PAYDAY 2: really weird maniac build

I’ll start with Stable Shot because it’s the easiest to explain. Basically, shooting an LMG (yeah, this build uses LMGs) at long range is difficult. This skill is intended to help you hit anything beyond 10 meters.

Now, the medic stuff. The only reason Inspire isn’t aced is because I didn’t have enough skill points. In fact, I had to sacrifice a lot of offensive stuff to get the basic version of it. I would still recommend having at least the basic version, as otherwise you won’t be able to revive a crew member if you go into Swan Song while reviving them.

Combat Medic is aced because I had 3 extra skill points and thought it would be nice for teammates I revive to have extra health.

Combat Doctor is aced. You’re bringing Doctor Bags, not First Aid Kits. You’ll see why in a bit.

Okay, this one will DEFINITELY take some explaining.

Underdog is aced because you need the damage reduction. Remember, this build relies on getting armor back faster than the enemy can break it. Maniac’s damage absorption and skills that give damage reduction are half of how we make that happen.

Now, to address the elephant in the room: “What the hell is that Tank subtree!?”

With the exception of Transporter, Resilience Aced, and Shock and Awe, all of these skills are designed to play into the “Anarchist but slightly worse” playstyle.

Bullseye is aced. End of discussion. If you leave it as basic, you’ll be massively handicapping yourself.

I’m sure you know why Transporter and Resilience Aced are there. Shock and Awe Aced is there because I found shields to be really annoying. You can get rid of that and spend the skill points somewhere else (like acing Inspire) if you want.

Everything else is just more armor. I’ll explain why I didn’t ace Iron Man later.

Hardware expert is for faster drill repair. Oppressor subtree is for better stability & accuracy. Easy enough.

More stamina, more movement speed. Another easy one.

Running & reloading is a necessary skill because you have a pretty long reload with an LMG. If you press shift even 0.2 seconds before the reload animation is done, you’ll have to do it all over again.

Nine Lives Aced and Swan Song Aced. Duh.

The melee skills are there for pretty much one reason only: Bulldozers. Any Dozer that isn’t green will be a big problem, as they deal damage pretty fast and take too long to kill. So, you just need to kill a bunch of normal cops, and then when you see a Dozer, start charging up a melee swing, hit him (preferably without dying in the process), and he’ll go down in one hit. Green dozers can be killed in one uncharged swing, but they can also just be killed with your guns pretty easily. Every other Dozer needs a charged melee swing; the more health it has, the more charged up the swing needs to be.

Frenzy and Berserker are aced for two reasons. Firstly, the extra damage output and damage reduction are a big help. Secondly, you shouldn’t be relying on your health in the first place. You want to keep your armor up, and duck into cover when it starts to get low.

Oh, and yeah. This is why you shouldn’t bring First Aid Kits.

And that’s it for skills!

Use an LMG. Doesn’t really matter which one, although I’d probably go with a one that you can put a bipod on. I also recommend putting accuracy and stability mods on it. Concealment is irrelevant; this is a loud build and you have no dodge or crits that you need to keep up. Beyond that, do whatever the hell you want with it.

I went with the KSP because it felt right.

I would heavily recommend the Krinkov. Put accuracy and damage-boosting mods on it. This will be your best weapon to use against Snipers and Dozers that you can’t get within melee range of.

You want a big damage weapon. The Katana is objectively better than the Ice Pick, but I went with the Ice Pick because I thought it was cool.

Best used against Dozers or charging Cloakers that you can’t kill in time with your gun.

Something that can stun. I went with the Concussion. Use them to stun large groups of enemies for doing objectives or reviving teammates.

Why would I go with the Lightweight Ballistic Vest instead of something like the Combined Tactical Vest?

It’s because it looks cool, and the other armor pieces look kinda ugly in my opinion. This is also why I didn’t ace Iron Man.

If you disagree with my tastes in armor aesthetics, you should definitely use something with more armor, like the Combined Tactical Vest. I’m intentionally making my build worse because I want to look cool, and you shouldn’t do the same.

Deployable is the Doctor Bag (as I said earlier).

The perk deck is Maniac. I really hope you knew that by now.

Always aim for headshots. Headshots are the key to your survival.

Don’t bum rush Dozers without a charged melee swing ready; you might kill them, but you’ll go down in the process. Only exception is if the Dozer is reloading.

Use Concussions to do objectives and revive teammates, melee to kill Dozers, and the Krinkov to kill Snipers. Everything else, shoot with your LMG.

Having lots of damage absorption does NOT mean you are invincible. You might be tempted to run out into a crowd of cops when you see that big blue circle around your health bar, but don’t do it.

And most importantly of all, have fun!