Our in-depth stealth guide explains how you can complete the Payday 3 Rock The Cradle mission without alerting anyone!

First Published November 22, 2023, 09:50

Throughout the last decade, the definition of wealth has shifted significantly, and Payday 3 doesn't fail to highlight these changes within the mission of Rock the Cradle. Within this visually overloading mission, the Payday squad is tasked with stealing money, cocaine, and Bitcoin, which is the first Payday mission that focuses on stealing a digital asset. This highlights the shifts and modernization of heisting, from robbing banks and trains to Bitcoin wallets and NFTs, bringing a new cutting edge to in-game robbery that hasn't been explored before. 

Cold-shouldering the idea of robbing digital assets, we should begin to share the details of how to steal from the Neon Cradle nightclub without being spotted by guards or civilians. Fortunately, nightclubs aren't the most difficult of locations to remain concealed. Therefore, robbing the location without being detected shouldn't prove such a challenging task. Additionally, it isn't required to steal the Bitcoin. We can just grab the cocaine and money and escape! 

Table of Contents

Update on 22 November 2023: We've updated our Stealth guide for Payday 3's Rock the Cradle mission.

This mission can be completed alone or alongside a team. There's no preference!

Payday 3 Rock The Cradle Stealth Guide First Steps

Completing stealth missions on Payday 3 is incredibly enjoyable, especially when facing a mission like "Rock The Cradle," simply because the mission is so colorful and vibrant, giving off similar vibes to the John Wick nightclub scene.

Despite the large crowds of people and high-end security systems, the Neon Cradle nightclub has plenty of hidden locations to explore and infiltrate, whether that be through staff entrances or sneaking through the air vents. Players are under a lot of pressure to be creative on this map to complete the mission stealthily. 

NOTE: Under no circumstances will players need to equip their masks whilst in the nightclub. Once equipping the mask with this mission, the likelihood of stealth completion is minuscule. This is simply because of the volume of NPCs and the inability to constantly remain unseen. 

1. Once spawning, all players should continue to head into the nightclub. Walk into the far-back room until you reach the VIP CLUB, as seen in the picture. 
2. Opposite the VIP club doors, enter the locked room next to the bar. This room requires pick locking, and NPCs cannot see you infiltrate this door. Beyond this point is staff access only.
3. Once unlocking the door, a solo player needs to head upstairs - do not be seen.
4. Upstairs, there will be a single room with a camera above it to the left of the DJ; avoid the camera and unlock the door.
5. You are now inside the manager's office, hack the PC, locate the manager, and extract all appropriate notes from the display of the PC. 
6. Head back downstairs and locate the manager. She's usually walking around the dancefloor, outside at spawn, or restricted VIP/Staff locations. 
7. After locating the manager, execute the hacking prompt and stay within the hacking vicinity of the manager. This will give you the key to grab VIP passes. 
8. Once hacking the manager's phone, head back upstairs to the manager's office and grab the VIP passes on the display case to the right of the PC.
9. OPTIONAL: Completionist players can also grab the painting inside the manager's office and hand it over to friends/friendly AI to stash whilst continuing the mission.

NPCs will not question your character carrying bags of money/cocaine through the VIP or general dance floor, allowing you to extract the contents immediately. Players are able to loot the vault (prompted in the VIP area in the next steps) with one of the accountant's codes, although, once masking up and being seen, the nightclub alarms are sounded, and the stealth mission is over.

Payday 3 Rock The Cradle Stealth: How To Escape Undetected

After obtaining the VIP passes, players will have a significant amount of freedom within the nightclub. This is simply because you can access private (more lootable) locations without worry. Players operating in squads will need all squad members to enter the manager's office and pick up their own VIP pass to access restricted and private areas, not just the singular player. 

1. We need to scan our VIP passes on a laptop. This laptop will be either opposite the stairs room (right side of the bar), the upstairs room to the right of the DJ, or the upstairs VIP area at the front of the club (stairs by the right side of the entrance). NOTE: Once you obtain the scanned VIP pass, cameras will no longer detect you.
2. Head back to the "VIP CLUB" double doors and show the guards your pass. Before going downstairs, grab the keycard off the guard's back. Go down the stairs and locate the rooms "Accountants office" and "IT-room" that will be sign-posted on the doors.
3. Go to the accountant's office room stairs, enter the vent, and drop down into the server room. There's a whiteboard in this room; write down the code on it.
4. Follow back up to the accountant's office, lockpick the door, unlock the safe, and acquire the red keycard, the code inside the safe, the closet, and the code on the desk chair. There is cocaine and bags of money that you can bag up and steal within this location.
5. Pick up the cocaine and money you find, and secure the loot in the prompted areas.
6. Head to the "Electrical Facility" room (signposted near the emergency exit). Scan the blue keycard and look for the right box. A whiteboard code is needed. For example, if the code is "D175 Green," the code is the box to open, and the color is the switch you need to flip. 
7. Navigate back to the accountant's office and reset the code on the computer. This will allow you to gain access to the crypto wallet without detection.
8. Enter back into the IT room and steal the crypto wallet. Make sure you're not seen by enemies whilst in the IT room or restricted staff areas. 
9. Once you get back into the general VIP room, secure the crypto wallet and head back into the nightclub, steal as much cash and cocaine as fathomable for maximum payout.
10. You're able to head out and extract whenever you feel comfortable with the payout.

Players are able to extract a large payout after locating and stealing the Bitcoin wallet. However, for maximum payout, players should fully rummage through the VIP area to find cocaine and bags of money. This will lead to a huge payout, especially for solo players considering the difficulty. Please don't take the money off the poker table with the NPCs; they will immediately tell staff, and security will come to escort you out and detain you, ruining the stealth mission.

Looking for more Payday 3 content? We've got you covered with a range of helpful guides below.

Payday 3 Stealth Mission Guides

Payday 3 Overkill Mission Guides

Payday 3 Best Build/Loadout Guides

Written by Will Dowey

Will is a freelancer who formerly wrote for Jaxon where he completed a series of CSGO skin guides, Escape from Tarkov updates, and Modern Warfare stories—additionally, joining forces with DualShockers to share expertise on the much-beloved franchise, Wolfenstein. Following behind Will is his degree in Esports, obtained at the University of Chichester, the degree acts as a foundation for his articles and his love for games. If not battling PMCs in the Streets of Tarkov and farming clips for his YouTube channel, Will is inspecting upcoming Counter-Strike skins and plotting potential purchases to fuel his inventory. 

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