Welcome. This is a guide to assembling strong builds for use in Death Sentence One Down (DSOD) difficulty.

If you don't care about leaning the why & how of making good DSOD builds, you can jump down to the META BUILDS section below and use those straight away.

Important overall comments:

• Making a build for Death Sentence (DS) and Death Sentence One Down (DSOD) yields a build that will also be highly effective at lower difficulties (especially DW). Builds can be adjusted to perform even better at lower difficulties given different enemy damage and kill breakpoints - but there is no real reason to build for less than DSOD.
  
• Enemy health and breakpoints to kill enemies are the same between Deathwish (DW) and DSOD. However, on DS the average enemy hits the player significantly harder (225 damage vs 60 damage), which requires more specific builds to deal with.
  
• Your PERK deck is the most important starting point, as it determines the general playstyle (armor, dodge, etc.) of your build, necessary survival skills, and the range of viable weapons.
  
• Next most important is WEAPON selection - as it will determine additional necessary skills that are needed and how effectively you’ll be able to control enemy forces over the course of the heist.

General Caveats to this Guide

• Assumes DSOD is in the intended difficulty.
  
• Builds are intended to be universal. This means they can be played with humans and/or with bots - but also don’t require human players (or bots) to bring specific team skills for the build to work. Solo-builds or builds optimized for only playing with bots are not covered in this guide.
  
• Builds are intended to be self-sufficient - meaning players are generally ammo neutral or ammo positive (i.e. you don’t need to rely on ammo bags) and can bring the necessary medical/healing to stay in the fight, complete objectives, and effectively deal with all or most enemy types.
  
• Builds assume you have access to all DLC's and necessary mods.

• 2020-02-13: Added additional information to the Melee, Equipment, and Utility Skills section.
  
• 2020-02-28: Formatting and minor organizational changes

As you put a build together, it’s important that it can answer the items below. Note, that very few builds can do everything well - so you’ll have to make some trade-offs along the way.

____ Ability to stay alive effectively (dodge, high armor, gating, health regen, etc.)

____ Ability to complete exposed objectives (e.g. fixing drills, moving cars, reviving mates etc.)

____ Ammo neutral / ammo positive (pickup more ammo than consume)

____ Hits effective breakpoints for killing enemies quickly

____ Kills bulldozers effectively (Javelins, high DPS weapons, etc.)

____ Kills shields effectively (shield piercing, stagger, explosive weapons)

____ Kills snipers / long-distance targets effectively (high accuracy and/or AoE weapons)

____ Kills / stuns / neutralizes dense packs of cops (AoE weapons, grenades, sustained fire)

____ Deals with turrets, Captain Winters, or other critical threats

This is a useful list to refer back to when adjusting your build to help your understand it's strengths and capabilities, as well as its weaknesses.

Every build (with a few noted exceptions) should take the following for DSOD:

• INSPIRE ACED - You’re doing yourself and your team a disservice not to bring inspire ace, as reviving players if and when they are in the open can be very dangerous. There are some builds that can more successfully revive players without inspire ace, which will be noted, but in general it is a requirement.

• COMBAT DOCTOR ACED - This should generally be taken when building up to inspire. Aced Combat Doctors let you take two doctor bags with four charges each, which is often essential for making it through a DSOD heist without being captured.

• RESILIENCE ACED + BULLSEYE BASIC - Every build (except stoic) benefits from Bullseye Basic, as restoring just a little bit of armor on a headshot allows you to armor gate (i.e. avoid health damage). Resilience aced is taken not only to unlock bullseye basic, but also because taking a flash bang at the wrong moment can result in a down. If you are confident avoiding flash bangs, you can take Resilience basic and Die Hard basic to get to Bullseye and save a point along the way.

• DUCK & COVER BASIC + PARKOUR BASIC - Exposure time means more possible hits taken and hence more chances to go down. Movement speed and sprint speed are vital for minimizing exposure time on all builds. These skills should always be taken.

• NINE LIVES ACED - Nine Lives Aced is necessary for One Down, as it doubles the amount of downs you can take over the course of a heist.

Depending on your selected perk deck, many of the skills below will range from being necessary for the build to work to being "nice to have" if you have the points available.

• JOKER SKILLS - Converted cops can boost your max health pool (Partner in Crime Aced) as well as provide passive health regeneration (Hostage Taker Basic/Aced). Moreover, having one or two (Confident Aced) extra bodies to draw fire and take hits is incredibly useful. Certain Joker Skills are nearly required on some builds (Stoic, Muscle), and most builds benefit from having them in some capacity.
  
• QUICK FIX ACED - Like underdog aced, this also provides a 10% damage reduction that lasts for two-minutes, which can enable certain builds to perform at their peak. Helpful to take on the way to unlocking Inspire.
  
• PAINKILLERS ACED - Alternative to Quick Fix Aced when building up to Inspire that many people prefer. Provides 80% damage reduction on crew members you revive, which can allow them to get to safety more easily - especially if downed in the open.

• UNDERDOG BASIC / ACED - Underdog can be important for hitting certain breakpoints in either hits to kill (15% damage boost) or in reducing damage taken to allow for additional hits on the player (10% damage reduction). This skill is inconsistent however, as it depends on having 3+ enemies actively targeting you for it to trigger.
  
• DIE HARD BASIC - 50% damage reduction when interacting can significantly reduce the number of downs you take when completing objectives in exposed locations. Value is somewhat heist dependent.
  
• IRONMAN ACED / BASIC - Aced is required for unlocking ICTV armor, needed for many heavy armor builds. Ironman Basic provides 30% more armor, which can be helpful on a few builds, but is generally less valuable.
  
• SHOCK & AWE BASIC - Improves armor recovery time - but is generally in the nice to have, but not required category. Helpful to take when building up to Ironman. Useless on Stoic (no armor) and Anarchist (different form of armor recovery). Only take on those Perk Decks if wanting to access Shock & Awe Aced for the shield knockback.

• SNEAKY BASTARD ACED + DUCK & COVER ACED - Provides +10% base dodge and an additional +10% dodge when sprinting. Typically required for dodge builds. Generally not needed for non-dodge builds.
  
• OPTICAL ILLUSIONS BASIC - Reduces change to be targeted by 35%. Generally quite helpful for less tanky builds, and especially in conjunction with taking Jokers and using bots.

• SWAN SONG ACED - Swan Song Aced is incredibly useful for safely moving into cover when downed and/or using your dying moments to kill off packs of dozers or other high threat targets (while saving ammo at the same time). Most builds should take this. Then again, when you are skilled enough and ca reliably avoid going down, the skill is less of a priority.
  
• FRENZY BASIC / ACED - Caps health at 30% but provides a 10% or 25% damage reduction. Generally to be avoided for high health / health regeneration decks. Works much better with high armor decks. Synergizes with Berserker, which will provide a 40% minimum damage bonus right away.

Damage skills are taken in consideration of what weapons you are using with the build. Damage skills help increase the damage of your weapons directly in order to hit good breakpoints, but also increase your overall damage output through increased reload speeds, magazine size, and ammo efficiency.

Offensively, on DSOD difficulty, the key questions are (#1) how many headshots to kill (HKO) is it going to take to kill an armored elite enemy (i.e. the “Tans”) and (#2) can I be self-sustaining on ammunition? The fewer hits to kill, the quicker enemies fall (consuming fewer bullets). But of course, stronger weapons that take fewer hits to kill have worse ammo pickups. It’s a balancing act to find the combinations that work for you.


Sharpshooter skills generally work with assault rifles, SMGs, and sniper rifles on single fire mode.

• AMMO EFFICIENCY ACED/BASIC - Can help with staying ammo neutral/positive if you can land headshots well.
  
• AGGRESSIVE RELOAD ACED/BASIC - Nice but also entirely optional depending on the reload speed and magazine mods of your chosen weapon.
  
• GRAZE ACED - Can be tremendous when used with sniper rifles and gives them an AoE-like ability to deal with packs of enemies. Major damage multiplier. Only take if it can be Aced.

Primarily aimed at improving shotguns, but some skills can benefit all weapon types.

• UNDERDOG BASIC - Depending on the weapons, overkill basic can help reach certain key breakpoints for certain types of weapons. But it's also dependent on being the active target of 3+ enemies for it to activate.
  
• SHOTGUN IMPACT BASIC/ACED - Can help reach a target breakpoints for shotguns. For example 42 damage shotguns (i.e. Goliath or Ihzma) with underdog basic (+15% damage), 000 buckshot, overkill, and shotgun impact aced will 2HKO while having good ammo sustain (~6 ammp pickup).
  
• OVERKILL BASIC - 75% damage boost for shotguns. Cornerstone of shotgun builds.
  
• OVERKILL ACED - Applies 75% damage boost to non-shotgun weapons. There are a select number of odd builds that can take advantage of this.
  
• SCAVENGER BASIC - For one point, can make ammo collection much easier and less risky. More important for weapons with lower ammo pickup rates relative to hits to kill.

Key skills primarily benefit low accuracy, high rate of fire weapons.

• SUREFIRE ACED - Allows shots to penetrate body armor. Generally only to be used in combination with Body Expertise Aced.
  
• BODY EXPERTISE ACED - 90% of headshot damage applied to body shots. This is a cornerstone skill for builds that generally utilize low accuracy and high rate of fire weapons (Light Machine Guns, SMG’s, etc.)

These skills can be used with a wide range of weapons in order to provide critical hit chance (critical hits apply the headshot damage multiplier an additional time) or improve damage versus specials.

• LOW BLOW BASIC/ACED - Provides up to 30% crit chance. Depending on weapons and other gear/skills, it can save save points to Ace Low Blow (allowing for a maximum detection risk of 23 to get the full crit chance, whereas Basic Low Blow requires Detection Risk of 4 or less).
  
• HIGH VALUE TARGET BASIC/ACED - Can help reach better breakpoints versus specials. Lower priority need in most builds.
  
• UNSEEN STRIKE BASIC/ACED - An alternative (or compliment) to Low Blow to provide a chance for critical hits. Often expensive to build up to, and has limited applications. Does allow for high detection builds to utilize crits - but very expensive skill point wise to do so.

Gunslinger skills help with pistols (mostly) and akimbo weapons (a little bit)

• TRIGGER HAPPY BASIC - an additional 120% damage for 2-seconds. No need to ace this skill, as 2-seconds is plenty for follow-up shots. Cornerstone for most pistol builds.
  
• ONE HANDED TALENT BASIC/ACED - Can be taken with certain weapons to reach target breakpoints.
  
• DESPERADO / GUN NUT / AKIMBO - More utilitarian skills that improve reload speeds, magazine sizes, firing rate, and stability/accuracy. Important for building up to Trigger Happy but always needed.

Brawler skills are about utilizing Berserker and/or buffing melee damage.

• BERSERKER ACED - Provides a major damage boost as your health is lowered. Critical for certain builds. Damage boost is 80% after being revived (when at 10% health). Damage boost is 40% when at 30% health (i.e. the health cap if Frenzy is also taken)
  
• BLOODTHIRST BASIC/ACED - This is a great skill when rounding out a build. 16x melee damage bonus can let you clean an enemy in your way easily. When aced, the 50% reload speed boost can help a wide range of weapons reload quickly.

Your PERK DECK defines your playstyle, and is a starting point for thinking about your build. If you can’t effectively stay alive, then all the weapon skills in the world won’t help you to be successful.

Your perk deck selection should be made in tandem with your armor selection.

STRONGEST PERK DECKS FOR DSOD

• Anarchist
  
• Kingpin
  
• Stoic
  
• Hacker
  
• Rogue

(Suit or LBV) (Armor Gating)

• This is an armor gating perk deck. Armor Gating relies on the fact that even a tiny sliver of armor will block all the damage of a hit without spilling over to damage your health (except for sniper rifles!).
  
• With Anarchist, you’ll passively regenerate a tiny bit of armor, with lighter armor regenerating quicker (hence the suit). Anarchist also restores armor every 2-seconds when you damage an enemy. Combined with Bullseye basic (restores armor on a headshot) you have three armor gates working in tandem to keep you alive.
  
• On top of it all, once every 15-seconds, when your armor breaks you are immune to damage for 2-seconds. This trait is important to utilize when having to cross exposed areas.
  
• Anarchist also benefits from requiring very few SURVIVAL skills, giving you a lot of flexibility for taking DAMAGE or other utility skills. Isn’t impacted much by taking Berserker/Frenzy, since your health pool is already greatly reduced by the Perk deck itself.
  
• Note that Shock & Awe Basic (and other armor recovery skills) and Second Wind Basic have no effect on Anarchist.

(Suit, LBV, ICTV) (Damage Negation)

• Kingpin is a damage negation deck combined with a large boost to your health pool. With a large health pool, the deck benefits from taking Jokers + Hostage Taker Aced in order to passively regenerate health and stay topped up.
  
• The real strength of the deck lies in the INJECTOR, which will grant you essentially 6-seconds of invulnerability by simultaneously healing most of the damage you recieve. This is most reliable if used when your health pool and armor are up. This 6-second period is awesome for completing objectives or crossing open ground without going down.
  
• When the injector is active 75% of taken damage is first applied as healing - which means so long as your armor is still up, taken hits will heal your health. Once armor is depleted, hits will heal you and then apply their full damage.
  
• Kingpin can work with lighter armor, relying on speed to get more done during the 6-second injector period, or use heavier armors (ICTV) in order to provide more durability outside of the injector period.

(ICTV or other armors) (Damage Negation)

• Stoic works by turning all of your armor into health, and then having a 75% damage reduction bonus. The 75% damage that is reduced is re-applied as a damage over time effect to your health, but which can be negated by using the Stoic Hip Flask item.
  
• Stoic MUST take First Aid Kits (14 of them) to be effective. Always be fighting near a first aid kit so that if you are downed, the kit will automatically restore your health and prevent the down. This is critical.
  
• Stopic also generally requires Hostage Taker Aced in order to keep your health pool topped up.
  
• Generally, Stoic is taken with ICTV armor, but lighter armors can be used to provide greater mobility if you are confident in your ability to manage exposure and use the hip flask wisely.
  
• Stoic can require a lot of skill points, which may limit other weapon or utility options.

(Suit) (Dodge)

• Hacker is a dodge build that provides a base 30% dodge chance. When activating the pocket ECM (you have two that are on cooldowns), during the 6-second ECM time making a kill boosts your dodge to 50% for a short time and kills during the ECM period restore health.
  
• The ECM also stuns enemies near you, which can be valuable when having to break cover or cross exposed areas - although the range of the effect isn't very big. More useful in tighter areas without long distances.
  
• Generally benefits heavily from Sneaky Bastard for an additional 10% dodge and Duck & Cover Aced for 10% more dodge when running. With skills that allow reloading and firing on the move, you can maintain a 50-70% dodge chance when exposed.

(Suit) (Dodge)

• Dodge build that provides a higher base dodge than Hacker, at 45%, but without the benefit of the ECM for restoring health or stunning enemies.
  
• Also provides a 25% chance for weapons to penetrate armor, which can be redundant with Surefire Aced, depending on your weapons.
  
• As with hacker, can benefit from Hostage Taker Aced in order to have topped of health (preventing sniper instant kills) and other targets to draw enemy fire.

OTHER EFFECTIVE PERK DECKS FOR DSOD

• Armorer
  
• Sociopath
  
• Crook

Most other perk decks “can” work if you are experienced with DSOD. However, a few additional decks will be highlighted below and are worth considering, although arguably are not as strong as the decks mentioned above.


(ICTV) (High Armor)

• Relies on the huge boost armor, increased armor recovery rate, AND a 2-second invulnerability period when armor breaks (like Anarchist).
  
• When taken with the ICTV, your armor can tank 2-hits at 225 damage before your health is exposed. If you stack ICTV with Frenzy Aced (25% damage reduction) and Underdog and Quick Fix Aced, your armor can tank 3-hits, although this is only situational.

(ICTV or Suit or LBV/HBV) (Hybrid: Damage Reduction, Health Regen, Armor Gating)

• Sociopath is an interesting deck that blends a number of abilities together. It provides a decent damage reduction bonus, provides health regeneration on melee kills (combined with a big boost to melee damage), and it provides an armor gate effect that restores a whooping 60 armor. Oh, and your shots have a chance to spread panic among enemies!
  
• Sociopath can be built a number of ways, but is probably best when playing as weaker armor gate deck (like Anarachist) but with the added benefit of having a larger health pool (which can benefit from skills like Hostage Taker aced to stay topped off).
  
• Can be taken with almost any armor depending on your desired move speed and level of comfort. If you happen to take ICTV with Frenzy Aced + Quick Fix Aced or Underdog Aced, you’ll have a 3-hit ICTV armor. Alternatively, you can take an HBV and have a 2-hit HBV that maintains good mobility.

(LBV or HBV) (Hybrid: Dodge, Armor Recovery)

• Crook combines a modest to great dodge chance when wearing HBV or LBV armor, in conjunction with faster armorer recovery.
  
• Crook with Frenzy Aced (25% damage reduction), Die Hard Aced, and Iron Man Basic wearing an HBV can take 2-hits while having a minimum 25% dodge chance.
  
• Alternatively, use fewer skills with LBV armor (1-hit) with a 35% base dodge chance.
  
• With Sneaky Bastard and Duck & Cover Aced, the LBV Crook can hit a respectable 65% dodge while having enough armor to tank 1 or 2 lighter enemy hits and better armor recovery rates than the dodge decks.

Think about your weapons as a PAIR and how they work together to deal with a wide range of threats. Generally, one weapon (which could be the primary or secondary slotted weapon) will be the “main weapon” responsible for dealing with the normal masses of enemies. The other weapon will be more of a special/utility weapon for dealing with specials (shields, snipers, dozers, etc.). Your throwable can be used to help round things out.

BREAKPOINTS

Breakpoints refer to the amount of Headshots to Kill / Knock Out (HKO) needed to kill an enemy. Typically, you'll want your main weapon able to hit effective breakpoints for killing tan / armored elite enemies.

The chart below lists critical breakpoints to keep in mind. This is the amount of damage a weapon + damage skills needs to do on a headshot to kill. These breakpoints account for the common perk deck 25% headshot bonus and difficulty adjustments for DW/DS.

• 1HKO = 255.51+
  
• 2HKO Body Exp = 171.10+
  
• 2HKO = 127.76+
  
• 3HKO Body Exp = 113.84+
  
• 3HKO = 85.17+ | 1 HKO on Critical hit
  
• 4HKO Body Exp = 85.38+
  
• 5HKO Body Exp = 68.31+
  
• 4HKO = 63.76+

The “Body Exp” items refer to the number of body shots needed with Body Expertise Aced + Sure Fire Aced (to penetrate body armor) to get a kill. The 85.17+ damage breakpoint is the minimum needed to also reach a 1HKO Critical hit kill. This is important for builds relying on lower damage weapons and skills like low blow.

One of the biggest advantages of shotguns on DSOD is that you really don't have to aim very carefully. If just one pellet hit an enemy's head, that pellet will do full damage to the enemy as a headshot. This is incredibly powerful and lets you quickly clear enemies (and thus keep yourself safe!) without having to waste time carefully aiming or lining up shots.

• Shotguns with 000 buckshot benefit from LOWER accuracy, to increase spread and number of targets that can be dealt full damage. Each pellet deals FULL damage to a target, but only one pellet is applied per target hit. Thus, lower accuracy increases the pellet spread and the likeliness of hitting multiple enemies.
  
• Dragon's Breath rounds can be incredibly helpful on some shotgun builds. While you no longer benefit from headshot damage, DB rounds will eventually kill off most enemies and can be used to activate perk and skill abilities that rely on damaging or killing enemies.
  
• Judge AP vs. AP Rounds - Matter of preference. HE rounds don't deal headshot damage, so will need 2+ shots to kill shields, but will stagger a larger group of enemies. AP rounds are more accurate and can better 1-shot targets.

Excellent and versatile shotgun. Can hit great breakpoints with the right skills and can be built for higher concealment and used with low blow for getting critical hits. This is the go to CritZHMA weapon build. Magazine fed shotgun has a fast reload.

• Damage Skills: Undergod Basic, Shotgun Impact Aced, Overkill Basic (needs to be active), Low Blow.
  
• Damage Mods: +11 damage minimum - use 000 buckshot and will still work with silencer. Add-autofire.
  
• Breakpoints: 2HKO & 1HKO on crit
  
• Concealment: Mod weapon for high concealment (can reach 23-24 concealment typically). Depending on your secondary weapon, you might be able to take low blow basic with other concealment skills. Otherwise, will need low blow aced.
  
• Ammo Economy: Picks up ~6 ammo per box. Kills on 1 or 2 hits, so great ammo management.
  
• Other Skills/Mods:Close By Aced will add +15 rounds the IZHMA's magazine - dramatically reducing the frequency of reloading. If you can spare concealment, the Big Brother Mag will add +4 to magazine size. Take Shotgun CQB aced for faster reloads.

Double the fire, double the damage. Doesn't need to use use crits and can reach 1HKO breakpoint pretty easily.

• Damage Skills: Underdog basic (needs to be active), Shotgun Impact Basic (can ace if you want), overkill basic. Berserker optional for massive special damage.
  
• Damage Mods: +17 for maximum damage - 000 buckshot + king's crown / horizontal leveler
  
• Breakpoints: 1HKO. Berserker at 65% bonus can 1HKO Tazers/Medics
  
• Concealment: n/a
  
• Ammo Economy: Good, but worse than the IZHMA. 1HKO per trigger pull, but consumes TWO ammo each time.
  
• Other Skills: NEED Close By Aced to have decent magazine size and # of shots before reload. Shotgun CQB aced is also really helpful. Akimbo Aced is recommended for better stability and more total ammo.

Low damage shotgun but with full damage boosts (including Berserker) it can pump out some serious damage still. Can also use crits with low blow aced for better dozer and special killing.

• Damage Skills: Underdog basic (can be active), Shotgun Impact Aced, overkill basic, Berserker Aced, low blow (optional)
  
• Damage Mods: +18 damage w/ 000 buckshot, king's crown / horizontal leveler, auto-fire
  
• Breakpoints: 1HKO at 50+ Berserker bonus. If no Berserker, 2HKO. If crits are taken, crits are 1HKO.
  
• Concealment: Can be modded for 24 base concealment, higher with silencer skills + boost
  
• Ammo Economy: Pickup ~8 per box, but each trigger pull consumes two ammo. Better than Akimbo Goliath.
  
• Other Skills: NEED Close By Aced to have decent magazine size and # of shots before reload. Shotgun CQB aced is also really helpful. Akimbo Aced is recommended for better stability and more total ammo.

• With a primary shotgun weapon, your secondary needs to provide utility for: dealing with dozers (even faster), dealing with shields, dealing with snipers at range.
  
• The biggest choice is whether or not you need to maintain high concealment.
  
• Overkill ACED can be taken to greatly boost the power of your secondary weapon.

Secondary Weapon Recommendations

• Judge with HE or AP rounds. AP works better for taking out snipers, HE can work for also blowing off dozer face shields as well as staggering smaller groups of units. Can be modded for high concealment and can also be taken with a scope and Far Away for sniping snipers.
  
• Locomotive or single Grimm with Dragon's Breath rounds - great for stunning enemies and dealing with shields. Locomotive still has some stopping power too (though no headshots with DB rounds). Both can work for high concealment.
  
• Arbiter or Compact 40 grenade launcher (if you can reach proper concealment). Great clearing potential when in a pinch.
  
• High concealment SMG (Mark 10) or other high rate of fire and high concealment. Excellent option for deaing with dozers, especially on a crit build. Also take Overkill ACED.
  
• High damage SMG (Krinkov) - can also shred dozers. Good option on non-crit build.

The benefit of LMGs is that their large magazine size means you can lay down sustained fire in order clear out thick packs of enemies. However, the weapons are generally inaccurate outside of short range, and so benefit greatly from Surefire Aced and Body Expertise Aced in order to make body shots penetrate armor and count as headshots. This is where the LMGs shine.

The KSP is the best of the 80 damage LMGs. High rate of fire, amazing ammo pickup, can be modded for decent accuracy + stability. Downside is no tactical reload and fairly long reload time.

• Damage Skills: Surefire aced, Body Expertise aced. Optional: unseen strike and/or berserker aced.
  
• Damage Mods: +2 damage total needed to hit better breakpoints
  
• Breakpoints: 3HKO headshot & 4HKO body shot. Berserker aced can get you to a 2HKO headshot & 3HKO body shot with underdog basic and at 40% berserker. No underdog needs 50% berserker bonus. Unseen Strike crits are 1HKO headhot and 2HKO body shot.
  
• Concealment: n/a
  
• Ammo Economy: Excellent. ~23 per pickup.
  
• Other Skills: Consider Lock & Load Aced or Bloodthirst Aced in order to provide a massive reduction in the reload speeds. Shock & Awe Aced for staggering shields is quite useful.

The RPK's strength lies in having 120 base damage, a moderately high rate of fire (750), and one of the fastest reloads for LMGs (and even has a tactical reload option). The downside is that it only has 100 rounds in the clip (smallest among LMGs), but with careful reloading it is manageable.
Best opportunity for the 120 damage LMGs is that a crit bodyshot is a 1HKO. Whow.

• Damage Skills: Surefire aced, Body Expertise aced. Recommended: Unseen Strike
  
• Damage Mods: +2 damage needed
  
• Breakpoints: 2HKO headshot & 3HKO body shot. Unseen Strike crits are 1HKO headhot and 1HKO body shot.
  
• Concealment: n/a
  
• Ammo Economy: ~9 ammo per pickup. With crits killing in 1 hit, ammo efficiency is not a problem.
  
• Other Skills: Consider Lock & Load Aced or Bloodthirst Aced in order to provide additional reduction in the reload speeds. Can of course use Berserker if the other aspects of the build supports it, allowing for 2HKO bodyshots even without crits. Shock & Awe Aced for staggering shields is quite useful.

Alternate Weapon:

• M60 - Has a larger ammo pool and magazine, with good accuracy. However, it has a significantly longer reload time, no tactical reload option and a much lower fire rate - making it more difficult to use for quickly taking out dozers.

Secondary generally to provide support for dealing with snipers at long range and/or shields (unless you take Shock & Awe Aced).

Secondary Weapon Recommendations

• Grenade launchers - great for clearing shields and staggering/killing large packs. The Arbiter can be good for giving you a long-range option to better deal with snipers. Chinapuff or Compact 40mm have more total damage potential.
  
• LMG builds can be good builds for taking a Saw as a secondary, in missions that need a saw, given that with Shock & Awe Aced, LMGs can deal with most threats fairly well.
  
• SMG. Krinkov is a high RoF, High Damage weapon that can also benefit from unseen strike for quickly taking down dozers. Can also be mudded for good accuracy in order to deal with snipers at range.
  
• Shotgun with Overkill Aced. Use a secondary shotgun like a Judge with AP/HE or a locomotive/Grimm with Dragon's Breath rounds to trigger Overkill Aced for an additional 75% damage boost. Can even further boost LMG damage levels, but is expensive skill-wise (can't easily mix with Unseen Strike).

• Trigger happy + underdog basic + one handed aced (2KHO, one pull for akimbo weapons)
  
• Hits 2HKO breakpoints
  
• Pistols have huge rate of fire - need to watch ammo closely
  
• For Akimbo pistols, add Akimbo Aced skill for more ammo capacity and stability.
  
• Optional to add crits for 1HKO
  
• 5/7 AP Pistol Penetrates shields and modded for accuracy can deal with mid-distance snipers

• Trigger happy (2HKO, one pull for akimbo weapons)
  
• Optional to add crits for 1HKO (for non-akimbo fire)
  
• 5/7 AP Pistol Penetrates shields and modded for accuracy can deal with mid-distance snipers

• Berserker Aced (w/ Frenzy) and Underdog basic for 1HKO sniper rifle
  
• Graze Aced - gives sniper rifles massive horde clear abilities (almost shotgun like)
  
• Grom can achieve a detection risk 4 or below level with concealment modding
  
• Optional Low Blow SMG crit advantage (if can achieve concealment goal)
  
• SMGs a balance between more ammo (Mark 10) or faster kills (99 damage SMGs).
  
• 58 damage SMG with Berserker + low blow is 1HKO on crit (3HKO otherwise)
  
• Bigger damage sniper rifles are also an option.

• Overkill Aced used, with Judge kills to activate.
  
• Berserker for 40-80% damage boost, stacking with Overkill gives 99 damage rifles 1HKO potential with good okay ammo sustain (much better than DMRs).

• Berserker Aced + Low Blow = 1HKO on crit and 3HKO non-crit.
  
• Optional body expertise, for a 4HKO on body shots
  
• Akimbo SMGs in primary slot can achieve better breakpoints. E.G, 2-hit body kills.
  
• Pistol or Judge (high concealment) or Arbiter (low concealment)
  
• Ammo can be hard to sustain on these builds (especially Akimbo SMGs)

The final elements of rounding out your build are selecting a melee weapon, throwable item, deployable equipment, and using any left over skill points.

MELEE WEAPONS

The following melee weapons are generally used in DSOD builds:

• Buzzer - Fast attack that stuns enemies. Useful for converting enemies.
  
• Electrical Brass Knuckles - Similar to Buzzer, but no DLC required
  
• Shinsakuto Katana - Fast attack, highest damage level on charge, long reach. Concealment is only 27 however.
  
• Ice Pick - Another max damage potential. Slower and shorter range than Katana, but is 30 concealment, making it more useful on low detection risk builds.
  
• Kento's Tanto - High damage but short range. No DLC required.

DEPLOYABLE

• Doctor Bags - For most builds (except Stoic) on DSOD, Doctor Bags should be taken to keep players downs refreshed. Builds generally should be ammo neutral or ammo positive, and not rely on taking ammo bags.
  
• First Aid Kits (FAKs) - Stoic builds should usually take FAKs, placing them closeby when holding a position to keep yourself alive should you take a lot of damage when your Hip flash is on cooldown.
  
• Sentry guns are generally useless. Ammo bags should not be needed. Other employable aren't going to help you live.

THORWABLES

• Concussion Grenades - These are usually the preferred throwable. Then stun enemies (but not dozers) within a large ~15m radius for ~5 seconds or so. This can provide a crucial window of time to make a run for an objective, revive a teammate, etc.
  
• Javelins - Some builds and weapon combinations can struggle with killing dozers quickly - especially if there are lots of medics nearby (or medic dozers) and you can't kill them fast enough between heals. Once the face plates are gone, a Javelin will 1-shot dozers in most circumstances. They take practice to use consistently, but can be highly effective.
  
• Molotov / Incendiary Grenade - Can be useful area denial / Area of effect damage items. Useful for dealing with Captain Winters or breaking up a dense back of enemies to get some space and breathing room. Generally not as useful concussion grenades however.

UTILITY SKILLS

Given the demanding requirements for DSOD builds, utility skills tend to take a back seat to other necessary skills. However, certain builds (i.e. many Anarchist builds for example) often have points to spare that can be applied towards utility skills.

Have about 12 skill points left over on a build can let you move points around to different utility skills depending on the mission. Some key skills include:

• Drill Skills - Probably the most useful utility skills, drill skills (depending on the heist) can dramatically cut down on the overall mission time with Drill Sawgeant Aced reducing times by 30%. Kickstarter Aced can be an excellent way to avoid downs when having to restart drills in exposed locations. 7 points to Ace Drill Sawgeant, 16 points to Ace Drill Sawgeant + Kickstarter.
  
• Saw Skills - Certain heists, like bank/vault heists, transport heists, etc. that have large numbers of mission-critical safe deposit boxes that need to be opened can benefit from saw skills. Of course, the saw will replace your primary or secondary weapon, so you need to have a highly effective main weapon to run along side the saw.
  
• Jack of All Trades Aced - A helpful skill if you want to be able to bring along extra ammo or additional medical supplies on to top of Doctor Bags. Can be great for Stoic's so that you can bring FAKs AND a doctor bag.
  
• C4 Explosives - Acing More Firepower gives you 6 C4 charges and 14 trip mines. You should coordinate with your team on whether these will be taken. The main advantage is on Transport Heists or other missions where C4 charges will you save a significant amount of mission time to advance objectives quicker. Two players with 6 C4 each, for example, can open three armored transports in seconds. If another player has a saw, the deposit boxes can be opened very quickly.
  
• Stealth Skills / Shinobi Tree Some of these skills can be useful if planning on a loud heist but if there is interest in trying to get through part of mission in a stealthy manner. Also requires coordination with a willing team. Chameleon Aced and Sixth Sense Aced will let you pick up assets in casing mode and/or give you access to additional assets (expert driver is especially nice) on missions that benefit from them.
  
• ECM Skills Very tricky or difficult to work into a loud build. ECM Overdrive Aced + ECM specialist basic can give you two ECMs to open mission critical doors quickly. But it's a lot of points, and if going loud anyway, C4 can usually accomplish the same thing for fewer points.

Meta builds are really just combinations of perk decks with the right survival skills PLUS strong weapon selections and the right skills. Lots of combinations of meta elements are possible, many of which are captured in the chart below.

• YES = The build can be strong and viable on DSOD
  
• Hard = The build can be effective on DSOD but might require some tough trade-offs
  
• " - " = The build is not viable. Usually due to a conflict between perk/armor and the need for high concealment or a dependence on berserker/frenzy that undermines the perk deck.
  
• Bold, underlined "Yes" builds with a " * " are described in detail later on in this guide.

The builds in the following sections are "META" builds and showcase some of the stronger perk decks and weapon combinations. Obviously, many more builds are possible that are comparably strong. I'll make note of variations or adjustments that are possible for each of the builds below as well.

View on the PD2 Unified Builder[docs.google.com]

Shotgun based, armor-gating build with crits. Good mobility for aggressive playstyle.

• Perk Deck: Anarchist
  
• Armor: Suit (1-hit to break)
  
• Dodge: None
  
• Traits: Needs detection risk of 23 or less for critical hits (Low Blow Aced)

KEY SKILLS: Pd2Builder[pd2builder.netlify.com]

• Inspire Aced
  
• 2x Joker w/ Partners in Crime Aced
  
• Overkill Basic
  
• Low Blow Aced
  
• Swan Song Aced

~16 Extra Skill Points
Build demonstrates flexibility of Anarchist to work with a bunch of points left over. Around 25 points are flexible, and were applied to:

• Confident Aced for two Converted cops
  
• Drill skills (can be swapped out for Saw skills if missions needs it)

Primary Weapon: IZHMA Shotgun

• 2HKO, 1HKO on Crit. ~5.9 ammo pickup
  
• 000 Buckshot
  
• Short Barrel
  
• No barrel extension
  
• Hollow Handle
  
• Compact Laser Module
  
• AK Rubber Grip
  
• Big Brother Magazine
  
• Skeletal Stock
  
• High concealment (23)

Secondary Weapon: Judge
Utility for dozer face plates, shields. No headshots.

• HE rounds
  
• High concealment

Other Equipment

• Melee: Ice Pick or Buzzer
  
• Throwable: Javelins or Concussion Grenades
  
• Deployable: Doctor Bags

Survival
The Anarchist perk deck relies on it’s armor gates, and so survival requires constantly dealing some level of damage and headshots to trigger armor regeneration. When low on health and armor, very susceptible to snipers - so watch out. The Joker increases health pool, and thus the armor pool. If you allow armor to fully recover, will be able to take a sniper hit).

Damage
The IZHMA can 2-hit enemies in the head, and 1-hits on a crit. Is very ammo efficient overall. Judge with HE rounds is used for removing dozer face plates, killing shields, and dealing with snipers at range. The Javelins require some practice, but can 1-hit kill most dozers once the face plates are removed. Will struggle to kill dozers quickly otherwise.

Variations

• Can use Brothers Grimms (Akimbo) shotguns instead of IZHMA. However, the concealment potential isn't quite as high and stability is much lower. But the accuracy is lower, allowing for a greater potential spread and cone of fire.

View on the PD2 Unified Builder[docs.google.com]

Shotgun based, armor-gating build with akimbo weapons and crits for MONSTER damage potential. Good mobility and aggressive playstyle..

• Perk Deck: Anarchist
  
• Armor: Suit (1-hit to break)
  
• Dodge: None.
  
• Traits: Akimbo shotguns with crits. Detection Risk 23 or lower needed.

KEY SKILLS: Pd2Builder[pd2builder.netlify.com]

• Inspire Aced
  
• Overkill Basic
  
• Low Blow Aced
  
• Swan Song Aced
  
• Berseker Aced

Primary Weapon: Akimbo Goliaths

• 1HKO. Massive damage on crits (deletes dozers). ~6 ammo pickup (but fires 2x rounds per trigger pull)
  
• 000 buckshot
  
• Short Barrel
  
• Donald's Horizontal Leveller
  
• Concealment Boost
  
• Compact Laser Module

Secondary Weapon: Judge

• AP rounds
  
• Kings' Crown Compensator
  
• Concealment Boost
  
• Compact Laser Module
  
• Custom Reinforced Frame

Other Equipment

• Melee: Ice Pick
  
• Throwable: Concussion Grenades
  
• Deployable: Doctor Bags

Survival
The Anarchist perk deck relies on it’s armor gates, and so survival requires constantly dealing some level of damage and headshots to trigger armor regeneration. When low on health and armor, very susceptible to snipers - so watch out.

Damage
Monstrous damage output on Akimbo Goliaths. While overkill for regular enemies, allows 1-shotting of specials and better ability to deal with bulldozers using the shotguns. Less impact from damage falloff as well, pushing out effective range of weapons. AP Judge with Far Away Basic lets you aim down sites and deal with long range snipers.

Variants

• Berserker isn't required for the Akimbo Goliaths to hit the 1HKO breakpoint, and can be dropped if desired, allowing for a 9+ points to be used elsewhere. If kept, Goliaths can be swapped out for Akimbo Grimms, which when at 80% Berserker bonus will 1HKO as well with better ammo pickup (~8 ammo).

View on the PD2 Unified Builder[docs.google.com]

Damage negation Stoic deck with LMG + Body Expertise supported by a Grenade Launcher.

• Perk Deck: Stoic
  
• Armor: HBV
  
• Dodge: None.
  
• Traits: Surefire Aced allows for body shots on armored elites

KEY SKILLS: Pd2Builder[pd2builder.netlify.com]

• Inspire Aced
  
• Uppers Aced (14 First aid kits)
  
• 2x Joker w/ Hostage Taker Aced
  
• Body Expertise Aced + Surefire Aced
  
• Swan Song Aced
  
• Bloodthirst Aced - helps reduce long reload times

Primary Weapon: KSP or RPK Light Machine Gun

• The KSP provides 3KHO and 4HKO-body shots, with huge ammo pickup (~23 ammo)
  
• The RPK provides 2HKO and 3HKO-body shots, with decent ammo pickup (~9 ammo)
  
• Mod weapons for highest accuracy + stability you can (stability generally better)

Secondary Weapon: Arbiter or Chinapuff or Compact 40mm

• Regular ammo
  
• Mod for whatever - it's a beast of a weapon regardless

Other Equipment

• Melee: Katana
  
• Throwable: Stoic Hip Flask
  
• Deployable: First Aid Kits

Survival
Stoic relies on effective use of the stoic hip flask to negate damage, and playing around deployed first aid kits to prevent you from going down in the event you can't use the hip flask. Make sure to keep and maintain converts in order to provide passive health regeneration.

Damage
LMG's can provide excellent sustained fire, although can be inaccurate beyond medium range. Aim for the body at medium range and take advantage of body expertise. Use the Grenade Launcher for dealing with snipers, shields, and dozer face plates. Arbiter provides a flat trajectory and bigger magazine, but does less damage than other grenade launchers. The Compact 40mm or Chinapuff both do more damage, but aiming at long range can be more difficult.

View on the PD2 Unified Builder[docs.google.com]

Damage negation Kingpin deck with crit-heavy IZHMA shotgun and Arbiter Grenade Launcher.

• Perk Deck: Kingpin
  
• Armor: Suit
  
• Dodge: None.
  
• Traits: Crits, Converts, Mid-concealment (Low Blow Aced)

KEY SKILLS: Pd2Builder[pd2builder.netlify.com]

• Inspire Aced
  
• 2x Joker w/ Hostage Taker Aced
  
• Overkill Basic
  
• Low Blow Aced
  
• Swan Song Aced

Primary Weapon: IZHMA Shotgun

• 2HKO, 1HKO on Crit. ~5.9 ammo pickup
  
• 000 Buckshot
  
• Short Barrel
  
• No barrel extension
  
• Hollow Handle
  
• Compact Laser Module
  
• AK Rubber Grip
  
• Skeletal Stock
  
• Need to be 25 concealment or higher (no optical illusion bonus)

Secondary Weapon: Arbiter Grenade Launcher

• Regular ammo
  
• Mod for 20+ concealment

Other Equipment

• Melee: Ice Pick
  
• Throwable: Injector
  
• Deployable: Doctor Bags

Survival
Kingpin has a huge health pool with good passive regeneration from Hostage Takers. Generally needs to fight from cover, but can use the injector when having to rush objectives and/or line up a long range shot against snipers from an exposed position.

Damage
IZHMA provides all around good enemy clearing and control. Use the Arbiter when having to deal with super dense packs, dozer faceplates, shields, or snipers. Arbiter is also great when you need to clear a path to run to the objective during the injector uptime. The arbiter can help remove dozer face plates, but the build is a little weak against dozers. Will need to pop the injector and use the shotgun to finish dozers off.

Variations

• Depending on available mods, might need to remove Bloodthirst or other minor skills to pick up Inner Pockets for additional melee concealment.
  
• If desired, can ditch low blow aced and use Akimbo Goliaths for bigger base damage output and then take heavier armor. (See THIS[pd2builder.netlify.com])

View on the PD2 Unified Builder[docs.google.com]

dodge build using hacker and akimbo pistols.

• Perk Deck: Hacker (or Rogue variant)
  
• Armor: Suit
  
• Dodge: 40-70% bodge
  
• Traits: 2x Converts, Detection Risk 4 or under

KEY SKILLS: Pd2Builder[pd2builder.netlify.com]

• Inspire Aced
  
• 2x Joker w/ Hostage Taker Aced
  
• Sneaky Bastard Basic
  
• Low Blow Basic
  
• Trigger Happy + Pistol Skills
  
• Swan Song Basic

Primary Weapon: Akimbo Crosskills (or Akimbo LEOs)

• Mod however, so long as detection risk is 4 or under

Secondary Weapon: 5/7 AP Pistol

• TiN Treated Barrel
  
• Hurricane Compensator
  
• Extended Magazine
  
• Mod however, so long as detection risk is 4 or under

Other Equipment

• Melee: Ice Pick
  
• Throwable: Pocket ECM (Hacker) or Concussion Grenades (Rogue)
  
• Deployable: Doctor Bags

Survival
Hacker is a dodge deck with a minimum dodge of 40% in this build (30% base + 10% for sneaky bastard). Killing an enemy during the Pocket ECM up time boosts dodge to 60% and when sprinting goes up to 70%. Prioritize enemy kills during ECM up time to generate health. Nice combination of high dodge with a larger health pool.

Damage
Pistols with Trigger Happy do insane damage, and when combined with crits means tons of 1-hit kills. Melts dozers up close. Use the 5/7 AP pistol for shields, snipers, and other single targets.

Variations

• Other weapon combinations can certainly be used, provided high concealment is maintained. Pistol skills can be re-allocated to shotgunner tree pretty easily.
  
• Alternatively, Hacker Perk Deck can be swapped out for Rogue, with the skills and weapon selections listed here being viable as well.

View on the PD2 Unified Builder[docs.google.com]

Hybrid build that uses Crook deck (or Sociopath) for 2-hit HBV.

• Perk Deck: Crook or Sociopath
  
• Armor: HBV (2-hit to break)
  
• Dodge: Crook: 25% (Sociopath: 0%)
  
• Traits: None

KEY SKILLS: Pd2Builder[pd2builder.netlify.com]

• Inspire Aced
  
• Graze Aced
  
• Ironman Basic
  
• Berserker Aced + Frenzy Aced
  
• Swan Song Basic

Primary Weapon: Contractor .308 Sniper Rifle

• Contractor Silencer
  
• LED Combo Gadget
  
• Pro Grip
  
• Reconnaissance Sight
  
• 2-Piece Stock

Secondary Weapon: Krinkov

• Competitors Compensator
  
• Scope Mount
  
• Moscow Special Rail
  
• Military Laser Module
  
• Speed Pull Magazine
  
• See More Sight
  
• AK Plastic Grip
  
• Classic Stock

Other Equipment

• Melee: Katana
  
• Throwable: Concussion Grenades
  
• Deployable: Doctor Bags

Survival
2-hit HBV in combination with Ironman basic and damage reduction effects. Strong armor with great mobility. Crook provides 25% base dodge and faster armor recovery time. Sociopath trades the dodge and armor recovery time for a 60-point armor gate when you kill an enemy. Your mileage may vary on which perk deck is stronger here.

Damage
When health is below 30% or if underdog basic is active, the Contractor will 1HKO enemies. With Graze, the sniper rifle becomes an almost shotgun-like weapon in terms of how many targets it can hit. The Krinkov can be used when having to move and fire, and will 2HKO enemies. The high rate of fire and damage output of the Krinkov also melts dozers very quicky.

Variations

• Can switch out the Contractor for a Grom or an even heavier sniper rifle (Rattlesnake, Desert Fox, etc.) if desired - which has better ability to 1-shot specials but is less viable for thinning dense crowds.
  
• Alternatively can take the Mark 10 or other 58-damage SMG weapon for better pickups and more rapid fire shooting.

View on the PD2 Unified Builder[docs.google.com]

Sociopath (or Crook) build that juggles a shotgun and battle rifle for maximum joy. Use shotgun to trigger overkill aced, switching to your higher damage rifle to 1-hit kill most enemies.

• Perk Deck: Sociopath
  
• Armor: HBV (2-hit to break)
  
• Dodge: none
  
• Traits: Overkill aced used to apply 75% damage boost to high accuracy rifles.

KEY SKILLS: Pd2Builder[docs.google.com]

• Inspire Aced
  
• Overkill Aced
  
• Ironman Basic + Die Hard Aced
  
• Berserker Aced + Frenzy Aced
  
• Swan Song Aced

Primary Weapon: IZHMA Shotgun

• Short Barrel
  
• Horizontal Leveler
  
• Scope Mount
  
• Tactical Russian Rail
  
• Military Laser
  
• AK Wood Grip
  
• Big Brother Magazine
  
• Scope of your choice
  
• Tactical Stock

Secondary Weapon: CR 805B (SMG)

• Tactical Compensator
  
• Military Laser Module
  
• Speed Pull Magazine
  
• Scope of your choice

Other Equipment

• Melee: Katana
  
• Throwable: Concussion Grenades
  
• Deployable: Doctor Bags

Survival
2-hit HBV in combination with Ironman basic and damage reduction effects. In addition to Frenzy Aced (25% Damage Reduction), you'll need either Underdog aced to be active OR have Quick Fix Aced effective active (either provides +10% DR). Overall, strong armor with great mobility. Sociopaths perk skills regenerate 60-armor every 1-second when making a kill, allowing you to keep your 2-hit armor topped up without having to wait for regen all the time.

Damage
At 30% health, the IZHMA is 2HKO with Berserker. When overkill is active, the CR 805B (a battle rifle in SMG form) is 1HKO with great accuracy and stability. The high rate of fire on the CR 805B allows for quickly dispatching dozers. Weakness of the build is against shields. Use concussion grenades is corned or pinned by shields to stagger them. Or use your mobility to run around them.

Variations

• Alternative loadout is to take the AK17 Battle Rifle as your primary with a Locomotive or Judge as your secondary weapon (performs better than a single goliath). Ammo efficiency is reduced however.
  
• If shields are problematic, can mod the IHZMA with AP rounds and/or select a higher damage shotgun primary (i.e. Raven) with greater accuracy to use with the AP rounds. Ammo efficiency is reduced further however.
  
• Can swap out Sociopath deck for Crook deck - gains 25% dodge chance and faster armor recovery, but loses the 60-point armor gate.

Here is some good reference information for those wanting more detail.

Below is a google sheet based build tool I developed for assembling builds and calculating essential attributes.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1981143530

Just try reading this in a single sitting. Most in-depth and comprehensive guide encyclopedia of Payday 2 mechanics.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=267214370

Guide covering detailed breakpoints for all difficulties and enemy types.https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=796195988

Nice set of meta builds as well.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1939955661

Another build guide that drills into a bit more detail and depth on the numbers.https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1216655166