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Are you trying to figure out how to beat the Rock the Cradle heist in Payday 3 and looking for a walkthrough? Our guide here to help you do it with style.
When playing Payday 3, you and your Payday Crew gather to pull off a heist and get as much loot as possible. In the fourth story mission called Rock the Cradle, you infiltrate an upper-class nightclub with the goal of grabbing their cryptocurrency wallet and everything else that you can get away with. The club is packed and very secure, and there are many obstacles along the way. So let’s dig in and find out how to get their stuff. Read out heist walkthrough for Rock the Cradle in Payday 3.
The Goal of ‘Rock the Cradle’ Heist
This heist takes place at a nightclub that hides a cryptocurrency wallet containing their profits. Your goal is to sneak in and find a way to grab it without alerting anyone. Besides that major score, the club is full of cash, valuable paintings, and even drugs, all of which can be turned in for extra profit. However, if the alarm sounds, the hard drive within the wallet will be scraped clean. That would leave your crew without a large amount of money and with a fight on your hands. While doable, it’s clear that the stealthy measured approach is the way to go for maximum payout.
The Layout of the Nightclub
The Neon Cradlenightclub is a large establishment, spread over several layers. It’s packed with both civilians and guards, as well as many cameras and locked doors. The ground floor is the main public area, with a more private section available on the upper floors. However, the juiciest part of the club is the VIP section, located on two floors underground. You can only access this part of the club with proper clearance though.
Crew Considerations
Your crew loadouts will be largely different depending on how you plan to tackle the mission. As mentioned above, the stealth approach is the most optimal way to handle this mission. There are many civilians around, so a hybrid approach is also possible, but that would automatically forfeit the crypto payout. With that in mind, in our opinion, not a lot of consideration should be levelled towards the firepower-focused approach.
A stealthy crew would be a much better option. It could be especially beneficial to bring along a Hacker, and even better two of them. The Infiltrator and Grifter trees are also great in this mission, as is the case with most pure stealth-focused approaches.
Payday 3: Rock the Cradle – Mask-on Heist Walkthrough
This method is likely the inferior way to approach this mission. In theory, you could secure the wallet stealthily and then go mask-on. However, this can create complications without any direct benefits at that point of the heist. With that in mind, let’s see how this mission plays out if you go in guns blazing from the start.
Accessing the VIP Area
Starting the mission with mask-on will sound the alarm, wiping the crypto wallet and sending around $100,000 down the drain. There are civilians in the main area that you can use as hostages to delay the assaults after dealing with the guards. Meanwhile, send your crew to deal with two tasks. One is to set up the drill on the VIP area door to gain access. The others should head out to the van to build the extraction cage.
The drill is prone to breaking, so have someone on hand to restart it. Meanwhile, others can rush to the upper floor to lockpick the private booths and snatch the valuable paintings for extra cash.
Gaining Access to the Vault
Without the wallet, the vault is the most lucrative place that you can plunder. Go down into the VIP area while dealing with the assaults. Note that enemies can attack from practically any side in this area. The vault is located in the lowest area, after lockpicking the middle door. The vault door is sealed, so you will need to override it. Send someone back out and up to the top floor. Access the manager’s office and use their laptop to override.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew should be fighting off the assaults and looting the wooden crates containing drugs. Bring everything up to the cage you’ve built. After the override is completed, you’ll find that the vault is filled with cash. Take trips to bring it up to the cage as well while fighting off the assaults.
The Escape
With as much loot as possible (you’ll see the bar that needs to be filled in the objectives), secure everything in the cage. The assaults will become more dangerous the longer it takes. They will always include special enemies, often two or more different ones at a time. With everything you can take secured in the cage, fight your way to the escape area to run away and count your loot.
Payday 3: Rock the Cradle – Stealth Heist Walkthrough
If your goal is to achieve the main objective and leave with the most profit possible, then a stealthy approach is the best way to tackle this mission. You’ll have to find a way to enter the VIP area, and then navigate the club up and down several times while avoiding detection. But if done correctly, you can get out very rich.
Accessing the VIP Area
You’re going to need a VIP invitation to access the VIP area and get closer to your main objective. To do this, enter the club, then head straight forward, past the VIP entrance, and lockpick the stairwell door without getting caught. Head on up two flights of stairs, exit and go across to another locked door. This is the manager’s office, where the VIP invitations are located. You’ll be notified that you need Rifkin’s QR code, so the next step is to track her down.
You’ll see her silhouette in grey through the walls. Carefully make your way to her and sneak behind. Then engage a hack on her phone with a click. You’ll have to stay in an area around her until the hack is complete. Be careful, because her movement could take you to some dangerous positions.
With the hack complete, head back upstairs to the office to get the VIP invitations. There is also a painting that you can grab behind the newly opened case. The next step is getting the invitations authenticated with an RFID writer. There are a couple of random locations where it can spawn. All are in private areas, usually within private booths.
After locating the writer, follow this procedure: insert the invitations, use the computer to authenticate them, and then pick up the invitations. Now head back to the VIP area door and present them to the bouncers. The right bouncer also carries the Blue Keycard, so try to find a way to steal it off him.
Navigating the VIP Area
With access granted, head down the stairs and past the VIP balcony, down to the bottom floor. This area is also guarded by patrolling guards and cameras, so always be on the lookout. First, head across and to the far right, then lockpick the door. Climb up the stairwell and lockpick the first door you see. This is the Accounting Office. In this office you will find three 4-digit codes. One is on the chair, the second is in the safe, and the third is in the adjoining storage room. Note all three, then pick up the Red Keycard as well.
Head back down and walk over to the other side and the leftmost door. It has a guard posted on it, marked as Equipment Storage. There is a lure on the bar near him, so use it to make him leave and gain access to the room. Once inside, avoid the camera and use the Red keycard to enter the next room. This is where your main objective is located – the cryptocurrency wallet, protected behind a biometric scanner.
How to get the Cryptocurrency Wallet
One option you have at your disposal is to go mask-on and kidnap the Accountant to unlock the biometric scanner. However, this is very risky due to the high density of guards and cameras in the area. It would require the full crew cooperation to pull off. But there’s an easier way to do it with mask-off.
In the same room is a board mentioning the Electrical Facility. Note the switch code and colour written on it. Head out and across the floor, then back up the stairs to the VIP balcony area. You’ll come upon a door that requires the Blue keycard. Use the one you stole off the bouncer and enter the Electrical Facility. There is a large number of switches on the wall. Find the one from the board, open it, and then pull the switch matching the colour from the board.
With that done, head back down and go right, back to the stairs and the Accounting Office. Hack into his computer to activate the biometric override. This way, you won’t need the Accountant for the biometric scanner. Head back out and once again lure away the guard from Equipment Storage, then inside the room with the wallet. The door will be open and you can grab it safely.
Securing the Loot
Take the wallet out of the room, pass by the bar and you’ll see an opening on the right side between two boxes. This is where you can throw all the loot you gather, including the wallet. Now you can escape, or go and gather more profits, including the money from the vault. There are several paintings that you can get in the club, as well as the drugs from the wooden crates in the VIP area.
Accessing the Vault
Check the door labels in the VIP area and find the door labelled Maintenance. Lockpick your way inside and you’ll find yourself in a secured corridor. Immediately to the right is another door that hides the vault. Enter the room and you’ll see that the vault is protected by a 4-digit code. Reference the three codes you acquired earlier and check the UV prints on the input. Enter the matching code to gain access to the vault. The vault is full of cash, so make a few trips to the same deposit location as before.
Make Your Escape
With as many profits secured as you can – including the crypto wallet, paintings, drugs, and money stacks – return to the main VIP area. Climb up the stairs to the VIP balcony, then turn around and head towards the opposite wall. You’ll see another door that requires the Blue keycard. Open that door and the escape area is located inside. Wait for the timer to tick down and you’ll successfully complete the mission.
Difficulty and Profit
Rock the Cradle is a difficult mission to complete, even when everything’s going right. The most frustrating part about it is that it’s the buggiest mission in the game at the time of writing. However, it’s quite lucrative too, so it’s worth doing when you have a plan ready to go. Just like all other heists in the game, there are four difficulty levels that you can attempt.
- Normal: $100,000 – $600,000 profit, the easiest difficulty.
- Hard: $120,000 – $700,000 profit, the best way to farm it for money and XP.
- Very Hard: $150,000 – $900,000 profit, the cameras are indestructible, which makes it much more difficult without a Hacker.
- Overkill: $170,000 – $1,000,000 profit, indestructible cameras, tougher enemies, Elite Guard patrolling the whole building. It makes it much harder to complete.
If your goal is to simply farm XP and money, then this mission isn’t the best one to do it with. It can bring a lot of money in one go, but there are many pitfalls that can tank your run. So for pure farming, there are better options in the game.
Check out our heist guides for the other missions in Payday 3: No Rest for the Wicked Heist Walkthrough, Road Rage Heist Walkthrough, and Dirty Ice Heist Walkthrough.