A great feature about Payday 2 is the choice it gives players to develop characters in their own way, adding an RPG-like character development system.
Skills, called ‘Perks’ in Payday 2, divided into 4 trees in Payday 2, namely Mastermind, Enforcer, Technician, and Ghost. Each skill specializes in specific kinds of traits.
For more help on Payday 2, read our Technician Builds, Enforcer Builds and Ghost Builds Guide.
Payday 2 Mastermind Builds
This guide focuses on the Mastermind tree and Mastermind dominant builds. We will look at three sample builds, and understand what roles a Mastermind can embody.
Note that though skills in other trees are also chosen in these sample builds, we will primarily limit our discussion to the Mastermind tree.
Also, remember that these builds have been created with co-op play in mind. Solo players can take advantage from parts of the builds, but the overall build structure is primarily focused to balance a team-based gameplay.
Let’s look at our first build.
Payday 2 Mastermind Build #1
Forefront Leader – Click To View Build
Mastermind (89)
- Black Marketeer = Basic
- Smooth Talker = Aced
- Pistol Messiah = Aced
- Gunslinger = Aced
- Combat Doctor = Aced
- Equilibrium = Aced
- Combat Medic = Aced
- Inspire = Aced
- Kilmer = Aced
- Dominator = Aced
- Leadership = Aced
- Endurance = Aced
Enforcer (9)
- Die Hard = Aced
- Transporter = Aced
Technician (13)
- Unlocking The Sharpshooter = Aced
- Rifleman = Aced
- Nerves of Steel = Aced
Ghost (9)
- Fast Hands = Aced
- Sprinter = Aced
The Mastermind can specialize in two sets of weapons: pistols and machine guns. Now, machine guns tend to sound much more appealing, but this build will prioritize pistols instead.
Why? Well, because we’ll leave the heavy-hitting to a team player.
Basically, the Forefront Leader build highlights all the specialties of the Mastermind. These are: a) the ability to heal allies, b) capability to intimidate NPCs, and c) leading from the front with a team-based frame of mind.
For this, you want to take everything in the center column of the build, except for Fast Learner, because we’re not interested in XP as much as getting the job done (frankly, it’s a complete waste of skill points).
A nice pistol with a muffler will be more than enough for you, and you can leave the heavy-gunning to the Enforcer and Technicians. Your job will be to take control and assist players, while minimizing the amount of shooting you do as much as possible.
Payday 2 Mastermind Build #2
Medic Messiah – Click To View Build
Mastermind (89)
- Cable Guy = Aced
- Pistol Messiah = Aced
- Gunslinger = Aced
- Combat Doctor = Aced
- Equilibrium = Aced
- Fast Learner = Aced
- Combat Medic = Aced
- Inspire = Aced
- Kilmer = Aced
- Dominator = Aced
- Leadership = Aced
- Endurance = Aced
Enforcer (9)
- Die Hard = Aced
- Transporter = Aced
Technician (13)
- Unlocking The Sharpshooter = Aced
- Rifleman = Aced
- Nerves of Steel = Aced
Ghost (9)
- Fast Hands = Aced
- Sprinter = Aced
This build is very similar to the first one, but a key difference is in the approach. You’re going to be acting as a pure medic here, which also means covering allies.
For this reason, you want to take assault rifles, forget about answering pagers, and focus on keeping your allies healthy, who will do the rest of the job.
As a Medic support Mastermind, you need to be aware of every team member’s location and condition. The build does have some crowd control abilities, simply because the Mastermind is the only one capable of them.
Payday 2 Mastermind Build #3
Control Freak – Click To View Build
Mastermind (93)
- Control Freak = Aced
- Black Marketeer = Aced
- Stockholm Syndrome = Aced
- Smooth Talker = Aced
- Cable Guy = Aced
- Equilibrium = Aced
- Combat Medic = Aced
- Inspire = Aced
- Kilmer = Aced
- Joker = Basic
- Dominator = Aced
- Leadership = Aced
- Endurance = Aced
Enforcer (5)
- Transporter = Aced
Technician (13)
- Unlocking The Sharpshooter = Aced
- Rifleman = Aced
- Nerves of Steel = Aced
Ghost (9)
- Fast Hands = Aced
- Sprinter = Aced
Okay, forget helping friends, and also forget pistols.
Grab a crazy machine gun, and stand next to them crowd till they pee their pants. You want to control the situation? This build allows you to do exactly that.
When you can’t rule by love, sometimes there’s no choice but to do it by fear.
Inducing fear even in the most bad-ass civilians and cops will bend them to your will, to the extent that civilians you interact with will be able to revive you.
You’ll be able to convince cops to give up their days of law and loyalty, and defect to aid you in your cause. But this build almost completely eliminates chances of stealth, and also severely limits your character.
If you’re going to perform a heist with highly specialized roles for every team member, then you should try this build. Otherwise, consider something more versatile.
If you have any additional suggestions for a Mastermind oriented build, let us know by commenting below.
