Shout

The player character shouting at civilians

A shout is a multipurpose action that both players and AI teammates can perform. It is done by pressing the Interact button (F by default) on the PC, R2 on the PS3 and RB on the Xbox 360. It is used for:

• Calling out to a teammate (to revive or hasten them if Inspire is aced).
• Ordering civilians to get/stay down.
• Prodding escort targets forward.
• Attempting to intimidate non-special law enforcers so that they become hostages.
• Pointing out special enemies.
• Revealing the positions of patrolling security guards and security cameras in Diamond Heist or when stealth is not yet broken in PAYDAY 2.
• Interrogating certain VIPs on some heists.

When shouting, the character will also make a gesture depending on the action. It is not visible in third person.

Intimidation

A security guard who has surrendered

In order to intimidate a law enforcer, you must shout at him three times.

In PAYDAY: The Heist, the first shout will make him put his hands up and drop his weapon, the second will make him kneel, and the third will make him handcuff himself, while in PAYDAY 2, a target will raise his hands on the first shout, drop his gun on the second, and kneel and cuff himself on the third. In stealth, one shout performs all of these actions, however.

A target will only surrender if he became alerted very recently (only works in stealth), or he is wounded or in the middle of an action (such as reloading), or any combination of the mentioned. In certain cases, the enemy being alone also helps increases intimidation chances, though this is very rarely of any significance. Multiple of these factors occurring increases the surrendering chances. Tougher enemies are also harder to intimidate.

Gangsters and special units cannot be intimidated, and in PAYDAY: The Heist law enforcers will not surrender during an assault wave.

Strategies

General

• Order your potential hostage to surrender between shots, and give him/her time to respond rather than shooting him again immediately; otherwise, you may accidentally kill them. You will instantly know if s/he refuses when s/he performs a roll to get out from under your cross-hair.
• When you are about to attempt to intimidate a law enforcer, check the number of hostages. If the hostage number goes up when you shout at him, it is guaranteed that he will surrender or move into a position where he can surrender (due to AI pathfinding).
• If you were to intimidate an enemy, make sure to alert your crewmates lest they kill him before he can surrender. AI teammates may occasionally do this as well, though it is unfortunate that they cannot be warned. If you manage to intimidate a law enforcer and he raises his hands up, the AI will stop shooting at him however.
• A knocked down law enforcer is more likely to surrender than a standing one. Try to force your opponent down and vulnerable before shouting at him for greater effect.
• Shouting can still be used to reveal hidden (special) enemies in a cloud caused by a smoke grenade, with the heister telling a normal enemy to surrender or indicate a special enemy in the smoke.

PAYDAY: The Heist

• A short burst of fire from the AMCAR-4 works well for getting FBI agents and Blue SWAT to surrender on Overkill and below. However, security guards and cops will die no matter where you shoot them, while Heavy SWAT and Murkywaters will require more sustained fire to be intimidated. One bodyshot from the Locomotive 12G is usually enough to soften up the latter two, though.
• An enemy getting down on his knees at your command is NOT cuffed and may rise up to fight you if he is presented a chance. Always be sure to order him to cuff himself first. You can confirm this by checking if they drop ammo or not, as a cuffed opponent will always drop some.
• A reliable method of making a lone Heavy SWAT surrender is to melee him three times and then order him to surrender. Weaker firearms work as well, but he will be less likely to flinch from a B9-S round than a melee attack (see Intimidating).
• You will only be able to make a law enforcer surrender in between assaults, so the moments between assaults should be used as an opportunity to gain more hostages because of this. Note that in between assaults, FBI agents will be more active, and they will try to release hostage if given a chance, although they themselves are also good targets for intimidation.

PAYDAY 2

• Like PAYDAY: The Heist, any player in the crew can intimidate a non-special law enforcer into becoming a hostage. As of Update 100, all players can dominate without the need for any skill and more hostages are available (3 + amount of players).
  • The outdated Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game still require Dominator.
• Contrary to popular belief, the Threat rating of weapons has nothing to do with the intimidation of enemies.
• Unlike in PAYDAY: The Heist, law enforcers can be dominated during police assaults.
• During the stealth portion of heists, if a player is detected by a guard, they can shout at the guard and they will always surrender, though this still triggers his pager, thus will require a response from the crew. Police officers are an exception to this, as they do not have pagers.
  • A guard will never be dominated if he has not yet detected the player. However, as soon as the guard becomes completely aware of the player (the detection circle is filled), there is a 1.5 second window during which domination is virtually guaranteed. Take care not to shout at the guard prior to being detected, as there is a 1.5 second delay between shouts, and you will likely miss this window if your timing is off.
  • Unlike in loud portions of heists, the guard will only need to be shouted at once, instead of thrice. He will automatically cuff himself once intimidated.
  • However, gangsters on stealth heists cannot be intimidated via shouting and instead of ordering an exposed player to surrender, they will promptly shoot at said intruder. One exception is the interior guards on the Scarface Mansion heist in which they function like normal security guards as they have pagers. 
• Though surrendered law enforcers are counted as hostages, they cannot be moved (without the help of Joker, which on the other hand makes them a target for enemy fire), so plan your intimidation carefully so that they will surrender in a spot where help cannot get to them, or outside of hot zones where stray fire can rob you of a hostage.
• A converted enemy counts as a hostage; he reverts to his surrendered state when a hostage trade is possible and he is chosen.
• Law enforcers with their hands up may still pick up their dropped firearms and shoot/cuff the player if their aggressor does not pay close attention, so order them to cuff themselves before minding something else.

Inspire (PAYDAY 2)

Main article: Inspire

A player with the Inspire skill can shout at their teammates during combat to provide either a brief speed boost and/or revival from a distance. Unlike shouting at guards, however, the specific shouts related to Inspire can only be used in live combat and not during stealth.

Achievements (PAYDAY: The Heist)

Eagle eyes Point out a special enemy using the ‘shout out’ command.

Intimidating Get a Heavy SWAT to give up.