Payday 3 is a cooperative first-person shooter game that lets you play as a squad of criminal masterminds who plan and executes daring heists. The game features a skill system that allows you to customize your character’s abilities and perks according to your playstyle and preferences. However, with so many skills to choose from, it can be hard to decide which ones are worth investing in. In this article, we will review some of the best skills in Payday 3 that can help you succeed in any heist.
Skill List
Completing a heist is difficult without understanding Payday 3 best perks and skills. Even if you have some powerful guns in your loadout, you’ll have a hard time finishing a heist without a decent skill set.
Infiltrator skill line: Bagger
Equipping the Bagger skill means you bag loot 50% faster as long as you have the RUSH status active. With the basic Infiltrator skill, you’ll gain RUSH when you pick a lock or kill an enemy with a throwing knife. This is more of a narrow use case though, so take the Escapist skill for an easier way to activate it: just sprint for 3 seconds. This skill is especially valuable when you’re playing solo. Unfortunately, bots don’t take the initiative to help you transport bags. To ease the strain of moving loot, add Bagger to your loadout.
Engineer skill line: Aced Engineer
On higher difficulties in particular, you may find yourself wishing for another gunman to help you clear waves of police. Thankfully, the Engineer skill line can lend you a little added firepower. With it, you can deploy a turret that’ll shoot any enemy in its sight. The only downside of turrets is their propensity to overheat. The Aced Engineer increases the maximum heat build-up of the sentry turret by 40%. This gives it plenty of time to chip away at the crowd of enemies before it needs to be redeployed.
Grifter skill line: Slippery
Heists don’t always go to plan, but avoiding getting taken into custody is vital. If you’re playing with a squad, they’ll be down a member while they wait for you to respawn. Even worse is if you’re playing solo, as it’ll end your heist. Luckily, with the Slippery skill, you have something of a ‘get out of jail free’ card. Once you’re cuffed, you can lockpick your handcuffs and escape.
Hacker skill line: Glitch Protocol
Using Glitch Protocol, you can create a disturbance on a guard’s radio as long they’re in your line of sight. This will make them totally preoccupied for 5 seconds. This is a smart move if that guard is at risk of catching you doing something illegal or is about to escort/detain you. If the guard was trying to escort you before the Glitch Protocol was activated, they’ll go back to patrolling. If you were in deeper trouble, and they planned to detain you, they’d instead be actively searching for you. Thankfully, the distraction should give you enough time to get well out of their sight.
Infiltrator skill line: Quick Fingers
Picking a lock is a process that usually requires two to four quick time events, which isn’t ideal when you’re trying to be sneaky or preoccupied with hoards of enemies. The Quick Fingers skill greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to pick a lock. On the condition you have the RUSH effect, you only need to complete one quick time event. Faster lockpicking enables heisters to access loot and maneuver around the map more effectively. As a result, Quick Fingers is one of the most universally useful skills in Payday 3 no matter what your playstyle is.
Hacker skill line: Secure Loop
While playing a stealth heist, there’s plenty to keep track of. Along with avoiding the sightline of guards and civilians, dodging security cameras can be a real struggle at times. Secure Loop allows you to bypass this challenge by looping the camera’s footage. While this effect is active, the camera will be unable to detect you, even while committing illegal actions. In order to use the Secure Loop skill, you’ll need to also have the basic Hacker skill equipped. This will allow you to take control of the security camera and gain one ‘runtime’. This runtime is spent in order to enact the Secure Loop.
Mower skill line: Ammo Funnel
With Ammo Funnel, any ammo you pick up is instantly added to the magazine of your equipped weapon provided you have the EDGE status effect. If your magazine is full, it’s instead added to your ammo reserves. This perk is excellent as it gives you a continual flow of ammunition. One of the caveats is that it has to be paired with a skill that grants EDGE. The basic Gunslinger perk fits this requirement, as it provides EDGE each time you switch your weapon. However, aiming down sights removes this effect. Pairing Ammo Funnel with Sharpshooter is a better bet for those who like to attack with more precision.
Mower skill line: Sprint Loaded
While it’s an immensely simple skill, you really don’t notice just how valuable Sprint Loaded is until you play with it equipped. The ability to run and reload gives you added mobility and allows you to quickly regroup and reposition in combat. It also feels exceptionally cool to tear through crowds of enemies without having to slow down to reload.
If you enjoyed this Payday 3 best weapons list, be sure to check out more content on Poggers Memes. You can also check out our first impressions article on Payday 3.