You’re up against the wall and I am the f*cking wall!I call this build my “Diet Dozer” just because of how strong and tanky it is. If you want a build to give you that Payday power fantasy, then you will absolutely be delighted bulldozing every enemy in the game with this build. Prepare to mow down waves of enemies with ease!
Introduction
This build will guide you on how to be a nearly unstoppable helmet popping machine. Mow through waves of enemies with ease!
Skills
Ammo Specialist
- Scrounger: Always a useful skill to have. Will be helpful for replenishing our flashbangs.
- Plate Up: The first major skill in our build that will increase our chances of survival. Repairs damaged (not broken) armor chunks when you pick up ammo. Has a 2 second cooldown.
Mower
- Ammo Funnel: This is our second major skill. Bet you didn’t see that coming. Removes the unnecessary action of reloading. Unless I’m mistaken, it seems like Dozers have an infinite amount of shells in their shotguns they can fire off without reloading.
- Replenish: If you’re running Ammo Funnel, you’re definitely going to be running Replenish.
- Sprint Loaded: Sprint Loaded is just a personal preference. You could probably put this point into Frugal Thrower (Infiltrator), Walking Pharmacy (Medic), or Stockpile (Fortitude) if you wanted to. I just like being able to reload while sprinting.
Tank
- Clean Slate: Who doesn’t run clean slate? Necessary for adaptive armor.
Demolitionist
- Overcooked: Throwables explode on impact. This is for our flashbangs.
- Extra Munitions: Increases our throwable capacity by 2; from 3 flashbangs to 5 flashbangs.
Enforcer
- Solid: I love Solid. Immune from the stagger effects of Shield bashes, Nader belts, Dozer kicks (damage still applies), and SWAT weapon bashes (when holding a human shield). Well, that is unless your teammate is in close proximity to the shield or SWAT bash, then somehow that negates Solid. The devs should really fix that cause that’s BS.
- Combat Reload: Refreshes GRIT and EDGE when reloading with ammo in the magazine.
- Shock & Awe: This is another skill you could swap out. I like the chance to stagger nearby enemies when I’m not actively throwing flashbangs.
Manipulator
- Manipulator ACED: +1 resources when trading hostages
- Negotiator: +2 resources when trading hostages
- Menacing: Menacing helps a lot with heists where you most likely will not have many hostages (i.e Road Rage, Cook Off, Syntax Error, etc.). Even if final assault kicks in, it’s useful to have the ability to convert a SWAT into a hostage to negate those pesky Nader gas grenades.
Tactician
- Exposure: Your shots ignore all armor from enemies affected by your flashbang stun. This will be useful for clearing out large groups of enemies that form during heists.
- Scramble: Any stun effects you apply last 20% longer. Exposure now lasts 20% longer. Even if you aren’t killing any SWAT units, if a group of them has surrounded your downed teammates, you’ll have 20% more time to revive them after throwing a flashbang. You might even have time to spare to kill the rest of the stunned SWAT units.
Transporter
- Power Lifter: You can carry up to two bags! A good utility to have while mowing down waves of SWAT units.
Assassin
- Death Knell: Enemies marked by your throwables are marked. This is useful for the last two skills in this build.
- Assassin’s Mettle: If you have one armor chunk or less, killing a marked enemy with a suppressed weapon will heal you for 5 health. If your health is maxed out, you will receive adrenaline. Why does this matter? Negating damage with health. In this build, we will be using adaptive armor, so when your armor chunk goes down to 1, you can start using Death Knell, Assassin’s Mettle, and Killer Kinesthetics to gain adrenaline. Every little bit of negating damage helps.
- Killer Kinesthetics: Whenever you kill a marked enemy with a suppressed weapon, the nearest unmarked enemy within 10 meters of the target will become marked. I’ve had a couple games where I’ve chained enough kills to get my adrenaline to half or full. Doesn’t last long, but that’s damage that could’ve been applied to my last armor chunk.
Equipment
Primary Weapon: Rebel Tactics FSA-12G (FSA)–
Attachments:
- Ranged Barrel
- Extended Magazine
- Padded Tube
- 12G Obelisk Silencer (Important for Assassin skills)
- Perforated Grip
- Angled Ghost Grip
After the update to shotguns, the FSA has become the best shotgun in the game and arguably the best weapon in the game with how fast it is to take out Dozers. I think’s it’s roughly 3-4 close up shots to their visor to take down a Dozer. I think it one shots most, if not all SWAT units in close range. You will be mowing down everything in your path. Just be a little more cautious around Dozers.
Primary Weapon Alternative: Reinfeld 880–
Attachments:
- Ranged Barrel
- Biofit Fore-End (I don’t actually know the difference in cycle speed, so I use the Biofit)
- Fortified Stock
- Tagged Iron Sight
- 12G Obelisk Silencer
For those of you without the Syntax Error weapon pack, the Reinfeld 880 is a close second for the best shotgun in the game, in my opinion, especially after it’s buffs. Reliable for clearing out SWAT, just be careful when taking out Dozers.
Secondary Weapons–
It doesn’t really matter what your secondary weapon is as long it has a silencer. I use the Jackknife and the Deagle. If you don’t have any DLC, you can use the Stryk 7 (Glock) or the SP-11.
I only really use my secondary for snipers.
Deployables, OVERKILL Weapon, Armor, Throwables, and Tools–
- Deployable: Armor Bag (You’ll only have 2 charges, so save these for yourself when you need it!)
- OVERKILL Weapon: I recommend the Red Fox (hit those 2 dozer body shots ffs!) or the Minigun. You might end up killing your hostages with the Grenade Launcher!
- Armor: Adaptive Armor Lining
- Throwables: Flashbangs
- Tools: Trip Laser (unless it’s Road Rage, then I’d recommend the Motion Sensor. Also be aware that the Trip Laser is buggy on Cook Off. I think some placements on the house and the railings/fence cause it to disappear.)
Play Style
The Diet Dozer playstyle is a mix of aggressive and tactic, as I’ll call it.
You can absolutely go in guns blazing, taking out waves of enemies, but you’ll want to watch your armor. Remember, you aren’t invincible.
Start of the Heist:
First things first, tie down as many hostages as you can for hostage trading later and pray that your teammates don’t kill any. I typically don’t trade for time and usually throw a flashbang to start the assault immediately.
At the start of the heist, I take out 2 first responders within 5 meters to gain GRIT. I’ll usually hit the cop with a weapon bash/melee first to gain EDGE and then gain GRIT with Enforcer. Since we have Combat Reload, I’ll always make sure that I’m reloading my weapon to refresh EDGE and GRIT before they run out. This works well with Sprint Loaded because I won’t have to walk to reload my weapons.
If I run out of time to refresh EDGE and GRIT for some reason, I’ll throw a flashbang at a group of SWAT units to get EDGE and kill them point-blank for GRIT.
That’s essentially the combat loop you’ll go through. Throw flashbang, stun enemies, kill enemies, retreat (into cover), reload (to refresh EDGE and GRIT), repeat. You can be very aggressive with this build. Even when on one armor chunk, you’ll be constantly gaining adrenaline from marked enemies and killer kinesthetics ensures you have a trail of enemies to gain adrenaline from.
Once the cops call for a hostage trade, I’ll trade all available hostages for 4 resources. Sometimes people have the Manipulator skills for a full 5 resources, but 4 is good too. You will flourish on hostage abundant heists like NRFTW, Dirty Ice, Under the Surphaze, First World Bank, and Diamond District. Don’t forget that you have menacing as well!
Make sure you collect all those armor repair kits (ARKs)! With Clean Slate, you can restore an armor chunk if you lose your last one.
When dealing with Dozers, I usually wait for them to come to me. I’ll hide behind cover and wait for them to come close enough to target their visor. You’ll live longer taking Dozers out from cover and save your armor chunks and ARKs. Try not to always stand directly in front of Dozers. You’ll either get Dozer kicked or he’ll rip through your armor. Strafe, run for cover, and take him out quickly and safely!
That’s basically it for the Diet Dozer play style. Now time for the obstacles that could make heisting excruciatingly painful!
Diet Dozer’s Worst Nightmares
Remember when I said you’d be nearly unstoppable? Well, these have the potential to stop you.
Kill Zappers on sight! I hate Zappers. It’s not the Zapper themselves, per say, it’s their shock mines. (Dmitry Bely)
–
I’ve stepped on so many of these things, especially on Cook Off where they’re everywhere! Beware stepping on one of these little monsters. They will mess you up!
Just don’t get blindsided by one. Keep your eyes and ears open when you hear their crackling. Be mindful of the places Cloakers can spawn from, such as ඞ vents ඞ and elevators! The Jewelry Workshop in Dirty Ice, the server and physical evidence rooms in Houston Breakout, etc. –
I spent way more time than I needed on this image.
Pretty self-explanatory, yeah? You’re the Diet Dozer and will absolutely get your guts rearranged by buckshot if you aren’t careful around Dozers. Take them out in cover.
Thank you for reading my guide!
Credits
Me, for spending like 4 hours making this guide.
And that wraps up our share on PAYDAY 3: Diet Dozer Build. If you have any additional insights or tips to contribute, don’t hesitate to drop a comment below. For a more in-depth read, you can refer to the original article here by Odd_Orchid, who deserves all the credit. Happy gaming!