How to farm XP quickly in Payday 3

Payday 3 has plenty of upgrades to unlock as you level up, and if you want to unlock everything, you may get on board and farm some XP or Infamy.

Weapon XP in Payday lets you unlock new accessories for that specific weapon type, while skill XP will also unlock new passive abilities to use. These can make your heists go by more smoothly and let you take on their harder versions since you’ll be more geared up for the task.

In addition to weapon and skill XP, you can also farm Infamy to increase your account level. Infamy unlocks different bonuses, like new weapons or cosmetics. You get some Infamy from leveling up and finishing heists, but challenges yield quite a bit.

We’ve listed a few of the best ways we’ve found to get XP in Payday 3 so far, including weapon XP, a mix of weapon/skill XP and gold, and challenges as a source of Infamy.

Best XP farms in Payday 3

At its core, farming XP in Payday 3 is about completing missions quickly and efficiently. Here are some of the best ways we’ve found to farm XP in Payday 3. We’ll update this list as we find more.

Sneaky and solo: Dirty Ice stealth

Dirty Ice is more limited in scope than some other heists, and that plays in our favor here. It’s a lot smaller than the Neon Cradle nightclub in Rock the Cradle or the Secure Capital Bank branch on No Rest For the Wicked. This heist can be done quickly and stealthily while solo, and even if the money isn’t the best, you more than make up for it in experience. If you’re just doing this for XP, just grab as many cases as you need to complete the heist and get out of dodge.

We recommend this method because Dirty Ice is a quick mission to complete once you get the hang of it, and there’s a bit of room for failure as long as you can keep stealth. When played right, you can do everything you need from the service areas, and you can easily get away with the radio limits before the alarm rings.

Go loud: Road Rage

Road Rage doesn’t have the option of being stealthy, so this heist is all about going in guns blazing. This also means there is quite a bit of room for failure, provided you can fend off the cops that pop up. You can matchmake for this one without much concern about someone breaking stealth by accident. This has quickly become a favorite for us because it yields a good amount of XP and a lot of money. It doesn’t beat a stealthy run of Dirty Ice when it comes to XP, but the chaos sets a nice change of pace.

Infamy over time: Complete challenges

While not technically a farm, completing challenges will get you Infamy Points, which are used to level your character. Focusing on getting challenges done throughout your runs will help you gain Infamy more quickly, which lets you unlock weapons, upgrades, and more. You’ll get Infamy by completing missions, but challenges will help fast-track your progress. Focus on a few challenges you haven’t done (e.g. using different weapons) to give your Infamy a boost.

Any Heist you can get done quickly

Again, farming XP in Payday 3 is about speed and efficiency. Quick heists mean faster XP, so you can run whatever heist you’re more comfortable with.

We’ve suggested Dirty Ice and Road Rage because they’re easier to learn. If you’re more familiar with the neon hallways in Rock the Cradle than with the floor plan of the Secure Capital Bank in No Rest for the Wicked, go for that one.

And, as more players get into the game and speedrun tactics gain even more traction, the Payday community might just find a super-efficient way to run a heist at almost supersonic speeds.