[Payday 2 Stealth Mod
Kody Coste
Stealth is a gameplay feature that originated in PAYDAY: The Heist in a very basic form. It was later developed much further with the release of PAYDAY 2, which introduced many more stealthable heists, equipment to aid the player in remaining undetected, and several skills that influence stealth gameplay. Around half of the heists in PAYDAY 2 can be completed entirely in stealth, many without killing a single cop or guard.
Casing mode is implemented to a certain degree in PAYDAY: The Heist, as several heists will begin with the players in this state to allow for quick map scouting before beginning. Unless bumping into, or standing too close to a guard, the heisters cannot be detected. As there is little stealth involved, almost every heist in the first game will go loud once a player leaves casing mode. All players will leave casing mode at the same time.
A large number of civilians dot the maps, most usually in heists where stealth is the main approach where they pose hindrances to the crew by way of detection. Unlike guards and cameras, civilians cannot detect a player in casing mode, though will quickly panic at the earliest sight of one with a mask on and weapons out, and cannot be pacified if fully alerted. Panicking civilians will usually either seek out the nearest viable panic button, call the police, or simply run outside the map boundaries where an alarm will inevitably be raised.
Players may shout at civilians to intimidate them and get them to lie on the ground. A shout is a multipurpose action that both players and AI teammates can perform. It is done by pressing the same button used for interactions. This temporarily gets them to stay down in one spot, keeping them out of the line of fire or delaying their attempts at contacting the police, though if not kept a close eye on they will eventually rise up again and resume their phone call(s) or race towards the nearest source of alarm. Civilians on the ground can be restrained with cable ties to render them immobile until freed by the police. The amount of tied hostages is displayed on the bottom of the screen.
Casing mode is a gameplay mechanic available in some heists, during which special actions can generally be taken and NPCs respond to players differently than in "loud" gameplay. Typically, heists that use casing mode will have a large civilian population, forcing the crew to try and blend in to gather info first before enacting their plan.
Certain heists will initially begin in casing mode, with players unmasked. Casing mode can be identified by the lack of a weapon on the player's screen, a mask-on notification and a "casing mode bar" on the top right in place of the hostage counter.
Once a player's mask is on, they can still perform both casing and normal actions, except for the mask, which cannot be removed and put on again. However, there are three heists that are a notable exception to this rule:
Casing mode can be ended either voluntarily, by holding the secondary interaction key and putting on a mask, or involuntarily, by getting detected or setting off an alarm. Once a player masks up for either reason, assuming an alarm has not sounded, the player enters stealth (see below) and can be detected normally. Whereas civilians will never detect a criminal in casing mode, they will become suspicious of a heister wearing a mask, so care must be taken to avoid civilians.
Casing mode ends involuntarily when the alarm sounds. A message will generally appear, indicating what tripped the alarm, and players will automatically don their masks. There are a number of events that can set off the alarm:
The rule of thumb when it comes to scouting in casing mode is to maintain a minimal detection risk, so choose your gear wisely. If needed, investing in the Ghost and Fugitive skill trees can help with maintaining a high-concealment but loud-capable build.
Due to different maps having different variations, perfecting the use of Casing mode requires a lot of practice. Certain skills can help make life easier by enabling one to perform additional actions while in casing mode (e.g. Sixth Sense).
Maintain your distance, as cameras and guards can still detect a low detection risk player if they linger nearby long enough. Avoiding guards is also crucial in preventing alarms, as accidentally bumping into one or otherwise getting spotted may cause him to call for backup or open fire, compromising the mission.
When a guard has not detected any suspicious activity, any hit will be fatal, be it from a firearm, melee weapon, or throwable. Guards generally patrols a semi-random route between a set of predetermined waypoints, which are often located in busy or important areas. When a security camera is destroyed, the nearest guard may respond and investigate it. If not killed quickly after spotting the broken camera, the guard will raise the alarm.
If a guard spots a criminal, he will yell at them to stop, pause for about 5 seconds, move slowly to the caught heister, and attempt to cuff them. If he is successful, that player will be immobilized and the guard will then raise the alarm after a moment. This behavior can be exploited by crafty players as they can potentially lead a lone guard into a more concealed location before taking him down, provided the caught player does not shoot or move too much once the guard issues the order to stop.
When a guard decides to raise an alarm, the guard will stop, draw his weapon, and call an operator using his earpiece. If the guard is killed at any point before the call is finished, then no alarm will be raised. It is best to terminate a guard before he draws his weapon however, as he may fire his weapon and alert the entire area.
If a player intends to intimidate a guard, they must be in close to mid-range. After a guard spots a player, the player must try to dominate him before he draws his gun, in order to maximize chances of him backing down. In stealth, shouting the guard down will immediately make him get on his knees and cuff himself. One player must then answer his pager. Note that you cannot move dominated guards, and Joker doesn't work in stealth. This can be used to pacify a guard without risking him firing his weapon, after which he can be dispatched and put in a body bag, or left alone if no other guards patrol the area.
If a player attempts to intimidate a guard and the guard does not back down, the guard can approach the failed dominator and handcuff them. The player must then take a full minute to remove their handcuffs unless assisted by a crew member. They can also immediately handcuff a player within a second if the guard happens to be alerted within 1 meter of an unaware player. The guard who has successfully cuffed a player will raise an alarm shortly afterwards. A cuffed player is considered incapacitated for nearly all intents and purposes, even incrementing their (non-bleedout) mission summary Downs stat by one, and if it happens in solo play with no AI, the mission will automatically fail in 10 seconds. This is likely, despite them being able to pick their way out within a minute, to avoid players abusing this mechanic in a loud mission, as cuffed players will not be targeted and are completely immune to damage.
To counter a failed intimidation, the player can try to melee the guard and knock him down, then attempt to intimidate him again. However, during this process, the guard may fire his weapon, which will alert any guards or civilians who are in range of the sound.
If a guard is killed or dominated during the stealth part of a mission, his pager will start beeping after 2 or up to 4 seconds. If it is ignored for 12 seconds, the pager operator on the other side will raise the alarm. To prevent this, players must answer the pager by interacting with it for 10 seconds to complete the interaction, though this can be shortened to 9 seconds by using the Burglar Perk Deck. Any given pager will beep and require attention only once; once it it successfully answered, that particular pager will not be of further concern. The team as a whole may answer up to four pagers during a heist; the operator will not believe a player answering a fifth pager and, upon completing the call, the operator will raise the alarm.
Multiple players can attempt to answer the same pager at the same time. The first player to actually complete the interaction will trigger the appropriate response (successful persuasion or raised alarm, as described earlier), ignoring the partially completed interaction from all other players.
Interrupting an ongoing pager interaction (e.g. starting to answer it, then releasing the interaction button halfway) will cause the operator to raise the alarm immediately, unless there is anyone else answering the same pager at the same time. This potentially allows two or more players to delay a pager response indefinitely by overlapping their interaction durations.
If alarm is raised, all pager activity ceases. Players will not be able to, nor will they need to, answer any more pagers. Likewise, any ongoing answering interactions will automatically be terminated.
The pager does not need to be answered fully within the allotted time, only started. Pagers may also be 'juggled' back and forth to buy time in a tight situation with careful exchange of control by players - as long as one player is holding the pager line open, the operator will not sound the alarm.
Security cameras act as a "stationary security guard" in that they will detect any players during stealth within their line of sight. The rate of detection is similar to that of civilians and guards and is determined by detection risk. Cameras will also spot any of the following:
If a camera spots any of the above, as indicated by a question mark above the camera and globally heard, high-pitched beeps that increase in frequency over time, players will have a variable amount of time to remove the suspicious object or disable the camera before it becomes alerted, indicated by an exclamation point and a continuous audio tone.
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