PAYDAY 2, being the chaotic co-op heist shooter running since 2013, has inevitably spawned several memes during that time.
Please add entries in the following format:
- The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme, if necessary.[[/labelnote]] Explanation Like this.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
- Silencer Skills! explanation This was the colloquial nickname of two former skills in the Ghost tree; "The Professional" (which gave 20% bonus accuracy to silenced weapons) and "Specialized Killing" (Silenced weapons also gained 20% bonus damage). The meme was popularized by former-Payday Youtuber Connor Shaw
in the "Here's a Build To Try/Can you make X weapon good?" series, which focused on making underpowered weapons better. More often than not however, those weapons would be given the above "silencer skills" as one of the builds' recommendations to make the gun better. The meme died when the "Specialized Killing" skill was removed during the February 2018 difficulty rebalance beta, in favor of "Graze" (which kills any cop nearby when you headshot an enemy), much to Connor's...erm..."delight". - ROAMING FROTHING MADNESS OF A CHAINSAW explanation A line said by a developer when describing the Lumber Lite L2 in the trailer for the Scarface Character Pack, giving people the impression that it was powerful, now used to ridicule the weapon when people discovered that not only was it stat-wise exactly like several other melee weapons but also not even based on one of the stronger melees, with an uncharged attack equivalent to the weapon butt except somehow it's slower! This clip from this video summarizing the community's opinion on the weapon upon release. A later update changed its damage to do 70/ 450. The problems with the chainsaw were exacerbated even further when the Sociopath perk deck changed one of its perks to specifically buff melee weapons with quick swing times, which made quite a lot of melee weapons stronger than ever (so long as the melee weapon in question can do damage twice in a second, it will gain a 10x base damage multiplier.) The worst part about of all this? The Chainsaw can't use the benefits of the reworked Sociopath perk deck, due to it taking too long between swings to get the damage multiplier. So Payday 2 is in the odd situation where it has an inherently powerful weapon that both real life and even in its own source material shows off to great effect, but is yet is also labelled as the worst melee weapon in the game by everyone who's used it, specifically because of how egregiously useless it is, compared to both its film counterpart and the game's other, less powerful, alternative melee weapons. Even Empty Palm Kata [Read: Kung-fu hand gestures] is more viable than something that is meant to be powerful to begin with!
- "WAKEY WAKEY, LITTLE BABYYYY!!!" explanation This voice line is from the Medic Dozer, a special unit found on high-level Crime Spree's and a rare enemy seen on Death Sentence. Became a massive meme due to how much of a Large Ham it makes the Medic Dozer. Became an Ascended Meme in 2020 when join stingers were added (the music that plays when you join a lobby) in Update 200, and a modified version of this voice line was created.
- "Wanker!/Fokin' twat!" explanation Mentioned by Hoxton during both the Hoxton Breakout trailer and the heist itself.
- Gage Ass Pack/Anal Assault Pack explanation A twin meme, the first being popularized by this video by popular Payday 2 shitposter Maria/MarioInATopHat, and the second being this photoshopped image of the Gage Assault Pack DLC◊ in a similar vein to the "Expand Dong" meme, both of which were made and used to poke fun at the huge amount of DLC added to the game. Also basically less common owing to Ultimate Edition/Legacy Collection being a thing.
- Because of Training Explanation A explanation often used in skill descriptions, which can come across as bizarre as some skills would be straight up impossible in real life, such as having infinite ammo for a few seconds after placing down a ammo bag. Fans have exaggerated this of how the training is done, using this explanation to justify things that don’t have this excuse or using the explanation to make up even more absurd actions.
- "Am I a criminal? I don't think so." Explanation A line Houston says in a monologue in episode 1 of the web series. This has been noticed over the years due to how tone deaf it is given the amount of atrocities the PAYDAY Gang can commit, especially in the later years of the game's lifespan (Use of fire based weaponry and toxic gas, poisoned ninja stars, blowing up a bridge, raiding a hospital, rigging elections, and unsafe handling of goats). As a result, this is either ironically juxtaposed with game footage of such acts, portraying the PAYDAY Gang as Designated Heroes, or protraying Houston as delusional.
- Dead game. Explanation (spoilers) Due to how heavily divisive the game is among the fan base, you got those that proclaim on every update that the game is dead. Becomes a Harsher in Hindsight moment with the White House where Bain "dies" and the crew retires. Also a even more Hilarious in Hindsight moment, as in October 2019 the game was confirmed to have reentered full development. Also Ascended Meme, as OVERKILL now sells shirts with the exact phrase, along with a "Dead Game" hoodie and charm added to the game for its 10th anniversary.
- Needless to say, when the Comically Large Spoon weapon was added into the game. Memes related to it and even just the weapon itself was meme'd to hell and back.
- Short Dallas Explanation A picture of Dallas, edited to be ridiculously short, has seen a lot of popularity among PAYDAY's fanbase, becoming popular enough to be people's first exposure to the series.
"Guys, the memes! Go get them!"
