Disclaimer: Despite the fact I use the deck to the point it did form bad habits on me, I’m not an expert on the decks itself. I’m just more or less trying to encourage people to use them.
You guys are credit to team!
First off, I would like to start to thank a few people and stuff.
-Don’t Shoot I’m g*y for giving me advice and his sniper build
-Sweegy for the DPS build and advice
-Casual m8 also for advice
-Melonium for giving me the deck
-SolidGrinch which his guides Introduced to me that Dodge builds are not the only way to play the game
-The entire Wiki for the good stuff and information
-Theresa “Midget” Apocalypse for general idea of a guide format
-KevKild for the Bible Guide to DSOD
Changelog
4/4/2021
-Added the 2nd part review on Comically Large spoon on melee choices segment
1/4/2021
-Added an entire review on the Comically Large Spoon on the melee choices segment
27/2/2021
-Edited a point on Sniper sociopath’s issues
19/2/2021
– Added more clarification over why Anarchist’s Armor gating is safer over sociopath in general
Owning the Decks
Infiltrator is part of the Dragan Character pack. Most you guys likely have owned the deck by purchasing the Ultimate Edition Legacy Collection or buying the DLC out right.
Owning Sociopath on the other hand is weird. Someone probably thought “Hey, rather than putting the DLC on Payday’s DLC list that (for the most part) adds content for Payday 2, we put it on Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number’s store page instead.”
The DLC itself is NOT on the Legacy Collection. So yea, the deck’s here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/274170/Hotline_Miami_2_Wrong_Number/
However, I can’t confirm whether if you need the base game in order to use what the DLC provides.Personally it’s a good game so go buy it
Overview (Sociopath)
Sociopath is a deck where its main survivability is about being in close range with your enemies. While It has the less damage reduction than Infiltrator, It makes up for it with its peusdo armor gating and Panic.
Sociopath’s armor gating on kill and Panic allows the deck to sustain itself by being aggressive and the Panic comes in as crowd control. However, compared to Anarchist where its armor gate activates on hit, Sociopath requires to be on kill. Having to kill instead of a hit could most likely cost you a down if you’re being too aggressive.
In order for Sociopath to have 3 hits of ICTV from Heavy units on DS, it requires the use of Frenzy; the major downside leaving you with 1/3 of your health. It might be favorable for some people to ditch Frenzy in order to take full advantage of their health and First Aid Kits.
Comparatively to Anarchist, Sociopath gives armor gating that allows higher potential. However, the 2s Invinciblity that Anarchist provides is really good for survivalbility and having its max potential using Suit. Sociopath on the other hand is practically forced to use armor to make use of its armor gating value for efficiently.
Anarchist only requires any form of dmg, awhile Sociopath requires confirmed kills to proc armor gating, meaning you proc Sociopath less in practice.(Post Production here – Despite Sociopath’s CD is 0.5s faster than Anar, Anar is way safer thanks to Card 1 (Blitzkrieg Bop)’s passive regen and also provides 2s invincibility that’s completely ripped from Armorer.)
Overview (Infiltrator)
If you remember what I talked about OVERDOG being Underdog Aced in a deck; Infiltrator’s entire deck can be summed up as: Underdog Aced in a deck. With a total amount to 36% damage reduction, this allows for a 2 Hit ICTV at base. However, like Sociopath 3 Hit setups, you need Underdog Aced + Frenzy Aced to reach 3 hits – but It isn’t worth using due to not armor gating like Sociopath
Major downside however is you lose both the peusdo armor gating and the Panic ability that Sociopath provides. It’s because of this that the deck itself is designed to be played passively. Going for extreme plays might as well be Cheems sending you to horny jail.
Infiltrator’s OVERDOG has an unlisted upside of increasing its OVERDOG duration to 7 Seconds; meaning while Sociopath’s case of going against a Bulldozer with your melee requires you to fully commit to the kill itself, Infiltrator provides time for you to retreat before going in for a second hit.
Card 9 is Where Infiltrator provides you 20% of your health on melee hit. Awhile it heals more and not having to commit to a kill, It has a downside of a 10 second cooldown.
Infiltrator can arguably be compared to Armorer purpose-wise where the survivability comes in passively. Although (for the most part), It’s more favorable towards PiC setups.
The most optimal way to run Infiltrator is to pair it with Partners in Crime Aced to increase survivability. Using a Frenzy setup could potentially work by having more DPS, but it’s really dangerous without armor gating.
Damage Reduction Calculation (But Not Really)
Incoming Maths and stuff
I genuinely am confused on how DR is meant to be calculated but I’m calculating from 2 methods that seems to be accurate, so take this with a grain of salt
DR calculation goes by descending order. We will take 3 Hit ICTV Sociopath’s 45% DR as an example.
We start with Frenzy’s 25% DR, take 225 and divide it by 0.75 (1-0.25[Percentage number in Decimals])
22. x 0.75 = 168.75
We will take the results from Frenzy and multiply it by the second highest DR: Sociopath’s 20%.
168.7. x 0.80 (1-0.20) = 135
The final step we will use Underdog Aced’s 10% DR
13. x 0.90 (1-0.10) =121.5
These calculations prove that Sociopath can reach 3 hit ICTV with Frenzy and Underdog
But If all of these calculations are for absolute nothing, use any Infohud that provides DR calculation Such as WolfHud or VanillaHudplus as they are way easier to calculate.
22. x (1-0.45) =123.75
Somehow calculations come out differently and I’m not sure why.
(Max Damage Reduction for Sociopath is 45% according to VanillaHudplus despite Both Dmg Reduction skills added with Sociopath Adds up to around 55%)
Melee Choices
Alot of Melees in Payday 2 are either reskins or outright powercreep over others. You’re free to use any form of melee you’d like, assuming you’re not optimizing for absolute perfection. (Maybe due to cosplay reasons)
On the topic of optimization, The 2 major factors are followed for a good melee weapon to use:
-70(450) Melees
-Quick attacking melees (Primarily for Sociopath’s short OVERDOG duration)
In this case, The Katana is undoubtedly the best option for melees. However, you lose out on a tiny bit of concealment. For low DR setups, the Ice Pick would be the better option if you can’t spare the extra detection risk. Anyone who doesn’t own either DLC are recommended to use the El Verdugo which allows both decent concealment, melee range and damage.
Quick melees like the Toothbrush, The Pen or the Switchblade could be viable – but missing a hit from rapid swings would make you lose the OVERDOG buff instantly.
Slow 70(450) melees such as the Great Sword or Fire Axe – while awfully slow – are somewhat usable on Infiltrator. Sociopath soesn’t benefit from it however as it’s too slow to hit a 2nd time before OVERDOG ends.
Knockdown melees are by far the worst option as the purpose of the melee is to kill, not imitate police brutality. (Yes, meme spoon is sadly one of the less viable melees to use) (The meme spoon i meant here is the KLAS shovel.)
April 1: They added an actual meme spoon to the game. As much of a meme it is, It’s an actual sidegrade to the katana.
The regular spoon is a 40(80) Melee with that takes 2s to fully charge up. with Berserker 40%, fully charged, max Bloodthirst stacks and Pumping Iron Aced, You will do 16k Dmg out of 24k for a regular dozer.
The Spoon itself is really bad at follow up attacks and it’s not fast enough in order for Sociopath to achieve Overdog hit.
However, Assuming the yet released Golden Spoon is just the regular spoon but with 70(450) tier damage. This means with the same setup (Berserker 40%, fully charged and max Bloodthirst and Pumping Iron Aced), This will allow the Golden Spoon to one hit 24k health dozers, keep in mind that it takes 2 seconds for the Spoon to fully charge.
This implies the spoon is not meant for Rapid swings, but designed around charge attacks and surprise kills against Dozers.
Best option to use the meme spoon is using a High DR zerk setups. such as zerk Anar and with Infiltrator’s extended Overdog duration.
April 4: They have finally released the Golden Spoon. From testing, my predictions went pretty accurate. It’s arguably the best melee for Zerk Anar with 75 detection risk, Katana comes in close if you prefer faster deploy speed.
What I didn’t predict however is that it has a chance of doing fire damage, literally the only melee to do so as of right now. The chance to proc fire is seems really low though, and generally you’ll be killing them first than the fire. Unless the fire damage does come in handy one way or another, It’s mostly cosmetic as the proc method isn’t reliable.
Something Something Bullseye Aced (Sociopath)
I seen people, mostly Youtubers say that Bullseye Aced is a really good skill to have on Sociopath. It’s very situational, however.
Bringing Aced makes sense. A kill provides 60 armor and the 25 armor from Bullseye Aced totals up to 85. In other words, 85 lets you take at minimum 2 hits from the following units:
(Source: Kevklid)
Light-Swat: 67.5
Swat-Turret: 35
Shields: 70
Gangsters: 67.5
Street-cops: 67.5
Cloaker: 20
Medic: 60 (Non-Shotgun)
Medic-Dozer: 20
Mini-Dozer: 80 (70/60/60 at 10M/20M/30M)
The concept itself is similar to how you can take LBV with Kingpin to be able to tank 1 light shot without having any form of practical downside.
Sounds like a good idea, right? However, the flaw is that both the deck’s 60 armor and 25 armor from Bullseye occurs at 2 different instances. Sociopath activates after a kill has been confirmed and Bullseye happens on a successful headshot.
So say you triggered Bullseye but you didn’t kill the cop. There could be a time between getting the kill and a stray bullet hitting you. This could result in said armor being unable to achieve the breakpoints and would mean that you’re better off with Bullseye basic.
I Actually didn’t spend much time testing Bullseye Aced since it takes up to 6 points that could be invested elsewhere, so it Might work but it’s situational
TL;DR
Aced could potentially hit breakpoints but:
-Armor isn’t obtained simultaneously
-needs Light Units for said breakpoint to achieve
-Practically a 6 point sink if said conditions aren’t achieved
Before Builds
In the ‘Builds’ segment, I will attempt to make builds with all types of weapons possible.
I want to make it clear that these builds are ones that personally work for me. These are NOT a set in stone, “perfect” build. There are bound to be flaws in here.
Which is why I would encourage you to change and play around with your builds to see what fits. I do provide what I think could work as alternative skills to use after I’m done with the builds.
I’ll insert one build in the form of images and the rest as pd2builder in order to prevent repetition.
Infiltrator’s builds are way more restrictive in terms of variety as it’s a defensive deck and aggression doesn’t reward the deck in any way.
Also, just because all of these builds have Inspire DOESN’T mean every sociopath build needs Inspire.
Sociopath/Infiltrator Converts
Remember that Sociopath provides 20% damage reduction? Me neither.
Running Converts on Infiltrator is arguably one of the safest builds to run with.
Pros:
-With ICTV you have 2 hits and at least 1 health hit at max (Sociopath)
-At 36% DR, you’ll get 2 Hit ICTV and 2 health hits max with Converts (Infiltrator)
-Hostage Taker works great to help the really slow health regen you get by meleeing cops
Cons:
-You lose out on the damage boost provided by Berserker
-Less DPS means less efficient armor gating (Sociopath)
You could use Medic Bags rather than FAKs if you apparently go down alot and to maybe help your team (By extension not killing your team on revival by using Painkillers Aced)
Modifications:
-Long Barrel
-Bigger the better Suppressor
-LED Combo
-Solid Stock
Weapon Alternatives:
-M60 (Fugitive Weapon Pack)
-KSP58 (Non-DLC)
-Buzzsaw (Gage Historical Pack)
Modifications:
-Anything
Weapon Alternatives:
-Any Accurate SMG for Snipers
-Arbiter for Sniper and GL
-Other GLs
Sub-Setups:
-Shotgun Setup
https://pd2builder.netlify.app/?s=1Q3c10zccN100010-55050-4152&p=8&a=6&t=4&d=5
-Unseen Strike LMG setup:
https://pd2builder.netlify.app/?s=1Q3c0-48N0-410g10050Ba000152&p=8&a=6
-Akimbo SMGs Setup:
https://pd2builder.netlify.app/?s=1Q3c1010cN0-410o10050f0120152&p=8&a=6&t=4&d=5
-Akimbo Pistol Setup:
https://pd2builder.netlify.app/?s=1Q3c1000cN100010-55050Ba0152&p=8&a=6&t=4&d=5
(Changing Desperado to One Handed Talent is optional if you prefer breakpoints)
Sociopath Frenzy 3-Hit ICTV
My general Go-to build. This build is about complying with the damage reduction the deck provides,
allowing 3 Hits from Heavy unit’s 225 damage per shot without any falloff. It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.
Pros:
-Consistent 3 hit when ONLY in medium range (18m)
-Berserker
That’s it
Cons:
-Heavy investment for 3 hit
-Just ICTV alone can provide 2 Hits and 1 Health Hit
-Getting shot without 45% DR (Max DR for this setup)
–“You’re literally less than useless, my paraplegic grandma can do more than you!” – JonTron
Note:
Remember that you won’t always be a 3 hit as it requires both Sociopath’s 18m damage reduction and Underdog Aced to be active
Modifications:
-OOO Buckshot
-Long Barrel
-Donald’s Horizontal Leveller (Shark Tooth Nozzle if you prefer the regular spread)
-Auto Fire (Optional)
-Drum Mag
-Personal sight of choice
Weapon Alternatives:
-Akimbo Goliaths (Non-DLC)
-Izmah (Non-DLC)
Modifications:
-Anything
Weapon Alternatives:
-Shotguns that can easily allow procs for Overkill (DB Loco, Judge, etc.)
-any Grenade Launcher
Sub Builds:
-DMR build
https://pd2builder.netlify.app/?s=1G0-51cN1000108100505800015G&p=8&a=6&t=4&d=5
Sniper Setup (Camera Man’s Build)
Sniper setups could potentially be considered the hardest setup to build for
Reasons:
-Graze is awfully expensive and arguably the most expensive weapon type
-Being expensive also comes with the issue of less variety in builds
-Snipers needs the user to be competent at aiming
–You could try taking out Inspire to save points for other setups like Berserker, but it’s NOT recommended (I’m not exactly saying removing inspire is a bad thing, at times you really do need the extra points. Berserker can work but would be somewhat restricting of a build and might need to relocate points.)
Running PiC Convert setups would most likely be your safest bet for survivability since your points are invested into not dying.
Best choices for weapons are either:
25. Snipers:
-Rattlesnake
-Repeater
-R700 (veri gud)
50. Snipers:
-Platyus
-R93
-Desertfox
(FAKs are preferable)
Modifications:
-LED combo
-Personal sight of choice
-Tactical Stock (Use Military Stock if you can’t spare the 1 point for Steady Grip)
Weapon Alternatives:
-Platyus (DLC-less)
-Rattlesnake (Gage Sniper Pack)
-Desertfox ( John Wick Character Pack)
-Nagant (Gage Historical Pack)
I chose 60 Dmg SMGs due to personal preference
Weapon Alternatives:
-100 Dmg SMGs
Tatonka (Gage Russian Pack)
Krinkov (DLC-less)
CR 805B (Biker Character Pack)
Sniper Setup (Don’t Shoot I’m G*y’s Build)
This entire segment goes full credit to Don’t Shoot I’m G*y, so have fun.
Use the Sniper to camp corridors/choke points and spawn areas.
Graze will easily give you highest kills for basically any heist.
(Camera man’s notes: Unless you aim as well as having no eyes)
Get a Convert as fast as possible as you don’t have much armor to fall back on.
Use the Convert for aggro and FAKs for safeguard.
If you’re gonna camp in a spot (which you will because of how to use Snipers, like I said above), drop a First Aid Kit incase you get rushed.
Use your secondary when you’re on the move.
It’s a spray and pray weapon when you’re in a pinch. You can also use it to destroy Dozer faceplates if you’re not in melee range.
You don’t have Painkillers so don’t be a d**k and revive your teammate when there are still cops around him.
Remember: you’re very squishy so take it slow when moving. You’re at your best when camping areas, not running from one side of the map to the other.
Use the armor you get from kills to constantly peak corners instead of waiting 3 secs for your armor to regen. You have Uppers in case you get grace’d when doing this.
Awhile Resilience Aced can be a really good skill for a weapon that really needs your eyes to function, You can remove it and take Die Hard Basic and Hardware Expert instead.
Having Converts and FAKs means you can live longer when interacting with objectives and having Die Hard Basic means you don’t have to skiddadle halfway.
Awhile this build’s melee is weaker, Graze itself allows you to collect Bloodthirst more efficiently and may or may not discourage you from doing stupid s**t with your melee.
Modifications:
-Long Barrel
-LED Combo
-Personal sight of choice
Weapon Alternatives:
Platyus (DLC-less)
R700 (Fugitive Weapon Pack)
Desertfox (John Wick Character Pack)
Nagant (Gage Historical Pack)
Modifications:
-Competitor’s Compensator
-Auto Fire (Optional)
-LED Combo
-War-Torn Stock
Weapon Alternatives:
-100 Dmg SMGs
Tatonka (Gage Russian Pack)
Krinkov (DLC-less)
CR 805B (Biker Character Pack)
Meme builds (Mostly DPS Sociopath)
Builds when you’re higher than Mr. Krabs on Ketamine and are trying to make bad builds.
(Seriously why are you using these?!)
Sociopath is used in all of these builds as DPS rewards the deck by armor gating
Sweegy is responsible for proving DPS sociopath can work
Sweegy’s Build:
https://pd2builder.netlify.app/?s=xa3810108h1000100V001050-41xe&p=8&a=3&t=4&d=3
-KSP / KSP 58 with Competitors Compensator / Stubby Compensator for threat
-Krinkov as backup due to reload and generally higher DPS
(Camera Man’s notes: Sweegy said both threat and Panic can proc together and easily secure kills. I don’t have much knowledge on threat so I’m not gonna say much)
-Overkill (Aced) + 65% Crit Suit:
https://pd2builder.netlify.app/?s=1G00103I8h100010810050xi000152&p=8&a=0&t=4&d=5
Weapons:
Izmah (For concealment)
Judge (Proc Overkill with concealment)
Loco (Alternative to Judge)
Whatever Smg that’s concealable for Low Blow (If using Aced)
-Bows with Smg Secondary:
https://pd2builder.netlify.app/?s=1Q3c0010o10-410gF0010xk000152&p=8&a=3&t=4&d=5
Weapons:
-Airbow due to mag size and not needing low DR
(Other bows/Crossbows should work fine as long your aim is pretty good)
-Any 60 SMG (Kobus / Heather / Mark 10 / Etc.)
-Overkill Aced + 65% Crits + Berserker:
“Living and helping your teammates – what’s that?”
https://pd2builder.netlify.app/?s=xa00101I8h0-410810010xi0001Ba&p=8&a=0&t=4&d=3
-Izmah (For Concealment)
-100 Dmg SMGs for Dozers ( Krinkov / Tatonka / CR 805B )
-60 Dmg SMGs for consistent use ( Kobus / Heathers / Mark 10 / Etc.)
How to use Brain
Cover
The most basic tip of all of them applies to any deck you’re using. Going outside on DS without preparation would result in you being snapped out of existence. No, this is not Stoic, so please go to your hiding spot and just have patience for your armor to recover. Even more so with Infiltrator.
When to use your Melee
As strong as your melee can potentially be, you use it to easily take out most units unit in 2 hits.
You’ll need 13 Bloodthirst charges to take out regular Dozers without charging your attack in 2 hits.
(With Bloodthirst + Pumping Iron Aced)
Don’t run into a crowd exposed with your melee. For the sake of safety, let the Bulldozers come to you.
Medics
when meleeing cops, Look around for a second.
Are there Medics around. Yes?
Take them out first. If your supposed victim doesn’t die, you’re the next one dead.
You look around and there are no Medics?
As long you don’t run 10 meters away just to kill someone; sure, go ahead.
“Na, do it, p***y” – Editor’s note (don’t tell Camera I added this)
Conclusion
Sociopath and Infiltrator – while not exactly great decks compared to metas – are personally my absolute favorite deck to play with.
If you really enjoy a deck’s play style but aren’t great at DS, you’re free to stick to it and improve with them out of enjoyment. Don’t let it not being meta push you away from using it, even if you’re gonna die a lot in pubs and get your a*s carried by your teammates.
I don’t consider myself competent or having great build knowledge in general – so if possible – point out the flaws in the comments. I’m not perfect in any way, but I could give my reasons for it.
Hope you enjoy the post for PAYDAY 2 How to Melee Decks on DS (Infiltrator/Sociopath Basics and Builds), If you think we should update the post or something is wrong please let us know via comment and we will fix it how fast as possible! Thank you and have a great day!
- Check All PAYDAY 2 Posts List
Leave a Reply