Questions and Answers
The most common player questions, with short answers.
First steps
Where do I start if I have nothing?
At first you live at Lenny’s Motel. You can order basic gear through his laptop: this is the Black Market, and it takes cash. The most direct way to earn:
- Drive to Looty Bay, hide and put on a mask to become a criminal. Until you wear a mask, dying in the city costs you nothing.
- Steal something valuable and get out of the city alive.
- Sell the loot to a Fence for cash.
- Save up for your first plot: it unlocks laundering, Shipments and your own car.
What's the difference between a Citizen, a criminal and a cop?
You choose a role only in Looty Bay, and you can choose it every time you enter the city.
- A Citizen explores the city safely, gets free healing and doesn’t lose items on death. Citizens can’t use weapons.
- A criminal puts on a mask and can rob. Everyone treats them as an enemy, and the loot has to be taken out of the city.
- A cop gets free gear and a car for the shift. Cops can only kill criminals.
Everyone in a group must have the same role in Looty Bay. More: Police and Prison.
How do I become a Citizen again after stealing?
Leave the city: criminal mode turns off on its own. Cops can make this harder: the police can temporarily block the way out of Looty Bay by closing the bridges.
What do I lose on death and arrest?
- Death in a mask: you lose your equipment and the contents of your bag.
- Arrest or voluntary surrender to the police: only the contents of your bag are taken, your equipment stays. Press Q to surrender.
- Death as a Citizen: you lose nothing.
- Death in a settlement: you lose your equipment and the contents of your bag, and there are no police there.
- A purchased car doesn’t disappear after death, and mods installed on it don’t drop.
An arrested criminal can offer the cop a bribe from their bank account. If it’s accepted, the bag and gear are kept.
Server and group
How do I change servers to play with a friend?
The game calls a server a state. The only way to another one is through prison:
- On the global map, select the prison and press “Surrender to Feds”.
- In prison, find an escape point.
- When you escape, choose the state you need from the list.
The game warns you about the consequences: all your property in the current state will be confiscated, your progress there will be lost, you’ll leave your clan, and unclaimed mail rewards will be gone. So it’s better to change states early, while you have nothing to lose.
You can also change region only in prison.
Can I move to another server and keep my stuff?
Only residents of the central Highlands district can: they may leave for a new state with their property, but the strongest players will be waiting there. Everyone else keeps only tattoos and BCoin, which the feds can’t touch.
Why can't I invite a friend to my group?
Check these conditions:
- if your friend is in another state, first move to the same state;
- you can invite and manage a group only on the global map or in a settlement, and inviting isn’t possible from some locations;
- a group can have no more than 3 people;
- you can’t invite a player who is taking part in a clan conflict.
To enter a location together, the whole group must be on the global map. More than 3 people can only team up in a clan: it holds up to 100 members, but exists within one state.
How do I change my nickname?
You can’t change your name while you’re in a state: the game says so directly.
How often are wipes?
A wipe currently lasts 7 days. The developers say the length may change in the future.
Plot and house
How do I get my first plot?
- Research and buy a Land Plot Title in the Trade Laptop.
- On the global map, find a settlement that has an owner. You can’t even enter a settlement without one.
- Open the map inside the settlement: it shows residents’ houses and free spots.
- Find a rental sign and sign the agreement.
- Place a house and other structures through the plot plan on your land.
More: Base and Plot.
How much do plot and settlement titles cost?
A title must first be researched and then bought in the Trade Laptop. The research price may differ from server to server.
A Land Plot Title lets you rent land in a settlement:
A Settlement Title lets you buy a whole settlement. The owner lives there for free, rents out plots and collects taxes:
I bought a title, but the game says I don't have it. What do I do?
Check two things:
- You bought the title itself and didn’t only research it. Research unlocks the item in the laptop, the purchase is paid separately.
- The title fits the action. A Land Plot Title is for renting, a Settlement Title is for buying a settlement. The title’s level must match the district’s level.
All settlements are already bought. What now?
You don’t have to buy a settlement. Buy a Land Plot Title and rent a spot in someone else’s settlement: the map inside the settlement shows free spots. The owner will get a percentage of your laundering and laptop purchases.
It’s best not to buy a title in advance: first check the global map to see whether your state has the spots you need.
How do I give a friend or clan access to my house?
The game currently has no separate house access setting. Each player has their own plot, and the base belongs to whoever rents it.
Group members can use your vehicle. If you want to live close by, rent plots in the same settlement.
How do I move to another plot or next to a friend?
Rent a new plot in the settlement you want. Everything in your base moves with you, and the old plot is released. You can’t move while a raid lock is active on your base.
A district of a higher level requires a title of that level, see title prices.
How do I collect tax from my settlement?
Go to the collectors’ van in that same settlement. Tax accrues from residents’ laundering, and no new tax accrues until you’ve collected the previous one. Be careful: you can be robbed while collecting, and settlements have no police.
Taxes for clan businesses are collected in the settlement where the clan leader lives.
Can my house and safe be robbed?
Yes, but it takes an investment. Structures are hacked with Decoders, and someone else’s safe requires a Master Key. Electronic Fuses in the security block strengthen your defense. Money in a bank account can’t be stolen.
- Decoder
- Barter
- Decoder × 3 + $10,000
More: raids and defense.
How do I evict a player from a plot?
You need an Eviction Right. It’s applied to the plot plan, and only after all of the base’s security systems have been fully hacked. The player loses the plot and the property on it, and you can take part of it for yourself.
- Eviction Right
- Barter
- Decoder × 50
Money
How do I open an account and start laundering money?
- Open an account at the Looty Bay bank: you can’t launder without one.
- Get your own plot and house.
- Load cash into the Laundering Desk at your base: clean money goes to your account.
Laundering continues even while you’re offline. Banknote Counters upgrade the desk. Until you have your own house, Lenny can launder for you, but he takes a cut. You can withdraw money from your account at ATMs or from a bank employee.
Looty Bay Bank↗
More: Money and Laundering.
Who do I sell loot to?
- A Fence buys stolen goods for cash. The amount depends on your Notoriety and the value of the loot.
- The Smuggler buys cargo.
- A district’s Sales Center pays a bonus, but only someone renting a plot in that district can sell there.
Prices for each item are in the catalog, and cargo values are in the Cargo and Production article.
Police and prison
How do I become a cop and get better gear?
Talk to the officer at the Looty Bay police station. For the shift you get free gear and a car, and your personal belongings are stored and returned after duty.
Without a badge, only basic equipment is available. Badges are single-use: they’re found around the city or bought in the Trade Laptop after research. At the Barter, 10 Sergeant’s Badges trade for a Lieutenant’s Badge, and 5 Lieutenant’s Badges for a Captain’s Badge.
Police Station↗
How do I get a prison sentence and tattoos?
A normal arrest by a cop gives no sentence: it only takes the contents of your bag. The feds give a sentence for confiscating your property. You can also surrender to them yourself by selecting the prison on the global map.
The more property is confiscated, the longer the sentence. It starts at 1 year, plus a year for every 500,000 of property value in the state, but no more than 40 years per state. A sentence unlocks tattoos and some items in Larry’s Tree.
Why are cops so strong?
The developers call it an asymmetric role. There are almost always more cops, they respawn in Looty Bay, and they have good cars and equipment. At the very start they’re very dangerous for criminals, but later robbers can successfully fight back. The cops’ lack of risk is offset by noticeably smaller rewards.
Robberies
How do I rob without setting off the alarm?
- Open doors and containers with a Lockpick: it doesn’t trigger the alarm.
- Don’t break glass: that can set off the alarm.
- Some buildings have an electrical panel you can hack to turn off cameras and the alarm.
- Break cameras before they raise the alarm.
- Hold the clerk at gunpoint so they don’t trigger the alarm. Killing them fills the wanted bar faster.
What do keys open and how do I find the right door?
A key’s description says what it opens. The item’s page links to the right point on the map. All keys are in the Keys and Tools section.
Where are the hidden rooms at the gas station?
The gas station in Downtown has two hidden rooms, left and right, and each needs its own key. The link in a key’s card opens the point of its door.
Gas Station on the map↗
How do I open cargo: a crate, bag or safe?
You need a Cargo Workbench on your plot: put the cargo on it and wait for the result. You don’t have to open stolen cargo, you can sell it straight to the Smuggler.
More: Cargo and Production.
Production and vehicles
What do I do with the Grow Table?
The Grow Table unlocks after the Grow Room and is used to grow rare plants. Finished product is sold to a Fence. Better equipment speeds up growth: a Fan, a Water Pump and a UV Lamp.
How does the lab work and where do I get scales?
Reagents are poured into the lab: the reactor makes a concentrated solution from them, the freezer freezes it into crystals, and they’re packaged at the Lab Table. Smoke above the building gives away a working lab. If you interrupt cooking, the cargo falls to the ground and the reagent in the reactor is lost.
Laboratory Scales are sold in the Trade Laptop and are installed on the Lab Table.
I bought a car, but it doesn't appear. Why?
Without your own house you can’t have a personal car, only a rental through a parking meter. Once you have a house, put the keys in a free slot of the key locker: the car will then appear in the garage. If it was left outside the garage, you can bring it back through its garage spot.
Note: when you get your own car, the rental is recalled and the contents of its trunk drop to the ground. Changing a skin also resets the trunk contents.