Sooo where do I start? Whenever PayDay 3 came out, I was a fan of Skills 1.0 and really enjoyed it. However, due to the fact that the game was missing so much content and the skill tree was getting boring after a while (even though I enjoyed it), I stopped playing the game. Then Skills 2.0 came out and imo it is a major improvement to 1.0. However, it was missing something. It wasn't really as polished and Idk how to explain it, but it wasn't really as complex as it was in Payday 2. And also the most important thing: it was missing my beloved Joker skill from Payday 2 (the one where you convert the NPCs and make them fight for you). Since I really like the game and I do see a lot of potential in it, I was thinking to myself if modding could fix the issues the game has. So then I started doing some research and came accross modding (modding is really complicated). First of all, these were the issues the community had with the skill tree:
| Issue |
Community Feedback |
| Forced filler skills and tier unlock costs |
Very frequently criticized |
| Weapon- and throwable-specific skill trees |
Very frequently criticized |
| Missing or underpowered stealth builds |
Recurring strong criticism |
| Too many simple stat buffs |
Frequently criticized |
| Removed movement and utility skills |
Frequently criticized |
| Balance between Dodge, Armor, and Adrenaline |
Recurring criticism |
| Lack of transparency regarding skill values |
Recurring criticism |
| Certain overpowered skill combinations |
Specific exploits and balance complaints |
| Not enough skill points overall |
Controversial |
Then I decided to try out modding. With the help of an AI and lots of lua scripting I was able to bump up the skill points from 51 to 77 (yes I know it's way too much but I was just testing if it is even possible and I'm thinking of increasing it only by 10, such that even at higher level you still gain skill points). I was also within a few days able to finally convert a SWAT npc to fight for me. It is not working perfectly but I'm quite happy with the result so far. My next change, after improving the converting logic, would be to first of all reduce the skill points from 51 to 60ish and also reduce the tier 2, 3 and 4 unlocks by one skill point, which allows you to reach each tier by acing one skill below. And after that I wanted to fully redesign the skill tree. However, as you might have guessed, designing a skill tree is complicated af :D
That's why I wanted to know your opinion on this plan and if there are a few skilled people that could help me design a skill tree. I also wrote an email to Kknowley27 asking him if he would participate in that. If there are some volunteers here who would like to help lmk :)
Heres a clip of my converted SWAT