PAYDAY: The Heist feels like Left 4 Dead, but with a more criminal view. You and your three companions set out on Heists to get ridiculously rich, while mowing through cops, taking hostages and completing your objectives. Each of the heists will have changeable variables, some of which you can influence through your actions, offering great replayability, especially if you want the Heist to to be completed flawlessly. The problem with PAYDAY: The Heist is a lack of tutorial, which could result in a lot of confusion for somebody who just started playing the game, or thinking about buying it. The game is not that complicated, and I hope to explain everything about it in this Guide. You will up and robbing people in no time!
Looking for our Payday 2 Guide? It’s here.
They are most certainly not clowning around.
Like in any FPS, you used your WSAD buttons to move around, using your mouse to look, aim and shoot. Your F button has numerous uses. It can complete objectives (placing, restarting saws/drills, filling bags with money), intimidate hostages and cuff them, point out Special Law Enforcers, and call-out to team mates. You will have only three weapons at most (not counting Trip Mines and Turrets), all under the 1 (sidearm), 2 (primary weapon) and 3 (support weapon) buttons. You deploy specials using G. These could include Ammo or Medic Bags, and Turrets. You of course jump with Space and crouch with Control. You can hit enemies with your guns (as a form of melee) by pressing E, not the most effective way of dispatching them but perfect if you want to save Ammo. There are more controls, but for the purpose of this Guide this is all that you will need for now.
When you first start a game you will have no reputation. Reputation is gained by earning money, and you earn money for completing Challenges (Achievements), objectives and Heists (if successful). As you gain in Reputation you will unlock new upgrades or items for yourself. There is a catch however. Currently there are four different classes you can specialize in, Assault, Sharpshooter, Support and Technician (DLC added class). In the long-term you will unlock all of these classes fully, and have access to all of the unlockables, at any time. So for example you could take an M308 (Sharpshooter main weapon), Turrets (Technician Special), Mark-11 (Assault Support weapon) and the basic silenced pistol, as long as you have these weapons and specials unlocked. Before you get there though, you will have to steadily unlock all of these. You do not unlock them in rows, instead you pick a “Class” to unlock, and as you gain levels you will unlock the upgrades for that class. You can swap which Class to unlock even during a mission, so there is no problem swapping around how you upgrade. You select the Class to upgrade by holding down the Tab button and pressing either 1,2,3 or 4 (you will see the currently chosen class in the bottom left corner, together with the new upgrade for it). This only works while in the second stage of the lobby, where you pick your equipment, and in-game.
You choose your gear based on your style, and a bit on the map. When playing in a group it is a good idea to arrange who will carry what piece of extra gear, so that it can be best used or shared.
All of the weapons in PAYDAY: The Heist have their uses, and as you gain levels in a class your weapons will be improved. There are only two exceptions, the AMCAR-4 and B9-S. The upgrades for these weapons are present in all of the three classes. So, in order to have a fully upgraded AMCAR-4 and B9-S you need to almost fully upgrade all of the classes (except the Technician). Your Special equipment (Deployables) is also unlocked depending on class. Sharpshooters have Trip Mines, Assault will deploy Ammo Bags, Support – Medi Bags, and Technicians will have little buddy turrets. These will also be upgraded as you progress through a class. Lastly, there are also Player Upgrades and Crew Bonuses. Player Upgrades benefit you in some way. For example, you can have Thick Skin (more health) or more cuffing wire. Crew Bonuses apply to everybody on your team, except you. In order for you to gain a bonus somebody else must have a chosen Crew Bonus. If more than one person has the same Crew Bonus the effects will not stack, but everybody will benefit from it !
So, you got the hang of upgrading your Class, getting experience, and your equipment. When you choose a Heist with your friends or random players after the server loads you will have an option of picking your equipment, character and Mask Theme. Once you are set the game will immediately port you in-game for the Heist to begin.
Let us briefly discuss your Health. You will have armor and health. Armor regenerates rapidly, but it can also drop quickly from incoming enemy fire. You will know how much armor you have by looking at your character’s portrait. The amount of armor you have left is represented by white lines around your character. If you continue to be hit when your armor is depleted you will start losing health. Health only regenerates when using a Medi Bag. When you are downed and revived you will get back most of your health. HOWEVER, if you get downed more than once during the mission the time for you to be captured by the Police will decrease, and the amount of health you get from getting revived will also decrease. If you level up during a mission you will get full health and ammo, and the “revive” timers will be reset.
On higher difficulty levels the opposite will be true. If you get downed, even when at full health, you could find yourself with just a fraction of your health remaining. You will have much less opportunities to get back up, and leveling does not regenerate your health, timers and ammo. Overkill is the most brutal difficulty in that respect.
Now, a lot depends on the Heist you picked. Some Heists can be completed silently, or at least up to a certain point. During such missions it is good to stay in contact with your team so that everybody completes a specific portion of the objectives, guards the hostages, etc. A failed silent approach always has the Plan B, which involved a lot of shooting. Although it is not difficult to complete a Silent Heist with the Plan B it might be far tougher, especially on higher difficulty. There are the “Standard” heists, where you enter “normally” (such as during the Bank Heist) and you have the option of starting the Heist at any time. These Heists allow you and your team to get in position, then draw your guns. Useful when you want to control big numbers of hostages, or have a number of objectives spread over the map and you want to keep a tight schedule. Then there are the “Guns Blazing” heists, where you simply start out with your guns ready, and fight your way through to your objectives.
The First National Bank. One of the most popular maps, and it is fairly easy for a beginner. Here in pre-Heist mode, where I will be able to look for the Bank Manager without people shooting at me.
Objectives during a Heist vary. In general you will have a number of types of tasks. Firstly, “Waiting Tasks”. Why do I call them that? Because you end up planting a Saw and fighting off hordes of law enforcers for about three minutes. Or you might have to guard a computer while Bain is hacking it. “Waiting Tasks” involve one very common problem, something tends to clog up. The a fore mentioned saw can jam and a player will have to approach it and “restart” it. This does not ruin the timer, it simply halts progress. Once the saw is restarted it will continue buzzing from the point where it got jammed. Waiting tasks might involve you having to look for certain items, like fuel cans, or pushing a switch to turn the power back on. They can be extremely annoying, especially if the objective is in an exposed or dangerous area. Who said it will be easy though?
Then there are the baneful escort tasks. Forcing a prisoner or hostage to move from point A to point B. The problem is that they keep stopping, so you have to keep on following them and shouting at them. They halt any progress if a law enforcer is nearby, forcing you to deal with the local enemies before you can move on. This is extremely dangerous only for you, since the Prisoner/Hostage cannot die, and no, you cannot use him for cover.
You would think that Bain would get you some top-notch equipment for this Heist, but noooo! Stupid Drill…
Lastly, there is a handful of “recovery” tasks. These involve, for example, stuffing money into bags. In some cases you might have to pick up objects and carry them to another portion of the map. During No Mercy, for example, you have to take Blood Samples from a patient, carry them to a Blood Tester, and if they are positive, take them to a special storage spot. These are not difficult in themselves, and in a lot of cases an organised team can complete these objectives without any problem, because more than one player will be able to complete them. These objectives will never be deliberately hard, and in no case will there be (for example) more than four items to carry at a time. The only exception is No Mercy, because you will need to test multiple blood samples, and need only two good ones to complete the objective.
During a heist you will end up facing Police Assaults. These involve numerous SWAT and sometimes Special Units searching for you and your team, trying to take you out. Fighting in the open is usually suicide during an Assault, because you will most certainly be outgunned. If Bain warned you an Assault is coming you should find cover and prepare yourself. On most maps the Police can only approach you from a number of directions, so if you know the map, you know what to expect. Some Special Units, especially Cloakers, will use alternative routes in order to reach you. Pay attention to ventilation shafts! After you kill enough enemies the Assault will stop, but the game might send in a few smaller and weaker hostage rescue squads between assaults.
Your objectives are sorted, your heist has started, what else do you need to know? Depending on the Heist it might be useful to get hostages. Hostages are only really useful during a Hostage Trade (more on this later), but in some cases certain objective targets will also be used as hostages (this means you need a wire to “capture” them). Civilians who are not bound, or who roam about, could call for help, press an alarm button, or escape, leaving you with less potential hostages.
A single Cloaker took out three of my AI companions before I could come and save them (I freed one, and one ended up in Custody, with the third still cuffed). These guys mean business, and you should too.
When your team mate has been taken out after some time the Police will agree to trade him for a hostage. A hostage will become highlighted, and by holding F next to him the team mate will teleport in place of the hostage. When is a player caught by the police? Firstly, he can be “killed”. If a player is down on the ground and not revived he will be taken into custody. This also applies if a character was tased, by either a Taser or Cloaker. In some few cases a character can be handcuffed by any police officer. After a period of time the player can be traded (you will be notified by Bain when that happens).
If you lack civilian hostages you can take Law Enforcers, Security Guards and Mercenaries hostage. This is not easy however. In order for either one of these to surrender you must wound them first, and make sure there is nobody else in the area. So, if you are facing a lone Security Guard you can try shooting him with your weakest weapon (like the silenced pistol) or hitting him with your gun, then spamming F to see if he gives up. If a Law Enforcer or Security Guard gives up they will then handcuff themselves, saving you the need for wires. Just make sure you tell them to! If you forget to do so they might flee, or attack again. Take note, tougher enemies will be very difficult to persuade to surrender. None of the Special Enemies will ever surrender, neither will Gangsters.
Hostage trade in action. Without hostages I would have to wait a couple more minutes for my companion to be released. Be careful with your “goods” though. The Police will send in rescue squads to get them out.
Some maps will have Cameras, and taking them out is a Medium to High priority on your list, unlike Hostages who are purely optional. When the police are aware of your presence Security Cameras give them the heads-up of where you are located. If you manage to clear out all the Security Cameras on a level the enemy will send smaller groups of officers around the map, trying to find you. This puts much less pressure on you, and gives you time to rest and prepare for any Special Units.
Special Units are often your bane. They come in four forms, but each one of them is dangerous, in its own special way. Shields are just that. Armed and armored SWAT with an impressive metal shield, that will not let through any bullets. In tight corridors this is a real problem, but Trip Mines and explosives can take them out easily. Of course, if you can, flank them. One team mate forcing the shield to fire at him gives another player a chance to kill the Shield. There are Tasers, who are extremely dangerous if you meet them alone. Aside from their armor and gun they can also tase you at a short distance. If you are tased you will be unable to move, but you can try to fire at the Taser. If you fail to take out the Taser you will be knocked out, and if none of your team mates revives you, you will end up in custody.
Bulldozers are the stuff of nightmares, especially if you lack the gear to quickly dispatch them. Alone they might not be a problem, but with a group of other Special or ordinary cops they pose a very real threat.
Cloakers do not have much armor, but they are incredibly agile, quick and deadly. A Cloaker can take you out with a single punch, meaning that in a 1 vs 1 you have to make sure he does not come too close, which is difficult because they run far quicker than any of the other officers. The Bulldozer is the PAYDAY: The Heist’s “Tank”. His only weakness is his face shield, which can be broken with a few accurate shots, exposing his head. If you are unfortunate enough to be within range of the Bulldozer’s gun you will lose both armor and health very quickly. Any Bulldozer should be taken out as quickly as possible from a distance. This is not always easy, but with an M308 you can take them out mildly efficiently. Trip Mines will also take out a Bulldozer, with some luck. It’s hard making sure that the Bulldozer lands on the explosive however.
Any killed Law Enforcer, Security Guard, Merc or Criminal will drop a tiny amount of ammo for some of your guns. If you are short on rounds search around for small piles of ammo that each “corpse” drops. A captured law enforcer will also drop his ammo for you to pick up. The only quick way to get back all of your Ammo is to use an Ammo Bag, or to Level up (you restock fully then).
The smell of victory is in the air! As long as you manage to reach the extraction, with those cash-filled bags.
This short guide will hopefully help you in PAYDAY: The Heist. If you were looking to find out some details about the game before buying it, I hope you found enough to convince yourself to buy the game. There is a Demo available, so if you want to taste the life of a “criminal” L4D style, this is most certainly your place. The way you handle a Heist depends on your style, skill and cooperation with your team mates. As you are bound to find out, a poorly working team might seem chaotic, but an organised group will handle any Heist, without a hitch. If you want to find even more infor about the different classes, enemies, weapons, etc. head to the PAYDAY: The Heist Wiki, where absolutely everything is explained.
How To Unlock Artillery And Artillery Strikes In Fallout 4
. Plays, 26th September, 2015
. Plays May 6, 2012
Raids in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
9 Games That Need A Big Showing At Gamescom