In Payday 3, players have the option between going loud or quiet on their heists. Choosing the latter is one of the best choices for Payday 3 players, due to the unique objectives and the fun challenge that awaits those who try and remain undetected, and enter a Payday 3 heist without being spotted, allowing for heisters to leave with all the loot that they can carry without the police being any the wiser.

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To commit to the best stealth builds, players will need the best weapons for the job, and the best skills. With over 17 skill trees in Payday 3, players can carefully craft a stealth build that will help them to lockpick better, take care of guards in a flash, and run around like a ghost, regardless of whether they have an assault rifle or not.

8 Strategist (ACED)

BASIC – You can mark 1 additional target. Your marks last 20% longer.

ACED – You can mark 1 additional target. Your marks last 20% longer.

By using their aced point in Payday 3 on the Strategist skill, players will be able to mark 3 targets. This means that players can effectively navigate through private and secured areas, avoiding guards, cameras, and civilians due to the fact that they will have a red outline on their targets, ensuring that they can see these targets through walls.

With a total of 3 targets and a 40% longer mark time, players will be able to keep their team aware of things that could cause them to fail stealthily. This is definitely a must-have for a stealth build, as tagging enemies is a classic move that Payday 2 players might miss.

7 Grifter

BASIC – As long as you are masked off, if you are within 1 meter of a civilian or employee, gain RUSH.

ACED – When you mask on, any civilian and employees within 10 meters that can see you will become intimidated.

With the Grifter skill, players will gain RUSH, which will increase their total movement speed. The Grifter skill also allows players to have a better time during their commitment to Casing Mode, which allows players to glide past civilians and employees.

With the Aced version of this skill, players can put on their clown masks to intimidate civilians and employees without the need to shout at them or shoot at them, allowing them to be intimidated and get to the floor.

6 Walk The Walk

As long as you’re unmasked and have RUSH, cameras can’t detect you trespassing in private areas. (They will still detect you performing an illegal action.)

Walk the Walk Grifter skill, and is definitely the best in this skill tree thanks to the fact that it provides players with additional RUSH to increase their movement speed. Walk the Walk resumes the benefits of Casing Mode, as players can gain RUSH from being near civilians and employees, and also use said RUSH to avoid detection from cameras.

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Cameras will detect players that are trespassing in private areas, so the fact that this perk can stop every sin is a grand entry indeed, although players should be careful from the fact that they can still see players commit illegal actions.

5 Open Mic

You answer radios 50% faster.

As the fourth skill in the Grifter tree, Open Mic is a brilliant choice for players who are committed to stealth. When players take out a guard, they’re going to set off a pager, and players will be forced to answer their radio to confirm that everything is alright. Depending on the difficulty, depends on the amount of times players can use the guard’s radio before things go south.

In payday 3, players can carry guards after they have killed them, but they are forced to stand still whilst answering their radio. During this time, players are risking getting caught, which is why the fact that they can answer the radio 50% faster is a great benefit.

4 Infiltrator (ACED)

BASIC – Whenever you successfully pick a lock, or kill an enemy with a throwing knife, gain or refresh RUSH.

ACED – Whenever a guard begins to detect you, gain RUSH.

Infiltrator is arguably one of the best skill trees to start with when it comes to Stealth. Players should definitely use it if they want a smoother stealth playthrough, due to the fact that they can gain RUSH when they pick a lock or use a throwing knife.

To make Infiltrator better, players should aim to get this skill aced. This will allow players to gain even more RUSH when a guard begins to detect them, and with all that sneaking in secure areas, it’s inevitable that the detection meter will begin to fill.

3 Quick Fingers

As long as you have RUSH, a successful lockpick jiggle will immediately pick the lock.

Following the Infiltrator skill is Quick Fingers, a skill that allows players to immediately pick the lock of their chosen lockpick destination, only if they have RUSH. Since the previous perk allows for players to gain RUSH from lockpicks, this means that players can basically instantly unlock anything on the 2nd attempt and beyond.

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Players should use Quick Fingers to quickly get through doors and safes, and it’s great for the heists that require plenty of lockpicking, as guards won’t have time to register that players just stole something, as they would have done so instantly.

2 Hacker

BASIC – You can hack cameras to gain access to the area’s CCTV system. This functions as though you had accessed the heist’s security room. You gain one Runtime.

ACED – You can overload a device that already has an active Runtime. This will cause an electrical explosion that will stun anyone within range and destroy the device. You gain one additional Runtime.

Claiming Runtime is a great way to start the Hacker tree, as it will come in handy as players progress through this line. The fact that players can also gain access to the CCTV without the need of the security room and its keycard means players will always have someone watching out for them, and won't have to resort to blasting through people with a shotgun.

1 Secure Loop

You can use one Runtime to make the security camera you’re controlling loop its footage. Cameras looping their footage cannot detect you or anything out of the ordinary. If the camera is destroyed, you regain your Runtime use. If you apply a new Runtime when you’re at max Runtimes, your oldest active one is removed.

With this skill activated, players will have the second Hacker skill which will allow them to loop cameras, a feature commonly seen in the previous games before Payday 3. Looping cameras ensure that players can commit to some illegal activities without having to destroy the cameras or get around them.

Payday 3

Platform(s)

PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

September 21, 2023

Developer(s)

Overkill Software