In-Depth Skill Analysis

An in-depth guide and analysis of all the skill across all the trees and provides insight into various strategies that can be done with multiple skills. This guide also talks about mechanics that are related to skills in the various skill trees.

Foreword

This guide was written to help newcomers get a better understanding on the four skill trees in Payday 2, and the strengths and weaknesses of the skills in the trees. While this guide is one way of looking at the skills, this guide is not the only way skills should be done, as there is a large amount of variation, especially as the game changes and new content is introduced. The guide is simply that; a guide. Use this and your own judgment to form your own skill trees and ways of building to create a build that works for you.

If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to post them in the comments below; I'm sure there are some mistakes in this guide or you have a different opinion, and I'm happy to read any constructive comments.

Changelog

v0.2-04-26 - All Skill Tree sections are complete!
v0.1-04-26 - Ghost section is completed!

Mechanics

All the skills to be covered:

• Suppressing Fire
  
• Team Skills and Bonuses
  
• Weapon and Mod meanings

Silent Killer

I've created a spreadsheet that outlines the differences between using a proper barrel agaisnt having a silenced weapon and using Silent Killer (+15% bonus damage when using silenced weapons), and it can be found at Payday 2 Silent Killer Damage[docs.google.com]; I also only included the barrel extensions and not any other modifiers since it's unfair to compare weapons without these extra weapon mods to weapons which do.

There is only one weapon, and that is the Deagle when using a suppressor barrel (45 damage if you take the Aspesis Suppressor) will deal more damage with Silent Killer basic than using another barrel (such as Flash Hider which is 50 damage) by ONLY 1.75! For 4 skill points, you gain 1.75 damage on ONE of the 33 guns, which most likely won't make a difference since it will still take the same amount of shots to kill to a target!

Mastermind

The Mastermind is a manipulative leader who excels in situational control.

Tiers 1-2

Tier 1

Bonus: Increases your doctor bag interaction speed by 20%.
This works with any doctor bag (not just your own) which means you will benefit from any doctor bag on the map, and this will make it quicker to restore your health.

Cable Guy

• Basic (1 pt): You can cable tie hostages 75% faster.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Increases your supply of cable ties from 2 to 6.

This skill makes bank heists (including extra days in various other missions such as Day 3 on Firestarter) by giving you more cable ties to tie the civilians much faster (3x as fast) means you can spend more time getting to the important parts (especially if you're stealthing). Basic gives a very handy boost while the aced version would only be useful if you do these bank heists often (so you can use these extra cable ties). Towards the higher levels, it's much eaiser to just kill the civilans and move on rather than spending time to tie them up.

Combat Medic

• Basic (1 pt): After you have revived a crew member, you receive a 25% damage bonus for 10 seconds.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Reviving a crew member gives them 30% more health.

Very strong skill in if you decide to take Inspire later down the tree, as this gives your team a much stronger chance of surviving the harder difficulties if they go down a lot. Basic can be used quite a bit as you're going to normally revive someone that's in a bad position which means an extra 25% damage could help you out. Aced is also very useful as it stops them from going down quicker than normal, so this could be helpful if you want to keep your teammates alive.

Endurance

• Basic (1 pt): Increases your stamina by 100%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Increases stamina for you and your crew by 50%.

Out of the three skills in tier 1 this is probably the strongest of them all. Stamina is used for running and being able to run almost all the time is very strong, especially in heavy armor. Basic is the main part of this skill, while the Aced version is for teams, since it doesn't stack (meaning +150% stamina if you ace it, regardless of how many other people in your team have it), means you don't always have to ace this skill.

Tier 2

Bonus: Increases stamina for you and your crew by 15%.
Useful bonus, while not strong and won't stack if more than one crew member has it, but will stack with Endurance giving a total of +165% stamina which should be more than enough

Inside Man

• Basic (1 pt): Reduces the asset costs in the Job Overview menu by 50%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Unlocks special Inside Man assets in the Job Overview menu.

Useless skill end game when money becomes abundant, this can help on certain missions on higher difficulties where assets cost large amounts (100k+). Basic is a large bonus, and the Ace could provide extra information for the mission, but overall, you can skip this skill without worrying too much.

Fast Learner

• Basic (1 pt): You gain 15% more experience for finishing days and jobs.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your crew gains 30% more experience when you complete days and jobs. (Stacks with the basic skill).

This is the most important skill for any person who isn't level 100; it will save you a lot of time and hassle by giving you a total of +45% experience from each mission. You plan it well, taking a Stealth bonus and Boost, you can earn 750,000 or more experience in a mission. Basic will always be worth it when you're not 100, while Aced is only need by one person in the team.

Leadership

• Basic (1 pt): You and your crew's weapon stability with pistols is increased by 25%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): You and your crew's weapon stability with all weapons is increased by 50%.

The basic version of this skill is meh at best, and the Aced version isn't really that much, however, if you use this skill with LMGs, it does make a very large difference so you should consider taking this skill if you use LMGs frequently. If you want more information, there is an informative youtube video you can watch.

Tiers 3-4

Tier 3

Bonus: Increases your shout distance by 25%.
[?]Improves distance of your shouts, which means agaisnt civilians or using with Inspire so pretty helpful

Spotter

• Basic (1 pt): Special enemies marked by you take 15% additional damage.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Unlocks the Spotter asset in the Job Overview menu. During stealth the Spotter will highlight guards for you and your crew.

Both versions of this skill are pretty lacking in; mostly situational. The Basic version provides 15% more damage, which really isn't much since you have to be constantly spotting enemies, and that only works on special enemies. Aced is a little better, as the Spotter will save you the trouble of having another person on the camera, looking for guards. Very hand but only available in certain missions so not so reliable. While not the best skill, it's certainly not the worst. Take it if you feel like you will use it.

Equilibrium

• Basic (1 pt): Increases accuracy with pistols by 10% and decreases the time it takes to pull and put away pistols by 50%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Increases your rate of fire with pistols by 100%.

Basic's bonus is nearly negliable; you shouldn't only notice it if you're constantly switching between primary and pistol, and becomes useless if you take any non-pistol. I'd caution away from Acing this skill as pistol don't really need increased rate of fire since most of them fire as fast you can click, however if you could have some fun with the STRYK 18c but I wouldn't really recommend that.

Dominator

• Basic (1 pt): You can now intimidate non-special enemies. Less well trained enemies are easier to intimidate.
  
• Ace (3 pt): The power and range of your intimidation is increased by 50%.

This skill should only be taken by one person in a team, and should almost always be paired with it's parent skill, Joker. This skill lets you stop non-special enemies from attacking you, and along with Joker, will convert him to your side. You need to make sure that you're converting people for this skill (and Joker) to be worth the points. It gives your team another meat shield and some extra damage in those harder missions.

Tier 4
Bonus: Increases health for you and your crew by 10%.
Extra health always helps out, so no complaints. It won't stack with multiple people having the same skill.

Stockholm Syndrome

• Basic (4 pt): Nearby civilians have a chance of reviving you if you interact with them.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Civilians reviving you have a chance of giving you ammunition.

This skill seems slightly weird, as it relies on you having a civilian nearby, and since it is a chance, can not be relied on. I doubt the chance for them to give you ammunition would be worth 8 points in this skill. Also, later on in the game, it's much easier to just shoot civilians rather than cable tying them down, so there's even less chance they could help you. I'd stay away from this skill if possible.

Combat Doctor

• Basic (4 pt): You can now place 2 doctor bags instead of just one.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Your doctor bags have 2 additional charges each.

Very helpful skill if you're going to take Doctor Bags very often, and this is probably one of the most powerful skills in Mastermind if used properly by the team. If you wait until your character has a black and white screen, and use the Doctor Bag, it will reset that counter, which means you could survive for a very long time since you get four times as much (2 bags with 4 charges each makes 8 charges in total, compared to just a normal bag with only 2 charges). Very helpful for support medics.

Joker

• Basic (4 pt): You can convert a non-special enemy to fight on your side. This cannot be done during stealth and the enemy must have surrendered in order for you to convert it.
  
• Ace (8 pt): The converted enemy gains 55% more health and deals 45% more damage.

This skill will only be worth if you take it along with Dominator, and you also use it often. Basic would be quite helpful, since it allows you to convert an enemy to help fight for you, and can also be used as a meat shield, while Ace would only really be useful on higher difficulties where enemies have higher health and damage, since it's percentage. Your call on Aced.

Tiers 5-6

Tier 5

Bonus: You convert enemies 65% faster.
This will make Joker and Dominator much more useful to you if you reach this tier; will save you a decent amount of time in a clutch situation.

Black Marketeer

• Basic (4 pt): Reduces the cost of all your purchases by 10%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Further reduces the cost of all your purchases by 20% and selling items is now 25% more lucrative.

This skill should be avoided at all costs; For 4-12 points, they could be put to much better use; Reductions in cost on purchases, such as buying weapons, isn't worth much when you will have spare money. Maybe for early levels you will be struggling for money but since this is so high up the tree, it doesn't make sense to take this skill when a few missions later you could have earnt all the money for the upgrades you wanted. Skip this.

Gunslinger

• Basic (4 pt): You reload pistols 50% faster.
  
• Ace (8 pt): You deal 50% additional damage with pistols.

The Aced version is stronger than the Basic; reloading pistols is helpful but isn't really needed, since you can hide behind something while you reload, since you want to defend yourself. As for the additional damage, it's a large amount of bonus damage on weapons such as the Deagle or Bronco and can turn them into [?]1HKO weapons (with proper mods). This skill should be strongly considered if you're going to getting Pistol Messiah in Tier 6 (since the synergy is so strong).

Kilmer

• Basic (4 pt): Increases your reload speed with assault rifles by 25%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Your weapon accuracy while moving with assault rifles is increased by 50%, and you can reload your weapons while sprinting.

Basic version of this will make a large amount of difference, if you take assault rifles very often; it helps keep your downtime to a minimum. Aced is a different story though; 8 points to be able to shoot better while running? While the running while reloading will be helpful, I doubt it is worth 8 points that could be put into better skills. Your call on Acing the skill.

Tier 6

Bonus: Increases your intimidation by 200% when you shout. Reduces the asset costs in the Job Overview by 50%.
This makes it easier for you to intimdate enemies if you have chosen to take Joker, and also helps keep civilians in check. Reduction in cost also says multiplicatively with Inside Man meaning 75% off all assets.

Control Freak

• Basic (4 pt): Noise created by you intimidates civilians.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Civilians remain intimidated 50% longer.

One of the more unique abilities in the game, this will make Bank Heist (including missions like Firestarter Day 3) will go much more smoothly, since a shot from your loud gun should get most civilians to the ground pretty quickly which is a very powerful skill. While it's recommended to get Basic if you need it, stay away from Aced; those 8 points can be replaced by firing your gun every 20 seconds, or tying (or killing) the civilians.

Pistol Messiah

• Basic (4 pt): When in bleedout, you are instantly revived if you kill an enemy with a pistol. You only have 1 charge, which can be replenished by getting out of custody.
  
• Ace (8 pt): You gain an additional 2 charges, which can be replenished by getting out of custody.

This skill only works with pistols and isn't replenished by medic bags and that's the only two downsides. This skill can save yourself on difficult missions when teammates are unable to get to you, and if used with Inspire Aced, means you can keep going and going for a long time. While this skill doesn't need to be Aced, Basic still provides that one extra 'life' that could be helpful for some people.

Inspire

• Basic (4 pt): You revive crew members 50% faster. Shouting at your teammates will increase their movement speed by 20% for 10 seconds.
  
• Ace (8 pt): There is a 75% chance that you can revive crew members at a distance by shouting at them.

Probably one of the most broken skills in the game, however the Basic and Aced version contradict each other; Basic requires you to interact with your team mates to get the benefit from, while Aced requires you to be at range. Aced can also be used through walls, up and down stairs and requires some tricky aiming to be used, as the game tends to highlight other less important things than reviving your teammates. Very very powerful skill when used properly.

Enforcer

The Enforcer is a violent criminal, usually employed by crime syndicates to execute jobs that no one else can.

Tiers 1-2

Tier 1

Bonus: Enemies are 10% more easily threatened by you.

Oppressor

• Basic (1 pt): Your weapons are 25% more effective at suppressing enemies.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your weapons are 50% more effective at suppressing enemies.

This skill is very helpful when you take a high threat weapon and utilise 'supressing fire' to assist your teammates; Refer to the Mechanics section for more information on suppressing enemies. Take this skill if you suppress often.

Bullet Storm

• Basic (1 pt): Directly after you deploy an ammo bag, you can fire your weapon for 5 seconds without depleting your ammunition.
  
• Ace (3 pt): You can fire 5 seconds longer without depleting your ammunition. (10 seconds total)

While more a gimmick, this skill can be devestating in a very few sitations, such as taking an auto-fire M308 or Mosconi 12G to a bulldozer; the guns won't lose ammo meaning you can just keep firing for up to 10 seconds (when aced). While this is only good if you take when you take ammo bags, so try and find other skills that can synergise with this if you do decide to take it ( Ammunition Specialist is a good choice).

Transporter

• Basic (1 pt): You move 50% faster when carrying bags.
  
• Ace (3 pt): You can throw bags 50% further.

One of the few skills that every player should have; almost all missions have some form of bag carrying and this makes those missions with high bags (8 weapons on Firestarter, Gold or Money from Bank Heists) much quicker and fluid. Aced also opens up the possibilty of moving bags through certains areas much faster, such as Framing Frame Day 2 or Watchdogs Day 1 where you can throw them through windows that are normally to high to reach.

Tier 2

Bonus: You gain 10% more health.

Die Hard

• Basic (1 pt): You can use your primary weapon in bleedout.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your armor recovers 15% faster.

Basic is pretty underwhelming skill by itself however, if you have a powerful primary weapon and you take Nerves of Steel from the Technician tree, you could be more useful while downed, but there are much better skills to use your point. Aced on the otherhand is a pretty strong skill for only 3 points; 15% armor faster will add up if you take any other armor improving skills (like Iron Man).

Underdog

• Basic (1 pt): When you are surrounded by three enemies or more, you receive a 15% damage bonus for 7 seconds.
  
• Ace (3 pt): When you are surrounded by three enemies or more, you receive 15% less damage from enemies for 7 seconds.

This is good skill if you're constantly surrounded by enemies, and some maps in this game are in small areas (such as Firestarter Day 2/3 or Bank Heist) so this skill should be up a large amount of the time, but in some other missions it will active much less. That being said, 15% damage reduction when you really need is a god-send when you have more armor increasing skills.

Pumping Iron

• Basic (1 pt): Your melee attacks against non-special enemies deal 50% more damage.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your melee attacks against special enemies deal 50% more damage.

Dangerous skill since it improves your Melee damage, but you'd have to be crazy to try and melee any special unit, especially in higher difficulties. Basic is situational at best while Aced is easily outmatched by a proper gun at range.

Tiers 3-4

Tier 3

Bonus: Enemies are 10% more easily threatened by you.

Shotgun Impact

• Basic (1 pt): Your weapon stability with shotguns is increased by 25%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): You deal 35% more damage with shotguns.

This skill is one of the strongest skills in the game for people who use shotguns; 35% damage and 25% stability for 4 points? Yes please. Anyone taking shotguns should highly consider this skill as it improves shotguns to the point it could one head shot kill enemies in Overkill.

Stun Resistance

• Basic (1 pt): Reduces the visual effect duration of flashbangs by 25%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Further reduces the visual effect duration by 50%.

Flashbangs can cause severe damage to a team since it doesn't affect enemies so while you're blinded they can be killing you; this skill helps you refocus quicker and is recommended if you feel like flashbangs are annoying. 4 points to help your quality of life in the game is well worth it, if you need to.

Tough Guy

• Basic (1 pt): Reduces your camera shake by 50% when you are damaged by enemy fire.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your bleedout health is increased by 25%.

While less useful than Stun Resistance, this skill can help keep your gun focused on the enemies and can overall improve your stability (since there is less camera shake). Bleedout health though is somewhat useful, as it still gives you a chance to kill some enemies before you get knocked down. This synergies well with Pistol Messiah in Mastermind since it gives you more time to get a kill with your pistol.

Tier 4

Bonus: You gain 10% more health. (Stacks with tier 2 bonus for 20% total health gain).

Shotgun CQB

• Basic (4 pt): Increases your shotgun reload speed by 50%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Increases your shotgun steel sight speed by 125%.

Basic makes reloading shotguns a breeze and can severely improve your overall DPS; more time shooting means more damage. While Basic is very strong, Aced is very underwhelming; 8 points for steel sight? That's really not worth it, since most shotguns are fired from the hip. If you take this along with other stability skills, it's possible to make shotguns have such a small spread, that you can headshot at medium distances. Only if you are doing that AND you use steel sight all the time, then you should ace.

Ammunition Specialist

• Basic (4 pt): You can now place 2 ammo bags instead of just one.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Each ammo bag contains additional 200% ammunition.

One of the best skills for anyone who wants to take ammo bags into battle; It gives you up to 4 times as much ammo, and that should be more than enough for most missions (except siege missions like Rats Day 1) to keep the entire team loaded for a little while. While taking Aced will give you four times as much ammunition, it is possible to take only Basic and use those 8 points for other skills (Thanks again to InterwebNinja for pointing that out).

Berserker

• Basic (4 pt): The lower your health, the more melee damage you do. When your health is below 25%, you will do up to 250% more melee and saw damage.
  
• Ace (8 pt): When your health is below 25%, you will do up to 100% more damage with ranged weapons.

One of skills where the Aced is better than the Basic; Increased melee damage isn't worth it since you will already be low health, and then you're going to melee something? That's just asking to be downed. While it is possible to synergies this with the Portable Saw (since you can open safety deposit boxes with only one click instead of two), it is still a gimmick and should only be taken if you really want to. As for Aced, you have to spend 12 points and you can get up to 2 times the damage, which should be easy to get in Death Wish (since when you revive, you start with low health) but it means you will have to waste 4 points for basic; Your call.

Tiers 5-6

Tier 5

Bonus: You do 5% more damage with all weapons.

Hard Boiled

• Basic (4 pt): Increases your shotgun weapon accuracy by 20% when firing from the hip.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Increases your weapon accuracy by 20% when firing from the hip with all weapons.

While shotguns accuracy from the hip is helpful, it's only one of the few weapons that can accurately be fired from the hip, as most other weapons should be shot through steel sight, unless you're just spraying and praying. Ace is just 8 points to waste, while Basic is situational; take if you need the accuracy.

Fully Loaded

• Basic (4 pt): You total ammo capacity is increased by 25%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Enemies drop 75% more ammunition.

Basic is a very useful skill as it means you're less reliant on ammo bags and ammo drops and also gives you the flexibility on firing since you have the extra bullets. Also synergies well with ammo bags since ammo bags restore based on your total ammo. Ace is not worth 8 points; it means you get 2 bullets instead of 1, but you should have plenty of ammo bags and extra ammunition so long as you aren't just wasting bullets.

Portable Saw

• Basic (4 pt): Unlocks the OVE9000 portable saw for you to use.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Increases your saw blade amount by 1.

Basic is one of the most useful weapons in the game; the Portable Saw can be used in many missions such as bank heists as well as escape missions (like Garage Escape) to access shortcuts. The only problem though is that it replaces your primary weapon, so you have to take a powerful secondary that you can rely on if you take the saw. While Ace increases the saw blade amount, it's not always needed; you should take your ammo bags and that should be enough ammo to fuel your saw in most bank heists and the 8 points can be put elsewhere. If you feel like you want the extra blade, take the ace.

Tier 6

Bonus: You gain 30% more health. (Stacks with other enforcer tier Bonuses for 50% total health gain.)

Overkill

• Basic (4 pt): When you kill an enemy using a shotgun or saw, you receive a 75% damage bonus for 5 seconds.
  
• Ace (8 pt): The damage bonus now applies to all weapons, but the effect must still be triggered with the shotgun or saw.

Half of this skill should never be used; killing with a saw. Using the saw as a melee weapon is such a bad idea, since you have to be in melee range and you will use up all the saw blade so quickly. Using a shotgun and getting the damage boost is pretty helpful since you can go on a rampage quite often (and if you take Shotgun Impact, you can be doing over 100% damage) so it's your choice. Ace is also more of a gimmick since it means you will have to switch back to your shotgun every few seconds so you're much better off just staying on your shotgun which means you can save your 8 points.

Iron Man

• Basic (4 pt): Unlocks the ability for you to wear the Improved Combined Tactical Vest.
  
• Ace (8 pt): When you melee Shield enemies, they get knocked back by the sheer force. Run and shoot – you can now shoot from the hip while sprinting.

Basic gives you the most powerful armor - Improved Combined Tactical Vest. This vest has the highest armor at 170 and also reduces your speed to a crawl. This is a good skill for people who just want to go gun heavy and shoot everything that moves; it gives your more time shooting since you're going to take less damage. Ace on the other hand is a dangerous skill; 8 points to be able to melee shield, which will certainly come in handy in a lot of missions since shields can single-handely ruin a mission, and the shoot from the hip is just icing on the cake. Your call if you ace it. Also, this skill also synergies extremely well with Bulletproof giving you a huge amount of armor so consider that if you're going into the technician tree.

Carbon Blade

• Basic (4 pt): You replace your saw blades with carbon blades, increasing your saw efficiency by 20%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Attacking enemies with the OVE9000 portable saw wears it down 50% less than before. Saws are 20% more effective.

This skill should almost always be avoided; Aced doesn't provide anything that can be justified for 8 points; less wear down when attacking enemies shouldn't happen since you shouldn't really be sawing people except for the occasional bulldozer, and the saw efficiency is about the rate the blades wear down and from some tests done, it will only save you about 2 ammo bag uses over the course of a opening a full bank heist vault. Stick with Ammunition Specialist and that should be more than enough.

Technician

The Technician is an expert in the practical application of criminal science, enjoying anything that goes BOOM!

Tiers 1-2

Tier 1

Bonus: Your cost of weapon and mask crafting is reduced by 10%.

Rifleman

• Basic (1 pt): Your snap to zoom 100% faster with assault rifles.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your weapon zoom level is increased by 25% with assault rifles.

Very noticable skill at basic as you can see the difference between the snap to zoom and it's just one of those Quality of Life skills that can just improve your overall gameplay. Ace is another story though, it can be more trouble than it's worth since it also shortens your field of view when zoomed in, so even though you can see further away, you can have trouble seeing what is left or right of you. Take it if you feel like you can handle it aced, but basic is a helpful skill for just one point.

Demolition Man

• Basic (1 pt): Adds 1 more trip mine to your inventory.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Decreases your trip mine deploy time by 20%.

Standard for trip mine specced characters, as an extra trip mine (and potentially shaped charge later) helps and the deploy time makes it faster to set up a trap in an area as you're moving along.

Nerves of Steel

• Basic (1 pt): You take 50% less damage while interacting with things. (Including reviving teammates).
  
• Ace (3 pt): You can now use steel sight while in bleedout.

One of the best skills in the game, as 50% damage reduction when you're interacting with anything; bags, reviving people, lock picking; you can not skip this skill as it is one of the best defensive skills in the game and only takes 2 skill points to reach! Aced is only worth taking if you either want to steel sight while knocked down or taking Pistol Messiah from Mastermind to help you activate that skill.

Tier 2

Bonus: Your weapon stability with all weapons is increased by 5%.

Sharpshooter

• Basic (1 pt): You are 20% more accurate with all single shot weapons.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your weapon stability is increased with all rifles by 25%.

Sharpshooter is a very helpful skill when properly used; the 20% accuracy works on all guns that use a single shot fire mode (so all pistols except STRYK 18c, all shotguns except IZHMA 12G, certain assault rifles and weapons with the Single Fire custom mod). Ace should only be taken if you take assault rifles and like to hold down the trigger a bit.

Combat Engineer

• Basic (1 pt): Allows you to turn trip mines on or off.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Upgrades your trip mines with a sensor mode. (Replaces the "off" mode).

The Basic skill can be used to create mines that you can detonate yourself byt shooting at them; this allows you to more accurately trigger when your mines explode, rather than having a weak FBI enemy trigger the mine and have it wasted, when you could explode when a special enemy is near it (Thanks to InterwebNinja for clarifying that), Ace can be helpful in certain missions as it gives you a 'beep' that lets you know when an enemy has walked past that. This can be help to let you know how many enemies are coming, but otherwise this skill is a filler and should be skipped if you don't want to/will rarely use that sensor mode.

Hardware Expert

• Basic (1 pt): You fix the drill 25% faster and you also deploy trip mines 20% faster.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Gives drill a 30% chance to autorestart when it breaks down. You also deploy the sentry gun 50% faster.

Baseline for the drill specced characters; drills being repaired faster and autorestart makes drill missions go along much smoother. Trip mines is also help if you like to use trip mines. Nothing wrong this skill so take it if you will use what it gives you, since pretty much any spec Technician should be able to use this skill since it improves all areas.

Tiers 3-4

Tier 3

Bonus: Your cost of weapon and mask crafting is reduced by 3%.

Sentry Gun

• Basic (1 pt): Unlocks the sentry gun for you to use.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your sentry gun gains 150% more health.

Sentry Guns are one of the strongest equipment in the game - when they are fully upgraded. This skill should only be taken if you plan on taking the other Sentry skills above it, otherwise there will be better equipment to take and it would be wasted.

Improved Crafting

• Basic (1 pt): Your cost of weapon crafting is reduced by 10%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your cost of mask crafting is reduced by 10%.

This skill is just a placeholder; Weapon crafting and Mask crafting isn't that expensive when you have lots of spare money, and 10% isn't that much; You only save $50k on a $500k mask craft; Put your points into better skills and go and do a Firestarter Overkill and earn enough money to get the crafting you need. Skip this!

Drill Sergeant

• Basic (1 pt): Increases your drill speed by 15%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Further increases your drill speed by 15%.

Very strong skill even for non-drill specced characters; 30% drill speed when Aced will help on missions where you need to use drills, such as Transport mission. They also work on the Thermal Drill in Bank Heists so even more reason to take this skill.

Tier 4

Bonus: Increases your headshot damage by 25%.

Sentry Targeting Package

• Basic (4 pt): Your sentry gun accuracy is improved by 100%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Your sentry gun rotational speed is increased by 150%.

Take this if you're going for Sentry Guns; extra accuracy and rotational speed means the sentry gun becomes a god at tracking and killing enemies around it.

Blast Radius

• Basic (4 pt): The radius of trip mine explosions are increased by 25%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): The radius is further increased by 50%.

While this skill may help, it should only be taken by C4 specced characters, else the points could be better spent in other skills. Increased radius means that the one C4 can potentially kill more people if enough enemies are grouped together. Take if you feel like you will need the radius.

Silent Drilling

• Basic (4 pt): Your drill makes 65% less noise. Civilians and guards are less likely to hear your drill and sound the alarm. (Reduces the sound radius to 9 meters).
  
• Ace (8 pt): Your drill is silent. Civilians and guards have to see the drill in order to sound the alarm.

Helpful skill since if you want to be silent (and most of the time you want to be) and this skill gives a very strong boost on Basic but it is almost sad that Ace is so weak. For an extra 8 points, you only get 35% more silence? That's terrible! 65% should be good enough for practically every mission, and if someone does hear it, they'd have to be close enough to see it anyway.

Tiers 5-6

Tier 5

Bonus: Your cost of weapon and mask crafting is reduced by 5%.

Sentry Combat Upgrade

• Basic (4 pt): Your sentry gun receives 50% extra ammunition.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Your sentry gun receives a protective shield.

Take this if you're going for Sentry guns. See the pattern? Extra ammunition is great since you can't give ammo to it, and the shield helps with keeping it alive.

Shaped Charge

• Basic (4 pt): Adds 3 more trip mines to your inventory.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Trip mines can now be converted to shaped charges, used to breach certain safes and doors.

This skill is really for Aced; Basic gives you extra trip mines, but Aced lets you open safes and doors and various other things, and this can save you from having to take a Saw (and loosing your primary weapon) while still being to place down trip mines normally incase you need them. Very powerful skill to have.

Shockproof

• Basic (4 pt): Taser shock attacks on you backfire, knocking back the Taser.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Interacting with an enemy Taser while he is electrocuting you will electrocute him, dealing 50% damage to his health.

This skill has a useful Basic but an almost useless Ace. The knockback from Basic only gives you about a second to escape, which most of the time should be enough if you're just going to run away. However, Ace doesn't feel worth 8 points since most of the time you can still shoot the Taser, or have a teammate skill the Taser for you. There will be a few times when you're out of ammo or your team is elsewhere, but that doesn't justify the extra 8 points. Your call.

Tier 6

Bonus: Your weapon stability with all weapons is increased by 5%. You gain 10% more armor. Reduces the armor recovery time for you and your crew by 10%.

Sentry Tower Defense

• Basic (4 pt): You can now place 2 sentry guns instead of just one.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Your sentry gun damage is increased by 300%.

Take this skill if you're going for Sentry guns. Hopefully you can see the pattern. This is by far the best skill for Sentry Gun specced characters and all of your skills will make your Sentry Sentries powerhouses; especially with an extra 300% damage bonus. Don't skip this if you are taking Sentry skills.

Mag Plus

• Basic (4 pt): Your weapon magazine capacity is increased by 5 rounds. (Except for the Bronco and Mosconi).
  
• Ace (8 pt): Further increases your weapon magazine capacity by 10 rounds. (Exclusions still apply).

This skill works for every gun except Bronco and Mosconi, but that doesn't mean this skills aren't good; The extra magazine capacity works on low magazine weapons (M308 and some shotguns are good example) and this will help you by saving you time on reloading, which works with Shockproof (since it means you have less chance of being on low ammo, so you don't have to ace it). Your choice if you want to ace it.

Bulletproof

• Basic (4 pt): Your armor can absorb 50% more damage.
  
• Ace (8 pt): The armor recovery rate of you and your crew is increased by 25%.

By far one of the best defensive skills in the game; 50% increased armor means you will survive much longer, but don't be fooled; it doesn't make you invincible. This skill has an amazing synergy with Iron Man, with the Improved Combined Tactical Vest which has 170 armor, this skill puts it at 255 (excluding other armor skills) so it is highly recommended to consider this if you are going into the Enforcer tree. Aced is also a huge team buff but isn't necessary; so take it if you think you'll need it.

Ghost

The Ghost is a stealth artist, capable of grand theft without force or violence.

Tiers 1-2

Tier 1

Bonus: Your chance to dodge bullets is increased by 5%.

Dead Presidents

• Basic (1 pt): Adds 10% value to loose cash that you pick up.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Further adds 20% value to loose cash that you pick up.

This skill make those loose items you pick up (single gold bars, necklaces, etc) to have more value (+30% when Aced). While this skill will be helpful on lower levels, it's effectiveness drops off when players have large amounts of money stockpiled. The other skills in this tier are much stronger overall, so it is recommended to use them.

Sprinter

• Basic (1 pt): The time before stamina regeneration starts is reduced by 25% and the regeneration of stamina is increased by 25%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your sprint speed is increased by 25% and you have 25% better chance to dodge enemy fire while moving.

Very powerful skill that can be used by most players, as this allowed them to sprint for a much longer time and more often. The Aced version also makes a very big different when moving bags when you can run with them, and it is very noticable.

Cat Burglar

• Basic (1 pt): You take 75% less damage from falling.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Your fall damage is reduced so that you only take armor damage from falling from non-fatal heights. Your custody time is reduced by 50%.

While the Aced version doesn't offer much for Overkill difficulties and above, the Basic version is almost a nessecity. This skill allows you to only take 5% damage from a fall that would normally take 20% of your health. This allows you to be a little more carefree when moving about, so it is highly recommended to at least basic this skill.

Tier 2

Bonus: The time between swapping weapons is reduced for you by 20%.

Fast Hands

• Basic (1 pt): You can pack and interact with loot bags 25% faster.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Further increases your pack and interaction speed with loot bags by 50%.

One of the most useful utility skills that every player should have; it allows you to pick up loot bags in under a second and makes a massive difference when hauling multiple bags. If you combine this skill with Transporter, you can move bags by picking them up and throwing them, rather than running with them.

Chameleon

• Basic (1 pt): In casing mode, your concealment is increased by 25%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): You are 15% less likely to be targeted when you are close to your crew members.

The extra concealment during casing means it takes a little longer for guards and cameras to detect you, and can make a difference in tight situations, and will help you if you want to take some less concealed weapons, incase things go bad. Acing it supposedly makes enemies target another person in our team, and while I've never seen enemy change targets from one person to another, it may be helpful for you (not for your teammates though).

Cleaner

• Basic (1 pt): You deal 5% more damage against special enemies. You can now buy a body bag asset which contains 3 body bags that can be shared with your crew.
  
• Ace (3 pt): 1 additional body bag is added to your inventory.

The Aced version of this skill is much stronger than the basic; a measly 5% damage on special enemies which overall will only save you a couple of bullets isn't really worth a point, but the Body Bag asset makes it almost worth it. With this asset and Aced, means you will have access to 5 body bags (starting with 2 and 3 more from the asset), allows you to bag 4 guards and 1 civilian, which helps is a lot of stealth mission. Recommended to only take this skill if you stealth missions a lot.

Tiers 3-4

Tier 3

Bonus: Your chance to dodge bullets is further increased by 10%.

Shinobi

• Basic (1 pt): Your walk speed is increased by 25% and your crouch speed is increased by 10%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Enemies make 95% less noise when shot or meleed to death.

Basic provides a massive boost to your overall speed, and is highly recommended; it allows you to get where you need to faster and that never hurts. Aced on the other hand, feels super situational; There won't be many times you will need to kill one person right next to another without alerting them, so it's recommended to keep this skill at basic.

Martial Arts

• Basic (1 pt): You are 50% more likely to knock down an enemy with a melee strike.
  
• Ace (3 pt): You take 50% less damage from melee attacks.

While this skill provides a good boost to melee, it's also a dangerous idea, since you have to be in melee range to get the use out of this skill, which is almost never a good idea; they will always deal more damage to you and more than likely they will kill you before you get a chance to knock them down. That being said, there might be a time when you need to melee something so this skill will help with that; and hopefully that thing you need to melee isn't a Bulldozer. Take this skill if you think you will use it.

SMG Specialist

• Basic (1 pt): Increases your reload speed of SMG weapons by 35%.
  
• Ace (3 pt): Increases your rate of fire with SMGs by 20%.

Basic skill is a god-send to SMG, as it will allow you to unload more bullets faster (since you will be reloaded faster), without any downside, however Ace means you will have more recoil (since you're firing faster), which will probably hurt you more than it will help. It's recommended to keep this skill to Basic unless you only use your SMG in close range and can control the recoil.

Tier 4

Bonus: You gain +5 concealment. When wearing armor, your movement speed is 15% less affected.
(Movement speed is actually 25% less affected.)

Nine Lives

• Basic (4 pt): You can go into bleedout 1 more time before going into custody.
  
• Ace (8 pt): When you go into bleedout, you have a 10% chance to get right back up.

This skill is really hit and miss; going into bleedout another time might end up being helpful, but if you're already been knocked down three times, means you're probably in a bit of trouble anyway. As for Ace, a 10% chance is really a joke; it means in one life you can have up to 40% of this skill working (10% times by 4 lives), which means every 2.5 games, which is pretty unreliable, for a cost of 12 points, this skill should be avoided and put into anything else.

ECM Specialist

• Basic (4 pt): You can now place 2 ECM jammers instead of just one.
  
• Ace (8 pt): The ECM jammer duration is increased by 25% and the ECM feedback duration lasts 25% longer. The ECM jammer now delays the pager response time as long as the jammer is active.

Probably the strongest skill in this tier; doubles the effectiveness of ECMs by giving another one! Ace then also improves them by making them longer, and then lets you jam pagers, which is basically a necessity for any stealth-ghost out there. Pick this skill up if you're going for ECM.

Silent Killer

• Basic (4 pt): You deal 15% more damage with all silenced weapons.
  
• Ace (8 pt): You deal 15% more damage and have a 15% chance to pierce enemy armor with silenced weapons.

A largely controversial skill, as people believe this skill means you can use silenced weapons in loud situations and they work better. This is not the case. This skill is used to make missions that were stealth and go loud to have an easier time, and that's all. You can not expect a silenced weapon with +15% damage to out damage a weapon with a proper barrel. Aced is also tricky while the 15% more damage would work with silenced and non-silenced weapons, the 15% chance to pierce enemy armor weapons only works with silenced weapons, but when you're using a silenced weapon and haven't been detected, you instantly kill whatever you shot! This means you won't need the extra damage or armor penetration. It's recommended to stay away from this skill unless you want to waste your 4-12 points on a skill that could be easily replaced with a solid barrel and mods. REFER TO Mechanics - Silent Killer for more indepth information!

Tiers 5-6

Tier 5

Bonus: The time between swapping weapons is reduced for you by 80%.

Lockpicking Expert

• Basic (4 pt): Increases your lockpicking interaction speed by 25%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): You can now silently crack safes by hand. Further increases your lockpicking interaction speed by 25%.

Very handy skill; opening doors or locks now go much quicker which help getting into and out of places much smoother. Basic is worth getting if you like to pick locks. Aced is only worth getting if you feel like you need to crack safes silently; otherwise the 8 points are better off spent elsewhere.

ECM Overdrive

• Basic (4 pt): Your ECM jammer duration is increased by 25%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Your ECM jammer can be used to open doors that require keycards.

This should be for any ECM Ghost, and that is all; increased duration always helps and if taken with ECM Specialist, means between the two ECMs you should get about a full minute of jamming power. Aced is also very useful to open mission doors (such as Firestarter Day 2) and can save your team a large amount of time and can be done quietly. Strongly consider acing this skill.

The Professional

• Basic (4 pt): Weapon stability with silenced weapons is increased by 50%.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Your accuracy with silenced weapons is increased by 50% and your snap to zoom is 100% faster.

Another skill which is a disappointment; Basic is useless; stability only affects recoil and since you should only use silenced weapons in stealth, and your shots instantly kill anyone that hasn't detected you, this stability isn't needed. Acing this skill would be helpful for the accuracy, but the snap to zoom isn't really worth 12 points to unlock. It's recommended to skip this skill if possible.

Tier 6

Bonus: Your chance of getting a higher quality item during a PAYDAY is increased by 10%. All your weapons have a 15% chance to pierce enemy armor.

Camera Loop

• Basic (4 pt): Interacting with a camera at close range will cause the camera to temporarily see a pre-recording for the next 10 seconds so you can sneak past it. Your crew can only loop 1 camera at a time.
  
• Ace (8 pt): Camera loop duration is increased by 10 seconds.
  
• (20 seconds total)

One of the most useful skills in the Ghost tree; being able to loop a camera means you can pass a camera, and not leave any evidence you were; Guards are attracted to damaged cameras and will alert the cops if they find a damaged camera. This removes that problem. Aced however is really a dangerous skill; another 8 points for an extra 10 seconds? This means a total of 20 seconds which is already too much for most things; Basic should be enough. Ace this only if feel like you need the extra 10 seconds.

ECM Feedback

• Basic (4 pt): You can now interact with ECM jammers to cause a feedback loop. When interacted, the ECM jammer has a 50%-100% chance to incapacitate enemies within 25 meters radius every 1.5 seconds. ECM feedback lasts 15-20 seconds.
  
• Ace (8 pt): You will now instantly interact with a ECM jammer and the ECM feedback duration is increased by 25%.

This skill is really personal preference; the ECM feedback does work and it can save your team in a pinch. However, it is a chance and some people don't understand that your ECM can be used offensively, and would rather you take an ammo bag or medic bag; it is your call. It's recommended to not Ace this skill since the feedback duration will only get increased by another 5 seconds to 25 seconds in maximum, you should have killed any target it has stunned in that time, and it's not worth spending 8 points so you can just interact instantly.

Moving Target

• Basic (4 pt): You can now sprint while strafing.
  
• Ace (8 pt): You can now sprint in any direction.

Never get this skill. This is a trap and this skill doesn't provide you with any useful power; running while strafing isn't needed when all you have to do is it use your mouse and aim where you want to go. If you really want to get this skill, you really have to use it every mission to get your 4-12 points out it.

[Smiley Magnus]

Thanks for this Guide, boss! ++

[dTTb]

"shotgunlaunching him into the small hallway with the printer; both will cause alerts to pop up on the other side of the wall"
Just had a round offline (so I'm the host) where it didn't occur, despite killing 3 in that hall; and I haven't gotten Shinobi yet.
So I think you might be on to something Katana.... would definitely need a fix if so.

[dTTb]

Another thing:
Lockpicking Expert (Aced) , it seems to me that it doesn't actually make you 25/50% faster at lockpicking, but instead simply detracts 25/50% from the time required!
(seeing how lockpicking deposit boxes without boosts takes 20s each, and only 10s when pro)

(20s per box means a 'speed' of 3 boxes per minute, and increasing that by 50% would make it 150% of 3 = 4.5 per min, meaning 13.3s per box which is not happening )

So in effect, Lockpicking (Aced) grants you a full 100% increase in lockpicking speed!
and Basic a 33% increase
(15s each is 4 per min instead of 3, so 133%; 10s each is 6/min vs 3/min, so 200%)

In other words , the skill cost is properly divided and you're not paying an extra 4 points for being able to crack safes as well; it's actually a free bonus. ;)

[dTTb]

Lately (forced Infamy respec) I've noticed that lacking Shinobi Aced means that I cannot be the one to down the camguard at Diamond Store, nor can I kill the guard that stands in front of the vault in the back at Bank by shotgunlaunching him into the small hallway with the printer; both will cause alerts to pop up on the other side of the wall (inside the store on Diamond, in the front main area at Bank).
So far it feels like I need Shinobi, badly.
Interesting remark on that KatanaTheOldePhart... haven't paid attention to who's hosting making a difference regarding the above finds.

And Inspire , bah. Whenever I've focussed on boosting heisters around me (or just boosting the farthest guy), it's always seemed like you had to be screaming at them from behind for it to actually Inspire instead of just shout 'come'. Or it spots a special instead.
Nice idea, not usable ime.

You might want to bold skills mentioned in others; ease of use.

[Katana]

@ADEPTadaptor: We just had a discussion about this elsewhere and I've got a video posted and... as far as we can tell, on certain places on certain maps (e.g. Diamond Store, sec room) it seems like the host can shoot guards at will. Guest players either need Shinobi aced or need somebody to track the guards inside to make sure they're far enough away.

I won't claim that this is definitive, but that's what we've found so far. YMMV.

[@QueenoftheFog]

I -would- love a Stun Gun that can paralyze a person, and if found, it's counted more as a distraction for a time (can be done 3~4 times, 5th would be instant-alarm).
Also ECMs that can have Cameras on them, to could watch areas that RNG-stupid cameras can't (it's annoying when you buy Camera Feed, and all Cameras are in useless places that do you no good).

I also would love a means of having two skill trees I could switch between, during missions, or prior to starting a heist. It gets annoying when I'm the Mastermind/Ghost of my crew, my buddy is a Technician/Enforcer, and our other pal who mains Enforcer, isn't around, and we need the extra tank due to going into a hot environment (like Watchdogs). I'd love to be able to switch from Mastermind/Ghost to a Mastermind/Enforcer for such missions/days. Of course, there'd have to be a catch, like paying a bit of Instant Cash out of pocket.

[@QueenoftheFog]

Quote Wartow: Shinobi aced is totally needed for stealth, I've tested with it and without and the sound of the body falling works trough walls and floors. For example killing a guard in the middle of the roof in bank heist make people under sound the alarm immediatly without the skill. Same goes in Big Oil day 1 when killing a guy at the bottom of the stairs going to the garage.

Wrong. It seems to be a glitch. I do Firestarter Overkill a lot (since my buddies and I haven't reached Death Wish just yet...damn this is an EXP grindfest), and I always take out the Guards either just outside the back/side door, and on the roof, sometimes just over where the Security office can be. Each time I've done, the Security room hasn't been alerted. But when a friend of mine does it, and he's Tech/Enforcer, they somehow detect a "dead body."

Note, I do not have Shinobi Aced. Just the Basic. And I stealth fine.

[cowbell]

Fully Loaded is a boon for large magazine weapons and ACE makes you self-sufficient. If everyone has trigger discipline, one person really only needs two regular bags and save those 8 points for something else.

[MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM]

Actually oppressor skill go along with dominator skill which have a whopping threat/ equation to high threat : Thanatos .50 CAL + Tank buster barrel + dominator + aced oppressor = over 400 threat

[DFuxa]

Excellent Guide Veraw. However, it seems you misunderstood the skill description for how Silent Killer works. Silent Killer only affects weapons with supressors on them, Aced or Basic. Aced Silent Killer does not affect other weapons. Refer to this video I made to see me demonstrate this fact (within the first 5 minutes).

Addtionally in case you didn't know, Chameleon recently got an update in the last patch, and can now let you spot cameras and guards while in casing mode. This is probably worth noting in your guide.

Cheers for he hard work.