This article will be updated as more and more weapons are released through DLCs, for Payday 2. This will aim at providing you with as much useful information, as I can muster, on a short notice. Since it is a bit hard to get to know all of these weapons quickly I will state when I am more or less familiar with a weapon, so that you know what to expect yourself. As I gain more experience with a specific weapon I will update its information here.
If you are looking for our core weapons guide in Payday 2 click here.
DLC weapons tend to be both cheap, when compared to other weapons, and have no reputation requirement. In other words, you could obtain a DLC weapon after just one or two missions (depending on how big the payout is). Since they tend to be on the level of higher level weapons this could make your life easier when you are just starting your career in Payday 2, or they will simply broaden your choice of deadly firearms. While end-game weapons might be, overall, more powerful I found the DLC weapons to fit into Overkill Heists, with a bit of work and Weapon Mods. Because of this you should not feel obliged to purchase the DLCs, since you already have a decent number of weapons that might be better than the DLC ones, however the Gage Weapons Pack offers you free grenades and unique fire mods for all your weapons.
I am writing this from the point of view of the weapons, not the DLC packs as a whole. I found the Armored Transport Heists to be interesting (and mildly challenging), while new masks add new fashion options… I suppose. I bought the Gage Weapon Pack mainly to have the opportunity to test its three new weapons and grenades, rather than have an overwhelming need for having even more weapons in my armory.
Anyway, let us jump down to business.
This DLC introduced a number of new weapons.
It might not look like much but this pistol is surprisingly beastly.
This unassuming pistol made me think it is completely worthless, simply because it looked that way. It reminded me of the PPK, which in most Video Games is the last pistol you ever want to use. Here, surprisingly, it is a very useful sidearm. Compared to the core sidearms its closest brother would be the Bernetti, which is in many ways similar, but the Gruber has slightly better accuracy and stability. Since it can be bought as soon as you purchase the DLC you will have immediate access to a very good early-game weapon. Although you unlock the Bernetti already at level 6 you should not dismiss the Gruber. If you had to pick between the two I would say that the main weight of the argument lies on whether you have more mods for the Bernetti or Gruber. If you have plenty for both then the Gruber would be, technically, the better choice.
Another factor to take into account is the Gruber’s low price. The Bernetti costs almost three times as much as the Gruber, something to hold in mind when you have little cash.
Looks like a gun that might fall apart at any moment. Do not be fooled, it needs a lot of tasty mods and then it will become a force to be reckoned with.
The Swedish K is a submachine gun, and it shares many problems that its brothers have. A high rate of fire, combined with low accuracy, yet decent damage. Out of all the core submachine guns the Swedish K can do the most damage per shot but it is also the least accurate. A few other things have to be noted about it. A mildly high magazine capacity (40 rounds) and low overall ammo capacity (80 rounds total). I have tried using the Swedish K in a number of Heists and I found it to be useful during especially heated close encounters against weaker law enforcers. It can still do well against Spec Ops but due to its poor accuracy you will have to be really close to be effective.
All that said, I did not find the Swedish K to be a bad gun overall. It suffers from sudden ammo shortages as well as non-existent accuracy at even medium ranges but up close it beats many similar submachine guns, and most importantly it is cheap. Just like the Gruber it has no reputation level requirement, so you can purchase it as soon as you have the DLC.
It is surprisingly short for a primary weapon, yet it makes up for its size with efficient firepower. I recommend getting some sights for it in first order. I found its default sights impossible to use.
This was a surprisingly useful close encounter weapon, just like the Swedish K. It does more damage than most rifles, while suffering from lower accuracy. However, unlike the Swedish K, I did not feel I ran out of bullets faster, and with enough fire control it appeared to perform well even at medium ranges. Compared to all the other rifles it tends to have better damage and may be better concealed. It might not have better handling or accuracy but up close it is absolutely wonderful, for a rifle of its class.
I was tempted to classify the Commando 553 as a sidearm, but after some thought it could be considered an ample choice for stealth missions, since its smaller size, yet above average damage, means that with a silencer it can still do plenty of damage, compared to other rifles, while also maintaining your stealth. The lower accuracy will become an issue during open long-distance firefights but it will still get the job done.
The Gage Weapon Pack DLC adds a few more weapons, mods and grenades. Let us focus on these new weapons, and grenades.
When first bought it will have very low ammo capacity. For a weapon with such firepower and poor accuracy this could bite you in your backside constantly.
At first I was awestruck by this beast’s high damage output. Then I realized just how little ammo it has. If I were to say what is the Eagle Heavy Rifle best used for I would state one of two things: 1) Mowing down entire groups of enemies at very close range. 2)Taking out a single cop with one or two accurate shots.
This weapon is surprisingly strong, but it lacks numerous other things. It has low accuracy, poor control, low ammo capacity and clip capacity… It’s simply good in a few number of things. It is clearly not something to be used for stealth heists. This is the sort of gun you want to bring with yourself to intense close-combat heists, and you want something with more control than a shotgun.
The main reason why you want the Eagle Heavy Rifle is its cost. It is dirt cheap. Another reason may be that shotguns, while very efficient, simply lack the range you want during your fights. I would still say that a shotgun can be deadlier, and for every killed enemy you could get your shell back, while with the Eagle it’s very hard to get back more ammo than you spend. However the Eagle Heavy Rifle lets you maintain better control, especially when you fire rapidly. Shotguns tend to fire all over the place, when you want to fire quickly with them.
Classy, no?
If you tested the Swedish K you might realize that these two weapons are almost exactly the same. There are a few differences, but they do not appear to be that meaningful. The Swedish K has a higher clip capacity, but the SpecOps has slightly better accuracy and control. In every other way they are exactly the same, so it’s pretty much your choice whether you want a slightly less accurate gun, with more ammo, or the opposite.
I found that the SpecOps appears to have a higher rate of fire than the Swedish K, but the higher control and accuracy helped me during close encounters more than the Swedish K. Since the reload time was relatively low I was not worried about running out of ammo, at any time.
I found this gun, most recently, to be a very useful sidearm. It might not look like much but it can most certainly kill a SpecOps with a few shots.
This pistol is a bit of a tough choice. The Gruber is better than it in almost every single way, except damage and threat. At the same time the Signature is better than the Crosskill, but somewhat worse than the Bernetti. Why would you want the Signature .40 then? The simple answer is more damage, less accuracy. However, if you wanted an accurate and deadly pistol why not go with the Desert Eagle or Bronco? The main, and pretty much only reason, is the price. If you want to stretch the argument a bit you could say that the Signature, unlike the Deagle and Bronco, has more ammo, and thus it can last longer during a firefight, especially when you miss a few shots. I suppose that when you compare it to the Eagle Heavy Rifle you see a certain similarity. Both of these weapons prefer damage over accuracy and control, so they suit each other, in terms of style. Is that practical during most Heists? I suppose that also depends on your style, but the fact is that some Heists do call for a lot of heavy firepower, and then the Signature, with the Eagle Heavy Rifle, could act as the answer to such firefights.
Finally! Grenades. Well, you only get three of them, but is that a bad thing? Grenades, together with different firing modes on your weapons, were sought out by the community for some time. In Payday 1 we eventually got the Grenade Launcher, which got the job done, especially when your escape route was absolutely clogged with special law enforcers. What about Grenades in Payday 2?
The first substantial strength of these grenades is that you always have three of them, regardless of Heist or your profession. This means that you have three of these small explosives to chuck at your enemies. The second strength of the grenades is that they work on all opponents, in some way. Yet here also appears a certain weakness that grenades have.
I decided to give grenades two tests. The first one consisted of using them on law enforcers on a normal difficulty heist. Here the standard swats exploded in all directions, even when the explosion was some distance away. As such on Normal and slightly harder heists grenades have a solid role to play, since they can clear out a horde of law enforcers blocking your way. Slightly tougher Swats will usually not get insta-killed by grenades.
Then I tried using them on an Overkill difficulty Heist, namely Four Stores. When the SpecOps showed up in the store I was holed up in I considered it a good time to chuck a grenade. Right in the center of the Spec Ops group did the grenade explode and to my small disappointment they were not killed outright, but they were: 1) Stunned, 2) They lost their helmets. In the very same room there was also a Shield and I noticed that for a short moment it too was stunned, thus giving me a clear and easy opening for a kill shot. When escaping from that Heist I had to take part in a Park Stand-Off and here I had the wonderful opportunity to take part in an ultimate grenade test, using them against a Bulldozer. Here the results were similar. The Bulldozer was not killed, BUT it was confused/stunned for a short moment.
Holding the above in mind, Grenades on easier Heists can be used to quickly clear out a tight space, filled with weak law enforcers. On harder Heists they can have a similar role. Instead of killing all of the tougher Swats or SpecOps grenades would allow you to enter a room filled with these stunned Law Enforcers, for a few quick and easy kills. Since grenades also work on special law enforcers (such as Shields) they could be used to disorientate them for a short while, so that you, and your team mates, can more easily take them out.
The main downside with Grenades is that they tend to have a very easy time killing civilians. As such you have to make certain that there is no civilian anywhere near the explosion radius. On the other hand the sizable explosion radius can help you on some heists, such as Mallcrasher where you have to destroy a lot of windows/items quickly, and here grenades could make your job much easier and faster.
A new year a new Weapons Pack, from Gage. The 2nd Gage Weapon Pack introduces new options for Heisters. While the three LMGs are the main new “hot products” knives have also been introduced, allowing for a tougher punch up close, especially when you run out of bullets. So, let’s roll down the list.
Based on the RPK (no surprise there) this is the “first” LMG that you can get your hands on. During my testing runs I found that the RPK is an “OK” gun, but it’s similar to your starting rifle, it gets the job done but when possible you will want something better. See, it shares all the shortcomings of the other LMGs (low accuracy, slower movement speed, low control) but it has similar damage, rate of fire and ammo capacity. That being said, the RPK is inferior to the other LMGs, in some ways.
Compared to the KSP it has less ammo, smaller rate of fire and produces less heat, while the Brenner is simply better across the board. The RPK has slightly better accuracy and control than the KSP, but it’s so marginal you will usually not notice it.
As a starting LMG it’s good when you want to get your hands on something big, heavy and deadly, if VERY inaccurate. I do mean it, if your target is not a medium or short distance away, and in the open, you will have a lot of trouble hitting him. Up close you wouldn’t want to be on the other end of the barrel.
The KSP is unlocked at Reputation 45 and it offers a much higher ammo capacity, increased rate of fire. and heat than the RPK. Both of these LMGs share the same damage, but the increased ammo capacity will allow you to fire for longer, and in general carry more ammo, thus allowing you to stay in the fight for longer, if you control your fire.
I should mention that the KSP has a lovely sound when it fires.
Because it is unlocked at level 45 a starting player may find that other guns unlocked before the KSP will be better, due to their accuracy, damage per bullet and control. I found the KSP to be a “fun gun”, the sort your whole team agrees to take on a heist to rain down lead on all the cops facing you. From the point of view of its role during a Heist an Enforcer would most certainly want this LMG. With his increased ammo perks, and the toughest armor in the game, he could literally be a TANK. The downside is that the weapon would slow him down even more, so Heists that call for a lot of long-distance running are not the friendliest for the KSP, or any LMG for that matter.
I did not have the opportunity to play with the Brenner yet (do not have Level 75 just yet) but based on its wiki stats it is in many ways better, when compared to either the KSP and RPK. Better control, more damage, even more heat. It has less ammo than the KSP, but more than the RPK. Just like all the other LMGs it appears to excel at close-combat fighting, since it’s accuracy, while higher, is still relatively low.
The Gage Weapon Pack #2 opens up new options in close combat, four different knives. Each knife is simply better at a slightly different task. Some are quicker, some are deadlier, it is all a matter of personal style, though from what I could tell people will either go for the “Long Knife” (for maximum damage), Fists (for maximum knockback) or weapon butts (speed). All the other knives offer a mixture of the three, but on most missions you want to focus on a specific stat, rather than have a good mix of them.
While the Grenades in Gage Weapon Pack #1 offered a clear advantage the Knives do not seem to be all that useful and practical. If there is ever a situation where you have to use a knife that means that you are either out of ammo or you are somewhat desperate. Just like with the Saw you will not normally use close combat unless it is necessary.
. Plays July 22, 2012
. Plays March 4, 2012
FIFA 16: A Beginners Guide to Career Mode
The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword Skyview Temple Walkthrough
Pokemon X & Y Guide: Lumiose City Gym Guide