The most interesting weapons and skills you can earn in Payday 3 are locked until you find the fastest ways to earn XP and level up as you plan dangerous heists in different missions. Also known as your Infamy, your rank progression is tied directly to various tasks and objectives you can complete during a run. There are many little tricks you can use to plan and gain far more experience than you would in a normal match.
As of this time of writing, there are over 200 planned fixes to Payday 3 after several issues seen in many heists upon the release of this FPS title. This means there could be new methods for XP farming as the game continues to receive updates in the future beyond anything listed here. The refined gameplay likely won’t change, but the methods surrounding leveling up or gaining Infamy could become subject to change over time.
5 Complete Challenges
On the main menu of Payday 3, you can see a list of Challenges you can complete during a heist to earn a bit of extra XP. Some examples include getting several headshots, hacking a certain amount of cameras, and many other small tasks. Many of the objectives seen through Challenges are based on progression, allowing you to finish these goals throughout multiple runs instead of only during a single mission.
There are other rewards for meeting Challenges as well, including money and clothing pieces to customize your character in Payday 3. Some of the iconic masks seen in earlier games are earned this way, and plenty of new ones are introduced in this highly anticipated sequel. Make sure to return to certain heists, especially easier missions that you could quit once you meet Challenge requirements.
4 Perform Heists Solo
While it may be tempting to assemble a squad of Payday 3‘s playable characters into a heist that couldn’t possibly fail, keep in mind that XP gained is shared equally among everyone who participates in a run. Enemies are easier to take down, but you won’t earn as much experience from defeated foes since rewards are split between everyone. Try to pick shorter heists to avoid a tedious grind when going through a mission on your own.
A simple trick using this method could come from any heist with a choke point full of enemies you can farm without even finishing the robbery. Specific missions such as “Touch the Sky” have plenty of spots that let you farm kills for XP before restarting the heist to repeat the process. Reload heists repeatedly, reach a place with many enemies and take everyone out to maximize the points toward your Infamy in Payday 3.
3 Play on Harder Difficulties
This tip is straightforward since you get more XP for finishing heists on higher difficulties in Payday 3. The same can be applied to getting kills, so you can combine this method with the previous and participate in solo runs on Very Hard mode to level up fast by getting as much XP as possible. While this may seem difficult, remember that Challenges and eliminating enemies do not require you to finish a heist to increase Infamy.
To make this method far easier in Payday 3, hide behind easily defended areas, similar to how you might use choke points to make it through heists solo. Simply wait for enemies to come to you before landing headshots to take them out quickly. This allows you to farm experience from targets that are technically harder to defeat than foes on lower difficulties, netting you far more Infamy than normal.
2 Farm Easy Heists
Finishing heists is another obvious source of XP, with each finished mission giving you a large chunk of Infamy that rewards good planning and limited setbacks. The more efficiently you complete a heist, the more your Infamy progresses toward the next level in Payday 3. Find the easiest heists for you or your group to farm multiple times while remembering to play on the hardest difficulties you can manage.
The “Dirty Ice” heist can be completed in under five minutes if your group communicates well and earns you about 900+ XP every time. Other missions like “Rock the Cradle” and the “Gold & Sharke” bank heist are also short enough to farm multiple times, according to the Videogamer. Learn to speedrun these levels and watch your Infamy skyrocket in Payday 3.
1 Never Get Caught
Every heist in Payday 3 actually rewards those who can complete every objective in stealth and never get caught for their criminal actions. This can be difficult to pull off on harder difficulties and typically takes more time, but groups that work well together should have fewer issues pulling this off. The rewards from finishing a stealth heist vastly outweigh standard Infamy bonuses, sometimes even doubling your XP.
Since doing missions this way needs a delicate touch, consider equipping silencers or melee weapons to your loadout in Payday 3 to prepare your character for a stealth run. Certain skills will help here, depending on how many you have already through unlocked Infamy tiers. You’ll need to learn important techniques like Hostage Taking, Lures, and Takedowns to execute a tight plan and pull off a heist without being noticed.
Another key thing to recognize for stealth runs are Security Levels and Casing Mode, two of the key mechanics of Payday 3 that define your heist preparation. There are three Security Levels that define how dangerous places on a map are, ranging from Public to Private to Secure. Casing Mode acts as your planning period as you walk around the place you want to rob, letting you visit Public areas in civilian outfits and map out your plan of attack.
The fastest ways to earn XP and level up in Payday 3 may depend on how carefully you plan for a heist and how flawlessly you execute it.
Payday 3
- Platform(s):
- PC, Linux, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Epic Games Store, Steam
- Released:
- 2023-09-21
- Developer(s):
- Starbreeze Studios
- Publisher(s):
- Deep Silver
- Genre(s):
- First-Person Shooter, Stealth
- ESRB:
- M
- Prequel:
- Payday 2
