This guide is for anyone who has Payday 2 VR and wants to have a somewhat "true" John Wick experience.
I assume you already have some knowledge of the game in both Desktop and VR parts.

If not, you can check these guides for help:

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=267214370&searchtext=long

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1376135105&searchtext=vr

For this guide to work, you would need to have the Payday 2 Ultimate Edition (or just "John Wick Heists" and "John Wick Weapons Pack" DLCs).

You would also need the "Jacket Character pack" DLC if you want a bonus loadout option.

For first, we will begin with your equipment.

Your primary weapon would be the "Contractor .308" Sniper rifle. Mods to put on it:

Contractor grip
Contractor Stock
Military Red Dot Sight (This is because the magnification in VR is extreme. This sight doesn't magnify the image, but you can still use magnified sights if you want)
45 degree sight gadget (optional)

This Sniper rifle isnt for pure looks. With only a pistol, shields will be a huge danger for you since you cannot damage them in front and they able to quickly burn your armor and health alike. This fine rifle with your skills will counter that problem.


Choose "Contractor pistol" for your secondary weapon. Mods to put on it:

Contractor Compensator
Tritium Sights

Despite being a secondary, this pistol will most likely become your main tool for almost all situations except for when handling shields and helping your teammates from far away.


Edit your VR Inventory belt for easy access for swapping weapons/ taking money bags.
Use this as a reference:



Make sure you can do a quick weapon swap, if you cant for some reason, make adjustments to your Belt UI until you got an convenient and fast belt loadout.


Your melee weapon would be either Ursa Tanto Knife or The Pen(cil).

For armor, use Lightweight Bulletpoof Vest.





Your loadout is complete. Let's take a look at the skills!

The heart of any Payday 2 build - skills. There's several builds for you to choose from.
There's the "John Wick Sociopath" build.
There's the "John Wick Dodge Crit" build.

Sociopath is for mayhem and below. You can be almost undefeatable, if you can keep killing the enemies that is.
Dodge Crit build can work on deathwish albeit you need to take cover a lot.

This is the "JW SOCIO" build. PD2Tools: http://pd2tools.com/l/d7c0eb48b7fabd304b7d096c680b220c

Perk Deck: Sociopath

Mastermind:
Controller: Forced Friendship basic, Joker aced, Parthers in Crime aced, Hostage taker basic.

Enforcer:
Shotgunner: Underdog aced.
Tank: Resilience aced, Die hard aced, Bullseye aced, Shock and Awe basic.
Ammo Specialist: Scavenger aced, Extra lead aced, Saw Massacre basic, Fully loaded aced.

Ghost:
Artful dodger: Duck and cover basic, Parkour basic.

Technican:
Breacher: Hardware expert basic.
Opressor: Steady grip basic, Heavy impact aced, Lock 'n' load basic.

Fugitive:
Gunslinger: Equilibrium basic, Gun nut aced, One Handed Talent aced, Trigger Happy aced.
Revenant: Nine Lives basic.
Bravler: Martial arts basic, Bloodthirst basic.

These skills create a versatile build, if you have decent VR pistol skills, since it puts the fear mechanics of the Sociopath perk deck to use with the additional stagger bonus from non-fatal shots leaving most of enemies at medium range "stun" locked (except for shields and bulldozers). The Fully Loaded skill makes it harder to run out of ammo for the pistol. You wont be able to kill anyone with your melee weapon (unless you still have charges from bloodthirst) to refill your health, so don't forget to take hostages right at the start of the heist if possible.

This is the "JW DOCRIT" build. PD2Tools:
http://pd2tools.com/l/808dd312a7d43f4fa074168304af1798

Perk Deck: Rogue

Mastermind:
Medic: Combat medic aced, Combat Doctor basic, Uppers Aced, Inspire Aced.

Enforcer:
Shotgunner: Underdog aced.
Tank: Resilience aced (optional), Die hard aced, Bullseye aced, Iron Man basic
Ammo Specialist: Scavenger basic, Extra lead aced, Saw Massacre basic, Fully loaded aced.

Technican:
Opressor: Steady grip basic

Ghost:
Artful dodger: Duck and cover basic, Parkour basic.
Silent Killer: Second Wind basic, Optical Illusions basic, Low Blow aced.

Fugitive:
Gunslinger: Equilibrium basic, Gun nut aced, One Handed Talent aced, Trigger Happy basic
Revenant: Nine Lives aced (if you havent took resiliance aced).

This build plays in the same way as any other dodge build. Jump in cover if you start to take damage, go for the headshots. You still need fully loaded aced to get back your concussion grenades/molotovs. Your only way to regen health is First Aid Kits. You can safely swap those to Medic Bags or Ammo Bags if your crew member has perk deck that allows the whole crew to regenerate health.

This build also requires you to put concealment boosts on both weapons and swap Contractors .308 contractor grip to straigth grip for a small concealment addition.

While neither build has any specialized sniper skills, you still need "Contractor .308" to eleminate shields. And do it fast ast they can lift you up in close ranges and carry you on it, which can be disorientating and puts you at danger of going down quick.

Now that you starting to believe, you are ready to become a legend.

John Wick is known to use C.A.R. (Center Axis Relock, not the CAR-4 rifle) pistol grip while in Close Quarters. My best advice for you - try to emulate this:


And make sure youre not aiming down sights.
Put your controllers closer to your body, gun at eye level. Actual C.A.R. system does utilize iron sights for aiming, but you dont have to do it at the start. This way you will build a sense of where your gun is pointed without you actually aiming and checking where it is looking.
What you want to learn, is to use your intuition and quick measurements. This isnt as hard as it sounds. After you get that, train yourself to do quick target snaps this time using C.A.R. but with iron sights.

The reasoning behind why you shouldnt use iron sights right away - you need to learn act quick, which means you will have to rely on your reactions and intuition/gut feeling alot. If you are aiming down sights from the start, your focus will be clouded with things like perfect aiming for headshots, thoughts of how your iron sights need to be properly lined up, and so on. It will slow you down.

Be sure to use it only at close and not medium ranges. It is not practical to use C.A.R. outside of CQB.

Movement. Make sure to either move from point A to B, or stand in cover. Dont stand in open areas as you can be shot at from a large distance. Cross open areas with sprint. Dont sprint in buildings and close areas as you can get stuck or run into shield that will get you up in air and cause dizziness and/or disorientation.

This can seem like you getting trained for mindless shooting, and you are not mistaken. While your mind will be free of combat, your primary awareness and thoughts will be reserved for target prioritisation, heist objectives, support of teammates and usage of your memory. It is easy to get carried away by heat and combat, to forget things. You should be in control of where you put your focus.

Start training yourself from some easier difficulty like Very Hard or Overkill, use the auto reload option. Be aware that you should get close to enemies not only for headshots, but for "Underdog" and the perk deck to work.


Rogue Perk Deck gives you 45% dodge chance, 15% chance to be not targeted while standing close to your teammates, 25% to piece HRUs armor, 80% swap speed increase (doesn't work as OVK removed swap speed from vr version in update 173)

This perk deck works best with LBV as you still have armor to protect you from hits if you fail to dodge.


Sociopath Perk Deck lets you regenerate armor on kills, health on melee kills, and any kill within medium range from you has a 75% to seed fear in the cop ranks (snipers, light and heavy units only). Melee bonus is hardly acceptable in VR, as your damage multiplier reduces as your get more and more hits in a row. Full damage requires you to hit enemies with melee with a 1-2 second period between hits, which is a wasted opportunity on getting 1-3 headshots.

Which brings us to the point - maximise the use of the perk deck
Use the fear factor and stagger bonus from "Heavy impact" skill to stun lock most enemies around you, leaving them at your mercy, so you can focus on more dangerous enemies. Bring stun grenades to make them even more less of a threat to you and your teammates.

Dont forget to kill people with melee though, since it too, regenerates your health. That's a last resort for when you dont have hostages and you are low on health or you know you are safe when doing it.

- It is not shameful display to run away from a dangerous battle or enemy, especially if you have low health and it is your last down. This doesnt mean you can leave the game.

- Prioritise your enemies. In a large battle, while at full armor/health, kill cloakers first, shields second, medics third, tazers fourth and bulldozers last.

- Dont skip leg day - crouch and take cover as much as possible. Enemies shoot at your headset position so you can hide in more places than flats can.

- Come prepared. Have a plan to kill anyone you meet. (except civilians)

- Do not try to save your friends if they are surrounded by horde of cops that you cannot kill.

- Dominate cops indefinitely. This with both stagger and fear animations makes enemies even more less of a threat. But dont forget to kill cop hostages that you dont need since you will not be able to have more than 8 cop hostages.

- Its easier to get carried away in VR than on Desktop especially in the heat of battle, so be aware of what you do, what you can do, what you need to do.

- Everything is your resource. Time, enemy groups, types of areas, amount of armor/health/ammo you have, type of enviroment, is it day or night, and so on. Use them well for your advantage.

You can use following mods to enhance your John Wick Experience:

John Wick LED Spirals for NightClub heist
https://modworkshop.net/mydownloads.php?action=view_down&did=21739

John Wick Mode- Custom Soundtrack
https://modworkshop.net/mydownloads.php?action=view_down&did=19151

Black VR Gloves
https://modworkshop.net/mydownloads.php?action=view_down&did=22389

"No Mask" mask mod
https://modworkshop.net/mydownloads.php?action=view_down&did=22319

Hawk's Complete Sound Pack
https://modworkshop.net/mydownloads.php?action=view_down&did=1529