Every heist in Payday 3 allows for some degree of stealth. With enough skill and care, it’s even possible to complete some heists without masking up. But players familiar with the previous entry will know how important skills are to a successful heist in this game. It’s important to know the best skills, weapons, and gear for a stealth build in Payday 3, especially since some choices are notably better than others.
Best Skills for a Payday 3 Stealth Build
Assuming you’re not even considering going loud, there are quite a few stealth-based skills for you to choose from. You won’t have a very large number of skill points, so picking and choosing might get difficult at times. Some skills you should prioritize long before others, especially if you want some extra options just in case things go wrong while in stealth.
- Best Skills
- Infiltrator (Aced)
- Escapist (Basic)
- Manipulator (Basic)
- Menacing
- Grifter (Basic)
- Walk the Walk
- Social Engineering
- Open Mic
- Hacker (Basic)
- Secure Loop
- Signal Catch
- Good Additional Skills
- Quick Fingers
- Bagger
- Swift
- Overbearing
- Grifter (Aced)
- Slippery
- Appliance Breach
- Routed Ping
- Glitch Protocol
- Strategist (Aced)
- CQC Specialist (Basic)
- Pressure Points
- Cover-Up
The best skills will provide plenty of bonuses while stealthily completing heists, including quite a few sources of the movement speed buff Rush. The additional skills will be helpful in tight situations or when you simply need an extra edge for whatever areas the best skills won’t cover.
Best Weapons and Gear for Stealth
You won’t have to worry much about your choice of deployable, but you’ll probably want to make sure you only bring throwing knives as your main throwable. All tools can be useful outside of Infrasonic Mines, but ECM Jammers will likely be the most helpful if you lack some of the better camera or radio skills. As for armor, Standard Lining is your best option of them all, with Light Ballistic Lining being a viable alternative.
Related: How to Play Solo in Payday 3
When it comes to weapons, you’ll have little trouble as long as you stick with a basic silenced pistol, like the Signature 40 you start the game with. Later on, you’ll also unlock the preset SP M11 “Hard Cough” pistol, which is specifically designed for stealth heists. This weapon will likely be your best choice, especially for heists with very closed-off spaces such as No Rest for the Wicked. If you end up making full use of this pistol, consider grabbing some extra gunplay skills like Speed Aim and Quick Draw for maximum efficiency.
