How to Trade a Hostage to Delay an Assault in Payday 3

Payday 3 is a game that provides players with so many ways in which they can approach their heists and matches. They can take it slow and steady, or go in all guns blazing. Either way, the objective is to rob the place and make your way out.

However, in some cases, you may find that the law has a strong grasp on you during Assault phases. In this guide, we will show you how you can trade a hostage during an Assault to delay it and buy yourself some time. Let’s dive in quickly (before the law barges in).

How to Trade a Hostage to Delay an Assault in Payday 3

Trading a hostage in Payday 3 is a simple process, and can be very valuable. This is because Assault phases are very difficult and deadly in this game. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Approach a hostage from the back and press the F key to select the Take Human Shield option.
2. Press the Q Key to Shove them to the ground.
3. Approach the hostage from the back again and hold the F button for the Tie up hands option.
4. Hold the F Key again to Trade hostage for time. Don’t worry about them standing up, or you having to take them out. They will venture to the law enforcers on their own.

You may also want to check this guide on how to hack cameras in the game!

Detailed Instructions

Assault Waves in Payday 3 are incredibly brutal. During this period of time, there will be law enforcers deploying at a high rate and they will be extremely aggressive with you. Usually, these assault waves are a result of an alarm being raised.

Assault Waves do not occur immediately and there are various stages to it starting with first responders arriving, SWAT units deploying and so on. However, eventually, the enemies will use this preparation to barge in and start attacking you.

To avoid this, you will be given a Negotiation period before the Assault begins, where you can Trade a hostage and delay the Assault.

If you decide that you want to delay the Assault, so you can buy some time to prepare or steal some more loot, you can give them a hostage.

To do this, first you must have some hostages with you. Approach a scared hostage and walk up to them from behind.

You will get a prompt which says Take Human Shield. Doing so will prompt your character to take control of them and grab them from behind. 

Press the Q Key and then Shove them immediately to throw them to the ground. When the hostage is on the ground, approach them from behind. You will see there is another prompt below the previous one called Tie up hands. To do that, Hold F and you’ll be able to tie their hands up.

Replacing the Tie up hands prompt will now be Trade hostage for time. Hold F again and choose this option.

When the bar fills up, the hostage will stand up and walk out on their own out of the building and to the law enforcements. This will delay the Assault and buy you some much needed time.

And that’s everything you need to do to be able to trade a hostage in Payday 3 to delay time during Assaults. This time can be very valuable as you can pile up on the riches you steal or make preparations for the Assault phase when it eventually does come!

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