Modifiers (Payday 3)

Unlike PAYDAY: The Heist and PAYDAY 2, which difficulties modified specific elements of a heist, PAYDAY 3 has specific modifiers that differ per heist depending on what modifiers are present in each heist.

Gameplay

Example of modifiers active on Touch The Sky (Overkill difficulty).

Modifiers in PAYDAY 3 are based on difficulties similar to PAYDAY 2's difficulty changes, where the higher the difficulty, the more changes are made to certain heists, such as how many guards are present in the map.

However, unlike PAYDAY 2, where difficulty-exclusive changes such as Titan Cameras replacing normal cameras (which means cameras can no longer be damaged) appear, in PAYDAY 3, modifiers randomly and drastically change the playing field of a heist, be it making stealth more difficult by making cameras detect you outside of private or secure areas, or giving cops the ability to penetrate armor.

Modifiers are only present on Very Hard and Overkill difficulties (one stealth and loud modifier each on Very Hard, and an additional stealth and loud modifier each on Overkill).

Types of Modifiers

Stealth

Titan Cameras All cameras across the heist will be replaced with an indestructible camera.

Lead Guard A single Lead Guard will spawn and patrol around the heist. Their radio will go off an endless amount of times, additionally they will more of the heist map.

AI Surveillance There will be no guard present in the camera room. Out of rotation as of Update 1.3.0

Threat Detection System Cameras will detect masked-off players in Public Areas. Out of rotation as of Update 1.3.0

Cerberus Core All hack runtimes will reset after 5 seconds.

Loud

Calling Backup The total spawn limit of all special units (besides Cloakers and Techies) will increase by 1.

Federal Negotiator At least one hostage will be needed in order to get a player out of custody. Out of rotation as of Update 1.3.0

Crippling Tactics Special enemies' unique attack (such as a Zapper's stun or Nader's gas) will remove any active EDGE, GRIT, RUSH buffs. Out of rotation as of Update 1.3.0

Armor-Piercing Rounds 5% of damage taken from enemy gunfire will be applied to player health. Out of rotation as of Update 1.3.0

Alpha Team All standard SWAT units will be replaced with Heavy SWAT. Out of rotation as of Update 1.3.0

Tactical Flashlights Shields will come equipped with a tactical light that will blind players if looked at for too long.

Trivia

• There was a community survey asking players about their thoughts on the modifiers and what they liked and disliked about them. The results for the top 3 most liked and disliked modifiers according to PAYDAY 3 Blog Update #30 were:
  • Top 3 Most Liked
    1. Combat Duo (32.2%)
    2. Titan Cameras (24.3%)
    3. Threat Detection (10%)
  • Top 3 Most Disliked
    1. Threat Detection (24.7%)
    2. Armor Piercing Rounds (21.6%)
    3. Lead Guard (15.3%)
• Related to the survey above, the PAYDAY blog outlines the developers' surprise that Lead Guard were among the most disliked modifiers, in addition to Threat Detection System having a mixed reputation.