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Many of you may wonder, "what is the Diamond Heist tactic?"

The Diamond Heist tactic is mostly used by PAYDAY veterans who have been in the Payday franchise for a while. It consists of waiting in one place for a few seconds until the police spawns or gets there, then move somewhere else and keep doing that while avoiding as much firefight as possible.
The name comes from Diamond Heist in PAYDAY: The Heist where people started using it.

What is better than a guide with a video to show how to apply it?
I really recommend watching the video.

Enjoy!

Timeline:

Day 1 Pre-planning: 0:06
Day 1: 0:23
Find Gasoline: 2:41
Destroy the gas station 4:42
Break through the hatch: 8:38
Get inside the basement: 13:30
Search for the correct address: 16:00
Escape: 28:15
Day 1 End: 29:04

Day 2 Pre-planning: 29:10
Day 2 Start (Chase the commissar): 29:24
Find a way to open the reinforced door: 32:26
Breach the entrance: 32:44
Wait for the thermal drill: 33:09
Pick up the thermal drill and place it onto the vault: 34:00
Defend the drill: 36:38
Kill the commissar: 50:49
Wait for the helicopter: 52:05
Escape: 52:37
Day 2 End: 54:30

Click here for the build that I used.[www.pd2skills.info]
Please notice that it's an Infamy V build.

There are very bad flaws into that build, so you have to know what you can do with it. It is obviously not the best build for this mission either. I was using it to test the mission and see what I could do, but then I thought I'd just keep going.

I have not tried it with this build[www.pd2skills.info], but I recommend trying it. It might be better. It is made for a level 100, so if you're infamous, you can make it even better! As you can see, it is a good thing to be high level. If you are not, you should really try to do that first before trying this because it would be VERY painful.
If you are wondering why I picked some skills that serve no purpose in this heist, the answer is "to unlock the next tier bonus."

If you are using the build that I recommended, please notice the purpose of it. It is a dodge build, which means that you are usually supposed to run around with it in suit, not engage in firefights. If you fight, you may die fairly quickly.

If you have the Gage Mod Courier DLC, I really recommend bringing a CAR-4.

CAR-4:
Long Barrel
Fire Breather Nozzle
Auto Fire
Gazelle Rail
Military Laser Module
Rubber Grip
CAR Quadstacked Mag
Holographic Sight
War-Torn Stock

Signature .40 Pistol:
Ventilated .40
Pocket Laser
Ergo Grip
Extended Mag
Pistol Red Dot Sight
Two Tone Slide (I used Long Slide)

If you do not have the Gage Mod Courier, you lose that good advantage of having a Quadstacked Mag. If you have the Armored Transport DLC, the Commando 553 Rifle is probably a better choice than the CAR-4 without Gage Mod Courier mods.

As mentioned previously, the tactic is to run around the map and avoid as much firefight as possible. Understand, however, that sometimes it is best to kill a few cops than going around. Running around is usually done when cops are spawning or charging in that location from one side in big quantities.

Bring a fair amount of medic bags and deploy ammo bags in the pre-planning. Try to use the medic bags after 3 downs unless you really have plenty. Buy all the special assets (sniper, reduced mobsters and delayed cops) - they are very useful.

In this heist timing is crucial. Be fast. Anticipate what is next. Practice, practice, and practice.




This is the route that you want to take while you're downstairs. Take advantage of the back! No snipers can shoot you if you're in the back street! I usually start from the right side, wait for the cops to go there and go in the back until i reach the gas station. When cops arrive to the gas station, depending if they're coming from the back street or from the front of the apartments, I take the other way.

If you're surrounded from both sides, take advantage of the apartments windows.

You can always go upstairs if you're having problems and then jump down somewhere safe. Note, however, that you might loose your AI if you go upstairs because they are dumb.

Try to do the objectives only when the assault is fading (about to end). This way, you have the time they are retreating + the time that is not assault. When the assault is about to start, RUN somewhere safe. Believe it or not, you can lose for being seconds too late when the assault is starting.

I recommend watching the video for ideas. Hotline Miami done this way is mostly about being smart and being able to make choices quickly.

Day 2 is a lot about being lucky and fast. If you are two or more players, however, things get A LOT easier! The reason is that you have room for mistake because your teammate can get you up with the Inspire skill, while if you're alone...you have to rely on AI...or simply waste your pistol messiah charges.

I recommend bringing medic bags on this day as well. You will need them. If you are 4 players, one could bring an ammo bag and the rest medic bags and then place 2 ammo drops. You won't have to shoot a lot if you do it right.
If you are 2 players, I'd bring 4 medic bags, deploy 2 ammo and 1 med.
Make sure you don't consume your medic bags too much (use them at your 3rd down) unless you really have a lot. I had to in the video because I was alone, so I didn't have to share them with anybody and if I went down...oh well..AI...
I brought a suit for more speed and dodge chance.

The beginning is straight forward. Run as fast as you can. Lookout for trip mines. They will ♥♥♥♥ you up! Trip mines will instadown you if you are in suit, so careful when you walk through a door...shoot the trip mine first.

Once you get on top, blow the door open, run in front of the vault to trigger the "Wait for the thermal drill" objective, and get out of there. You don't have to face the bulldozers. At this time, I really recommend running back down. While you are running back, however, be careful for the cops. Since you ran your way up, you WILL have the police downstairs, so you will have to either push through them or simply run past them.

From here on, you basically do the same thing over and over, which is:

Wait downstairs where the ceiling crashed and made a way to go upstairs. Sit somewhere close to it (next to a door), make sure you have a secondary way to go up (you can usually enter the rooms both to the left and right of where the ceiling crashed), attract the cops from one way, then, two or three minutes before the assault ends, make your run to the other side and run upstairs (it is really helpful to understand at what stage the assaults are). Now you will have to dodge SWAT units, bulldozers and tasers, so expect them to be there. When you are upstairs, kill the snipers, crouch most of the time, and get the objectives done. After that, you can camp a little in the hallway where you breached the door to the vault room. Just go to the end of the hallway, crouch and shoot from the corner as I did in the video.

When the assault ends, do your objectives, go downstairs where the ceiling crashed and do the same thing.

The police will kill the commissar for you, so you don't have to worry about it. Take your time while you do this and move only when it is the right time. If it's more than one player, DO NOT split up; if you do, it's like playing solo...the whole point of playing together is to have 2 or more Inspires so you can get each other up. Another reason to not split up is so that cops are all in one place and not all over the place.

I really recommend watching the video. This is a lot easier when seen than read.

Thanks again for viewing this guide!

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See you guys around ;D