Icon art by MajorMilk, source here.

Returning to Payday 2 after years of not playing, I went back to my assault rifle builds and found them a little too routine. I also heard shotguns and dodge were "in". Knowing this, I decided to follow this to its logical conclusion and use the most concealable, wrist-breaking, fireball-summoning shotguns possible: double-barrels! I aimed to maximize crit, dodge, and Enforcer skill applicability with this build.

To complement the relatively bursty damage output of the double-barrels with a more sustained source of pressure, I added sentries. I rarely spot these deployables in missions with other players, so I wanted to know if they're a sleeper hit. I found that they provide agreeable contributions to trash clearing at a bare minimum. At best, they also can utilize map chokepoints to hold out near-indefinitely, and can be deployed again and again so long as they aren't smashed to bits by pesky flankers.

The strengths of this build include:

● High ammo throughput: As a limiting resource, ammo as a mechanic is intended to prevent players from being stationary too long, as well as limiting sustained damage potential to give opportunities to enemies. This build frequently chews through ammo, theoretically allowing it to "punch above" what a player should be able to do.
● Excellent ammo economy: Worth a separate mention because the pickup rates on both these guns allows for sentries to have almost constant uptime while also allowing the player to consistently do damage. Ammo is rarely a concern.
● Good burst: In theory, this should allow for "one-shotting" (technically two-shotting, but that's irrelevant with the double-barrel's fire rate) specials up to cloakers and shields on DS with bodyshots. It can also headshot multiple cops at once, allowing this build to frequently achieve accuracy ratings above 100% in maps heavy on CQB.
● Low modification count: Four modifications total are required in this build, with two recommended that are always available with the Gage Shotgun Pack.
● Marginal, but possible, skin benefit: If you have a skin with an accuracy bonus, it could allow the primary to be used for medium-range duty instead of the secondary, or in conjunction with it for heists that require additional ranged damage.

Disadvantages are minimal, but noticeable:

● Very little can be done about dozers if the sentries can't pick up the slack: Your double-barrels have so little capacity that they cannot strip the armor plating from a dozer's head in an efficient manner, requiring you to rely on teammates or sentries to get the armor-stripping headshots for you. While you can burst the unprotected dozer head in an efficacious manner, so can most other builds, including ones that have no issue bursting dozers down.
● Low ammo requires scavenging frequently: While most ammo will drop in the same location when funneling cops to the sentry nest, there are situations where funnels are not practical to set up, especially when objectives are out in the open. This means that you may have to run into the fray to pick up ammo, and you are relatively squishy while doing so. Perk decks can alleviate this concern, but cannot completely mitigate it.
● Sentries don't take prisoners: Intimidating an officer does not except it from a sentry's mechanical ire, especially if it is in the line of fire of other, more hostile officers. This may mean that attempts to take hostages in a "safe" location may be thwarted by what makes the area safe. Ironic.

With these considerations in mind, let's get into the meat of it.

This is where the most variability can come in. The end the perk deck in this build aims to achieve is to increase survivability; the means is irrelevant.

Possibilities include:

● Muscle: Straightforward insurance for your dodge that increases your health pool. That's about it.
● Rogue: Adds dodge chance, reduces threat, and increases swap speed. The swap speed is the most attractive thing about this perk deck, since magazine capacity is so low on both weapons.
● Crook: If you choose to ace Inner Pockets, this opens up the possibility of taking additional Tank skills to take Lightweight Ballistic Vest, or even something heavier as long as you maintain a 3 detection risk.
● Sociopath: This is another option if you spec into additional armor, but is more relevant if you frequently run out of ammo, or are using mods such as Mx's[modworkshop.net] that add more options for melee.
● Gambler: Adds support utility for the build, giving marginal healing to self and others while also giving ammo to other players.
● Any mod perk decks pertaining to shotguns, including Mx's Classified Striker's Battlegear.
● More common perk decks such as Grinder, Stoic, etc.: The reason for these is better covered in other guides that already have these perk decks unlocked.

Rationale: While additional AI would be nice, many Mastermind trees benefit from heavy investment, including Controller. Those skill points could be spent elsewhere. If there was a Mastermind tree to go under, it'd be getting the usual First Aid Kits or Doctor Bags and replacing the sentries. Another path would be Stable Shot aced for better sniper killing, or Rifleman basic if you are really interested in ADS.

Here we see a bulky amount of the skill points spent.

Rationale:

● Underdog basic: We aren't really aiming to soak damage with this build, as evidenced by Optical Illusions basic later in the guide. Acing this skill would go against the idea of that.
● Shotgun CQB and Shotgun Impact aced: There's no reason not to take these while investing in shotguns that are as bursty and reload-dependent as these. If taking other shotguns, CQB aced could be skipped.
● Close By basic: Sprinting while shooting is a QoL feature that is always worth taking. The fire rate doesn't matter on a double-barrel, and there is no magazine to speak of on either double-barrel.
● Far Away: This isn't taken because it's rare that long shots are needed with this build. Most often, another player or AI has a weapon that can hit snipers, the main suspect for this sort of investment. The sawn-off double-barrels also lack accuracy, meaning a percentage increase is less significant than it would be on other shotguns that are able to make their accuracy ratings closer to 100. Freeing up points for this is not recommended.
● Overkill basic: As the namesake of the original developers, it's no wonder this skill has some meat on its bones. Without any other weapon type used, a percentile increase on an already-high damage value for only 4 points is a steal.

● Resilience basic: The investments in this tree are solely for QoL. Armorgating is worthwhile investment for low armor dodge builds as additional security for the health pool. Acing this is a decent investment if flashbangs annoy you.
● Transporter basic: I refuse to elaborate on why this is a good idea. You should know.
Shock and Awe basic: Additional shieldgating. Consider acing if you are frequently running low on ammo and want to invest skills into melee; more on this later.

● Scavenger aced: Ammo turnover is important in this build, and more ammo gives more leeway for tactical decision-making on fire mode. Automatic can make for easier trash-clearing, and can also allow for a sentry to dump its ammo pool quicker if it needs to be moved soon. Saws and ammo bags are irrelevant to this build, so going further in the tree is unnecessary.

Rationale:

Sentries require heavy investment to be practical, as Tower Defense aced is mandatory for them. Possible alternatives include:
● Dropping Eco Sentry entirely: It's a skill outclassed entirely by Third Law Aced, and your ammo economy is good enough to not need Eco Sentry basic. Eco Sentry Aced usually isn't important if your placement and support of the sentries is good.
● Dropping Engineering entirely: suppressed sentries do not functionally do anything different outside of stealth, and if you're using this build for stealth, you'll need more than prayers to get through any mission. Engineering aced is great for ammo economy and shield killing, but if your team is offering additional ammo support like ammo bags or Gambler and shield removal like snipers or grenades, it's not really necessary to get AP. This would be an unusual, but possible, circumstance, and it can be skipped on the way to Tower Defense aced if 9 points are needed elsewhere. Finally, it'd also be possible to pick up JoAT aced as long as you have Engineering basic, allowing you to bring 6 sentries between standard and suppressed sentries, but it'd require a lot of investment for a questionable payoff.

● Consider investing in drill skills if you are soloing.

● Steady grip basic: Accuracy bonuses for sawn-off double-barrels are few and far between; while you could buy skins with boosts or the boosts themselves to help, this is an easier and cheaper way by all accounts.
● Fire Control aced: I assume you want to use that fire while sprinting, and what I said about accuracy hasn't changed since the last bullet point was written.

Rationale:

● As previously mentioned, if you're stealthing with this build, god help you.

● Duck and Cover aced: As a dodge build, dodge is important, and as a Payday 2 player who uses sprint for additional mobility to take advantage of the higher stamina pool with suit, the bonuses of the basic tier are self-explanatory. Duck and Cover basic is also necessary to get anywhere near Sneaky Bastard, which is mandatory barring substantial changes to this build.
● Inner Pockets basic: Free concealment is nice. Ace this if you want to invest more in Enforcer's Tank tree and use the Crook perk deck.
● Parkour aced: Acing this just makes life easier. Do it.
● Shockproof aced: If a taser catches you unawares, the double-barrels will not save you. Full stop.
● Sneaky Bastard aced: Mandatory for dodge builds.

● Second Wind basic: Consider acing if nobody else in your team has this skill.
● Optical Illusions basic: You cannot silence either double-barrel, and your threat is relatively high with both double-barrels. For the former reason, The Professional is useless, and for the latter reason, shirking aggro to your teammates or sentries will increase survivability.
● Low Blow aced: Increases percentage damage on already high initial damage shots.

Rationale:

● This is not a pistol build.

● Nine Lives basic: Acing this is a good idea if you're freeing up points. Investing further in this tree isn't bad, either. I just couldn't find the points to do it.

● If you are frequently out of ammo, investing in melee skills can be a good backup. Consider taking Sociopath or similar melee perk decks if making this investment.

This is the primary sawn-off. Use 000 Buckshot, Road Warrior Barrel, and Gangsta Special Stock. This achieves 27 concealment.



This is the secondary sawn-off. With slightly higher accuracy, it's a good candidate for flechette ammo to give you a medium-range option and to help differentiate the two double-barrels. I also recommend skinning them differently to easily tell them apart. Barrel is the Sawed-Off Barrel, and Deadman's Stock is the stock. This achieves a whopping 30 concealment!

Aim to place these in corners where they cannot be flanked. If not possible, minimize flanking angles so the shield cannot be bypassed.

I hope this gives you some build ideas and something fun to play around with.

I take any and all constructive criticism for this build; making this more viable is one of my goals.

Thanks for reading!