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The Complete Guide to Payday 2 Mods in 2023: Taking Your Heists to the Next Level

I‘ve been playing Payday 2 since its release in 2013, pulling off outrageous heists and robberies across hundreds of hours. But after nearly a decade, the official content has started wearing thin. Thankfully, mods have helped breathe new life into this legendary co-op game year after year.

As an avid player and modder, I‘ve seen the Payday scene explode with creative custom missions, gameplay tweaks, wacky new weapons, and complete graphical overhauls. And I‘m here to guide new players through installing mods to utterly transform their own Payday 2 experience.

The Rise of Payday 2 Modding

Payday 2 gained popularity not just due to its solid co-op heist gameplay loop, but thanks to extensive post-launch support from developers Overkill Software. Years of free and paid DLC added new weapons, characters, missions, enemy types and game features. This kept players hooked despite the lack of an overarching narrative.

But eventually the well of official content ran dry after the final update in 2018. Many veterans like myself were left wanting more from the aging game. Fortunately, Payday 2’s mod support has allowed the community to take things into their own hands.

Mods for the game can be traced back as early as 2014, starting with tweaks like enhanced textures or changing gameplay values. But Overkill continued expanding mod support by adding in key features like Lua scripting and Payday 2’s “BLT Hook” in later updates.

This set the foundation for much bigger community addons down the line. In 2016, a major collaboration called “Black Blizz” sparked new interest in Total Conversion mods with fan created characters, weapons missions. And lately the scene has really exploded with over 12,400 mods on NexusMods as of 2023.

Some of the most popular creations include:

  • Total Conversions: Whole new stories and campaigns created from scratch featuring unique missions, enemies, settings, mechanics, items etc. These ambitious mods can completely change Payday gameplay.
  • Custom Maps: New world spaces for heists with custom environments, levels, objectives, assets, events and dialog. Includes quality-of-life upgrades.
  • Weapons/Items: Introduce guns from other games like Call of Duty to pay with your favorite load out. Or enable silly meme weapons like frying pans or lightsabers! Mods also allow equipment stat changes.
  • Gameplay: Overhaul stealth, AI behavior, loot, progression systems and more to create new gameplay dynamics without official restrictions. Go beyond just stat tweaks.
  • Visual/Audio: Give Payday a modern facelift through texture packs, shaders, lighting, graphics configs, menu music replacement and sound effects. Enhance performance too.

This explosion of content highlights the creativity of the players who have kept modifying and playing the aging Payday long after Overkill ceased official support. But to access it all, you need to tune up Payday 2 with some mods of your own first.

Must-Have Frameworks: BLT and mod_overrides

While Payday 2 supports simple tweaks out of the box, to run more complex addons you need mod loader frameworks. The main one is BLT (Better Lua Tolerator) which as the name suggests, allows better integration of Lua scripts into the game.

Without BLT, most gameplay changing mods won’t work. The latest iteration dubbed Super BLT expands functionality even more. Popular companion mod mod_overrides unlocks additional overriding potential. But more on that soon.

Here’s an overview of how BLT powers Payday modding:

  • Allows execution of external Lua scripts to change game behavior
  • Modifies base game functions via “hooks” to redirect calls
  • Enables overriding core game files with addon changes
  • Loads mod configuration menus with options interfaces
  • Essentially creates an entire modding API and framework

So if you want access to all those amazing mods, getting BLT is an essential first step. The installation routine does vary across versions, so this guide covers the most up to date method working flawlessly in 2023.

Without further ado, let‘s dive right into transforming your copy of Payday 2 on PC…

Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Super BLT and mod_overrides

I‘ll be walking you through setting up the latest build of BLT along with the handy mod_overrides addon. By the end your game will be primed for any type of mod.

Accessing Your Payday 2 Directory

First we need access to your core Payday 2 folder containing the game files:

  1. Launch Steam if you haven‘t already
  2. Right click on Payday 2 in your games list sidebar
  3. Navigate to Properties > Local Files > Browse Local Files
  4. A Windows Explorer folder will pop up – this is your Payday directory
  5. Leave this open as we‘ll be installing directly here shortly

Clearing Out Old Mods (Optional)

If you‘ve modded before, old BLT versions or leftover files can cause conflicts. Removing these eliminates potential issues down the line:

  1. Browse around for any mods or BLT folders lurking in your Payday directory
  2. Select them and delete completely if found
  3. While you‘re at it, delete any .lua or .json files sitting solo as well
  4. Restart your PC if you want to clear caches/background processes

This wipes the slate fully clean for a smooth install.

Installing the Visual C++ Redistributable Package

Many core BLT components depend on the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable. So take a quick moment to install that now if you haven‘t already:

  1. Download the 2022 x86 version here
  2. Run the installer once downloaded – you may need to restart your PC
  3. Allow it to modify your system since it includes core libraries

With those dependencies covered, we can now move onto BLT itself.

Downloading and Installing Super BLT

The central framework that powers all your future mods is Super BLT (BLT hooked into steroids). Here‘s how to get it running:

  1. Visit the official Super BLT site
  2. Scroll down until you see the Download link for the latest stable public build
  3. Extract the contents once downloaded – inside will be a mods folder
  4. Take this mods folder and copy it into your Payday 2 directory
  5. When prompted replace/merge any duplicate files or folders

And Super BLT is now installed! The mods folder contains all the code and assets that get loaded up when you launch your game.

Next we‘ll cover installing the handy mod_overrides companion.

Adding the mod_overrides Mod

While Super BLT handles core injection, mod_overrides expands functionality specifically around overriding vanilla game files for seamless integration between mods.

Here‘s how to subscribe on Steam:

  1. Visit the mod_overrides workshop page
  2. Click the green Subscribe button on the right
  3. Launch PAYDAY 2 directly if you haven‘t already
  4. The mod will automatically download and place files appropriately

Once downloaded, mod_overrides and Super BLT will work together to enable next level mods.

Verifying Installation

Before moving onto further mods, verify both Super BLT and mod_overrides were set up correctly:

  1. Launch PAYDAY 2 until you reach the main menu
  2. Look for a new Mods tab – if visible, Super BLT loaded successfully
  3. Navigate to Options > Gameplay > Enable Mod Options
  4. You should see mod_overrides or another mod menu

If both show up, you are ready for installing any mods smoothly!

Expanding with Custom Maps & Heists

Extra missions and maps built by the creative community breathe new life into the Payday crime sprees. To get these cool community creations working properly however, you need BeardLib.

This handy mod helps heists interface correctly with gameplay code and UI elements. Follow these steps to set it up:

  1. Visit the BeardLib Workshop page
  2. Click the green Subscribe button to download
  3. Launch your modded PAYDAY 2 game
  4. BeardLib will automatically place files appropriately

With the dependency installed, subscribe to any custom heist or map mods you fancy on the Steam Workshop or NexusMods.

As you download new missions, uncompressed maps and asset files will be saved to your \PAYDAY 2\assets\mod_overrides\ folders automatically thanks to our mod_overrides setup earlier. Overrides are enabled seamlessly so heists slot right into the game!

Overview of Modded Directory Structure

Here‘s a breakdown of where you‘ll find everything located now you have fully-modded game:

  • \PAYDAY 2\ = Base game directory
    • \mods\ = Super BLT, Beardlib and other core mods
    • \assets\ = Game assets and files
      • \mod_overrides\ = Override files, custom heists etc.
    • \lua\ = Script files for changing logic
    • \levels\ = Maps and levels, including custom ones!

So in summary:

  • \mods\ = Core mod frameworks
  • \assets\mod_overrides\ = Custom content
  • \lua+\levels\ = Logic and maps

This structure allows you to seamlessly integrate content packs overtime.

Troubleshooting Crashes and Compatibility Issues

Considering the wealth of content available, some mods are bound to conflict eventually. But don‘t worry – the Payday community has plenty of wisdom for solving problems!

Here are some troubleshooting tips I‘ve picked up over hundreds of hours modding:

  • Check for updates on newer mods causing crashes – fixes are often rolled out swiftly
  • Disable newly added mods in batches to isolate any incompatible culprits
  • Remove all mods and add back slowly in groups to identify any clashes
  • Verify integrity of game files via Steam to refresh entire directory cleanly
  • Perform clean driver installs if you continue having technical issues
  • Monitor crash logs for specific error patterns pointing to possible offenders

And if you can‘t resolve crashes or installation issues yourself, don‘t hesitate to ask the community! The Payday gamers and mod creators active on the Steam discussions, Reddit forums, Modworkshop etc. are super passionate and beyond helpful.

Describing your full setup when reporting any problems helps identify solutions too. Dive into those communities for instant support.

Which finally brings me to the fun part…

My Favorite Must-Have Mods in 2023

I‘ve compiled this list of my personal top mods and custom heists that I can‘t play Payday 2 without in 2023:

Gameplay & Mechanics

These mods add awesome new dynamics into the core heisting experience:

  • Full Speed Swarm: Hyper aggressive cops and non-stop assaults crank action up to 11
  • Disabled Guard Helmets: Adds headshot satisfaction against dommed guards
  • Infamy Beyond 25: Unlock infamy up to 5000 for ultimate progression

Custom Maps

Top tier heists with fantastic design:

  • Brooklyn Bank: Massive detailed bank interior for sensational robberies
  • The Lucky Loot: Huge Las Vegas style casino, club and garage in one colossal heist
  • The Mandalorian Vault: Epic sci-fi hijacking making great use of the Star Wars IP

Weapons & Items

Fun new guns, melee weapons and equipment:

  • Modern Firearms Weapon Pack: Ultra detailed models bringing real guns into Los Santos
  • Mjolnir Hammer: Because smashing cops with Thor’s Hammer is just too satisfying
  • Wick Weapon Pack: It ain‘t John Wick without his iconic loadout

And there are seriously so many other phenomenal mods out there once you get set up. This guide should help you handle anything the Payday community outputs for years to come!

Let me know if you have any other questions down below!