Risk Level (2024)

The Sniper is a special enemy equipped with a modified Gewehr 3 that tends to appear on rooftops, windows, or anywhere with a good vantage point, capable of greatly damaging or destroying the armor from the player, making it vulnerable to nearby enemy units or a follow up lethal shot.

The Sniper can be identified by his bright red laser and the loud report of his rifle. Additionally, the announcer may warn players about cops setting a sniper team in a designated position.

The Shield is a special enemy that provides cover to his fellow comrades and/or obstructs the heister's path.
The SWAT Team variant Shield unit is the only shield type that uses a Chimano 88 pistol. All others will use a CMP Submachine Gun.

Shields can be identified by their key equipment, a large ballistic shield impermeable to most weapons.

The Taser is a special enemy equipped with a modified CAR-4 Assault Rifle with a unique gadget that has the ability to stun heisters. When used, the target heister's point of view will be shaking, and fire without the player's consent.
During this stun, the player can attempt to line out the shots against the Taser. However, the player is still vulnerable to attacks, allowing for other cops to take down the perpetrator, or even neutralizing the heister if enough time passes by while stunned.

Tasers can be identified by their bright yellow colors on their outfit, and loud 'charging' sound effect.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
The Medic is a special enemy equipped with a CAR-4 Assault Rifle or Reinfeld 880 Pump Shotgun. The Medic has the ability to revive one nearby allied unit at a max range of 7 meters, disregarding any obstruction between the Medic and the healed unit.
There is no prioritization on this healing ability; If a 40 HP cop and a Bulldozer were on the same range for healing, the Medic will heal the cop if he is 'killed' first, leaving the Bulldozer for dead. This ability cannot be used too frequently, and has a base cooldown timer of 3 seconds.

Medics can be identified by their high contrast white and red colors used through their outfit.

The Cloaker is a special enemy equipped with a heavily modified Compact-5 Submachine Gun. The Cloaker has the unique ability to hide on certain scripted areas to ambush the player if the heister gets close enough. Additionally, Cloakers have the ability to rush towards a heister to incapacitate him via a melee attack knockdown, in which scenario, their night vision goggles will glow green and a loud alarm-like sound will play, alerting nearby crew members.

Cloakers can be identified by their unique helmet equipment and dark clothes. Additionally, Cloakers will play an ECM-like sound effect when one is nearby.

The Greendozer is one of the five Bulldozer variants, this one having the capacity to deal large amounts of damage per shot with his Reinfeld 880, at the cost of a rather slow fire rate and reduced effectiveness on medium-long distances.

Easily identified by their loud footsteps, or large colored armor that distinguishes them from the crowd.

The Blackdozer is the second variant, this one having a mixture of the Skulldozer and Greendozer, mixing medium damage and medium fire rate on an IZHMA 12G. Unfortunately, the Blackdozer fires so fast in bursts that most of his ammo is nullified by i-frames.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with a black colored texture.

The Skulldozer is the third variant, equipped with a KSP LMG that is capable of dealing high amounts of damage both in short and long range. Additionally, as an LMG, the Skulldozer can hold the finger on the trigger for long periods of time before requiring to reload.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with an urban camouflage texture and custom faceplate spray.

The Medicdozer is the fifth and last variant, equipped with a Compact-5, this is the weakest dozer overall damage-wise. However, one should note that this dozer can also revive nearby units. If one is not careful, other Medics or even Medicdozers, can gather together and create a healing circle, making it difficult to take them down.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with bright red and white colors.

The Minigun Bulldozer is the fourth variant, equipped with a Minigun that has the same high damage potential as the Skulldozer. With a x2 HP multiplier, the Minigun Dozer can be tough to kill, at the cost that the dozer will go at an extremely slow speed.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with a desert camouflage texture and custom faceplay spray.

The backbone of the enemy team, Light Units are the most basic of units that will spawn over the course of an assault. These units are the weakest of the spawn pool, as they lack any unique ability that a large portion of other units possess.
The SWAT Team variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• H&K MP5A2 "Compact-5" Submachine Gun
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • Additionally, a unique shotgunner model is used.

The second core entity in an assault, Heavy Units are in every aspect the same as their sister variant Light Units, except for the passive bonus of having bullet proof vests and x2.0 HP in comparison to Lights.
The SWAT Team variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• M4A1 LR-300 Kit "CAR-4" Assault Rifle
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun

Exclusive to the Hotline Miami D2 job
Giorgi "The Commissar" Beira was both the leader of a Russian Mafia and had a key role as a District Attorney for Hoxton's case. In order for The Dentist to proceed with his plan of the district attorney to approve the transport of Hoxton for a re-trial, which in turn allows The Payday Gang to intercept and extract him, fear needs to be applied to the district attorney. Killing one of their members is ensured to motivate them.

In order to kill him, they track him down to his apartment, where he hides inside a vault. Once he's brought out, he uses a KSP Light Machine Gun in a last ditch effort to keep himself alive. The Commissar can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. The headshot damage scaling is disabled, staying at a base x2.0 headshot damage. He does not wear any large armor, but a Lightweight Ballistic Vest under his suit.

Exclusive to the Hoxton Revenge job.
As Hoxton gathers evidence to pinpoint who ratted him out, he tracks down the location down to a protected safehouse where the FBI Informant is hiding. The Payday Gang goes to the safe house and find their own method to bring him out of the panic room and kill him.

The Informant wields an IZHMA 12G Shotgun if loud, otherwise a Chimano 88 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). The Informant can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He has the lowest headshot multiplier of any other boss, and does not scale on difficulty either, x1.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, he will be seen wearing a full Improved Combined Tactical Vest armor kit, albeit no bullet proof areas are made unlike a Heavy Unit.

Exclusive to the Biker Heist D2 job.
The Biker Boss is the leader of the OVERKILL MC biker gang who was in charge of the operation for transporting a BCI Helmet via train. Bain and The Elephant collaborate to find where it is being transported and intercept them to take it away from them. The Biker Boss, however, will not be handing them the helmet without a fight.

The Biker Boss will be wielding a KSP Light Machine Gun, assisted by a handful of goons. She is the only boss that has full knockback immunity, and with addition to not having any headshot damage scaling other than the base x2.0 headshot damage, it makes her a tough target to kill for an inexperienced crew, sometimes requiring focused fire. Additionally, she will be seen wearing an Improved Combined Tactical Vest, albeit without the forearm protection. Regardless, this is purely cosmetic and does not give any unique effects, unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Panic Room (Payday 2) job.
Chavez is the boss of a local gang. He stores all his valuables in a panic room bolted to the floor and roof in a room from a gang-controlled apartment complex. The gang will need to find and kill Chavez to take his keys and open the door.

Chavez wields Akimbo Chimano 88 Pistols, assisted by a handful of goons. He can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. There are no headshot damage multipliers scaling as difficulties increase other than a x2.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, Chavez will be seen wearing a Ballistic Vest, but does not provide any gameplay changers unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Scarface Mansion job.
Ernesto Sosa is the assassination target The Payday Gang is commissioned to kill by any methods necessary. This contract is asked by The Butcher after Ernesto and his cartel gank one of her ships that was on course for a smuggling operation.

Ernesto wields a Little Friend 7.62 Assault Rifle, assisted by a handful of goons on loud, or a Bronco .44 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). Similar to most other bosses, he can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He will be wearing Bulldozer-like armor plates to protect himself, but they are extremely weak and can be easily taken off with a handful of bullets. Additionally, Ernesto is the only enemy to have headshot damage scaling multiplier as difficulties go, making his head the highest priority unlike other bosses.

This is referring to the SWAT Van Turret, not the scripted-event turrets, such as in Henry's Rock. Some info may be relevant to other types, but not all.
The SWAT Turret is an area denial weapon that discourages/blocks heisters from going into a specific area. SWAT Turrets can arrive at any given moment during loud, or even sometimes the SWAT Turret is already in place, but waiting for heisters to come in close, in which case the turret will rise and start its attack.
In order to destroy a turret, their shield needs to be destroyed first up to 3 times. Once destroyed, target their weak spot, which is their 'camera' spot. Aiming there is critical for taking down the turret, otherwise use an explosive weapon (x7.0 explosive damage multiplier).

Do note, turrets have a damage received cap both for bullets and explosives, which means that you cannot deal more than 3,500 DMG to the shield per shot/explosive, nor 42,000 DMG to the base turret, making a high alpha damage weapon such as the HRL-7 Rocket Launcher's 12,500 DMG just as effective as an Arbiter Grenade Launcher's 480 DMG.

The Titandozer is in every aspect a regular Bulldozer unit, except for lacking a head and carrying a shield on their back. Titandozers carry a KSP Light Machine Gun just as the Skulldozer, moving at an extremely slow sleep that even a crouching heister can outrun. However, on the close range maps they spawn, distance is not important (debatable on Lab Rats), giving themselves the upper hand for not needing to travel extremely long distances.

Titandozers's outfit is composed of white and black colors, with the shield on their back writing "Suck it!" on large, bold letters.

Captain Neville Winters is an amplified shield unit with unique abilities and extra durability. Winters will spawn with 10 other minion units, moving to a set position on the map. Once set, an endless assault will be set and all enemies receive a damage resistance of 5% every 5 seconds, up to 50%.

Winters will not retreat until only 3 Phalanx shields are left, or he is critically injured to 20% of his total health. Assault will return to normal and immediately start 'fading' assault phase, even if Winters spawned during an endless assault heist phase.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
Phalanx Shields are the equivalent to their sister variant, Shield, except they spawn in groups of 10 together with Captain Winters.

They stand amidst Captain Winters in a regular polygon shape, with one unit corresponding to one edge of the figure. If one is killed, they will rearrange into a lower edge count shape. Once Winters is critically injured, or only 3 Phalanx units are left standing, Winters will retreat, leaving behind any Phalanx units.

Exclusive to The White House job.

The Guardians are gameplay-wise cosmetically modified Cloaker units. These units use a special outfit mixing black and gold colors, a special rifle, unique particle effects surrounding the model, and have their sound effects changed. Regardless of these visual changes, their AI logic will stick to normal and attack players on distance, and start charging once there is a clear path between the Guardian and the heister.

Exclusive to Crime Spree and Holdout.
The ZEAL Marksman unit is a hybrid of the Sniper and a Heavy ZEAL Unit. The marksman has the special armor piercing capability as a regular sniper, while also being allowed to traverse across the map as a regular unit, instead of being restricted to a designated map position. This unit also shares the same body armor as a heavy unit.

Despite having armor piercing rounds, a converted unit will not pierce through Shields.

To level up on PAYDAY 2, one must obtain Experience Points. These points are obtained through the course of a heist by doing multiple tasks.
Each heist has their own unique amount of experience reward per task, speed to complete them, and total amount of tasks to do. There are also methods to amplify your total obtained experience, such as equipping weapon boosters, fulfilling your perk deck or obtaining a stealth completion bonus, and others.

To clarify one last time, experience is obtained by completing tasks. It is not given by simply completing a heist, such as joining at the very last part of a heist.

Most heists will require the transportation of Loot Bags through the map, whether it be to deploy a thermal drill to break into the vault, or secure valuable loot into the van.
Different loot has different weights, so one should expect that a warhead will be heavier than a painting. Additionally, medium-heavy loot will block the player from sprinting.

Different heists have different kinds of loot, and so will be their securing method. Be sure to follow the instructions of the announcer or help signs on your HUD to find where to secure your loot.

Not all loot needs to be in a bag, some other loot can be instantly picked up. Loose Loot is found in some heists, with a value less than a fraction of what their bag counterpart would pay for. However, this doesn't need to be bagged and any heister can just go to it and secure it immediately.

Leaving loose loot behind is acceptable due to the incredibly high loot bag value multipliers that difficulties offer in counterpart to this kind of loot. One could secure all the loose money in Golden Grin Casino's vault, and it will still be insufficient to match a single bag of money from said vault, not even to mention the additional millions of dollars gained by the contract's payment.

The Sniper is a special enemy equipped with a modified Gewehr 3 that tends to appear on rooftops, windows, or anywhere with a good vantage point, capable of greatly damaging or destroying the armor from the player, making it vulnerable to nearby enemy units or a follow up lethal shot.

The Sniper can be identified by his bright red laser and the loud report of his rifle. Additionally, the announcer may warn players about cops setting a sniper team in a designated position.

The Shield is a special enemy that provides cover to his fellow comrades and/or obstructs the heister's path.
The SWAT Team variant Shield unit is the only shield type that uses a Chimano 88 pistol. All others will use a CMP Submachine Gun.

Shields can be identified by their key equipment, a large ballistic shield impermeable to most weapons.

The Taser is a special enemy equipped with a modified CAR-4 Assault Rifle with a unique gadget that has the ability to stun heisters. When used, the target heister's point of view will be shaking, and fire without the player's consent.
During this stun, the player can attempt to line out the shots against the Taser. However, the player is still vulnerable to attacks, allowing for other cops to take down the perpetrator, or even neutralizing the heister if enough time passes by while stunned.

Tasers can be identified by their bright yellow colors on their outfit, and loud 'charging' sound effect.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
The Medic is a special enemy equipped with a CAR-4 Assault Rifle or Reinfeld 880 Pump Shotgun. The Medic has the ability to revive one nearby allied unit at a max range of 7 meters, disregarding any obstruction between the Medic and the healed unit.
There is no prioritization on this healing ability; If a 40 HP cop and a Bulldozer were on the same range for healing, the Medic will heal the cop if he is 'killed' first, leaving the Bulldozer for dead. This ability cannot be used too frequently, and has a base cooldown timer of 3 seconds.

Medics can be identified by their high contrast white and red colors used through their outfit.

The Cloaker is a special enemy equipped with a heavily modified Compact-5 Submachine Gun. The Cloaker has the unique ability to hide on certain scripted areas to ambush the player if the heister gets close enough. Additionally, Cloakers have the ability to rush towards a heister to incapacitate him via a melee attack knockdown, in which scenario, their night vision goggles will glow green and a loud alarm-like sound will play, alerting nearby crew members.

Cloakers can be identified by their unique helmet equipment and dark clothes. Additionally, Cloakers will play an ECM-like sound effect when one is nearby.

The Greendozer is one of the five Bulldozer variants, this one having the capacity to deal large amounts of damage per shot with his Reinfeld 880, at the cost of a rather slow fire rate and reduced effectiveness on medium-long distances.

Easily identified by their loud footsteps, or large colored armor that distinguishes them from the crowd.

The Blackdozer is the second variant, this one having a mixture of the Skulldozer and Greendozer, mixing medium damage and medium fire rate on an IZHMA 12G. Unfortunately, the Blackdozer fires so fast in bursts that most of his ammo is nullified by i-frames.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with a black colored texture.

The Skulldozer is the third variant, equipped with a KSP LMG that is capable of dealing high amounts of damage both in short and long range. Additionally, as an LMG, the Skulldozer can hold the finger on the trigger for long periods of time before requiring to reload.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with an urban camouflage texture and custom faceplate spray.

The Medicdozer is the fifth and last variant, equipped with a Compact-5, this is the weakest dozer overall damage-wise. However, one should note that this dozer can also revive nearby units. If one is not careful, other Medics or even Medicdozers, can gather together and create a healing circle, making it difficult to take them down.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with bright red and white colors.

The Minigun Bulldozer is the fourth variant, equipped with a Minigun that has the same high damage potential as the Skulldozer. With a x2 HP multiplier, the Minigun Dozer can be tough to kill, at the cost that the dozer will go at an extremely slow speed.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with a desert camouflage texture and custom faceplay spray.

The backbone of the enemy team, Light Units are the most basic of units that will spawn over the course of an assault. These units are the weakest of the spawn pool, as they lack any unique ability that a large portion of other units possess.
The SWAT Team variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• H&K MP5A2 "Compact-5" Submachine Gun
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • Additionally, a unique shotgunner model is used.

The second core entity in an assault, Heavy Units are in every aspect the same as their sister variant Light Units, except for the passive bonus of having bullet proof vests and x2.0 HP in comparison to Lights.
The SWAT Team variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• M4A1 LR-300 Kit "CAR-4" Assault Rifle
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun

Exclusive to the Hotline Miami D2 job
Giorgi "The Commissar" Beira was both the leader of a Russian Mafia and had a key role as a District Attorney for Hoxton's case. In order for The Dentist to proceed with his plan of the district attorney to approve the transport of Hoxton for a re-trial, which in turn allows The Payday Gang to intercept and extract him, fear needs to be applied to the district attorney. Killing one of their members is ensured to motivate them.

In order to kill him, they track him down to his apartment, where he hides inside a vault. Once he's brought out, he uses a KSP Light Machine Gun in a last ditch effort to keep himself alive. The Commissar can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. The headshot damage scaling is disabled, staying at a base x2.0 headshot damage. He does not wear any large armor, but a Lightweight Ballistic Vest under his suit.

Exclusive to the Hoxton Revenge job.
As Hoxton gathers evidence to pinpoint who ratted him out, he tracks down the location down to a protected safehouse where the FBI Informant is hiding. The Payday Gang goes to the safe house and find their own method to bring him out of the panic room and kill him.

The Informant wields an IZHMA 12G Shotgun if loud, otherwise a Chimano 88 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). The Informant can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He has the lowest headshot multiplier of any other boss, and does not scale on difficulty either, x1.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, he will be seen wearing a full Improved Combined Tactical Vest armor kit, albeit no bullet proof areas are made unlike a Heavy Unit.

Exclusive to the Biker Heist D2 job.
The Biker Boss is the leader of the OVERKILL MC biker gang who was in charge of the operation for transporting a BCI Helmet via train. Bain and The Elephant collaborate to find where it is being transported and intercept them to take it away from them. The Biker Boss, however, will not be handing them the helmet without a fight.

The Biker Boss will be wielding a KSP Light Machine Gun, assisted by a handful of goons. She is the only boss that has full knockback immunity, and with addition to not having any headshot damage scaling other than the base x2.0 headshot damage, it makes her a tough target to kill for an inexperienced crew, sometimes requiring focused fire. Additionally, she will be seen wearing an Improved Combined Tactical Vest, albeit without the forearm protection. Regardless, this is purely cosmetic and does not give any unique effects, unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Panic Room (Payday 2) job.
Chavez is the boss of a local gang. He stores all his valuables in a panic room bolted to the floor and roof in a room from a gang-controlled apartment complex. The gang will need to find and kill Chavez to take his keys and open the door.

Chavez wields Akimbo Chimano 88 Pistols, assisted by a handful of goons. He can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. There are no headshot damage multipliers scaling as difficulties increase other than a x2.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, Chavez will be seen wearing a Ballistic Vest, but does not provide any gameplay changers unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Scarface Mansion job.
Ernesto Sosa is the assassination target The Payday Gang is commissioned to kill by any methods necessary. This contract is asked by The Butcher after Ernesto and his cartel gank one of her ships that was on course for a smuggling operation.

Ernesto wields a Little Friend 7.62 Assault Rifle, assisted by a handful of goons on loud, or a Bronco .44 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). Similar to most other bosses, he can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He will be wearing Bulldozer-like armor plates to protect himself, but they are extremely weak and can be easily taken off with a handful of bullets. Additionally, Ernesto is the only enemy to have headshot damage scaling multiplier as difficulties go, making his head the highest priority unlike other bosses.

This is referring to the SWAT Van Turret, not the scripted-event turrets, such as in Henry's Rock. Some info may be relevant to other types, but not all.
The SWAT Turret is an area denial weapon that discourages/blocks heisters from going into a specific area. SWAT Turrets can arrive at any given moment during loud, or even sometimes the SWAT Turret is already in place, but waiting for heisters to come in close, in which case the turret will rise and start its attack.
In order to destroy a turret, their shield needs to be destroyed first up to 3 times. Once destroyed, target their weak spot, which is their 'camera' spot. Aiming there is critical for taking down the turret, otherwise use an explosive weapon (x7.0 explosive damage multiplier).

Do note, turrets have a damage received cap both for bullets and explosives, which means that you cannot deal more than 3,500 DMG to the shield per shot/explosive, nor 42,000 DMG to the base turret, making a high alpha damage weapon such as the HRL-7 Rocket Launcher's 12,500 DMG just as effective as an Arbiter Grenade Launcher's 480 DMG.

The Titandozer is in every aspect a regular Bulldozer unit, except for lacking a head and carrying a shield on their back. Titandozers carry a KSP Light Machine Gun just as the Skulldozer, moving at an extremely slow sleep that even a crouching heister can outrun. However, on the close range maps they spawn, distance is not important (debatable on Lab Rats), giving themselves the upper hand for not needing to travel extremely long distances.

Titandozers's outfit is composed of white and black colors, with the shield on their back writing "Suck it!" on large, bold letters.

Captain Neville Winters is an amplified shield unit with unique abilities and extra durability. Winters will spawn with 10 other minion units, moving to a set position on the map. Once set, an endless assault will be set and all enemies receive a damage resistance of 5% every 5 seconds, up to 50%.

Winters will not retreat until only 3 Phalanx shields are left, or he is critically injured to 20% of his total health. Assault will return to normal and immediately start 'fading' assault phase, even if Winters spawned during an endless assault heist phase.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
Phalanx Shields are the equivalent to their sister variant, Shield, except they spawn in groups of 10 together with Captain Winters.

They stand amidst Captain Winters in a regular polygon shape, with one unit corresponding to one edge of the figure. If one is killed, they will rearrange into a lower edge count shape. Once Winters is critically injured, or only 3 Phalanx units are left standing, Winters will retreat, leaving behind any Phalanx units.

Exclusive to The White House job.

The Guardians are gameplay-wise cosmetically modified Cloaker units. These units use a special outfit mixing black and gold colors, a special rifle, unique particle effects surrounding the model, and have their sound effects changed. Regardless of these visual changes, their AI logic will stick to normal and attack players on distance, and start charging once there is a clear path between the Guardian and the heister.

Exclusive to Crime Spree and Holdout.
The ZEAL Marksman unit is a hybrid of the Sniper and a Heavy ZEAL Unit. The marksman has the special armor piercing capability as a regular sniper, while also being allowed to traverse across the map as a regular unit, instead of being restricted to a designated map position. This unit also shares the same body armor as a heavy unit.

Despite having armor piercing rounds, a converted unit will not pierce through Shields.

To level up on PAYDAY 2, one must obtain Experience Points. These points are obtained through the course of a heist by doing multiple tasks.
Each heist has their own unique amount of experience reward per task, speed to complete them, and total amount of tasks to do. There are also methods to amplify your total obtained experience, such as equipping weapon boosters, fulfilling your perk deck or obtaining a stealth completion bonus, and others.

To clarify one last time, experience is obtained by completing tasks. It is not given by simply completing a heist, such as joining at the very last part of a heist.

Most heists will require the transportation of Loot Bags through the map, whether it be to deploy a thermal drill to break into the vault, or secure valuable loot into the van.
Different loot has different weights, so one should expect that a warhead will be heavier than a painting. Additionally, medium-heavy loot will block the player from sprinting.

Different heists have different kinds of loot, and so will be their securing method. Be sure to follow the instructions of the announcer or help signs on your HUD to find where to secure your loot.

Not all loot needs to be in a bag, some other loot can be instantly picked up. Loose Loot is found in some heists, with a value less than a fraction of what their bag counterpart would pay for. However, this doesn't need to be bagged and any heister can just go to it and secure it immediately.

Leaving loose loot behind is acceptable due to the incredibly high loot bag value multipliers that difficulties offer in counterpart to this kind of loot. One could secure all the loose money in Golden Grin Casino's vault, and it will still be insufficient to match a single bag of money from said vault, not even to mention the additional millions of dollars gained by the contract's payment.

Despite there being an FBI variant of the Sniper, the SWAT variant is used more often, regardless of difficulty. Other than visual, there are no gameplay differences.
The Sniper is a special enemy equipped with a modified Gewehr 3 that tends to appear on rooftops, windows, or anywhere with a good vantage point, capable of greatly damaging or destroying the armor from the player, making it vulnerable to nearby enemy units or a follow up lethal shot.

The Sniper can be identified by his bright red laser and the loud report of his rifle. Additionally, the announcer may warn players about cops setting a sniper team in a designated position.

The Shield is a special enemy equipped with the standard CMP Submachine Gun, providing cover to his fellow comrades and/or obstructs the heister's path.

Shields can be identified by their key equipment, a large ballistic shield impermeable to most weapons.

The Taser is a special enemy equipped with a modified CAR-4 Assault Rifle with a unique gadget that has the ability to stun heisters. When used, the target heister's point of view will be shaking, and fire without the player's consent.
During this stun, the player can attempt to line out the shots against the Taser. However, the player is still vulnerable to attacks, allowing for other cops to take down the perpetrator, or even neutralizing the heister if enough time passes by while stunned.

Tasers can be identified by their bright yellow colors on their outfit, and loud 'charging' sound effect.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
The Medic is a special enemy equipped with a CAR-4 Assault Rifle or Reinfeld 880 Pump Shotgun. The Medic has the ability to revive one nearby allied unit at a max range of 7 meters, disregarding any obstruction between the Medic and the healed unit.
There is no prioritization on this healing ability; If a 40 HP cop and a Bulldozer were on the same range for healing, the Medic will heal the cop if he is 'killed' first, leaving the Bulldozer for dead. This ability cannot be used too frequently, and has a base cooldown timer of 3 seconds.

Medics can be identified by their high contrast white and red colors used through their outfit.

The Cloaker is a special enemy equipped with a heavily modified Compact-5 Submachine Gun. The Cloaker has the unique ability to hide on certain scripted areas to ambush the player if the heister gets close enough. Additionally, Cloakers have the ability to rush towards a heister to incapacitate him via a melee attack knockdown, in which scenario, their night vision goggles will glow green and a loud alarm-like sound will play, alerting nearby crew members.

Cloakers can be identified by their unique helmet equipment and dark clothes. Additionally, Cloakers will play an ECM-like sound effect when one is nearby.

The Greendozer is one of the five Bulldozer variants, this one having the capacity to deal large amounts of damage per shot with his Reinfeld 880, at the cost of a rather slow fire rate and reduced effectiveness on medium-long distances.

Easily identified by their loud footsteps, or large colored armor that distinguishes them from the crowd.

The Blackdozer is the second variant, this one having a mixture of the Skulldozer and Greendozer, mixing medium damage and medium fire rate on an IZHMA 12G. Unfortunately, the Blackdozer fires so fast in bursts that most of his ammo is nullified by i-frames.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with a black colored texture.

The Skulldozer is the third variant, equipped with a KSP LMG that is capable of dealing high amounts of damage both in short and long range. Additionally, as an LMG, the Skulldozer can hold the finger on the trigger for long periods of time before requiring to reload.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with an urban camouflage texture and custom faceplate spray.

The Medicdozer is the fifth and last variant, equipped with a Compact-5, this is the weakest dozer overall damage-wise. However, one should note that this dozer can also revive nearby units. If one is not careful, other Medics or even Medicdozers, can gather together and create a healing circle, making it difficult to take them down.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with bright red and white colors.

The Minigun Bulldozer is the fourth variant, equipped with a Minigun that has the same high damage potential as the Skulldozer. With a x2 HP multiplier, the Minigun Dozer can be tough to kill, at the cost that the dozer will go at an extremely slow speed.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with a desert camouflage texture and custom faceplay spray.

The backbone of the enemy team, Light Units are the most basic of units that will spawn over the course of an assault. These units are the weakest of the spawn pool, as they lack any unique ability that a large portion of other units possess.
The FBI Team variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• M4A1 LR-300 Kit "CAR-4" Assault Rifle
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • Additionally, a unique shotgunner model is used.

The second core entity in an assault, Heavy Units are in every aspect the same as their sister variant Light Units, except for the passive bonus of having bullet proof vests and x2.0 HP in comparison to Lights.
The FBI Team variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• M4A1 LR-300 Kit "CAR-4" Assault Rifle
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun

Exclusive to the Hotline Miami D2 job
Giorgi "The Commissar" Beira was both the leader of a Russian Mafia and had a key role as a District Attorney for Hoxton's case. In order for The Dentist to proceed with his plan of the district attorney to approve the transport of Hoxton for a re-trial, which in turn allows The Payday Gang to intercept and extract him, fear needs to be applied to the district attorney. Killing one of their members is ensured to motivate them.

In order to kill him, they track him down to his apartment, where he hides inside a vault. Once he's brought out, he uses a KSP Light Machine Gun in a last ditch effort to keep himself alive. The Commissar can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. The headshot damage scaling is disabled, staying at a base x2.0 headshot damage. He does not wear any large armor, but a Lightweight Ballistic Vest under his suit.

Exclusive to the Hoxton Revenge job.
As Hoxton gathers evidence to pinpoint who ratted him out, he tracks down the location down to a protected safehouse where the FBI Informant is hiding. The Payday Gang goes to the safe house and find their own method to bring him out of the panic room and kill him.

The Informant wields an IZHMA 12G Shotgun if loud, otherwise a Chimano 88 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). The Informant can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He has the lowest headshot multiplier of any other boss, and does not scale on difficulty either, x1.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, he will be seen wearing a full Improved Combined Tactical Vest armor kit, albeit no bullet proof areas are made unlike a Heavy Unit.

Exclusive to the Biker Heist D2 job.
The Biker Boss is the leader of the OVERKILL MC biker gang who was in charge of the operation for transporting a BCI Helmet via train. Bain and The Elephant collaborate to find where it is being transported and intercept them to take it away from them. The Biker Boss, however, will not be handing them the helmet without a fight.

The Biker Boss will be wielding a KSP Light Machine Gun, assisted by a handful of goons. She is the only boss that has full knockback immunity, and with addition to not having any headshot damage scaling other than the base x2.0 headshot damage, it makes her a tough target to kill for an inexperienced crew, sometimes requiring focused fire. Additionally, she will be seen wearing an Improved Combined Tactical Vest, albeit without the forearm protection. Regardless, this is purely cosmetic and does not give any unique effects, unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Panic Room (Payday 2) job.
Chavez is the boss of a local gang. He stores all his valuables in a panic room bolted to the floor and roof in a room from a gang-controlled apartment complex. The gang will need to find and kill Chavez to take his keys and open the door.

Chavez wields Akimbo Chimano 88 Pistols, assisted by a handful of goons. He can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. There are no headshot damage multipliers scaling as difficulties increase other than a x2.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, Chavez will be seen wearing a Ballistic Vest, but does not provide any gameplay changers unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Scarface Mansion job.
Ernesto Sosa is the assassination target The Payday Gang is commissioned to kill by any methods necessary. This contract is asked by The Butcher after Ernesto and his cartel gank one of her ships that was on course for a smuggling operation.

Ernesto wields a Little Friend 7.62 Assault Rifle, assisted by a handful of goons on loud, or a Bronco .44 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). Similar to most other bosses, he can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He will be wearing Bulldozer-like armor plates to protect himself, but they are extremely weak and can be easily taken off with a handful of bullets. Additionally, Ernesto is the only enemy to have headshot damage scaling multiplier as difficulties go, making his head the highest priority unlike other bosses.

This is referring to the SWAT Van Turret, not the scripted-event turrets, such as in Henry's Rock. Some info may be relevant to other types, but not all.
The SWAT Turret is an area denial weapon that discourages/blocks heisters from going into a specific area. SWAT Turrets can arrive at any given moment during loud, or even sometimes the SWAT Turret is already in place, but waiting for heisters to come in close, in which case the turret will rise and start its attack.
In order to destroy a turret, their shield needs to be destroyed first up to 3 times. Once destroyed, target their weak spot, which is their 'camera' spot. Aiming there is critical for taking down the turret, otherwise use an explosive weapon (x7.0 explosive damage multiplier).

Do note, turrets have a damage received cap both for bullets and explosives, which means that you cannot deal more than 3,500 DMG to the shield per shot/explosive, nor 42,000 DMG to the base turret, making a high alpha damage weapon such as the HRL-7 Rocket Launcher's 12,500 DMG just as effective as an Arbiter Grenade Launcher's 480 DMG.

The Titandozer is in every aspect a regular Bulldozer unit, except for lacking a head and carrying a shield on their back. Titandozers carry a KSP Light Machine Gun just as the Skulldozer, moving at an extremely slow sleep that even a crouching heister can outrun. However, on the close range maps they spawn, distance is not important (debatable on Lab Rats), giving themselves the upper hand for not needing to travel extremely long distances.

Titandozers's outfit is composed of white and black colors, with the shield on their back writing "Suck it!" on large, bold letters.

Captain Neville Winters is an amplified shield unit with unique abilities and extra durability. Winters will spawn with 10 other minion units, moving to a set position on the map. Once set, an endless assault will be set and all enemies receive a damage resistance of 5% every 5 seconds, up to 50%.

Winters will not retreat until only 3 Phalanx shields are left, or he is critically injured to 20% of his total health. Assault will return to normal and immediately start 'fading' assault phase, even if Winters spawned during an endless assault heist phase.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
Phalanx Shields are the equivalent to their sister variant, Shield, except they spawn in groups of 10 together with Captain Winters.

They stand amidst Captain Winters in a regular polygon shape, with one unit corresponding to one edge of the figure. If one is killed, they will rearrange into a lower edge count shape. Once Winters is critically injured, or only 3 Phalanx units are left standing, Winters will retreat, leaving behind any Phalanx units.

Exclusive to The White House job.

The Guardians are gameplay-wise cosmetically modified Cloaker units. These units use a special outfit mixing black and gold colors, a special rifle, unique particle effects surrounding the model, and have their sound effects changed. Regardless of these visual changes, their AI logic will stick to normal and attack players on distance, and start charging once there is a clear path between the Guardian and the heister.

Exclusive to Crime Spree and Holdout.
The ZEAL Marksman unit is a hybrid of the Sniper and a Heavy ZEAL Unit. The marksman has the special armor piercing capability as a regular sniper, while also being allowed to traverse across the map as a regular unit, instead of being restricted to a designated map position. This unit also shares the same body armor as a heavy unit.

Despite having armor piercing rounds, a converted unit will not pierce through Shields.

To level up on PAYDAY 2, one must obtain Experience Points. These points are obtained through the course of a heist by doing multiple tasks.
Each heist has their own unique amount of experience reward per task, speed to complete them, and total amount of tasks to do. There are also methods to amplify your total obtained experience, such as equipping weapon boosters, fulfilling your perk deck or obtaining a stealth completion bonus, and others.

To clarify one last time, experience is obtained by completing tasks. It is not given by simply completing a heist, such as joining at the very last part of a heist.

Most heists will require the transportation of Loot Bags through the map, whether it be to deploy a thermal drill to break into the vault, or secure valuable loot into the van.
Different loot has different weights, so one should expect that a warhead will be heavier than a painting. Additionally, medium-heavy loot will block the player from sprinting.

Different heists have different kinds of loot, and so will be their securing method. Be sure to follow the instructions of the announcer or help signs on your HUD to find where to secure your loot.

Not all loot needs to be in a bag, some other loot can be instantly picked up. Loose Loot is found in some heists, with a value less than a fraction of what their bag counterpart would pay for. However, this doesn't need to be bagged and any heister can just go to it and secure it immediately.

Leaving loose loot behind is acceptable due to the incredibly high loot bag value multipliers that difficulties offer in counterpart to this kind of loot. One could secure all the loose money in Golden Grin Casino's vault, and it will still be insufficient to match a single bag of money from said vault, not even to mention the additional millions of dollars gained by the contract's payment.

Despite there being an FBI variant of the Sniper, the SWAT variant is used more often, regardless of difficulty. Other than visual, there are no gameplay differences.
The Sniper is a special enemy equipped with a modified Gewehr 3 that tends to appear on rooftops, windows, or anywhere with a good vantage point, capable of greatly damaging or destroying the armor from the player, making it vulnerable to nearby enemy units or a follow up lethal shot.

The Sniper can be identified by his bright red laser and the loud report of his rifle. Additionally, the announcer may warn players about cops setting a sniper team in a designated position.

The Shield is a special enemy equipped with the standard CMP Submachine Gun, providing cover to his fellow comrades and/or obstructs the heister's path.

Shields can be identified by their key equipment, a large ballistic shield impermeable to most weapons.

The Taser is a special enemy equipped with a modified CAR-4 Assault Rifle with a unique gadget that has the ability to stun heisters. When used, the target heister's point of view will be shaking, and fire without the player's consent.
During this stun, the player can attempt to line out the shots against the Taser. However, the player is still vulnerable to attacks, allowing for other cops to take down the perpetrator, or even neutralizing the heister if enough time passes by while stunned.

Tasers can be identified by their bright yellow colors on their outfit, and loud 'charging' sound effect.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
The Medic is a special enemy equipped with a CAR-4 Assault Rifle or Reinfeld 880 Pump Shotgun. The Medic has the ability to revive one nearby allied unit at a max range of 7 meters, disregarding any obstruction between the Medic and the healed unit.
There is no prioritization on this healing ability; If a 40 HP cop and a Bulldozer were on the same range for healing, the Medic will heal the cop if he is 'killed' first, leaving the Bulldozer for dead. This ability cannot be used too frequently, and has a base cooldown timer of 3 seconds.

Medics can be identified by their high contrast white and red colors used through their outfit.

The Cloaker is a special enemy equipped with a heavily modified Compact-5 Submachine Gun. The Cloaker has the unique ability to hide on certain scripted areas to ambush the player if the heister gets close enough. Additionally, Cloakers have the ability to rush towards a heister to incapacitate him via a melee attack knockdown, in which scenario, their night vision goggles will glow green and a loud alarm-like sound will play, alerting nearby crew members.

Cloakers can be identified by their unique helmet equipment and dark clothes. Additionally, Cloakers will play an ECM-like sound effect when one is nearby.

The Greendozer is one of the five Bulldozer variants, this one having the capacity to deal large amounts of damage per shot with his Reinfeld 880, at the cost of a rather slow fire rate and reduced effectiveness on medium-long distances.

Easily identified by their loud footsteps, or large colored armor that distinguishes them from the crowd.

The Blackdozer is the second variant, this one having a mixture of the Skulldozer and Greendozer, mixing medium damage and medium fire rate on an IZHMA 12G. Unfortunately, the Blackdozer fires so fast in bursts that most of his ammo is nullified by i-frames.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with a black colored texture.

The Skulldozer is the third variant, equipped with a KSP LMG that is capable of dealing high amounts of damage both in short and long range. Additionally, as an LMG, the Skulldozer can hold the finger on the trigger for long periods of time before requiring to reload.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with an urban camouflage texture and custom faceplate spray.

The Medicdozer is the fifth and last variant, equipped with a Compact-5, this is the weakest dozer overall damage-wise. However, one should note that this dozer can also revive nearby units. If one is not careful, other Medics or even Medicdozers, can gather together and create a healing circle, making it difficult to take them down.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with bright red and white colors.

The Minigun Bulldozer is the fourth variant, equipped with a Minigun that has the same high damage potential as the Skulldozer. With a x2 HP multiplier, the Minigun Dozer can be tough to kill, at the cost that the dozer will go at an extremely slow speed.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with a desert camouflage texture and custom faceplay spray.

The backbone of the enemy team, Light Units are the most basic of units that will spawn over the course of an assault. These units are the weakest of the spawn pool, as they lack any unique ability that a large portion of other units possess.
The FBI Team variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• M4A1 LR-300 Kit "CAR-4" Assault Rifle
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • Additionally, a unique shotgunner model is used.

The second core entity in an assault, Heavy Units are in every aspect the same as their sister variant Light Units, except for the passive bonus of having bullet proof vests and x2.0 HP in comparison to Lights.
The FBI Team variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• M4A1 LR-300 Kit "CAR-4" Assault Rifle
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun

Exclusive to the Hotline Miami D2 job
Giorgi "The Commissar" Beira was both the leader of a Russian Mafia and had a key role as a District Attorney for Hoxton's case. In order for The Dentist to proceed with his plan of the district attorney to approve the transport of Hoxton for a re-trial, which in turn allows The Payday Gang to intercept and extract him, fear needs to be applied to the district attorney. Killing one of their members is ensured to motivate them.

In order to kill him, they track him down to his apartment, where he hides inside a vault. Once he's brought out, he uses a KSP Light Machine Gun in a last ditch effort to keep himself alive. The Commissar can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. The headshot damage scaling is disabled, staying at a base x2.0 headshot damage. He does not wear any large armor, but a Lightweight Ballistic Vest under his suit.

Exclusive to the Hoxton Revenge job.
As Hoxton gathers evidence to pinpoint who ratted him out, he tracks down the location down to a protected safehouse where the FBI Informant is hiding. The Payday Gang goes to the safe house and find their own method to bring him out of the panic room and kill him.

The Informant wields an IZHMA 12G Shotgun if loud, otherwise a Chimano 88 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). The Informant can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He has the lowest headshot multiplier of any other boss, and does not scale on difficulty either, x1.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, he will be seen wearing a full Improved Combined Tactical Vest armor kit, albeit no bullet proof areas are made unlike a Heavy Unit.

Exclusive to the Biker Heist D2 job.
The Biker Boss is the leader of the OVERKILL MC biker gang who was in charge of the operation for transporting a BCI Helmet via train. Bain and The Elephant collaborate to find where it is being transported and intercept them to take it away from them. The Biker Boss, however, will not be handing them the helmet without a fight.

The Biker Boss will be wielding a KSP Light Machine Gun, assisted by a handful of goons. She is the only boss that has full knockback immunity, and with addition to not having any headshot damage scaling other than the base x2.0 headshot damage, it makes her a tough target to kill for an inexperienced crew, sometimes requiring focused fire. Additionally, she will be seen wearing an Improved Combined Tactical Vest, albeit without the forearm protection. Regardless, this is purely cosmetic and does not give any unique effects, unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Panic Room (Payday 2) job.
Chavez is the boss of a local gang. He stores all his valuables in a panic room bolted to the floor and roof in a room from a gang-controlled apartment complex. The gang will need to find and kill Chavez to take his keys and open the door.

Chavez wields Akimbo Chimano 88 Pistols, assisted by a handful of goons. He can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. There are no headshot damage multipliers scaling as difficulties increase other than a x2.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, Chavez will be seen wearing a Ballistic Vest, but does not provide any gameplay changers unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Scarface Mansion job.
Ernesto Sosa is the assassination target The Payday Gang is commissioned to kill by any methods necessary. This contract is asked by The Butcher after Ernesto and his cartel gank one of her ships that was on course for a smuggling operation.

Ernesto wields a Little Friend 7.62 Assault Rifle, assisted by a handful of goons on loud, or a Bronco .44 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). Similar to most other bosses, he can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He will be wearing Bulldozer-like armor plates to protect himself, but they are extremely weak and can be easily taken off with a handful of bullets. Additionally, Ernesto is the only enemy to have headshot damage scaling multiplier as difficulties go, making his head the highest priority unlike other bosses.

This is referring to the SWAT Van Turret, not the scripted-event turrets, such as in Henry's Rock. Some info may be relevant to other types, but not all.
The SWAT Turret is an area denial weapon that discourages/blocks heisters from going into a specific area. SWAT Turrets can arrive at any given moment during loud, or even sometimes the SWAT Turret is already in place, but waiting for heisters to come in close, in which case the turret will rise and start its attack.
In order to destroy a turret, their shield needs to be destroyed first up to 3 times. Once destroyed, target their weak spot, which is their 'camera' spot. Aiming there is critical for taking down the turret, otherwise use an explosive weapon (x7.0 explosive damage multiplier).

Do note, turrets have a damage received cap both for bullets and explosives, which means that you cannot deal more than 3,500 DMG to the shield per shot/explosive, nor 42,000 DMG to the base turret, making a high alpha damage weapon such as the HRL-7 Rocket Launcher's 12,500 DMG just as effective as an Arbiter Grenade Launcher's 480 DMG.

The Titandozer is in every aspect a regular Bulldozer unit, except for lacking a head and carrying a shield on their back. Titandozers carry a KSP Light Machine Gun just as the Skulldozer, moving at an extremely slow sleep that even a crouching heister can outrun. However, on the close range maps they spawn, distance is not important (debatable on Lab Rats), giving themselves the upper hand for not needing to travel extremely long distances.

Titandozers's outfit is composed of white and black colors, with the shield on their back writing "Suck it!" on large, bold letters.

Captain Neville Winters is an amplified shield unit with unique abilities and extra durability. Winters will spawn with 10 other minion units, moving to a set position on the map. Once set, an endless assault will be set and all enemies receive a damage resistance of 5% every 5 seconds, up to 50%.

Winters will not retreat until only 3 Phalanx shields are left, or he is critically injured to 20% of his total health. Assault will return to normal and immediately start 'fading' assault phase, even if Winters spawned during an endless assault heist phase.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
Phalanx Shields are the equivalent to their sister variant, Shield, except they spawn in groups of 10 together with Captain Winters.

They stand amidst Captain Winters in a regular polygon shape, with one unit corresponding to one edge of the figure. If one is killed, they will rearrange into a lower edge count shape. Once Winters is critically injured, or only 3 Phalanx units are left standing, Winters will retreat, leaving behind any Phalanx units.

Exclusive to The White House job.

The Guardians are gameplay-wise cosmetically modified Cloaker units. These units use a special outfit mixing black and gold colors, a special rifle, unique particle effects surrounding the model, and have their sound effects changed. Regardless of these visual changes, their AI logic will stick to normal and attack players on distance, and start charging once there is a clear path between the Guardian and the heister.

Exclusive to Crime Spree and Holdout.
The ZEAL Marksman unit is a hybrid of the Sniper and a Heavy ZEAL Unit. The marksman has the special armor piercing capability as a regular sniper, while also being allowed to traverse across the map as a regular unit, instead of being restricted to a designated map position. This unit also shares the same body armor as a heavy unit.

Despite having armor piercing rounds, a converted unit will not pierce through Shields.

To level up on PAYDAY 2, one must obtain Experience Points. These points are obtained through the course of a heist by doing multiple tasks.
Each heist has their own unique amount of experience reward per task, speed to complete them, and total amount of tasks to do. There are also methods to amplify your total obtained experience, such as equipping weapon boosters, fulfilling your perk deck or obtaining a stealth completion bonus, and others.

To clarify one last time, experience is obtained by completing tasks. It is not given by simply completing a heist, such as joining at the very last part of a heist.

Most heists will require the transportation of Loot Bags through the map, whether it be to deploy a thermal drill to break into the vault, or secure valuable loot into the van.
Different loot has different weights, so one should expect that a warhead will be heavier than a painting. Additionally, medium-heavy loot will block the player from sprinting.

Different heists have different kinds of loot, and so will be their securing method. Be sure to follow the instructions of the announcer or help signs on your HUD to find where to secure your loot.

Not all loot needs to be in a bag, some other loot can be instantly picked up. Loose Loot is found in some heists, with a value less than a fraction of what their bag counterpart would pay for. However, this doesn't need to be bagged and any heister can just go to it and secure it immediately.

Leaving loose loot behind is acceptable due to the incredibly high loot bag value multipliers that difficulties offer in counterpart to this kind of loot. One could secure all the loose money in Golden Grin Casino's vault, and it will still be insufficient to match a single bag of money from said vault, not even to mention the additional millions of dollars gained by the contract's payment.

Despite there being an FBI variant of the Sniper, the SWAT variant is used more often, regardless of difficulty. Other than visual, there are no gameplay differences.
The Sniper is a special enemy equipped with a modified Gewehr 3 that tends to appear on rooftops, windows, or anywhere with a good vantage point, capable of greatly damaging or destroying the armor from the player, making it vulnerable to nearby enemy units or a follow up lethal shot.

The Sniper can be identified by his bright red laser and the loud report of his rifle. Additionally, the announcer may warn players about cops setting a sniper team in a designated position.

The Shield is a special enemy equipped with the standard CMP Submachine Gun, providing cover to his fellow comrades and/or obstructs the heister's path.

Shields can be identified by their key equipment, a large ballistic shield impermeable to most weapons.

The Taser is a special enemy equipped with a modified CAR-4 Assault Rifle with a unique gadget that has the ability to stun heisters. When used, the target heister's point of view will be shaking, and fire without the player's consent.
During this stun, the player can attempt to line out the shots against the Taser. However, the player is still vulnerable to attacks, allowing for other cops to take down the perpetrator, or even neutralizing the heister if enough time passes by while stunned.

Tasers can be identified by their bright yellow colors on their outfit, and loud 'charging' sound effect.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
The Medic is a special enemy equipped with a CAR-4 Assault Rifle or Reinfeld 880 Pump Shotgun. The Medic has the ability to revive one nearby allied unit at a max range of 7 meters, disregarding any obstruction between the Medic and the healed unit.
There is no prioritization on this healing ability; If a 40 HP cop and a Bulldozer were on the same range for healing, the Medic will heal the cop if he is 'killed' first, leaving the Bulldozer for dead. This ability cannot be used too frequently, and has a base cooldown timer of 3 seconds.

Medics can be identified by their high contrast white and red colors used through their outfit.

The Cloaker is a special enemy equipped with a heavily modified Compact-5 Submachine Gun. The Cloaker has the unique ability to hide on certain scripted areas to ambush the player if the heister gets close enough. Additionally, Cloakers have the ability to rush towards a heister to incapacitate him via a melee attack knockdown, in which scenario, their night vision goggles will glow green and a loud alarm-like sound will play, alerting nearby crew members.

Cloakers can be identified by their unique helmet equipment and dark clothes. Additionally, Cloakers will play an ECM-like sound effect when one is nearby.

The Greendozer is one of the five Bulldozer variants, this one having the capacity to deal large amounts of damage per shot with his Reinfeld 880, at the cost of a rather slow fire rate and reduced effectiveness on medium-long distances.

Easily identified by their loud footsteps, or large colored armor that distinguishes them from the crowd.

The Blackdozer is the second variant, this one having a mixture of the Skulldozer and Greendozer, mixing medium damage and medium fire rate on an IZHMA 12G. Unfortunately, the Blackdozer fires so fast in bursts that most of his ammo is nullified by i-frames.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with a black colored texture.

The Skulldozer is the third variant, equipped with a KSP LMG that is capable of dealing high amounts of damage both in short and long range. Additionally, as an LMG, the Skulldozer can hold the finger on the trigger for long periods of time before requiring to reload.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with an urban camouflage texture and custom faceplate spray.

The Medicdozer is the fifth and last variant, equipped with a Compact-5, this is the weakest dozer overall damage-wise. However, one should note that this dozer can also revive nearby units. If one is not careful, other Medics or even Medicdozers, can gather together and create a healing circle, making it difficult to take them down.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with bright red and white colors.

The Minigun Bulldozer is the fourth variant, equipped with a Minigun that has the same high damage potential as the Skulldozer. With a x2 HP multiplier, the Minigun Dozer can be tough to kill, at the cost that the dozer will go at an extremely slow speed.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with a desert camouflage texture and custom faceplay spray.

The backbone of the enemy team, Light Units are the most basic of units that will spawn over the course of an assault. These units are the weakest of the spawn pool, as they lack any unique ability that a large portion of other units possess.
The GenSec Industries variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• H&K G36KV "JP36" Carbine
• H&K UMP "Jackal" Submachine Gun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • Additionally, a unique submachine gunner model is used.
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • This unit uses the generic "JP36" model, despite having a shotgun as a weapon.
• Benelli M4 Super 90 "M1014" Combat Shotgun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • Additionally, a unique shotgunner model is used.

The second core entity in an assault, Heavy Units are in every aspect the same as their sister variant Light Units, except for the passive bonus of having bullet proof vests and x2.0 HP in comparison to Lights.
The GenSec Industries variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• H&K G36KV "JP36" Carbine
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun

Exclusive to the Hotline Miami D2 job
Giorgi "The Commissar" Beira was both the leader of a Russian Mafia and had a key role as a District Attorney for Hoxton's case. In order for The Dentist to proceed with his plan of the district attorney to approve the transport of Hoxton for a re-trial, which in turn allows The Payday Gang to intercept and extract him, fear needs to be applied to the district attorney. Killing one of their members is ensured to motivate them.

In order to kill him, they track him down to his apartment, where he hides inside a vault. Once he's brought out, he uses a KSP Light Machine Gun in a last ditch effort to keep himself alive. The Commissar can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. The headshot damage scaling is disabled, staying at a base x2.0 headshot damage. He does not wear any large armor, but a Lightweight Ballistic Vest under his suit.

Exclusive to the Hoxton Revenge job.
As Hoxton gathers evidence to pinpoint who ratted him out, he tracks down the location down to a protected safehouse where the FBI Informant is hiding. The Payday Gang goes to the safe house and find their own method to bring him out of the panic room and kill him.

The Informant wields an IZHMA 12G Shotgun if loud, otherwise a Chimano 88 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). The Informant can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He has the lowest headshot multiplier of any other boss, and does not scale on difficulty either, x1.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, he will be seen wearing a full Improved Combined Tactical Vest armor kit, albeit no bullet proof areas are made unlike a Heavy Unit.

Exclusive to the Biker Heist D2 job.
The Biker Boss is the leader of the OVERKILL MC biker gang who was in charge of the operation for transporting a BCI Helmet via train. Bain and The Elephant collaborate to find where it is being transported and intercept them to take it away from them. The Biker Boss, however, will not be handing them the helmet without a fight.

The Biker Boss will be wielding a KSP Light Machine Gun, assisted by a handful of goons. She is the only boss that has full knockback immunity, and with addition to not having any headshot damage scaling other than the base x2.0 headshot damage, it makes her a tough target to kill for an inexperienced crew, sometimes requiring focused fire. Additionally, she will be seen wearing an Improved Combined Tactical Vest, albeit without the forearm protection. Regardless, this is purely cosmetic and does not give any unique effects, unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Panic Room (Payday 2) job.
Chavez is the boss of a local gang. He stores all his valuables in a panic room bolted to the floor and roof in a room from a gang-controlled apartment complex. The gang will need to find and kill Chavez to take his keys and open the door.

Chavez wields Akimbo Chimano 88 Pistols, assisted by a handful of goons. He can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. There are no headshot damage multipliers scaling as difficulties increase other than a x2.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, Chavez will be seen wearing a Ballistic Vest, but does not provide any gameplay changers unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Scarface Mansion job.
Ernesto Sosa is the assassination target The Payday Gang is commissioned to kill by any methods necessary. This contract is asked by The Butcher after Ernesto and his cartel gank one of her ships that was on course for a smuggling operation.

Ernesto wields a Little Friend 7.62 Assault Rifle, assisted by a handful of goons on loud, or a Bronco .44 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). Similar to most other bosses, he can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He will be wearing Bulldozer-like armor plates to protect himself, but they are extremely weak and can be easily taken off with a handful of bullets. Additionally, Ernesto is the only enemy to have headshot damage scaling multiplier as difficulties go, making his head the highest priority unlike other bosses.

This is referring to the SWAT Van Turret, not the scripted-event turrets, such as in Henry's Rock. Some info may be relevant to other types, but not all.
The SWAT Turret is an area denial weapon that discourages/blocks heisters from going into a specific area. SWAT Turrets can arrive at any given moment during loud, or even sometimes the SWAT Turret is already in place, but waiting for heisters to come in close, in which case the turret will rise and start its attack.
In order to destroy a turret, their shield needs to be destroyed first up to 3 times. Once destroyed, target their weak spot, which is their 'camera' spot. Aiming there is critical for taking down the turret, otherwise use an explosive weapon (x7.0 explosive damage multiplier).

Do note, turrets have a damage received cap both for bullets and explosives, which means that you cannot deal more than 3,500 DMG to the shield per shot/explosive, nor 42,000 DMG to the base turret, making a high alpha damage weapon such as the HRL-7 Rocket Launcher's 12,500 DMG just as effective as an Arbiter Grenade Launcher's 480 DMG.

The Titandozer is in every aspect a regular Bulldozer unit, except for lacking a head and carrying a shield on their back. Titandozers carry a KSP Light Machine Gun just as the Skulldozer, moving at an extremely slow sleep that even a crouching heister can outrun. However, on the close range maps they spawn, distance is not important (debatable on Lab Rats), giving themselves the upper hand for not needing to travel extremely long distances.

Titandozers's outfit is composed of white and black colors, with the shield on their back writing "Suck it!" on large, bold letters.

Captain Neville Winters is an amplified shield unit with unique abilities and extra durability. Winters will spawn with 10 other minion units, moving to a set position on the map. Once set, an endless assault will be set and all enemies receive a damage resistance of 5% every 5 seconds, up to 50%.

Winters will not retreat until only 3 Phalanx shields are left, or he is critically injured to 20% of his total health. Assault will return to normal and immediately start 'fading' assault phase, even if Winters spawned during an endless assault heist phase.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
Phalanx Shields are the equivalent to their sister variant, Shield, except they spawn in groups of 10 together with Captain Winters.

They stand amidst Captain Winters in a regular polygon shape, with one unit corresponding to one edge of the figure. If one is killed, they will rearrange into a lower edge count shape. Once Winters is critically injured, or only 3 Phalanx units are left standing, Winters will retreat, leaving behind any Phalanx units.

Exclusive to The White House job.

The Guardians are gameplay-wise cosmetically modified Cloaker units. These units use a special outfit mixing black and gold colors, a special rifle, unique particle effects surrounding the model, and have their sound effects changed. Regardless of these visual changes, their AI logic will stick to normal and attack players on distance, and start charging once there is a clear path between the Guardian and the heister.

Exclusive to Crime Spree and Holdout.
The ZEAL Marksman unit is a hybrid of the Sniper and a Heavy ZEAL Unit. The marksman has the special armor piercing capability as a regular sniper, while also being allowed to traverse across the map as a regular unit, instead of being restricted to a designated map position. This unit also shares the same body armor as a heavy unit.

Despite having armor piercing rounds, a converted unit will not pierce through Shields.

To level up on PAYDAY 2, one must obtain Experience Points. These points are obtained through the course of a heist by doing multiple tasks.
Each heist has their own unique amount of experience reward per task, speed to complete them, and total amount of tasks to do. There are also methods to amplify your total obtained experience, such as equipping weapon boosters, fulfilling your perk deck or obtaining a stealth completion bonus, and others.

To clarify one last time, experience is obtained by completing tasks. It is not given by simply completing a heist, such as joining at the very last part of a heist.

Most heists will require the transportation of Loot Bags through the map, whether it be to deploy a thermal drill to break into the vault, or secure valuable loot into the van.
Different loot has different weights, so one should expect that a warhead will be heavier than a painting. Additionally, medium-heavy loot will block the player from sprinting.

Different heists have different kinds of loot, and so will be their securing method. Be sure to follow the instructions of the announcer or help signs on your HUD to find where to secure your loot.

Not all loot needs to be in a bag, some other loot can be instantly picked up. Loose Loot is found in some heists, with a value less than a fraction of what their bag counterpart would pay for. However, this doesn't need to be bagged and any heister can just go to it and secure it immediately.

Leaving loose loot behind is acceptable due to the incredibly high loot bag value multipliers that difficulties offer in counterpart to this kind of loot. One could secure all the loose money in Golden Grin Casino's vault, and it will still be insufficient to match a single bag of money from said vault, not even to mention the additional millions of dollars gained by the contract's payment.

Despite there being an FBI variant of the Sniper, the SWAT variant is used more often, regardless of difficulty. Other than visual, there are no gameplay differences.
The Sniper is a special enemy equipped with a modified Gewehr 3 that tends to appear on rooftops, windows, or anywhere with a good vantage point, capable of greatly damaging or destroying the armor from the player, making it vulnerable to nearby enemy units or a follow up lethal shot.

The Sniper can be identified by his bright red laser and the loud report of his rifle. Additionally, the announcer may warn players about cops setting a sniper team in a designated position.

The Shield is a special enemy equipped with the standard CMP Submachine Gun, providing cover to his fellow comrades and/or obstructs the heister's path.

Shields can be identified by their key equipment, a large ballistic shield impermeable to most weapons.

The Taser is a special enemy equipped with a modified CAR-4 Assault Rifle with a unique gadget that has the ability to stun heisters. When used, the target heister's point of view will be shaking, and fire without the player's consent.
During this stun, the player can attempt to line out the shots against the Taser. However, the player is still vulnerable to attacks, allowing for other cops to take down the perpetrator, or even neutralizing the heister if enough time passes by while stunned.

Tasers can be identified by their bright yellow colors on their outfit, and loud 'charging' sound effect.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
The Medic is a special enemy equipped with a CAR-4 Assault Rifle or Reinfeld 880 Pump Shotgun. The Medic has the ability to revive one nearby allied unit at a max range of 7 meters, disregarding any obstruction between the Medic and the healed unit.
There is no prioritization on this healing ability; If a 40 HP cop and a Bulldozer were on the same range for healing, the Medic will heal the cop if he is 'killed' first, leaving the Bulldozer for dead. This ability cannot be used too frequently, and has a base cooldown timer of 3 seconds.

Medics can be identified by their high contrast white and red colors used through their outfit.

The Cloaker is a special enemy equipped with a heavily modified Compact-5 Submachine Gun. The Cloaker has the unique ability to hide on certain scripted areas to ambush the player if the heister gets close enough. Additionally, Cloakers have the ability to rush towards a heister to incapacitate him via a melee attack knockdown, in which scenario, their night vision goggles will glow green and a loud alarm-like sound will play, alerting nearby crew members.

Cloakers can be identified by their unique helmet equipment and dark clothes. Additionally, Cloakers will play an ECM-like sound effect when one is nearby.

The Greendozer is one of the five Bulldozer variants, this one having the capacity to deal large amounts of damage per shot with his Reinfeld 880, at the cost of a rather slow fire rate and reduced effectiveness on medium-long distances.

Easily identified by their loud footsteps, or large colored armor that distinguishes them from the crowd.

The Blackdozer is the second variant, this one having a mixture of the Skulldozer and Greendozer, mixing medium damage and medium fire rate on an IZHMA 12G. Unfortunately, the Blackdozer fires so fast in bursts that most of his ammo is nullified by i-frames.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with a black colored texture.

The Skulldozer is the third variant, equipped with a KSP LMG that is capable of dealing high amounts of damage both in short and long range. Additionally, as an LMG, the Skulldozer can hold the finger on the trigger for long periods of time before requiring to reload.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with an urban camouflage texture and custom faceplate spray.

The Medicdozer is the fifth and last variant, equipped with a Compact-5, this is the weakest dozer overall damage-wise. However, one should note that this dozer can also revive nearby units. If one is not careful, other Medics or even Medicdozers, can gather together and create a healing circle, making it difficult to take them down.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with bright red and white colors.

The Minigun Bulldozer is the fourth variant, equipped with a Minigun that has the same high damage potential as the Skulldozer. With a x2 HP multiplier, the Minigun Dozer can be tough to kill, at the cost that the dozer will go at an extremely slow speed.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with a desert camouflage texture and custom faceplay spray.

The backbone of the enemy team, Light Units are the most basic of units that will spawn over the course of an assault. These units are the weakest of the spawn pool, as they lack any unique ability that a large portion of other units possess.
The GenSec Industries variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• H&K G36KV "JP36" Carbine
• H&K UMP "Jackal" Submachine Gun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • Additionally, a unique submachine gunner model is used.
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • This unit uses the generic "JP36" model, despite having a shotgun as a weapon.
• Benelli M4 Super 90 "M1014" Combat Shotgun
  • Scripted-spawn only!
  • Additionally, a unique shotgunner model is used.

The second core entity in an assault, Heavy Units are in every aspect the same as their sister variant Light Units, except for the passive bonus of having bullet proof vests and x2.0 HP in comparison to Lights.
The GenSec Industries variant of this unit is capable of using the following guns:

• H&K G36KV "JP36" Carbine
• Remington 870 "Reinfeld 880" Pump Shotgun

Exclusive to the Hotline Miami D2 job
Giorgi "The Commissar" Beira was both the leader of a Russian Mafia and had a key role as a District Attorney for Hoxton's case. In order for The Dentist to proceed with his plan of the district attorney to approve the transport of Hoxton for a re-trial, which in turn allows The Payday Gang to intercept and extract him, fear needs to be applied to the district attorney. Killing one of their members is ensured to motivate them.

In order to kill him, they track him down to his apartment, where he hides inside a vault. Once he's brought out, he uses a KSP Light Machine Gun in a last ditch effort to keep himself alive. The Commissar can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. The headshot damage scaling is disabled, staying at a base x2.0 headshot damage. He does not wear any large armor, but a Lightweight Ballistic Vest under his suit.

Exclusive to the Hoxton Revenge job.
As Hoxton gathers evidence to pinpoint who ratted him out, he tracks down the location down to a protected safehouse where the FBI Informant is hiding. The Payday Gang goes to the safe house and find their own method to bring him out of the panic room and kill him.

The Informant wields an IZHMA 12G Shotgun if loud, otherwise a Chimano 88 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). The Informant can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He has the lowest headshot multiplier of any other boss, and does not scale on difficulty either, x1.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, he will be seen wearing a full Improved Combined Tactical Vest armor kit, albeit no bullet proof areas are made unlike a Heavy Unit.

Exclusive to the Biker Heist D2 job.
The Biker Boss is the leader of the OVERKILL MC biker gang who was in charge of the operation for transporting a BCI Helmet via train. Bain and The Elephant collaborate to find where it is being transported and intercept them to take it away from them. The Biker Boss, however, will not be handing them the helmet without a fight.

The Biker Boss will be wielding a KSP Light Machine Gun, assisted by a handful of goons. She is the only boss that has full knockback immunity, and with addition to not having any headshot damage scaling other than the base x2.0 headshot damage, it makes her a tough target to kill for an inexperienced crew, sometimes requiring focused fire. Additionally, she will be seen wearing an Improved Combined Tactical Vest, albeit without the forearm protection. Regardless, this is purely cosmetic and does not give any unique effects, unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Panic Room (Payday 2) job.
Chavez is the boss of a local gang. He stores all his valuables in a panic room bolted to the floor and roof in a room from a gang-controlled apartment complex. The gang will need to find and kill Chavez to take his keys and open the door.

Chavez wields Akimbo Chimano 88 Pistols, assisted by a handful of goons. He can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. There are no headshot damage multipliers scaling as difficulties increase other than a x2.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, Chavez will be seen wearing a Ballistic Vest, but does not provide any gameplay changers unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Scarface Mansion job.
Ernesto Sosa is the assassination target The Payday Gang is commissioned to kill by any methods necessary. This contract is asked by The Butcher after Ernesto and his cartel gank one of her ships that was on course for a smuggling operation.

Ernesto wields a Little Friend 7.62 Assault Rifle, assisted by a handful of goons on loud, or a Bronco .44 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). Similar to most other bosses, he can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He will be wearing Bulldozer-like armor plates to protect himself, but they are extremely weak and can be easily taken off with a handful of bullets. Additionally, Ernesto is the only enemy to have headshot damage scaling multiplier as difficulties go, making his head the highest priority unlike other bosses.

This is referring to the SWAT Van Turret, not the scripted-event turrets, such as in Henry's Rock. Some info may be relevant to other types, but not all.
The SWAT Turret is an area denial weapon that discourages/blocks heisters from going into a specific area. SWAT Turrets can arrive at any given moment during loud, or even sometimes the SWAT Turret is already in place, but waiting for heisters to come in close, in which case the turret will rise and start its attack.
In order to destroy a turret, their shield needs to be destroyed first up to 3 times. Once destroyed, target their weak spot, which is their 'camera' spot. Aiming there is critical for taking down the turret, otherwise use an explosive weapon (x7.0 explosive damage multiplier).

Do note, turrets have a damage received cap both for bullets and explosives, which means that you cannot deal more than 3,500 DMG to the shield per shot/explosive, nor 42,000 DMG to the base turret, making a high alpha damage weapon such as the HRL-7 Rocket Launcher's 12,500 DMG just as effective as an Arbiter Grenade Launcher's 480 DMG.

The Titandozer is in every aspect a regular Bulldozer unit, except for lacking a head and carrying a shield on their back. Titandozers carry a KSP Light Machine Gun just as the Skulldozer, moving at an extremely slow sleep that even a crouching heister can outrun. However, on the close range maps they spawn, distance is not important (debatable on Lab Rats), giving themselves the upper hand for not needing to travel extremely long distances.

Titandozers's outfit is composed of white and black colors, with the shield on their back writing "Suck it!" on large, bold letters.

Captain Neville Winters is an amplified shield unit with unique abilities and extra durability. Winters will spawn with 10 other minion units, moving to a set position on the map. Once set, an endless assault will be set and all enemies receive a damage resistance of 5% every 5 seconds, up to 50%.

Winters will not retreat until only 3 Phalanx shields are left, or he is critically injured to 20% of his total health. Assault will return to normal and immediately start 'fading' assault phase, even if Winters spawned during an endless assault heist phase.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
Phalanx Shields are the equivalent to their sister variant, Shield, except they spawn in groups of 10 together with Captain Winters.

They stand amidst Captain Winters in a regular polygon shape, with one unit corresponding to one edge of the figure. If one is killed, they will rearrange into a lower edge count shape. Once Winters is critically injured, or only 3 Phalanx units are left standing, Winters will retreat, leaving behind any Phalanx units.

Exclusive to The White House job.

The Guardians are gameplay-wise cosmetically modified Cloaker units. These units use a special outfit mixing black and gold colors, a special rifle, unique particle effects surrounding the model, and have their sound effects changed. Regardless of these visual changes, their AI logic will stick to normal and attack players on distance, and start charging once there is a clear path between the Guardian and the heister.

Exclusive to Crime Spree and Holdout.
The ZEAL Marksman unit is a hybrid of the Sniper and a Heavy ZEAL Unit. The marksman has the special armor piercing capability as a regular sniper, while also being allowed to traverse across the map as a regular unit, instead of being restricted to a designated map position. This unit also shares the same body armor as a heavy unit.

Despite having armor piercing rounds, a converted unit will not pierce through Shields.

To level up on PAYDAY 2, one must obtain Experience Points. These points are obtained through the course of a heist by doing multiple tasks.
Each heist has their own unique amount of experience reward per task, speed to complete them, and total amount of tasks to do. There are also methods to amplify your total obtained experience, such as equipping weapon boosters, fulfilling your perk deck or obtaining a stealth completion bonus, and others.

To clarify one last time, experience is obtained by completing tasks. It is not given by simply completing a heist, such as joining at the very last part of a heist.

Most heists will require the transportation of Loot Bags through the map, whether it be to deploy a thermal drill to break into the vault, or secure valuable loot into the van.
Different loot has different weights, so one should expect that a warhead will be heavier than a painting. Additionally, medium-heavy loot will block the player from sprinting.

Different heists have different kinds of loot, and so will be their securing method. Be sure to follow the instructions of the announcer or help signs on your HUD to find where to secure your loot.

Not all loot needs to be in a bag, some other loot can be instantly picked up. Loose Loot is found in some heists, with a value less than a fraction of what their bag counterpart would pay for. However, this doesn't need to be bagged and any heister can just go to it and secure it immediately.

Leaving loose loot behind is acceptable due to the incredibly high loot bag value multipliers that difficulties offer in counterpart to this kind of loot. One could secure all the loose money in Golden Grin Casino's vault, and it will still be insufficient to match a single bag of money from said vault, not even to mention the additional millions of dollars gained by the contract's payment.

Despite there being an FBI variant of the Sniper, the SWAT variant is used more often, regardless of difficulty. Other than visual, there are no gameplay differences.
The Sniper is a special enemy equipped with a modified Gewehr 3 that tends to appear on rooftops, windows, or anywhere with a good vantage point, capable of greatly damaging or destroying the armor from the player, making it vulnerable to nearby enemy units or a follow up lethal shot.

The Sniper can be identified by his bright red laser and the loud report of his rifle. Additionally, the announcer may warn players about cops setting a sniper team in a designated position.

The Shield is a special enemy equipped with the standard CMP Submachine Gun, providing cover to his fellow comrades and/or obstructs the heister's path.

Shields can be identified by their key equipment, a large ballistic shield impermeable to most weapons.

The Taser is a special enemy equipped with a modified CAR-4 Assault Rifle with a unique gadget that has the ability to stun heisters. When used, the target heister's point of view will be shaking, and fire without the player's consent.
During this stun, the player can attempt to line out the shots against the Taser. However, the player is still vulnerable to attacks, allowing for other cops to take down the perpetrator, or even neutralizing the heister if enough time passes by while stunned.

Tasers can be identified by their bright yellow colors on their outfit, and loud 'charging' sound effect.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
The Medic is a special enemy equipped with a CAR-4 Assault Rifle or Reinfeld 880 Pump Shotgun. The Medic has the ability to revive one nearby allied unit at a max range of 7 meters, disregarding any obstruction between the Medic and the healed unit.
There is no prioritization on this healing ability; If a 40 HP cop and a Bulldozer were on the same range for healing, the Medic will heal the cop if he is 'killed' first, leaving the Bulldozer for dead. This ability cannot be used too frequently, and has a base cooldown timer of 3 seconds.

Medics can be identified by their high contrast white and red colors used through their outfit.

The Cloaker is a special enemy equipped with a heavily modified Compact-5 Submachine Gun. The Cloaker has the unique ability to hide on certain scripted areas to ambush the player if the heister gets close enough. Additionally, Cloakers have the ability to rush towards a heister to incapacitate him via a melee attack knockdown, in which scenario, their night vision goggles will glow green and a loud alarm-like sound will play, alerting nearby crew members.

Cloakers can be identified by their unique helmet equipment and dark clothes. Additionally, Cloakers will play an ECM-like sound effect when one is nearby.

The Blackdozer is the second variant, this one having a mixture of the Skulldozer and Greendozer, mixing medium damage and medium fire rate on an IZHMA 12G. Unfortunately, the Blackdozer fires so fast in bursts that most of his ammo is nullified by i-frames.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with a black colored texture.

The Skulldozer is the third variant, equipped with a KSP LMG that is capable of dealing high amounts of damage both in short and long range. Additionally, as an LMG, the Skulldozer can hold the finger on the trigger for long periods of time before requiring to reload.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with an urban camouflage texture and custom faceplate spray.

The Medicdozer is the fifth and last variant, equipped with a Compact-5, this is the weakest dozer overall damage-wise. However, one should note that this dozer can also revive nearby units. If one is not careful, other Medics or even Medicdozers, can gather together and create a healing circle, making it difficult to take them down.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozer, albeit this one is with bright red and white colors.

The Minigun Bulldozer is the fourth variant, equipped with a Minigun that has the same high damage potential as the Skulldozer. With a x2 HP multiplier, the Minigun Dozer can be tough to kill, at the cost that the dozer will go at an extremely slow speed.

Same distinguishable clues as the previous dozers, albeit this one is with a desert camouflage texture and custom faceplay spray.

The backbone of the enemy team, Light Units are the most basic of units that will spawn over the course of an assault. These units are the weakest of the spawn pool, as they lack any unique ability that a large portion of other units possess.
The ZEAL Task Force variant of this unit is capable of using the following gun:

• H&K MP5A2 "Compact-5" Submachine Gun

The second core entity in an assault, Heavy Units are in every aspect the same as their sister variant Light Units, except for the passive bonus of having bullet proof vests and x2.0 HP in comparison to Lights.
The ZEAL Task Force variant of this unit is capable of using the following gun:

• M4A1 LR-300 Kit "CAR-4" Assault Rifle

Exclusive to the Hotline Miami D2 job
Giorgi "The Commissar" Beira was both the leader of a Russian Mafia and had a key role as a District Attorney for Hoxton's case. In order for The Dentist to proceed with his plan of the district attorney to approve the transport of Hoxton for a re-trial, which in turn allows The Payday Gang to intercept and extract him, fear needs to be applied to the district attorney. Killing one of their members is ensured to motivate them.

In order to kill him, they track him down to his apartment, where he hides inside a vault. Once he's brought out, he uses a KSP Light Machine Gun in a last ditch effort to keep himself alive. The Commissar can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. The headshot damage scaling is disabled, staying at a base x2.0 headshot damage. He does not wear any large armor, but a Lightweight Ballistic Vest under his suit.

Exclusive to the Hoxton Revenge job.
As Hoxton gathers evidence to pinpoint who ratted him out, he tracks down the location down to a protected safehouse where the FBI Informant is hiding. The Payday Gang goes to the safe house and find their own method to bring him out of the panic room and kill him.

The Informant wields an IZHMA 12G Shotgun if loud, otherwise a Chimano 88 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). The Informant can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He has the lowest headshot multiplier of any other boss, and does not scale on difficulty either, x1.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, he will be seen wearing a full Improved Combined Tactical Vest armor kit, albeit no bullet proof areas are made unlike a Heavy Unit.

Exclusive to the Biker Heist D2 job.
The Biker Boss is the leader of the OVERKILL MC biker gang who was in charge of the operation for transporting a BCI Helmet via train. Bain and The Elephant collaborate to find where it is being transported and intercept them to take it away from them. The Biker Boss, however, will not be handing them the helmet without a fight.

The Biker Boss will be wielding a KSP Light Machine Gun, assisted by a handful of goons. She is the only boss that has full knockback immunity, and with addition to not having any headshot damage scaling other than the base x2.0 headshot damage, it makes her a tough target to kill for an inexperienced crew, sometimes requiring focused fire. Additionally, she will be seen wearing an Improved Combined Tactical Vest, albeit without the forearm protection. Regardless, this is purely cosmetic and does not give any unique effects, unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Panic Room (Payday 2) job.
Chavez is the boss of a local gang. He stores all his valuables in a panic room bolted to the floor and roof in a room from a gang-controlled apartment complex. The gang will need to find and kill Chavez to take his keys and open the door.

Chavez wields Akimbo Chimano 88 Pistols, assisted by a handful of goons. He can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. There are no headshot damage multipliers scaling as difficulties increase other than a x2.0 headshot damage multiplier. Additionally, Chavez will be seen wearing a Ballistic Vest, but does not provide any gameplay changers unlike a Heavy Unit's bullet proof armor.

Exclusive to the Scarface Mansion job.
Ernesto Sosa is the assassination target The Payday Gang is commissioned to kill by any methods necessary. This contract is asked by The Butcher after Ernesto and his cartel gank one of her ships that was on course for a smuggling operation.

Ernesto wields a Little Friend 7.62 Assault Rifle, assisted by a handful of goons on loud, or a Bronco .44 Pistol on stealth (will not use unless startled). Similar to most other bosses, he can be staggered and knocked to the floor with enough damage. He will be wearing Bulldozer-like armor plates to protect himself, but they are extremely weak and can be easily taken off with a handful of bullets. Additionally, Ernesto is the only enemy to have headshot damage scaling multiplier as difficulties go, making his head the highest priority unlike other bosses.

This is referring to the SWAT Van Turret, not the scripted-event turrets, such as in Henry's Rock. Some info may be relevant to other types, but not all.
The SWAT Turret is an area denial weapon that discourages/blocks heisters from going into a specific area. SWAT Turrets can arrive at any given moment during loud, or even sometimes the SWAT Turret is already in place, but waiting for heisters to come in close, in which case the turret will rise and start its attack.
In order to destroy a turret, their shield needs to be destroyed first up to 3 times. Once destroyed, target their weak spot, which is their 'camera' spot. Aiming there is critical for taking down the turret, otherwise use an explosive weapon (x7.0 explosive damage multiplier).

Do note, turrets have a damage received cap both for bullets and explosives, which means that you cannot deal more than 3,500 DMG to the shield per shot/explosive, nor 42,000 DMG to the base turret, making a high alpha damage weapon such as the HRL-7 Rocket Launcher's 12,500 DMG just as effective as an Arbiter Grenade Launcher's 480 DMG.

The Titandozer is in every aspect a regular Bulldozer unit, except for lacking a head and carrying a shield on their back. Titandozers carry a KSP Light Machine Gun just as the Skulldozer, moving at an extremely slow sleep that even a crouching heister can outrun. However, on the close range maps they spawn, distance is not important (debatable on Lab Rats), giving themselves the upper hand for not needing to travel extremely long distances.

Titandozers's outfit is composed of white and black colors, with the shield on their back writing "Suck it!" on large, bold letters.

Captain Neville Winters is an amplified shield unit with unique abilities and extra durability. Winters will spawn with 10 other minion units, moving to a set position on the map. Once set, an endless assault will be set and all enemies receive a damage resistance of 5% every 5 seconds, up to 50%.

Winters will not retreat until only 3 Phalanx shields are left, or he is critically injured to 20% of his total health. Assault will return to normal and immediately start 'fading' assault phase, even if Winters spawned during an endless assault heist phase.

Information based on regular gameplay, not Holdout nor Crime Spree.
Phalanx Shields are the equivalent to their sister variant, Shield, except they spawn in groups of 10 together with Captain Winters.

They stand amidst Captain Winters in a regular polygon shape, with one unit corresponding to one edge of the figure. If one is killed, they will rearrange into a lower edge count shape. Once Winters is critically injured, or only 3 Phalanx units are left standing, Winters will retreat, leaving behind any Phalanx units.

Exclusive to The White House job.

The Guardians are gameplay-wise cosmetically modified Cloaker units. These units use a special outfit mixing black and gold colors, a special rifle, unique particle effects surrounding the model, and have their sound effects changed. Regardless of these visual changes, their AI logic will stick to normal and attack players on distance, and start charging once there is a clear path between the Guardian and the heister.

Exclusive to Crime Spree and Holdout.
The ZEAL Marksman unit is a hybrid of the Sniper and a Heavy ZEAL Unit. The marksman has the special armor piercing capability as a regular sniper, while also being allowed to traverse across the map as a regular unit, instead of being restricted to a designated map position. This unit also shares the same body armor as a heavy unit.

Despite having armor piercing rounds, a converted unit will not pierce through Shields.

To level up on PAYDAY 2, one must obtain Experience Points. These points are obtained through the course of a heist by doing multiple tasks.
Each heist has their own unique amount of experience reward per task, speed to complete them, and total amount of tasks to do. There are also methods to amplify your total obtained experience, such as equipping weapon boosters, fulfilling your perk deck or obtaining a stealth completion bonus, and others.

To clarify one last time, experience is obtained by completing tasks. It is not given by simply completing a heist, such as joining at the very last part of a heist.

Most heists will require the transportation of Loot Bags through the map, whether it be to deploy a thermal drill to break into the vault, or secure valuable loot into the van.
Different loot has different weights, so one should expect that a warhead will be heavier than a painting. Additionally, medium-heavy loot will block the player from sprinting.

Different heists have different kinds of loot, and so will be their securing method. Be sure to follow the instructions of the announcer or help signs on your HUD to find where to secure your loot.

Not all loot needs to be in a bag, some other loot can be instantly picked up. Loose Loot is found in some heists, with a value less than a fraction of what their bag counterpart would pay for. However, this doesn't need to be bagged and any heister can just go to it and secure it immediately.

Leaving loose loot behind is acceptable due to the incredibly high loot bag value multipliers that difficulties offer in counterpart to this kind of loot. One could secure all the loose money in Golden Grin Casino's vault, and it will still be insufficient to match a single bag of money from said vault, not even to mention the additional millions of dollars gained by the contract's payment.