck and stick with it until you max it. All decks have some incredibly useful skills in common, including increased ammo pickup and 45% more experience gained. Crew Chief, Armorer and Muscle are all solid and do not require DLC.
* A popular strategy is "ECM chaining". A team uses their ECMs in sequence and rush the map's objectives, completing the map before ECMs wear off. This requires map knowledge and coordination, but it vastly simplifies things.


- Fuck the SWAT Van. Unless you're in desperate need of getting rid of it, try to path around it instead of shooting it because it takes massive amounts of ammo to destroy.
* Shotguns can "launch" enemies and civilians if they are shot from relatively short range. This method can let you control where corpses are, which can be incredibly useful with practice and map knowledge. This technique only works properly if you are host, though- the body isn't synched, and the host's body location are what is used for detection.
 
== Difficulties ==
 
* Payday 2 has had a lot of power creep over the years, and at this point difficulties below Overkill are introductory. You'll only need to do them once or twice to gain some initial levels and get a feel for the game.
 
* Difficulties above Overkill start to require in-depth game knowledge, a lot of skill, progress unlocking better equipment and/or a higher level.
 
* Death Sentence, when played loud, is the difficulty for crazy idiot masochists. It's not remotely fun, and should only be done if you're a completionist. If you give it a pass, you're not missing out.
 
== Loud ==
 
* Don't rush off on your own. Payday 2's like Left 4 Dead; being a loner will get you blown away. Unlike Left 4 Dead, "rushing" is rarely a valid tactic.
 
* You do not want to "max out" a skill tree - mix and match according to your role in the team and what weapons you like.
 
* Complement your primary; if you have a low-accuracy but high ammo main, bring an accurate secondary to help hit snipers.
 
* Inspire Ace is insanely good but has a 20-second cooldown. If a teammate's not in dire need (say, downed by a special with no other enemies nearby), you may want to pull him up by hand to save the Inspire for later.
 
* Call out specials with the shout button whenever you can, especially if you do not use a microphone.
 
* Make headshots at every opportunity. Practice getting headshots while hip-firing. The more you can land, the more unstoppable you become.
 
* Familiarize yourself with each special unit's sounds - Cloakers in particular.
 
* It is okay to disengage in a bad situation - even if it is a single Bulldozer that you are not equipped to handle easily. Call it out and stick with your team.
 
* It is also okay to NOT try and revive someone who has been downed in a terrible place. If you do, thin the enemy near your teammate as much as possible before attempting to get him up.
 
* Enemy police can be shouted down and turned into hostages if they have less than 100% HP. Note this does not work on criminal enemies, and there is a limit on how many cop hostages you can have at once.
 
* ALWAYS shoot snipers. Pubbies have something against killing them, resulting in a pile of downed players.
 
* No, seriously, shoot snipers. Not only do they have hacker-level aim, but their shots bleed through armor into health, which no other enemy does.
 
* SWAT Turrets have a shield protecting them - it's vulnerable to explosives. The first two times you take out the shield, the turret will retract, heal, and summon a new one. The third time, the turret stays up and can be killed. Turrets on helicopters stay out when repairing and can be destroyed during the process. Most of the time, though, it's better to just make it retract and move on. Turrets in building interiors are way easier - they don't heal.
 
* Captain Winters will lock the game into assault mode when he arrives. He will also begin passively increasing all enemy max health while he's around, until it's doubled. Make him retreat quickly by taking out his escort - explosives work well.


== Specific Heists ==
== Specific Heists ==


- If your group's playing Shadow Raid and you're lousy at stealth, haul bags back to the van. Hug the fence and crouch.
* Expect to get lost in the Alesso, Murky Station, and Goat Heist maps during your first few runs - they are complex and weirdly laid out.
 
* Beware: wide open spaces and bad firing lines make Goat Heist, Heat Street and Lab Rats much harder than most other heists.
 
* Safehouse Nightmare and Cursed Kill Room are two gimmick heists with completely imbalanced enemy distributions. Do not expect to play them for fun; bring a skilled, experienced team if you want to survive.
 
* If your group's playing Shadow Raid and you're lousy at stealth, haul bags back to the van. Hug the fence and crouch.


- Don't smash cases in Diamond Store until you disable the alarms. You do that by getting a keycard off the manager, or off a desk, and using it in a slot upstairs.
* Don't smash cases in Diamond Store until you disable the alarms. You do that by getting a keycard off the manager, or off a desk, and using it in a slot upstairs.


- Day 1 of Rats, or the Cook Off heist, requires coordination. When Bain calls out an ingredient, ask your teammates what he said to them--if two or more people got the same ingredient called out, dump it in. If you're not sure what he said, wait for him to repeat himself.
* Day 1 of Rats, Lab Rats and the Cook Off heist, use a specific system of callouts for ingredients. Bain will say an ingredient, pause, and then say something else. If he corrects himself, the ingredient he mentions in his correction is the right one. If he says ''anything else'' ("I'm 51% sure", for instance), the first ingredient was correct.  


- When doing a stealth Bank Heist, or in Firestarter day 3, shoot the tellers and guard the panic button in the back hall with extreme prejudice. ECMs don't turn these off, and civilians can and will go right for them.
* The non-Rats/Cook Off meth cooking sequence is exactly the same every time (Muriatic > Caustic > Hydrogen). It's written on the whiteboard above the caustic soda's table, if you forget.


- In Hoxton Breakout Day 2, a good choice for a keycard is usually closing off the side door between the two skyways. Shutting it keeps a pair of sniper spawns from firing at you.
* When doing a stealth Bank Heist, shoot the tellers and guard the panic button in the back hall with extreme prejudice. ECMs don't turn these off, and civilians can and will go right for them.


- Hotline Miami's meth cook sequence is exactly the same, every time (Muriatic > Caustic > Hydrogen). It's written on the whiteboard above the caustic soda's table, if you forget.
* In Hoxton Breakout Day 2, save a keycard for the door leading to the escape.


- Bags chucked in the water in Watchdogs Day 2 won't disappear, but they do respawn all the way back at the beginning of the level. Don't throw more than four in at a time.
* Bags chucked in the water in Watchdogs Day 2 won't disappear, but they do respawn all the way back at the beginning of the level. Don't throw more than four into the boat at a time.


- Jumping onto the folded-up blankets in Lab Rats keeps you from taking fall damage.
* Jumping onto the folded-up blankets in Lab Rats keeps you from taking fall damage.


- Yes, the motorcycles in Biker Heist Day 1 handle that badly. Their hitbox is much, much larger than it looks.
* Yes, the motorcycles in Biker Heist Day 1 handle that badly. Their hitbox is much, much larger than it looks.




[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Games]]

Latest revision as of 02:20, 5 August 2024

What to Buy

  • Almost all DLC for the game comes with the "Ultimate Edition", which is discounted slightly if you have the base game, and more if you have some DLC already.
  • You do not need the Ultimate Edition to play DLC heists, just to host them. A ton of good weapons and equipment is only available in the full version, though.
  • The base game has hundreds of hours of gameplay. The full version has around two thousand. Your call.

General

  • There is now a pair of tutorial heists that explain some of the game's basics. They're worth running through first to get a feel for the underlying mechanics.
  • HOLD F to do things, don't just press it.
  • The AMCAR and Chimano 88 that you have at first absolutely suck. Ditch them as soon as possible.
  • The CAR-4 is incredibly customize-able, just like in real life. Buy two, and mod one for stealth and the other for war.
  • Some weapons and weapon parts that come with the Ultimate Edition are locked behind achievements. Look up their descriptions to see exactly how to unlock them.
  • Always mark special units, guards and cameras by hitting F while looking at them. Not only does it let you see them everywhere, but it warns your team about them too.
  • When starting out, choose one perk deck and stick with it until you max it. All decks have some incredibly useful skills in common, including increased ammo pickup and 45% more experience gained. Armorer and Muscle are both solid starting perk decks and do not require DLC.
  • Once you complete a perk deck, only use it and other completed decks until you earn the points to complete all the other ones - one of the perk deck bonuses is increased XP, which also means faster perk points.
  • "Infamy" is the game's prestige system. It costs a ton of money the first 5 times you do it, but it also reduces skill tier requirements those first 5 times. Levels after that are purely cosmetic.
  • "Continental Coins" are gained by completing safehouse raids, daily missions, and Crime Spree. They're used to upgrade the safehouse and buy gun parts. Safehouse upgrades are 99% cosmetic, get gun parts first.
  • "Crime Spree" is a sort of endless heisting survival mode for advanced players. It's also a huge continental coin sink. Don't bother with it until you've gotten gud.
  • "Holdout" is an infamously ill-balanced multi-wave survival mode with limited maps, poor rewards, bugs galore and completely broken, nonsensical difficulty. There is no reason to play it other than to get special associated masks for completing weekly challenge runs. Find a full team of expert masochists if you want to do it.

Stealth

  • Stealth is pretty much learned by doing it. There's a lot of map-specific weirdness to grok. Don't be afraid to mess up; unless you terminate the contract, you have unlimited attempts.
  • After killing a guard in stealth, be sure to answer his pager. Otherwise, an alarm will sound. Your team can only answer a max of 4 without an alarm going off.
  • Some stealth maps have only 4 guards-killing them all and tying down any civilians/other threats will make them "safe". Bank heists are an example of this. Most maps have more than 4 guards and require greater care.
  • Some maps have a civilian or guard monitoring a camera bank. Taking them out or tying them down effectively turns off cameras (though guards will still freak out if they spot a broken camera). Beware, though! Some heists have no camera operator, meaning cameras are a persistent threat, and a couple have two operators in different locations.
  • The Burglar perk deck is basically dedicated to stealth. It's similarly a good idea to have a dedicated stealth build - you can unlock all the relevant stealth skills and have spare points in one build.
  • A popular strategy is "ECM chaining". A team uses their ECMs in sequence and rush the map's objectives, completing the map before ECMs wear off. This requires map knowledge and coordination, but it vastly simplifies things.
  • Shotguns can "launch" enemies and civilians if they are shot from relatively short range. This method can let you control where corpses are, which can be incredibly useful with practice and map knowledge. This technique only works properly if you are host, though- the body isn't synched, and the host's body location are what is used for detection.

Difficulties

  • Payday 2 has had a lot of power creep over the years, and at this point difficulties below Overkill are introductory. You'll only need to do them once or twice to gain some initial levels and get a feel for the game.
  • Difficulties above Overkill start to require in-depth game knowledge, a lot of skill, progress unlocking better equipment and/or a higher level.
  • Death Sentence, when played loud, is the difficulty for crazy idiot masochists. It's not remotely fun, and should only be done if you're a completionist. If you give it a pass, you're not missing out.

Loud

  • Don't rush off on your own. Payday 2's like Left 4 Dead; being a loner will get you blown away. Unlike Left 4 Dead, "rushing" is rarely a valid tactic.
  • You do not want to "max out" a skill tree - mix and match according to your role in the team and what weapons you like.
  • Complement your primary; if you have a low-accuracy but high ammo main, bring an accurate secondary to help hit snipers.
  • Inspire Ace is insanely good but has a 20-second cooldown. If a teammate's not in dire need (say, downed by a special with no other enemies nearby), you may want to pull him up by hand to save the Inspire for later.
  • Call out specials with the shout button whenever you can, especially if you do not use a microphone.
  • Make headshots at every opportunity. Practice getting headshots while hip-firing. The more you can land, the more unstoppable you become.
  • Familiarize yourself with each special unit's sounds - Cloakers in particular.
  • It is okay to disengage in a bad situation - even if it is a single Bulldozer that you are not equipped to handle easily. Call it out and stick with your team.
  • It is also okay to NOT try and revive someone who has been downed in a terrible place. If you do, thin the enemy near your teammate as much as possible before attempting to get him up.
  • Enemy police can be shouted down and turned into hostages if they have less than 100% HP. Note this does not work on criminal enemies, and there is a limit on how many cop hostages you can have at once.
  • ALWAYS shoot snipers. Pubbies have something against killing them, resulting in a pile of downed players.
  • No, seriously, shoot snipers. Not only do they have hacker-level aim, but their shots bleed through armor into health, which no other enemy does.
  • SWAT Turrets have a shield protecting them - it's vulnerable to explosives. The first two times you take out the shield, the turret will retract, heal, and summon a new one. The third time, the turret stays up and can be killed. Turrets on helicopters stay out when repairing and can be destroyed during the process. Most of the time, though, it's better to just make it retract and move on. Turrets in building interiors are way easier - they don't heal.
  • Captain Winters will lock the game into assault mode when he arrives. He will also begin passively increasing all enemy max health while he's around, until it's doubled. Make him retreat quickly by taking out his escort - explosives work well.

Specific Heists

  • Expect to get lost in the Alesso, Murky Station, and Goat Heist maps during your first few runs - they are complex and weirdly laid out.
  • Beware: wide open spaces and bad firing lines make Goat Heist, Heat Street and Lab Rats much harder than most other heists.
  • Safehouse Nightmare and Cursed Kill Room are two gimmick heists with completely imbalanced enemy distributions. Do not expect to play them for fun; bring a skilled, experienced team if you want to survive.
  • If your group's playing Shadow Raid and you're lousy at stealth, haul bags back to the van. Hug the fence and crouch.
  • Don't smash cases in Diamond Store until you disable the alarms. You do that by getting a keycard off the manager, or off a desk, and using it in a slot upstairs.
  • Day 1 of Rats, Lab Rats and the Cook Off heist, use a specific system of callouts for ingredients. Bain will say an ingredient, pause, and then say something else. If he corrects himself, the ingredient he mentions in his correction is the right one. If he says anything else ("I'm 51% sure", for instance), the first ingredient was correct.
  • The non-Rats/Cook Off meth cooking sequence is exactly the same every time (Muriatic > Caustic > Hydrogen). It's written on the whiteboard above the caustic soda's table, if you forget.
  • When doing a stealth Bank Heist, shoot the tellers and guard the panic button in the back hall with extreme prejudice. ECMs don't turn these off, and civilians can and will go right for them.
  • In Hoxton Breakout Day 2, save a keycard for the door leading to the escape.
  • Bags chucked in the water in Watchdogs Day 2 won't disappear, but they do respawn all the way back at the beginning of the level. Don't throw more than four into the boat at a time.
  • Jumping onto the folded-up blankets in Lab Rats keeps you from taking fall damage.
  • Yes, the motorcycles in Biker Heist Day 1 handle that badly. Their hitbox is much, much larger than it looks.