Payday 2 – Do Cops Decrease in Solo or AI Modes?

So it turns out in the install directory of the game, for me, E:\Steam\steamapps\common\PAYDAY 2 there is a PDF which details the game. It's got a handy page on the stats!

Here is a guide on how to complete the Bank Heist map without setting off any alarms. I have included a video demonstrating how the execute the plan but remember that each game has a variety of randomised elements which means you have to adapt the plan to your particular spawn.

Mission Objective

This depends, the Bank Heist level is used for the following levels, each with a differing objective;

• Bank Heist: Cash
• Bank Heist: Deposit Boxes
• Bank Heist: Gold
• Firestarter Day 3

Essentially the objective is to get into the vault, and then remove stuff from the vault (Bank Heist), or... set fire to everything in the vault (Firestarter Day 3).

The Layout

First of all, the layout of the bank, this is the insider info screen but I have made some minor modifications to highlight the important possible differences in random spawns:

The YELLOW lines indicate where the entrance to the vault can be, while the pink lines indicate where the entrance to the security room can be. It is possible to get a "relatively" easy spawn by having the vault and security room both spawn at the back of the bank. It's also possible to have a "relatively" difficult spawn by having them both spawn in the lobby. Once you've mastered the tactic of how to deal with each of these spawns though, it all boils down to react immediately when you begin to lose control of the situation. Failing to react will result in an alarm, every single time.

This means that if moving into the back room causes disruption in the lobby, control the tellers before they can set off the panic alarms. Likewise, if moving into the lobby upsets the people in the back room, get in there before they can hit the panic alarms. Work as a team - if one crew member takes down a guard and another guard is closing in, work quickly to eliminate both threats.

The Plan

The plan is simple:

• Enter the bank
• Locate the vault and the security room
• Take out the security room to disable the cameras
• Take out the guards and answer their pagers
• Simultaneously subdue the tellers and the crowd in the bank while keeping control of civilians on the street
• Drill the vault
• Loot the vault
• Walk casually to the van to complete the level

So, nice and simple, right? Let's take a look at each step in more detail. You're going to want to be wearing suits and carrying minimal visibility weapons so that guards and cameras don't spot you the second you walk into visual range. You can have a crew member with the OVE9000 saw if you want, but this individual is going to be doing a lot of standing around while the appropriately geared crew members set up the heist due to the high visibility of the saw.

Walk into the bank, spot where the vault is, spot where the security room is, walk around and locate all of the guards, see what paths they're taking. You're looking for the little subtle differences caused by randomised spawns: Is the back door open? Are guards following a route that takes them out there? Are any of the guards on the roof? Is there a guard walking between the ATMs and the tellers and does he go anywhere else? Is there a civilian sat on the benches outside the bank?

Once you've got eyes on the guards, make your move on the security room, use an ECM or the managers' keycard to get in there and put a bullet in the guard, bag him and check the cameras to mark the guards. The rest of your crew probably hasn't masked up yet so they're not going to be able to mark the guards so this is going to help. If you've got guards wandering off alone outside, take them out, bag them and move their remains somewhere sensible. Quite often there is a dumpster open outside which is perfect for storing the bodies of everybody in entire bank if you want to. You don't want to rush this stage, a single mistake will result in an alarm, you want to be killing everybody cleanly without feet visible in doorways or civilians standing next to them.

Once you've got yourself into a position where the guards and cameras are no longer a threat, you have the most intense few moments of the plan. This stage requires coordination and if one crew member acts before the rest, you'll have an alarm on your hands, followed by a police assault. During this stage of the plan, you'll want one crew member to get all of the civilians in the back room on the ground - remember that there is a panic button in the back, if a civilians moves for it, put a bullet in them.

At the same time that this is going on in the back, one of your crew members needs to storm the teller's room, give them one chance to get on the ground but if they reach for the panic buttons, kill everybody in the room - don't take any chances.

Again, at the same time all of t his is going on in the back and in the tellers office, another crew member needs to storm the lobby and get everybody down on the ground. The fourth crew member needs to be on the streets outside the bank getting all of the civilians outside on the ground.

You can of course use an ECM to stop any phone calls during this stage, it will buy you a little time and prevent an alarm in the event you miss one or two people and allow you to ensure that by the time the ECM expires the situation is under control.

Cable tie EVERYBODY. If it can get up and move, it's a threat. If you run out of cable ties, kill them or assign somebody to keep watch over them. Random civilians being able to move around during the later stages of this heist is a guaranteed alarm.

Once the situation is under control, start drilling. The noise doesn't matter, neither does the amount of time the drill takes to complete - by this point you should be completely in the clear. Keep your crew member on the street in case any other civilians decide to turn up but the ones inside of the building can now pretty much stand around waiting for the drill to complete.

By this point if you've not had an alarm you're probably not going to but whichever crew member is outside the bank should remain diligent as it will be a civilian outside the bank that results in the alarm being triggered at this point since you've cable tied or otherwise disposed of everybody inside the bank. This is further demonstrated later in my video below where I can walk around the bank breaking windows and shooting breakables throughout the level without triggering any alarms.

I shouldn't need to tell you how to loot stuff, I'm sure you have that under control, and with the absence of alarms the casual walk back to the van with the contents of the bank in bags should not be an issue either.

Recommended abilities

• at least one crew member who can place ECM to block calls to the police,
• at least one crew member with the Cleaner ability aced to dispose of bodies

Here is a video of Bank Heist: Cash being completed on overkill difficulty without setting off any alarms:

As stated earlier, because the Bank Heist level is reused in Firestarter, the tactic to take control of the bank during a Bank Heist is the same tactic that can be used to take control of the bank during Firestarter. The only difference is that in Firestarter the vault is electrified, and the power to this trap needs to be disabled in the room on the roof.