The 10 Best Payday 2 Mods to Download

What are the best Payday 2 mods?

Payday 2 has been around for over a decade, and one thing that has helped keep it going is mods.

Since its release, numerous mods have been created that are capable of changing almost everything in the game.

Not only has this given the game a lot of replayability, but it has helped it remain one of the most popular games in the world!

The 10 Best Payday 2 Mods

Each of these mods has been chosen based on their popularity, user rating, and overall quality.

They all bring something unique to the game to help keep it interesting and up to modern gaming standards.

If you’re ready to overhaul your next playthrough, here’s our list of the 10 best Payday 2 mods:

10. Metal Gear Solid-Style Detected Sound

Kicking off our list is a mod that every fan of Metal Gear Solid will enjoy, and it definitely is a welcome addition.

What this mod does is replace the detected sound that plays when you’re caught with the alert sound played in Metal Gear Solid.

Not only does this make you nostalgic for one of the best original Xbox games of all time, but it adds extra weight to getting caught.

Payday 2 rewards players who are able to complete heists stealthily, and hearing this sound instantly brings you into panic mode.

When the alert sound plays, you’ll know you’re in for a tough fight that could completely derail your best-laid plans.

Once you install this mod, you will never want to go back to the default sound, as it really does make a difference.

Even if you’re not a huge fan of Metal Gear Solid, there is just something jarring about this particular sound effect!

9. Stamina Circle

One thing that many of the best multiplayer PS5 games have is a bar that lets players know how much stamina their characters have left.

Unfortunately, a bar like this was left out of Payday 2, leaving players to guess if whether or not they have stamina left.

There is nothing worse than trying to sprint between cover only to run out of stamina halfway, leaving yourself vulnerable.

The lack of this feature has certainly led to many frustrating situations for a lot of players, which is why this mod was created.

With this mod, players will now have an on-screen way of seeing how much stamina they have, so that it is easier to plan moves.

Best of all is that it uses the existing UI layout instead of just adding a new element that takes up too much space.

After being downloaded and installed, this mod will add a stamina circle inside your health bar, which depletes in a counterclockwise motion.

This makes it easy to tell apart from your health bar while also letting you easily see whether or not you can sprint and for how long.

Honestly, we’re surprised this feature wasn’t already included in the vanilla HUD because it is definitely a necessity!

8. Stop The Cheater

When it comes to the best multiplayer games of all time, they all have one thing in common, and that is cheaters.

It seems like no matter what measures are put in place to stop it, clever gamers will always find a way to cheat the system.

This is true in Payday 2 as well, and it is a problem that has frustrated many gamers who frequently play online.

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of cheat and exploits that players can use, though there is something you can do about it.

With Stop the Cheater, you can make players who try to use cheats in online games just a little bit miserable.

When this mod is enabled, players using cheats will be forced to play the game at half speed, and it will work on any flagged players.

Now you won’t have to worry about anyone getting the upper hand using exploits, and you can enjoy your online play without aggravation!

7. Less Effects Alpha

Players who aren’t using the most robust systems can sometimes have trouble running Payday 2 without lag.

This is largely due to a lot of the extra effects that can slow down performance and make it more difficult to run high-action events.

Fortunately, this mod was created to solve this very problem so that even those playing on old devices can enjoy the game.

With this mod, less is definitely more, as it turns off a lot of the extra, unnecessary effects that can have a big impact on performance.

This includes things like AO shadows, weather effects, HDR, chromatic aberration, fire effects, and clouds.

By removing these so that your system doesn’t have to render them, your game can run a lot more efficiently.

While it won’t look as flashy by any means, at least you won’t have to worry about lag getting you killed!

Now, this mod isn’t for everyone, obviously, but it is something you should keep in mind if you’re struggling with performance issues.

6. Simple Crosshair

While the first game came with a crosshair feature on the HUD, Payday 2 opted to remove this feature, which some fans dislike.

Seeing as Payday 2 is an FPS like the best Halo games, this omission is a bit confusing as it’s basically a staple of the genre.

Although it does add to the challenge of the game, it can make aiming frustratingly difficult, which is why this mod was created.

With this Simple Crosshair mod, the only thing that is added is a small center crosshair that is always visible.

It even self-adjusts so that it is accurate even when you’re using a bow, which otherwise would have caused a slight offset.

Despite being a very simple change, this mod can make aiming a lot easier, especially in tense situations during heists.

Now you can enjoy being able to aim accurately at all times instead of blindly firing and hoping for the best.

This is definitely a must-have mod for anyone who has ever become frustrated over their inability to hit most targets.

5. Jokermon

Up next, we have Jokermon, which takes inspiration from some of the best Pokémon games of all time, though don’t expect Pikachu to show up!

Essentially, this mod lets you collect converted cops like Pokémon and train them to be deployed whenever you want!

With this mod, your Jokers won’t just disappear after a job. Instead, they will stick around, so you can bring them along next time!

Up to 50 Jokers can be stored at a single time, and you will have complete control over which ones are set out.

Jokers will also earn XP for kills and assists that can be used to level up, giving them more HP the next time you use them.

Best of all, you can heal wounded Jokers, revive dead ones, and rename them to whatever you see fit.

This mod really makes it so you can feel invested in your Jokers, and it’s nice to be able to rely on them more than once!

4. Tailor Expansion

When going on heists, it’s only fair that you look your best, even if your clothes are only going to end up splattered with the blood of your enemies.

If you’ve ever been dissatisfied with the clothing outfits in the game or just want a bit more variety, this mod is for you!

What Tailor Expansion does is add hundreds of new cosmetic clothing options that you can equip and wear around.

It also allows you the ability to wear heister-exclusives, such as the white tuxedo and other variants.

The glove menu has also been condensed to use this variant system, and it can synch online with other players.

Although these outfits won’t make you a better player, they will make your character look fantastic, which is really what ultimately matters!

3. Hyper Heisting

Hyper Heisting is a mod that really highlights how incredible the modding community is around Payday 2.

This mod is a complete rebalance and overhaul that is focused on adding horde-based combat and a super reactive AI.

In the vanilla game, players often complain about broken mechanics, unbalanced enemies, and a lackluster AI system.

To fix these issues, this mod improves player skills and perk decks, as well as enemy balance, making things work more logically.

Enemy health and player weapons have also been tweaked to provide a more balanced gameplay experience.

This means you will no longer have to worry about cheap, tanky enemies who essentially function as bullet sponges.

Enemies will also have the ability to stagger players now, but none of them are capable of one-hit kills.

This mod also provides artificial intelligence enhancements, making enemies smarter and forcing you to really think about your strategy.

However, despite all of the tweaks, this mod builds upon the vanilla gameplay while making it feel more rewarding overall.

With this mod, Payday 2 definitely feels more like one of the best PS5 FPS games, which is a welcome change.

2. Face Retexture Project

Now, the characters in Payday 2 aren’t designed to have the most attractive faces in gaming, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve a touch-up!

Graphics have come a long way since this game came out 10 years ago, and the vanilla game has fallen a bit behind.

This mod seeks to improve the characters visually to make them more in line with modern graphical standards.

Currently, 11 characters have received re-textures to make them look just a little bit better and less like they’re made out of plastic.

Facial static lighting and reflections have also been removed, while eye shading has been improved to make it look more natural.

The end result looks very nice, almost as if this game could have come out within the last couple of years.

While this won’t improve the gameplay at all, it is definitely an appreciated addition that pairs well with texture overhauls.

Speaking of which, if you’re going to download this mod, you’ll also want to grab our number one pick!

1. Re-Texture Project

Once you’ve improved the appearance of the characters, you will definitely want to improve the appearance of everything else!

That is where the Re-Texture Project comes in, and it is the best and most popular re-texture mod for Payday 2.

This mod makes a lot of changes that help make this game look a lot more modern, but it does so without being over the top.

Almost all of the exterior and interior textures have been overhauled, as have the textures for cars, vans, trees, and light fixtures.

Armors have also been re-textured, reticles have been tweaked, and the mod creator has even thrown in a new main menu!

While there are too many changes to list them all here, suffice it to say almost everything has been impacted by this mod.

Despite the release of Payday 3 being a little ways off, this retexture mod gives fans a good idea of how good it could look!

While the vanilla game never looked bad by any stretch of the imagination, these textures give it the extra boost it needs to look truly amazing.

If there is one mod on this list that you absolutely shouldn’t miss out on, it is the Re-Texture Project!

Summary

We hope you’ve enjoyed our list of the best Payday 2 mods and found a few new ones to install for your next playthrough!

While not all of these mods are for everyone, they are all capable of making the game more replayable.

That said, we highly recommend the Re-Texture Project if you want to make Payday 2 look like a next-gen game!

Here’s a quick recap of the 10 best Payday 2 mods:

1. Re-Texture Project
2. Face Retexture Project
3. Hyper Heisting
4. Tailor Expansion
5. Jokermon
6. Simple Crosshair
7. Less Effects Alpha
8. Stop The Cheater
9. Stamina Circle
10. Metal Gear Solid-Style Detected Sound

Which of these Payday 2 mods will you download first? Leave a comment below.