Payday Wiki
Advertisement
Payday Wiki
Mutator Config
This article is a stub. You can help the Payday Wiki by expanding it.

This is the list of Enemies in PAYDAY 3. Special enemies have more information on their respective page.

Security Guards[]

Security guards patrol on designated paths in maps, often stopping or looking around at specified points. Additionally, a special guard spawns in the security office of each mission, who will operate all cameras until interrupted.

A security guard's behavior depends on the security level of the zone they spot a player in. While in public areas, guards are completely passive towards unmasked players, and cannot detect them unless they are performing an illegal action. In private areas, guards will escort players out, forcing them to follow the guard back to a designated location; failure to do so will lead to an arrest, where the guard cuffs the perpetrator, applies a 30-second custody timer, and calls for a search. In secure areas, they will arrest players on sight.

If a guard detects a masked player, they will immediately open fire.

On certain maps while playing on the Overkill difficulty, a lead guard spawns who wears a special uniform and a notable hat. They behave identically to standard guards. However, if killed or dominated, their pager reopens once per minute, requiring constant attention to keep under control.

Bouncers are only present in Rock The Cradle. Although they function identically to standard security guards, they have a completely different appearance more befitting of the high-class nightclub they protect.

First Responders[]

Average street cops working for the NYPD. When a heist goes loud, they will arrive on the scene, hiding behind cars or other setpieces during the initial negotiation. Once negotiations end, they will move in and behave as standard SWAT units, albeit with significantly less health and firepower.

Shooting while the First Responders are present will end negotiations immediately. If you have the Menacing skill, they do not count towards the limit on police hostages.

SWAT Team[]

Emergency Response Units, dispatched when the regular cops aren't enough to handle a situation. They bear basic body armor alongside assault rifles or shotguns, and spawn en masse as the default enemies of the game. In combat, they will fire at players, and can perform basic tactical maneuvers such as taking cover and flanking heisters to increase their effectiveness.

Tougher, meaner units who spawn in later assault waves, bearing more health. They otherwise function identically to standard SWAT units, holding the same weaponry and using the same tactics.

Hostage Rescue Team[]

HostageRescueTeamPD3

Difficult situations require difficult responses. Spawning in groups of three to four units, members of the Hostage Rescue Team bear white uniforms. As the name suggests, they have the ability to free hostages, and will prioritize that task above all else when not in active combat. Otherwise, they function identically to regular SWAT.

Sabotage Squad[]

SabotageSquadPD3

Although the police may not know what the Payday Gang's end goal is, they certainly know how to stop it. Spawning in groups of three to four units, Sabotage Squad members have golden helmets. While not in active combat with a player, they track down ongoing mission objectives, disrupting them and slowing player progress. Otherwise, they function identically to regular SWAT.


Special Enemies[]

Snipers stay out of sight in elevated areas, out of reach of players, and fire devastating singular shots that can wipe them clean of their armor. They can be tracked and killed by following their targeting laser.

Shields, as the name implies, carry riot shields that they and their comrades will hide behind. The shield is impervious to most damage, requiring attacks from the side or careful shots to destroy its viewport, exposing the Shield's head.

Area denial specialists who can throw smoke bombs to obstruct player vision, flashbangs to carefully disarm hostage situations, or tear gas grenades which can deal damage to a player through their armor. Their vest, which is full of such explosives, does provide a weak point that can be exploited.

Zappers enter the battle with a stun gun that can lock players in place and cause them to fire their weapon uncontrollably, eventually downing them. They can also place traps that electrocute heisters who step on them. Although extremely dangerous, especially when encountered without team support, they have a battery pack on their left thigh that can be shot to stun them (and anyone nearby).

Cloakers are extremely mobile, often faster than a player, and can subdue them quickly. Once a player is subdued by a Cloaker, they will deal damage through armor, until their health is fully drained and they can be cuffed for a reduced custody timer. Cloakers stagger easily and can be stopped during their attacks if a player damages them enough.

By far the most powerful of the special units, Bulldozers are essentially boss fights the Payday gang will encounter during later stages of a heist. Boasting a high health pool, a powerful automatic shotgun that drains a player's health and armor quickly, a forward-charge attack that staggers heisters and a powerful melee attack that can destroy armor chunks, a Bulldozer is a force to be feared. Bulldozers usually spawn after a certain amount of assault waves, but can be dealt with promptly once their armor has been stripped off.

A very recent addition to the NYPD's specialist lineup. Staying away from the front lines, Techies will deploy refraction shields to avoid detection and continuously launch drones armed with machine guns or having the ability to temporarily remove players' ability to gain the EDGE, GRIT, and RUSH buff. However, Techies will attempt to flee once spotted and their location can be pinpointed by a player's HUD progressively glitching out the closer they are to the techie. Their drones are also vulnerable to hacks if a player has the Scrambler skill, turning them against the cops.

A communications van sent by the FBI. Although the van itself is completely indestructible, its radar dish isn't - and as long as that antenna remains standing, the current assault wave will never end. The van will only ever spawn once per mission, and the antenna isn't particularly tough.

General Trivia[]

  • SWAT units behave much more intelligently in PAYDAY 3 than in previous titles.
    • They use Shields as cover, make way for Bulldozers, team up with Zappers to target electrocuted heisters, and breach and clear rooms similarly to real-life law enforcement.
  • When a heister is downed, they will stop shooting and ignore the heister as they are no longer a threat. If the downed heister fires their weapon, or does damage to nearby cops or civilians, they will be given extra priority and pumped full of hot lead until there is no chance of them getting back up.
    • SWAT will not target you if you are damaged enough to drop your weapon.
  • Police and SWAT can be used as human shields. To do this, they must be stunned, staggered, or otherwise halted, and they will return to combat once the human shield is broken. They can also be converted into hostages with the Menacing skill, behaving as civilians from that point onward.
  • The Hostage Rescue Team in this installment comes better equipped with helmets, vests, goggles, and distinctive urban camoflauge uniforms, something their PAYDAY 2 counterparts didn't have.
  • Security Guards (including the Lead Guard and Bouncer), will surrender when the police arrive.
  • Some of the Special Units (such as the Shield & Dozer) are seen wearing foreign tactical gear, which is ironic considering how the game takes place in New York. Although it is rare for real world police to wear foreign gear albeit under restrictions; Possibly hinting of how corrupt the government has become since the Payday Gangs absence.
Advertisement