Trying to get back into "Payday 2"... This isn't going to be easy.

[American Tanker]

Let me start off by saying that I haven't played Payday 2 since October 14th, 2015. You know, Update 78, before the now infamous micro-transactions update, the "Black Market Update".

Everything's so different now. It's like a completely different game. The biggest issue is the weapon balance changes, with a close second being the new skill trees. But a user on a Discord server helped me figure out a build to work toward.

This is what the build would look like, with one minor exception: PD2Skills doesn't have the "Kingpin" perk deck from the "Scarface Character Pack" on it. Kingpin is the Perk Deck I'd be using, but the skills would pretty much be exactly as you see in the link. Note the heavy favoring towards the Technician and Enforcer trees, a style known as "TechForcer".

It's intended as a heavy-duty combat build. With Jack of all Trades Aced, Portable Saw Basic, More Firepower Aced and Extra Lead Aced, I could basically be the ultimate breaching expert. Ammo Bag for the Saw blades, Shaped Charges and drill skills for everything else. Also note the heavy investments in Enforcer's "Tank" tree, for the toughness; and in Technician's "Oppressor" tree, for the weapon buffs.

As you can guess, this would be a build specialized for loud heists, kicking in the front door and shooting every cop that tries to intervene. No stealth skills to speak of, and weapons modified with no concerns for concealment. I'd like to know what the best all-round primary weapons are, just so I can have something that I can use at multiple distances; considering that I'm packing the OVE9000 Power Saw, I need something multi-purpose to make up for effectively having only one gun.

And lastly, I understand that maybe I should post this somewhere else. Well, I got banned from the PD2 Steam Forums for opposing the "Black Market Update" back in November 2015. Because I basically had nothing to lose, I got Steam Achievement Manager and cheated all the achievements for the game. And I have the "Ultimate Edition" or whatever it is, so I have all DLCs. Well, "Completely Overkill Pack" excluded. So don't worry about me needing to grind achievements for weapon parts, I've got all that covered already.

TL;DR: Trying to get back into Payday 2. Always played a Muscle TechForcer build with Saw, Ammo Bags and Shaped Charges before; intend to go with a Kingpin TechForcer with the same abilities now. Loud only, with an Armor build, so don't bother me with crit/dodge builds or Grinder. They're not my style.

EDIT: Another thing I could use some help with is getting some mods installed. I found a bunch on a PD2 modding site. I've already got "Better LUA Tool" and "Bundle Modder", but I can't seem to get them working. Can anyone help?

 

[RaikuFA]

I stopped playing when I spent about three hours trying to get a game and kept being kicked. Uninstalled and never looked back.

 

[American Tanker]

I stopped playing when I spent about three hours trying to get a game and kept being kicked. Uninstalled and never looked back.

At least the game has an offline mode(had it for a long time) and the ability to customize the characters in your crew now. That's something.

My four characters chosen as preferred are #1: Hoxton, #2: Wick, #3: Rust and #4: Scarface. I've also got them chosen as my preferred characters to show up as AI bots, and we'll all be wearing the "Terminator" sunglasses.

As of right now, I'm kinda expecting things to be pretty rough. Reset all skills and everything to square one. At least I had the masks from the DLCs and the Community Group that I could sell for quick spending money, so I was at least able to sell off that shitty AMCAR in favor of something else. Decided to go with the Eagle Heavy for now, the FN SCAR-H. Depending on whether I get parts for it or not, I'm thinking I'll try to switch off the the AK-74(called the "AK Rifle" in-game). Going to have to get rid of that pitiful Chimano 88 as soon as I get the cash for it. Most likely going to switch to the Spec Ops(H&K MP7). Once I have Portable Saw Basic, I'll be able to focus purely on getting my primary rifle where I need it, so that it can be effective.

At least there's that new "Continental Coins" thing. If they're not too hard to come by, I'll be able to use them to get the gun mods I need. Otherwise, it's going to be an awful grind getting things in order.

 

[Schadrach]

EDIT: Another thing I could use some help with is getting some mods installed. I found a bunch on a PD2 modding site. I've already got "Better LUA Tool" and "Bundle Modder", but I can't seem to get them working. Can anyone help?

You should just have to install a Lua hook (Payday2 BLT is the most common, but not only Lua hook), and then copy the mods to the mods folder.

I used to live by HoxHud + GoonMod, but both got discontinued at some point. PocoHud is almost as nice though, if it's still kicking around.

Another mod I utterly loved allowed you to command a hostage to move to a specific location and sit there. It made positioning them *so* much more precise.

 

[American Tanker]

EDIT: Another thing I could use some help with is getting some mods installed. I found a bunch on a PD2 modding site. I've already got "Better LUA Tool" and "Bundle Modder", but I can't seem to get them working. Can anyone help?

You should just have to install a Lua hook (Payday2 BLT is the most common, but not only Lua hook), and then copy the mods to the mods folder.

I used to live by HoxHud + GoonMod, but both got discontinued at some point. PocoHud is almost as nice though, if it's still kicking around.

Another mod I utterly loved allowed you to command a hostage to move to a specific location and sit there. It made positioning them *so* much more precise.

Yeah, I've got BLT. My hud choice is just like I used to run, PocoHud for the "Shuffle Music" function with GageHud for the extra info.

Or at least, that's what I'd have if I could get them working. I just put the "mods" folder in the "assets" folder, right? How can I fuck that up?

 

[Schadrach]

Yeah, I've got BLT. My hud choice is just like I used to run, PocoHud for the "Shuffle Music" function with GageHud for the extra info.

Or at least, that's what I'd have if I could get them working. I just put the "mods" folder in the "assets" folder, right? How can I fuck that up?

You put mods in PAYDAY 2\mods. The assets folder is irrelevant for 99% of mods.

If you want someone to play with, I might be able to. I'm Eastern time and have a pretty consistent schedule.

 

[American Tanker]

Yeah, I've got BLT. My hud choice is just like I used to run, PocoHud for the "Shuffle Music" function with GageHud for the extra info.

Or at least, that's what I'd have if I could get them working. I just put the "mods" folder in the "assets" folder, right? How can I fuck that up?

You put mods in PAYDAY 2\mods. The assets folder is irrelevant for 99% of mods.

If you want someone to play with, I might be able to. I'm Eastern time and have a pretty consistent schedule.

Oh, okay, pull the mods folder to the main PD2 directory and that should get everything working. Alright, give me a minute.

My Steam Profile link should be in my site profile there. Message me on Steam. I'll probably be able to play some tonight. Georgia, USA, myself, so unless you're up North, we shouldn't have much issue with ping.

 

[American Tanker]

*SNIP*

Okay, I've got BLT by itself working, but none of my other mods.

Also, apparently, the "BLT Gensec Shotgunners" mod was causing issues and making the game crash at launch. Bundle Modder pointed that out to me quickly thanks to its crash report feature.

 

[American Tanker]

Alright, at some point today, I'm going to at least try to run Mallcrasher. It's the most straightforward heist in the game, just bust up a mall and cause $50K worth of damages. Going to run it on Normal because I'm just starting to get back into things.

Might try running Jewelry Store after that. Not looking forward to a possible "Escape" sequence, though. Don't think I'd have the right skills necessary to get Expert Driver assets to prevent it.

Maybe if that goes well, possibly try a Nightclub run? All of these are relatively straightforward and easy. Fairly short, too, but they need to be, seeing as I'm Rep 0 right now and need to get my perk deck leveled, skills upgraded and armor unlocked. Then I might be able to do some bigger heists.

 

[American Tanker]

Well, looks like I've found what I'll be grinding until I can get things in order: The heist listed under "The Basics" called "Get the Coke". It's a quick, simplified version of "Nightclub", so it's pretty straightforward. Until I get my skills and weapons in order, this looks like the one I'll be replaying over and over. Because it's always there.

Didn't see a single Normal Mallcrasher or Jewelry Store pop on CrimeNet. Pity. At least I had enough money to get rid of that Chimano 88 piece of crap pistol. Maybe the Swedish K SMG wasn't the best idea, but controlled bursts with it should still hit where I'm aiming.

Already jumped to Rep 7 from this one simple heist... Time to give it another run.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

I know what you mean, I tried giving it a go after being gone for a year or so and everything was so drastically different. Didn't bother with the game in the end.

 

[American Tanker]

I know what you mean, I tried giving it a go after being gone for a year or so and everything was so drastically different. Didn't bother with the game in the end.

Yeah, so much has changed.

Progress update: Hit Rep 13. Haven't switched off to the AK-74 as originally planned, still running the Eagle Heavy. However, did change off from that nigh-uncontrollable Swedish K to the CR805B from the Biker Pack. Pretty stout little thing. Hopefully, I won't need to change off from it or the Eagle anytime soon. Moved up to wearing the Heavy Ballistic Vest, and just unlocked the Kingpin's "Adrenaline Injector". So as long as my Armor holds, I'm able to regen my health whenever I stick myself with that thing.

Started working up my drill skills, and I've also gone up Ammo Specialist to get Extra Lead Basic and in the process also got Portable Saw basic. Also working up the Sentry tree in Technician, have Jack of All Trades Basic, need to Ace it ASAP. Once I have that and Extra Lead Aced, I'll really be able to get rolling. Hopefully, I can keep going up the Kingpin deck, get my health up where it needs to be, and also get my Tank skills in Enforcer.

Once I have more skills and perks, I'm sure I'll be better off. And I still need gun mods from the drop system. Still don't have any Continental Coins yet, so that's an issue. Need to figure out how I unlock access to those things.

EDIT: Oh, and I still don't have my mods working.

 

[laggyteabag]

I bought PD2 on launch day, and I fell in love with it. Compared the the first game, this was so much deeper, and a lot more satisfying to play.

I can't remember what did it in for me, though, as to why I decided to quit the game, but I think that it might have been something to do with the near constant spamming of DLC. I have said it in another thread before, and i'll say it again here: The level of support that Overkill have put into Payday 2 is nigh-on amazing, and the game now is pretty much an entirely different beast compared to when I first picked up the game. But 120+ updates later, the game is just daunting.

There are so many new skills, perks, weapons, heists, tactics, a new meta, everything. I'd have no idea where to start, really. I'd love to get back into the game, but I just don't think I have the time, will, or determination to even consider trying to figure everything out, again.

 

[American Tanker]

Okay, so, earlier today I decided to give silencer skills a shot, and, um... Yeah, silencer skills are OPd right now. Like, "broken as fuck" OPd. I mean, I remember having used Dragan's Lion's Roar assault rifle in the past and liking it; but now, sticking a The Bigger The Better Suppressor on it, it's insane.

So I'm going to skip on taking anything from Technician's Oppressor tree, might take Steady Grip Basic if I have the point left over for it after everything else. Build looks like this now.

Not yet actually using all of that, still haven't gotten to Rep 40. But I'm getting there.

EDIT: Trust me to make a simple jewelry run into a 30 minute Stalingrad-style slugfest. At least I came with with over $500K total loot, about $100K of that in loose jewels in the store and another almost $450K in bags.

Racked up over 200 kills in the process. Strange, I thought I remembered there being a Turret Van on Diamond Store, but one never showed up. Maybe I'll try Four Stores after a while. If they removed the Turret Van from that, too... I just need to get up the skill points to get Portable Saw Basic again. Then Ace Extra Lead to have a big ammo sack to pull blades from, just in case.

 

[American Tanker]

Okay, I've definitely found THE guns for me to use, the UAR Rifle(Steyr AUG A2) and SpecOps SMG(H&K MP7). With "The Bigger The Better Suppressors" fitted and the Ghost tree's silencer skills, they both get above 50 damage. The MP7 has the Extended Magazine, LED Combo, Unfolded Stock and See More Sight, hitting 100 Stability and 92 Accuracy. The AUG has the Raptor Polymer Body, A3 Tactical Foregrip, LED Combo, Long Barrel and Speed Pull Magazine, hitting 100 Accuracy and 84 Stability.

These two mow through cops like you wouldn't believe. And the AUG's reloads are insanely quick. Hell, it's like I've got basically two of the same gun, just that one reloads a lot quicker.

There's a challenge for killing 25 cops in 25 seconds. I think I can do that, with my MP7; though I've ever been able to get it because I think I play on too low a difficulty. Plus, they've improved the ally AI quite a bit. Maybe if I try to solo a Jewelry Store with the AI bots disabled? No, I'm not sure I could pull that off.

One thing I will say is that it seems like there are more cops than I remember. Maybe that's to compensate for the improved AI team mates plus the enhancements they can give the player, after the Henchmen Update.

 

[happyninja42]

TL;DR: Trying to get back into Payday 2. Always played a Muscle TechForcer build with Saw, Ammo Bags and Shaped Charges before; intend to go with a Kingpin TechForcer with the same abilities now. Loud only, with an Armor build, so don't bother me with crit/dodge builds or Grinder. They're not my style.

EDIT: Another thing I could use some help with is getting some mods installed. I found a bunch on a PD2 modding site. I've already got "Better LUA Tool" and "Bundle Modder", but I can't seem to get them working. Can anyone help?

So you are asking for tank/meat shield builds to play with? Well, I mostly play stealth, don't find Loud heists as fun, but there is a tank build from General McBadass that was a pretty damn effective build for me, someone with minimal Loud skills (i mean actual player skills, not a point issue in game). It's his bulldozer build, and it's pretty damn beefy. Let me find the link.

here you go:


It might need a bit of tweaking with the current game design, but I don't think so. It's VERY tough, and has a lot of survivability, which is what I need for a Loud run.

You might try it out, see what you think.

 

[Avnger]

How are you finding getting back into it so far? I'm pretty much in the the same boat as you were (left around that same time) but have been hesitant to try again after all the changes.

 

[American Tanker]

@Avnger - I've actually held up pretty well. Especially now, that I've finally got guns worth a damn. It's quite different, yes; but I've adapted. Just remember what I said about silencer skills. They're fucking broken good right now. I don't care what kind of weapons you're thinking of bringing, just make sure it's something with an option for a suppressor and fit one. If you don't give a shit about concealment, like me, then fit your pistols with the "Jungle Ninja Suppressor" and your other guns with the "The Bigger The Better Suppressor" and go to town. Ghost's "Silent Killer" section gives better weapon buffs than any other skill tree's weapon boosts, and more widely applicable at that.
[hr]
@Happyninja42 - I've looked at that, and while I can see the appeal, I don't like the idea of basically being dead as soon as my armor breaks. That's why I said that I used to use Muscle, and I now rely on Kingpin. Though I'm actually considering going back to Muscle, because its passive regen is easier to work with than that fiddly injector that Kingpin gives. Plus, I'll be able to go back to chucking Molotovs instead of having that slot occupied by the injector. Maybe after I max out Kingpin, I'll start putting points into Muscle again.

 

[happyninja42]

@Avnger - I've actually held up pretty well. Especially now, that I've finally got guns worth a damn. It's quite different, yes; but I've adapted. Just remember what I said about silencer skills. They're fucking broken good right now. I don't care what kind of weapons you're thinking of bringing, just make sure it's something with an option for a suppressor and fit one. If you don't give a shit about concealment, like me, then fit your pistols with the "Jungle Ninja Suppressor" and your other guns with the "The Bigger The Better Suppressor" and go to town. Ghost's "Silent Killer" section gives better weapon buffs than any other skill tree's weapon boosts, and more widely applicable at that.
[hr]
@Happyninja42 - I've looked at that, and while I can see the appeal, I don't like the idea of basically being dead as soon as my armor breaks. That's why I said that I used to use Muscle, and I now rely on Kingpin. Though I'm actually considering going back to Muscle, because its passive regen is easier to work with than that fiddly injector that Kingpin gives. Plus, I'll be able to go back to chucking Molotovs instead of having that slot occupied by the injector. Maybe after I max out Kingpin, I'll start putting points into Muscle again.

*shrugs* The thing is that your armor doesn't often go away. Now, granted, I never played it on Overkill difficulty runs, but General McBadass did, and he seemed to do just fine. I can confirm that as long as you are actively shooting people, the no armor thing really doesn't happen, as you are constantly regenerating it.

But to each their own.

 

[American Tanker]

I know I'm up to Rep 50 now, but I'm actually kinda thinking about wiping progress again. Mainly, because I keep spending all my Offshore Money on Card Drops, trying my hardest to get more gun mods.

This means that I basically don't have an Offshore Account, seeing as it quickly gets spent on trying to get more gun mods, making the prospect of going Infamous look ever more distant.

And because I want to reset my perk decks. I'm going to go back to Muscle, and that's the long and short of it. Build will remain the same as I had laid out previously. I'll just do that heist "Get the Coke" in "The Basics" until I build up enough rep to get those silencer skills, then try to get my weapons in order.

Also, I had put some points into Hitman, just enough to get the third card in the deck. I was actually thinking about at least trying an Akimbo + Armor Hitman build. Thankfully, Akimbo's now a low level Fugitive skill instead of top tier; but I just don't think it would suit me. Might be fun with Surefire Basic(Technician, Oppressor) and Fully Loaded Basic(Enforcer, Ammo Specialist); but the latter of those makes this a heavy points sink that will lack utility skills until later on.

I still want to go with the same kind of build I was working on before. Aced Extra Lead and Iron Man in Enforcer; Aced drill skills, Jack of All Trades and More Firepower in Technician; Aced silencer skills in Ghost; Muscle perk deck. That will give me everything I want: power saw, shaped charges, ammo bags, health regen. And I'm going to say that I personally found Muscle's passive regen easier to work with than Kingpin's injector.

However, at least I know what weapons to go for now, and how to kit them out. The UAR is a fucking beast the way I had it set up, and so was the SpecOps. Hopefully, I can get my shit together this time, focus on getting up the ranks, and actually put together the build I'm looking for.