5 Meta DSOD Assault Rifle Builds

*Changes have been made to the game and some of the builds might be slightly outdated. Everything here should still be effective though

Hello. I am a long-time Payday 2 player and have played lots of loud Death Sentence One Down games. These builds are directed at newer players that need a jumping off point for making strong carry builds. Assault Rifle builds are very simple to make and use. These are bread and butter builds that no experienced player should be surprised by. These builds are optimized for DSOD public lobbies and they can perform very well at any difficulty. If you have any questions or criticism, please leave a comment.

Note: If your detection risk is different than mine, check that you have the right melee weapon equipped. This guide was created after the Speed Pull Magazine nerf. This guide uses DLC including the Legacy Collection, Cartel Optics Mod Pack, Jui Feng Smuggler Pack 3, Mcshay Mod Pack. I Apologize if I missed any DLC I used.

Hacker Double AR w/ Painkillers Inspire

Hacker is overpowered. Use the pocket ECM device to stun enemies, heal and gain dodge. If you kill at least 1 enemy during the pocket ECM duration, you gain 20% extra dodge. Hacker has the highest dodge value in the game when this buff is active. Each kill reduces the cooldown of pocket ECM by 6 seconds. This build also has inspire aced to revive the noobs. And First Aid Kits with Uppers to prevent yourself from downing.

Weapons

AK17 Rifle
KS12-S Long Silencer, Accuracy Boost, Auto Fire, Stealth Laser Module, AK Rubber Grip, Speed Pull Magazine, 45 Degree Ironsights, Biometric Analyzer, Taktika Telescopic Stock









Heather Submachine Gun
The Bigger the Better Suppressor, Concealment Boost, Stealth Laser Module, Speed Pull Magazine, Unfolded Stock




Detection Risk (With Optical Illusions Aced):

Consider swapping the Heather Submachine Fun for a Mark 10 Submachine Gun.
Heather, Mark 10 and Para are usually interchangable

Skills

Equipment

Hacker
Two-Piece Suit, Pocket ECM Device, Buzzer/Electrical Brass Knuckles, First Aid Kit

Anarchist Double AR w/ Painkillers Inspire

On anarchist you get a 2 second invulnerability period when your armor breaks, on a 15 second cooldown. Your armor regenerates every 2 seconds and also when you deal damage to enemies. The deck heavily relies on a mechanic called 'armor gating'. With armor gating, you do not take health damage until after your armor is broken. For example, if you have 5 armor and a cop deals 70 damage, the shot will break your armor and leave your health unaffected. Anarchist has very high damage potential with berserker and crits and it is the easiest deck to run the two together. With a high berserker value, your primary will 2 shot heavy zeal units to the body. On this build you will lower your health by using a molotov (downing to a cloaker or regular unit can also work). Here is a video demonstrating how to zerk with a molotov (skip to 38 seconds): https://youtu.be/FzeXBF5M52c?t=38
Credit to KevKild for the video. Using this method takes a bit of practice so I would recommend trying this a few times in a private lobby. As soon as you zerk, try to dominate a cop and convert it to a joker. When you have a joker active, you can tank a 225 damage heavy zeal shot to your armor without it breaking (assuming you are near full armor). You can also tank a 240 damage sniper shot if your armor is full. Be careful of snipers as they ignore armor gating and can down you without activating your invulnerability period.

Weapons

Gewehr 3 Rifle
The Bigger the Better Suppressor, Accuracy Boost, Auto Fire, Plastic Foregrip, Stealth Laser Module, Retro Grip, 45 Degree Ironsights, Biometric Analyzer, Wooden Stock









Para Submachine Gun
The Bigger the Better Suppressor, Concealment Boost, Auto Fire, Aftermarket Shorty, Compact Laser Module, Straight Grip, THRUST Lower Receiver, Speed Pull Magazine, Shorter Than Short Stock, Orthogon Upper Receiver



Detection Risk (With Optical Illusions Aced):

Skills

Equipment

Anarchist
Two-Piece Suit, Molotov Cocktail, Ice Pick, Medic Bag

Stoic Double AR

Stoic is the most reliable and tanky deck in the game. All your armor is converted into health. When you take damage, 25% of it is issued immediately and 75% is converted into damage over time. Use Hip Flask to remove the damage over time and heal for an additional 50% of the damage over time remaining. This means that you gain health if you flask right after you are shot. If you don't take damage for 4 seconds, then the DoT is removed and you are healed for 50% of the DoT effect. This means if you go 4 seconds without being shot you will lose barely any health. Each kill reduces the cooldown of flask by 1 second and the base cooldown is 10 seconds. Overkill was surely on the crack rock when they balanced this deck, the cooldown of flask is incredibly low for how much it offers.

Weapons

AK5 Rifle
CQB Barrel, KS12-S Long Silencer, Accuracy Boost, Auto Fire, Belgian Heat Handguard, Stealth Laser Module, Speed Pull Magazine, 45 Degree Red Dot Sight (Or Any +4stab Secondary Sight), Biometric Analyzer, Caesar Stock









Uzi Submachine Gun
Medved R4 Suppressor, Concealment Boost, Auto Fire, Stealth Laser Module, Anay +4stab Secondary Sight, Biometric Analyzer, Folded Stock


Detection Risk (With Optical Illusions Aced and Lightweight Ballistic Vest):

Skills

Swap Nine Lives for Die Hard aced if you are confident that you will not down

Equipment

Stoic
Lightweight Ballistic Vest, Stoic Hip Flask, Buzzer/Electrical Brass Knuckles, First Aid Kit

Sicario AK5 + 5/7 AP Pistol

Sicario is a dodge deck with some added armor gating and a throwable to help with objectives/revives. You start with 20% dodge and your dodge increases by 20% for every shot you take from the enemy. Once you successfully dodge, your armor is instantly regenerated and your dodge value is reset to 20%. The deck can be quite fragile so I would avoid playing recklessly. If you need to do an objective or revive a teammate, throw your smoke bomb directly at the target then do the interaction. While you are inside of your smoke, your dodge is increased and enemies become less accurate. Note that you can still occasionally die inside of smoke bomb.
This build uses Unseen Strike Aced. When you are shot, avoid further damage for 4 seconds and you will gain 30% added crit chance for the next 18 seconds. This buff should be active most of the time you are shooting. Use the 5/7 AP pistol to pierce shields, the pistol will 1 shot shields with a headshot. Do not spam the 5/7 AP pistol because the ammo pickup is very low.

Weapons

AK5 Rifle
CQB Barrel, KS12-S Long Silencer, Accuracy Boost, Auto Fire, Belgian Heat Handguard, Stealth Laser Module, Speed Pull Magazine, 45 Degree Red Dot Sight (Or Any +4stab Secondary Sight), Biometric Analyzer, Caesar Stock










5/7 AP Pistol
TiN Treated Barrel, Flash Hider, Accuracy, Medved R4 Laser Sight, Extended Magazine, Pistol Red Dot Sight


Detection Risk:

Skills

Equipment

Two-Piece Suit, Smoke Bomb, Buzzer/Eletrical Brass Knuckles, First Aid Kit

Copycat Lions Roar + Compact 40

*** This build was made before the changes to Copycat. The weapon swap speed is not reliable anymore so this build is not as good as before ***

Copycat Biker is a health deck with good armor gating. With a Partners in Crime aced joker active, you can tank two 225 heavy zeal shots to the health without going down. When you or your team kills an enemy you will get some healing and some armor. The healing means that you dont have to invest in Hostage Taker and the armor gating will protect you from health damage. You can also heal from headshotting enemies or friendly jokers. Copycat also gives a 2 second invulnerability buff when you fall below 50% hp and much faster weapon swap speeds.
The GL40 is used to clear large crowds, spawn groups and shields. Hip Fire is much more accurate than aiming down sights on this build, as you gain 12 accuracy when firing from the hip with Fire Control. Get at least 2 kills before you reload the Lions Roar to utilize the Lock and Load aced reload speed buff. Get a melee kill to temporarily gain a massive reload speed buff (most effective for spamming the compact 40). Note that there is no Shock and Awe on this build for shields. Due to your incredibly fast weapon swap speed, the compact 40 works well as a shield killer.

Weapons

Lions Roar Rifle
CQB Barrel, The Bigger the Better Suppressor, Concealment Boost, Auto Fire, Stealth Laser Module, 45 Degree Ironisghts, Biometric Analyzer









Compact 40mm Grenade Launcher
Concealment Boost, Stealth Laser Module



Detection Risk (With Optical Illusions Aced):

Skills

Equipment

Copycat (Biker)
1, 1, 1, 1, 16 (All Health + Prospect)



Two-Piece Suit, Concussion Grenade, Buzzer/Electrical Brass Knuckles, First Aid Kit

[The Senate]

@SLIPKNOT GLAZER. Hot take for sure. Its the consensus strongest perk deck in the game paired with the consensus strongest AR in the game. If you are having trouble staying alive you could switch medic bags for First Aid Kits and switch Inspire for Hostage Taker. DSOD is just a punishing difficulty. Hacker can take a bit of practice to get used to

[Chloe]

That hacker build might actually be the worst thing i've ever tested

[Jr. Sinpkr]

what a shitty build

[I FIGHT FOR RICK MAY]

The sicario build is my favourite

[plssteemineed]

What would you use in place of the speed pull mags in the first build to achieve 23 detection?

[The Senate]

@VN.Gunnrt Inspire Ace/Basic. Unseen strike basic/ace. Partners in Crime Ace (and Confident Ace if you already have PiC Ace).

Most builds with 5/7 Ap Pistol only use the pistol to deal with shields, so for those builds you can get Shock and Awe Ace to stagger shields then replace the 5/7 with an SMG.

Inner pockets basic and optical illusion aced increase concealment. So you can sometimes bring better weapons with those skills while still keeping detection under 25.

I uninstalled the game so I cant suggest a specific build :/

[VN.Gunnrt]

I'm personally confident that I'll hit them headshots, so what skills can I invest in if I remove Body Expertise + Surefire Aced?

[The Senate]

@PHR7 Defenitley. I went for 100 accuracy on these guns but 100 accuracy is defenitley not needed. With the mods below you would sacrifice 8 accuracy and gain 2 concealment.
AK5 Rifle
CQB Barrel, The Bigger the Better Supressor, Accuracy Boost, Belgian Heat Handguard, Compact Laser Module, Speed Pull Magazine, 45 Degree Red Dot Sight (Or Any +4stab Secondary Sight), Speculator Sight (Or Any +4stab -1conceal sight), Caesar Stock

With these different mods, there would no real noticeable difference in how the build feels. The increased concealment could even open up more options for the builds. For example with the sicario 5/7 build, you could replace the 5/7ap pistol for a concealable SMG + replace Unseen Strike aced for Shock and Awe aced. Or for the stoic build you could increase the stats of your secondary smg. I encourage you to experiment yourself.
Anyways I am over explaining things... the mods above should be good no matter what you do.

[PHR7]

Do you know what mods could be substituted for the AK5 if you don't have the McShay or Jiu Feng pack?

[parasite]

very informative, good builds, +rep.