Payday 3 Rock the Cradle heist stealth guide

Rock the Cradle is a unique heist in Payday 3 that serves as the fourth overall mission you’re given. So here’s a rundown of everything you need to do to successfully escape with your hard-earned loot while maintaining stealth in Payday 3’s Rock the Cradle heist.

From art galleries to armored trucks, and even a jewelry store that reminds players of the jewelry heist in GTA V, Payday 3 has several heists, each of which takes players to a new and unique location.

One such heist is ‘The Rock the Cradle’ which requires players to steal a cryptocurrency wallet from a nightclub by partnering up with a familiar face: Vladislav “Vlad” Kozak, a Ukranian contractor who appeared in Payday 2. You can steal some other stuff as well, but the hard drive that contains the wallet is the main objective, and stealth is the key to successfully stealing it.

Here’s everything you need to do to successfully complete the Payday 3 Rock the Cradle heist while maintaining stealth.

• Getting a VIP invitation
• Getting into the VIP area without an invitation
• Stealing the Crypto Wallet
• Securing the crypto wallet
• Escaping the Nightclub
• Optional loot

Payday 3 Rock the Cradle heist walkthrough

Rock the Cradle tasks players with breaking into a lively nightclub named Neon Cradle and stealing a valuable cryptocurrency wallet inside a hard drive. There are several methods to progress within this heist at every turn, starting with how you can gain access to the building. Once inside, you’ll need to dodge cameras, security guards, and even civilians if you want to complete the heist without getting detected.

Getting a VIP invitation

The Payday 3 crypto drive you want to steal is hidden inside the VIP area, and to get there you need a VIP invitation. If you decide to get the invitations, you’ll need to head over to the Entertainment Director’s office. In order to reach it, you’ll need to approach the back of the club and use a lockpick to open the door opposite the VIP doors.

Once you enter, head on upstairs and go into the room in front of you, near the DJ booth. Keep going straight, and you’ll find office Cassandra Rifkin’s office to your right. There’s a camera above the door as well as a guard patrolling the area in a clockwise path, so you’ll need to be careful when trying to enter the office.

Inside the office, you’ll need to hack the Entertainment Director’s computer. However, you’ll also need to hack her phone for the process to work, which will either require you to double back if you’re solo or send a teammate to hack her phone for you. Either way, Shade will pinpoint her location, and her phone can be hacked if someone is standing behind her.

Be careful while hacking Rifkin’s phone in Payday 3, and try not to get spotted. The NPC likes to move around a lot, which makes the stairway near the front entrance and Reserved area the best location to attempt the hack. Once the hack is complete, you and your team will get a QR code that helps access the VIP invitations. Open the case which contains the VIP invitations and proceed.

Now, you’ll need to find Rifkin’s laptop, which can either be in the Reserved area, staff office, or a booth that sits opposite her office. It is always surrounded by cameras, so be careful. Once you find the laptop, put the invitations on a scanner beside the laptop and hack it. This will generate forged invitations that will prompt the bouncer at the entrance to let you in.

Getting into the VIP area without an invitation

If you don’t want to put in all the legwork mentioned above, you could try getting inside without the invitation as well. There are two methods to succeed if you want to go this route. The first requires you to get a mask, go to the scaffolding near the DJ booth, and change the song playing in the club. This will distract one of the two bouncers guarding the door to the VIP area and prompt the other to start patrolling.

You can then lift the latter’s keycard as he passes by you, but the way back can be tricky if you’re solo or unmasked. Stay low, use the bar for cover, reach the door, and use the keycard to gain entry.

The second method is much more simple but requires you to have correctly allocated your skill points. You’ll need the Glitch Protocol skill, which will allow you to hack the radio of one of the bouncers, steal a keycard, and enter the VIP area without any work at all.

Stealing the Crypto Wallet

Once you’re in the VIP area, you need to move fast. There’s a camera to your right, in the corner above a staircase that leads down. Run and hide underneath the camera and head down the stairway when it rotates away. Next, make your way to the Accounting office, which is behind two doors in the far corner of the VIP area. The reason for this is that you need a red keycard to enter the IT room, which is found inside the Accounting office.

You’ll need to watch out for guards, civilians, and cameras in this area. Lockpick the door and you’ll be able to enter the stairway that leads to the Accounting office. Go up and lockpick the door on your right, avoiding the camera on your left. Enter the Accounting office and the red keycard will either be on the shelf on your right, or inside a safe further down which you’ll need to crack open.

The IT room can spawn in a couple of locations, so you’ll need to find it and make your way to it while avoiding annoying NPCs, patrolling guards, and cameras. The large VIP area has several rooms that connect to form routes to the IT room, with the kitchen being nearby.

Once you’re in the IT room, read the whiteboard to find out which switch to turn off in order to shut down the IT room’s power. Next, head over to the breaker room on the upper floor and identify the circuit board with the correct panel as per the information on the whiteboard.

Flip the switch, return to the Accountant’s room, hack the Accountant’s computer, return to the IT room, and just waltz up to the crypto wallet and pick it up.

Securing the crypto wallet

Once you’ve completed your main objective, you’ll need to drop off the crypto wallet to complete the “Secure the crypto wallet” objective. So, follow the objective marker, and be wary of guards as they’re unpredictable and can be actively searching for you or behave erratically. Try to maintain stealth and drop off the wallet by throwing it over some boxes at the specified location.

Escaping the Nightclub

Escaping is pretty simple when in stealth, as all you need to do is go back to the circuit breaker room, turn around, and go to the door opposite to it at the other end of the hallway. Enter the room using the blue keycard you lifted from the bouncer stationed at the VIP area’s entrance, wait on the escape chute for a few seconds and the mission will be complete.

Optional loot

Now, getting the crypto drive is just the main objective. You can always stay back and try to find more loot in different rooms of the nightclub, like the IT room itself, or the Vault, for that matter. There’s tons of optional loot to be earned, but this is the best method to successfully beat the heist without being spotted.

If you do decide to go for the optional loot, the Vault, among other rooms, is probably the most worthwhile target. You’ll need a four-digit code to unlock it. However, you’ll find multiple codes in the Accountant’s room, so memorize them or write them down, and try them all out until one works. You can find Vault codes in the following locations:

• Accounting office chair
• Accounting office safe
• Accounting office closet

That’s everything you need to know to successfully complete the Rock the Cradle heist in Payday 3. For more on the game, check out our articles below:

How to level up fast in Payday 3 | Payday 3 No Rest for the Wicked Heist Guide | Is Payday 3 on Nintendo Switch? | Does Payday 3 have crossplay? | Payday 3 PC requirements | Is Payday 3 on Steam Deck? | Is Payday 3 on Xbox Game Pass?