Best stealth build in Payday 3 – skills, weapons, accessories

Want to know what the best stealth build in Payday 3 is? There are a multitude of ways you can complete a heist in Deep Silver’s latest bank-robbing, hostage-taking FPS. However, none are arguably as satisfying as accomplishing tasks and objectives without alerting the local law enforcement. Of course, to accomplish this successfully, you will need to be equipped with the sneakiest loadout the game can provide.

Naturally, an optimal stealth build will consist of the best Payday 3 weapons, which will allow you to progress through the Payday 3 heist list with ease. That said, here’s what we recommend equipping with your loadout so you can slyly finish missions with the least amount of casualties and bullets wasted. We used this build in our Rock the Cradle stealth run, alongside our No Rest for the Wicked stealth run.

Best Payday 3 stealth build

The best stealth build in Payday 3 consists of the following:

• Primary Weapon: CAR-4 or Northwest B-9 (equipped with the Piped or Cylindric Silencer)
• Secondary Weapon: Signature 40 (equipped with the Obelisk or Snub Silencer)
• Deployable: Ammo Bag
• Armor Lining: Standard Lining
• Throwable: Throwing Knife
• Tool: ECM Jammer

We recommend equipping both your primary and secondary weapons with silencers as these are the most important accessories that you can have in a stealth build. The Piped or Cylindric Silencers are ideal for the CAR-4 and the Northwest B-9 Assault Rifle. The Piped Silencer can be unlocked once you reach Level 14 while the Cylindric can be earned after you reach Level 23. But if you haven’t reached a high enough level yet, the Beveled Silencer (obtained at Level 6) is a decent choice when you’re starting out.

You’ll also want to equip yourself with the lightest Armor Lining possible so you can move through heists quickly. This means the Standard Lining (unlocked at Level 18) option is the best choice available for a stealth play style due to its low weight. We also suggest using a Throwing Knife (unlocked at Level 16) as your throwable to give you an additional stealth kill method. Finally, the ECM Jammer (unlocked at Level 20) will help prevent those pesky cameras and radios from functioning properly.

Best Payday 3 stealth skills

These are the best Payday 3 stealth skills we recommend getting so you can progress through heists without getting caught:

• Skills (category):
  • Infiltrator (Infiltrator)
  • Quick Fingers (Infiltrator)
  • Bagger (Infiltrator)
  • Escapist (Escapist)
  • Swift (Escapist)
  • Manipulator (Manipulator)
  • Grifter (Grifter)
  • Walk the Walk (Grifter)
  • Hacker (Hacker)
  • Secure Loop (Hacker)
  • Glitch Protocol (Hacker)
  • Strategist (Strategist)
  • CQC Specialist (CQC Specialist)
  • Groundskeeper (CQC Specialist)

Naturally, you won’t have immediate access to all of these skills when you’re only starting out. So with this in mind, we suggest grabbing Infiltrator and Quick Fingers first as both of these skills will make it easier and quicker to enter Secure or Private Areas. We also recommend obtaining the Escapist perk as soon as possible since it essentially gives you a near-unlimited source of Rush, which grants you increased movement speed.

If you’re looking to take down hostages or hostiles quickly and quietly, though, then you would need to have both CQC Specialist and Groundskeeper in your build. Of course, incapacitating civilians and law enforcement won’t matter if you’re caught by cameras, so you’ll also need to get Hacker and Glitch Protocol as well to take care of these frustrating eyes in the sky.

That covers all you need to know on the best Stealth build in Payday 3. For more help on the game, check out our guides on Payday 3 Road Rage and how to create a private lobby in Payday 3.