Bay1k's OnlyBuilds (Final)

DSOD Builds Available for All
(Mostly) Optimized and Generic

The guide will remain up to date from now on...

Since Payday 2's development in its last leg, the guide will no longer need active maintenance. Such a shame Starbreeze ♥♥♥♥ the game's matchmaking as a final ♥♥♥♥ you to the community. It was such a journey folks, shame how the game is borked by incompetent developers more than it already was. I have forgiven Starbreeze for crimefest 2015, their line of incompetent designers and other controversies, but I will never forgive them for u237. Stay safe folks, the guide will remain here till the end of times.

♥♥♥♥ you Starbreeze... You didn't deserved this passionate community.

Introduction

DISCLAIMER; If a build, image or anything in between doesn't load, refresh the page.

Death Sentence Builds. Yay.

Weapons I will be showing off will look different on your game because of mods. So don't pay attention on how the gun looks rather the modifications listed.

You can copy these builds, iterate on them or do whatever. Not like any of these will matter since the builds are as generic as they can get.

Each build has an entire explanation part filled with tips. MAKE SURE TO READ THOSE.

The goal of this guide is to be as comprehensive as possible for all manners of playstyles I personally find it effective. Not reading the explanation parts of the builds means you will be missing out on information that you can employ on your own in the future.

BEFORE WE START

Please don't ask stuff like "Can i use this gun instead of this?" Or "Can i mod my gun differently?"
These builds are just the ones i personally use. You do your stuff.

Alternative weapons i offer in this guide isn't stuff like "here is a high damage smg that you can also use instead of the high damage smg that i am using". Alternate weapons i offer with these builds require a change in playstyle within the same build.

Lets give some examples for what i mean by that.

• You can use tatonka instead of uzi. NO. They are both high damage SMGs so what you use don't matter.
  
• You can use compact 40mm instead of 5/7. YES. Grenade Launcher functions differently than a AP pistol.

Don't ask me stuff like "Can i use 5/7 instead of angry tiger?" Just don't. You know the answer and i know the answer. Unless you are a new player, in which case, feel free to ask anything that confuses you.

Weapon Sections of each guide is a GIF so just wait for the next frame to pop-up for the next modification on each gun. The list of modifications used are also at the bottom of the each weapon GIF.

The guide will get updated with each PAYDAY 2 update or DLC that adds something.

Quick Tips for DSOD Loud

• Don't get frustrated.
  
  
• Going down isn't a sin. It happens, move on.
  
  
• Take cover.
  
  
• Know your limits. You can't push 20 enemies at once, but you can probably push 6 of them at once.
  
  
• Don't blame the game, your teammates or anything else. Have fun with what you do.
  
  
• Think twice about using a build if it doesn't fit the team composition. Variety of deployables, armor types and different utilities, depending on the map and the team, is the best way to approach a heist. If everyone is using hacker and first aid kits, maybe bring ICTV armorer with doctor bags. If map doesn't allow movement, maybe bring ammo bags for the team so they don't die trying to grab some. I will go into more detail on individual builds and when i get to them. (I probably should make a video about this)

Practical Advice from Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXqrIVOoFgg&list=PL9AsBv77Q2htHG6aa5JyoPMH21a8SN4-a

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrVHRF8MfYc

Legend

PK = The build has painkillers with inspire aced
QF = The build has quick fix with inspire aced; be more cautious when reviving
PKB = The build has painkillers with basic inspire
QFB = The build has quick fix with basic inspire

9N = The build has nine lives

Aggressive = Build is designed around constantly clearing areas with high mobility
Defensive = Build is more suited to holding areas and angles
Versatile = Build can be both aggressive and defensive
Reckless = Your positioning barely matters. Hyper aggressive.
Support = Build is meant to speed up objectives

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Armorer CTV 9N

High Burst damage, crits, zerk and heavy armor in a convenient package

Skills

Colored according to NotYourAvStalin's feedback
,
Full preview

Zerk Method; Get shot by a light zeal/shield/street cops with glocks and mp5s

Weapons

Primary

Barrel; Short Barrel / Boost; Concealment

Secondary

Boost; Concealment / Gadget; Medved R4 Laser Sight / Grip; Overmold Grip

Explanation

CTV is a rare choice when it comes to armors. The combination of iron man basic, frenzy aced and armorer lets you retain the two-shot armor. Unlike ICTV, CTV has 13 concealment to work with. So a combination of weapons that reach 60 concealment combined, you can get the full benefit from low blow.

Weapons in this build are capable of high bursts of damage, which is capable of killing anything and even bodyshotting groups when you need it. The damage output of pistols are beyond this world thanks to trigger happy, but this build also uses zerk and crits, which makes the damage output not only high, but also convenient. If you need to kill anything, you can kill it without much fuss.

This build is capable of sweeping areas of cops when pushing, thanks to the immense burst damage. When you need to defend an area, or when you find yourself spawn-camping in areas where you can't grab ammo from your fallen foes, the ammo bags come into play.

You carry two basic ammo bags for you, and your team. Drop them at positions where you and your team need to hold-out. While the combination of parebellums and kahn is ammo efficient if you want to preserve ammo, ammo bags are a nice "i don't want to risk mine and my teams life to grab ammo that is out in the open" option. Considering how cheap the two basic ammo bags are to get (points wise), it is the perfect deployable to bring on a point heavy build like this.

The ammo efficient, all-range weapons, combined with two shot armor and constant crits, all backed up by ammo bags gives this build the ability switch between pushing into high traffic areas to defending the said area, after you cleared it.

This build fits well into teams that prioritize healing items and light armors. You taking damage with your armor will help the team by longer fades, and you can provide ammo to your team and yourself whenever necessary.

Armorer KSP PK 9N

Big box of ammo and big iron

Skills

Full Preview

Zerk Method; Heavy Zeal shot to your health

Weapons

Primary Weapons

Barrel; Long Barrel / Barrel Ext; The Bigger The Better / Bipod; Lion Bipod / Boost; Stability / Gadget; LED Combo / Stock; Solid Stock

Barrel Ext; KS12-S Long Silencer / Boost; Accuracy / Foregrip; JP36 Long Foregrip / Gadget; Stealth Laser Module / Magazine; Speed Pull Magazine / Secondary Sight; One of the magnifiers / Sight; Biometric Sight / Stock; Sniper Stock

Secondary Weapons

Barrel; Long Barrel / Boost; Accuracy / Gadget; Medved R4 Laser Sight / Grip; Wood Grip
Piercing utility for killing captain, killing dozers through walls. Can be used as a backup finisher if you run out of ammo on ksp.

Mod it for highest stats
Piercing utility for killing captain, great for faraway hiding medics, long range optics. Less flexible in a pitch compared to AP pistols.

Boost; Team Boost
Great for spamming at chokes and hiding away. Better suited for close quarter maps where you might need to kill the captain as well.

Barrel Ext; The Bigger The Better Suppressor / Boost; Accuracy / Gadget; Stealth Laser Module / Magazine; Extended Magazine
Great for finishing off groups when you can't find time to reload. Lets you build ammo back up to your primary in the event you run dry. Use this if you don't need the utility from the other options.

Explanation

Typical Armorer build. Big gun, lots of tricks and big balls. KSP is the spiritual successor to car-4, flexible, powerful, easy to handle. Works in any situation. JP36 is no laughing matter either. This build is best utilized when going for headshots. Body Expertise basic is there to save ammo on shields and it improves the ttk in situations you have to force bodyshots in order to survive.

This build encourages a slower playstyle. A type of team anchor so to speak. Your gun is good, but it is not amazing. The slow reload on ksp can get you killed if you try to play too aggressively. The guns ammo pick-up is also good, but it can be hard to sustain it if you shoot every enemy you see (or if your team steals the ammo packs from you). This build shines on semi-close quarter maps where you aren't limited in your mobility options to grab ammo. The painkillers inspire, doctor bags and the two shot armor allowing longer fades, means the build is more support oriented than the pure DPS. You should play around your team and your team should play around you.

This build is a good supplement to DPS heavy teams that often pack ammo mags or high ammo pick-up weapons. In DPS heavy teams, you don't have to kill as much, allowing you to cover possible flank routes or contribute good damage on team pushes. It also has okay buldozer dps when your DPS player inevitably dies to said dozer. You can clean up their mess and get them back up with inspire. If you are using this build, you are the mom of the team. It is important to help out your DPS players when they can't push back eveything on a lane, take damage to your armor for longer fades and keep track of your teams positioning and well-being all the time.

Support aspect of the build extends to your secondary options. AP pistols provide you a way to deal with captain winters without having to rely on janky client-side explosives and they let you deal with dozers and snipers, even through walls. If you need more range on open maps, to deal with enemies that are too far away to deal with your ksp, bring pronghorn. Pronghorn has perfect accuracy and it can one shot everything besides a dozer (with zerk). So if you need to get rid of troublesome enemies that spawn too far away, such as captain on some maps, snipers on some maps and medics that tends to hide in a bush somewhere, pronghorn is the answer. It is less flexible than AP pistols cause it is a bolt-action rifle, but it is much stronger if the range is your primary concern.

Grenade launchers choices offer convenient ways to deal with crowds. Compact 40mm lets you shoot into a crowd and imminently hide away, reload and do the same. It's trash killing power is really good, considering it costs no points to make it work. It works amazingly well on chocky maps where you don't have to consider guarding multiple spawn points.

If you don't need any of these utilities, just grab the smg. Smg lets you be more liberal with your primary ammo since you have essentially, another primary. You can swap to it to build your ammo for primary back up or finish of enemies that your primary couldn't. Or when reloading ksp will take too long and you need reliable damage at the moment. It increases your flexibility when it comes to directly dealing with the horde and it is a good pick on teams that just doesn't like to use their mouse 1. If you want things done, sometimes you just gotta do it yourself.

The secondary weapon of choice depends on the team composition and the map. As an example; if you are playing hotline miami day 1 and no one brought a sniper for captain that spawns, you can bring your own sniper to get rid of that threat from range. Pick and choose what will suit the best for that team composition to maximize efficiency.

The primary weapon choice is personal preference. Both jp36 and ksp works fine. They have similar ammo economy, but jp36 reloads faster at the cost of DPS. And yes jp36 is basically an ksp sidegrade. In fact, if you look hard enough, you will find every automatic weapons to be an ksp sidegrade.

Armorer Snip 9N

No Deployables :pleading_face:

Skills

Full Preview

Zerk Method; get slammed by a heavy zeal

Weapons

Primary Weapons

Mod it for highest stats
Close to long range monster

Mod it for highest stats
Consistent one taps

Secondary Weapon

Barrel Ext; The Bigger The Better / Boost; Accuracy / Gadget; Stealth Laser Module / Stock; War-Torn Stock / Receiver; 80-ies Calling
You kill dozers that you can't wall-bang with this

Explanation

Kill everything

And everyone

Without mercy

It is a sniper build with two shot armor for fades. Since snipers don't have problems with ammo (as long as you pick up like 10 packs per assault) you never run out of ammo with either of the primaries. So holding defensive positions is more then feasible even tho you don't have ammo bags.

You only need handful of shots to clear and area so you can also play aggressively with this build. You can also hold close to long range angles with it. It all thanks to the poor sniper rifle balancing.

Sniper rifles are like shotguns, that can penetrate walls and shields, all range and overall better ammo economy. They also have better single target capabilities at every range. Whatever you can't one tap, you can just wall-bang. Whatever you wall-bang will result of the death of everyone around your target.

Ammo economies of your guns are cracked. This is my go to build for heat street and i have yet to run out of ammo in a heist like that.

Fits into any team composition that has a single medic bag player.

You think i am exaggerating but no lol. I have used this build on nearly every map with both primary options. This is my go-to build for armorer when i don't trust the other players in my lobby to contribute. I can also see people looking in disgust, simply because of lebensauger. I used leben (occasionally) before it got buffed to hell and i don't think i should just not use a gun just because it is unbalanced. It is not like other snipers are any better balance wise.

You have two primary options for this, Leben for the RoF and R700 for one taps. I use box buddy sight on R700 for long range maps and close to medium magnified sights for leben for a blend of both. Jackets Piece will help you against close range dozers that you can't wall-bang.

This build doesn't have an aced deployable, but this actually gives you further flexibility. If the map has locked doors, bring tripmines, if the map is defensive bring ammo or ECMs. Do you want to throw 30 flashes? Bring the ordinance bag that should have been a free addition but greedkill can't find a better way to monetize stuff anymore.

CopyCat Generic

CopyCat dodge is actually hacker sidegrade

Skills

Deck Config

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapons

Barrel Ext; The Bigger The Better / Bipod; Lion Bipod / Boost; Stability / Gadget; LED Combo / Stock; Plastic Stock

Secondary Weapons

Barrel; TIN Treated Barrel / Barrel Ext; Jungle Ninja Suppressor / Boost; Accuracy / Gadget; Medved R4 Laser Sight / Magazine; Extended Magazine / Sight; Pistol Red Dot Sight
Anti-shield, Wall-bang dozers, Kill captain, Kill snipers

Modding is Optional
Anti-shiled, Anti-sniper, Strip dozer faceplates, Use it when hosting your own game so client-side explosive jank can't effect you.

Explanation

Copycat full dodge, much like its cousin hacker, is mostly geared towards aggressive play. You clear rooms with this deck, not hold angles.

Dodge lets you be more liberal with your choice of cover. Coupled with first aid kits and two jokers, you got yourself a pretty safe roaming DPS build that can ping-pong between teammates that needs a little bit DPS to clear a section of the map. By using everything in your arsenal, you can clear corridors and rooms infested with cops. Dropping a first aid kit on your feet and charging 20 cops at once is a viable strategy. Don't be reckless with it though.

Playing aggressively doesn't mean charging out in the open, hoping everything dies from embarrassment before you inevitably meet your untimely demise. Keep in mind cover and map objects to block cops line of sights to prevent damage from angles you are not actively looking. Only things that can see and shoot you, should be the ones you are also seeing and shooting.

LMG has a bipod. I didn't mentioned this on armorer ksp build since your armor will get shredded before the bipod deploy animation is finished. You can still do some cheeky bipod deploys for a dozer or something but, armorer is pretty limited on how you can use the bipod.

With first aid kits, two jokers, CopyCat's less targeting and a silenced LMG, you can actually take advantage of the bipod more often than you think you can. You can quickly deploy the bipod on an opening to ram dozers with heavy damage or clear a particularly stubborn spawn group. The cover advice on the "Playing aggressively" paragraph applies to bipod usage as well.

Secondaries are your only anti-shield option, so you will find yourself swapping to them on a frequent basis. 5/7 can wall-bang and you should take advantage of that. This build can fight hard, but fighting smarter on targets that doesn't die under a second will up your life expectancy. In short, use 5/7 to wall-bang dozers without exposing your soft and squish body.

Arbiter trades the wall-banging ability for explosive utility and longer range. Killing snipers is much easier with this gun. You can also help out your team member that is getting harassed by a dozer in the distance by stripping its faceplates from a mile away. You can also strip the faceplates of dozers to aid yourself on takedowns on longer ranges. It is a versatile thing in its own right so, use it wisely.

I personally use 5/7 more than arbiter cause of client side jank with explosives. This is not an issue if you are hosting your own game.

This build fits in nicely on teams that already have two shot armor, medic bags and ammo. You can fill in gaps in your teams defense, clear areas that your teammates aren't looking and help them with objectives by utilizing your first aid kits. Just don't overextend to the point that you end up dying the in the middle of bum♥♥♥♥ nowhere.

CopyCat Ammo 9N

I am the defense

Skills

Deck Config

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapon

Barrel; Silenced Barrel / Boost; Concealment / Secondary Sight; 45 Degree Iron Sight

Secondary Weapon

Barrel Ext; Flash Hider / Boost; +3 Concealment / Grip; Ergo Wooden Grip / Slide; Pocket Suprise Barrel / Upper Receiver; Slimline Body

Explanation

You can put the 500 damage sniper and ammo bag combo to any deck and it will work. This build is mainly used as a type of ammo support build for your teammates. Desert fox can sustain itself for a while, so your ammo bag consumption stays low, allowing your teammates to nom the ammo bag alongside you.

This build is made for highly defensive maps (such as watchdogs day 1) where moving around the map, will get you killed. Assuming you have a teammate with two-shot armor for fades, and the team has no ammo bags to sustain a hold safely, this build is a no brainier. It also kills captains with little effort, deals with just about any threat at range.

Ammo bags often makes heists safer by letting your team regain ammo without exposing themselves. Let's imagine a situation; Biker heist day 1. You are holding out in the house to cover the mechanic. Cops are swarming outside, you kill them by dozens but you can't go outside to grab ammo. Ohh wow there is an ammo bag so you don't have to risk going outside to grab ammo you spent shooting. Thanks unnamed ammo bag player!

Situations like these happens constantly in payday 2. Most players just die trying to grab ammo after they spend their ammo on open maps or the maps that limits the rotation possibilities. Ammo bag prevents these death from occurring. Just drop these badboys in a place where your team holds and watch the world burn. If you ever wondered why you can't finish bomb:forest, this is the reason. You don't have ammo bags in a map that heavily punishes moving around.

Since relying on anyone on a team game such as payday 2 is a foreign concept to many players, you have to remind your team to use the ammo bags, like you use their doctor bags. People just assume that you brought bulletstorm max ammo bags for yourself as well, so you really have to remind people to use the goddarn bags. They can even take the bugged 60 second bulletstorm since desert fox aint exactly a bullet hose.

You are not a slouch when it comes to fighting with this build though. Don't get the wrong picture. You are using a 500 damage sniper rifle. This thing one taps every enemy besides a dozer. And it can deal heavy damage to dozers with crits and the innate damage ramp-up at range of the rifle. Btw after 30m, desert fox gets a 1.9 damage multiplier, doubling its damage. You can hold any angle with this gun, without much movement and ammo bag hogging. Bronco is just there to finish off dozers that somehow survives the wrath of the desert fox.

CopyCat Revenant PK 9N

"new" Pek dek

Skills

Deck Config

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapon

Modding is optional

Secondary Weapon

Highest stability then accuracy

Explanation

Love it or hate it, Payday 2 has been forced into this weird horde shooter over the course of its life cycle.

Grenade Launchers deals with hordes very efficiently.

You only need a grenade launcher to have a fighting chance.

Ohh noo....

Yes i unironically use this build. But the existence of this build gives me a chance to talk about how you should play revenant. The game is about to hit the end of its lifecycle, yet people still don't know how to play revenant.

Revenant gameplay is filled with DON'Ts. Lemme give you examples;

In the event you get shot to death and you are in swan song

• DON'T go out in the open like a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Run back to cover and limit your exposure.

You want to trigger messiah to get up

• DON'T just tickle the enemy with your gun. Kill with a single shot to prevent cop AI to incapacitate you.

You are moving around the map, looking for cops to kill

• DON'T stand out in the open. Use cover and move intelligently to limit your chances of dying.

It is a simple concept. YET, everyone who uses this tree plays with one hand behind their back. DON'T do that. Grab the grenade launcher and shoot cops, then hide away. Grenade launchers KILL. THEY KILL PRETTY WELL. USE EM.

There are few AI quirks you should know to maximize your effectiveness when playing revenant; so lets talk about those.

AI updates their targeting priority once every two seconds. If you are in swan song, you don't want to get targeted at the end of it. Cut your line of sight for two seconds so you don't get incapacitated during bleedout. Getting incapacitated means you can't trigger messiah.

AI targeting is altered on following conditions;

• If AI takes non-lethal damage, they will agroo to whomever shot them
  
• If AI hears a gunshot, they will agroo to the guns owner. SILENCERS mitigate this

And guess what? Grenade launchers are technically silent AND they also kill in one shot.

Just because you have revenant as a backup; doesn't mean you can be reckless. You only have two downs on DSOD before needing to head to a medic bag. You gotta make those downs count.

Revenant is most useful when used as a backup source of recovery for the team. The game is more than playable without weapon skills and clearing house with grenade launchers is more than feasible. You can use JAVELINS against dozers with exposed plates for a quick kill. And you can still bring silenced versatile weapons to build your ammo back up for your grenade launchers.

Revenant is only really useful on high dodge decks, such as rogue and hacker. Spoiler alert, hacker is much better at abusing revenant, since you can spend points into weapon skills instead of hostage taker. The reason why it is only really useful on dodge decks is something most people just glaze over; dodge works on bleedout period. Grace period is actually disabled during the bleedout period but dodging shots, still grants you invincibility frames, letting you potentially secure a kill for messiah instead of just, instant incapacitation.

You should try to stay alive as much as possible to spent your swan song and messiah during crucial moments. These skills are a resource and you should treat them as such. If the team is separated and the other group got ran over; spent your swan song to make your way there. As long as it is feasible to revive them that is. If they are 60 m away and there are billion cops in the way, DON'T rush in. You are gonna die the in middle of nowhere and make things worse.

You can also paint yourself as a giant target on team pushes. If you stand out in the open and get every cops attention by damaging them, they are gonna shoot you instead of your teammates, letting your team retaliate with firepower. That is a way to spend this resource. You can shoot free grenades during swan song to take out the captain winters. That is a way to spend this resource.

There are more situations where you can make things happen and make things easier for your team, but you really need to think about the ways you can help out. The two situations above is just few of these examples. As good as this tree is, the players that uses this tree, tends to be in the lower end of the skill-spectrum. Good situational awareness and game knowledge is key to using this tree in a way that actually helps out your team, instead of being a burden. That being said, i do find revenant gameplay kinda relaxing from time to time. Just the comfort of knowing that dying isn't a bitter end can help you focus on the game more. And as long as you contribute kills and help out with the objectives, no one will care what build you are using. So focus on working on these two things.

BTW don't bother reloading piglet since getting 10 kills with signature is enough to reload it. Thanks new perk deck!

You maybe asking "Why not use leech?" I dunno... I enjoy revenant and i still find people using it incorrectly and be a giant pain in the ass so i think bringing revenant in a 2023 guide is something that is worth my time. I hope...

Anar Saw PKB

First Proper Support Build

Skills

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapon

Barrel Ext; The Bigger The Better / Bipod; Lion Bipod / Boost; Stability / Gadget; LED Combo / Grip; AK Wood Grip / Stock; Classic Stock

Secondary Weapon

Boost; Total Ammo / Lower Receiver; Fast Motor / Magazine; Durable Blade

Explanation

The first proper support build in the guide. While there are more support build concepts such as buldozer killers, spotters and stunners, they are no longer relevant in the current balance of the game. Every competent build can bulldozers, whatever you spot you should kill and the high DPS on most guns means stunning is just a waste of time. This leaves us with the only support build that is relevant for assisting the team. SAW builds.

Saw has incredible power when it comes to objectives. You can often cut minutes, just by bringing one. You can drill doors of course, but every drill you have to put eats time. Longer the heist takes, more damage you have to endure and more likely you are gonna fail the heist. This is my go to build for maps like big bank, hotline miami day 2, goat sim day 2 and stealing xmas (I also bring tripmines for the possible VR headset rng). Nearly every good heist rewards you for bringing a saw with a massive time save and there are no reason why you shouldn't take advantage of it when you can.

Since you are down a secondary, the primary weapon of your choice should be able to pick up the slack. RPK has enough damage to 1-2 shot most enemies with just frenzy. While zerk methods exists for this build, i personally can't find the time for it in maps with objectives that benefit from saw usage, hence why i didn't share a zerk method. Getting higher zerk is only really relevant when fighting buldozers and even then, you still don't need more damage for those engagements. Slap inspire basic for revives and speed boosting the players in your team alongside two doctor bags, you get yourself a pretty good support build that can also kill when doing objectives is no longer the priority.

Anar Transport PK 9N

Transport

Transport

Transport

Transport

Transport

Dragon't Breath Ammo and Donald's Horizantal Leveller; Rest are preference

Transport

Boost; Total Ammo / Lower Receiver; Fast Motor / Magazine; Durable Blade

Transport

LBV because i don't feel like spending a minute getting a joker in a 5 minute heist for a two shot armor.

You rush transports with this. You need another person with full set of tripmines. Blow three of the trucks.

Saw the deposits and sit in a corner for 5 minutes.

Done.

You have no use for this build outside of transports. Tho if you are grinding for DSOD mask, you are gonna need this build for that reason alone.

Socio Util 9N

Support build with a sniper

Skills

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapon

Barrel; Suppressed Barrel / Boost; Total Ammo / Gadget; Stealth Lase Module / Grip; Rubber Grip / Sight; Box Buddy Sight

Secondary Weapon

Boost; Total Ammo / Lower Receiver; Fast Motor / Magazine; Durable Blade

Explanation

Saw builds have immense utility when it comes to objectives. However, forcing a saw with a sniper can lead to interesting problems such as inability to deal with dozers effectively. This build uses both melee and the highest damage sniper to circumvent that. Thanatos is a beast on its own that can kill pretty much anything you point at it. Ammo bags, fully loaded aced combo means you are ammo efficient while you are slamming anything with high damage in your peripheral vision. Fully loaded aced also allows you to get your throwables back, which pairs super nicely with viper throwables to give yourself some breathing room if you caught up reloading the thanatos. Build also has the new ordinance bag to refresh you and your teams throwables if need be, allowing superb defensive hold possibilities.

Since thanatos can just kill stuff without a fuss, you are free to use melee whatever you see fit. Don't hold back yourself, if you see an opening where you can get use out of melee for healing or killing a weak group; go for it.

This build is somewhat interchangeable with anar saw; but offers different utilities such as captain killing, area denial, panic and longer fades with two shot armor, instead of anarchists pure aggressive and reactive play style. Deployables are different too, so take that into consideration when you are bringing this build into a team composition.

Socio PK 9N

Armorer with health; Melee only deck

Skills

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapons

Long Barrel and Total Ammo Boost; Rest are preference

Secondary Weapon

Mod it for highest stats

Explanation

Defensive build. First aid kits are great at tightening a defensive hold. Drop them at places where your team is holding. Don't worry about running out of them for your personal use. Two shot armor, socio's armor gate and high panic chance on kill, will help you keep your health intact. Plus melee heals you so if you take a light shot, just commit homicide on some close range enemies.

Melee is great for killing dozers. Dozers spawn in pairs so you can kill one dozer with melee and kill the other with the smg. Melee is also good if you get cornered with no ammo in your magazine. You can start chopping at close range. Melee is powerful enough to be a third weapon in your arsenal. However i don't recommend rushing in with it. You have a gun, use that more. You can bait buldozers to close range to kill them with melee. Just shoot them and hide away. Bulldozer will try to pathfind to you which you can take advantage of it. You can press "e" on surprise flanking heavies to one shot them. It is a good tool but don't rely on it.

If the team has ammo bags, medic bags but are lacking two-shot armor, this build is a no brainier. Admittedly, a situation like that is rare. People bring first aid kits on lower tier armor builds and suit builds, ammo bags are rare to see and the situations where you can fit this build into your team will be few and far between.

KP Sniper QFB 9N

One tap, five kills

Skills

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapon

Military stock; rest are preference

Secondary Weapon

Mod it for highest stats

Explanation

6 seconds of effective invincibility, 255 sniper, crits and first aid kits. This is the type of build i use when i don't trust the team but feel confident in my positioning and aim to brute force the heist. This build is purpose build for maps and teams where you know you are alone with your efforts to finish a heist. Yes team composition is an important aspect of high level play, but not everyone i play in public lobbies is a high level player. Sometimes, you have to do everything by yourself.

Kingpin has amazing power when pushing objectives. It also has great offensive power for clearing out positions. It also has great potential for holding angles and positions. You can even abuse drama with the injector's "heal by taking damage" mechanic, if the situation presents itself. The true jack of all trades and master of everything. Fits into every team composition where at least one player brings doctor bags.

So when you pair the best gun in the game with a versatile deck like kingpin, you make a monstrosity that cares little about the difficulty of the game, should you choose to play intelligently. Unseen aced pretty much guarantees that dozers are easy pickings. Because of the unparalleled power of 255 snipers, nothing else can get close to you unless they spawn near you. At times this build feels like a loophole in the games balance, and lets face it; it pretty much is. If someone sees you in their lobby with a 255 sniper, they know you mean business.

The build isn't fool-proof however. It won't play itself. You need to hit your shots, time your injectors and be mindful of your positioning.

Hacker Dummy THICC PK 9N

Positioning? What's that?

Skills

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary

You will figure it out

Secondaries

AP pistol

Pocket Sniper

Grenades

SMG!

Explanation

Taking cover is for the weak. Why bother doing it when you can just run around and kill everything? Hacker makes positioning skill for higher difficulties, mostly pointless.

Those with a sharp eye or a good memory may draw parallels to the Armorer KSP when it comes to weapon choices. And you would be correct. North star is an AP pistol, Aran is pronghorn, GL is GL and SMG is and SMG. The roles and situational use for them are the same. While you don't have a reason to use aran g2 over pronghorn, i am committed to keep this guide with different weaponry, additionally china puff can deal critical hit damage with regular explosives so keep that in mind.

Hacker Ar2 QF 9N

Thinking man's hacker build

Skills

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapon

Boost; Accuracy / Secondary Sight; 45 Degree Ironsights / Sight; Speculator Sight

Secondary Weapon

Barrel Ext; The Bigger The Better / Boost; Accuracy / Custom; Auto Fire / Gadget; Compact Laser Module / Stock; Folded Stock
If you don't want to grind achievements necessary for the modifications, tatonka also fits to this build. The reason why i am suggesting an alternative on this one and not every single build is because there aren't many high damage SMGs that conceals well for this purpose.

Explanation

You can choose to be not brainless with an hacker build. While on the surface it is the same build as one above with less dps for no reason, in practice this build provides more than just W+M1 gameplay.

Weapon choice really matters in this build. Not only they are accurate, they also have really good ammo economy, allowing you to hold defensive positions if need be, while giving you the ability of aggression when it is necessary. It is hard to run out of ammo with this build, even when you are holding a very defensive position such as cook-off, watchdogs day 1 and so on, simply because you don't need to hog that many ammo drops to even out the ammo you spend holding a position.

While the first hacker sustains ammo by, shoving itself into the enemies face, this build doesn't need to do that. And your DPS is still good enough to take out most enemies with a handful of rounds.

Hacker Snip QF 9N

Only contractor build that is balanced

Skills

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapon

Barrel Ext; Contractor Silencer / Boost; Concealment / Grip; Titanium Skeleton Grip / Secondary Sight; 45 Degree Iron Sights / Sight; Speculator Sight / Stock; Folding Stock

Secondary Weapon

Barrel Ext; Maki Suppressor / Boost; Concealment / Gadget; Medved R4 Laser Sight / Stock; No Stock

Explanation

Basically hacker ar2 build but you can kill the captain. I know i am being short here but that is the extend of this builds capacity goes. Compared to ar2, it is less reactive but you can kill the captain. Also i used to use swedish k as a secondary but i kinda started to hate that gun so i swapped to micro uzi. Everything i said about ar2 applies here as well. They use different weapon classes but their purpose is the same with a slight difference in captain removal vs reactiveness of automatic weapons.

Hacker Ammo 9N

You used this build before; incorrectly

Skills

Full Preview

Weapons

Primary Weapon

Barrel; CQB Barrel / Barrel Ext; The Bigger The Better / Boost; Concealment / Custom; Auto Fire / Secondary Sight; 45 Degree Iron Sight / Sight; Compact Profile Sight / Stock; Fabulous Stock

Secondary Weapon

Barrel; Tin Treated Barrel / Standard Issue Suppressor / Boost; Concealment / Gadget; Medved R4 Laser Sight / Magazine; Extended Magazine

Explanation

I seen a fair share of players that gets frustrated by failure and bring a build like this(even tho mostly with akimbo SMGs) regardless of how open the map is, thinking the sheer power in their fingertips will win them the game. These types of builds are optimized for close range defensive situations where you don't move all around the map. You keep a single close range area that is important, clear of cops, with a build like this. Notable examples are the elevator area in big bank, panic room roof, main corridor at no mercy, right/left flank and inside the club house in biker day 1 etc. If a close range area needs to be kept clean in a map that doesn't allow good movement and rotation opportunities, you are better of using a sniper with ammo bags.

This build is made as a sidegrade to CopyCat Ammo build that is up top. CopyCat ammo holds open spaces and sidelines, while this build holds close range areas with multiple spawn points. Hacker is basically optimized for close range combat with 25m stun with a simple line of sight check. So the area you are keeping it clean, should be around that range.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Stealth Builds

You don't need a guide for how to stealth from me. There are bunch of tips and tricks videos for stealth on youtube.

Weapons included in this guide is interchangeable between the two builds.

Hacker Stealth

Standart. Bread and butter stealth build with every stealth trick up its sleeve.


Full Preview

Yakuza Stealth

For carrying bags


Full Preview


Zerk method for more speed

Weapons

Secondary Weapons

Ammo type; Flechette / Barrel Ext; Shh! / Boost; Concealment / Gadget; Military Laser Module

Barrel; Upshot Barrel / Barrel Ext; IPSC Compensator / Boost; Concealment / Gadget; Combine Module / Magazine; Stack S3 Magazine / Sight; Pistol Red Dot Sight

Barrel Ext; Medved R4 Suppressor / Boost; +3 Concealment / Gadget; Medved R4 Laser Sight / Lower Receiver; Striking Body Kit / Magazine; Striking Mag / Sight; SKOLD Reflex Micro Sight / Slide; Striking Slide
Paired with a primary saw

Primary Weapons

Barrel Ext; The Bigger The Better / Boost; Concealment / Foregrip; Appalachian Foregrip / Gadget; 45 Degree Iron Sight / Sight; Speculator Sight

Boost; Concealment / Lower Reciever; Silent Motor / Magazine; Sharp Blade

Boost; Concealment / Lower Reciever; Fast Motor / Magazine; Durable Blade
Used with stockholm syndrome for control maps

Graveyard

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2950103742

Changelog

Update 231; Guide Released

Update 232;

• Several builds that I no longer use, has been moved to their own category
  
• Updated Ctv Armorers car-4 with new modifications to squeeze slightly more damage
  
• Updated Ctv Armorers heather with new modifications to squeeze slightly more accuracy
  
• Updated Armorer KSPs jp36 with new modifications for more accuracy
  
• Updated Rogue Generics Commando 553 with new modifications for more accuracy
  
• Updated the weapon modification lists to separate gadgets from secondary sights
  
• Integrated commando 101 to Armorer shotgun build
  
• Updated the build names and added a legend section for abbreviations used
  
• Added Socio Util into the main builds list
  
• Moved some of the builds around for better organization
  
• Fixed the formatting error on KP Snip QFB intro picture
  
• Added CopyCat Revenant into the main builds list
  
• Moved the Explanation of Rogue Revenant to CopyCat Revenant

Update 234;

• Removed armorer shotgun cause of redundancy; Two-shot armor with ammo bags as well as AoE damage this build provides are already present on other armorer builds
  
• Changed something about armorer sniper; don't telling what it is though c:
  
• Removed the removed builds section; While i did put a lot of effort into the visuals, they are hogging the guide and causing loading issues. The guide is already full to bursting with builds, strategies that revolves around the said builds and how, and when to use them, you are not missing much from the ones that are fully gone, they are removed for a reason. They are either redundant cause some of the better builds already present in the guide, outclassed by other builds that are already present in the guide, or frustrating and hard to use for most people hence really isn't worth putting into a list that is intended to be a guide. What's left are unique to each other, don't directly outclass one another and likely gonna be the final form of the guide. (Unless starbreeze changes something)
  
• Updated the legend

Update 235;

• Updated CTV armorer with new weapons, skill tree changes and description
  
• Updated Armorer LMG build with a new smg, deleted basilisk since i don't want to advertise that broken son of a gun anymore and updated the description for it accordingly
  
• Armorer snip is changed cause not only it was boring to play, i also needed a build without aced deplyables to talk about deployable choices.
  
• Swapped Rogue with copycat full dodge; grouped all the copycat builds together.
  
• Deleted Two hacker Builds
  
• Hacker Ammo is changed to no longer feature akimbo smgs
  
• Added Hacker Dummy THICC
  
• Deleted unused visual assets to lighten the load of the guide, lemme know if something is missing
  
• Graveyard section is added

Update 235 oppies

• Put the zerk method for armorer sniper back
  
• Deleted commando 553 from copycat generic since after more experience with that build, i found out it really didn't offer much over ksp 58
  
• Fixed the description on some stuff

Upstate 236, 237 and 238 changes

• Nothing changed

• The guide is finalized

Credits

NotYourAvStalin; Formatting some parts of the guide while i was sleeping / Build optimization and advice

Uncle Geldgeil; Practical advice about structuring a steam guide.

[crazyboris]

when following the armor ctv build it looks like it has been made with 121 skill points. :shrug:

[Sky]

Why can u get top skill in a tree when only having basic and 2 aced? i need 3 aced to access top in tree.

[Bay1k]

it is a mod i forgot the name of

[crazyboris]

how did you get your lebesager to not have the bipod while having a skin? I can only get it to not show the bipod when I dont have a skin on it

[depricated]

well the issue is not on my end, sorry i couldn't help.

[Grant McDonald]

same is happening with the copycat ammo build with the enforcer, technician, ghost and the secondary weapon, why the hell are 90% (probably not accurate) of the pictures just not showing up even after I refresh?

[Grant McDonald]

It still dont load

[Bay1k]

i double checked the visuals back-end, let me know if it still doesn't load.

[Grant McDonald]

for some odd reason for the Hacker Ar2 QF 9N build even if I reset it the skills for mastermind and enforcer wont load in

[depricated]

any smg you want, it doesn't matter that much