Payday 3 has a unique system for acquiring new skills and advancing to new tiers of already-owned skills. The system is not only different from most conventional skill tree systems we’ve seen, but it’s even different from the one in Payday 2. Naturally, it’s helpful to have the skill progression system in Payday 3 explained.
This article will break down Payday 3′s skill system, including how to unlock skills from new trees and how to advance to better skills within a given tree.
Payday 3 Skill Trees explained
In Payday 3, there are 17 different skill trees. Don’t let this number intimidate you, though; each tree only has between five and seven different skills. The skill trees in Payday 3 are:
- Medic
- Ammo Specialist
- Mower
- Infiltrator
- Tank
- Sharpshooter
- Escapist
- Demolitionist
- Enforcer
- Manipulator
- Engineer
- Gunslinger
- Grifter
- Hacker
- Tactician
- Strategist
- CQC Specialist
Each tree has a different forte and will enhance a loadout in different ways. Fortunately, they are all very straightforward and easy to understand. Skimming through each skill tree from the loadout menu should be sufficient to understand what each one does.
How to research and unlock new skill trees in Payday 3
When you’re new to Payday 3 and still a low level, you’ll notice that many skill trees are locked. You’ll naturally unlock each of the 17 skill trees as you progress in the game, but you actually get to choose the order this happens in if you so desire.
Go to Loadout – Skills and you’ll see an option to “Research” by pressing Y on controller or R on PC. By selecting a locked skill to be researched, all XP will be applied towards unlocking that specific skill tree rather than the chronological next tree.
Here is an example of how this functions. If you have unlocked the first five skill trees (Medic–Tank), the next you would unlock is Sharpshooter. If you select Engineer as your researched skill (the 11th skill tree), Engineer will become the next skill tree that you unlock, after which progress towards unlocking Sharpshooter will resume.
You can research any skill tree you want at any time, so the order new trees are unlocked is always under your control. If at any time you don’t select a new skill tree for research, chronological progression will resume, so you’ll always be working towards unlocking a new tree even if you don’t specify which one.
Researching only works for unlocking new skill trees; it cannot be used to advance within specific trees. Once every skill tree in unlocked, you no longer have any need for the Research feature.
How to advance within Skill Trees and access higher skill ranks in Payday 3
Skill tree advancement is straightforward in Payday 3. To unlock more skills in a given tree, you must complete heists with at least one skill from that tree equipped. If you want to unlock the fourth skill in the Gunslinger tree, you must use skills from the Gunslinger tree. Skill progression is shared throughout all loadouts; you only have to unlock a skill tree or tier one time to have it available for all loadouts.
The amount of XP needed to unlock higher tiers in a skill tree goes up with each tier, so the time between tiers will get longer and longer as you continue advancing. You can select different skills for each different loadout, and you can even reset skill points in a loadout at any time for free. This conveniently means you don’t have to stress out about making the “right” choice for skill point distribution. Have fun and try out new things. You can always change your mind later.
Basic and Aced Skills in Payday 3, explained
Not only does each skill tree have multiple different tiers, specific skills often have two ranks: Basic and Aced. Not every skill has multiple ranks, but those that do will clearly explain what each rank does.
Putting one skill point into a skill unlocks the Basic bonus, and putting a second point in that same skill grants the Aced bonus. Aced bonuses are always a new effect, not just a better percentage of the Basic bonus, so make sure you take the time to read what each one does before deciding if a skill is worth putting a second point into.
