The most skilled criminals in Payday 3 use stealth to easily slip in and out of heists. After all, any half-baked squad of burglars can kick open the front door and begin rattling off shots. In contrast, true criminal masterminds can undetected pull off the most daring heist. So, if you're thinking about upping your game and taking the silent approach, you'll need one of the best stealth builds in Payday 3 to do the job properly.
You must have a fairly high Infamy level to run the best stealth build in Payday 3. That's because the key to an excellent stealth build is in the skills you use. As a result, you'll have to invest your Skill Points if you plan to have a successful stealth build. What's more, if you want to be considered stealthy, you'll need a silencer on your weapons. You will need to be at least level 20 to use the required equipment and skills for this stealth build.
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Best Stealth Skills
You must unlock the Infiltrator, Grifter, and Escapist skill trees to run the following skills for this build. These trees and their subsequent skills work together in composition, primarily focusing on utilizing the RUSH mechanic. This increases player movement speed while unmasked, allowing you to speed through and complete the beginning stages of a heist without a hitch. So, as long as RUSH is active, you can get away with a lot of criminal activity without guards or employees being alerted.
Skill Tree | Skill | Function |
Infiltrator | Infiltrator | Whenever you successfully pick a lock or kill an enemy with a throwing knife, gain or refresh RUSH. |
Quick Fingers | As long as you have RUSH, a successful lockpick jiggle will immediately pick the lock. | |
Grifter | Grifter | While unmasked, if you're within 1 meter of a civilian or employee, gain RUSH. |
Walk the Walk | As long as you're unmasked and have RUSH, cameras can't detect you trespassing in private areas. (They will still detect you performing an illegal action.) | |
Social Engineering | As long as you're unmasked and have RUSH, employees will ignore your performing illegal actions. | |
Escapist | Escapist | Whenever you sprint for at least 3 seconds, gain RUSH. |
Swift | Your base sprinting speed, when masked on, is increased by 10%. |
When you reach a higher level and have more skill points to spend in PayDay 3, you should branch out into the Hacker skill tree. These skills will take your stealth build to the next level, and players should work to acquire them as soon as possible. Frankly, the prior skills set you up with RUSH for the early stages of a heist; however, it's the Hacker skills you'll need once you're masked up and in the thick of it.
Skill Tree | Skill | Function |
Hacker | You can hack cameras to gain access to the area's CCTV system. (You gain one Runtime.) | |
Hacker | Secure Loop | You can use one Runtime to make the security camera you're controlling loop its footage. (Will not detect you or any criminal activity when the loop is playing.) |
Glitch Protocol | Can hack a guard's radio to cause a disturbance, stopping and distracting them, pausing any action they're doing, even if they're putting you in handcuffs. (Gaurd is distracted for five seconds and the ability has a cooldown of 60 seconds.) |
Best Stealth Gear
Because this is a stealth build, it doesn't matter which Payday 3 character you use; just make sure they're as light as possible. The Standard Lining Vest becomes available at level 18 and sacrifices armor for mobility. Go ahead and grab yourself an Ammo Bag. If everything goes well, you won't touch it; if things go sour, you'll be glad you brought it.
Make sure to bring a Throwing Knife as well. They are used with the Infiltrator perk, which grants you RUSH when you kill an enemy with a throwing knife. It's not something to rely on, but a tremendous last-ditch plan if you're about to be spotted.
- Armor: Standard Lining Vest
- Deployable: Ammo Bag
- Throwable: Throwing Knife
- Tool: ECM Jammer (Micro Cam & Motion Sensor optional)
Last is the ECM Jammer in your tool slot. This is what you will take most of the time, but if you're level 30, you can choose between the Micro Cam and the Motion Sensor, which may be a better option depending on the heist.
Best Stealth Weapons
Of course, the only requirement for the weapons you're using is that they have a silencer. Otherwise, firing a shot will alert the entire map, which could spell disaster in Payday 3. Pistols are the preferred weapon for stealth builds, and the starting Signature 40 pistol is an excellent choice. You just need to get the pistol to level five to unlock a silencer.
Although neither of the Overkill weapons suits this stealth build or play style, you must bring one. You might as well go with the Marcom Mamba MGL because, like the Ammo Bag, you will be glad you brought it if things go wrong.
If everything goes well, you won't need to use your primary weapon, but it never hurts to have it on hand. Of course, a silencer should be attached as well. The primary weapon you bring is entirely up to you; it must be at least level 7 to be equipped with a silencer.
With these skills, gear, and weapons, you now have the means to carry out the largest criminal heists in history without leaving a trace. All that's left is to pick a heist in Payday 3 and pull it off.
