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Payday 3 offers many avenues of approach within its vast heist mechanics, so our tips and tricks list can help you get a better understanding of the game. Whether assembling your crew or planning your solo heist, there is a lot to organize around in a typical Payday mission. It’s easy to forget the basics sometimes, and there is plenty that you can leverage to your benefit. Conversely, players new to the game can learn a lot from just a few simple tips, making future heists much easier. With that in mind, here are our ten tips and tricks for Payday 3.
10 Tips & Tricks for Payday 3
Don’t Neglect Skills
It may be obvious, but picking the right skills for the job in your loadout is paramount in facilitating your playstyle. Not only that, but it’s a two-way street: your skill choices can determine your approach and vice versa.
For example, if you have a skill that grants you RUSH when a civilian spots you, then use that to gain a speed boost. To build on the example, if you also take the skill to lockpick quicker while having RUSH, you can let a civilian see you, then start lockpicking to gain a major boost. And that’s just scratching the surface of possible skill interactions in Payday 3.
Study the skill tree and pick the best skills for the job and your playstyle. Look for synergies and that will make heisting that much easier. Then, with easier and quicker heists, you can get more XP and money.
Solo vs Multiplayer Approach
Both solo and multiplayer offers a different experience when playing Payday 3. If you go solo, you have to plan around the bots and take the brunt of the challenges. Even mask-on, the bots aren’t that useful in a fight. Many players like the challenge of playing solo, but it’s important to plan around this. Strategize and pick the right approach and skills for solo gameplay.
On the other hand, playing with a crew is a completely different experience. You can plan together, coordinate, and do tasks simultaneously. This can make heists much more controlled, quicker, and even easier. With a good crew, you can perform more complicated strategies, such as full-on hostage situations. However, a bad crew can also be more of a hindrance than playing solo, so there’s always a give-and-take.
Guard and Camera Vision
This is a very important tip for all stealth players out there. Cameras and Guards won’t trigger detection unless they can draw a line to your head. So if your elbow, knee, or even full body peeks out, it doesn’t matter. You’ll be practically invisible to them. But if they can draw vision to your head, then their detection alarm will begin pinging. You can use this to your advantage in many stealth missions in Payday 3 and play with more calm and patience armed with this knowledge.
Use Hostages as Human Shields and More
When you go mask-on in a mission with civilians around, you expect a lot of chaos to ensue. You should always look for ways to harness this chaos, like using Shout to get the civilians to get to the ground. Then, you can tie them up for trade later. However, in such chaos, don’t neglect to grab one to use as a shield. This will keep you safer, but this action has further perks.
Important hostages can be used for retinal scans in some missions. Moreover, there are buttons and triggers that need to be pushed simultaneously. Use your hostage to shove them on these triggers, and they will oblige. That way, you can get access to previously inaccessible loot.
Mind Your Ammo
When bullets start flying in Payday 3, it is easy to forget how much you have left in your weapon mag. Ammo is very easily spent in this game, and if you’re not careful, you can easily run out and find yourself in a tough spot. That’s why you should always be mindful of how much you have left. When the fighting dies down, take the opportunity to go and scavenge fallen enemies. They always drop small amounts of bullets, but that can accumulate for at least a few mags. You can also have one of your allies drop an Ammo Recharge for everyone so that you can restock between fights.
Bots Can Carry Loot Too
When playing solo, you’re invariably joined by three bots. While they’re not very useful in utilizing the game’s mechanics and can be downright hindrances in most cases, they do serve some purposes. For instance, did you know that they can carry loot, such as stacks of cash or thermite, for you? Just pick up the loot and press Q to throw it to one. Repeat as many times as you need, but don’t forget to take it back from them when it’s time to throw or set up. They won’t do it on their own, even if you lead them to the proper location.
Prioritize Special Enemies
When assaults begin in Payday 3, you’ll usually have to fight off hordes of enemies that seem neverending. But between all the grunts you can easily dispatch, special enemies pose the real threat. Saboteurs, Snipers, Lurkers, Bombers, and Dozzers to name a few, all of them should be your crew’s highest priority. If you leave them up for too long, they can help even those easy grunts to overpower you. Make sure to memorize their distinct in-game models and focus fire them as soon as they appear.
Save Codes In-Game
This is a quick and easy tip. All codes in the game are randomized when you start a heist. Safe codes, 4-digit codes, unit marks, etc., all have a random string. So instead of scrambling for a piece of paper to note them or trying to memorize them, there’s an easier way to keep track. Press Enter and type them into chat. Then when you need them, just press Enter again to bring it up and the codes will be there for you.
Don’t Forget to Mark
The Marking action is one of the easiest basic commands to forget, but you should be spamming it whenever you need it. You can mark guards, civilians, and even cameras. That gives you a brief window of time when you can follow their movement and take advantage when they’re not looking. Some skills lean into marking even more, such as the Strategist tree, which can be a huge benefit during a heist.
It’s Not Illegal if No One Sees You
Obviously, there are many illegal actions in Payday 3. When you begin looting practically anything in the game, it’s considered an “illegal” act. But this also extends to hacking computers, lockpicking, and more, always marked by a red square with an exclamation point. However, that shouldn’t prevent you from doing it. An illegal action is dangerous only when you’re being actively “observed”. The game will even give you a prompt, notifying you that you are being observed while hovering over the illegal target. But as soon as that “observed” prompt disappears, the illegal action is fair game and you can do it even when surrounded by civilians and guards. Of course, as long as you’re not caught in the act.
If these tips & tricks have been helpful to you, please check out our Payday 3 heist walkthroughs: No Rest for the Wicked Heist Walkthrough, Road Rage Heist Walkthrough, Dirty Ice Heist Walkthrough, and Rock the Cradle Heist Walkthrough.