Masking up in Payday 3 lets a heister use their weapons and gadgets, but they lose their ability to blend in with the crowd (unless developer Starbreeze ever adds a circus heist). You may want to take off your mask after starting a heist, but that’s easier said than done.
Like most elements of Payday 3, putting your mask on has both advantages and disadvantages. Masking up or not likely depends on what heist you’re running. You can fully stealth Dirty Ice easily with your mask on, for instance, as long as you don’t go back to the shop floor, since only a few guards and cameras spawn in the back rooms.
Gold & Sharke, on the other hand, has considerable benefits if you don’t mask up, since you can roam the private/public areas. You’ll still need to watch out for cameras and guards, but the large number of civilians in the bank means it’s better to keep your mask in your back pocket.
Can you remove your mask in Payday 3?
There’s no way to remove your mask after you’ve put it on unless you restart the heist. So, if you’re solo, you need to think carefully about when you’ll don your mask, since there’s no going back from it.
If you’re playing with friends or matchmaking, an alternative is having someone mask up for trickier parts while the rest of the squad stays unmasked. The masked heister can take out guards, destroy cameras, and even break into the security room while everyone else stays unnoticed. They can also immobilize civilians in an area—for instance, on both floors during Under the Surphaze.
In Rock the Cradle, for example, one masked heister could help the others by breaking security cameras and taking down pesky guards, depending on where the notebook is. This will still make it hard for the masked gunner to traverse the nightclub, but the vents and side corridors offer possible ways to move around without being seen.
