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"Give 'em hell."
Bain upon the beginning of an assault wave.

In both games of the series, an Assault Wave is a period of time in which law enforcers deploy at a much higher rate and the AI behaviour is more aggressive than usual. Assault waves occurs periodically during the length of a heist after an alarm has been raised and are heralded by the change in music and a verbal warning by Bain. 

Gameplay[]

General[]

After an alarm has been sounded and law enforcers begin deploying in force on the scene, an assault wave will inevitably occur, seeking to overwhelm the crew in massive numbers. The length and downtime between assault waves varies depending on the chosen difficulty. Having 1 or more hostage will increase the delay of waves by 30s on Overkill and below, or 10s above that.

The ending of a wave, also known as the Fade phase, can be noted by the assault wave banner disappearing. After the wave timer ends, enough enemies must be killed and all players must avoid taking serious damage for thirty seconds in order to actually end the wave. See below for details.

To end an assault wave:

Basically: wait a few minutes, then shoot every cop you can see whilst trying not to take serious damage. See more detailed instructions below.

Negotiations for a teammate's release will not occur during an assault wave; however, players can still make a hostage trade if it was triggered before the assault, and below Hard difficulty, the release timer will continue to run, which means the teammates in custody will usually be released before other players can trade them.

Assault wave stages[]

  1. Control, or (in later assault waves) Recon: This is when first responders will come to the incident and check for civilians, hostages, and criminals. First, they will try to arrest. If the criminal refuses, the police and/or security will open fire. After a few minutes, or some time, they will bring in SWAT Units. In recon stages, hostage rescue teams will come if 1 civilian hostage or loot bag is on map. Hostage rescue teams are not part of the main assault wave.
  2. Anticipation (Pre-assault wave): This lasts 30s and is the starting point of the Assault wave. If you have 1 hostage or more, this phase will last 30 seconds longer on Overkill and below, or 10 seconds on Mayhem and above. Music will become louder. In this point, SWAT Units are deployed, and regular police will start to retreat, unless spawned by on-site police cruisers. After some time, Build phase will start, and music will begin to ramp up with a Police Assault In Progress banner appearing at the top of the screen.
  3. Build: SWAT units will begin to move in and may use flashbangs and smoke grenades. Usually lasts 35 seconds.
  4. Sustain (THE assault wave): Enemies are at full potential and will constantly respawn to attack the player(s). There is both a spawn limit and constant limit, but both are high enough (100s - 1000s of enemies) that it's usually not worth trying to kill them all, and it's best to wait out the assault wave and survive. The Time limit is in 3 stages. Stage 1 and 2 are first stages and stage 3 is used later into a heist, usually. It also depends on the number of players (1 player, 2 players, 3 players, 4 players).
    1. 50% assault - (40s, 44s , 48s, 52s)
    2. 75% assault - (120s, 132s, 144s, 156s)
    3. 100% assault - (160s, 176s, 192s, 209s)
  5. Fade (Assault wave ends): SWAT will stop spawning and begin to retreat if fewer than 50 enemies are left or you wait a long time and no players are taking serious damage, keeping "Drama" low, and if Captain Winters is not present.

For more info, see here

PAYDAY: The Heist[]

Assault PDTH

The Assault wave indicator in PAYDAY: The Heist.

  • Bain will periodically warn the crew of an impending assault when 45, 30, 20, and 10 seconds remain before the assault starts. The playing soundtrack will also audibly change and the current enemy presence will be much greater in preparation for the wave.
  • Anticipation in PAYDAY: The Heist has three possible starting timers: 60% for 45 seconds, 30% for 35 seconds and 10% for 25 seconds.
  • The spawn rate of special units also increases briefly before and during an assault.
  • Law enforcers will not surrender during an assault no matter how many times they are shouted at.
  • The final objective of a heist will always entail a never-ending assault wave with an escape time limit, significantly bumping up the difficulty. the only exception to this is Diamond Heist.

PAYDAY 2[]

AssaultPD2

PAYDAY 2's Assault wave indicator

  • Bain will only warn the crew of an assault mere moments before it starts. The in-game soundtrack ramp up and voice lines from both cops and player characters give significantly more warning however.
  • Hostages can be tied down with cable ties and held to delay a wave. As long as there is a hostage, the assault wave will be delayed by 30 seconds (10 on Mayhem and above), though any additional hostages do not affect this.
  • Law enforcers can be dissuaded from attacking the crew with by dominating them, and thus will surrender whether a wave is in progress or not.
  • Certain special units will spawn in increased numbers after a wave has ended, while most will still conform to the standard rule.
  • Only a handful of heists features unending assault waves. This mechanic has been revised into escape scenarios.
    • When Captain Winters is in the field, an assault cannot end until he's been defeated.
    • Some heists are scripted to either end an assault wave or keep it ongoing. For example, in Beneath the Mountain, an active assault wave will end upon moving to a new area, and upon refueling the Blackhawk, a never-ending wave will commence.
  • The assault wave indicator now displays the level of difficulty (example, five skulls represents Death Wish).
  • If at least one mutator is active, the color of the assault wave will be in violet instead of yellow.

Achievement[]

I ain't afraid no more I ain't afraid no more
Gain a level in the Assault tree during an assault.

Trivia[]

  • When playing the Crimewave Edition of PAYDAY 2 on PlayStation 4, the light bar on the DualShock 4 controller will glow from red to blue when an assault is in progress.
  • The assault wave sustain stage was made shorter in Update #181

Gallery[]


Gameplay • Heists • Skills & Perk Decks • Weapons & Equipment • DLC

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