Payday 3 tears up one of its worst systems and replaces it with a shiny new one, and it's a huge step in the right direction

Payday 3 has been a thorn in Starbreeze's side since it arrived back in 2023. Despite its predecessor being one of the most beloved and best co-op games around, Payday 3 launched in a terrible state and with a web of new and reworked systems that players just didn't gel with. The result? On Steam at least, Payday 2's recent daily player counts are roughly 20 times higher than they are in Payday 3. Instead of calling it quits though, Starbreeze is committed to turning things around - it recently canceled a DnD project it was working on and handed Payday 2 support over to a different studio, all so it could put more resource behind the struggling game.

One of the biggest issues Payday 3 has contended with over the last two years is its skill system, which largely revolves around triggering three buffs: Rush (movement speed), Edge (damage output), and Grit (damage resistance). Not only have these buffs been criticized by players, but it wasn't exactly an easy skill system to get a hang of. So, Starbreeze is chucking it in the bin and replacing it with a shiny new one as part of its free, Skills 2.0 update.

Rush, Edge, and Grit are no more - they've been completely removed. Skills have also been laid out in new archetype trees, which not only makes it easier to parse but more clearly show you which skills will feed into a certain playstyle. There are six main archetypes - Soldier, Ninja, Mechanic, Hacker, Conman, and Professional - with three other subdivisions in each one. These aren't strict classes, by the way - you can still mix and match skills as you please.

Starbreeze has even created an online tool that lets you plot out your path along each tree without needing to tinker with things in-game. Once you've hit Infamy level 150, you'll have a total of 51 skill points to spread across the new system.

The developer has also thought ahead when it comes to gameplay balance, as some of these new skills could instantly make certain weapons incredibly powerful if not brought down a peg. A swathe of damage tweaks have been rolled out for several weapons as a result. If you want to see how your favorite gun fared, there's a detailed chart in the new patch notes.

The update delivering Skills 2.0 comes with lots of other smaller additions and fixes. For example, you can now throw bags at enemies to stagger them, giving you a brief moment to evade them or take them down. If you do launch a duffel bag of cash, a new visual effect has been added that will show a plume of money coming out of them. A bizarre bug that would prevent you from using throwing knives for an entire heist if you got tased mid-animation has also been rectified.

Skills 2.0 is a big overhaul to one of the core systems in Payday 3, but I doubt it'll be enough on its own to bring hordes of players back or convince Payday 2 loyalists to make the switch. It is, however, another encouraging step towards what I hope will one day be a No Man's Sky-esque redemption arc for the game.