To complete Dirty Ice in PAYDAY 3, steal jewelry, secure enough loot, and escape using the van during stealth or the helicopter during loud play. The workshop and vault offer additional rewards, but neither is required for an ordinary completion. If you choose to take jewelry from the VIP showroom in stealth, find the basement code and disable the VIP display-case alarm before opening the cases.
Case the store and reach the employee hallway
Enter the main showroom from the street while unmasked to case the store freely. Look near the pillar at the rear left for the manager, identified by her blue shirt, glasses, and yellow scarf. If you want access to the jewelry workshop, make her part of your early plan because she can leave the area. Treat Shade's departure warning as a cue to act rather than relying on a fixed countdown.
Reach the back alley either by picking the gate on the building's left side or taking the alley on the right. A guard patrols this area, so watch the route before moving through it. Use a QR code to open the side door to the employee hallway if you want to stay unmasked, or put on your mask before entering through the window. This corridor connects the store's other areas, with basement stairs at its rear and QR-locked doors along the route.
Hack phones to collect single-use QR codes for locked doors rather than expecting a reusable access pass. Possible phone locations include the break room, bathroom, manager's office, and the ground outside to the building's left, but placements vary between runs. Any teammate can spend a collected QR code. Keycards work differently: the player carrying a card must use it, a distinction that matters when opening the vault later.
Find the basement code and disable the VIP alarm
Read the computer in the manager's office to identify where the current run's four-digit basement code is located. The clue can direct you to the manager's Employee Of The Month number, the break-room whiteboard's Wi-Fi password, or a binder on the VIP showroom's center table. Use the clue and the matching number from your own run. The employee number changes, so a remembered code from another attempt is unreliable.
Enter the code at the basement door, then account for guards and camera coverage downstairs. The basement includes a security room and a separate locked room containing a safe and the security-system power switch. Deactivate the circuit breaker connected to the VIP showroom's display cases before opening those cases. A QR code grants entry to the showroom, but getting through its door does not disable the jewelry alarm.
At this point, a stealth completion can focus on taking the VIP jewelry and securing it in the van without entering the workshop or masking up. Cleaning is an optional way to increase the jewelry's value, rather than a mandatory step before escape. Keep difficulty differences in mind while navigating security: Very Hard stealth includes the Lead Guard modifier, while Overkill stealth includes Titan Cameras.
Bring the manager to the workshop scanner
To access the workshop from stealth, open the basement safe and photograph the documents inside when Shade requests it. Inspect the workshop's retinal scanner and interact with the manager's computer as part of setting up the call. Once Shade prompts you, use the desk phone in the manager's office. Call while the manager is still on site and watch where she goes, since guides report either the VIP showroom or her office; if she has already left or you cannot get her to the scanner, skip the optional workshop and extract with enough jewelry from the VIP showroom.
Put on your mask before taking the manager as a human shield and bring her through the VIP showroom to the workshop's biometric scanner. Push her in front of the scanner to trigger the retinal scan and open the door to the jewelry-sorting machine. Throw jewelry bags into the machine's chute and collect the clean jewelry from its output tray. Clean jewelry is more valuable than the regular bags, making this detour useful when you want a larger take.
You can queue multiple bags in the chute, but the machine processes only one bag at a time. Remove each finished bag of clean jewelry from the tray before expecting the next batch to begin. If you are still in stealth, carry the collected jewelry to the escape van behind the store to secure it.
Open the vault with the Red Keycard
Look for the Red Keycard beside the basement safe on Normal and Hard. On Very Hard and Overkill, the patrol guard in the basement carries it instead. The vault itself is in the employee hallway opposite the manager's office. Have the card carrier approach its access pad while another player gets into position at the button on the manager's desk.
Activate the office button and use the Red Keycard at the vault pad simultaneously. If you are playing solo, put on your mask before taking an employee as a human shield, then bring them to the desk and shove them toward the button while you handle the card. The manager can fill this role, but other employees can also press it. Pick the lock on the display case inside the vault to collect the Rare Stone if you want the additional loot, since the vault is optional for a normal finish.
Secure all loot or leave with the VIP take
For the All Loot Bonus, the full haul consists of 14 bags: 13 standard jewelry bags and the Rare Stone. The standard jewelry is split between eight bags in the main showroom and five in the VIP showroom. You need the Rare Stone for that bonus, but you do not have to clean the jewelry. That makes securing every bag and processing every bag separate goals.
If you take control of the public showroom, use the wall controls beside the front windows to close its shutters and reduce visibility from the street. Move hostages away from the front door, but do not assume the shutters guarantee silence. Players report civilians continuing to enter, which complicates monitoring the entrance while moving hostages. For the simpler stealth exit, take your bags to the van behind the store and leave once you have secured enough loot to open the escape zone.
Finish the heist if the alarm sounds
When the alarm triggers, civilians flee from the showroom and back offices, and access around the store changes. Some doors can be shot open instead of unlocked with QR codes, while other areas automatically close. During loud play, the VIP showroom locks down until you flip the power switch in the safe room. Restore that access before trying to bag the jewelry inside.
During loud play, skip the call if the manager is still on site: take her straight to the workshop and push her in front of the scanner to trigger the retinal scan. If she has left, skip the optional workshop and focus on securing enough loot to escape. If guards cut the power while you are cleaning jewelry, use the highlighted switch to restore it. Bag the loot and finish any planned sorting before activating the street flare, so the bags are ready when the helicopter arrives.
Wait for the helicopter, load enough loot, and use the available escape to finish. Defend the pickup because excessive incoming fire can make the helicopter leave. If that happens, it returns at a farther pickup point at the dock across the street. Follow the new extraction location with your remaining bags rather than waiting at the original landing point.