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Outside shot of the Dirty Ice heist in Payday 3
Image: Starbreeze

Payday 3 Dirty Ice Full Stealth Guide

An in-depth walkthrough for a stealth run of Dirty Ice in Payday 3 — the game's easiest and fastest heist, as well as a great source of XP.

Dirty Ice is the easiest and fastest heist to run in Payday 3 when tackling it with a stealthy approach. With enough practice and the right perks, you can complete Dirty Ice in just two minutes and revel in its payout and swift XP. Here’s a full quiet masked walkthrough for Dirty Ice in Payday 3.

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Dirty Ice Full Quiet & Smooth Walkthrough Payday 3

Table of Contents:

Recommended Loadout and Skills:

The only gear you’ll need in this heist is a silenced weapon. The Signature 40 is a great choice, but bringing weapons you want to level is a good idea. Standard Lining will also make you speedier if you have it.

Best Skills

  • Infiltrator
  • Quick Fingers
  • Bagger
  • Escapist
  • Manipulator
  • Grifter
  • Open Mic
  • Signal Catch

The best starter skills for Dirty Ice include Escapist, Infiltrator, Quick Fingers, and Grifter. These make it far easier to pick the many locks featured in this heist and help you get around faster.

Bagger (Infiltrator tree), Swift (Escapist tree), and Signal Catch (Hacker tree) are also excellent skills to equip if you have them unlocked. These are vital if you aim to complete this as fast as possible for easy XP and/or the Smash and Grab achievement.

99 Boxes Full Quiet/Stealth Walkthrough

Dirty-Ice-Alleyway-Payday-3
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

From the beginning of the heist, run to the alleyway on the right side of the bank. If you’re lucky, you’ll spawn directly across from here. If not, make your way over there.

Dirty-Ice-Civilian-Payday-3
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

Mask up as soon as you enter the alley and run past the truck to find a civilian. Grab them, shove them behind the box, and tie them so the patrolling guard doesn’t see. If there’s a phone here, collect its QR code.

Gate-Guard-Payday-3
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

Lockpick the gate ahead, kill the guard, then answer his radio. If you didn’t get a QR code near the civ, and there’s one here, take it.

Dirty-Ice-Window-Alley-Payday-3
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

Shoot the closest window (with a silencer, of course) and jump in. Kill the guard and disable the camera as soon as you see it. What you do with the civilian here will depend on whether you’re playing solo or with a friend.

Civillian-Guard-Dirty-Ice-Payday-3
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

If you’re playing with another player, simply tie up the civilian. If not, grab them and take them to the manager’s office before ziptying them.

  • Dirty-Ice-Computer-Payday-3
  • Managers-Office-QR-Payday-3

Pick up a QR code in the manager’s office if you didn’t get one. Access the computer to learn the whereabouts of the code. You need to press the interact button four times before viewing the screen with the location.

  • Dirty-Ice-Door-Code-Payday-3
  • Whiteboard-Dirty-Ice-Payday-3
  • Employee-of-the-Month-Payday-3
  • The whiteboard is in the open room in the hallway.
  • The storage cabinet is in the VIP Showroom in an open book on top of the center cabinet.
  • The employee of the month picture is in the jewelry store itself. Go into the VIP Showroom and quickly open the door to find it straight ahead.
VIP-Showroom-Payday-3
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

To enter the VIP Showroom, scan your QR code at the door and shoot the camera. You can’t loot anything bar the loose necklaces here yet, so you only need to open the door now if your code isn’t on the whiteboard.

Top tip for speedruns: codes will stay the same when a heist is reset. You can shave precious seconds by doing an initial dry run, writing down the code, and voting to reset.

Keypad-Dirty-Ice-Payday-3
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

Run down to the keypad (directly across from the window you broke), input the code, and walk into the basement. Neutralize the two cameras and guard here, then enter the door on the far side — if you’re extra lucky, this door won’t need lockpicking.

Red-Keycard-Dirty-Ice-Payday-3
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

Pick up the red keycard and turn off the power to disable the VIP Showroom’s alarms. If you aren’t speedrunning Dirty Ice for easy XP, open the safe and collect the documents to unlock an extra step that increases your payout.

Civillian-Button-Payday-3
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

Run back upstairs and into the manager’s office. If you’re playing solo, grab the civilian and push them into the red button on the desk. If you’re playing with a friend, get them to press the button instead.

Dirty-Ice-Payday-3-Vault-Door
Image: Attack of the Fanboy

Open the vault door while another player or civilian presses the button, then lockpick the case. Grab your precious loot and yeet it out of the window nearest the van, then get ready to loot the VIP showroom.

  • Workshop-Optical-Reader-Payday-3
  • Manager-Call-Payday-3-1

Optional: If you collected the documents in the basement and aren’t aiming for a speedrun, then use the telephone in the manager’s office to call her into the VIP Showroom. Once the doors have fully closed, grab her, then shove her into the optical reader on the back wall. Tie her up once it’s unlocked.

This opens up the workshop, which has a machine that cleans the jewelry and increases its value. It’s not a huge bonus, but I like to do it every now and again for a little extra cash.

  • Loot-Window-Payday-3
  • Workshop-Machine-Payday-3

Picklock the glass cases and bag as much jewelry as you like — the minimum you need alongside the main gem is two. If you have the workshop unlocked, throw each bag of jewelry into the machine and collect them individually. If not, throw them out of the window and transport them to the van.

Related: Payday 3 No Rest for the Wicked Full Stealth Guide

If you’re playing with others, I recommend having them unlock the glass cabinets and bag jewelry as you unlock the vault and workshop — or vice versa.

Dirty Ice Masked Stealth Run Quick Summary

To refresh your memory or to serve as a quick reference while heisting Dirty Ice in Payday 3, here’s a quick summary of the instructions above:

  • Sprint to the alleyway to the right of the store and mask up.
  • Subdue the civ and place them behind the box. Grab the QR code if it’s there.
  • Kill the guard behind the locked fence. Take the QR code if it’s there and you don’t have one yet.
  • Break the window and kill the guard. Disable the camera when you see it.
  • Subdue the civilian and tie them up if playing in a group, or take them to the manager’s office if playing solo.
  • Access the computer to learn the location of the basement’s code.
  • Take note of the code and enter it on the keypad.
  • Neutralize the guard and two cameras in the basement.
  • Enter the room in the basement, collect the red keycard, and turn off the power.
  • Crack the safe and collect the documents. (Optional)
  • Shove the civilian into the red button inside the manager’s office, or have a teammate press it as you unlock the vault door.
  • Loot the gem and throw it out of the window nearest the van.
  • (Optional) Use the phone in the manager’s office to call the manager.
  • Enter the VIP Showroom (if you haven’t done so already) and shoot the camera.
  • (Optional) Grab the manager and shove her into the optical reader to unlock the workshop.
  • Lockpick the class cabinets and bag the jewelry.
  • (Optional) Throw the jewelry into the workshop machine to increase its value.
  • Deliver the bags to the van and escape.

What’s next on the agenda, heister? How about challenging yourself with a stealth run of the 99 boxes heist? You can’t just say no to Ice-T.

This guide was written while playing Payday 3 on Xbox Series X.


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Author
Image of Thomas Cunliffe
Thomas Cunliffe
Thomas has been a freelance writer since 2021 and considers himself a connoisseur of all things Nintendo, Blizzard, and Marvel. Since amassing 145,000+ followers on a Facebook page about Diddy Kong with a backward hat in 2015, Thomas has become a trusted voice in the gaming community across publications such as AOTF, PC Invasion, and Gfinity. His greatest achievements include catching every Pokémon, completing every quest in World of Warcraft (yes, all of them), and naming his dog 'Mass Effect 3.' Thomas is extraordinarily passionate about the video game industry and its community. He enjoys writing about various topics, including popular games like Destiny 2, Fortnite, and WoW, and exploring the latest AAA and indie titles.