The Chimano 88 pistol is a secondary weapon in PAYDAY 2. Along with the AMCAR, it is one of the two weapons players start the game with. If the player goes Infamous without a level 0 secondary weapon, a free Chimano 88 is provided to them. If there are no free inventory slots available, then the first slot is overwritten by said Chimano 88.
Behold! PAYDAY 2's starter pistol! This is the handgun that all newly minted novice heisters begin the game with, and it heralds the beginning of a long and illustrious career of crime. We all started small and humble, and it was with this gun in hand that it all begun.
The Chimano 88 is a viable alternative to other weapons of it's tier, boasting an unmodded fire rate of 545 and a damage value of 53, coupled with a sizable magazine at 17 rounds. That being said, it still needs skills to make up for it's mediocre accuracy and stability.
Interestingly, the Chimano 88 post-update is superior in every stat compared to the M13 9mm, besides the slight threat difference, and is also very similar to the Gruber Kurz, albeit with a slightly larger magazine size. Because of this similarity, strategies for either handgun will also apply to the Chimano 88, so you might want to take a look at the M13's and Gruber's Wiki articles (especially the strategy sections), as those methods can be replicated very well with the Chimano 88.
When it comes to stats, the Chimano 88 brings to the table a serviceable fire rate and magazine size and ammo pickup rate, but is hindered by its low damage value and middling accuracy and stability stats. This is not a handgun suited to long-range shootouts, and the Chimano is most comfortable in indoor shootouts in confined spaces. On lower difficulties, it will serve you well, but its performance will quickly start to falter gravely on higher difficulties. While it is possible to leverage things like critical hits from the Sneaky Bastard skill tree or the Berserker-Frenzy combo from the Brawler skill tree coupled with headshots to help the Chimano perform better, but most players usually replace it with other more powerful handguns like the Bernetti 9, Crosskill or Brongo .44, usually selling off the Chimano later without further thought.
The Stealthy option[]
However, even if the Chimano 88 struggles to be viable in loud, its strong suit is its excellent concealment rating of 30, which means that it only needs very minimal modification to become a very capable main weapon for stealth; just the Standard Issue Suppressor you have in your starting inventory will suffice.
Once the Chimano 88 is ready to go, you then need to equip a high-concealment primary weapon; alternatives include the Cavity 9mm (which has 27 base concealment but limited ammo) or the Commando 553 (somewhat lower 22 base concealment, but has no level requirement and very plentiful ammo), For heisters lacking the needed DLCs, the Tempest-21 (which has 26 base concealment, available at level 38) is a good alternative, and for low-level heisters, the starting AMCAR (21 base concealment, no level requirement) is a serviceable option and the CAR-4 and the UAR (both at 20 base concealment, available at level 4 and 8, respectively) will do an adequate job even unmodified. The CAR-4 in particular can be modified to become as concealable as the Cavity 9mm, easily reaching 30 base concealment, albeit paid requiring DLC, while the UAR is an adequate holdout rifle if the heist goes loud. It is worth noting that if the Chimano 88 is your main weapon, then your primary weapon's only relevant stat will be its concealment (as long as the heist doesn't go loud); it does not even need to be suppressed if you are limited on funds, though it is quite helpful.
Lastly, equip a Two-Piece Suit and a melee weapon with 30 concealment and your weapon arsenal is as ready as it can be at this stage. After this, you only need to pick a good set of skills, and you will then be ready to start stealthing heists. The Chimano's damage problems are irrelevant in stealth as guards will die instantly if shot and since most such eliminations are likely to take place at relative close ranges with single headshots, the Chimano's middling accuracy and stability will not have a chance to seriously become a problem. As long as you keep your detection risk as low as possible (ideally aim for the minimum value of 3), you will be well-equipped for stealth, even from the very beginning at Level 0.
For added utility for stealth heists, you could also take the skill More Firepower aced (from the Breacher tree) and equip yourself with up to 14 Trip Mines. These Trip Mines default to Sensor Mode in stealth, so you could strategically deploy them in key locations to mark passing guards and thus gradually establish coverage over the whole map, enabling you to monitor guard movement and avoid them without needing to eliminate them and deal with Pagers and Body Bags.
Additionally, you could also equip the skills Jack Of All Trades aced (from the Engineer tree) and Cleaner aced (from the Shinobi tree), allowing you to also bring in a Body Bag Case as a second deployable in addition to your trip mines. This combo will enable you to both get rid of problematic guards and effectively monitor the activities of the rest, granting you a very high level of control over the heist.
With these accomodations, the Chimano 88 can once again shine, and remain a usable weapon much further into your career than what was intended, potentially lasting all the way until you reach Level 100 and enable Infamy. And once you eventually go Infamous and reset your levels, the Chimano 88 will be there for you, ready to serve you well once again, just like it was in the very beginning.
Summary[]
Pros:
Available from the start, with no level requirement
Good concealment
Good fire rate for a pistol
Has reasonably good accuracy and stability
Large ammo pool and magazine size
Can reach 100 accuracy and stability with modifications and skills
Cons:
Poor damage without skills
Very low threat rating
Infeffective at longer ranges without skills and modifications
Tips[]
In addition to the pistol itself, players also start with a Standard Issue Suppressor in their inventory. Attaching it to the Chimano 88 at the beginning will grant a player their first silent weapon and allows them to participate in Plan A (stealth).
As of Update 203.1, the Chimano 88 pistol had its fire rate buffed to 600 (later nerfed to 545) and its damage buffed slightly to 37 (later increased to the present 53). This makes it a worthy alternative to the pistols that formerly outclassed it.
If you intend to use the Chimano 88 liberally, then the Gunslinger skill tree and its constituent skills are natural picks.
The Medved R4 Suppressor can be swapped with the Jungle Ninja Suppressor, which has no damage penalty but an additional -3 concealment.
This configuration strives to maximize the Chomani 88's concealment rating, turning it into a low-cost level-free non-DLC alternative to the Gruber Kurz and Bernetti 9. Priority is given to concealment over other stats, and therefore both accuracy and stability remain largely unchanged, while damage is lowered to 49 (optionally to 51 with either the Standard Issue Suppressor or the Medved R4 Suppressor).
As such, this is a strictly Stealth-only build.
Size Doesn't Matter Suppressor (-4 dmg, -24 thr)
Alternatively with Optical Illusions Aced; Standard Issue Suppressor (-2 dmg, +4 stb, -2 con, -24 thr) OR Medved R4 Suppressor (-2 dmg, +4 stb, -2 con, -24 thr)
Despite the fact that the purpose of compensators is to increase the user's control of their weapon's recoil, the IPSC Compensator actually increases the amount of kick up per shot.
The item is the decorative front bit of the WE-Tech Tenderizer, a full-metal muzzle brake designed for airsoft M1911s.
The original model name (Meat Grinder) helps confirm the link.
Tenderizers can be utilized in close quarters in the same manner as a bayonet, albeit dealing blunt trauma instead of impalement. Despite this, the weapon butt animation and damage for pistols modded with this part remains unchanged.
The point of a pronged flash hider like this is to split the single bright muzzle flash into a wide four-way cross for the shooter's comfort. Not only is it slightly dimmer overall to avoid blinding the shooter in a dark environment, but it also prevents the flash itself from obscuring the target between shots. By this account, it should help with accuracy more than anything. It might appear more intimidating, or possibly alter stability by changing the center of gravity, but it certainly shouldn't alter the speed and thus damage of the weapon it is mounted on.
The Roctec Suppressor is based on Gemtech's BLACKSIDE .45. It tries to competently suppress the strong .45 and .40 S&W cartridges in as little space as possible.
The Champion's Suppressor is based on the Knight's Armament Co. Mk23 .45 caliber Suppressor. The real life suppressor is designed to fit only the MK23, suggesting that the in-game suppressor is custom.
A "Monolith" is commonly a single massive monument of stone or rock, often carefully and uniformly carved into shape. A typical monolith possesses a lot of perpendicular and parallel lines and surfaces, similar to the shape of this suppressor.
The suppressor is, in fact, simply an oil filter with a bullet hole on one end used as a makeshift sound suppressor. This is somewhat alluded to by its name, as a "budget" item is a cheap, most commonly homemade substitute of dodgy quality for something currently not available.
The "Jungle Ninja Suppressor" weapon mod is a reference to the game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. It is used on Naked Snake's custom M1911A1. In the description of the weapon mod it says, "...this suppressor was wielded by a great warrior during the legendary sneaking mission in the 60's." This is a reference to Naked Snake and the mission he did in the 1960's dubbed Operation Snake Eater.
The Tactical Pistol Light is based on the Streamlight TLR-1, as indicated by its string ID.
On Update #16, players who played during the Halloween Event and who were part of the Official Payday 2 Group on Steam, will be stuck with another exact copy of this that says "This is a Community Item!".
The Tactical Pistol Light used to be exclusively used by law enforcers on their Chimano 88 pistols and was unavailable to players. After Update #16, the mod was available to players.
If combined with a Laser Grip (STRYK 18c, Gruber Kurz, Chimano Compact, Chimano 88, Chimano Custom), activation will cycle through the laser on the Laser Grip, the laser on the Combined Module, the light, and then off, in that order. This effect has no practical application but the STRYK 18c, Chimano 88, and Chimano Custom get improved stats from both attachments.
The Laser Grip for the Chimano family of weapons appears to be based off the Crimson Trace Glock Laser Grip.
Unlike the Pocket Laser attachment which is turned on and off via a switch, the Laser Grip in reality is pressure-activated, meaning the laser will only come out when the grip-mounted trigger is pressed. Of course, the laser stays activated in-game for gameplay reasons.
The Laser Grip's laser sight is the only laser aiming module that is available at the same time as a Pistol Light attachment. One press of the "Q"/"D-pad down" activates both gadgets if a Tactical Pistol Light is attached.
Beavertail grips like this were invented to protect the shooter's hands. Having an overly aggressive grip on the gun was dangerous, as the jumping slide could painfully snap up the skin between the forefinger and the thumb. Having a little shield like this lets the user hold the grip closer to the center of gravity, diminishing the recoil some.
This particular component seems to be from Cytec, a Chinese manufacturer.
Despite being modeled after a 33-rounder Glock magazine, the Extended Mag gives neither the Chimano Custom, Chimano 88 nor the STRYK 18c the correct amount of bullets they should have. The closest it could manage is to bring the STRYK's capacity up to 32 rounds, which is still one round short of the proper count.
The Cavity 9mm is equipped with this item by default where, for once, it is loaded with the correct amount of ammo. This is particularly unusual considering how the Cavity's base weapon is actually incompatible with extended Glock magazines in reality.
We Are Rockstars On This Job Complete the Watchdogs job with each crew member using no skills, wielding the AMCAR Rifle and Chimano 88 Pistol on OVERKILL difficulty or above.
Trivia[]
The Chimano 88 is modeled after a Generation 3 Glock 17, as evident by the finger grooves on its grip and the frame-molded accessory rail. The "88" at the end of the name is a reference to "Pist 88", its Swedish Armed Forces designation.
The magazine capacity of 17 is for the most part accurate for standard Glock 17 pistols, but the in-game weapon fails to account for the added bullets inside the visibly incorporated 2-round extension cap.
A (dead) Blue SWAT's holstered Chimano 88.
The Chimano 88 with the Tactical Pistol Light attachment is commonly used by security guards, metropolitan police, SWAT variant of the shield, and Overkill bikers. SWAT and FBI officers also have a Chimano 88 pistol as their standard sidearm, which can be seen tucked away in their pistol holsters, although they never draw them.
Hoxton also uses a Chimano 88 with the same setup as his sidearm, which he draws out when downed or while idling in a combat heist. It is stored inside of his character model during stealth.
The Hoxton fugitive AI during Hoxton Breakout also uses a Chimano 88 as his weapon of choice briefly at the start of the first and throughout the second day of the mission.
On the right side of the gun, there is "#14" written in what appears to be a pink marker or highlighter, indicating it may have been stolen from a police evidence locker.
An update containing new weapon textures has removed the #14 from the weapon permanently.
6
Blue Eagle Packages
Green Mantis Packages
Purple Snake Packages
+4 Stability
