(Out-dated) guide to the basics of Payday 2

Quite a long guide, walking you through the game of Payday 2. Written to point new heister in the right direction.

Intro

Hello my friend – I wrote this guide to sort things out for new players.
In case you’re a seasoned heister – you might find big parts of this guide, to be redundant.
Payday 2 has a lot to do with numbers, therefore it is my opinion that conclusions can be made as to whether or not you should bring silencers to a heist, if Sentry Guns are worth skilling and so forth. You might disagree or I might have missed something, in which case I would appreciate it if you would comment further down.

There’s a lot of guides written about Payday. We have some great ones – and I will be linking to those in this guide, instead of just restating their findings. That is another purpose I wanted to make of this guide – to hopefully give you the means of finding info which makes sense to where you are now.

You will be disagreeing with me at some point in the guide - feel free to leave a comment about it, but if it's a matter of preference I will not change what I have written here, since that was the whole point of the guide.

Navigation

Due to the simplicity of the Steam guide tool - writing more than a few pages will quickly become impractical. To try and negate this, I have added symbols in most headlines, which should help you decide whether or not the incoming section will be up your alley.

• Headlines containing ' ♟ ' = sections meant for new players, anyone else can just skip these.
  
• Headlines containing ' ✯ ' = Subjects which you might disagree on. My oppinions are not absolute, I am neither omniscient, nor am I a math geek. I feel that First Aid Kits are inferior, and sentry guns should never be skilled. I have my oppinions, the guide will be riddled with these, and I'm not bringing lube.
  
• Headlines containing ' ❤ ' = Community related sections. Won't change your gameplay.

Furthermore - I have added Headlines named "►Chapter # - [Description]" - these are located in-between sections - where transitions have occurred. To navigate through these, simply hold
Ctrl + F and type: "Chapter" in the search field.

►Chapter I - Welcome to Payday 2

Are you new to the game? ♟

Instead of jumping straight into a lobby, do consider reading up on the game. Payday is very unforgiving towards new players, and leaves you to figure out a lot on your own. You will fail many times before you can easily run through heists. This is especially true when going stealth.
To lower your chances of screwing your crew over, there's a few things to bear in mind:

1. What difficulty is the heists?
   
2. Is it stealth or loud?
   
3. What is required of me?
   
4. What can I do to contribute?

These questions can be easily answered by having the following knowledge:

What difficulty is the heist? ♟

The difficulty is split into five degrees, depicted by a number of skulls.

Normal

This is the easiest difficulty (all four skulls greyed out) - you will not have to deal with any special units, if the heist happens to be (or go) loud. This is a favorable difficulty to play on, in case you're new to the game or don't know how to play the heist you're about to take on. This difficulty should wear out pretty quickly though, as it is easy to complete for most people, and it doesn't give you the big payday you're dreaming of. A few weak shields might spawn (in pairs) every now and then.

Hard

Here you have a bit of added difficulty (one skull), you get to shoot more cops, and you will now experience Tasers, Cloakers and Bulldozers. Further down the guide, I will take a closer look on the various special units.

Very Hard

The next difficulty (two skulls) is very similar to Hard difficulty. You get a few more spawns and a couple of extra guards might be present in stealth mode. The payday is better than previous difficulties. Do note that every now and then you will encounter a couple of Black Dozers coming your way.

Overkill

Now we’re talking - this difficulty (three skulls) hits the sweet spot for most players. There will be more spawns, more special units and you might find this challenging. The payout you get, from playing here is also marginally better than it was on the lower difficulties. If you're new, you might want to hit a reasonable level first. Get to know the different heists, skills and weapons. This difficulty will keep you entertained for quite some time. :)

Deathwish

This (four skulls) is the final difficulty. It is exponentially harder than anything else, and shouldn't be attempted unless you're well into the game.
Do however note, that if you've taken a liking to stealth, this should be your targeted difficulty, as it doesn't differ a whole lot from the lower ones - and the payday will be so much greater.
Going loud on this difficulty, will replace the green GenSec units (standard cops), with Elite GenSec units who wear urban camouflage clothing and hit you like a truck. The Green dozers will also be a thing of the past. Now you will bump into a great amount of Black- and Skulldozers. Be prepared to down a lot. The units here will also hit twice as hard and have a greater health-pool. And they will swarm you like crazy.
Once you've gotten used to playing on this difficulty, there's no turning back. Overkill (and lower) will become trivial and you will want moar! :D

Is it stealth or loud? ♟

As a new player you will be unsure as to whether the job you're about to take on, is going to be done loudly or stealthily. To figure this out you have a few options:

• When entering Crime.net, the heists which can be done in stealth, will have a tiny, blue "ghost" beside them. Also, with recent changes to the game, a larger white Ghost icon will appear if the host intends to stealth.
  
• If you entered a lobby, and you're unsure, feel free to ask in the chat. What many people apparently fail to understand, is that Payday is a co-op game. and if the host kicks you, due to you asking, you shouldn't take it personally. He's being a moron and isn't worth playing with.
  
• If you've joined a game, and you find yourself in the pre-planning menu, you can check if the blue ghost icon from crime.net has turned red. If that's the case - stealth has been broken and the heist is now loud.
  The last and most overlooked way of finding out, is to head over to the tab "Crew Setup". Here you can inspect the loadout of your entire crew. Unless you're editing your own loadout; always be in this tab.
  Does the green player (Host) have ECM or Body Bag deployable(s)? If so, you're going stealth. Does he have anything else, you're in for a loud heist. (I do realize that C4s might be used in stealth. But the number of players making use of this is limited).

What is required of me? ♟

You're about to enter a heist. By simply entering, you are obligated to customize your build according to the needs of your team! Find out how the mission will be taken on, and use a loadout which suits your team. In your skills menu, you can have up to five different skill-builds, and changing between them costs you nothing, once you have made the builds. At level 50 you can have two skill-builds. Make use of these by making a build for loud, and one for stealth.
if it's going down silently, you're doing the right thing by bringing ECMs. This might not be the preferred deployable, but if you're expected to bring Body bags, C4 or ammo for the saw, your team should realize you not knowing, and inform you of this.
When going loud, most heists will be in need of Doctor Bags and Ammo. On lower levels it is fine to bring a single, lousy deployable. Once you hit level 60 - 80, you should have enough skill points to upgrade it though, and this is highly advised as it increases your chances of success on longer maps, many times over.
This might seem completely logical to some of you, but for newer players it isn't.

What can I do to contribute? ♟

Please, don't do the following:

Okay, the heist has begun; you find yourself standing on the curb, clueless about what awaits you. You're unsure if it's stealth or loud; Do not put on your mask just yet. That’s right, leave it off for now. This holds true, especially if the heist is gonna be done in stealth.

Do keep in mind, that all stealth missions can be done by one person - you walking around (even without a mask), within the bank isn't gonna do any good. It will most likely trigger a guard ("!") and have him pull out his gun, alarming the civilians around him and have the cameras setting off a beeping noise. You just F***ed it up. The only thing left for you to do now, is wait 5 seconds. Here you will see a textbox stating "You have been kicked from the game." this didn't do anyone any good and you will feel an urge to go cry in the corner, because all you wanted to do, was sneak around and scout out the prey, like they do it in the movies.

Stealth

The correct thing to do is stay at spawn, don't move, and don’t put on your mask.
See what the high level players are doing, in what order they're doing it and ask. Friendly heisters will explain stuff to you, and other players will screw up, leaving you to learn from their mistakes.
If you're comfortable here, you've tried out the heist for yourself or maybe seen players on YouTube, breaking down what to do, go right ahead.
I do highly advise you to play solo when stealthing. Do the different heists on various difficulties, and get the hang of what you're capable of. Stealth can be a great game mode to play solo or with friends, when you're burned out, from mowing down the cops. A lot of lobbies hosted publically are doomed to fail, and you're often better off doing it alone or with friends!
Do not kill anybody without having the aced version of either Shinobi or Hidden Blade, even though you have a silencer equipped – the dying civs or guards will alert anyone in a 6 meter radius.
Do not break cameras, set up drills or open doors. Doing either of these actions will impact the guards, they will path towards a broken camera or through an opened doorway. When doing these things; be prepared to deal with the consequences.

Loud

On the other hand though - is the heist going down loudly, you shouldn't waste any time. Put on your mask and start doing the objectives. You've joined a loud lobby, you're here to tie down civilians, complete objectives and pop helmets - be a badass with your badass guns! Here's a few things to keep in mind, in case you want to ace this:

• Bring the correct deployable (go to "Crew Setup" and see if you need ammo or meds)
  
• Do not run off alone. This is the primary reason most failed heists fail. Someone runs off, takes a Cloaker's boot to the face and goes into custody, leaving your team one member short, or has team-mates going for the downed heister - one by one. Stay close to your team-mates, keep an eye on the objective and aim for the head.
  
• Don't occupy an interaction which is already being done by another member of the team. Multiple players crouching down to lend a fallen comrade a hand will leave you all exposed to enemy bullets, cloaker boots and what-have-you. Watch the HUD closely, as the other player(s) reach out for "interactives", do provide cover.
  
• Do not heal up (use the "Doctor Bag") prematurely. You are supposed to heal up once you've downed three times - this does not include cloakers kicking in your teeth or tasers stunning you down. The trick to realizing your needs for medical supplies is simple: your screen turns grey. If you're unsure as to how many times you've been downed, you can ask your team-mates - chances are, that one of them might be able to provide you with an answer.
  
• I came up with a saying a while back - which in my opinion should be kept in the back of your head while playing: "If there's no reason to do this*, don't F***ing do it" - as this will prove to be an obstacle for your team-mates, or annoy the hell out of someone. (*putting up a drill on random door, spending a keycard on Hoxton Breakout day 2, throwing grenade, shooting camera in stealth, picking a lock). Always think about what your actions will accomplish. If in doubt, do consult with your team.
  Don’t throw grenades – that’s right… Do NOT throw a grenade at any point during a heist. What will you accomplish from doing so? You might stun a bulldozer – which was probably what you intended to do, right? You will also damage your team-mate who ran for his face after stunning him with HE rounds or a GL40 - and continues to wreck the dozer. Grenades are a relic of the past – we now have a wide variety of means to stun specials and take out hordes of enemies at the same time. Your meager grenades will simply be an annoyance which might have you fail. Anyone who ever rolled a dodge build should be telling you the same thing. Your grenades will also destroy planks, PCs and kill civilians – Ignore this argument if you’re using Molotov’s, as they have a small blast-radius.

If you follow these simple steps, you will very quickly become an asset to your team.

Special Units part I ♟

You have a wide variety of enemies in Payday. Most of these spawn in great numbers, and are easily taken down. Depending on the difficulty you pick, you will meet a higher number of special units. These units will have the same stats on all difficulties, with the exception of Death Wish. Here they will have roughly twice the amount of health and hit twice has hard. Apart from that they will also spawn in larger numbers. What they will not do - is become smarter. They will follow the same paths, hide in the same spots, and engage in the same ways.
The following units will have special abilities and behavioral patterns, which will make them the prime factors of difficulty.

Numbers below: [amount] = Normal - Overkill difficulties. ([amount]) = Death Wish difficulty.

The Shield:
Health: 100 (170)
Damage Output: Low

Counters:

• Iron Man Aced (Skill).
  
• ECM Feedback (Skill).
  
• Sniper Rifles.
  
• Explosions.
  
• Flamethrower.
  
• Shotgun Special Ammo (DB/AP/HE).
  
• Teamwork.
  
• Simply circling him.

You Should Know:
You will meet two kinds of shields - one at lower difficulties, while the other one will appear throughout the higher ones. There is no significant difference between these two - beside the gun in their hand and the width of their shield.
Shields usually spawn in groups with other cops - when they appear on the map, you will hear a sound resembling that of a hammer against metal (Shield Quote from wiki).
The shield will choose a heister and make him the center of his attention - creating an oppotunity for other players to circle around and deal with the shield from the back. The chosen player can also choose to close in on the shield, and circle around on his own.
This can sometimes prove difficult though, as the shield might be fully capable of following your movement - for seconds. Furthermore, many interactions will take place in crammed spaces. At rare occasions your will find two shields lumped together, making both of them completely immune to damage from the front (even from explosives). Also worth noting is - the dropped shields (of the shields...) will sometimes persist, leaving an impenetrable wall on the map.
Fear not though - the shield shouldn't prove to be much of a challenge, with the number of counter-measures at your disposal.

The Taser:
Health: 360 (612)
Damage Output: Low

Counters:

• Shockproof (Skill)
  
• ECM Feedback (Skill)
  
• Awareness
  
• Teamwork

You Should Know:
As with the shields; the Taser will rarely spawn on his own. He will give you a few seconds to either run out of sight, or pop his helmet. After detecting you or one of your team-mates - he will charge up his special weapon, followed by an electrical attack which incapacitates you. This leaves you in a spasmic state, forcing you to fire your weapon at regular intervals - with an uncontrollable aim. During this attack, his allies will shoot at you, and you will likely go down.
If we take a closer look at this mechanic - we will be able to turn the tables. The taser is very vocal (Taser Quotes from wiki - very loud). You will often be aware of his presence, before showing yourself. This gives you a few options to counter him:
Get in close, so you're sure to either kill or hurt him enough; for him to enter a heavy hurt-animation, breaking the link between you. Don't fear for your magazine, as his attack will fill it up, the second he tazes you. This fact can be exploited, in case you carry a weapon with a high reload time (like the Piglet, Vulcan or Loco). Be sure to point your gun exactly at his face, as the first shot will always hit exactly where you aim.
A lot of times, especially when fighting in close quarters, other police-units will pass through your "established link". This will momentarily break you free.
When getting tazed, you can still press 'F'. Make a habbit out of always doing this, even if you think you will kill him anyway.
If a taser has fully charged his ability, and was unable to set it off - (by either of you moving out of sight - ) you will see a bright blue color shimmering from his rifle. This means that the next time your eyes meet - he will instantly taze you.
When you are downed by a taser, inform your team about it. Some innocent souls will choose to rush straight for you. Watching a tazer getting a double-kill, is seriously demoralizing.
Getting downed through spasms will not count towards custody.

The Cloaker:
Health: 600 (1020)
Damage Output: Fairly Low

Counters:

• Inspire Aced (Skill)
  
• Counter-Strike Aced(Skill)
  
• Trip-mines (Deployable)
  
• Experience
  
• Awareness

You Should Know:
The Cloaker will sometimes spawn along-side other enemies, but most commonly though - he will appear through other means. These include man-holes in the road and vents in the ceiling.
Upon arrival, the cloaker will often jump an unsuspecting heister. If none are in the vicinity - he will run for a near-by hiding spot. Examples of these are: Under cars, behind doors and around corners. Here he will be waiting for bypassers - ready to engrave a boot-print in your face. This tactic has its' flaws: You will become aware of when and where to expect a cloaker. The more you play a map - the easier it will be for you to pre-determine whether or not a cloaker will be waiting for you.
When cloakers spawn - at the beginning of the first assault, you will hear noises . So keep your ears open.
Cloakers will give off a very distinct static-noise - all the time, use this to pin-point their location.
Upon charging, their eyes will light up, they will make a loud sound (even gets me up in the morning -) and you will have nowhere to run (consult this guide for more tips, and go here for Cloaker Quotes - from wiki).
Getting your teeth kicked in will not count towards custody. It is therefore a valid strategy, to let the cloaker down you if your health is low. This is of course only true - if team-mates are around to safely help help you back up.
Overall, you shouldn't worry too much - as teamwork, aced Inspire and map-awareness should prove successful counters to the Cloaker.

Special Units part II ♟

The Swat Van Turret:

	Health:	Shields:
Normal	70,000	1,000
Hard	70,000	1,000
Hevry Hard	275,000	4,000
Overkill	500,000	7,500
Death Wish	700,000	10,000

Damage Output: Scales

Counters:

• ...Simply ignoring it.
  
• ECM Feedback.
  
• Fire DoT's (For shield).
  
• Explosives (For shield).

You Should Know: When you see a Swat Van Turret you have a few options. You can simply ignore it - I haven't found a reason to waste bullets, time, downs and energy on this thing - no matter the difficulty. Just crouch behind cover when targeted, wait for your shield to get back up and move on.
It's a bit annoying that your shield won't get back up until it stops targeting you, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem, unless you're under heavy fire.
If the turret is the only thing shooting at you - you will tank up (or dodge) the shots, since the source (or amount) of damage you get is the same. This is a "hidden mechanic", but should be kept in mind. It applies to all sources of damage - but is highly visible when dealing with turrets.
The turret shoots very fast (1,000 Fire Rate) and has a magazine of 400 bullets - once it's empty, the turret will reload for 8 seconds. If you do wish to take it down - now is a good time to remove the protective shield. It's a good idea to throw a molotov or use explosives for this.
Once the shield is down, the lense will be exposed - shoot at it for very high damage. A x200 "headshot-multiplier" will be in effect - making the insanely high health pool dwindle quickly.
You can also use ECM Feedback to take over the turret for the duration of this ability.
I haven't found the turret to be a very big problem on any heist - I love how it forces you to seek cover - and makes it, so you don't just stroll down the streets - you have to take it into account - but it isn't over-powered. A very nice addition imo.
Be aware though - it will kill your bots. They don't tank up the damage nicely, or dodge bullets, they just straight up die.

Bulldozers:
Health: 5,500 (9,350).
Damage Output: High.

Counters:

• Explosives.
  
• ECM Feedback (Skill).
  
• High Fire-rate to the face.
  
• RPG
  
• Thanatos

You Should Know: Bulldozers have a lot of health. And they deal a lot of damage. There are three different dozers in Payday 2. They all have the same amount of health, the same behavioral patterns and you take care of them in the same way.
As with most other specials - the dozer has his announcements - you will hear his "warcries" before he appears (dozer quotes from wiki here).
As stated above, the three dozers you'll be stumbling upon during your heists, are very similar. The major difference is the weapon they're carrying. The green dozer does the least amount of damage. His Reinfeld will hurt a lot up front, but will do less damage the further away he is. Beyond 10 meters he will shoot you for less than a third of your health (without shield active), and won't be much of a threat. At melee range though, he will kill you in two shots, so be sure to take him out or stun him when the oportunity is there.
Same goes for the black dozer - he uses the Izhma shotgun though - so he has a very fast fire-rate and will also down you in a few shots up front.
The final dozer is the skulldozer - he is restricted to Death Wish and wields a KSP which is an LMG. He doesn't suffer from damage falloff at long ranges and can be surprisingly accurate. The skulldozer does 100 damage flat - no matter the distance (you have 230 at full health), and can wipe your team in a few seconds, if not taken into account.
There are three steps to kill a dozer: remove face-plate, shatter visor and finally shoot his exposed face for massive damage.
First of all - you need to mark dozers, this will give you valuable information, without you having to expose yourself. You can be hiding behind a wall - waiting for him to not stare directly at you - and then jump out and deal with him.
The best course of action is to stun him. Either do this with HE rounds or a grenade launcher (don't use grenades as they hurt your team too much). Once you've stunned him, you should be able to kill him swiftly. Either aim at his face from a distance with a sniper, should only take 3 - 4 shots to the head, you can continue to shoot at him with explosives or get in close and spam him with your bullet-hose. No matter the course of action - he should be dropping quickly.
Ofcourse you could just body-shot with a Thanatos, or aim in the vicinity of the dozer with an RPG - but those two weapons lack the ammo of other guns, so use with care.

Snipers:
Health: 40 (69).
Damage Output: Unfair.

Counters:

• Low health (any weapon that can reach).
  
• High Concealment.
  
• Knowledge and care.

You Should Know: The sniper is pretty straight forward. You go into his line of sight and he shoots you. You will probably go down. The only thing to do is to know where he spawns - have a feel of when they spawned the last time - and pay attention to Bain announcing their comming. You do these things and you will down a whole lot less from snipers.
Snipers have their set positions on the maps. It's just a matter of playing the game enough, and you will remember to expect them. On Rats day 1 you know they will spawn around the map on the hills - so stay crouched. You don't need to deal with them, they will respawn in a few minutes anyway - let them be.
On Hoxton Breakout day 2 you know that they will appear on the catwalk on the third floor in the lobby. You can peek-a-boo around the corner while pre-fire'ing and you'll probably get him first.
The sniper has to reload in between every shot, so once you hear it go off, get out there and shoot him. Techforcers (ICTV + Bulletproof) can easily tank one shot without taking health damage, and dodge users (with high concealment) have a few extra seconds to react, as snipers will take longer to target them.
Last note: Being host has the added effect of snipers being able to shoot you "instantly" - won't happen every time, but it will happen - just don't go out of your way to seek them out, let the other guys on your team deal with snipers if they feel they have to. Not much to do about it.





Weak Cops and other units:
These guys aren't special units. But I felt that they needed a special mention. Guards, Gangsters, Weak cops (smurfs), Murkywaters, Bikers, Hostage Rescue and FBI agents... they hurt. They all die in a few shots but they will down you if you give them the chance. Unless you're being charged by a cloaker - I suggest prioritizing these weak units.

Skills and Perk Decks ♟

The skills in Payday 2

These are a big part of the game. What skills you choose to invest in, will have a big impact on how you're able to play the game, and how far you can go. This fact becomes clearer to you as a heister, the further you progress in the game.
Skills will either unlock passive boosts to your character, or it will give you certain abilities or items which can and should be used (correctly) during heists. Try to pick only the necessary skills, and skills which synergize with each other.
Playing around with different skill builds is a lot of fun. This is what has kept the game alive for me, as I've put countless hours into the game (well.. steam counts it so can't really call it countless.. Moving on!).
If you're having trouble leveling early on - which is most likely the case - do consider using this method of rising quickly in the very beginning. Payday 2 is very unforgiving to new players, as you will have no skills, perk decks and weapon mods to equip. No money to sponsor your activities, no knowledge to carry you through the maps and finally - no respect in public lobbies. This doesn't mean that everybody who plays publically, is a butt-hole, but don't be surprised if you get kicked for no apparent reason. The game becomes progressively easier as you play the game.

Leveling up

As you complete heists, you will gain experience. Each time your level rises by 1, you will gain one skill point. For every tenth level you get an extra point. This adds up to 120 skill points at level 100, which is the maximum level.
As you hit level 100, you get the opportunity to throw away all your levels and all your spending cash - for the meager price of 200 million offshore (offshore is stale money, you use it to purchase heists, and that's pretty much it). The price for leveling up your infamy, should be in the vicinity of your total offshore savings at that point.
More info on infamy is to be found further down the guide.

Perk Decks

As you level up, you will also gain perk points. At level 10 it takes 100 xp to gain 1 perk point, and at level 100, you will need 1000 xp to get 1 perk point. This shouldn't occupy your mind too much though, as these aren't subtracted from your xp, it doesn't cost you any money to invest in your perk decks and you can switch between them as you see fit. To level up your Perk Decks, enter the Skills window and hit the "Perk Decks" headline in the upper left corner to enter the deck selection screen. Make it a habit to level up your perk decks whenever possible, as the bonuses unlocked will aid you greatly when fighting cops.
At some point you will max out all perk decks, so there's no need to speculate too hard about these. I suggest you level up the Rogue Perk, as I find it to be the most useful one. If you're planing to do stealth early on, you can go ahead and level up the Hitman Perk deck first. As the final bonus will unlock Akimbos. The akimbo pistols have a high concealment value by nature, helping you lower your detection rating early on. You will be able to max out the deck by level 30 - 40 I believe.
If you have the Western Pack DLC you can buy the Plainsrider Bow at level 30. it has 30 concealment, which is the highest value obtainable.

Skills to level up early on

First of all, do NOT go to the forums and copy some Akimbo "Deathwish Certified" (Whatever that even that means) build, showing you bad-butt.gif's of melting skulldozers. Getting the levels, weapon mods and knowledge to play these builds will take you hundreds of hours.
Instead, go ahead and familiarize yourself with the skill trees. Look through all the 95 different skills. You don't have to know them all by heart at level 30, but wandering about without a clue, is bad for your soul.
Here you have a screenshot of what I believe to be the mandatory skills:
With these skills you can run fast, you have a lot of stamina and you can move bags efficiently.
You also have access to the basic version, of (what I consider) the three main deployables.

Choosing the right skills

I will not tell you what builds to use. Trying out quirky builds, finding out what is viable, and what isn't is all part of the game. And what is far more important is teamwork and personal experience - you can play Overkill difficulty without using any skills - heck, you can even play deathwish with an AMCAR.

Regarding the skills below

Ending the skills' section like this would make for a boring guide, and Overkill has done a terrible job at balancing some of these skills, so here you have a complete list of all 95 skills (actually 190 - as the aced version of most skills differ from the basic version). You will not find, what the skills do, instead; you will see my personal oppinion on each and every one of them. Do keep in mind, that my statements are highly subjective, and I also feel, that mixing stealth and loud skills is a waste.
Some people prefer to "mix it up" so they can be more of an asset, when stealthing fails - making builds this way contradicts optimization, and should therefore be avoided. Instead, try striving for more damage and survivability, or getting those extra utility skills, as these will prove useful time and time again. Do also keep in mind, that my statements regarding skills, are written with the goal of only using the best skills - in time, you can make some very viable builds, using less obvious skills and weapon-setups, if you're at that point of the game, you won't benefit from reading this guide.
Also, I will not go into detail with the stealth skills, as you should be able to skill most (if not all) of them at later levels. And with sufficient practice, you will be able to stealth successfully, with next to no skills equipped.

►Chapter II - Character Creation

Mastermind Skill Tree

The Mastermind skill tree houses skills which will boost your supportive capabilities; being able to get your team-mates up with increased hit points, manipulate the AI and boost your pistol & ARs' effectiveness. This tree will boost your stamina and weapon stability - it will allow you to instantly get your team-mates up, from a distance alongside a few other things.
That being said, the Mastermind tree holds some gimmicky skills which seem to contradict reason. Putting an infamy point in this tree early on, is a very good idea, as you will be able to reach those top tiers, 4 points prior to not doing so.
The deployables of this skill tree, are Doctor Bags, which heal and reset downs.
This skill tree synergizes specially well with the Fugitive skill tree.

Cable Guy
Basic: Only get this as a filler, you won't spend much time tying civilians.
Aced: Don't worry about killing civilians during stealth, you easily get your money back.

Combat Medic
Basic: Very useful, synergizes very well with Inspire.
Aced: Don't get this skill as it can ruin Berserker builds.

Endurance
Basic: Should be in all your builds, stealth and loud alike.
Aced: Communication with your team might save you 3 skill points here. Otherwise filler.

Control Freak
Basic: Very awesome skill. One point here and civilians will bow before you.
Aced: Having one guy on the team getting this can save you alot of time. Excellent filler.

Painkillers
Basic: Only use skill points here, if you need a place to dump points to reach higher tiers.
Aced: The 30% damage reduction might make a difference, so get this, if a filler is needed.

Leadership
Basic: No real benifit. Pre req. for the aced version. Pistols don't need added stability.
Aced: This skill sucks atm - getting suppressed will have this disabled for 20 seconds.

Spotter
Basic: 15% dmg bonus against specials is great. Always spam 'F' during loud heists.
Aced: This skill seems to be bugged during loud (I might be wrong). Awesome for stealth.

Equilibrium
Basic: If you opt to not use Rogue, this skill is amazing. Accuracy boost is meager though.
Aced: Pistols with fire-rate above 600 don't really need this, otherwise I find it useful.

Dominator
Basic: Will save your heist time and time again. Very useful during stealth aswell.
Aced: Take your spamming 'F' to a whole new level. Great filler. Scares civilians too.

Stockholm Syndrome
Basic: Have never tried it. Have never heard of anyone getting it. Just.. No.
Aced: I don't know what to write here. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡ °)

Combat Doctor
Basic: If you're climbing this tree early on, here is your first milestone.
Aced: If everybody only heals when needed, you have enough meds for most heists.

Joker
Basic: People tend to get this skill. I don't see why, as the cop will kill next to nothing.
Aced: You want to spend an extra 8 skill points on something this useless?

Kilmer
Basic: If you're using ARs or sniper rifles, this skill will rock your world.
Aced: Great for dodge builds. If you're wearing armor you won't be running as much.

Gunslinger
Basic: Mandatory for most pistol builds.
Aced: This skill will have a lot of pistols reach higher damage break-points.

Partner In Crime
Basic: Your pets can now be killed by team-mates.
Aced: I tend to pick on these guys, when my team-mates are blissfully occupied.

Hostage Taker
Basic: Countless times have I tried to make a serious regen build. Aced version helps.
Aced: Now you have spent 12 additional skill points in a top tier skill. Usefulness dwindles.

Pistol Messiah
Basic: Will save the day about once a week. You will, however blow it unintentionally, alot.
Aced: Again.. 12 additional skill points spent in the top tier.

Inspire
Basic: Twice as fast at helping up team-mates. And you can speed up your team!
Aced: And here it is. The most overpowered skill in the whole game - the reason why you picked up all those lousy skills further down the tree. This is the skill that, time and time again has left you wondering "is this guy a hacker?" - this skill will have even Bonnie up and running in no time! This is the one and only skill that could have salvaged 99% of all failed heists, heck even Shadow Raid. Kids, I am proud to present... the one and only: Inspire - also known as "GIT DA FAK UP!" Once you have skilled this, you will become such an inspiration to your whole team. The wounded will rise, the crippled will run, the fat lady will sing. Even if they will only sense your muffled voice through a concrete wall - at a wopping distance of up to 7 meters, your team will ignore the devil himself, they will get up and you will be the hero of the day. Hallelujah!

Enforcer Skill Tree

The Enforcer skills can be skilled; allowing you to boost your shotgun-capabilities (I consider shotguns to be the best weapons in the game). Aside from shotgun skills, you will find some very useful defensive skills, which should be considered on all loud builds. This tree also allows you to purchase a saw, which can be used to open doors, ATMs and deposit boxes, increasing your payday by a lot.
I would not spend infamy in this tier, unless I were to not roll shotguns, and still wanting to utilize the skills in higher tiers. This is due to the many useful skills you will want to pick up in the beginning of the tree.
The deployables unocked through the enforcer tree, are Ammo Bags, which are essential to your loud heists.
Enforcer skills pair well with the Technician skills.

Oppressor
Basic: No my friend. This skill will not help you as much as you might think.
Aced: If you have 5 minutes, have a go at this video, to clarify what threat really is.

Bullet Storm
Basic: Is a cute thought, it's just not very practical, seeing as you will only use it twice.
Aced: Again, there are better alternatives. Turn your head to the right, ever so slightly.

Transporter
Basic: You were probably told that this was an FPS game. It's a bag-throwing simulator.
Aced: This skill should be aced out on all your builds, as soon as possible.

Die Hard
Basic: If your secondary isn't good enough to provide cover, you're doing it wrong.
Aced: Is a very good skill, and should be considered on all loud builds.

Underdog
Basic: Due to the sheer range of this skill, you will almost have this bonus constantly.
Aced: Great for heavy builds. Less effective for dodge, due to suits having low armor.

Pumping Iron
Basic: Don't waste time using your melee, reload your weapons instead.
Aced: Melee isn't viable in Payday 2. Do not waste points here.

Shotgun Impact
Basic: Pre req. for the aced version of the skill. Also doesn't hurt your shotguns.
Aced: The damage boost is insane, due to the high damage of shotguns.

Stun Resistance
Basic: The higher the difficulty, the more flashes they'll throw at you. Great skill.
Aced: Again, awesome skill. Almost mandatory for Death Wish.

Tough Guy
Basic: Consider this skill if you're going sniper and suffer from muscular atrophy.
Aced: Once you start firing, you will be disabled quickly, even with the +25 health.

Shotgun CQB
Basic: This skill will help you realize why shotguns are as good as they are.
Aced: Only when using the Joceline, should you ADS. even then, don't waste 8 skills.

Ammunition Specialist
Basic: 2 x the amount of ammo. Mandatory.
Aced: 2 x the amount of ammo within your 2 x ammo bags. Also mandatory.

Berserker
Basic: Get this if you only use one dmg mod on saw, to preserve ammo.
Aced: Immensely powerful on Death Wish. Not a whole lot on lower difficulties.

Hard Boiled
Basic: Reduces bullet-spread on shotguns = less collateral... For 4 skill points.
Aced: Mod your weapons differently if you're missing out on accuracy.

Fully Loaded
Basic: More ammo is always great. If you're already here, go right ahead.
Aced: Running out of ammo before heist is done, will be unlikely. Very useful skill though.

Portable Saw
Basic: Getting any saw related skill, apart from this, is a waste of skill points.
Aced: Fully Loaded basic + saw mods and 1 lousy ammo bag is always enough.

Overkill
Basic: One of the best skills in the game. This will make your shotguns clear the streets.
Aced: Too bothersome to constantly make use of, wouldn't use it even if it was free.

Man of Iron
Basic: If you're going heavy, this is it. Pair it with Bulletproof, for an extra 86 armor.
Aced: Snipers, Explosives, AP Slugs, HE rounds, Flames, circling, teamwork...

Carbon Blade
Basic: Fully Loaded basic + saw mods and 1 lousy ammo bag is still enough.
Aced: Every now and then I see someone having a saw equipped on their secondary slot. This always makes me doze off into the back of my mind - trying to come up with a reasonable explanation as to how this could possibly be happening. Who in their right mind; would spend 12 skill points in a tier 6 skill, just to avoid using the Locomotive? There is no excuse for such blasphemy. You have the complete Enforcer skill tree open, you can pick any and all of the shotgun skills which I have just listed, effectively making the Locomotive - (and the Judge of course.. but the Judge suffers from lower ammo pick-up rate, making it less viable in this situation, due to it having to fight without a better half, rapidly being depleted of ammo) - the best allround weapon in the game. May all the sinners who have committed the atrocities of skilling this, burn in custody.

Technician Skill Tree

The Technician tree is divided into two parts (thins is how I see it): the situational skills, and the useless skills. The situational ones being C4 & Drill skills, and the Sentry Gun stuff being the useless part (more on this subject in the Deployables Section).
Having a Technician-spec'd heister is great on most maps. Having more than one will be a waste, as one person can fulfill the role of a Technician, on his own (as an exception to this, two Technicians will prove useful on the Transport heists).
This tree is a valid choice to infamy up early, as you will save four skill points, in case you want to go for top-tier skills.

Rifleman
Basic: Very useful for snipers and ARs, kind of obvious - great filler.
Aced: This will not increase your accuracy - get this as a filler.

Demolition Man
Basic: Get this if you're gonna be using trip-mines or shaped charges.
Aced: Does not speed up your C4 placement, only the trip-mines.

Nerves Of Steel
Basic: Easily worth grabbing on any loud build. Insanely useful.
Aced: Depending on your weapon loadout this might come in handy - grab as filler.

Sharpshooter
Basic: Shotguns, snipers and GLs are single shot weapons. None benefit from this skill.
Aced: Mediocre skill. One of the better fillers available to you here, though.

Combat Engineer
Basic: A quirky skill at best. Get this for the aced version only.
Aced: Plant these at stairs and other choke points during stealth.

Hardware Expert
Basic: Have one man on the team skill into drills for more efficient heisting.
Aced: Another drill skill.

Sentry Gun
Basic: Don't pick up sentries unless you have something very specific in mind.
Aced: I will elaborate on this in the Deployables Section.

Tactical Mines
Basic: Doesn't improve your trip-mines in any useful way. See Deployables Section.
Aced: Nice alternative usage of trip-mines. tend to go off at some point though.

Drill Sergeant
Basic: Another drill skill.
Aced: Another drill skill.

Sentry Targeting Package
Basic: Nope.
Aced: Nope.

Jack Of All Trades
Basic: No reason to get this. There are other fillers.
Aced: This is a Sentry skill in disguise. Don't be fooled.

Silent Drilling
Basic: Do not get this for stealth runs, unless your team has agreed. Great filler for loud.
Aced: With infamy bonus, acing this to reach tier 6, is the cheapest, if avoiding C4s.

Sentry Combat Upgrade
Basic: Nope.
Aced: Nope.

Shaped Charge
Basic: Get this if you're bringing C4.
Aced: Amazing deployable on certain heists. Redundant on others.

Shockproof
Basic: Tasers will never down you again. The tables have turned.
Aced: Somewhat iffy skill, having to interact with the taser, leave at basic.

Sentry Tower Defense
Basic: Nope.
Aced: Nope.

Mag Plus
Basic: Only worth taking on weapons it doesn't boost; snipers, Mosconi and so forth.
Aced: Makes the IZHMA 12G a viable weapon. Save your skills and use the Steakout.

Bulletproof
Basic: Grants your ICTV immortality on Overkill difficulty and below. Great for Death Wish.
Aced: As you probably know, your armor is your primary means of soaking up bullets. To see how much armor you currently possess; enter your Armor Tab in the inventory. What makes your armor a viable defense mechanish on its' own, is the fact that it will regenerate. Once the cooldown has expired, you will instantly be at full armor, even if your armor bar hasn't reached all the way, you can safely leave your cover.
The recovery rate of your armor is 3 seconds. Acing bulletproof shaves almost a second off of your entire team's regen time. This is insanely useful on all loud heists, and is in my oppinion, severely underrated by most players (see online discussions).

Ghost Skill Tree

The Ghost tree holds a lot of skills meant for stealthing, you have the upgrades for silenced weapons, and some 7 - 8 skills which you should always include in your build.
Reaching the 4th tier of this skill tree, will not be benefitial to your loud builds, as going past the 3rd tier will cost you an extra 9 points, in addition to the ones I consider mandatory. This will hinder your progression in other skill trees, which have arguably better top-tier skills. Keep this in mind, as we go through the higher tiers.

Dead Presidents
Basic: Loose items make up for a very small amount of your total income.
Aced: Even less worthy of skill points than the basic version.

Sprinter
Basic: Being able to run in Payday is as important as being able to aim.
Aced: Might seem situational - you should consider it mandatory.

Cat Burglar
Basic: Enables you to take shortcuts on most maps. I consider it mandatory.
Aced: Does very little that your basic won't. Too expensive.

Fast Hands
Basic: You will be picking up bags alot. Even under fire - get this no matter what.
Aced: You can pick up bags, almost instantly. Get on all builds.

Chameleon
Basic: Knowledge and communication makes this skill redundant.
Aced: Either soak up the damage or dodge the bullets. Very small niché of usefulness.

Cleaner
Basic: Find out if your weapon hits new breakpoints with this skill. Can make a difference.
Aced: Get this for stealth builds - an extra body-bag is very nice.

Shinobi
Basic: When carrying heavy bags or out of stamina, you walk. Great skill.
Aced: Get this for stealth builds (doesn't stack with Hidden Blade aced).

Martial Arts
Basic: Knocking down cops, will help you dominate them. Hardly necessary though.
Aced: Cops' melee attacks tend to hurt a lot. To prevent this; hold down the 'S' key.

SMG Specialist
Basic: Great skill for SMGs, too bad they're among the weakest weapons in the game.
Aced: This will further your struggles to preserve ammo on SMGs. Has a niché though.

Nine Lives
Basic: Spend your skills on kicking butt, and not going down. Contradicts reason.
Aced: The chances of this taking effect under the right circumstances - is minimal.

ECM Specialist
Basic: With ECMs being the primarily used deployable in stealth, this should be taken.
Aced: With ECMs being the primarily used deployable in stealth, this should be taken.

Silent Killer
Basic: With the newly added silencers, this might prove useful. I don't know.
Aced: The AP added here will not be very benefitial. The damage boost is too meager.

Lockpicking Expert
Basic: Very useful in stealth builds. And now also on Rats day 2 (among others).
Aced: Very useful in stealth builds. And now also on Rats day 2 (among others).

ECM Overdrive
Basic: With ECMs being the primarily used deployable in stealth, this should be taken.
Aced: With ECMs being the primarily used deployable in stealth, this should be taken.

The Professional
Basic: Get this with a silenced STRYK18c (Pistol) or a Clarion (AR). Hardly viable though.
Aced: With all mods unlocked, you will struggle to not hit a reasonable acc. rating.

Camera Loop
Basic: Very useful in stealth builds.
Aced: With aced lockpicking, you will have no reason to be in front of a cam for this long.

ECM Feedback
Basic: Not useful in stealth. Has it's uses in very specific situations.
Aced: More thoughts on this added in the Deployables section.

Moving Target
Basic: If you are able to move your mouse to either side - this skill shouldn't prove useful.
Aced: ¯\(°_o)/¯
What this skill is good for though, is spotting cheaters. That's how useless it is. Most cheaters will have all skills maxed out, so if you see someone sprinting backwards, go ahead and find out if he's one of said players. More on this in the Ingame Behavior section.

Fugitive Skill Tree

The Fugitive skill tree is the newest addition to the skill-trees. Overkill implemented this tree during Crimefest, and it seems to be a popular choice for many, since it allows you to wield akimbo-pistols and effectively make use of dodge. This skill-tree is in my oppinion the weakest on its own, and should therefore not be invested heavily into, before you have enough skill points to pair it with one of the others.
Most of the skills here, should only be added to your build if you're making it for stealth or dodge. Most builds utilizing armor will find more use in other skill trees.
You can (as of now) not spend any infamy-points here, but you get the tier-bonus automatically as you hit infamy II, and put a point in one of the other skill trees.

Daredevil
Basic: You can get this skill as a filler. Not gonna make or break any build.
Aced: Same here, won't make a huge difference most of the time.

Hidden Blade
Basic: Mandatory skill for most stealth and dodge builds. More on this later on.
Aced: Get this for stealth builds. Arguably better to skill than Shinobi aced.

Thick Skin
Basic: Has a minor effect on most weapons, get if a filler is needed.
Aced: Mandatory if you are making a build including Balliustic Vests.

Run And Gun
Basic: The lighter your armor, the more you will get from leveling this.
Aced: Makes it harder to tweak your shots at long range, get this if can overcome it.

Sixth Sense
Basic: Powerful skill if you're insecure about your surroundings. Only get for stealth.
Aced: Scenarios justifying you picking up this skill, are limited. Only get for stealth.

Duck And Cover
Basic: Should be in all your dodge builds. Useless for heavy builds.
Aced: Should be in all your dodge builds. Useless for heavy builds.

Brother's Keeper
Basic: Very limited use. Get as a filler, if you're not going for FAKs.
Aced: Same as basic, get to reach higher tiers.

Winston Wolfe
Basic: Having a body and no body-bag can make you fail the heist. Get for stealth builds.
Aced: Stealthing alone will sometimes force you to kill civs, in order to secure the map.

Quick Fix
Basic: Nice skill to get, if you're rolling FAKs.
Aced: Again, great filler for those going for FAKs.

Swan Song
Basic: Immensely useful, especially on Deathwish. Synergizes very well with Inspire.
Aced: 6 secs of God Mode. Tasers reset duration, getting cloaked will save you a down.

Undertaker
Basic: Useful on maps where killing civs is beneficial - only get this with stealth builds.
Aced: Less likely to prove useful. At higher levels you have the skill points to get this.

Uppers
Basic: Should be considered mandatory for FAK-users
Aced: Should be considered mandatory for FAK-users

Trigger Happy
Basic: Does not benifil Akimbos. Unstable dmg bonus. Not advised.
Aced: Same as Basic. To make full use of this skill, you'd have to use aimbot.

Low Blow
Basic: Great source of dmg for dodge builds. Key numbers are 5, 8, 11 (...).
Aced: Same as basic, but now you get max crit. at 25 concealment.

Counter-Strike
Basic: Simply holding in 'S' will negate the effectiveness of a cop hitting you.
Aced: Great skill when you're alone. Rendered useless by teamwork and Inspire aced.

Bullseye
Basic: 1 shot can't both break armor and damage health - good skill if you have points.
Aced: 16 armor every three seconds for the price of 8 skill points.. No.

Sneaky Bastard
Basic: This should raise your dodge, making your build viable on Death Wish.
Aced: Same as basic, but now you have max dodge at 25 concealment.

Akimbo
Basic Akimbos are favored by many. I suggest keeping this skill at basic.
Aced So.. Like half the community you have decided to play with akimbos. In case this holds true, there's a couple of things you should keep in mind: Making an akimbo build takes up a lot of skill points, and should therefore be done at later levels. This does not make it any better than other builds, it just means that you will be missing out on other useful skills, which serve to increase your survivability and/or dmg. You will often see akimbo builds, intended for max level, skipping out on skills such as Cat Burglar, Stun Resistance or Inspire. This proves a point; every skill point counts when making builds. Where you choose to put that last one or two points can make all the difference in the world.

Perk Decks part I ✯

The first 4 perk decks were introduced to the game during Crime Fest. The ones lower down the list, have been added later on and are unlocked either by default, or with DLCs. The perk deck system replaced tier bonuses, which in my oppinion is a great change. What perk decks do, is add versatility when making builds - by not locking you into choosing certain skills to get certain bonuses. Instead you can now pick whatever bonuses you see fit, once you have skilled the proper perk deck.
Take some time to look through them all, and then proceed to level up one of them, all the way to get all the effects. As you may have noticed, every second bonus will be identical to that of the other decks. Some of the decks provide you with team bonuses, which will be beneficial to the entire crew, including yourself. Crew bonuses do not stack, so talk it over with your team while being in the lobby. Most perk decks won't have a big impact on how you should play your build - some will, and this will be further explained in this section.
Upon entering a map; you will not be able to switch.
The numbers I have used here are taken from The Long Guide, as some of the numbers you will see ingame are incorrect.


Crew Chief: This perk deck will mostly give you bonuses which are added to your entire crew. These are armor (5% 17 for ICTV), health (10% 23 HP), stamina (50%) and regen to stamina (4%) and health (2% 4.6 HP), stacking up to ten times. Bonuses to self include armor (5% 17 for ICTV), health (10% 23 HP) and the ability to shout a bit longer (Inspire not included).
I rarely use this perk deck. This is not due to it being bad, it just doesn't add anything crutial to your build. That being said - it does add some nice bonuses to your entire team and should be considered if nobody else is using it.

Muscle: If you seek to function as a shield for your team, this is definitely worth considering. Again, this is a perk deck I do not care for, as the primary function of it is adding health (80% 184 HP). The panic function has a small chance of occuring, and will have greatest effect on weak units. It can not be chained. The final ability is you taking aggro from your team-mates. If you want to tank for your team - you can utilize other mechanics, such as standing closer to your targets. You will be targeted more though - and this might be nice for some of your team-mates.
Health is a feeble means of survival - though it will allow you to tank a few more shots, it will not regenerate - and is therefore only usable once for every time you heal. Carefully managing your armor, will make the next perk deck on the list, more useful.

Armorer This is my go-to deck when I'm looking to stack up armor for the ultimate tank. Though the numers are small - they take effect most of the time. You gain armor (+34 for ICTV) and faster armor regen (10%). Your whole crew will also gain 10% faster armor regen. Needless to say, this deck is suited for when you go heavy.

Rogue The rogue is almost the only one I use. This is due to the final bonus, making you swap weapons twice as fast. This might not seem like a big deal, but it is. In most cases, you will want to carry weapons that compliment each other - giving you the ability to take down a wider selection of enemies. To make this very simple, let's say you're carrying a Car-4 and a Judge with HE (High Explosive) rounds. You're in the middle of popping helmets - when a Dozer enters your sight. With the faster weapon swap speed you will be able to quickly switch and stun him with your secondary; leaving him to enter an animation which enables you to switch back to your Car-4 and take him down before he can fight back.
This ability is life-saving in so many scenarios - that I find the Rogue perk deck to out-class each and every other deck, with any given build. This is of course unless you plan to go with a Ballistic Vest (in which case you should be using Crook) - or if you're going with a saw, in which case you are more likely find better use in the Armorer or Crew Chief perk.
On top of the swap speed, you also get a considerable amount of dodge (30%). This will allow you to create a dodge build - Simply equip a Suit, and your survival capabilities should rival that of other builds (Provided your skill build is also built towards dodge). The AP (armor piercing) acquired through this deck (25%), is less useful than the tool-tip might have you believe, as it only works on the body armor of heavily armored cops (tans). This will prove to be useful if you're using shotguns with a wide bullet-spread.. or if you're a cross-eyed sharpshooter.
As stated in the armorer perk deck, the 15% less/more likely to be targeted can be easily manipulated by other means, but will sometimes make shields turn away from you - which is nice.

Perk Decks part II ✯

Apart from the four original perk decks, new ones have been added to the game. More decks are bound to be included as time goes by. Here are my thoughts on the ones added so far:


Hitman: Can be leveled as a first choice to unlock akimbo pistols (provided you don't own the Western Pack DLC, in which case you can equip the bow at level 30). This is the only use I find in this perk deck. If you want to use akimbo pistols on loud heists, do pick them up through the Fugitive skill tree, as this will circumvent the draw-backs added by this perk deck (loss of armor and a doubling of your recoil on akimbo pistol).

Crook: Should be your equiped perk deck if you're going with an armor including "ballistic Vest" in the title. Rolling these armors will have you rely on both your armor and dodge for survival. The heavier your vest; the more armor you get, while sacrificing dodge. The opposite holds truth with the lighter armors. One of these vests might just be the one that tickles your sweet spot, so try them out.

Burglar: This is the only perk deck that directly aids you during stealth. Though the bonuses might be minor they can make a difference.
With the Burglar perk deck equiped you will bag bodies 0.4 seconds faster, pick doors 20% faster and answer pagers 1 second faster.
It also gives you bonuses useful to loud gameplay - these are minor compared to other decks and shouldn't tip the scale when choosing which deck to equip.

Infiltrator: This perk deck begs for some very interesting gameplay. Being close to enemies negates incomming damage, hitting enemies continuously will add damage to your melee weapons, and periodically restore your life points. "Time to go medieval on their butts!" ...You might think. Let's have a closer look:
Repeatedly hitting enemies with your melee weapon will stack additional damage. Up to a total of 180%. This seems reasonable - the catch here is that you have to stay.. not only exposed, but even in melee range of your enemies, to rack up the damage.
Having one enemy close to you will negate 12% of all incoming damage. Another enemy in your vicinity, and your damage reduction will go up with an added 8%. This all adds up to you ignoring the damage of every fifth incoming bullet. The other four will rapidly deplete your armor and tear down your health along with your self-esteem. "But wait!" you might reply, "the final bonus in this perk deck will allow me to get my health points back". This statement is correct, but the downside to this is also written in the description: "10% every 15th second". Why Overkill would choose these numbers - is beyond me.
On higher difficulties you will quickly find yourself swarmed by cops. They will hit you in the face, they will shoot at you, Tasers will incapacitate you and cloakers will kick your teeth in.
Another problem you will face when making dedicated melee builds, is running out of stamina. You will eventually find yourself in the middle of the street with your pants down and no lube in sight.
You may equip this deck to regenerate some health (32 HP) every now and then - and also make use of the damage mitigation provided. But these purposes are outclassed by other perk decks.

Sociopath: Using this perk deck will reduce the damage you take by 4% if an enemy is close.
The rest of the bonuses can be seen as a single ability, which (if all requirements are met - done by killing with a melee attack,) will add up to this:

• Regenerate 20 armor.
  
• All enemies within 10 meters have a 20% chance to enter a panic attack.
  
• Regenerate 5% health (17 HP).

These abilities have a shared cooldown of 3 seconds, which isn't too much. On the other hand, the bonuses are also of lower values, and require you to be close to your enemies for full effect (see Infiltrator).

Gambler: This is the most recent addition to the perk deck system. The added bonuses from this perk deck are more straight-forward than the descriptions may have you believe: Ammo picked up by you will cause you to heal 8 to 10 Hp, and your team-mates by half the amount. This ability has a cooldown of 15 seconds, which is shared with other players on your team. The other half of the Gambler perk deck does the following: "Cause every teammate to gain ammo as though he had just personally picked up an ammo drop, except that the final ammo pickup for each weapon is divided by 2 and rounded down." This effect has a cooldown of 5 seconds, also shared by the whole crew.

This wraps up the sections regarding Perk Decks. As I've been rather quick to dismiss most of them as "useless", I strongly advise you to go ingame and try them all out by yourself. After all, this is what the game is all about.

Infamy

Going infamous is pretty straightforward. Once you have acquired 23,336,300 experience, you will hit level 100. Around the same time you hit the level cap, you will have acquired 200 million in your offshore account (you will find yourself short, if you’re like me and like hosting every single time – I had ~150 last time I hit level 100). You can now go to the main menu, hit the button ‘BECOME INFAMOUS’ and there you go – you have now increased your infamy by 1 – only 24 remaining.
Don’t forget to “spend” your infamy in the ‘INFAMY’-tab. Your first 5 points should be spent, to make your screen look like this:

At level V-100 you can make all the best builds, as putting an infamy point in all trees – will let you reach the final tier, 4 skill points prior to not having spent infamy. I recommend you level up Mastermind first – as you will be able to reach Inspire with less fillers. But if you’re a sucker for the skills in the Engineer, this is also a solid choice – as the fillers here are pretty useless. Putting points in either of the four “primary” ones, will give you the reduction in the Fugitive tree.
The remaining 20 infamy levels will only give you a bonus to experience gain and some cosmetics. As it looks now – the infamy system will probably change. The way it panned out seems rushed, and was received badly by the community. And if some birds turn out to be right, we will probably also be receiving 1 infamy update a year (These are pure speculations though).

Deployables part I ✯

In Payday 2 we have 8 different deployables. Every single one of these has a role to play. Some of them are more useful to the team than others, and some of them are so situational, that they can be considered obsolete in most heists. For an optimal build, you should only skill into one of the following.
Which one you pick will be determined by the skill tree(s) you’re invested in – and fully upgrading the equipment of your choice is very important. Are you going with Ammo Bags, ace Ammo Specialist. Going with Doctor Bags – ace Combat Doctor (…not Combat Medic).
I find the optimal loadout - on most maps, to be three people bringing Doctor and Ammo Bags. You will probably want your fourth guy to bring C4 - circumventing drills, or furthering the completion of objectives in other ways. It won't hurt if he brings First Aid Kits either.
Here is a list, in which I will try to break down what they do, in which situations you will want to bring them, and how useful they are in general. Of course, you can choose whichever one(s) you like, and you should – this is just another list I have created, to give you an idea of what I consider the very best and most optimal.


Armor Bag: This one is unlocked through your Perk Deck. The idea behind it fits perfectly into the game: You try to stealth a map – you fail and it goes loud. Now you would have been better off in a build geared towards loud gameplay. Well… With this Armor Bag, you can now equip your heaviest armor available.
The usefulness of this deployable is just laughable. Never have I seen anyone using it – It was introduced to the game, around the same time as dodge-builds became a thing. Dodge-builds use suits – which is what you’re wearing in stealth – furthermore, you can obtain a reasonable amount of dodge; getting inexpensive skills – in the same trees as you skill for stealth.
All stealthable maps can easily be done by one or two people – leaving two guys in loud gear at spawn – in case of failure, is preferable to equipping this deployable. Pick your equipment to further your chances of success – not towards failure.


Doctor Bag: Is at least one of your crew members going to be downed more than three times? –The answer is probably “yes – most likely”. In that case you will want one crew-member bringing this. A fully upgraded Doctor Bag contains four charges – each of these will heal you for a maximum of three downs.
One person is capable of bringing two Doctor Bags to the party – so let’s do some simple math: 2 x 4 = 8 (number of charges) 8 x 24 (number of downs healed). You see this? One person can rectify you 24 times! This should make a solid argument for skilling and equipping this one.
Due to the Doctor Bag healing you up completely, you should not heal up, before you’re grey. This is a mistake made by new players (I even saw an infamous 16 failing to grasp this, during Rats on Death Wish). Using meds before it’s necessary will shorten your chances of success. It can however, be a good idea to heal up if you find yourself in a spot you’re not coming back to (such as the streets on Hoxton Breakout day 1).
Put your Doctor Bags and other refilling deployables in protected places, so your team-mates can safely restock without fear.


First Aid Kits: are a newer edition to the game – they arrived with the Fugitive tree. Fully upgrading your FAKs will give you a total of 14 cute cupcakes – capable of fully healing your health – not resetting your downs. “So what does the FAKs have to offer, that the meds don’t?” You may be asking. You can quickly deploy and use the FAKs, and they will have you ignore a minor amount of damage, for a few seconds. Other than that, there isn’t a whole lot to be said about them.

Dear FAK-users: (Death Wish related only):
Meds/Ammo > FAKs: These little bastards (FAKs, not players themselves) are the main reason for me wanting to write a guide in the first place. They are in my opinion heavily overused. Time and time again have I found myself in a lobby – with multiple persons bringing FAKs. This can make a heist easier to complete, it can aid your team greatly by limiting the number of times you will go down. But one person bringing FAKs – is also one person not bringing meds or ammo. At higher levels you will be able to heavily skill into two trees (more on this further down the guide). Popular ways of doing so – are ‘Fugitive + Mastermind’ and ‘Fugitive + Enforcer’. Both of these options, enable you to skill equipment, which isn’t FAKs. And with the knowledge gained, from reading the sections above – you should see why I disregard FAKs – as much as I do.
In practicality – FAKs are inferior to meds. Proper placement of meds, shouldn’t be hard to find. Going down should not be a big concern to you – it’s part of the game, and on Death Wish difficulty, it is expected to happen quite often. This fact is also the reason why I think that Inspire, Berserker and Swan Song are among the most powerful in the game.
On Death Wish, you will also run into a great number of Specials. Getting incapacitated by a Cloaker or a Taser, will bring your health down to 10%. Getting revived will also restore your health to this amount – leaving you on the brink of death – most of the time. Using FAKs to patch up, will quickly deplete the meager amount you’re carrying, or force several people to bring FAKs. Some people will even hoard them – keep them to themselves, and use them as a crutch for their inferior dodge-builds (may Lord Almir show mercy upon their souls). Proper use of FAKs, require constantly keeping tabs on your team’s health. You are expected to put down a FAK… yes, my friend – I expect you to drop whatever you’re doing, get your butt over here and share your love.
Only on a few maps, would I value FAKs over meds. These are short maps, which require you to move a lot. Most short maps will be completed without much trouble and take place in-between longer ones. There is only one map – in the whole game, where FAKs outshine meds. Hoxton Breakout day 1. This map was the big seller during Crimefest – we got to free Hoxton from prison, on a map littered with cops, providing action-packed gameplay and a payday outshining most other heists. This led to people grinding their way through levels, on this one heist. The sad part is, that people are bringing their FAKs to other heists as well, taking up a slot for other useful deployables.
Do keep this in mind when creating a build – FAKs can be a great addition – but we are only four, and two extra Med Bags will most likely be a better alternative.

Deployables part II ✯

Ammo Bag: This deployable will - when fully upgraded – contain enough charges to refill the ammo capacity of both your weapons, five times over. When you use it, you will see the amount of ammo-clips within the bag, decrease.
For the sake of this guide, let’s say that one fully upgraded Ammo Bag contains 1000% ammo. If both your weapons are completely empty – you will use 200% - first 100% will be transferred to your secondary, the next will go to your primary (this is significant, if the bag is almost empty). You should also be aware of this fact, when bringing weapons with a low ammo-count. If you brought a Judge with HE rounds, it will have a capacity of 10 rounds - here it will work in your favor to pick up ammo-drops from the ground, as each round replenished by the Ammo Bag, will make up for a lot of bullets for another weapon with a high ammo count (such as an LMG).
Some weapons are ammo-efficient enough to be used indefinitely, without you making use of the Ammo Bag. Most weapons are not, making the Ammo Bag a vital tool to completing most heists.


ECM Jammer: Your ECM has various upgrades. Fully upgraded; you will have 2 EMC Jammers which last 30 seconds each. They will block the pagers of fallen guards, and completely lock down the map – from anyone trying to call the police. Due to this fact, ECMs are used when rushing in, to deal with anything posing a threat to your gang’s ability to remain in stealth. They are the primary deployable brought to most stealth maps.
Some maps can be completed by simply putting down an ECM, secure the map and wait for the drill. Coordinating this procedure with your team can lead to a time-frame of up to four minutes – and is referred to as “ECM-chaining”. I have done it a million times, and it has become a rather cheesy way of completing heists, but the option is there.
The final upgrade to your ECMs is Feedback. This ability is meant to be used in loud mode, and is triggered by interacting with a deployed ECM. Due to the vast amount of skill points you’ll have to put into the Ghost tree to get there, this ability is hardly ever utilized. It will make the cops (even dozers) go into an animation which keeps them from doing anything. Swat Turrets will even join your crew and start firing at the enemy. I do not recommend including this skill, since you have to spend half your skill points in the Ghost tree – and getting a deployable such as ammo or meds tends to be more needed.


Trip Mine: These are very versatile and fit into many lobbies. With the right upgrades you can use them to open doors, set up traps for Cloakers and mark specials for higher damage. The upgrades giving you a bigger explosion-radius shouldn’t make a big difference – as it won’t aid you in what I consider the key-uses of the trip-mines.
Trip-mines can also be used in stealth, and will then be best spent in places where you might not spot a guard, before he sees you (staircases and corners with frequent patrols).


Sentry Gun: The Sentry Gun… Haven’t we all played a round of Team Fortress 2 – where an Engineer puts a level III Turret in a vital position – completely wrecking the other team? Firing rockets and-what-not like no tomorrow. Well my friend, let me share a little secret with you: This is not how it works in Payday 2. This is not a game taking place in some arena, with an abundance of re-spawning ammo laying around. Your little Sentry Gun will not fire with laser-precision – it will run out of ammo pretty quickly. And it will do so, without accomplishing anything on almost all maps. At longer ranges most bullets will miss, and up close you will see sentry guns blowing their loads on shields, and cops flipping it over.
You could argue, that the Sentry Gun has a wide variety of upgrades – giving it more ammo, better accuracy and making it refillable. While this is true – it will amount to you spending over 40 skill points. This is enough to reach the top of any given skill tree – you can get a lot of skills for 40 points. And on top of that you will be yet another person, not bringing ammo or meds.


Body Bag Case: Gives you the option to bring Body Bag cases - up to an additional 8 body-bags. Not too useful on most maps, since you can only answer four pagers - but in case you find yourself shooting more civilins or police men without pagers, you can equip this deployable.
If you're going for one of the following maps you might want to consider this option:

• GO Bank
  
• Big Bank
  
• Bomb Heist: Dockyard

Needless to say - it's a stealth-only deployable.

Weapon Types ✯

COMMING SOON - still not sure how I want to add this



Sub Machine Guns: Generally speaking, SMGs are relatively inaccurate weapons with high rates of fire but low damage per shot. The rate of fire can be further increased by acing the skill SMG Specialist (Ghost Tier 3), allowing SMGs to achieve higher DPS. This is the only skill which specificially offers benefits for SMGs.
Even with the increased ammo pickup rate from Walk-in Closet (included in every perk deck), many SMGs are not simply not ammo efficient enough to be used as a main weapon. Although they can achieve a DPS which exceeds that of many assault rifles, the low damage per shot means many bullets are required to kill an enemy, and the amount of ammunition recovered from ammo drops is too little for them to be self sustainable. SMGs with poor ammo efficiency can be used as a secondary weapon when you don't have pistol or shotgun skills. They'll run dry quickly in sustained combat, but they serve as a decent high-DPS backup weapon for when the magazine of your primary is empty. However, you would probably be better off using a Judge without skills or a high-damage pistol.
An ammo efficienct SMG can be utilized on small maps where the high DPS is advantageous and the low accuracy isn't a problem. SMGs generally offer high concealment as well and synergize well with Low Blow (Tier 5 skill in the Fugitive tree that grants up to 30% chance of critical hits); utilizing Low Blow increase your damage output further helps with ammo efficiency. The Hotline Miami DLC offers several SMGs which are concealable and ammo efficient; the Patchett L2A1 included in the Gage Historical Pack is a decent option too.

Weapon Stats

SECTION NOT FINISHED
Here you have a list of the weapon stats as shown in the inventory menu. Some of the stats are pretty self explanatory - but there are a few things to keep in mind.
Some stats should take priority when modding your weapons, while others can be easily ignored.
Once more I will ask you to seriously consider getting the mod Better weapon stats GUI. It will show you the correct stats, and hovering over the numbers will give you a great deal of information.

Magazine & Reload: Upgrading your magazine size is important - do this if you're not concerned with the lowered concealment, which only matters when you're looking to make use of dodge/crit.
Most weapons will be reloading faster if you do it prior to emptying the magazine. For instance - the R93 will reload a second faster if it still has at least one bullet left - the Nagant won't. You will have to find out for yourself, if you're unsure about the weapon you have equpped.

Total ammo & ammo pick-up: The rate of which a weapon picks up ammo might seem to be determined by the amount of ammo it carries, but this isn't the case. Although a weapon with high ammo capacity will pick up more ammo than a weapon with low ammo, some weapons deviate from this pattern. if you take a look at the Queen's Wrath, you will see that it is an excellent weapon with a butt-load of ammo - but it is made impractical on longer runs by the low amount of ammo it gets from drops. On the other side of the spectrum we have the Scorpion. It has low damage and low accuracy, but due to its high fire-rate and high pick-up rate, it can carry you through a Death Wish run (provided you modded it correctly and have a solid skill build).

Damage: A weapon's damage as an isolated stat - doesn't do you any good. What you have to keep in mind is shots-to-kill, people will refer to these as damage breakpoints.
As as example of this, you mgiht see the Thanatos and think that it is the best sniper rifle, due of the insanely high damage. But if you compare its shots-to-kill with the R93 - you will see that they both need 1 shot in the head to kill all units (except for Dozers of course). The R93 has better ammo pick-up and a higher fire-rate, so the R93 is superior to the Thanatos.
All weapons seem to have their place, some are very awesome from the get-go, such as the Locomotive, while others might require you to think outside the box - examples of such weapons would be the Minigun and the Plainsrider Bow.
Be sure to always mod your weapons, so that they hit damage breakpoints, any damage that doesn't contribute to reaching a breakpoint will usually come with drawbacks.

Rate of Fire: RoF is pretty straight-forward. 1 point here adds one round per minute (RPM). If a weapon has a high RoF (700), but is single-shot, it shows how many rounds you can fire by spasmically pressing the fire-button.

Accuracy: This stat can be hard to determine. A weapon with high accuracy isn't necessarily able to hit perfectly at long distances. You will have to go and read about each weapon, to see where it's strength lies. As an example Sniper rifles are very accurate while zooming - but they have a larger spread if you hip-fire - the opposite holds true with the Gecko rifle and the Signature 40 pistol, these weapons are best fired from the hip - as they will be very precise then.

Stability:

Concealment:

Threat:

Shotgun Ammo Types ✯

Adding custom ammo to your shotgun can be very beneficial, and will replace the regular ammo type with the one you picked. It will make you capable of taking down a wider variety of enemies with ease – but comes at a price. Changing the ammo type will lower the amount of ammo it can carry and will (more importantly) lower your ammo pick-up rate. The severity of ammo-loss is also set at a specific amount with each gun (i.e. The Locomotive has a higher ammo pool than The Judge, but were you to equip both of them with HE rounds, the Loco would suffer heavier than the Judge – making the Judge a superior choice in this situation).
Due to the ammo-loss – you will most likely want your other weapon to be one, which is very ammo-conservative.
Here is a list of custom ammo, they can all be equipped in both your primary shotguns, as well the secondary ones.

000 Buckshots: This is the type I find the least useful one. Beside the minor damage boost, no further mechanic will be added. Check up on damage breakpoints, to see if equipping these will require you to spend less ammo than the amount lost from the penalty to ammo-pickup.

HE Rounds: These rounds will stun Dozers. They will make cops and tasers fly, and shields will stagger. You will have a hard time not finding these useful. Put them in a shotgun with high damage, and you will be able to kill shields and expose the face of dozers in a few shots.
If you find yourself surrounded by cops – shoot a couple of rounds in the ground, and run away while the cops recuperate.

Flechettes: This type of ammo will increase the range of your shotgun. It works, but also results in one of your weapons, becoming less ammo-efficient, forcing you to bring a second weapon for clearing out regular cops – while not being of any particular help towards specials. I haven’t found any suitable candidate for Flechettes – the Joceline comes to mind – but then again, why not bring a weapon type without heavy penalties to range?

AP Slugs: At the moment these are underwhelming – they do not penetrate shields and other kinds of armor – they have a chance of doing so. But that is the mechanic given by equipping this ammo-type.

Dragon’s Breath Rounds: Apart from the novelty effect of setting enemies on fire – very little is gained. At release, they would do nothing else. Now they have somewhere around a 50% chance of penetrating shields.

A lot of things change with each patch. How shotgun ammo functions is no exception, in fact they are often subject to heavy change. Therefore I highly recommend, that you check up on these “hidden fixes”, with every single patch. Good places to do so, would be Reddit and The Long Guide. As an example, HE rounds would even make charging Cloakers fall to the ground – making them over-powered as hell, and AP Slugs no longer penetrate shield with every single shot. Some of these things might be mentioned in the patch notes – they might not.

Creating Builds ✯

Not sure if I wanna add this. See this new guide for ideas on making builds:
Payday 2 Comprehensive Skills and Builds Guide - by x7 Xomm.

Stealth

COMMING SOON

Ingame Behavior

COMMING SOON

►Chapter III - Gameplay Improvement

DLCs part I

As with everything else written in this guide: This whole thing is a reflection of my personal oppinions, and you should therefore take a moment to make up your own thoughts and ideas. That being said though, I do believe that most of what I have wriiten - to have some logic to it.
If you haven't already purchased all the available DLCs, you might find some use of the following sections. Here I will give you an overview of all the purchasable DLCs, how much of a necessity they are, compared to one another, as well as providing you the with means of finding more info on them. Do keep in mind, that some of the reviews linked further down, were created at the time the DLCs came out, as this holds a great deal of importance to whether the the DLC itself is desirable today.
A short answer to the question "Should I get all the DLCs" would be both "yes" and "no". It all comes down to the amount of hours you will be spending within the game. If you're a casual gamer and don't expect yourself to spend more than a hundred hours, you might not want to buy every single one of them. I on the other hand, have bought every single DLC at full price, and don't regret doing so. Simply due to the amount of hours the game has kept me entertained, and hopefully will continue to do so. Because of the recent price-changes on (mostly older) DLCs, regretting a purchase is that much more unlikely.
I will not list free DLCs, nor will I list content which isn't available to Steam users.

Heists

The primary content added by the following DLCs, are heists. To play these maps, you do not need to own the DLC. Getting them will add additional content which might prove useful to you, in your future endeavours. As stated before - I will add some personal notes, and try to rate each of them compared to one another. The higher the score, the more urgent. You will also find links to reviews done by various youtubers.

Armored Transport - Trailer
Adds:

• 6 maps.
  
• 3 weapons.
  
• "Over a dozen" weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 3.99€
Release Date: 14th Nov 2013.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: This is one of the first DLCs added to Payday 2. The weapons and weapon mods added with this DLC are matched or outdone by others in the game, and no exciting mechanics will be gained from said weapons.
Rating: 3/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• JamesBlack47
  
• ArrowKeyGaming

Hotline Miami - Trailer
Adds:

• 1 map.
  
• 4 weapons (and 4 melee).
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, 8 materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 3.99€
Release Date:: Sep 30th 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: As with The Armored Tarnsports - this was a great addition to Payday 2. The weapons added though, aren't life-changing. They're all SMGs, which generally don't hold a candle to the other classes. If however, you find them to your liking; do consider this DLC, as they're among the best ones.
Rating: 3/10
Review found on youtube:

• GameMechanic

The Big Bank Heist - Trailer
Adds:

• 1 map.
  
• 1 weapons.
  
• 9 weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 3.99€
Release Date: June 17th 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: This is my absolute favorite heist. It is among the hardest ones, both in terms of stealth and loud - which puts its replayability next to endless. However, this does not change the fact, that I think you should prioritize other ones higher. The one weapon it includes, is dreadful.
Rating: 1/10
Gameplays found on youtube:

• TheKknowley
  
• GeneralMcBadass

The Bomb Heists - Trailer
Adds:

• 2 maps.
  
• 1 weapons.
  
• a few weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 6.99€
Release Date: Jan 22nd 2015.
(NOT Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: Although these two heists offer a lot of content to the game, you might just as well have a friend hosting it. The pistol is similar to other pistols, with a few tweaks in stats.
Rating: 2/10.
Reviews found on youtube:

• TheKknowley (includes thoughts on the Dragan Character)
  
• Bandito Gaming (includes thoughts on the Dragan Character)

The Diamond Heist - Trailer
Adds:

• 1 map.
  
• 0 weapons.
  
• 0 weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 3.99€
Release Date: Dec 16th 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: Same as Bomb heists.
Rating: 1/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• BlackJack47 (includes thoughts on the Clover Character)
  
• TheKknowley

DLCs part II

Weapon Packs

Gage Assault Pack
Adds:

• 4 weapons (and 4 melee).
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 2.99€
Release Date: Sep 4th 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: 2 of the weapons you really want. The GL40 and the Clarion Rifle are excellent. Gecko and G3 both need more ammo to be useful on Death Wish and they dont really stand out regarding stats.
Rating: 7/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• GameMechanic
  
• TheKknowley

Gage Historical Pack
Adds:

• 4 weapons (and 4 melee).
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 2.99€
Release Date: Nov 13th 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: No new mechanics of interest to be found here. The Nagant Sniper could be considered over the R93 if your aim is up for it. The Patchett (smg) is probably the best one in the game, so if they're up your alley - you will want to grab this DLC early on.
Rating: 5/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• BlackJack47
  
• GameMechanic

Gage Mod Courier
Adds:

• 0 weapons.
  
• 28 weapon mods.
  
• 0 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 2.99€
Release Date: Apr 10th 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: This DLC adds so many mods to so many different guns that it is a very important DLC - probably the first one you want to grab.
Rating: 10/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• Kriegstic
  
• GeneralMcBadass

Gage Shotgun Pack
Adds:

• 3 weapons.
  
• 4 Custom shotgun ammo types.
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 0.99€
Release Date: Jul 3rd 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: If you're looking to get serious - you want this pack. The custom ammo becomes really benefitial once you go for Death Wish and oven Overkill. The weapons are nice too.
Rating: 9/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• GeneralMcBadass
  
• Mah-Dry-Bread

Gage Sniper Pack
Adds:

• 3 weapons.
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 2.99€
Release Date: May 8th 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: This DLC used to be very important - but now we have so many other means of dealing with shields and dozers - that you can skip this DLC if you don't care for the 3 sniper rifles included. Are you into snipers - this is the DLC you want to grab among the first ones.
Rating: 6/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• BlackJack47[http//BlackJack47]
  
• TheKknowley[http//TheKknowley]

Gage Weapon Pack #01
Adds:

• 3 weapons.
  
• Hand Grenades.
  
• Fire-toggle mods.
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 2.99€
Release Date: Dec 5th 2013.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: The pistol and the smg are nice - same goes for the auto-fire mod. You will want to have them at some point - but there's no reason to sweat it before you're well into the game.
Rating: 5/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• GeneralMcBadass
  
• TheKknowley

Gage Weapon Pack #02
Adds:

• 3 weapons (and 4 melee).
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 2.99€
Release Date: Jan 30th 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: The LMGs are easily out-classed by more modable weapons - they're clumsy and imprecise. Nothing else of value here.
Rating: 2/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• GeneralMcBadass
  
• ArrowKeyGaming

The Butcher's AK/CAR Mod Pack
Adds:

• 0 weapons.
  
• 20 weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 4.99€
Release Date: Feb 26th 2015.
(NOT Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: With this DLC, your AK's and Carbines will become very versatile - you will want this pack due to it boosting your main ARs so hard.
Rating: 8/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• GeneralMcBadass
  
• Richard Dangles

The Butcher's BBQ PackTrailer

Adds:

• 3 weapons (and 4 melee).
  
• Molotov's (grenades)
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 4.99€
Release Date: May 7th 2015.
(NOT Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: The weapons here are interesting - like most new DLCs they introduce new mechanics and have you play differently. I would recommend you to get this as one of the first ones - it having the Molotov's is also a big plus - as this grenade is the best one (no - its not about opinions - it is the best one).
Rating: 7/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• xForts
  
• TheKknowley

DLCs part III

The Butcher's Western Pack - Trailer

Adds:

• 3 weapons (and 4 melee).
  
• Dynamite (grenades).
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 4.99€
Release Date: Apr 30th 2015.
(NOT Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: This is my personal favorite - simply because of the bow. But other people don't feel the same way. If you're not seriously into the weapons in this DLC, there isn't much to be gained from it - so it's a hit or miss.
Rating: 6/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• LilGuy G
  
• CanadianPenguinGaming

The OVERKILL Pack - Trailer

Adds:

• 2 weapons.
  
• (Various) weapon mods.
  
• 1 mask, 1 van cosmetic.

Steam Store page - 4.99€
Release Date: Mar 6th 2015.
(NOT Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: The weapons included here are unique - but you only get 2, and they don't make for much versatility (minigun can be modded to low end of concealment, but that's it).
Rating: 4/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• LilGuy G
  
• TheKknowley

Character Packs

Clover Character Pack
Adds:

• 1 Character
  
• 1 weapons (and 1 melee).
  
• A few weapon mods.
  
• 1 Perk Deck
  
• 2 masks.

Steam Store page - 2.99€
Release Date: Dec 16th 2014.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: Getting this DLC prior to other ones is not advised. The Queen's Wrath has very low ammo pick-up and the perk deck adds a minor buff to you when stealthing - so there's nothing game-breaking to look for here.
Rating: 2/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• Good Time Gaming
  
• GameMechanic

Dragan Character Pack
Adds:

• 1 Character
  
• 1 weapons (and 1 melee).
  
• A few weapon mods.
  
• 1 Perk Deck
  
• 2 masks.

Steam Store page - 4.99€
Release Date: Jan 22nd 2015.
(NOT Included in the GOTY Edition)
Personal notes: This DLC adds even less than the Clover DLC. Your Lion's Roar is awesome... but has a very long reload-time. The perk deck is meh... And that it - not really worth five bucks.
Rating: 1/10
Reviews found on youtube:

• Good Time Gaming
  
• Sir Cracker Bulb (^_^)

Soundtracks

These 4 DLCs don't change your gameplay by much. They do, however add greatly to your experience of playing the game. All the songs have been made by Simon Viklund, who has done a great job, and I highly recommend getting these, as they're all cheap. Apart from soundtracks, two of them add masks ingame.
The soundtracks will be added to your Payday 2 folder,
which by default is located here (on windows 7):

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\PAYDAY 2

In your ingame options menu, you will find a feature called "Jukebox". A tutorial on how to use this feature, has been added by the man himself.
To listen to these soundtracks online, you wanna go here[overkillsoundtracks.bandcamp.com].


A Merry Payday Christmas (x4)
Adds:

• 8 tracks (8 regular and 6 instrumental).
  
• 3 masks.

Steam Store page - 0.99€
Release Date: Dec 19th 2013.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)


Payday: The Heist Soundtrack
Adds:

• 17 tracks (in different formats).
  
• 4 masks for PD:TH.

Steam Store page - 3.99€
Release Date: Oct 18th 2012.


The Official Soundtrack
Adds:

• 22 tracks.
  
• 4 masks, materials and patterns.

Steam Store page - 2.99€
Release Date: Aug 13th 2013.
(Included in the GOTY Edition)


The OVERKILL B-Sides Soundtrack
Adds:

• 16 tracks.

Steam Store page - 0.99€
Release Date: May 7th 2015.

Exclusive Content (no longer available)

Alienware Alpha Mauler:
Signing up to "Alienware Arena" gave us the very sweet-looking (and so very exclusive) Alpha Mauler (...you can still get it here[eu.alienwarearena.com] )

Career Criminal Edition:
This is what people would get for pre-ordering the game Payday 2. With it people got a mask, pattern and colors. Also a duffle-bag, a mask and a wallet. And if anyone sits with a key to this "DLC"; yes - I swallow... I'm not gay - but I really want this one - think I even dreamed about the mask once.. very intense :(

Humble Mask Pack (1):
the first Humble Bundle pack - 2 masks for a limited time - could be gotten from the Humble Bundle Website

Humble Mask Pack 2:
Same as the first Humble Bundle pack - 2 masks for a limited time - could be gotten from the Humble Bundle Website

The Completely OVERKILL Pack:
This was an opportunity to buy a packwith 4 masks of the original heisters - with partical effects. a "very special item" will be added later.

Collaborations

Alienware Alpha Mask Pack:
Buying the Alineware Alpha Console will give you a key to these two masks. It's 500 bucks and I have never seen these masks ingame.

Hotline Miami:
If you own the first Hotline Miami game, you will get access to four masks and the suitcase melee weapon. Stat-wise it isn't anything special.

Jacket Character Pack: - Trailer
Owning the second game of Hotline Miami unlocks the Jacket character - and he has some awesome voice-lines.
You can buy the Deluxe edition to get his SMG, which has an insane fire-rate. Fun to play with - but runs out of bullets pretty quickly.

SpeedRunners:
Having this game in your Steam Library will unlock four masks. These are among the goofier ones.

Installing mods

Payday 2 has an ever expanding modding community, which provide you with tools to alter your gaming experience. These, I tend to divide into three different categories:

• HUDs
  
• Functional mods
  
• Visual and sound mods

Before jumping into modding your game, do keep in mind, that Payday 2 is a game which is updated fairly often. More than once, have I assembled a wide variety of mods, painstakingly stacking them, so they don't crash the game, only to have a major update a few hours later, forcing me to re-download the whole game (this is partially due to my own lack of knowledge on the matter, but this will most likely happen to you too, if you decide to add a ton of mods).
That being said though, steps are being taken towards making the process of adding and updating mods a whole lot easier.

Here you will see how to install mods - some require you to install a program to run the mods, some are to be put into the mods_overrides folder, you might have to use BLT, or just copy+paste it into the game's folder.
How to install the mod is usually specified on the download-page, or there will be a text-document within the download.

HUDs can be installed, simply by downloading them. You go to their respective download pages, get the newest version, and add it into your Payday 2 Folder by default (on windows 7):

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\PAYDAY 2

What this will do, is add .dll-files into the payday 2 folder – among these files is one called LUA.hook, and it’s the same one which is being used by the BLT, so if you plan to run multiple mods, this might not be the right way to install your mods – as the BLT is by far the easiest means of installing mods.
mod_overrides folder
Before the revelation of the BLT Hook, we had two ways of installing mods. The first, which is also pretty straight forward, is the mod_overrides folder, added by Overkill. This was an attempt to simplify (and support) the modding of Payday 2. The folder is located within your assets folder, which (by default on Windows 7) can be found here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\PAYDAY 2\assets\mod_overrides

The great thing about this addition is that you can simply copy+paste mods into said folder, and they will appear ingame. The downside here is, that some mods aren't able to run through this method, and have to be installed through the original means, which will be described below. If you're interested in learning more about this, here is a YouTube guide, which sorts things out, and shows how to use of the mod_overrides folder.
The overrides folder is usually being used when you have smaller mods which alters sounds and textures within the game.

Bundle Modder
In the year of The Lord: 2013... People started modding the game. Mods were implemented through the Bundle Modder Tool. This program is still being used by mods, such as PD:TH HUD and probably many others.
You can get it here . An extensive guide has been written about how to install mods through the Bundle Modder – and you can watch a video about it here .
I haven't used this program in a while. And writing a guide on how to use it, would make a helpful person feel obligated to acquire updated knowledge on the subject. I will not do this.

BLT
This is the newest addition to mod-implementation. It is also the one I find the easiest to use.
It's quite simple: Downloading the BLT will install a folder in your Payday 2 folder, named "mods", where you add the compatible mods, and they will automatically prompt you to update whenever needed.
As they state on their website:
"Payday 2 BLT is our custom-made Lua hook for Payday 2. It has been designed and built from the ground up to make the installation and configuration of mods as simple and painless as possible."
Here is a YouTube guide on how to make use of the BLT mod folder.
You can get the BLT here[paydaymods.com].

HUDs

There are quite a few HUDs (Heads-Up Displays), which can greatly alter your experience of payday. I'm sure there are a lot which I do not know of, but here are the major ones, which you are most likely to run across:

HUD	Get Here	youtube review
HoxHud	HoxHud Steam Group	HoxHud
PocoHud	PocoHud Steam Group	PocoHud
GoonMod*	GoonMod [github.com]	GoonMod
PD:TH HUD	Last Bullet [forums.lastbullet.net]	PD:TH HUD

Here is a short description of the four HUDs. Each one will alter your game in its own way.

• HoxHud is the oldest HUD there is, it's made and maintained by Olipro and his team of [TEC]-dudes.
  During stealth you will be able to see how many pagers you have answered, the amount of body-bags you're carrying, number of guards remaining and more useful info.
  Once the game has gone loud, Hoxhud will provide you with information such as kill-counters, how many times you and your team-mates have downed, time remaining on drills will be showed on your screen, and ýou'll be shown how long you have to wait before your armor has regenerated. It will allow you to customize your laser mods, enable you to not hold in the interaction key, skip intros, see the number of spawns remaining during an assault and alot more.
  To customize your HoxHud, enter the Options Tab in the Main Menu.
  
• PocoHud by Zenyr, is a HUD which sports a lot of features which are also provided by HoxHud. It does however add a bunch of other thing too. Most of the features provided by PocoHud are meant to help you during loud gameplay and include things such as Informing you and/or your team through the chat, of downs, objectives and more. It will show damage-numbers dealt and taken on-screen. Duration and amount of activated skill-buffs, such as Berserker, Underdog and Inspire will be displayed in the upper corner, much like Hoxhud.
  To customize PocoHud, hit Backspace while in the menu or ingame.
  
• GoonMod (formerly GoonHud) is not really a HUD and has features that can alter your gameplay. GoonMod offers it's own special currency system; players earn "Gage Coins" by completing Gage courier assignemnts which can then be used to purchase weapon mods, masks, colors, and patterns. GoonMod also has an option to customize your weapons the same way you can customize masks, though this is a client-sided feature. GoonMod also gives you the option to play with mutators in private lobbies; for example you can make the game spawn only Cloakers. GoonMod offers many other features as well, such as the option to normalize weapon sensitivity when aiming down sights.
  
• PD:TH is purely visual, altering your display so it looks to be the HUD of the first Payday game; "Payday: The Heist", thus the name (...). This one is made by the modding community Last Bullet Gaming.

My short listings of the HUDs and their applications doesn't do them credit, I highly recommend you to go check them out, try them, see reviews on them and make your own opinions on them. That being said though, do keep in mind, that playing the game as intended by Overkill (...the makers of the game), has its merits. Not being able to see the exact time for when the drill finishes, counting your own downs and so forth will encourage you to step up your own game. It will have you more focused on team-work and have you try harder. Using HUDs doesn't ruin the game, but it does put you in easy-mode and you lose out on processes which require you to think for yourself (sorry, this is blurry, but I can't specify it any better, I do hope you understand though).

Functional mods

These are mods, which I have a hard time playing without. They are all newer mods, and will greatly aid you in improving your game, without being present ingame.
They all make use of the BLT tool, and are therefore easy to install and update.

Better Lobby Info

What this mod does, is giving you an overview of the skills used by your team-mates while you're in the lobby. Displaying the number of skills spent in each tree, as well as perk deck equipped. This is really simple, as it helps you determine the outline of your team-mates builds, without having to interrogate them. Also marks hackers without you having to do anything.
The info will not be available to you, once you're ingame though.
This mod can be downloaded here [forums.lastbullet.net].

Better Stats GUI More Weapon Stats

To understand the significance of this mod, you will need to understand the concept of "damage break-points". What this boils down to, is you - modding your weapons to hit for a certain amount, in order to take down enemy units with the least amount of bullets spent, thereby making your ammo usage more efficient.
This mod will tell you just that - alongside other useful stats.
For a youtube guide on this mod, look no further . This video goes over Better Stats GUI not More Weapon Stats, however the video explains some core aspects that the two mods share.
This mod can be downloaded here [paydaymods.com]

Bain Can't Cook For ♥♥♥♥

This is a small mod that will tell you which ingredient to put in on Rats and Cookoff, based on what Bain tells you. Very simple but very effective for those of you who tend to blow the lab ;)
Put the mod in your mods-folder, and whenever you play one of the two heists, a waypoint and/or an orange [BCCFS]-text will pop up, telling you the exact chem, instead of Bain's hazy messages.
You can read more about it and download it here[paydaymods.com].

Oh No! More Skillsets

http://forums.lastbullet.net/mydownloads.php?action=view_down&did=12509

Visual and Audio mods

Browse the interwebs

If you're looking for these kinds of mods, you will want to pay a visit to Last Bullet's website [forums.lastbullet.net]. These guys have amassed over a 1000 mods for Payday 2, giving you the ability to mod your game to oblivion. Just login (can be done via your steam account), and you're set.

A simple google search will also put you within reach of other great mods.
Here is a list of a few mods I used via the Bundle Modder 1.16 and the
Mod_overrides folder:

• The Hollywood Shootout - by AutoGibbon.
  
• Messy Package - by AutoGibbon.
  
• Hawk's near Complete Sound Pack - by Hawk.

As stated, you will have a hard time running out of new mods to try out. These are three "lore-friendly" mods which - used together will ramp up the badassitude of your loud gameplay. I used the first two mods through the Bundle Modder tool, and I suppose that's the way you would run them now, provided they are not supported by the overrides_folder or the BLT tool.
The sound mod goes to your overrides_folder.

Links to useful Guides and Websites

Do consider reading through these guides, as they will provide you with knowledge on a wide variety of aspects. These guides be read if you consider yourself a well-rounded heister, willing to delve into the mechanics of Payday. The guides linked below, will give you access to otherwise not-shown numbers within the game.
Payday 2 isn't too concerned with giving you actual numbers. At no point in the game are you told how much health you possess, the health and damage of your adversaries and so forth.
On top of this; the ingame numbers shown will often prove to be false.

The Long Guide - by Frankelstner.

Originally posted by author:

"Technical explanation of weapon stats, stealth, and many skills. Notes on every heist and an occasional walkthrough."

This is the guide of Payday 2. In here you will find in-depth descriptions of complicated and simple mechanics. This guide will also state the correct values, of false numbers. He/they also added walkthroughs, tips on skills and a lot more.

Compilation of Optimal Weapon Loadouts - by KarateF22.

Originally posted by author:

"This guide will provide a comprehensive list of various optimal weapon modification loadouts for you to use. It will also address concepts such as important damage numbers to hit and how skills affect the viability of certain weapon loadouts."

Centered around showing you the best weapons you can equip on any given build. This might be seen as a spoiler to new players, as it will severely narrow down the amount of weapons you want to use, prior to trying them out yourself. This doesn't make the guide hold any less truth though. Consider installing the mod Better Stats GUI (shown near the beginning of this guide), also made by KarateF22. This mod will do all the calculations for you, and show you the actual values, within your inventory.

An In-Depth Look at Shots to Kill and Damage Breakpoints - by SpaceCowboy (Slightly outdated).

Originally posted by author:

"This guide analyses the damage system of Payday 2, providing explanations for phenomena that appear in game. It has an emphasis on shots to kill and damage breakpoints and how they can be properly calculated."

This guide builds on the info provided by The Long Guide and and statements made by KarateF22. If you're like me, and get lost in the formulas breaking down concepts such as "Damage Granularity" and "Damage Step Factors" - it has all been done for you: Get the mod.

Payday 2 Comprehensive Skills and Builds Guide - by x7 Xomm.

Originally posted by author:

"A guide that comprehensively explains every skill and perk deck in Payday 2 - their use cases, pros, cons, and how they fit into different builds. Appendices on how skills work behind the scenes, and which skill trees complement each other the best."

Seeing this guide published today (06/01-15) ...Made me want to not include a build section in this guide. He/they did a really good job, and I generally agree with what is written there. No need to repeat his words - I highly recommend that you go check it out since it's not just another guide showing you what skills to pick, but it explains why some skills are great, and why others aren't. It also gives you an idea of how you should go about making your own builds.

Websites providing info on a variety of subjects

Payday wiki[payday.wikia.com] - Pretty self-explanatory, this is the wiki-pages of Payday 2.
Payday subreddit - For those of you who aren't familiar with Reddit - you've been missing out. It claims to be the front-page of the internet, so what would it be, i there wasn't an engaging Payday community there too.
Community forum on Steam - Same as the two above ones, just with a bit of cancer.

Tools to use

http://pd2skills.com/ - This website has become a second home to me. You can go here to make builds, skills, perk decks, weapons, armor and stats are all included.
http://pd2stats.com/ - Here you can put in a steam-ID to see the stats of someone on steam. Does he have a hidden profile it will not be shown. You can see how many kills a person has racked up, what build he is using, how many heists he ahs done and a lot more. HoxHud also adds a shortcut to each player's stats-page, in the menu.
Big Oil Engine Selector[p3bble.com] - Pretty straight-forward. You click on the icons of the notes you've found, and it will highlight the correct engine(s).
[url][/url]

Achievements

WILL BE ADDED IN THE FUTURE - GONNA TAKE SOME TIME

►Chapter IV - Community and Lore

The Webseries ❤

Watching The Webseries adds color to the heisters. You get to find out more about what is going on - who are these heisters why are they robbing banks. You get to know their background story as well as the other characters within the Payday universe.

Payday 2 Web Series on Youtube:

• Episode 1: First World Bank (direct link)
  Duration: 6:45
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O90W_yKFqsc
  
• Episode 2: The Vault (direct link)
  Duration: 6:44
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmxeCY3_DG4
  
• Episode 3: Hector (direct link)
  Duration: 8:34
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmWlCCEbecY
  
• Episode 4: The Elephant (direct link)
  Duration: 10:46
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5XXV_xozfo
  
• Episode 5: Greta: The Assassin (direct link)
  Duration: 11:00
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5s4aL3bbmc
  
• Episode 6: Vlad & Gage (direct link)
  Duration: 15:17
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8EoLKZbZKo

For discussions on The Webseries and the oppotunity to delve deeper into the lore of Payday, I highly recommend you go check out these videos by TheKknowley:

• Payday: Story-Mode- Character Origins
  
• Payday 2: StoryMode - The Rat

Adding The Payday 2 Webseries to your Steam Library

Setup the Steam Broadcast, in your Steam Client, consult this guide for help.








Go to the Steam Store and find The Web Series http://store.steampowered.com/app/354500
Select episodes from the list. Select videos in Library

The Secret ❤

WILL BE ADDED SHORTLY

Communities within Payday 2 ❤

Streamers

Twitch: Payday 2 isn't very well represented on Twitch. I guess, this is due to the nature of the gameplay. Repeating the same heists isn't as flashy as watching highly skilled PvP-content.
That aside though, you will always find some people streaming the game, eager to entertain you. Here[www.twitch.tv] is a link to the channels of the game.
The following channels are "the usuak suspects", and will have the most viewers:

• Team Evil[www.twitch.tv] will be online, more often than not.
  
• The Criminal Network[www.twitch.tv] stream every day, usually air at 5 PM CET.
  
• GeneralMcBadass[www.twitch.tv] is sure to be found on twitch, whenever a new update has arrived.

Youtubers

GeneralMcBadass
ArrowKeyGaming
TheKknowley
GameMechanic
Kins0
CommanderCH
JamesBlack47
Given

Overkill reaching out to the Community

Mostly directed at Almir Listo, one of of Overkill's producers.

GeneralMcBadass, after meeting Almir
Duration: 5 minutes and 13 seconds.
Guest: Almir Listo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPc52dpYbME
The reason I added this - is: He states how it was difficult to get information about future content. This should be kept in the back of your head - as you go through the various interviews postet below. A big chunk, of what has been mentioned as "upcomming content", hasn't seen the light of day - and most likely will not do so - for a long time (if at all).
Almir has later stated that telling the community about their plans is a generally bad idea, due to concepts and ideas being scrapped. This resulting in back-lashes and critique of Overkill.
Hyping new content while leaving players to their own imagination - is also how new content tends to be presented.
Those things aside; reading statements, the hopes of the community and plans for the future - are all fun to go through, if you find yourself with some extra time on your hands. Just take things with a grain of salt.

Q&A's by Community

Q&A by redcobra1246 - March 2015
Duration: 1 hour and 12 minutes.
Guest: Almir Listo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vC1poFfX4s

Interview by Rusty Chains - February 2015
Duration: 1 hour and 7 minutes.
Guest: Pete Gold (Voice actor of Hoxton).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nvv-TL22LI&feature=youtu.be

Q&A by Team Evil - July 2014
Duration: 1 hour and 22 minutes.
Guest: Almir Listo.
http://www.twitch.tv/paydayteamevil/c/4595566

Q&A by redcobra1246 - December 2013
Duration: 1 hour and 13 minutes.
Guest: Almir Listo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-rT-jAtzCg

Q&A by Team Evil - September 2013
Duration: 1 hour and 22 minutes.
Guest: Almir Listo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoaH2yW8DMg]

Written interview by Team Evil - May 2013
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/paydayteamevil/discussions/0/810924774528297796/ - The questions raised here are mainly pointed towards the relationship between Overkill and the community (primarily Team Evil). This interview took place prior to the release of Payday 2.

AMAs from Reddit

AMA on Reddit - March 2015
http://www.reddit.com/r/paydaymeta/comments/2yfs7k/almir_ama_condensed_notes_with_links/ = AMA conducted through Reddit. Later put together by redditor Viruzzz, for easy access.
Questions raised here are mostly regarding the Infamy 2.0 addition and other recent additions to the game. (https://www.reddit.com/r/paydaytheheist/comments/2y8ot2/ama/ = same AMA, unedited).

AMA on Reddit - August 2014
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/2e2sr2/hi_rgames_almir_listo_here_producer_of_payday_2/ = Unedited AMA conducted through reddit in August 2014. This AMA consist of a
wide variety of Q&A's regarding both concerns and hopes for and of Payday 2. As with the rest, a lot of questions are about when certain content will be added.
(http://steamcommunity.com/app/218620/discussions/8/35221584352442803/ = short summary of this AMA, put together and added to steam, by M. Excuisite,).

AMA on Reddit - July 2013
http://www.reddit.com/r/paydaytheheist/comments/1g74x7/i_am_almir_listo_producer_of_payday_2_ama/ = Another AMA from reddit. This one was conducted in July 2013, when the game
was very new. Most of the questions here are surprisingly positive - and consist primarily of plans for the future of Payday 2.

Community Events ❤

Poetry Jam
Crimefest
Xmas Challenge
Hype Train

►Chapter V - End of the Line

Conclusion

I have removed big parts of the guide, and will add them in new ones - this was done to keep the theme of the guide, and not have statements contradicting each other. As an example - the Locomotive is the best gun for someone who just started the game, and he will benefit greatly from leveling up the Enforcer tree. That doesn't mean that the Loco is the only viable weapon for Death Wish, or even that it's the best one. I hope you see the point and if things seem simplified, you now know why.

And here we are – at the end of the guide. You might think: “Wauw this guy is serious – I just play

to have fun”. Well - ♥♥♥♥ you then, I play to win - winning is fun :3 I can’t not try-hard – and Payday often takes a team to win – so I hope you’ve picked up a few things while reading this – or mayhaps I gave you a link to something you’ll find interesting at some point in the future – that would make all this worth it.

Payday 2 is a game with a lot of room for personal preferences. In this guide I have shown you mine – and hopefully given you the means to find yours. Try everything out and have fun doing so.

Changelog

06/05-2015
Added some mods.

[Bob-Jørn]

Well writen :-) but what is up with the video in the end? D:

[kacey's husband]

Nice guide

[MrSplendid]

Damn man