Sometimes a game launch goes so poorly it becomes legendary and unfortunately Payday 3 counts among that number. Since then, developer Starbreeze Studios has been overhauling the game, introducing a ton of updates that have altered many core problems that have proved unpopular with fans. Now it’s the turn of the game’s progression system, with a brand new way to level up hitting the game.
Patch 1.14 for Payday 3 has landed hitting the FPS game with plenty of new stuff to chew over. The most impactful of these for most players will be the replacement of challenges and introducing a new Infamy Points leveling system. Instead of having to work towards specific goals, changing how you play in order to earn rewards, a flatter and more incremental system has been implemented. Infamy Points are awarded on how many loot bags you steal from each heist, along with the quality of the bags. The better you do, the more points you earn, the more you level up. It’s a far cry from the previous progression system and should allow players to simply play rather than worry about hitting particular targets.
Along with a progression revamp, difficulty has fallen under Starbreeze’s watchful eye. Modifiers are being introduced which allow players to up the difficulty in six different ways. These range from requiring a hostage trade when trying to get a player out of custody to replacing some enemies with tougher units. The developer states that recent changes to the game, such as new skill lines and regenerating armor, have made the game a little too easy with aggressive tactics becoming more viable. These new modifiers should shake things up a little and provide challenges which will require new playstyles to overcome.
Other than these two sweeping changes, there’s lots more that’s hit the game. There’s a new Assassin skill line, a Mask of the Week discount, new spray paint patterns, new voice over lines, and much more. It’s a genuinely colossal update and it seems laser targeted at much of the negative feedback Payday 3 has received since its launch.
If you’d like to learn more, you can check out the full patch notes over on the Payday 3 website, where you can delve into both the changes and Starbreeze’s reasoning behind its decisions.
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