Payday 3 is here – although “here” may be too strong a word for the nebulous nature of the game’s ability to provide an entertaining experience. Between slow matchmaking, struggling servers, and errors, Payday 3’s gameplay experience is as invisible as it wants you to be when taking on a mission stealthily.
The third entry in the series has received a major overhaul in its stealth mechanics, which means it’s now a lot more forgiving if you want to ghost heists. Of course, being more forgiving doesn’t mean it’s easy. In this guide, we are going to go over our top tips for getting into stealth in Payday 3.
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Talk To Your Team
In any cooperative experience, communication is key. This is doubly so when trying to do things quietly. Sure, you can tag guards and mark cameras, but all of that pales in comparison to direct verbal communication. Your coms should be alive with constant chatter – information being relayed in real time between your party to ensure nobody trips an alarm or triggers the point of no return on a stealth attempt.
Without Mates, Be Prepared To Go In Loud
Attempting a stealth run requires everyone to be on board. If you don’t have three mates to help you out, then the best advice we can give is to expect failure and to plan to go loud. Expecting randoms to all want to go stealthy is a tall order, and frankly, it probably isn’t worth the effort.
Get Your Loadout Ready
When preparing your loadout for a stealth heist, you want to take Skills, Weapons, and Equipment that play into a stealthy approach. Enhancing your ability to pick locks, bypass cameras, and disable guards is a requirement here. You also want one weapon to be silenced so you can quickly eliminate someone who spots you. We’d recommend only one weapon, however, as you don’t want to hamper your build and be completely unprepared for an impromptu firefight.
Zip-ties & Radios
Two things you need to get to grips with early are zip-ties and radios. Zip-ties are used to subdue hostages, and Radios are used by guards to relay their current state of living. If you don’t zip-tie your hostages, they will try to escape once you turn your back. If you kill a guard and don’t answer their radio, your stealth approach will likely come to a swift end.
Search Mode
The AI in Payday 3 is fairly basic, but they are capable of sniffing out problems and abnormalities. Guards will happily investigate noises and broken equipment if they notice anything on their patrol. Should this happen, they will enter an elevated state, Search Mode. If you are spotted in this mode, you won’t be escorted back to the public area. Instead, the guard will attempt to detain you. Keep your disruption to a minimum to keep the guards off your back for as long as possible.
Understanding Security Levels
There are three security levels in Payday 3, and most missions will have these in one form or another. These are:
- Public Areas – You are free to explore these areas provided you don’t do anything suspicious. As long as you are Casing Mode (mask off) you are free to poke your nose wherever you want.
- Private Areas – Private Areas are locations you are not meant to be, but being detected in these zones won’t end your stealth run. If you are caught, the guards will attempt to escort you back to the Public Area. If you choose to ignore their instructions, you will be detained. This will also happen if you are caught doing something illegal.
- Secure Areas – These are places you will not be tolerated in. If you are caught here, say goodbye to Stealth. Avoid cameras, stay away from guards, and don’t interact with civilians.
Getting Ready To Escape
The final step to winning a stealthy heist is safely extracting the loot. Unlike your standard loud approach, stealth heists tend to come with different exit locations. You want to make sure you have a clear path and not get caught where you shouldn’t be with things you shouldn’t have. Of course, if you want the most reward, you will be forced to make the run between the vault and escape multiple times – each time avoiding detection. This is by far the most difficult part of a stealth heist. One wrong move and it all goes to pot.
That’s all we have on Payday 3 for now. Be sure to check out our other lists and guides for more Payday content.
