payday-2
I am unclear on exactly what has to happen for a guard to subdue me and place me in handcuffs. Entire SWAT teams with heavy armor, riot shields, tasers, gas, and large automatic weapons can have me surrounded, but I'm free to run around and shoot them at will. At least, until they fill me full of so many holes that I have no choice but to fall down and bleed for a while.
But sometimes a lone bank guard will see me and suddenly I'm in cuffs. How is this happening?
Reloading adds more ammo to your active clip. The game uses an ammo pool, rather than a clip based system, so there is no downside to reloading more often than necessary.
I think you're asking this because of the numbers on the HUD.
Here, the number on the right is your current total ammunition, not the ammunition you have left after your current clip, and the number on the left is the ammo left in your current clip. Shooting depletes ammunition from both pools. Once you reload, the right number will not go down, it will simply fill the clip, making the left number show full clip again.
Now, I shot 5 times after the first image without reloading.
And this was taken after reloading:
This doesn't seem to be the case for all weapons, however, but it is the case for normal shooting weapons. The OVE9000 Saw, for example, has some sort of durability as the left number, and the amount of blades left as the right number on the HUD.
Everyone can do it, it doesn't require any special perk. You have to be in heist mode (wearing mask), aim at any special enemy (shield, taser, buldozer) and press your "shout" key (I think the default key is F).
It also works with regular guards, but only while you remain undetected.
You can also mark security fixtures like cameras using the same method.
Additionally, if you view the camera feed using the camera feed asset or the camera feed in the security office if the level has one, this will also mark all guards that are visible by that camera.
Note that the Mastermind tree features an interesting related skill:
SPOTTER
BASIC: 1 point / [...]
Special enemies marked by you take 15% more damage.
Best Answer
If you allow yourself to get into a position where a guard is not engaging you but is within melee range, he will occasionally try to slap some handcuffs onto you. This can happen if you pick a door that has a guard standing on the other side for example on Framing Frame Day 1 at the art gallery with the door leading into the toilets or from getting too close to a law enforcer for a period of time during combat.