You need
A starter income kit that covers the first three paths:
- Lockpick: $5,000 research + $99
- Action Camera (empty): $5,000 research + $15,000
- Land Plot Title: $50,000 research + $100,000
- Trailer: $10,000
- Cargo Workbench: $5,000 research + $15,000
- Collection Table: $5,000 research + $15,000
Total: $225,099. The camera and Lockpick come first. You can’t place the workbench and table until you have the plot.
The five paths, ranked by risk
| # | Path | What it pays | What you risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Police work | $9,000–15,000 per arrest, salary cap $1,000,000 | Department gear only |
| 2 | Base production | Harvest Bags $4,000–8,000 each, Hard Crystals $30,000–75,000, crates up to $500,000 | Raids on your base |
| 3 | Cargo hauling | Crates $25,000–40,000, Golden Statue $250,000 | Cops seize it, drawing a weapon drops it |
| 4 | Heists | Gold Bar $52,000, BIG EGG #53 $550,000 | Bag and gear on death |
| 5 | Territory and taxes | Clan battles pay $250,000, $500,000 or $900,000 | Everything you carry, no respawn |
1. Police work
Cops get free gear and a patrol car, and they lose only that department gear when they die. The pay is lower by design, and you can only work if one of the 4 cop slots in the city is free.
2. Base production
Grow Room, Chemical Lab, cargo opening, contraband repacking and collections. Kefir raised business payouts sharply on 4 Nov. On 5 Nov, opening cargo at your own workbench started paying more than selling it whole. The downside is that a running base is a raid target, and lab smoke over the roof gives you away.
3. Cargo hauling
Crates, safes, suitcases and money bags go to the Smuggler. You carry cargo in your hands or in a trunk’s cargo slots, and drawing a weapon drops it. A Longhorn Van with three Reinforced Cargo Racks holds 12 pieces of cargo.
4. Heists
This is the fastest money and the fastest way to lose everything. Start with corner stores and work up to safes (keys or a Mini Drill), then the bank, the gallery and the police armory.
5. Territory
Clans fight for city businesses and districts between 20:00 and 06:00. A won business pays every member, and a district taxes every settlement owner in it. Clan-battle fighters lose their loot on death and don’t respawn.
Notoriety: the multiplier on everything you steal
Notoriety (level 1–5) climbs during a crime streak in one city visit and multiplies what you get paid. Solo players start at level 4. Higher levels also bring a stronger police response, so pick your exit level before you go in.
| Level | Fence bonus | Smuggler bonus | Gold Bar | Collection Crate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +0% | +0% | $52,000 | $50,000 |
| 2 | +10% | +5% | $57,200 | $52,500 |
| 3 | +20% | +10% | $62,400 | $55,000 |
| 4 | +35% | +15% | $70,200 | $57,500 |
| 5 | +50% | +25% | $78,000 | $62,500 |
Fence, Smuggler or Sales Center
| Buyer | Buys | Bonus | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fence | Valuables | Notoriety, up to +50% | Cash sits on the counter until you take it |
| Smuggler | Cargo | Notoriety, up to +25% | The cargo exchanger holds up to 100 pieces |
| District Sales Center | Loot | +10% (level 1), +20% (level 2), +30% (Highlands) | Only tenants of that district can sell |
| Barter | Specific item sets | Turns items into Drills, ID Cards, Decoders | Not cash, but it unlocks the big jobs |
Cumulative items: the best early profit
You buy these empty, fill them by doing things you were doing anyway, then sell them full. Research is a one-off fee, so the second one is pure margin.
| Item | Fills by | Research + price | Sells full | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action Camera | 40 pts of criminal actions at Notoriety 2 | $5,000 + $15,000 | $50,000 | None |
| Action Camera | 70 pts at Notoriety 3 | $35,000 + $30,000 | $100,000 | II |
| Code Tablet | Crack 4 safes in Looty Bay | $25,000 + $20,000 | $75,000 | II |
| USB Hacking Tool | 5 pts hacking computers in locked rooms | $50,000 + $50,000 | $200,000 | II |
| Action Camera | 100 pts of criminal actions | $80,000 + $50,000 | $200,000 | III |
| Cargo Sheet | 12 cargo deliveries to the Smuggler | $50,000 + $30,000 | $80,000 | II, 410-yr sentence |
Skip Deposit Box Keys as a money item. It costs $200,000 to unlock and buy and sells for only $20,000 full. It exists to get the bank’s gold-vault ID Card.
Production payouts
| Product | Sell to | Uncommon | Epic | Legendary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvest Bag | Fence, ×2–4 per harvest | $4,000 | $6,000 | $8,000 |
| Mature Bush | Smuggler | $30,000 | $45,000 | $60,000 |
| Hard Crystals | Smuggler | $30,000 | $45,000 | $75,000 |
| Crystalline Powder | Fence, each | $1,000 | $2,000 | $4,000 |
| Collection crates | Smuggler | $50,000 | $150,000 | $500,000 |
Collections pay best for the least equipment. Every set is worth far more packed than sold item by item. See every set and its reward.
Small money that adds up
- Dumpsters: Kefir added more cash to them on 4 Nov.
- City events: the Valuable Cargo event puts a $150,000 cargo in a car trunk, and a Tip-off points you at an ATM about to be refilled. You get a 3-minute warning, then 10 minutes, and whoever gets there first takes it.
- Lottery Tickets: use the ticket first, then sell it to a Fence for the amount shown. A jackpot ticket is worth $1,000,000.
Keep what you earn
- Take the cash off the Fence counter the moment it appears.
- Launder it. Banked money can’t be stolen. Lenny launders for a cut. Your own Laundering Desk skips his fee, though the settlement owner still takes a percentage.
- Remember that everything, bank included, goes at the Federal Raid every 7 days. What you hold at the wipe becomes prison sentence: 1 year plus 1 per $500,000, capped at 40 years per state.
Mistakes to avoid
- Selling cargo whole after 5 Nov. Opening it on your own Cargo Workbench now pays more.
- Selling a ticket, key or Jammer by accident. Kefir names these as the items players sell without knowing what they’re worth.
- Chasing level 5. Going from 4 to 5 adds 15% to Fence prices and a lot more police. A full bag at level 4 usually beats an empty one at 5.
- Carrying dirty cash around. Dying, getting robbed or getting arrested can take it. Clean money can’t be taken.
- Selling filled Code Tablets one at a time when you need three. Three tablets barter for a Glass Cutter, and the egg it opens is worth $550,000.