What Difficulty is Crime Spree in Payday 2?

Crime Spree is Payday 2‘s intense endurance mode that continually ramps up in difficulty with each consecutive heist completed. It starts at the base Overkill difficulty, equivalent to a Normal heist with the skulls modifier enabled.

But the challenge quickly escalates from there, topping out at a brain-melting "Overkill 145+" rating. This makes Crime Spree harder than even the toughest Death Sentence heists in the base game!

So buckle up as we dive into everything you need to know about surviving these epic crime streaks.

How Crime Spree Works

When you opt to start a Crime Spree, you‘ll be contracted three random heists by Bain, all at the Overkill difficulty. Finish them successfully, and you‘ll be given another set of three heists – but now the difficulty will be slightly higher.

This pattern continues indefinitely as you try to complete as many back-to-back heists as possible. Each one bumps up the challenge rating further, earning you bigger bonuses and rewards.

But you only have one life per Crime Spree! If your whole crew goes into custody during a heist, your spree ends and you lose all accumulated bonuses. This constant risk-reward tension makes Crime Spree such a thrilling mode.

Difficulty Scale

As mentioned, Crime Sprees start at Overkill difficulty. According to Payday 2 Wiki, here‘s the full difficulty progression:

So in the initial 20 heists, you‘re dealing with the same challenge as a typical Overkill mission. This serves as a warm-up for the brutal gauntlet ahead!

Once you pass level 50, you‘re looking at Death Wish-tier enemies and damage scaling. And after 100, you enter the feared "145+" realm with terrifyingly lethal foes.

To give perspective, here is how an Overkill 145+ heist compares to the regular Death Sentence difficulty:

As you can see, Crime Spree pushes Payday 2‘s combat to the utter limit. You face hyper-powerful units that can down players in 1-2 shots, and have health pools so massive that ammo becomes a serious concern.

It‘s an exhilarating challenge for veteran crews, but quite daunting if you‘re still learning the ropes!

What Level Do You Need to Be?

To embark on this epic crime odyssey, you‘ll need to meet one of two requirements:

• Reach Reputation Level 60
• Complete your first Infamy prestige

This ensures you have a solid grasp of Payday 2‘s mechanics and build crafting before tackling the end-game Crime Spree content.

Risk vs. Reward

While the difficulty scales infinitely in Crime Spree, the rewards continue ramping up as well! You‘ll earn bundles of XP, cash, Continental Coins, and other bonuses with each completed heist. And the higher your spree, the more lucrative the payouts.

For example, by spree level 100 you can expect over $2 million offshore cash per heist finale!

Here is a quick overview of Crime Spree rewards per 10 spree levels:

Note: Tables display the minimum reward amounts. Actual loot may end up higher due to random modifiers!

With enough dedication, you could feasibly prestige dozens of times over or unlock all the continental gear. But remember – if your spree ends, you lose everything!

This risk-reward tension is part of what makes Crime Spree so addictively fun. Do you play it safe and secure your rewards? Or get greedy and push for bigger scores?

Optimizing Your Crew

Crime Sprees are definitely beatable solo. But to reach those vaunted high levels, you‘ll want an organized 4-player group with specialized builds and a strategic plan.

Here are tips for assembling your perfect Crime Spree squad:

Role Distribution

• Mastermind – Provides healing, stamina, damage buffs
• Enforcer – Soaks up hits thanks to high health and armor
• Technician – Handles objectives and provides equipment
• Ghost – Deals burst damage and controls the battlefield

With all four branches represented, you have all your bases covered!

Skill Investment Priorities

Based on analysis of the highest-performing crews, these appear to be the most essential skills for survival:

• Inspire – Revive teammates from a distance
• Hostage Taker – Constant health regen
• Transporter – Quickly move loot bags
• Bullet Storm – Ammo conservation

Max out Inspire first and foremost. Having three mobile revives is simply too vital. Hostage Taker also enables sustained pushing through endless waves of cops.

Meanwhile, Transporter lets you snag all the sweet bonus loot! And Bullet Storm‘s free ammo cuts down on tedious ammo runs.

Perk Deck Viability

• Kingpin – Self-healing and damage reduction
• Anarchist – Invulnerability during armor recharge
• Armorer – Maximum armor health
• Stoic – Reliable immunity uptime

Kingpin and Anarchist shine as the best all-around options. Stoic is great for beginners too. But Armorer falls behind at higher spree levels when everything penetrates armor anyway.

Weapons Tier List

For primary and secondary weapon selection, these tend to perform best in Crime Sprees:

• S Tier – Light Crossbow, Lion‘s Roar Rifle, Piglet Grenade Launcher
• A Tier – M60 LMG, King‘s Crown Rifle, Grimm 12G Shotgun
• B Tier – Cavity 9mm SMG, Kross Vertex SMG, Compact 40mm Grenade Launcher

The S Tiers offer unrivaled ammo efficiency thanks to explosive bolts, Dragon‘s Breath rounds, and grenades.

Meanwhile, the A Tiers simply have the raw damage output to shred those chunky enemy health bars. Rate of fire and ammo pool are king!

Map Difficulty Rankings

Some maps fare better on Crime Spree than others. Based on player feedback, here is an overview from easiest to hardest:

• Jewelry Store
• Bank Heists
• Shadow Raid
• Mallcrasher
• Big Oil
• Hotline Miami
• Birth of Sky
• Goat Simulator 😉

Jewelry Store‘s tight quarters mean you face enemies from one direction. Whereas Goat Sim‘s sprawling terrain makes it easy to get surrounded!

In general, smaller maps with good chokepoints are most beginner friendly.

Final Tips for High Spree Success

After 100+ hours of Crime Spree experience, here are my top tips for lasting as long as possible:

• Patience first – Go slow, don‘t rush objectives
• Funnel enemies – Limit angles of attack with trip mines
• Share health – Toss med bags to damaged teammates
• Focus fire specials – Snipers and dozers ruin sprees fast
• Know when to bail – If 2+ players are downed, retreat!

The patience aspect cannot be overstated. Endless assault waves punish the slightest overextension. So hunker down and force the cops to come to you!

Conclusion

While daunting at first, Crime Spree offers some of Payday 2‘s most pulse-pounding heists and rewarding loot. Start off slow while learning the mode, then push for personal best spree lengths with optimized group strategies.

And for anyone struggling to go Infamous or attain high prestige levels – Crime Spree is by far the most efficient way to rank up! You can farm up hundreds of millions in offshore cash to boost your progression.

So grab your favorite heisting crew and enjoy this over-the-top rollercoaster. Just watch out for those Cloakers lying in wait to kick your Crime Spree dreams away in an instant!

Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments below. Happy heisting!