Payday 3: How to stealth Dirty Ice

Dirty Ice in Payday 3 is a fairly easy heist to complete in stealth if you know what you’re doing, but actually working out the whole process can be tricky. Here’s how to do it without raising the alarm.

Dirty Ice is Payday 3’s third mission, and the second one you can complete in stealth. It involves stealing a bunch of jewelry from a high-end New York store. While it’s slightly tougher than sneaking through the bank heist, the mission is one of the more simple ones in the game.

Before you start, make sure you’re using a good stealth loadout to ensure you don’t accidentally raise the alarm. Here’s how to beat Dirty Ice in stealth.

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How to stealth Dirty Ice in Payday 3

To begin with, be sure to stay unmasked and take a look around the jewelry store. Take note of where the guards and cameras are located, and don’t be afraid to walk into the back areas for extra reconnaissance. If a guard spots you, he’ll just escort you out.

Here’s where we’ve noticed guard locations on Normal difficulty:

• One in the front of the store
• One patrolling in the back private area
• One patrolling the back alley
• One inside the basement
• One in the camera room

You’ll also need to find the store manager, who is useful for objectives later on. She wears a blue shirt with a yellow scarf and is found in the front area.

The jewelry store has a public area at the front full of civilians, as well as a back area with a break room, an office, a VIP showroom, and a workshop.

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Dirty Ice QR code locations

The best way into the store’s private areas is through the back. You can either lockpick the gate on the left-hand side of the building or head down into the alleyway on the right-hand side. Either way, these areas will give you access to the back alley where a guard patrols.

Your first task should be finding a bunch of cell phones lying around. Each one will have a QR code that grants you access through certain doors. There should be one resting on the floor by the car or on a crate in the alley.

This code will unlock the back door and let you into the building. While you’re also here, take note of the door to the basement with a keypad on it. You don’t need to come in here yet, but you will soon.

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Dirty Ice basement code

Once inside, find the manager’s office. It’s located in the long hallway that has a patrolling guard walking through. You’ll find a computer you can interact with, which will point you to one of three locations that shows the Basement Door code. Possible locations are:

• Employee of the Month frame at the front of the store
• WiFi password in the break room
• A book in the VIP showroom

It’s possible you may need another QR code for this, so take a look around the office for any cell phones that you can interact with. 

Once you’re ready, head to the correct location and find the code. It’ll be in plain sight for you to read. Head back outside and to the basement door. Enter the code and you’ll gain access to the basement.

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In the basement, there are two rooms of interest. The first is the camera room where you can deactivate cameras if you fancy using up a radio. The other is a small closet containing a red keycard, a safe, and a switch to disable the case alarms. Head in here and grab the keycard, while also disabling the case alarms. If you want to get a higher payout too, it’s a good idea to crack the safe and take the evidence too.

You can now open the jewelry cases in the store and steal the loot without the alarm going off. If you don’t fancy controlling the main lobby, use a QR code to access the VIP showroom, which is next to the manager’s office. This room is full of jewelry and is away from the public eye, so you’ll have an easier time ferrying out the loot.

Break into these cases and take the Jewelry bags. The escape van is located at the back of the store, in the alleyway. Toss the loot in there for a hefty payday.

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Dirty Ice manager

If you want to get a bigger payday, there also exists a side quest in Dirty Ice that allows you to get more value out of your bags. It involves accessing the Jewelry Workshop which is located by the VIP showroom. To do this, you’ll need to get ahold of the store manager.

As we said earlier, she’s in the front of the store wearing a blue shirt and yellow scarf. To get her attention, you need to go back into the basement and find the safe in the closet where you found the keycard. Take a photo of the evidence then head back upstairs.

In the manager’s office, call the phone and blackmail the manager with the evidence you found downstairs. She’ll come from the front into the back area where you can grab her.

Grab the manager as a human shield and take her through to the Jewelry Workshop, where she’ll use the biometric scanner to grant you access. Tie her up again and head inside.

The workshop contains a machine where you can deposit Jewelry bags to increase the value of each loot bag by turning them into Clean Jewelry. This will give you a bigger payday at the end but is risky due to the extra steps involved.

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Dirty Ice vault access

Finally, there’s also the vault which is located in the middle of the central hallway at the back of the store. To open the vault, you need to have one player push the button on the manager’s office desk and another insert the red keycard into the vault door access pad. You both need to do this at the same time, so make sure you time it correctly.

If you’re playing solo, luckily there is a way to still do this. To get in here, you need to take the manager into her office and shove her in front of the button. She’ll press the button for you, and as she does you can run to the vault door and insert the keycard.

Inside is a rare stone that will add to your final payout. While this step isn’t necessary to finish the level, you can earn a considerable amount from doing both of these final side quests. The choice is yours. Once you’re done, you can finish the level and go straight into the next heist, Rock The Cradle.

For more heists in Payday 3, check out the full mission list. If you’re strapped for cash, make sure you also see the best heists for money, as well as details on when the next DLC releases.