Beginners Guide. Part II. Building your Fortune.

This is the second chapter of my guide and deals with getting rich as fast as possible. To read the first part which deals with character creation, go here..

Just like before, this guide is meant to provide the most efficient way to accomplish a goal, not claim to be the only way to do so. If you'd rather work as a factory worker for 2 weeks in order to be able to afford a clean bedroom because you think it's more fun from a roleplaying perspective, feel free to do so.

First things first

Combat is the fastest, most efficient, most lucrative way to make money, without question. Specially early game. There's no way around it. Other forms of income can also be lucrative, but they'll take time to set up.

If you followed the previous part of the guide, you'll notice, that your character isn't built for combat. That's alright. Your character's combat skill isn't actually that important. This is because currently each character, no matter how powerful, only gets one attack per turn. Thus, it's far better to have a full party of decent fighters (5 attacks per turn) than one combat monster (1 attack per turn), making a combat build unnecessary.

While this isn't a combat guide, because money is inevitably tied to combat, we'll go into some aspects of the combat system in order to make it as profitable as possible.

The basics

Firstly, use guns. Melee is nowhere near as useless as it once was, but even then building your character to to be a proficient melee fighter will take time and effort, and the result isn't any different than just having a proficient gunner, which can be achieved much easier and quicklier.

Secondly, despite the importance of ranged combat, don't waste your time actually training it. Once you can access crystal hills, it's possible and relatively cheap to get a cybernetic implant that gives you +75 chance to hit, making you basically infallible.

Should you hire mercenaries?

Answer: YES. 

Mercenaries are an essential part of making money through combat. Slaves can be taught combat, but only a handful of them are built for it. And even if you happen to roll a perfect combat slave, it will take you a while to train her to proficiency, which is the opposite of what we want.

Additionally, the main advantage of having slave fighters, which was the money you saved due to them using their own infinite companion ammo instead of depleting the MC's reserves, has been removed from the game. So hire mercenaries for combat and don't waste your time teaching slaves to use a handgun.

The most important aspect to understand here is this: MERCENARIES ARE NOT AN EXPENSE, even if their salaries are listed as such. You shouldn't look at your budget thinking "I can't afford to pay another mercenary right now until I increase my income". Mercenaries are a highly profitable short term investment that pays out every time you win a fight and collect loot. The only question you should be asking is if you're making enough daily to justify the investment.

Which mercenaries should you hire?

When it comes to mercenaries, there aren't any hidden gems. What you see is what you get. If it's good, it's not cheap. If it's cheap, it's not good.

My general advice here is that you first put together an inexpensive team then progressively replace them with better fighters until your entire party is made up of elite mercenaries.

This advice however, comes with two major caveats. First, I have no problem dismissing my mercenaries once I don't need them anymore. Second, I enjoy the combat system. I can justify a full elite team because I'm constantly fighting.

If either of these don't apply to you then you do need to be more selective when hiring mercs. More on this in the next section of the guide.

Equipment

Early game, you're looking for a mixed line up of rifles and shotguns. Better weapons should be collected if possible but kept in reserve until you're able to access Crystal Hills and get the accuracy implant.

Rifles are the best early game weapon. They are decently powerful and relatively cheap and provide a significant bonus chance to hit, which will compensate for your, and your follower's, mediocre skill.

Shotguns are the biggest unintended beneficiaries of the new slave catching mechanic. Because you need to get up close anyway to capture slaves (most of the time), the turn that it takes for your mercenaries to use the shotgun effectively is no longer wasted. At close range, they hit as hard as an assault rifle, making them excellent weapons for your slave catchers to have.

Assault Rifles are considerably better than rifles but have more recoil and don't provide the bonus chance to hit, which means most mercenaries won't be able to use it out of the box. Those who can, usually already carry one, or something better.

Anything lighter will be too weak to be effective and should be replaced as soon as possible. Anything heavier will have considerable ammo costs and should be reserved for elite mercenaries only.

Keep in mind that while it is possible to change your followers' equipment, most of them will need you to provide them with ammo. Also remember that equipment should be always be looted.

When it comes to armor, don't bother improving it for your followers. Most of them are not worth keeping for long and the ones that do already come with good armor.

Making Money with Combat

Finding your targets

There are 4 possible ways to monetize your own violence.

- Bounties.

- Arena fights.

- Raider fights

- Quests and jobs.

Bounties are found in the Town Hall (Hamilton Square). They involve killing a wanted criminal, then informing the authorities. Whatever personal possessions the criminal had are yours, including money and weapons. Three lucrative yet easy ones exist at the beginning of the game to kickstart your fortune budling efforts and a random one is generated each day.

Arena fights require Crystal Hills to be unlocked. They're generally harder and will require an elite team, specially as you start climbing the ranks, and produce no loot, but the prize money is no joke.

Raider fights refer to the various lowlifes that spawn across the map, particularly in the slums. These respawn quite frequently, so they're a great source of equipment and money.

Quests and jobs are similar to bounties, though generally less profitable, and require some socializing. They can be given to you by NPCs, and found in the taverns.

Loot, sell, profit

Unless you are completely new to games, you already know the basic premise here.

THE KEY IS TO NOT SELL IN THE REDHEAVEN MARKET. Every few days, once you've accumulated some loot, take the Ferry from Darkmere to Hamah Bay and sell in the local market instead. It's considerably more profitable to do so. Although, do note that not everything can be sold there.

The Arena

The Arena prints money and it's the reason we want to unlock Crystal Hills as soon as possible.

YOU ALWAYS WANT TO HAVE A SLAVE ASSGINED THERE AS A GLADIATRIX. It will make you between 1000 and 2000 dollars a day with a minimal time and money investment.

The best candidates for this job are currently either Rebecca or Aria. Both of them start in the sweet spot where they can reliably win most fights without any additional training. If you wish to have both in your household, find someone else to put in the arena, but always have an active Gladiatrix.

It's important to understand that YOUR GIRLS DON'T NEED TO BE COMBAT MONSTERS. The Arena pays depending on how likely your slave is to defeat her opponent. If she is too good, the prize money goes down.

At the same time, don't chase extremely high prizes. It's just an indication that your girl is extremely likely to lose, so these fights should be avoided. Look for fights in the $1000 to $2000 range instead.

Do remember, that the prizes earned for every fight are not fixed. If you're not happy with the ones offered, keep rerolling until you find something good. For example, Sofia Numagge is extremely easy to defeat, yet you can often find a fight against her with a $1000 prize.

Also keep in mind that you can increase the prize money by making your girl fight with her bare fists.

Slave Catching/Trading

As of version 0.8.2, it is now possible to capture not only money and loot, but slaves from most fights. Slaves acquired this way provide an excellent source of income and make slave trading extremely profitable since no extra investment is needed.

There are two keys to slave catching:

- DON'T Insta-sell.

Just like with loot, it's important to know where to sell your merchandise. Slave traders pay only a fraction of what your slaves are actually worth, so don't sell to them. Add your captures to your household and then take them to the slave market in Watery Eyes. It pays top dollar for raider trash, allowing you to often double and sometimes even triple your reward.

- Focus on women.

Both men and women can be captured for a steady supply of merchandise, but women make better slaves.

Male slaves are significantly less valuable than female slaves, usually being worth only around $250 to $400. Good quality male slaves can reach higher prices but unfortunately you can't always tell from their title who is and isn't one.

Also, since men cannot be added to your household, you're forced to insta-sell your captures.

Is it worth capturing men at all?

Answer: Yes and No 

Despite their issues, selling slaves is always profitable because the rope required to do so is only $20.

The problem is that capturing a bandit is always harder than killing one. By constantly trying to capture slaves, your fights will get longer thus giving your enemies more chances to hit you. Early on that's no big deal because low tier punks pose very little danger, but it will become a problem once you start facing tougher opponents. And at that point the cost of stims needs to be factored in.

Drunks, punks and tribals should always be captured since they're essentially free money. Space Marines and Highwaymen should not, as the modest reward you get for selling them is not worth taking extra ferromagnetic rounds to the face.

Other ways to make wealth

While combat is very powerful, you shouldn't limit yourself to just bashing raiders. There are other ways to make money and combining them all is important to build your income. You may (and should) engage in one or however many you want, just don't rely on any of them exclusively, as they all have some downside.

Poker

Easily the most lucrative non-combat activity. You can make between $3000 and $4000 every day with minimal effort and no investment. However it's frustratingly reliant on RNG, even with an unusually high gambling skill. Meaning you are either forced to do some heavy save-scumming, or accept that you'll be leaving money on the table.

Rebecca Higgs

A happy, loving Rebecca increases your business income between 30 to 50% if assigned as as "skullduggerist". Not to mention her quest provides a good amount of treasure.

The main downside here is that Rebecca is one of the more difficult slaves to train due to her high willpower, and a novice master will have a hard time getting her to do anything.

It's recommended to buy Rebecca only after you're able to access Crystal Hills and enroll her in the Arena immediately. It's easier to raise her affection this way and she won't be negatively affecting the rest of the girls in your household.

Prostitution

Very lucrative, as one might expect, but requires girls to be well broken (either very low willpower or high corruption) or they will refuse, and it takes time before the girls will make a name for themselves and start bringing in considerable cash. It also works best with several different slaves, instead of just one, so it's generally not recommended for the early game.

Business

There are several opportunities to invest in (generally illegal) business ventures. Afterwards, they continue to pay a small daily trickle of money.

The main advantage here is that it takes no effort on your part. The main problem is that the business opportunities currently available are limited and rather unprofitable, so becoming a business mogul, at least with joint ventures, isn't viable just yet.

Despite its limitations, it is still recommended that you invest, as this provides you with a way to ameliorate your daily costs, just don't rely on your investments to build you a fortune.

Crafting

The crafting system is one of the most interesting and it's expected to become extremely powerful as the game develops. Currently, with enough investment, it can become quite lucrative late game and allow you to become fully independent from merchants. However, the limited options to raise the required skills and the amount of time investment it requires means that at this stage, much like prostitution, it's not a viable option to build a fortune, specially not early game, and it's best approached as something you delve into once you have a steady flow of cash.

Simple work

Working 9-5 is never going to get you a fortune, that should be clear enough. Currently, the most lucrative job seems to be working at the Academy, where reportedly you can make up to $400, but this requires high levels of skill and seniority. Realistically, what most characters will be earning from jobs after spending the whole day is instead in the $100 range, meaning that working a regular job only makes sense as a roleplay scenario, not as a way to get rich.

Putting your slaves to work however, is a good idea, as long as it is one of the $100+ jobs (like the Golden Dragon or the Academy). Slaves should always be bringing some value to you, and this is a good way to, if not make a fortune, then at least ameliorate your daily costs. It is ultimately more valuable to train them, but if you're busy with some other activity or you have another slave to train, and you don't have another role for them in your household, send them to work.