SWAT Soldier and First Responder Behavior
Assault Teams cannot be taken as a hostage. They will make a straight beeline towards player positions, coming in squads and often breaching through locked doors in their way. If a door they come into has been unlocked, they will instead open the door, allowing the door to close afterwards. Assault teams are never seen retreating and will recklessly advance forwards, while sometimes ducking into cover.
There are 3 stages of an Assault:
- Breach - In this stage, the assault team enters the room, then proceeds to find the closest cover available to them. They go through this stage fairly quickly. During this stage, they will not open fire on players, opening a window of opportunity to players.
- Shootout - In this stage, assault teams will start to shoot any players in the room. They do not move at all during the firefight. They will skip this stage if there are no players in the room, allowing players to storm in and shoot the assault teams.
- Exit - This final stage is when the assault team goes to the next room, often one which has or is close to players or objectives. They will not fire upon players and will go back to stage 1.
They cannot interact with the environment other than breaking doors and freeing hostages.
Assault Teams are the only NPCs that can throw flashbang grenades at the player (Professional+ difficulty only). The flashbang will start beeping before exploding. If a player is near a flashbang, it will blind the player for 10 seconds. If you open up your inventory while blinded, you will void the blindness and will be able to see your screen, albeit very poorly. Shooting the flashbang will disable the flashbang.
Police Officers
Police Officers, also known and officially known as First Responders are the first enemy NPCs that spawn in a loud heist. First Responders spawn in 1 wave in squads of 2 units. They will either come equipped with a 480 MCS or a UP9. First Responders behaviour is as like SWAT AI and they are currently only seen in The Withdrawal.
An officer shooting at the player
SWAT Units
SWAT Units are a type of NPC that spawn during a mission. The SWAT will begin spawning in the mission only if a stealth run has failed or players play the mission loud. There are currently 4 types of SWAT Units: SWAT soldiers, Shield SWAT, Aegis SWAT and Sniper SWAT.
SWAT Soldiers
SWAT soldiers are the basic type of SWAT that spawn in waves. They are the first to enter the area and are equipped with either a CBR-C, 480 MCS, F57, UP9 or S97. These types of SWAT units the easiest to kill as they do not possess any armour to protect them from player bullets, although they are still a threat to a mission's success due to their ability to overcome players in swarms.
Shield SWAT
Shield SWAT units are like the Regular SWAT but they come equipped with a ballistic shield. Ballistic shields are impenetrable with current weapons and protect the user completely from oncoming fire. The only weakness a Shield SWAT has besides explosives is the little rectangular window that helps the user see. Shoot through that window and you'll be able to take the shield out. Alternatively, get behind them or use an explosive such as a grenade or C4. Another method to take this unit out if you have a Sniper Rifle and the Sniper Mastery, giving you the capability to pierce through their shields.
Aegis SWAT
Aegis SWAT units are similar to the Shield SWAT. The only difference is they possess the III-Aegis armour and wear a metal mask on their face. They are the hardest to kill as the III-Aegis armour protects the user the most compared to other available armour. Aegis SWAT units spawn in a 1/x ratio, with X being either 3, 2 or 1 waves. The best way to kill them is to throw a grenade into the area they are in and to take cover as the grenade blows up (Other teammates can take damage from the grenade's blast, but this function only applies to Elite and Legend difficulty where friendly fire is turned on). Another way to kill the Aegis is to shoot the back of its head and not its mask, although this will be much harder to execute.
Sniper SWAT
Sniper SWAT units are SWAT soldiers equipped with a CH-A sniper with a laser attached to them. They spawn on the second wave and ongoing, on very far buildings. Since they spawn very far from the player position, they can't receive a lot of damage. However, they will deal serious damage to the player. You can recognize them if you see a laser or a flash on a building pointing to your position. On Legend difficulty, Snipers won't show the laser. This makes locating their exact position more difficult. The best way to deal with them is to bring either a CBR-C or a CH-A sniper. Other weapons will work but will make the process much harder.
Steel Cove Units
Steel Cove Units are similar to SWAT, but they wear a different uniform and have random hair (unlike SWAT units, which have a predefined look). Steel Cove Units are more aggressive than SWAT, but they do share the same AI.
SC Soldier
SC Soldiers are the replacements for SWAT soldiers. They come in groups and prepare to swarm the player(s). They also will attack Rose. Soldiers will sometimes drop medkits. They are the first to enter the area and are equipped with either a CBR-C, 480 MCS, F57, UP9 or S97.
An SC Soldier shooting at the player.
SC Shredder
SC Shredders are heavily armoured soldiers who are equipped with III Aegis Armour, an Aegis Elite mask, Sawblades, and are guaranteed to drop a medkit upon death. A good way to kill these units is to aim at their head and try to go for a headshot. Shooting at their bodies will only deal a little bit of damage.
Trivia
- Aegis SWAT Units, as well as Shield SWAT, were added on September 24, 2018.
- Before the update on October 14, 2018, SWAT Officers also spawned in PvE.
- Sniper SWAT Units were added on December 10, 2018.
- The Blacksite is the only mission that doesn't feature SWAT but instead replaces them with soldiers from the organization "Steel Cove".
- First Responders were brought back in The Withdrawal, but do not pose any sort of threat to the player.
- In the past, SWAT units were the only enemy NPCs that spawned during loud missions.
| Stealth | Detection - Cameras - Disguises - Player Status |
|---|---|
| Loud | Weapons - Armor - Doors - Hostages - Stats |
| NPCs | Guards - Civilians - Enemies |
| Gameplay | Perks - Classes - Equipment - Controls - Difficulties - Loot |
| Miscellaneous | Character Creation - Customization - Gamepasses - Badges |