Tortoise guide for newbies. Slow and steady.....

[emcee]

Having been playing with Storm8 games for the last few years and then discovering this game and Modern War I have shifted a lot of attention to Funzio recently. My take is that people level way too quickly and eventually run into very powerful foes as the mafia brackets get increasingly big and the amount of income needed to support a decent mafia is very difficult to raise.

I've read a few guides and found Duder's quite helpful. I'm not going to go into any spreadsheets or any calculations as for most beginners it may be a lot to digest.

Pick Tycoon class to begin.

I suggest if you are looking at long range success to not do any missions and don't worry about skill point allocation when you level up. Actually don't level up at all. Don't attack or rob anyone as it puts you on their radar and potentially get a retaliation. Also, start boosting defense as soon as possible to avoid and fend off attackers as losing 10% of your cash on hand by banking is counterproductive. That 10% can easily pay for the best defense items in the earlier levels which will make you virtually invulnerable to attacks.

Buy every and all buildings and upgrade them especially the laundromat. There are many threads saying that its best to get rid of them but they are well worth the trouble of upgrading because at lower levels income generation is difficult and laundromats are cheap to upgrade and if played often will return better than any other building for the foreseeable future.

Also, make sure to examine higher level players' hoods to get an idea before expansion of your hood to maximize the available building space. Plan ahead for expansions as when you are adding buildings eventually you need to expand you hood. Hood expansion will take up a lot of time.

I have a friend who started playing several week before I did and he is at level 24. He has stopped leveling and am taking my advice and has dropped all his alliance members. The problem is he needs to spend money to shore up his defense and needs to bank a lot which is also a waste. Also, it will be very difficult for him to buy any movie theaters because it would involve him having to get 50 mob members and open him up to attacks from much more powerful level 24 players who have probably very strong attack scores. Actually, I have noticed they can have pretty weak attack scores relative to my friend's defense but in the end he still gets robbed.

This is in my opinion the best strategy as eventually I can purchase the 100 (loft) and 300 (night club) mafia member requirement buildings without having to defense up most of the extra members if I stay at low levels. I only ever need to worry about getting the best defense for 20 or so mob members. The beauty of this is that I have little or no opportunity cost wasted on banking or arming up mafia members beyond level cap of 5 mafia per level and of course losing money from attacks/robberies (knock on wood) as opponents on level 4 generally don't take the time to read the forums and have already leveled past me before they can potentially be a threat to me.

If you haven't used your gold make sure to get the basketball courts right away at 5 gold each.

Get Tapjoy from the App Store or through in game Add Funds 'Tap to earn free gold' option and add ice cream shops at 8 gold each. The other gold income buildings at low levels are not worth purchasing so just save it for mid to high level building options or to purchase crates.

Make sure to visit 25 of your mob family members daily to pick up $100/visit.

Only buy one abandoned building and upgrade up to the fifth level at max. The rest of your defense will come from purchasing the best equipment.

At level 5 buy defense towers and upgrade to level 3 minimum. Here is a link to defense buildings.
http://crimecityios.wikia.com/wiki/Defense_Buildings
The most important row to concentrate is the Mafia D row which is the effective or 'real' mafia defense score. Tycoon class get an additional bonus. The posted defense score is inflated and explains why people with lower attack compared to your posted defense can defeat you.

Post your codes here and get the largest mob for your level. (see the rest of the guide regarding mob brackets and zero alliance/dead zone bracket)

Currently I'm level 4.
I have all the buildings available to me; 24 in total excluding 1 level 5 abandoned building. This includes 2 movie theaters.

Here are my stats.

Jobs completed - 4 (these come from achieving certain jobs as I level up and not doing any purposely)
Fights won - 21 (from people attacking me)
Fights lost - 0
Robberies won or lost - 0
# of mafia members - 58 (eventually will get to 300+)
# of weapons - 47
# of armour - 36
Total mafia attack - 133
Total defense - 151
Income per hour - $8102

This is not the most entertaining way to play this game but slow and steady is the way to go if you want to maximize build without spending any real $$$ on gold (except for free Tapjoy option).

************************************************** *********************
Note:
For beginners adopting this strategy please read the entire thread with my revised tactic regarding mafia max alliance/dead zone mob bracket and other updates as game is constantly evolving.
Your ultimate objective is to build 2 night clubs at soon as possible. Night clubs like movie theaters and lofts do not require any specific level to unlock. They are the best income buildings in the game bar none.
************************************************** *********************

[MadHatter]

This guide is long winded and pointless. Check out my guide to see how it's done!
http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?13738-Who-would-win-in-a-fight

[G Wiz]

This guide is long winded and pointless. Check out my guide to see how it's done!
http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?13738-Who-would-win-in-a-fightYou are literally under every post rambling on with rubbish.

You troglodyte humunculus, go away!!!

[MadHatter]

I don't get where your coming from

[Certes]

That's because you're a moron.

[martMode]

good read and guide. i have started a sleeper account and stopped at level 7 and stopped doing jobs.

how long do you figure one can get level 10 movie theaters and lofts? 5-6 months? i only started the sleeper level 7 2 weeks ago and none of my buildings are level 10 yet. how long have you played to get here?

also, i believe you will be able to equip weapons for your mob for better than the lowest respect items. ie never need to get the combat boots, columbian knife, mustang, tommy guns. thus maximise respect cions for next level weapons.

[emcee]

It all depends on how aggressive is your playing style. I can leave the app running for a good part of the day. I believe I started around Nov 24, so it took about 10 days to get the movie theaters. I can probably get the lofts in another 10 days but it would make more sense to level up some of the lower level buildings and especially the theaters first, which ultimately will facilitate not just getting the loft but more importantly the loft upgrades. My laundromats and basketball courts are all at level 7 and the rest of the buildings are all averaging around level 4. It's important to time your upgrades in order to minimize any down time. Ideally something should be upgrading at all times.

In your situation stop doing anything and first arm your mob with the best possible defense equipment. Buy a bunch of guard towers and level them up to level 4. Max your clan to 35 and hopefully you will not be a target to attacks any longer, as those pesky wins bring you up to the next level eventually. Every time you level up you run the chance of meeting stronger and more experienced players. That's why I would prefer to stay at level 4 for as long as possible as it seems most rivals have attack scores under 20 with not maxed out clans.

[DEMIGOD]

I can't comprehend how u get a night club. I am lvl12, got all the buildings available till warehouse w average level of 5-6. Max I only get t build 2 loft, and have played for about a mth or so. Btw I earn 12k per hr

[Syn]

I can't comprehend how u get a night club. I am lvl12, got all the buildings available till warehouse w average level of 5-6. Max I only get t build 2 loft, and have played for about a mth or so. Btw I earn 12k per hr

You need 300 mafia members. Oh and $40 million.

[DEMIGOD]

*coughs* I got 3k mafia, but to save the damned money takes a mth (at min)
And im not that dumb to not knw it cos 40mil

[Syn]

I can't comprehend how u get a night club.


*coughs* I got 3k mafia, but to save the damned money takes a mth (at min)
And im not that dumb to not knw it cos 40mil


Then elaborate more next time.

[Lola Gets]

@emcee,

I would consider playing that way except that my primary reason for playing this game is to have fun. Slow and steady may win the race, but it'd be the most boring race ever...

In case you are wondering, my stats after one month of play:
Level 24
Jobs completed: 256
Fights Won: 866
Fights Lost: 77
Robberies Won: 411
Robberies Lost: 20
Mafia: 144
Attack: 1326
Defense: 1451
Income/Hour: $17643
Fun Had: sht-ton!

[emcee]

Here is an update and a reworking of my ultra turtling income generating strategy. This addendum is meant for someone looking at developing a strong economy, maintain perfect or near perfect stats (wins/losses/robberies) and prevent the dreaded leveling from random attacks/robberies.

From level 1-4 add mob members until you are maxed out (5 members per level). For instance, there is no need to go above 20 mafia if you are at level 4. You may want to add a few more just in case some mob members leave. In the meantime you are still leveling up all your income properties and definitely have purchased enough defensive equipment to arm your mob fully.

Once you hit level 5 buy a lot of guard towers and upgrade them to level 5 or so. Level 6 requires a 7 hour upgrade time which is better used to upgrade income buildings. In anticipation of reaching level 5 make sure there is enough room in your hood to accommodate the new guard towers (3x3 on map). Ideally aim for 10 and upgrade them all to level 2 then all to level 3, etc. Try to avoid leveling one straight to level 5 unless you are waiting for a hood expansion in the meantime.

Once you have a number of towers at level 5 (minimum 5) its actually fine to drop all alliance members. Your guard towers will now shield you from most if not all attacks. Dropping all alliance will put you in a dead zone bracket which should stop all further unwanted leveling from attacks and robberies unlike someone with a maxed alliance or something in between.

Once all alliance members are dropped start posting your code in this forum or other sites. If you get an invitation just leave it alone as these will come in handy once you are ready to purchase the movie theaters and then the loft.

My only strategic oversight was to remain at max alliance from level 5 onwards. I was adding members which helped me to purchase both theaters and lofts. However, I left my alliance intact at around 170 members before realizing the error of my ways. At level 5 there are a lot more people with maxed alliance, which is not hard to obtain. Most people will attack/rob without doing much research or seeing large sums of money not banked may prove too much of a temptation. Even though my defense was more or less impenetrable all the wins have currently pushed me to level 7 which is the last thing I want. Since dropping my entire alliance the attacks have more or less ceased.

If someone is following my advice the preferred way to add theaters and eventually lofts is to have enough income to purchase said building then mass add 50/100 members, purchase theater/loft then drop all alliance immediately to fall back into the dead zone bracket. This may not be too practical as adding members can take a while especially when purchasing the lofts. When you have enough income to buy either building its not too difficult to arm your 50/100 mafia to prevent/win attacks in the interim while waiting the first to complete and getting ready for the second.

So once you've purchased both theaters drop to 0 alliance and you will be in the dead zone. When you are ready to purchase the lofts employ the same strategy. Of course this strategy is going to waste some of your alliance members time as they are adding you to their mob only having you leave in a matter of days. As such, I like to apologize in advance to anyone out there who will be affected by this :(

Basically, in a matter of a few days I had jumped from level 5 to 7 with a mafia of about 170; whereas the other account which I have access to has remained at level 24 with 2 theaters and 2 lofts purchased.

Here is my updated stats:
Level: 7
Jobs completed: 4
Fights won: 170
Fights lost: 5
Robberies won: 0
Robberies lost: 0
# of mafia members: 4 (henchmen, which I can't drop)
# of weapons: 120
# of armor: 58
Total attack: 41
Total defense: 736
Income per hour: 24615
Last attack/robbery activity: 7 hours ago

2nd account
Level: 24
Jobs completed: 687
Fights won: 327
Fights lost: 95
Robberies won: 292
Robberies lost: 56
# of mafia members: 14 (henchmen, which I can't drop)
# of weapons: 358
# of armor: 157
Total attack: 270
Total defense: 1599
Income per hour: 22184
Last attack/robbery activity: 36 days ago

Happy camping :)

[Nudie]

This sounds sooooo boring. I suppose I will see you in about 100 levels or maybe never at the rate you're plodding.

[SupremeFaze]

thats what i did, but i i just kept buying cheap weapons to then kept moving up the line when i was making enough money

[Amber_]

Sorry I don't think this guide is good at all :S. A game is for FUN, and what's the fun in that? I never cared about not leveling up, and I'm doing great at lvl 120 anyways. It's all about tactics, if you have a little sense for economics and know a lot about the game, you don't ever have to camp. I'm sorry but I think duders guide is the best guide for newbies. On the other hand, I don't say your playing style is wrong or anything, everyone plays the game differently.

[Max Power]

This is a pretty good guide for a 2nd camper account, but most those people are pretty experienced anyway.

[whocareswhatmynameis]

ultraslow strategy will not be feasible for the vast majority of players. agree with @max power, this is more applicable for those with two or more devices.

[dudeman]

This would be a lot more useful for a second account, if I ever get one, mostly because when I started playing CC I had no idea about the forum. I just downloaded the app and went on my stupid way.

Had I known about this strategy (or put any thought into the game at all before I really got going) I might have chosen to start at a tortoise's pace, at least until the MTs and Lofts were built. My biggest struggle in the start was building my economy and while this way doesn't seem very fast either, I still think I would have better $/h for my level at any given point in the game.

Slow and steady would not be the most entertaining way to play this game, but I think it would have been a good way to get started.

[emcee]

Sorry to disappoint anyone who do not like my playing style....to each his own.
I wrote this guide for those who want to camp from the beginning. I have adjusted this guide for those who have leveled up and want to adopt this approach without creating a second account.
Anyone can camp at any time. This is a strategy just like those who do not have any income properties and decide to attack and rob. Those who have the patience and discipline will adopt this style.
I never advertised this thread as being "fun". You can call it boring but that is your point of view. For some, like me, I think it is fun to upgrade buildings and buy lofts before most others. I don't think its fun to lose fights or get robbed. So that's why I camp. Most people playing this game will agree with this, even the 100+ level guys who don't think this strategy is good. There are so many threads in this forum about farming weapons, attacking, robbing, etc. Why do they exist? Because people want to win. They want to win fights. They want to win against robberies. If they didn't this forum wouldn't exist. People would just follow the narrative without giving a thought about strategy. The majority of threads are a suggestion to win. Some are effective, some are not and some are counterproductive. Frankly, people should not follow my guide as it creates more competition down the line. Unless you have unlimited real dollars to spend imo, camping is the most viable strategy to winning in this game. I play this game to win.

I welcome any constructive feedback on my strategy as it is a work in progress.

[Twoshots]

Frankly, people should not follow my guide as it creates more competition down the line. Unless you have unlimited real dollars to spend imo, camping is the most viable strategy to winning in this game. I play this game to win.

I welcome any constructive feedback on my strategy as it is a work in progress.

To win againest who? Level 7s who've had the game for a day?

And no your guide doesn't create more competiton down the line. If you havn't looked, next to gold items the best items come from respect which idiots following your guide will have none of.

Spending all your energy/stamina should cause zero problems as you level up constantly so long as you farm the right items (m4a1s) and do the winning streaks. Camping and the defense buildings mentioned in your strategy are pointless if you are taking a long term approach to becoming as strong as possible.

[emcee]

To win againest who? Level 7s who've had the game for a day?

And no your guide doesn't create more competiton down the line. If you havn't looked, next to gold items the best items come from respect which idiots following your guide will have none of.


Level 7 and 24 FYI. Frankly, I don't care who I win as long as I win. I want to obtain a truly enviable win/loss percentage on my level 7 account. But at present I don't want any activity and level up any further. If you want me to spell out my strategy more clearly, which should be quite obvious to any 'seasoned player' here it is in Duder's words

"The biggest reason I'm not actively pursuing a strategy which involves leveling up is so that I can invest a larger percentage of my overall income directly into my economy. I believe (based on sheer guesswork) that competition at the higher levels would probably require a noticeable investment in defensive buildings and arsenal. By deferring those costs until later, I can invest a larger percentage of my income back into my economy. At this point, I feel pretty confident that the 10% loss to the bank can be more than offset by doing missions; however, to be competitive at the higher levels, don't you need to invest more in your defense, upgrading buildings or spending cash on buildings which have a decent level 1 defense?
My own goal is to get to the top mafia requirement equips for my level (grenade launcher, steel garrote, blast guard helmet, audi). To fully equip my mafia with these will cost ~1.5m per set or ~60m for my full mafia. What I am trying to get to in my economy is the ability to generate enough income to get the full set for whatever level I am currently in when I get there (level 9? level 10?), then to also be able to get an additional 5 sets in a reasonable timeframe (1-2 days) as I start "aggresively" leveling up (i.e. start using my stamina and energy points). This means I need to get to the point where I'm generating ~2-3m per day. Right now I can pretty consistently clear 400+ k, so I've got a ways to go....."

My guide is building income. It is not about non camping or battle strategy. Any discussion outside of building income is a moot point. I wrote the guide because other guides were a little too analytic for my taste and if I was a beginner this thread was a little more to the point without getting into ROI, calculations, etc.

When I feel the time is right I will easily plow through most if not all opponents. My income will allow me to buy the best possible items and with wins I will earn a lot of respect and purchase better weapons. Also, I can buy the best explosives without a thought about attrition as my income can support it.

I will farm m4a1s like anyone else but with my strong economy and especially strong defense I don't need to worry about maintaining great stats.

Moreover, I wouldn't need to worry about carefully checking the rivals profile before choosing to attack or rob. With max mob, best items and respect rolling in leveling quickly will not be a problem.

My approach when I decide not to camp will allow me to win more against attacks and robberies even when I am inactive.

[-rampage-]

I've had no problems lvling and using every tick of energy on jobs and robbing people. Maybe I got lucky in my loots of army helmets and other items to help me progress. I started on the 4th of jan of the new year and as of now... I'm lvl 30. I think now I may try my hand @ farming m4a1 in the junkyard and try to build up my hourly income. The only thing I can really add to game play is pick your fights carefully and check the rivals profile before choosing to attack or rob them. Here are my stats

5 days : lvl 30 / attack :695 / defend : 848
fights won: 839
fights lost: 105

I havent even had to time set up defenses, but I'm 60 / 40 win % if I get attacked. seems pretty good so far.

[emcee]

Camping and the defense buildings mentioned in your strategy are pointless if you are taking a long term approach to becoming as strong as possible.

Please elaborate as this does not make any sense to me.
As far as I am aware camping builds income which is a good thing. Defense makes you less of a target and fend off attacks. Both makes you strong. You can argue the opportunity cost of not doing missions and farming, etc. as you will be earning income and getting better items. My counter is it that makes you weaker as it exposes you to really strong players, losing fights/robberies and having to bank. I have yet to come across a thread here from someone stating that they regret camping. However, there seems to be countless others saying they leveled too quickly.

To avoid leveling which is a part of this guide it would make more sense to not add any defense buildings. I don't like losing dollars to opponents or to the bank that's why I beef up defenses. I don't like to level so I drop all alliance members and stay in the dead zone.

I should clarify the addition of defense buildings is actually meant to maintain an enviable win/loss record. In the words of Charlie Sheen "winning" ..... :)

[Cooz]

My counter is it that makes you weaker as it exposes you to really strong players, losing fights/robberies and having to bank.

With respect to you (pun intended), do you know what beats a camper at level 7? A camper at level 30. Camping that early into the game really won't save you anything in the long run. What's inevitable here is the fact you're eventually going to progress out into the world. If you don't plan to grow at any point, then don't read any further. What you're doing would be a complete waste of time.

I think you're grossly underestimating the impact your lack of weaponry will have when you eventually start to rise up in levels. You'll have money, sure, but you can't buy good weapons at that level, so if you want to improve your atk/def ratings, you'll have to grow sometime.

I agree with you completely in the sense that having the movie theaters and lofts that early will be a tremendous advantage, but let's be realistic, when you do eventually begin to level, other players will see you and they've already stocked up on the loot and respect items available, and they'll whip you. You won't have any respect available to help defray the disadvantage you have in equipment.

Let's say you decide your $25k/hr. income is enough where you want to explore the game. You begin by advancing a few levels, and you come across me, someone who's attacked and won 2,000 fights. I heavily dispute the 1:8 ratio that's bandied around as the drop rate, it's more like 1:15. That gives me a combination of 133 items that are all stronger than what you have. You have the money but you don't have access to weapons that can beat that.

Each loot I get makes me a little stronger, and gives me more respect. Eventually, I've gained access to the long-lasting respect items (NVBs, Bikes), and I become the person you're talking about avoiding. I have a very strong foundation of valuable weapons, and all you have are buildings. Since I don't care about my pvp statistics, I'll keep robbing you, and eventually I'll win. The only way you can stop that is by building a ton of defense buildings, which,

A.) steals room from your hood (a permanent tax), forcing you to spend more money on expansions without that money eventually earning itself back (poor efficiency is the main failure in this game).
B.) are not as valuable as you're making them out to be (upgrading them only gives you half of their original value each time, and,
C.) you won't be at a point where the kinds of defense buildings that can help you will be available.

I guess my long-winded point is you really don't gain anything by camping for too long at a level in which you can't farm or buy any difference-making equipment or buildings. The life blood of the higher level players you seem to fear is the M4 A1. I don't come across anyone on my main account (level 101) who rivals my stats and does not have a few hundred of them. To get that amount, you need to be at a certain level, and you need a certain amount of energy obtained by leveling.

If you're going to camp, do it around level 31ish. That's when you have the most options in terms of development (access to decent Type B buildings, i.e. the Dominican, which is a powerful and cheap upgrade, substantially better weapons, etc.).

[Tramp Stamp]

I agree that the higher level camper has an advantage over the lower level camper but I'm not seeing the "camping makes you weaker" argument, especially versus average players who are frankly trivial to steamroll for dozens of levels. Why can't he amass respect points after building up a huge economy? It's not like he can jump from level 7 to 70 in a few hours. He has the same limitations on stamina and energy as everyone else. In fact, campers are more likely to amass loot because they are more likely to win fights with their superior cash equipment while robberies have greatly diminished value and will be skipped.

[duder]

Finally, a thread where I can contribute!

To folks who say campIng is boring- you're right. I wouldn't recommend it. However from an objective perspective, most of this game past the first month is a grind (any lvl 100+ tried to pitch the game to a stranger? What do you describe as the allure?)

Getting a nightclub in single digit levels is a silly goal - it'll take at least a third of a year. If I wasn't so close to (ie a few months away from) the goals I set for building up when I started, I'd pursue an aggressive pvp strategy.

Tortoising goes hand in hand with a large alliance - the only advantage I see to a truly enormous economy is having cash to outfit a large mafia with the best cash equips affordable - given that grabbing loot and respect results in xp, it should be possible to be more than decently competitive using cash equips.

Anyway that's just my two cents - i'll have a better perspective come march (tortoising is fun!)

[emcee]

With respect to you (pun intended), do you know what beats a camper at level 7? A camper at level 30. Camping that early into the game really won't save you anything in the long run. What's inevitable here is the fact you're eventually going to progress out into the world. If you don't plan to grow at any point, then don't read any further. What you're doing would be a complete waste of time.

Not sure how much authority you have talking about camping as someone who is over level 100 and probably haven't camped much if at all. You are talking about apples and oranges here. Did you check your rivals list when you were at level 30? Do you recall seeing any level 7 targets? My level 24 camping account can only see at max level 25 rivals. Brackets will change as you level up but for the near foreseeable future it will have little to no impact on either account. By the way my level 7 account has more income at present $24,807/hr (which Tramp can verify). The level 24 account which has been loaned to me (my friends Iphone 3gs) has leveled very quickly with a dismal (imo) win loss record 327/95, and robberies 292/56. Since I took over the account 30 days ago I have not loss a fight or robbery.
I realize leveling up to level 9 will give me access to electronics store, then warehouse level 12, etc; which makes more sense from a pure camping strategy as there are more buildings generating income. However, I should have named my thread more properly from Tortoise guide for newbies to Ultra economy building and enviable win loss percentage guide for newbies. This would have been a more apt title. The funny thing here is that tortoise is actually a misnomer as my income has grown at a much quicker rate than most as I don't have to bank or generally worry about attacks or robberies and spending any income on items beyond a few.

My primary account when I choose to level will not go from level 7 to 70 overnight. It will be an accelerated tortoise pace making sure the new buildings available have sufficient upgrades but more importantly getting the best items farmed, bought with respect or $$$.

Camping earlier in the game will save me from banking. Do you bank? The money I saved from banking shows why my economy is currently outpacing my level 24 account even though that was created weeks before mine. Now I don't bank on this account any longer and am currently working on level 2 upgrades on both lofts.


I think you're grossly underestimating the impact your lack of weaponry will have when you eventually start to rise up in levels. You'll have money, sure, but you can't buy good weapons at that level, so if you want to improve your atk/def ratings, you'll have to grow sometime.

Actually I will have a firm grasp of weaponry as I have access to this forum so will know what items to farm or buy with respect. Also, it will be a given when I level up I will have max mob with the best items available to purchase automatically including explosives. Not everyone can support this with a weak or mediocre economy.

I'm going to share with you my non camping strategy now. As I level up all of my skill points moving forward are going into attack on my level 7 account. Defense will permanently stay at 1 as I have the economy to easily expand my hood at will and purchase defense buildings. Why should I waste skill points in defense when it can be bought and money is easily earned with this strategy. So having a lot of energy is nice to make numerous runs for m4a1s however my goal at present is just to have the minimal amount necessary to farm a few at a time. I have not done too much research in attack skills multiplier but reading what little was said by the developer I feel that I can probably rival gold players with this strategy and leave anyone who dump points into energy in the dust. So having incredibly high attack skill points, max mafia coupled with the best purchasable items including explosives will probably make me look like King Kong against someone with 500 m4a1s. I look forward to testing out this theory.

On a side note I find this rather amusing post from Madawgg...

sorry i was being sour, but really...when u reach lvl 150 M4 doesn't add to ur stat, and the only thing u can do is building ur economy...and u know what, i posted it a long time ago why don't u dig up a few pages back and see what i wrote? SENIOR MEMBER?

So all this talk about M4s apparently will mean nothing but I know my high attack skills multiplier will always remain.

Regardless I will enjoy the narrative on my level 24 account which will come out of camping before level 7 and maybe I'll come and visit your hood and get some respect (pun not intended).

[Max Power]

Testy testy....

[Cooz]

I agree that the higher level camper has an advantage over the lower level camper but I'm not seeing the "camping makes you weaker" argument, especially versus average players who are frankly trivial to steamroll for dozens of levels. Why can't he amass respect points after building up a huge economy? It's not like he can jump from level 7 to 70 in a few hours. He has the same limitations on stamina and energy as everyone else. In fact, campers are more likely to amass loot because they are more likely to win fights with their superior cash equipment while robberies have greatly diminished value and will be skipped.


I'm not seeing the "camping makes you weaker" argument

I didn't say that. My point is others who have fought more will invariably have better equipment. Look at what's available at level 7 in terms of weapons. If he advances up to, say, level 13. There are better weapons there. It's a smallish window of time, and it's not the end of the world, but frankly, I'm just trying to have a conversation.


Why can't he amass respect points after building up a huge economy?

He certainly can, but I don't see how those things are necessarily connected. Yeah, you can buy weapons, but the weapons at lower levels suck. Money doesn't help you with weapons as much as stamina and respect do. My second account isn't camping, probably doesn't have even close the economy of this guy but is fully stocked on weapons and armor, working on vehicles now. I didn't do that with two lofts, I did it with loot items.


In fact, campers are more likely to amass loot because they are more likely to win fights with their superior cash equipment while robberies have greatly diminished value and will be skipped.

It's true, fighting does have more value than robberies at lower levels, but there are lots of goals involving robberies. Plus, everyone is bunched so closely together in terms of attack vs. defense you have to look at their hoods before you attack. I'm gonna rob this guy every time I see him, stats be damned. I guess what I'm trying to say is working to avoid "stronger players" is irrelevant, because it only takes two people a day with a decent amount of stamina at the right time to rob 60 percent of those high level buildings just by not giving up.

It really doesn't matter which way you do it, I was just trying to keep the conversation going. I think Newbies just starting out would appreciate hearing both perspectives.

[Cooz]

Not sure how much authority you have talking about camping as someone who is over level 100 and probably haven't camped much if at all.

If it makes you feel more comfortable attacking my credibility, go right ahead. Bad news, though, I did camp. I was around level 40, I think. I wouldn't call it camping as much as just slowing down and focusing on buying weapons for a while. I only did it for a few weeks, and it helped me tremendously.

However, in case you didn't notice, what I was writing about was anti-camping, and considering one of my accounts is over level 100 (and as someone who's been on this forum longer than you), yeah, I like I think I have some authority on the subject. And you're not exactly re-inventing the wheel. Camping is a term that was discussed in-depth before you were on this forum, so let's dial down the arrogance. I appreciate the info you're providing, and if I didn't, I wouldn't bother responding.

There's no need to get all pissy, man, I'm just offering up another perspective. If you can't stand being challenged, don't post your opinion in public. You don't have to be a **** about it, in the end, I'm just learning and perhaps giving others a chance to learn through my experience. I feel you can achieve the results you want and still advance in the game. Play however you want, but there will be a lot of people reading this who aren't interested in their (useless) win/loss percentage. I'd rather have 2,000 wins and 500 losses than 400 wins and 0 losses. That's not what you're aiming for, and that's fine. I'm just offering up another angle.


I realize leveling up to level 9 will give me access to electronics store, then warehouse level 12, etc; which makes more sense from a pure camping strategy as there are more buildings generating income. However, I should have named my thread more properly from Tortoise guide for newbies to Ultra economy building and enviable win loss percentage guide for newbies.

And that's fine. Personally, with the income you have, I think adding the electronics store is like adding a deck chair to a cruise ship, but getting to 31 and adding the Dominican restaurant will make you some serious money.


My primary account when I choose to level will not go from level 7 to 70 overnight. It will be an accelerated tortoise pace making sure the new buildings available have sufficient upgrades but more importantly getting the best items farmed, bought with respect or $$$.

How are you going to get that respect while maintaining an accelerated pace of whatever turtle creature you want? You get respect by fighting and robbing. Experience points come with both of those things.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want the best respect items, you have to engage in pvp (win streaks in particular), which will make you level. You won't get much without stamina, either.

I get what you're saying, and your strategy is based more on a short-term pace that will aid you down the line. I'm speaking more generally about where you'll be when you get to higher levels. It's my opinion the best way to play this game is to camp at times, slam on the gas at times, focus on doing one thing exclusively for an extended period of time, then change to something else.


So having a lot of energy is nice to make numerous runs for m4a1s however my goal at present is just to have the minimal amount necessary to farm a few at a time.

How much is that minimal amount? I'm happy if I get three M4s a day, and I have 1,600 energy. It's an interesting theory, though, about negating the strength of the weapon by having a huge multiplier. I'd like to see if that holds true. I do think, though, you'll run into a problem defensively. While the defense rating is cut in half for items, you can't have 100 defense buildings to make up for the lack of strong defense items (the m4, for example).


Regardless I will enjoy the narrative on my level 24 account which will come out of camping before level 7 and maybe I'll come and visit your hood and get some respect (pun not intended).

Feel free! I'd love to have you in my news feed, what, with your low-level defense buildings, no stamina, no respect weapons, huge economy and superiority complex. What goes around, comes around, and with as pompous as you seem to be, I won't respect you anyway.

[Tramp Stamp]

Cooz, I'm having trouble pinning down your specific argument(s), so I'll just attack some strawmen:

1. "Camping = massing early weak weapons = wasting money = getting into a hole". I think most campers realize that buying 500 Trench Coats is not the best idea, but, on the other hand, even if this was done it doesn't make much of a dent in finances given the non-linear growth of prices vs. stat gains. In my experience, campers buy just enough to obsolete the banking function, which becomes progressively more economical as a function of income.

2. "Cash and respect are mutually exclusive". You've repeatedly said that respect players are stronger than cash players but haven't offered much insight as to why one can't be both. I am baffled on this point.

Personal experience: I camped at level 13 and got to be so strong despite only modest investment in cash gear that I was able to blind attack for 5+ levels. Fact is, hardly anybody is even decently equipped at most stages of the game. It's not like the landscape is split between fully equipped cash players vs. fully equipped respect players.

[ATEZ!12]

lol it's agame to
me

[Cooz]

Cooz, I'm having trouble pinning down your specific argument(s), so I'll just attack some strawmen:

2. "Cash and respect are mutually exclusive". You've repeatedly said that respect players are stronger than cash players but haven't offered much insight as to why one can't be both. I am baffled on this point.

You're right, I'm not explaining this very well.

I guess all I'm really saying is camping at the right level is smarter than camping at any level.

I'm aiming for level 32, because some key elements of high level players become available (NVBs, Dominicans).

The chain of events could be leveling at a regular pace while buying and upgrading based on ROI. Use skill points for stamina and whatever else you feel is necessary. Attack and collect loot and respect. By the time you reach level 32, you'd have a boatload of respect and you can buy NVBs. The cash armor available at that point is the 4/8 helmet (forget the name).

If you don't have stamina for fights, it will take you forever to get through the streak goals, therefore, you'll have less respect to purchase a mid-level armor item many advocate emphasizing at higher levels.

If you do have stamina for fights, you can get through a lot of those streaks, and buy several 16/16 armor items without spending any cash. I'm at level 26 right now, and I'll be able to buy 25 NVBs. That's a 400 point increase, or, a little south of 50 percent of what I have now. At what point in the game can you get that high of a boost?

As it is, I can still easily buy two Dominicans in a shortish amount of time. The massive boost I just got from the NVBs will keep me protected at a point where lots of players can experience significant growth. I also have two very powerful buildings to go along with my level 2 movie theaters, high-level laundromats (critically important at lower levels) and ice cream shop (only real big gainer you can get before the loft).

I've got a lot more money coming in, good enough defense and probably better stats than nearly everyone around me.

Then I can sit down, stop attacking for a bit and save up for the lofts while upgrading the dominicans (upgrading to level 3 costs less than building one loft, and has three times the output).

I apologize to Emcee, I was being what I was accusing him of being; a jerk. I was out of line with my response. I think ultimately both of these strategies can get you to the same place. For me, I just think it's worth more to do it at a level where you can drastically increase the value of your items and bring in big-gaining buildings for the sake of moving up to higher levels eventually.

Either way, an income of $24k where he's at is impressive, and he should be commended. Obviously his way works too.


Personal experience: I camped at level 13 and got to be so strong despite only modest investment in cash gear that I was able to blind attack for 5+ levels. Fact is, hardly anybody is even decently equipped at most stages of the game. It's not like the landscape is split between fully equipped cash players vs. fully equipped respect players.

I think that's really the over-arching point. Being fully equipped at whatever level you are at will make you stronger than just about everyone. I prefer to move up quicker earlier in the game.

I will shut up now, I promise.

[emcee]

I apologize to Emcee, I was being what I was accusing him of being; a jerk. I was out of line with my response. I think ultimately both of these strategies can get you to the same place. For me, I just think it's worth more to do it at a level where you can drastically increase the value of your items and bring in big-gaining buildings for the sake of moving up to higher levels eventually.

No worries mate. We are just both passionate about the subject. Honestly, I will probably never meet you on the battlefield as my short term goals are considered long for most players. As you can see I am very patient.
I am pretty confident that my attack based multiplier will serve me well in the future. There seems to some confusion why certain people with much lower attacks can penetrate others with much higher defense. For me its obviously due to the multiplier. My only regret is dumping any skill points into energy. I should have just created a pure attack camping account which imo is a formidable combination.

[phxzee]

Hey guys, I'm a new player and got turned onto this thread from emcee's tortise thread in modern war, which for me has worked like a treat. However, applying the same principles to this game has been very tedious, slow, and seemingly boring.

I do believe that it needs to be tweaked a little, I am upgrading my laundromats quickly, which is good and all but the downtime from upgrading seems to be slowing down my cash stream and I am not able to expand/build/whatever.

Also, I have been attacked numerous times and @ level two, without buying any equipment. I've lost 8times, and won once. I did buy and upgrade the abandoned house to level four however that still wasn't enough.

Finally, I got fed up with losing and the slow progress, I did a couple of missions and leveled up to five. Going to see where I go from here, but hopefully once I can stop upgrading the laundromats, I'll start cashing up more.

@emcee, you mentioned you regretted the points in energy? Why is this?

[duder]

Just to quickly build out the conversation around equips -

If you do manage to get your economy sufficiently large at an early level, one could reasonably equip the following:

steel garrotes ($50k for 10/5 melee)
blast guard helmets ($125k for 6/14 armor)
69 camaros ($35k 5/4 vehicle)
ak-47s ($2.7k 3/4 gun)

You'll note, these equips are accessible by hitting certain mafia count requirements at level 1. This provides a decent solution to equipping your mafia ($212k for 24/27 per mafia member). This should hold you down until you get to the point where you're farming respect and/or m1a4s without tying up any respect in something that is easily replaced (you can jump straight into nvb's).

@phxzee
Here's my advice for your level:
1. Get your laundromats to level 4. This will let you buy a trenchcoat every 5 minutes.

2. Get as many allies as you can manage. There are three reasons for this:
a) You'll complete mafia size goals which will give you more cash on hand (you'll get xp too, but nothing that will push you past level 9)
b) You'll unlock probably the best value equips for under level 8 (at level 9 the military goggles are available which are pretty good defensively too)
c) Equips under level 10 are pretty cheap, so there is no reason to risk someone with a higher mafia being able to see you and beat you up

3. Visit your allies - each ally (up to 25) will provide $100 per day every day

4. Get non-vehicle equips. If cash on hand is a problem, just start at the trenchcoat and work your way through to the mafia required equips. If cash isn't a problem, jump straight to the ak-47, stiletto knife, and either steel toed boots or military goggles (if you're level 9)

If your win/loss ratio is a problem, pursue these points to the exclusion of making other upgrades to your economy, otherwise, keep plugging away on your econ, using cash as it becomes available.

[Dj doin it]

All of the analytics of this awesome game are much appreciated and most certainly respected. I say that to speak my theory/strategy (which I will say is lacking in terms of per/hour income such as Duder). Laundrymats to a level10 before anything else. Next, all 1 hour collectors to a level 10. It seems that too much money will be missed out on if I don't upgrade the buildings that I will collect on the most.

[whocareswhatmynameis]

All of the analytics of this awesome game are much appreciated and most certainly respected. I say that to speak my theory/strategy (which I will say is lacking in terms of per/hour income such as Duder). Laundrymats to a level10 before anything else. Next, all 1 hour collectors to a level 10. It seems that too much money will be missed out on if I don't upgrade the buildings that I will collect on the most.

if you concentrate only on LM and 1hr buildings, you have to ask yourself whether you can realistically collect all the income from these buildings. a more balanced strategy which i followed at the beginning of the game was to build as many buildings as i could, regardless of income base and collection time. for determining which upgrade made most sense, i utilized TLoord's spreadsheet (ROI and other metrics).

[Swifty]

The tortoise method just does not seem like a fun way to play the game for me.

Probably for others, but not for me.

[emcee]

Hey guys, I'm a new player and got turned onto this thread from emcee's tortise thread in modern war, which for me has worked like a treat. However, applying the same principles to this game has been very tedious, slow, and seemingly boring.

I do believe that it needs to be tweaked a little, I am upgrading my laundromats quickly, which is good and all but the downtime from upgrading seems to be slowing down my cash stream and I am not able to expand/build/whatever.

Also, I have been attacked numerous times and @ level two, without buying any equipment. I've lost 8times, and won once. I did buy and upgrade the abandoned house to level four however that still wasn't enough.

Finally, I got fed up with losing and the slow progress, I did a couple of missions and leveled up to five. Going to see where I go from here, but hopefully once I can stop upgrading the laundromats, I'll start cashing up more.



Nice to hear Modern War turtling is working out with you. Both MW and CC have the same game mechanics (imo) and turtling strategy should be the same.

Turtling is never a race so it is not a rush to get to level 10 for any buildings. I have been playing close to two months and I don't have any level 10 buildings on both my CC accounts (level 8 and 24). If I was playing a lot like when I first started my laundromats would definitely be at level 10 by now. Also, the reason I stopped upgrading them was that the movie theaters and lofts became available and I am in the process of upgrading them. Saving up for level 3 loft upgrades is ripe for a level 9 laundromat upgrade.

I digress, if you are following my advice I should have elaborated a little regarding hood expansion. Although its important to be expanding your hood at all times you should only expand if there is no more room to accommodate a new building. As your income is not too robust in the beginning unnecessary hood expansion is a waste of your limited funds as it does not generate income.

The error I see with your strategy is not investing in any equipment. You must buy the best defensive items across the board excluding vehicles (in your situation) in the beginning for all of your mafia members. As well you should be at max alliance/mafia; so by level 2 you should have 10 mafia, level 3 15 and level 4 20. In my addendum to my initial posting when you get to level 5 purchase guard towers and start leveling them up quickly all to level 2, then level 3, 4 and 5. Once you have sufficient guard towers in place drop all alliance members and you will now be in the dead zone; which is like CC limbo. Do not attack or rob anyone.
If your laundromats are at level 5 (for instance) and the rest of your buildings are level 1 then, imo, that is not right. All buildings become progressively more expensive to upgrade. I don't mean the dollars it takes to upgrade but more importantly the time it takes for the upgrade to complete. In your down time you should already be formulating what is the best next building to upgrade and the amount of money required for the upgrade. The last thing you want is having your laundromat finish level 6 upgrade but realizing you don't have the funds for a level 3 pizza parlor. At your level look for the next building to upgrade that takes the least amount of time. Save the longer upgrades (8 hours, 10, 12 etc) for bedtime or when you know you won't be checking in too often.

If you stop the laundromat race to level 10 and concentrate on upgrading buildings based on the least amount of time to complete (don't worry about figuring out return on investment and calculations in general) your economy will flourish very quickly.

To maintain an enviable win loss percentage make sure you are at max alliance. Since you are at level 5 start building guard towers and level them up quickly. They do not produce income but like you I don't like losses so they will stop or lessen the bleeding.

Would like to get some feedback from you in a little while to see how my advice is working.

Good luck

[CalaisV8]

I have 16 stamina and 2020 energy :)

[emcee]

@emcee, you mentioned you regretted the points in energy? Why is this?

People pay too much stock to farming the best possible equipment. As you level up even the best non gold items (ie M4s) will become ineffective or obsolete.

What will never change is your attack skill points. You take these with you to all battles. To enjoy the game I recommend investing points into energy as you can follow the quest narratives. On a second account or if you truly want to be a formidable force I suggest all points go towards attack and level up stamina to a level you feel comfortable based on your playing frequency. This build coupled with a turtling ultra economy build will imo beat the vast majority of non gold players (even those with 500 M4s) and more importantly rival gold players.

The mystery attack skills multiplier is the ultimate weapon when you max alliance at any level and buy the best possible attack items including explosives.

Frankly at level 5 you have not wasted any skill points. Its too few to have made a mistake even if you dumped them all into defense (which imo is the worst ever skill allocation choice).

[duder]

I disagree on the guard tower advice - I think plopping a few down is an alright idea, but leveling them up to level 5 is not a good use of time. You can get me to roll over up to level 3 or 4 (maybe - and that's only if your next economy based upgrade is 6 hours long, you're not going to bed for an hour or two, and you're trying to figure out how to fill the time).

I went the guard tower route a couple of months ago. At the end of the day I have not seen any improvement from leveling my guard towers past level 3.

My advice, until you get to around 8k income/hour, investing heavily in defensive buildings (in terms of space) is a bit of a waste. You'll be kicking yourself when you have to purchase another expansion to drop your MTs because you just realized you don't have an 8x8 space you can drop them into. Additionally, it's a better use of upgrade time to expand to accommodate a larger number of guard towers. Personally, I'd rather wait until my economy is generating enough to be able to afford the expansions - if I need the space later, I can sell the guard towers.

15 level 3 guard towers: total listed def = 270, total cost = 98,250, total upgrade time (including initial build) = 5hr 15min
5 level 5 guard towers: total listed def = 225, total cost = 107,355, total upgrade time (including initial build) = 20hr 25min

A much better investment on every level is a fully equipped maximum sized mafia. Across the board the return is better.

[whocareswhatmynameis]

I disagree on the guard tower advice - I think plopping a few down is an alright idea, but leveling them up to level 5 is not a good use of time. You can get me to roll over up to level 3 or 4 (maybe - and that's only if your next economy based upgrade is 6 hours long, you're not going to bed for an hour or two, and you're trying to figure out how to fill the time).

I went the guard tower route a couple of months ago. At the end of the day I have not seen any improvement from leveling my guard towers past level 3.

My advice, until you get to around 8k income/hour, investing heavily in defensive buildings (in terms of space) is a bit of a waste. You'll be kicking yourself when you have to purchase another expansion to drop your MTs because you just realized you don't have an 8x8 space you can drop them into. Additionally, it's a better use of upgrade time to expand to accommodate a larger number of guard towers. Personally, I'd rather wait until my economy is generating enough to be able to afford the expansions - if I need the space later, I can sell the guard towers.

15 level 3 guard towers: total listed def = 270, total cost = 98,250, total upgrade time (including initial build) = 5hr 15min
5 level 5 guard towers: total listed def = 225, total cost = 107,355, total upgrade time (including initial build) = 20hr 25min

A much better investment on every level is a fully equipped maximum sized mafia. Across the board the return is better.

another thing to consider: listed defense points for defense buildings are actually different from the real number used in PvP. for level 3 guard tower, you get 6 defense points (not 18). similarly for level 5 guard tower, the defense point is 9 (not 45). there is diminishing returns with higher level upgrades. for this reason, the recommendation is not to upgrade defense buildings past level 3.

[whocareswhatmynameis]

People pay too much stock to farming the best possible equipment. As you level up even the best non gold items (ie M4s) will become ineffective or obsolete.


i don't see a scenario where M4A1 will become obsolete. short of using substantial amounts of real money, M4A1 farming is a cornerstone of CC for anyone seriously interested in becoming competitive.

[Duke.0]

This camping strategy sounds really boring to me.

There is no wrong way to play. I just happen to disagree with camping to this extent.

Slow playing is fine, but a total camp is really really boring. I like to have a little fun and attack people and progress through the game.

[CalaisV8]

I follow the story it's a good game I like to play regular.

[emcee]

All of the analytics of this awesome game are much appreciated and most certainly respected. I say that to speak my theory/strategy (which I will say is lacking in terms of per/hour income such as Duder). Laundrymats to a level10 before anything else. Next, all 1 hour collectors to a level 10. It seems that too much money will be missed out on if I don't upgrade the buildings that I will collect on the most.
I agree if you are just artificially pumping up your income per hour. However, the downtime for upgrades between level 8-9 laundromat is 48 hours. There is all the opportunity cost of all those buildings left not upgraded which could be earning plenty of income while reaching level 10 laudromat.

[emcee]

if you concentrate only on LM and 1hr buildings, you have to ask yourself whether you can realistically collect all the income from these buildings. a more balanced strategy which i followed at the beginning of the game was to build as many buildings as i could, regardless of income base and collection time. for determining which upgrade made most sense, i utilized TLoord's spreadsheet (ROI and other metrics).

I totally agree with you. Part of the reason why I didn't upgrade my laundromats to level 10 immediately is that I don't play a lot these days. I spend more time on the forum....lol. I've made such an initial time intensive investment playing numerous hours straight that now I can sit back and relax. I don't worry if I forget to collect on a 6 hour building let alone a 5 min LM. My income is almost $30,000 per hour. I hardly play but yet I rival the income generated from people over level 100 who have to grind pvp or pve just to earn the same. Part of the turtling strategy is that I save time in the future as I wouldn't need to have to visit rivals and check their stats before robbing. My max mafia, with super attack skills multiplier and best bought items should be difficult to stop. Moreover, my defense will be substantial to fend off reprisals.
Using ROI and metrics may be a little overwhelming for most. I suggest just look for buildings that take the least amount of time to upgrade first. This only applies to the initial set of buildings up to level 12 or so. You have to be a lot more selective with future buildings like arcades at level 15.

[emcee]

I disagree on the guard tower advice - I think plopping a few down is an alright idea, but leveling them up to level 5 is not a good use of time. You can get me to roll over up to level 3 or 4 (maybe - and that's only if your next economy based upgrade is 6 hours long, you're not going to bed for an hour or two, and you're trying to figure out how to fill the time).

I went the guard tower route a couple of months ago. At the end of the day I have not seen any improvement from leveling my guard towers past level 3.

My advice, until you get to around 8k income/hour, investing heavily in defensive buildings (in terms of space) is a bit of a waste. You'll be kicking yourself when you have to purchase another expansion to drop your MTs because you just realized you don't have an 8x8 space you can drop them into. Additionally, it's a better use of upgrade time to expand to accommodate a larger number of guard towers. Personally, I'd rather wait until my economy is generating enough to be able to afford the expansions - if I need the space later, I can sell the guard towers.

15 level 3 guard towers: total listed def = 270, total cost = 98,250, total upgrade time (including initial build) = 5hr 15min
5 level 5 guard towers: total listed def = 225, total cost = 107,355, total upgrade time (including initial build) = 20hr 25min

A much better investment on every level is a fully equipped maximum sized mafia. Across the board the return is better.

I totally agree on the max sized mafia up to level 4. My advice is built on avoiding leveling at all cost. Max mafia pushes you in the attack zone. For those that do not want to level you should drop all alliance members and stay in the dead zone. I was at level 4 and under for well over a month but once I hit level 5 it took literally a week or so before I leveled to 7 because I was at max mafia at all times.

My advice was specifically to phxzee. He was losing 8 fights straight which for him was alarming. I agree so my advice was based on his perspective.

I am not suggesting someone to stop upgrading money buildings until they purchase 10 guard towers and have them all upgraded to level 5. Level 1-3 upgrade takes 21 minutes total time so that is fine. My towers are at 5 because my income buildings have sufficiently upgraded to a point that everything now takes a minimum 24 hours. So sometimes when I need to wait a few hours before my (for instance) movie theaters pays out and before I upgrade to the next level I will choose to upgrade a guard tower to level 5.

I will only suggest upgrading towers continuously and avoid income buildings for those like phxzee who apparently does not liked to lose and maintain a great win loss ratio.

Also my advice on level 5 tower upgrades is based on my level 24 account which has not lost a fight or got robbed in the last 45 days; of course including the numerous days its took to build all theaters and lofts with 50 and 100 mafia.

Towers and upgrades to towers make more sense based on my strategy to drop all alliance members. Without all those members bringing in extra defense points the towers will help compensate. If you max alliance then defensive buildings will not carrying as much weight. My guide and advice is based on 0 alliance (dead zone), income building, non leveling and maintaining an enviable win loss record. Analyzing any aspect of my advice without considering my overall objective is going to be easy to see weaknesses.

[emcee]

i don't see a scenario where M4A1 will become obsolete. short of using substantial amounts of real money, M4A1 farming is a cornerstone of CC for anyone seriously interested in becoming competitive.

I agree that they are most likely for the foreseeable future. However, Madawgg has said above level 150 they do not add to attack and defense stats. I am guessing and only those at that level or above can confirm if there are actually any purchasable non gold items that will make the M4s obsolete. If not then I retract my assessment about M4s being obsolete. They may still be ineffective because, for instance, the extra 100 skill points (1000 energy) you've invested would be better served upgrading attack and taking that multiplier into all fights.

From my level 24 account the best gun I can see excluding mafia members and respect based options has an attack of 11 and defense of 5. Come higher levels there should be better guns that close the gap between M4s stats and possibly surpass it.

[Max Power]

I agree that they are most likely for the foreseeable future. However, Madawgg has said above level 150 they do not add to attack and defense stats. I am guessing and only those at that level or above can confirm if there are actually any purchasable non gold items that will make the M4s obsolete. If not then I retract my assessment about M4s being obsolete. They may still be ineffective because, for instance, the extra 100 skill points (100 energy) you've invested would be better served upgrading attack and taking that multiplier into all fights.

From my level 24 account the best gun I can see excluding mafia members and respect based options has an attack of 11 and defense of 5. Come higher levels there should be better guns that close the gap between M4s stats and possibly surpass it.

By level 150, most people will have 500 of em.

[phxzee]

It's the nature of these games that they will add in more items, once the herd catches up to the power levelers. Otherwise, what else are you supposed to do. There needs to be a carrot on the stick, otherwise the donkey will just sit there.

Thanks for your advice, I wish I wasn't so impatient and didn't decide to do a bunch of jobs to get some fast cash because now that I am not actually upgrading the laundromats, the income they provide is invaluable.

Reading through your post, there seemed to be a large emphasis on upgrading the laundromats to level 10 as fast as possible, so i just tried to do that, also you mentioned building all the types of buildings. Do you actually do this? Because how do you do this without needing to expand! I just did the 12k expansion, but I'm now focusing on anything with the shortest upgrade time, also I am trying to be weary of the collection time. No point upgrading when theres 30mins or so left before you can collect.

Since kitting up my mafia (I went nuts on the ski masks and brass knuckles), I haven't lost a fight so my stats are sitting on 8-8. I've also taken your advice on allocating attack points. Currently sitting on $4.2k/hour, and everything seems to be moving along at a good pace now. My one pet peeve is that sometimes I'll open the game and my laundromats won't have any money to collect and they'll start at the 5:00 countdown. Anyone else experience this??

Modern War was much simpler, the engineers are invaluable and there aren't as many buildings that you can buy. I was finding that I was expanding my build zone just because I had nothing else to do. Anyway enough about MW as this is a CC thread.

Thanks for your input guys, right now I don't think I'll have enough space for the guard towers but we'll have to make things work....

[Tramp Stamp]

Two schools of thought:

1) Turtle. Build everything and expand when you have the resources.

2) Rapid growth. Skip everything from Electronics Store until the Dominican Restaurant and build that and everything after. Build the earlier buildings as vanity pieces later on as desired.

[xclusiv]

slow and steady does not win the race. rapid growth is the way to go, the faster you level up the more energy and stamnia you will get the more ull be able to farm, easier to complete thug life and hh goals. in my mind i dont understand why people want to be stuck at a low level, do you know how long it takes to get to level 200 but the faster you get there the stronger ull be, a camper vs someone who is rapidily growing the person expanding fast will always beat the slow camper

[Synergy]

slow and steady does not win the race. rapid growth is the way to go, the faster you level up the more energy and stamnia you will get the more ull be able to farm, easier to complete thug life and hh goals. in my mind i dont understand why people want to be stuck at a low level, do you know how long it takes to get to level 200 but the faster you get there the stronger ull be, a camper vs someone who is rapidily growing the person expanding fast will always beat the slow camper

I disagree. I mean im about to hit 160, but I didn't race there. I think racing to 200 as fast as you can is a dumb move. Think about it. The people that took their time and put it into increasing income, attack, and def will be stronger at 200 than the player who tried to get there as quickly as possible with a crazy amount of stam. I use 414 M4's during a fight, but farmed like 430 or so (which, surprisingly didn't take too long). I have 1790 stam and that was enough to get the M4's. I dunno. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the person that takes their time will inevitably have a higher income, attack, and def at 200 than the player that is constantly focusing on leveling. I love finding weak 200's. The xp and rp gained while fighting them is way higher than normal.

[phxzee]

ahhh that's right, I was meant to ask what you vets think is a 'sufficient' amount of energy / stam.

[duder]

my take, end game you should have somewhere in this range:

atk/def: player's choice
energy: 520 - 1540
stam: 60 - 180

I'd base your energy and stamina pools on how much you sleep and whether you want to purchase the goodfella upgrade. The low end takes three hours to refresh, the high end nine without the upgrade. With goodfella you should have more. You could probably get by on less stamina if you wanted, but you'll probably want somewhere in that range to be able to do missions.

If you're going the camping route, I'd recommend getting to your end game energy and stamina pools as quickly as possible. This will allow you to grow faster once you activate. If you're worried about opponents' attack and defense modifiers, you haven't camped long enough! Keep in mind that stamina has better payouts in terms of experience than energy and you'll need boatloads of respect long term. On the flip side, the best piece of equipment through the middle levels is a mission drop that you can start farming at level 30 (you'll want an absolute minimum of 120 energy for this). After you hit the energy & stamina pool you want, it's your game in terms of attack/defense balance.

[whocareswhatmynameis]

my feeling about the correct pace for the game is mixed. i understand both sides of the argument (slow vs fast). i don't think there is one right answer. each strategy has its own merits and limitations. i have employed both strategies at different stages of the game- beginning of game: slow; current: fast.


slow pace:
adv:
strong mob for level (by farming respect points from robbing buildings esp LM lvl 4-7; also purchase of decent weapons by in-game cash)
great income for level (by building and upgrading loft and MT, also other buildings)
excellent win and robbery success rates (since these players are strong for their level)

disadv:
lack of access to very lucrative and game changing gold buildings at higher levels (rock cafe, pirate tavern, gentlemen's club)
inability to aggressively farm M4A1s (for fear of leveling up too fast)
CC may not be as fun to play as several components of the game such as fights, mission quests are excluded from game strategy (again for fear of leveling up too fast)

fast pace:
adv:
probably more enjoyable- most if not all facets of the game are fully utilized (fights, robberies, missions, quests, economy)
great opportunity to have very high income (because of access to high level gold buildings)

disadv:
win rates may not be stellar
need to work really hard to keep mob strength competitive

[duder]

this is why we need to figure out the end game goals! there are basically three (or five) categories:

1. PVP - this should be pretty much dictated by equipment and skill point distribution
2. Mission Completion - allhaildiscordia has pretty well documented this
3. In game goals - syn's random rewards screenshots is a pretty good start here
4. (arguable) Economy completion - get every building to level 10 or some such
5. (arguable) Completing gamecenter goals

We should be talking about slow v. fast not only in terms of player enjoyment but in terms of the ability to complete these.

See, I think the point of camping is that later on you'll be able to get more realized gains on your stamina usage as it will be easier to win 100% of your offensive actions and you won't have to refresh your rival list as much. Additionally, I think (ok, I hope) the long term economic impact of camping will balance out as you are able to realize gains from not vaulting and not purchasing equipment to complete missions or compete pvp (damn it, I *will* catch you! just slow down a bit for the next couple months, ok?)

True, camping does have an unrecoverable impact on the timeline to complete all the missions. But I think (again I hope) the other pieces can be recovered from. The thing that stifles this conversation is, to my knowledge, there are no aggressive turtle campers on the forum who have activated yet. Once there is, I'm certain we will need to revisit this conversation in the context of how long folks have been playing and whether camping paid off.

[emcee]

True, camping does have an unrecoverable impact on the timeline to complete all the missions. But I think (again I hope) the other pieces can be recovered from.

The argument of campers vs levelers are numerous. The common thread I find is that levelers will say I will be so much stronger than you down the road. That is most likely the case in a hardcore turtling strategy that I am employing as chances are we will never meet down the road a year from now. These guys have to keep in mind that campers are not competing against these people but whomever is at their level now give and take a few. This all depends on the mysterious mafia brackets that Funzio can change at any time. In the beginning levels up to level 24 (from my personal experience) the brackets seems to hold well and you are competing with like level rivals. So I am at level 8 in my main account which I started almost 2 months ago. Chances are 99.9% of all gamers who installed CC on their device that day are way above this level. I will probably never see them unless they are an aggressive camper like me.

If Funzio said that this game only has a life span of only 2 years from your install date then camping would be much less of a viable strategy. If this was indeed the case I would be leveling up like all others. However, since this is not a race to get to level 200 first whatever strategy you employ is fine.

I don't see why the argument that camping has an unrecoverable impact on the timeline to complete all missions as there is no clock ticking to complete all missions by a certain period of time; at least for now. I can just as easily invest my skill points from my level 8 account heavily into energy and complete all missions and enjoy the narrative like anyone else who choose this route. My point with this strategy is that you can hold off on allocating skill points from level 1 moving forward until you decide to exit camping mode and figuring out how you would like to move forward; ie, narrative mode, pvp, pve intensive, etc. The biggest benefit is that when you choose to level you will have a superior economy to most at your level now.

[Tramp Stamp]

If one takes the argument of "camping makes you weaker" as truth, it would mean there is no point in starting a new game as the complete downtime between August and now is even more irrecoverable than whatever time spent camping.

[emcee]

The argument that camping makes you weaker is just utter nonsense and frankly does not need to be debated any further. The funny thing is that even the most hardcore levelers are campers because they eventually have to sleep.

[phxzee]

is there actually any benefit of staying at the mafia cap? From what it looks like, you get matched up against people of your level unless there aren't enough players, in the higher levels i can see why it might make a difference but at the lowbie levels its so populated, do you get paired up against high levels at all? (asuming you went higher than the 5xlvl cap)

[phxzee]

I've started up a secondary camper account, this time I'm planning my upgrades much more appropriately and have found this strat a lot less cumbersome (focusing on the laundromats early on really hinders your income).

My first account is now doing pretty well, Level 8 and just hit 10k/ph I've been hit twice so far by other campers with high attack scores, one took 10k from me, so i responded by beefing up my defense even further. I'm wondering how high I should take my defense score.

One thing I'd like to ask duder, is you mention in this thread that taking guard towers to level 3 is ideal, but you've got your towers at level 4, why is this?


My main question though is regarding main mechanics of this game. Would it be possible to get away with doing absolutely no jobs, and put all your skill points into attack/stamina, and just pvp? with an effective economy base can you just buy all the best equip for your mafia and still be competitive?

[erik]

I can only think of 3 strategic reasons to slow your leveling before at least 135.

1. You are not a disciplined collector.
2. You are not going to buy Gold buildings (starting at church and up)
3. You goal is an amazing fight/rob ratio.

That being said I have respect for the different play styles we all have and enjoy seeing some of the crazy low level hoods like TS and Duder etc

[Tramp Stamp]

That being said I have respect for the different play styles we all have and enjoy seeing some of the crazy low level hoods like TS and Duder etc

I can't really be considered a camper. I did camp for 2, maybe 3, weeks after a drunken weekend of picking this game up on a whim and starting to run myself into trouble. Since then I've been gaining levels at a decent clip, fast enough at least to receive comments about my rate being too fast. On average I'd say I'm gaining levels at an appropriate pace. I only seem slow because I picked this game up 2-3 months after most of the other players. Ever since the corrective camp, there has been no reason to slow down, despite occasional admonition. In fact, today I accelerated exp gain with a +10 boost to stamina. I'm looking forward to getting to the competitive phase but it still seems somewhat far off, but at the same time I'm noticing I'm starting to catch up with some long time players.


1. You are not a disciplined collector.

I'm assuming you're referring to collecting 12/24/48 before they're robbed. If so, I think this is a highly overrated tactic for low level players. With the information available on the forum most should be able to withstand robbery attempts without too much effort.


2. You are not going to buy Gold buildings (starting at church and up)

Tapjoy radically changes this aspect, but even if it didn't there should still be enough time with a good economy strategy to correct this deficiency. I will let everyone know when I get there. Even with the Tapjoy income I don't plan to use gold until possibly the Gentlemen's club. That is, unless there's a massive strategic shift due to a large volume of players grinding Tapjoy offers (ugh, I consider myself a grindmaster and even I have trouble doing this).


3. You goal is an amazing fight/rob ratio.

Highly overrated. Most of my losses, both fight and robbery, are "informational". That is, I traded a loss for valuable information as to where I stand. Loss aversion, ironically, puts you in a losing position.

[Silvio]

I fail to see how camping can make you weaker. I can't seem to camp, because my farming activities continue to promote me, but I can't see how camping could weaken you. Camping provides time to grow an economy, which will supplement and support all other cc activities. One may argue that levelling provides you with respect points not available to campers, but those respect points are merely delayed until the camper begins to level.

[erik]

@TS

1. By that I mean if you are a lazy collector and rely on your defense to protect your income. I am still collecting 3 (6.5x), 6 (3.5-4x), 8, 12, 24, 48 faithfully, but a true camper (like me in lousy Modern War See 282 908 383) can be relaxed with their collections. I wonder how many times Duder gets robbed.

2. This is probably true for many of our board members, (and anyone that will ever read this) but I suspect most players will not do this. I personally have not because they require your device ID and can eventually sell all your info according to their privacy policy. The worthwhile Gold buildings give such a huge boost, and are available in a nice cluster of lvls that it is hard not to race there!

3. Useless to me as well, but I have seen people post as though this is very important to them.

@Silvio The lost advancement and time it takes is the opportunity cost that is lost. I would argue that any benefit that you gain camping is lost on the many collections of unavailable buildings, especially gold. I would also say that the pvp item base, and especially the hours and hours of energy points thrown out the window for M4s etc are forever lost.

One can only play this game for so long before their wife makes them delete it, so I calculate time as a big factor ;)

[Tramp Stamp]

I wonder how many times Duder gets robbed.

Only (early) gold players can touch him, and there's a level cap in place, $3k per hit I believe.


The lost advancement and time it takes is the opportunity cost that is lost.

I don't disagree on the opportunity cost aspect, but if camping truly made one weaker then there'd be no point in starting the game past August 2011.


One can only play this game for so long before their wife makes them delete it

Wives are for suckers.

[Nudie]

Does camping make you weaker?
Well, if a camper and a non camper (both playing for the same length of time) go head to head, my bet would be that the non camper would be "stronger".

[emcee]

is there actually any benefit of staying at the mafia cap? From what it looks like, you get matched up against people of your level unless there aren't enough players, in the higher levels i can see why it might make a difference but at the lowbie levels its so populated, do you get paired up against high levels at all? (asuming you went higher than the 5xlvl cap)

The benefit of staying at the mafia cap is to be competitive while you are leveling. You are utilizing all to max your attack and defense scores. Of course staying at the mafia cap does not make any sense if you do not have enough guns for all members. At progressively higher levels you would want to max vehicles as well. At lower levels not so much as most have not developed their economies to support a full fleet of vehicles.

I would not recommend max mafia if you are camping for any extended length of time. In fact drop all members and you should be in the dead zone bracket.

[emcee]

One thing I'd like to ask duder, is you mention in this thread that taking guard towers to level 3 is ideal, but you've got your towers at level 4, why is this?

Any hardcore camper will eventually run into some periods of time in which it will not be worthwhile to upgrade an income building. All my buildings are now 24 hour plus for upgrades so lets say while I am saving up for my level 4 loft upgrade and am just 100,000 away from reaching that goal it would not make any sense to start with another income upgrade and have literally 3,000,000 income sitting there. In that case it does not hurt to upgrade a guard tower to level 4 which only takes 22 min. People argue about not leveling towers above level 3 but even level 5 or 6 are viable options especially if you have time to burn between income building upgrades. Defense building metrics can always change but having higher upgraded units will never hurt.
By the way all of my guard towers are at level 5 minimum.



My main question though is regarding main mechanics of this game. Would it be possible to get away with doing absolutely no jobs, and put all your skill points into attack/stamina, and just pvp? with an effective economy base can you just buy all the best equip for your mafia and still be competitive?
Of course. There are no rules about completing jobs. My level 24 account with 730 energy will follow the narrative whereas my level 8 account will be a pure attack/stamina build moving forward with only 260 energy. Ultra high attack skills multiplier coupled with Goodfella status, super economy, max alliance, best equipment bought and earned from pvp will be a difficult force to match unless you have a lot of gold.

[emcee]

Tapjoy radically changes this aspect, but even if it didn't there should still be enough time with a good economy strategy to correct this deficiency. I will let everyone know when I get there. Even with the Tapjoy income I don't plan to use gold until possibly the Gentlemen's club. That is, unless there's a massive strategic shift due to a large volume of players grinding Tapjoy offers (ugh, I consider myself a grindmaster and even I have trouble doing this).

I agree. Have yet to see the fruits of my labor but am only 10 gold away from Goodfella status. 10% bonus to my income will be a big boost more so than say spending the gold on ice cream shops. That would be my next goal after Goodfella.
Tapjoy has leveled the playing field for me as I want to stay true to a non spend build.

[emcee]

I fail to see how camping can make you weaker. I can't seem to camp, because my farming activities continue to promote me, but I can't see how camping could weaken you. Camping provides time to grow an economy, which will supplement and support all other cc activities. One may argue that levelling provides you with respect points not available to campers, but those respect points are merely delayed until the camper begins to level.
+1. Couldn't have said it better myself.

[deuces]

I agree. Have yet to see the fruits of my labor but am only 10 gold away from Goodfella status. 10% bonus to my income will be a big boost more so than say spending the gold on ice cream shops. That would be my next goal after Goodfella.
Tapjoy has leveled the playing field for me as I want to stay true to a non spend build.

Assuming you realize this, but if you're tycoon already you wont get another 10% bonus. You only get a bonus on the 2 categories you dont currently have.

[emcee]

@TS
@Silvio The lost advancement and time it takes is the opportunity cost that is lost. I would argue that any benefit that you gain camping is lost on the many collections of unavailable buildings, especially gold. I would also say that the pvp item base, and especially the hours and hours of energy points thrown out the window for M4s etc are forever lost.

One can only play this game for so long before their wife makes them delete it, so I calculate time as a big factor ;)

Your argument holds true if CC has a time limit to play. Since there isn't a camper can take their sweet time without any penalties; all the while getting stronger.

No wife here so I can play indefinitely :)

[emcee]

Assuming you realize this, but if you're tycoon already you wont get another 10% bonus. You only get a bonus on the 2 categories you dont currently have.

Can anyone else confirm this?

I am Tycoon status at the moment and if I click upgrade it states:

GOODFELLA
-10% faster refills on Stamina
-10% faster refills on Energy
-10% more income from Buildings

Assuming what you say is true the third point does not make any sense.

[phxzee]

Can anyone else confirm this?

I am Tycoon status at the moment and if I click upgrade it states:

GOODFELLA
-10% faster refills on Stamina
-10% faster refills on Energy
-10% more income from Buildings

Assuming what you say is true the third point does not make any sense.


Yep, confirmed you will not get an extra 10% I thought oyu would so i Upgraded and was disappointed when that wasn't the case..... :( QQ so don't do it ! lol

[emcee]

Yep, confirmed you will not get an extra 10% I thought oyu would so i Upgraded and was disappointed when that wasn't the case..... :( QQ so don't do it ! lol

Perhaps it is indeed 10% as advertised but when most people who upgraded to Goodfella early on with a mediocre economy 10% can be easily overlooked.

I'm at 40,000/hr income and expect Goodfella upgrade to increase it to 44,000/hr.

Reading some other thread there seems to be differing views.

[deuces]

I had the 10% stamina boost as i didnt know anything about the game before starting. I upgraded to goodfella and received a 10% boost in $ and a 10% drop in time regenerating energy. My stamina still takes 2:42 to replenish, meaning you only gain the 2 boosts you dont already have. If you still dont believe that, you can email them at support@funzio.com and they will confirm this for you.

Those gold bars are going to tempt you for the next 2 years of your life until you reach level 125 ;)

[emcee]

I had the 10% stamina boost as i didnt know anything about the game before starting. I upgraded to goodfella and received a 10% boost in $ and a 10% drop in time regenerating energy. My stamina still takes 2:42 to replenish, meaning you only gain the 2 boosts you dont already have. If you still dont believe that, you can email them at support@funzio.com and they will confirm this for you.

Those gold bars are going to tempt you for the next 2 years of your life until you reach level 125 ;)

I've read the other posts it seems like the majority feel there is not a 10% boost in income if you are already a Tycoon and upgrade to Goodfella status even though it specifically states that in game.

I doubt the gold is going to tempt me as I have a habit of tapping too quick and may use up most if not all gold on an inadvertent finish now upgrade.

By the way you are probably right as these 221 gold bars and counting will still be tempting me 2 years from now.

[phxzee]

Since i just started this game the thought of an extra income was a big carrot on a stick for me. I went goodfella straight away, and was really disheartened when i saw my buildings earning the same cash as before :(

/edit

assuming bonuses gets added when you collect, i can test the difference on my accounts by checking the same level buildings, one account is goodfella but my second is just tycoon

[emcee]

You don't need to check the same level buildings. All you need to do is to note the income/hr on your tycoon account and if you upgrade to goodfella and get a 10% boost then it should settle things. A 10% boost on all your income producing buildings should be more noticeable than say on 1 building especially if there is some rounding off.

I've just pm Crime City Mark and hope he can clarify things.

[phxzee]

The benefit of staying at the mafia cap is to be competitive while you are leveling. You are utilizing all to max your attack and defense scores. Of course staying at the mafia cap does not make any sense if you do not have enough guns for all members. At progressively higher levels you would want to max vehicles as well. At lower levels not so much as most have not developed their economies to support a full fleet of vehicles.

I would not recommend max mafia if you are camping for any extended length of time. In fact drop all members and you should be in the dead zone bracket.

Perhaps i should have worded things better, i understand the benefits of being at the mafia cap, what I was asking is why not go a bit over the cap??? For instance, I'm level 8 but have 50 mafia (to buy the theaters), but staying +10mafia hasn't really impacted me in any way

[emcee]

Perhaps i should have worded things better, i understand the benefits of being at the mafia cap, what I was asking is why not go a bit over the cap??? For instance, I'm level 8 but have 50 mafia (to buy the theaters), but staying +10mafia hasn't really impacted me in any way

There is no benefit from my experience other than being able to buy theaters and eventually the loft.

After buying the theaters and loft, if your objective is to not level then I suggest that you drop all mafia members and stay in the dead zone.

[emcee]

Crime City Mark has confirmed that +10% more income from buildings is not stacked if you are already Tycoon class.

So its 2 ice cream shops for me instead.

[duder]

@erik
Not counting my first two weeks playing, I've had buildings robbed by 1 player. Net loss ~6k (they got my ice cream shops! thank god it wasn't lofts... sheesh)

I've lost 8 incoming fights to 4 players. Net loss ~5k

It looks like there's a level modifier on the loss cap until you reach a certain level; at level 9 the most someone can grab is 550 per hit.

[emcee]

It's been a while since my last update so here it goes.

Main camping account is still at level 8 saving up for first night club. 12.3 million on hand and another 27.7 mil to go :(
Should be another 4-6 weeks before reaching this goal. It all depends on how often I play which isn't much relative to when I first started. I'm averaging collecting from lofts and theaters 1.5 times a day as work and social calendar have been a priority. Nonetheless, I see a light at the end of the tunnel.

I will request Tramp to add me to the weekly economies list probably a week or two to document the transition.

The second account which was at level 24 for several months is now aggressively leveling; well at least by my standards.
Currently level 31 and can't keep up with upgrades and building new income properties. Have another 19 income buildings to add on my surge to level 47 before starting second stage of camping. This includes 2 night clubs.

At level 47 will unlock gatling turret and will be adding at minimum 50 of these and leveling them up to level 2 but probably 3. At level 3 they have a rated mafia defense score of 50 (maybe more with tycoon).

Even with the surge from level 24 to 31 I've been attacked/robbed 20 odd times and 0 defeats. Just started to farm M4A1s yesterday and the 3 I've got has padded my attack and defense scores. Hopefully by level 47 I should have a lot more. Not too worried about farming these as my defense seems sufficient with a mob of 20 (16 henchmen and 4 active players) as most rivals have attack scores way below 1000.

My biggest problem now is figuring out which type B buildings to upgrade as the guides don't go into great depths.

Here's the latest stats on my secondary account.

Jobs Completed: 929
Fights Won: 402
Fights Lost: 96
Robberies Won: 292
Robberies Lost: 56
# of Mafia Members: 20
# of Weapons: 450
# of Armor: 204
Total Mafia Attack: 618
Total Mafia Defense: 1955
Income Per Hour: $55,072

In terms of this guide as it relates to camping I have mentioned not to do any missions and don't attack or rob anyone. In my surge from level 24-30 I did some missions and followed the narrative. However, I did not attack or rob anyone as eventually I will start camping once again. Since level 30 all I will do in terms of leveling is my trips to the junkyard to farm M4A1s.

Those that I can easily defeat now may be much stronger down the line when I decide to camp at level 47. For the foreseeable months camped at level 47 said rival can easily jump to level 150 with a lot more mafia members and by chance if I may still be on their Empire Times (highly unlikely) there will be a link for retaliation.
Of course I will be a tempting target as I don't bank any longer and having millions unprotected may be a very tempting target. Chances are once I'm settled at level 47 I will have a monstrous hood and probably have hundred of gatlings protecting it.

[deuces]

50 is the max number of each defense building you can build fyi.

[AppleMacGuy]

Chances are once I'm settled at level 47 I will have a monstrous hood and probably have hundred of gatlings protecting it.

Only in your dreams I'm afraid...there is a cap of 50 for each type of defence building!

[emcee]

50 is the max number of each defense building you can build fyi.

Thanks for the info. So will be upgrading 50 gatling turrets to level 3. Maybe will add a few Muay Thai centers in the meantime as 4x4 footprint and level 4 upgrade will yield a defense score of 45. Will only do this if I lose 1 fight/robbery on my way to level 47.

[emcee]

Here is a link for which is the next best income building to upgrade. Just go down the list until you find a building in your inventory and upgrade it if you have not reached the specified level.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqG6Hk8lT37YdEZucTdqT0JUcHVEcy1vN3JjeTVaU Hc#gid=1

[emcee]

ahhh that's right, I was meant to ask what you vets think is a 'sufficient' amount of energy / stam.

I can now answer your question with greater authority. If you want to have a truly monstrous build I would suggest only 180 invested into energy. Max would be 270. The rest dumped into attack. 0 skill points into defense and 10 into stamina. It is even possible to go as low as 6 stamina. Based on this recommendation you will have an end game attack skill rating over 550. This is quite a substantial attack skills multiplier to take into battle.

180 into energy will allow 3 taps at the junkyard to farm M4 A1s. I have been farming these for the last twelve days and have 56 so far. Of course I was able to achieve this with 730 energy. But in reality having this much energy is a waste if I do not intend to complete missions and just want to farm M4s. I've blazed through 730 energy at once on several occasions without any success and the best results I've found is 3 clicks. It was 4 a few days ago but 3 seems to be the sweet spot.

10 stamina for most will seem shockingly low. It depends on your playing style. For a tortoise account this is a good fit as well as my energy recommendations as the key to this build is not leveling quickly and to put an emphasis on economy building.

Just reading this thread players not adopting a tortoise strategy have mentioned that my account will be weak when I exit camping mode. This is only true if I have max alliance. This is the key. So I will like to reiterate that the strength of an ultra tortoise account is to have zero or minimum alliance as long as possible and to only add mob members once you hit level 30 and start farming M4s. When you farm 1 M4 add 1 extra member to your mob and equip them with the best or decent 1 melee, 1 armor, 1 explosives and 1 vehicle.

Even though my secondary account now has 10 stamina I am averaging around 500 respect points daily as I am now aggressively leveling; well at least by my standards. So there is no need to have to do thug life and other mission goals to earn respect, etc.

The tortoise approach to leveling is to get the maximum respect to experience ratio. In other words, just concentrate on robbing level 4-7 laundromats and collection agencies later on as you level. On this secondary account I have followed the narrative and have done a fair share of missions to level up. Even with this playing style I will have 500 M4s (minus better items), 500 chain whips, etc like any other strong player but with the exception that my attack score will be over 500 while most will be under 100. With a strong economy expanding your hood and buying at max 50 of each defense buildings (not necessarily all available but depending on your comfort zone with maintaining whatever reasonable win/loss record) coupled with superior stats augmentation from best end game equips and having a monstrous attack skills multiplier should be a winning combination.

Since starting to progress with my level 24 account about 2 weeks ago I have not loss any robberies, fights and/or retaliations.

Here are the stats for Miguel.

Level 43
Jobs Completed: 1830
Fights Won: 566
Fights Lost: 96
Robberies Won: 2131
Robberies Lost: 56
# of Mafia Members: 57
# of Weapons: 535
# of Armor: 242
Total Mafia Attack: 2217
Total Mafia Defense: 3872
Income Per Hour: $67057

Attack: 54
Defense: 1
Energy: 730
Stamina: 10

Due to the superior stats boost from M4s I didn't even purchase the best vehicles and other items. So there is still room for improvement but I don't see the need to spend any dollars until I actually lose a fight or get robbed.

In light of my progression results I may not even camp significantly at any one level in the future.

On my main level 8 camper account will be a different story depending on how aggressively I want to maintain my near perfect win/loss fight/robbery stats.

However, based on what I am accomplishing with Miguel I am pretty confident that things will be a breeze assuming Funzio does not change things significantly in the future.

If you would like to join my mob and check out my hood please send an invite to 998 375 471.

I have every non gold building up to internet company plus 2 basketball courts. 66 in total excluding defense units. I will be adding more mob members as I farm M4s.

[Swifty]

I am more than a little impressed, but I would never assume that Funzio will not change things significantly.

[emcee]

I am more than a little impressed, but I would never assume that Funzio will not change things significantly.

I agree. Probably everyone (at least those reading the forums, which probably accounts for less than 10% of all players) will have 500 M4s so they will introduce some better super expensive weapon or farm item or respect purchase equips down the line.

Nevertheless it just makes business sense to always dangle the carrot. I would do the same. Imagine if they ever implement casualties to items. Things after all can break with use or maybe someone will steal a M4 during a battle.

[phxzee]

Hey guys, I took a break from the forums but I wanted to update you on the progress of my accounts and all things being said, things seems to be growing quite well. I'm at the stage where I have movie theatres at level 5, and have just begun upgrading my first loft. One thing I wish I knew about was all the mafia requirement equipments I could have purchased, instead of sinking money on motorbikes and what not, but at the end of the day it is all quite good.

This is a very slow way to play the game, but I'm having fun doing it. in light of the recent changes to the M4A1s, i'm pretty upset... but what can you do right?

One thing I found interesting is that I also started a second camper, but I've found her to be leveling up faster (albeit not much faster). Almost nobody attacks my main account but my second one gets thrown around like a rag doll (even though she owns them all the time, i'm still gaining that unwanted xp)

Her name is 'missy p', i wonder if people see a girly name and think, haha weak target and attack me straight away... or maybe it is just luck of the draw.

Eitherway I would like to thank all the contributers to this thread as I'm having a great time employing this strat (i just wish i knew about the non-stacking goodfella bonus before i spent some gold on it)

[Plux]

Emcee thats a great posting, enjoyed the read and some of us believe in economy building and core income building, it does lead to greater economic power over greater Att and Def players. Stick with it Emcee, it'll come good, you watch.

[emcee]

One thing I found interesting is that I also started a second camper, but I've found her to be leveling up faster (albeit not much faster). Almost nobody attacks my main account but my second one gets thrown around like a rag doll (even though she owns them all the time, i'm still gaining that unwanted xp)

I am going to guess on your camper account you have close to max alliance. To avoid leveling you should drop all alliance members and effectively be placed in the dead zone bracket. Also, I would recommend buying plenty of defense buildings to boost stats and to act as a deterrent against robberies.

[emcee]

Emcee thats a great posting, enjoyed the read and some of us believe in economy building and core income building, it does lead to greater economic power over greater Att and Def players. Stick with it Emcee, it'll come good, you watch.
Thanks for the support.

For non gold users we can all agree that respect items are king but having a strong economy is even more important these days.
Obviously for mid game players it will allow you to remain competitive and save hard earned respect for end game items only.
In terms of end game strategy a strong economy will allow outfitting your mob with the best attack and defense explosives including attrition. The jet at present still offers the best end game vehicle defense stat of 36 and cost $84,000,000 each. M4s were the best defensive guns at 22 but now is replaced by the dual machine gun at level 98 with 19 rating and $2,800,000 each. Also a strong economy will allow base expansions and having the ability to eventually purchase 50 of each defense building (550 max at present) without selling any income buildings.

[Burn]

Just read this thread through because it keeps coming back onto front page.

Not read it before, because it is the polar opposite to my active-play-with-zero-camping preference.

But kudos emcee, it is, for those that want to pursue this route, an excellent and well thought out strategy.

I couldn't do it though, I have the attention span of a Goldfish. Saving R points for just 1 week is killing me ;)

[white frog]

Just curious Burn... do you actually have a Desert Eagle?

[Burn]

Froggy, if you are referring to the gun on my avatar pic, not a DE, it's a Sig Sauer P226.

I'm in UK so no guns. I do have a washing up liquid bottle filled with water which i can squirt at people, but the range is so short it is more Melee than Gun ;)

[white frog]

Ok Burn... I've got a bone to pick with you!!! After realizing my mistake about the Desert Eagle/Sig, I decided to go check out the Sig pistols. I started shooting a few different guns, and well...
Long story short, I ended up bringing home 2 guns today (Sig556 DMR & 556 Pistol)!!! I spent over $4k and the way I see it, it's your fault (hehe..). So I'll be expecting a reimbursement from you in the next 7-10 business days. I accept all major credit cards, personal checks, or cashiers checks. Thanks for your expedited cooperation!

[Santa]

Guns? What are you going to do with guns?

[phxzee]

I am going to guess on your camper account you have close to max alliance. To avoid leveling you should drop all alliance members and effectively be placed in the dead zone bracket. Also, I would recommend buying plenty of defense buildings to boost stats and to act as a deterrent against robberies.

Both accounts were played the same way with high enough scores to act as detterants (and failed attempts except for the random gold buyer or fellow camper looking to strike out [im guessing]) , in fact now on my main account i'm stacking mafia so that I can have access to the higher end equipment though, I'm thinking that isn't really necessary since i almost never lose. But either way, I'm lazy and refuse to keep adding people lol.

But yeah, that's why I found it curious. why does this poor little missy p keep getting targetted !!! :(


Another upshot i discovered to having this extreme economy is that we can even pretty up our cities. I know this provides no strategic value but, hey its another aspect of the game to explore if you desire (i personally liked the Sim City series).

ps. i added you emcee, what was your name? i'd like to see your hood

[emcee]

ps. i added you emcee, what was your name? i'd like to see your hood

My secondary level 54 account is Miguel 998 375 471. I have at the moment 127 incoming request. 1/3 to night club purchase so should be doing a mass add in less than 2 weeks. Will look for your name in the meantime.

My level 8 tortoise account is in deep undercover right now so will post hood pics in another 4-6 weeks once the 2nd night club is built. Call me paranoid but prefer to not have rivals look for me and attack/rob. Duder's notoriety had rivals target him just because and cause some leveling.

[emcee]

Just posted this in Burn's thread regarding active play vs camping with my take in light of recent M4s nerf.

http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?23044-Camping-versus-Active-Play

The reason I camp aggressively is to maintain a near perfect win loss record. I know that is not possible if I leveled too quickly. I don't like to lose. Losing for me is not fun. For me playing this game and winning at all cost (i.e. sacrificing opportunity cost in the so called Crime City timeline) is my prime directive. For the vast majority of all players out there this is crazy or sheer stupidity. Alas its my playing style and I enjoy upgrading my buildings and being able to purchase high income buildings that most don't have even on my level 54 account.

If maintaining near perfect stats was not my objective I would have exited camping mode months earlier and have access to plenty of new income buildings over and above level 8.

I decided to exit camping mode on my level 24 account about 5 weeks ago. Since then I have not loss a fight and only have been robbed twice. Fortunately having a second account makes turtling a breeze on the first.

With that said, Burn's stats is very impressive considering his anti camping gameplay. Most following his style would probably not yield similar results.

Hindsight is 20/20 but if I had to do it all over again prior to M4 nerf I would have camped for a month or so and then have enough income to expand my hood and purchase defense buildings. I would then make my way up to level 30 with a zero alliance plus henchmen and start M4 farming. Once I got an M4 I would add one additional mafia member and equip with the best purchasable items. This strategy worked extremely well for my secondary account which net 91 M4s. Since the nerf I am now adding mafia members as I successfully unlock rewards from special events. So its going to be a very long time before I reach 500 mafia alliance.

Anyone can have great win loss stats if they just followed the above narrative provided they do have a strong enough economy and do not have a maxed mob for their level.

I'm going to guess the reason Burn has such great stats is that he has a full set of M4s. Anyone with significantly less or none these days would be better served to slow leveling to a snails pace and acquire gold like items through special events and develop their economy.

My level 54 account is so strong relative to most because of the 91 M4s; so much so that I do not have to buy the best items in the other categories. I feel its imperative for any players between level 1-29 to camp for a period to drive a greater level wedge between them and those who had the chance to farm M4s. The only time they should level would be during special events and with the majority time spent on robbing laundromats/collection agencies to replenish open safes/bags/etc. and of course get the best respect to experience gain ratio. This strategy should allow you to save respect until you reach level 55 and the be able to purchase chain whips which is technically the M4 alternative these days even though they are in 2 different categories.

[gem]

emcee, just wondering... i know this is an old thread and all.. but are u still camping atm? are u still playing even?

[ShawnBB]

emcee, just wondering... i know this is an old thread and all.. but are u still camping atm? are u still playing even?

Yes, he is still active.
It will take him approximately 4 months to finish 2 lvl 3 Nightclubs, he is getting close to it now.

Honestly,I put him as the NO1 free player. Aggresive(on event) crawling is the best game strategy IMO.

[misterrunon]

i started out playing without thinking (and realizing which investments were the best to make). so far i'm about 3 weeks in, at level 39.. i'm starting to crawl now myself. with level 8/6 laundromats, im only making 9k/hr.. i think i'm going to slow down a bit. i'm thinking i won't allow myself to get past 50 until i have 2 level 10 movie theaters and 2 level 5 lofts, which is going to take another 2 months probably.

[emcee]

emcee, just wondering... i know this is an old thread and all.. but are u still camping atm? are u still playing even?

Still playing Gem. CC is still my favourite of the 3 Gree games. I now have two accounts for all 3 games. One strictly for hardcore low level camping and the other for crawling during events and camping between events. I am probably one of the few players who received the income event item 6x; 2x golden defense for CC, 2x elite base defense for MW and 2x arcane defender for KA :)

The best strategy for non gold players these days is to only level during events. Which for me is considered quite active play versus my strictly camping past. You can acquire many end items over and above the best respect items and usually by a great margin.

My level 8 camper account is scheduled to exit camping once I hit $1 million/hr income and follow my level 62 lead and crawl during events only.

However, if a special end item event comes up again which will reduce upgrade times or cost I may participate and level.

Miguel level 62 crawler account just started level 2 night club upgrade and has the second at level 3.
This is where I'm also at for level 8 tortoise account.

When I'm over 500k/hr on both accounts I will post a more detailed update and give any new suggestions to strategy.

Happy camping.

[emcee]

Yes, he is still active.
It will take him approximately 4 months to finish 2 lvl 3 Nightclubs, he is getting close to it now.

Honestly,I put him as the NO1 free player. Aggresive(on event) crawling is the best game strategy IMO.

Don't know how long it will take to get 2 level 3 nc but am starting to save for the 2nd on both accounts.
Thanks for the vote but there are many other free players out there so I'm not going to be so presumptive to make any claim regarding being the best.

I agree that crawling during events is the best strategy. With respect to campers only crawl from laundromats to collection agencies and maybe a loft or magic playhouse for good measure.

[gem]

what do u mean by only leveling during events? Does opening crates etc. give u exp.?

[Sasha54]

what do u mean by only leveling during events? Does opening crates etc. give u exp.?

Well you have to go and FIND crates - so either through PVE or PVP - it will cause you to level somewhat.

[SukhKnight]

I'd like to say this is a great guide, I'm currently at level 30 and in the process of building lofts (1/2) and upgrading movie theaters (which I cant help feeling are better suited to the original english word cinema, which is printed across them in various places.. funzio playing mind games on me..)

In general though i think camping is underrated on this game, and the evidence is all over my levels where people have never bothered to upgrade their buildings and no one has more than 2.5k def or attk, I'm planning on getting to 30k income and 5k def & 4k attk before moving up to level 40 :D

Hi, I'm SukhKnight and I'm a campaholic.

[nopenopenope]

I'd like to say this is a great guide

Hi, I'm SukhKnight and I'm a campaholic.

welcome SukhKnight! campers rejoice!

[SukhKnight]

Nice to see a fellow man with appreciation for patience :D

Camping is great, keeps us ahead of the competition curve :D

[nopenopenope]

only if you understand it only delays the inevitable ;)

but the ride is worth the wait in gold

haha pun intended

[SukhKnight]

But delaying the inevitable allows planning, strategy, and fortification as it were?

Pun appreciated, anyway I love to stay and chat but England have just qualified for the quater finals, so I'm off to do unspeakable things to my liver, whats your CC code nope?

[Shadow187]

I appreciate the thread. All the people with negative comments could have just exited this thread.
I could have used some advice when I first started. At this point I'm too far along, but it's nice you are looking out for the new players.

[emcee]

After about 8 months playing CC I've reached a personal milestone of income over 500k/hr on my 2 accounts.
This game has changed over this period as well as the forum; for good and for bad. My strategy/game play has changed as well with the only constant is that I am still a free player.

At first it was all about hardcore camping and nothing else including attacks, robberies, etc. Basically digging a hole and turtling for as long as possible in order to invest almost every dollar back into my economy.
This is still the foundation of my strategy but of course things have changed somewhat. I have accumulated Tapjoy gold on my accounts to buy pirate taverns, gentleman's clubs and palm hotels eventually. However, I've realized that its no longer needed if night clubs and casinos are sufficiently upgraded. Actually two level 10 night clubs should be more than enough for end game. As such, I no longer will be building 2 of every free income buildings on either account and will save the gold for crates/scratchers but most likely the right end event item.

All the upgrading of income buildings available unlocked above level 8 are now imo a waste with some exceptions. Level 9 electronics store, level 12 warehouse, level 15 arcade, level 17 fish house, level 19 Chinese restaurants etc. are not worthwhile to upgrade or arguably even build. The amount of hood expansions and associated cost could be better spent funneling back to specific type A building upgrades.
However, if you already have a large hood with plenty of empty space it is always worthwhile to build new buildings. Everything helps developing your economy towards night clubs just don't invest heavily into medium to high level upgrades of type B buildings.

As a low level free player looking towards end game most upgrade times should be spent getting the laundromats to level 10 first before all other buildings, followed by ice cream shop, T-shirt stand, Italian restaurant, house, pizza parlor, souvenir store, tattoo parlor, deli, diner, gun shop, pawn shop and gas station.

When the time is right and having the prerequisite mafia size emphasis should switch to building and upgrading movie theaters, lofts and then night clubs.

Once your economy is above 50k/hr or anything that takes less than a month or so to save for a night club you should be building one asap. Of course, in the meantime, upgrade the aforementioned type A buildings listed above in the order listed.

Trust me, night clubs are a game changer period. The detractors who say they can't collect with enough frequency and worry about getting robbed frankly are already in whale territory and are getting attacked/robbed relentlessly. The objective is to get night clubs to level 10 forthwith at the lowest possible level. Having hundreds of millions unbanked at high levels is suicide and a waste at any level if you do bank. Hence, buying, saving and upgrading should be a main priority. It is no longer worthwhile to race to higher levels to unlock more income buildings unless you are close to level 70 and can purchase the upscale clubs. Anyone not remotely close to level 70 should stop all leveling and concentrate on economy building with the available buildings at hand.

I have about 40 odd income buildings on my level 67 account that I regret building and especially upgrading now in light of the night clubs development. Unnecessary/premature hood expansion (next 10 million for me) and time invested in these buildings would have been better spent upgrading the type A buildings listed above and especially upgrading defense buildings; namely gatling turrets.

My level 8 account is proof that this is a better option with virtually the same results. The biggest difference is that I am by far one of the biggest fish in the pond at level 8 vs level 67 or at least will have a much easier time to get night clubs to level 10 unabated.

Granted I was very fortunate to receive the ATM crusher on level 67 account which gives me a 30% discount on all upgrades (income and defense buildings) and this is the only reason why my IPH is superior to level 8 account. The extra 40 odd buildings did not make a difference in the grand scheme of things and actually is counterproductive as I will be selling them sooner than later. I have already sold 2 level 1 collection agencies (shocking right?) to make room for the remaining gatlings. I will sell more once I reach level 70 for the upscales and/or if I lose any fights/robberies in order to add more sniper dens.

The events centric level 67 account has done well with a hybrid camping/crawling strategy to date with 4 event end items and numerous other event items which I would have never received if I pursued a strict tortoise strategy like my level 8 account.

Alas, with the new format events based on rankings its best for most strict camping accounts to not participate unless end event items are exceptional and you are prepared to spend some gold.

Free players can now in theory build an army of low to medium gold equivalent equipped mafia by participating in daily scratchers. These should generally net better than cash or respect end items on average. There is no longer any need to loot for items (unless at high levels for non consumable explosives) or even give an afterthought on the nerfed M4A1s. Daily scratchers are the perfect companion to the hardcore camper because you can get end game items for free without any leveling/experience gain.

So my revised strategy is to stick to strict tortoising on level 8 account unless an exceptional end event item comes up. Level 67 Miguel account will continue on night club upgrades with the exception of upscales unlocked at level 70. Miguel has not upgraded any other income buildings except for night clubs since June 20, 2012. Gatling turrets has been top priority as I am planning/executing for end game now. I should have 50 gatlings, missile turrets, sniper's den, surveillance center, Muay Thai centers, etc sufficiently upgraded once I reach whale territory. Due to a limit on hood expansions 50 gatlings and missile turrets are a must followed by, sniper's den, machine gun turrets, muay thay centers and then surveillance center. Sniper's den and machine gun turrets have similar mafia defense/area stats with snipers marginally outperforming turrets on level 1,2 and 5 then slightly behind on level 3 and 4 upgrades.

Here are the stats for Miguel.

Level 67
Jobs Completed: 4852
Fights Won: 819
Fights Lost: 96
Robberies Won: 14582
Robberies Lost: 56
# of Mafia Members: 320
# of Weapons: 1087
# of Armor: 474
Total Mafia Attack: 12893
Total Mafia Defense: 22981
Income Per Hour: $604350

Attack: 236
Defense: 1
Energy: 730
Stamina: 10
Respect on hand: 67091

For Miguel there is still a lot of room for improvement as there are numerous cash items still available to purchase not to mention the respect on hand. Superior cash equips and hood expansions will be delayed indefinitely in order to fully maximize night club growth.


Here are the stats for the tortoise account.

Level 8
Jobs Completed: 4
Fights Won: 263
Fights Lost: 5
Robberies Won: 0
Robberies Lost: 0
# of Mafia Members: 1
# of Weapons: 161
# of Armor: 86
Total Mafia Attack: 398
Total Mafia Defense: 2408
Income Per Hour: $501267

Attack: 4
Defense: 1
Energy: 260
Stamina: 6
Respect on hand: 3837 (thanks to scratchers)

Happy camping and scratching.

[ShawnBB]

Great to see your big come back update!

Didn't know you had the 30% cost reduction item, the most epic thing to a camper I have to say.
GL on the way to lvl10 NC and unlocking casino.

[Nudie]

Yawnnnnnn.... again.

[Auxilium]

Great thing to read! I'm following a different guides and yours is part of it. Won't be doing it that slow, can't resist robbing lofts :)

[emcee]

I appreciate the thread. All the people with negative comments could have just exited this thread.
I could have used some advice when I first started. At this point I'm too far along, but it's nice you are looking out for the new players.

Thanks for the support Shadow.

[emcee]

Great to see your big come back update!

Didn't know you had the 30% cost reduction item, the most epic thing to a camper I have to say.
GL on the way to lvl10 NC and unlocking casino.

Yes its a game changer especially with costly nc upgrades.
Thanks for the support.

[emcee]

Yawnnnnnn.... again.

Thanks for the support Nudie as always :p

[Nudie]

Thanks for the support Nudie as always :p

You're welcome hun. :p

[Kode]

WHy have one abandoned building? Is there some reason to have one of every type of D building?

[iteachem]

WHy have one abandoned building? Is there some reason to have one of every type of D building?

Maybe because early on the abandoned building was a goal. I believe I upgraded it quite a bit based on goals before finding the forum. Just glad I never upgraded the machine gun

[Max Power]

Very interesting emcee.

My turtle account has lofts and MTs at levels 6 and above, and I though about passing on NCs because I am a lazy collector, but you may have inspired me to build them.

[emcee]

WHy have one abandoned building? Is there some reason to have one of every type of D building?

It's an early goal. No need to build it at all especially if you are a camper as scratchers will quickly put you in the hard to defeat arena.

[emcee]

Very interesting emcee.

My turtle account has lofts and MTs at levels 6 and above, and I though about passing on NCs because I am a lazy collector, but you may have inspired me to build them.

Max, trust me, you won't regret it. It will be very difficult to have income over 1 million without night clubs unless you want to spend a lot of gold. I did a calculation in another thread ages ago which I should dig out and post here about its efficacy even on sub optimal collections and compared to casinos.

Even if you collect twice a day, which is very difficult not to do, it is well worth it. As a low level camper it is a must build. The only people that should have a harder decision are those in the high levels and even then I would recommend it provided they drop almost all or all mafia and queue up pending invites when saving for initial build.

[emcee]

I've suggested that it is no longer necessary to buy any gold buildings and just concentrate on night clubs and casinos for end game.

For those that would prefer to have a more robust hood with top income/hr payout buildings, see below.

1. Night clubs - 6 hour output ($40,000,000, no level requirement, need 300 mafia members)
2. Casinos - 24 hour output ($60,000,000, level 185 unlocked)
3. Palm hotel - 24 hour output (500 gold, level 165 unlocked)
4. Office building - 48 hour output ($24,000,000, level 135 unlocked)
5. Gent's club - 24 hour output (150 gold, level 125 unlocked)
6. Pirate tavern - 8 hour output (110 gold, level 113 unlocked)
7. Hotel - 24 hour output ($17,000,000, level 122 unlocked)
8. Credit agency - 8 hour output ($13,000,000, level 117 unlocked)
9. Rock cafe - 12 hour output (175 gold, level 102 unlocked)
10. Condo - 12 hour output ($8,000,000, level 108 unlocked)
11. French restaurant - 6 hour output ($5,000,000, level 105 unlocked)
12. Adult movie theater - 1 hour output (130 gold, level 93 unlocked)
13. Upscale club - 24 hour output ($4,000,000, level 70 unlocked)
14. Wedding chapel - 3 hour output (75 gold, level 87 unlocked)
15. Modern loft - 1 hour output ($3,000,000, level 98 unlocked)
16. Loft - 12 hour output ($760,000, no level requirement, need 100 mafia members)

[emcee]

Just reached over million dollar hourly income ($1,020,693) on tortoise account at level 8. Was considering building to 2 million/hr before leveling.

However, these boss events are too good to pass up. Miguel level 72 has received Sato's blade and Chief's cruiser.

Please add Migs, level 8 for now, to help with this event.
907-040-620

I have 50 pending requests but will try to look for forum members to add.

[Nicky the Nose]

Sorry to disappoint anyone who do not like my playing style....to each his own.
I wrote this guide for those who want to camp from the beginning. I have adjusted this guide for those who have leveled up and want to adopt this approach without creating a second account.
Anyone can camp at any time. This is a strategy just like those who do not have any income properties and decide to attack and rob. Those who have the patience and discipline will adopt this style.
I never advertised this thread as being "fun". You can call it boring but that is your point of view. For some, like me, I think it is fun to upgrade buildings and buy lofts before most others. I don't think its fun to lose fights or get robbed. So that's why I camp. Most people playing this game will agree with this, even the 100+ level guys who don't think this strategy is good. There are so many threads in this forum about farming weapons, attacking, robbing, etc. Why do they exist? Because people want to win. They want to win fights. They want to win against robberies. If they didn't this forum wouldn't exist. People would just follow the narrative without giving a thought about strategy. The majority of threads are a suggestion to win. Some are effective, some are not and some are counterproductive. Frankly, people should not follow my guide as it creates more competition down the line. Unless you have unlimited real dollars to spend imo, camping is the most viable strategy to winning in this game. I play this game to win.

I welcome any constructive feedback on my strategy as it is a work in progress.

I'm not saying any play style is right or wrong, only the player can decide that. What I do challange anyone on is this idea that we can win. As I see it the only winner in this game is Gree. I still play and will most likly will continue as it is somewhat fun and addicting but it is a unwinable game IMO.:cool:

[Dreno33]

Just reached over million dollar hourly income ($1,020,693) on tortoise account at level 8. Was considering building to 2 million/hr before leveling.

However, these boss events are too good to pass up. Miguel level 72 has received Sato's blade and Chief's cruiser.

Please add Migs, level 8 for now, to help with this event.
907-040-620

I have 50 pending requests but will try to look for forum members to add.

added, and gratz on the 1m club at lvl 8 bud! I did the second boss event, wish i did first as well. lvl 22 now(:

[emcee]

I'm not saying any play style is right or wrong, only the player can decide that. What I do challange anyone on is this idea that we can win. As I see it the only winner in this game is Gree. I still play and will most likly will continue as it is somewhat fun and addicting but it is a unwinable game IMO.:cool:

I completely agree with you Nicky. That was a really old post with some heated exchange back and forth.

In the grand scheme of things you can't win at this game as its virtual. Gree did not give xenoke or Payam, for instance, a ticker tape parade for being exceptional. At best, they may have received a t-shirt

I suppose the only players that win are those that quit and do not return or special circumstances like Joey and Chester.

With that said, I find the game still a nice diversion and am happy with my play style winning as much as possible :)

[emcee]

added, and gratz on the 1m club at lvl 8 bud! I did the second boss event, wish i did first as well. lvl 22 now(:

Thanks D. The same for me as well regarding letting Sato slip away.

[Nicky the Nose]

I completely agree with you Nicky. That was a really old post with some heated exchange back and forth.

In the grand scheme of things you can't win at this game as its virtual. Gree did not give xenoke or Payam, for instance, a ticker tape parade for being exceptional. At best, they may have received a t-shirt

I suppose the only players that win are those that quit and do not return or special circumstances like Joey and Chester.

With that said, I find the game still a nice diversion and am happy with my play style winning as much as possible :)

Great at the end of the day if we had some fun, tried to learn something, and are somewhat satisfied that is as good as it gets for most of us. It is after all a game, even if it is rigged in favor of the house

[emcee]

I have been an advocate for zero alliance bracket (i.e. no alliance members including grunts) for hardcore campers more or less from the beginning. Leveling is the bane of campers as fending off unsuccessful attacks gains experience :(

These days with scratchers and especially boss events it is far more advantageous to keep from leveling at all cost. General event items have different stats for different level brackets but boss items have the same stats regardless of level. This is a huge boost in stats for someone at level 15 for instance vs level 200. Also, lower level players participating in boss events have an easier time to defeat the boss with overall lower gold spend then say someone in whale territory. By leveling only during boss events and building economy to afford best cash items and most likely getting better than cash scratchers should put a disciplined camper in a distinct advantage over their rivals in the same level and bracket.
Of course participating in boss events goes against zero bracket alliance as you would want full alliance to raise your attack score to the highest possible level. It may not be practical for most to drop all alliance and queue up invites in anticipation for the next boss event.
Miguel, level 73, participated in the first 2 events and stopped on the third at about boss 18. Since the bar has been raised on end boss item I am now reducing my mafia and going back to tortoise mode. Just surpassed 1.5 mil/hr mark and now saving for level 7 night club.
I am going to assume Gree will probably not lower the bar on end boss item so the only way to successfully defeat boss 50 with as little gold spend as possible to absolutely have the best cash equips across the board followed by utilizing respect on end game current items and hopefully increasing the cache of better than cash and respect items through scratchers. This is not too difficult especially on 2 or more car scratchers which saves a bundle on cash brought cars.

So I would recommend most starting off playing CC to stay at zero alliance for at least a month to develop your economy and stock up on valuable scratchers in the meantime. If you want to make a run at a boss its ideal to have the best cash equips across the board. This is not easily accomplished for new players especially when vehicles cost an arm and a leg so the best thing to do is wait for your daily FREE scratchers and reinvest all monies back into economy.

I posted this in the Kingdom Age forum regarding bracketing and would like to share this here as well....

Bracketing appears to work the same for all the games on all my 6 accounts when I was not participating in boss events.
Only exception was when KA was introduced in Canada first and bracketing did not exist whatsoever as there were not as many players in general.

Bracketing comes down to a numbers game. Whatever Gree sets as a threshold for a certain level and as long as there are enough players in that level with X many alliance things should work fine. Generally speaking lower levels have more players vs HL whale territory. As long as you stay in the lower levels, the various brackets within a specific level should hold.
This has worked for low levels and up to level 60s or so before I maxed alliance for boss events in CC. I am pretty confident on my highest level account which happens to be CC Miguel level 73 that if I dropped back to zero alliance things should remain as before.
Case in point at max alliance I was getting failed attacks and/or robberies on average once a day but since dropping to about 2/3 full alliance in the last 11 days its gone down to zero activity. I would guess going down further to zero alliance should effectively place me back in the dead zone.

So other than when Gree's rival list are out of whack and you see players at HLs while you are not in the shark pool, bracketing has held up while at zero bracket alliance for me.

The most important thing to keep in mind for zero or low level alliance bracketing to work is to obviously stop attacking or robbing rivals. You must fall off all news feeds or it defeats the reason why you have low alliance in the first place. You may defeat someone readily at lets say 5 alliance but its easy enough for them to come back with twice or three times your alliance within half a day and chances are change the tide. So to reiterate low to mid alliance bracketing only works with zero activity or no PVP. However, unless you have uber defense and top items it doesn't even matter if a rival increase their alliances 10 fold for instance as you are pretty much untouchable by most players.

Basically no allies works best from experience. I've ventured from zero alliance once my economy has flourished and can afford the best cash equips.
The longest I've gone without any attacks or raids/robberies at zero alliance is probably 9 months or so in MW. In the last month have added 13 alliance members and still the same. By the way, all games are the latest versions as some have thought by not upgrading to the newest version can drop you off of rivals radar.

[emcee]

Here is an update on my two accounts.

Miguel
Level 73
Jobs Completed: 4988
Fights Won: 846
Fights Lost: 96
Robberies Won: 16542
Robberies Lost: 56
# of Mafia Members: 199 (998-375-471)
# of Weapons: 1670
# of Armor: 766
Total Mafia Attack: 19679
Total Mafia Defense: 36271
Income Per Hour: $1,524,390
Attack: 254
Defense: 1
Energy: 730
Stamina: 10
Respect: 83,239
Money: $88,270,663
Defense buildings: 50 sniper's den, 50 gatling turrets, 50 Muay Thai Centers and 50 machine gun turrets

Migs
Level 14
Jobs Completed: 5
Fights Won: 263
Fights Lost: 5
Robberies Won: 25
Robberies Lost: 0
# of Mafia Members: 220 (907-040-620)
# of Weapons: 221
# of Armor: 125
Total Mafia Attack: 5770
Total Mafia Defense: 8683
Income Per Hour: $1,188,054
Attack: 22
Defense: 1
Energy: 260
Stamina: 6
Respect: 14,912
Money: $501,981,081
Defense buildings: safehouse and guard towers, most likely will sell these once I unlock machine gun turrets and especially Muay Thai centers

If you would like to join my mafia I am accepting all invites for Migs. Please pm for Miguel and I will drop non forum members currently in my alliance to make room for you.

[fuzzy]

How many boss events did Migs take part ?

[emcee]

How many boss events did Migs take part ?
Just the police chief one. Jumped from level 8-14. If they lower a boss event down to 30 I might give it a go. However, don't see that happening anytime soon. So will build econ in the meantime and hopefully get better than cash scratch items.
Got my best one yet on both accounts 2 days ago; dragon star 337/193.

[Nick-Clark1]

Emcee, how does Miguel go with a lower alliance count (199)? Has anybody with 300+ allies ever attacked you?

The only reason I ask this is because I can regularly see players with 100+ allies lower than my own. I'm sitting on 320 at the moment

[emcee]

Emcee, how does Miguel go with a lower alliance count (199)? Has anybody with 300+ allies ever attacked you?

The only reason I ask this is because I can regularly see players with 100+ allies lower than my own. I'm sitting on 320 at the moment

Maybe I'm just lucky and not many rivals try to attack or rob me. I've only had 9 attempts in the last month and none in the last week.

I've found brackets hold pretty tightly up to level 73. If I cycle through 10 rivals list refresh and see similar size mafia then its all good for me. I find if you are close to max alliance or at max alliance the rivals list does have more variance as there may not be as many rivals with full mob so the next lower bracket opens up.

Generally brackets hold especially with close to zero alliance. If it didn't everyone will be refreshing their rivals list at max mafia until they see rivals with 1 alliance member. It just doesn't happen at mid to low levels and even HL unless something goes wonky with the rivals list at times.

It would make more sense to drop to zero alliance as I am now making a push for level 10 night clubs which would mean I will have a lot of unbanked money on hand. At zero alliance I have the full compliment of my 200 defense buildings coupled with top tiered boss items plus other items working in concert. This would be difficult for even heavy gold spenders to penetrate unless the brackets open up (unlikely) or they are willing to drop to zero alliance as well which is more than a hassle. Moreover, heavy gold spenders are all about having max alliance and the highest attainable attack/defense figures at any time.

[Vballmadam]

Emcee...i sent you a friend request for your llp. I tried to pm you but your mailbox was full. Please add and advise me. In MW I am vballmadam on CC i'm Begonia. Thanks!

[emcee]

Reached another income/hr milestone so here is an update:

Miguel
Level 75
Jobs Completed: 5988
Fights Won: 1655
Fights Lost: 96
Robberies Won: 16542
Robberies Lost: 56
# of Mafia Members: Not remotely close to full mob, eventually will accept all request for possibly next decent boss event 998-375-471
# of Weapons: 1749
# of Armor: 819
Total Mafia Attack: not accurate with toilet paper and turkeys
Total Mafia Defense: not accurate with toilet paper and turkeys
Income Per Hour: $2,117,090 (2 x level 7 night clubs, saving for level 8 now)
Attack: 260
Defense: 1
Energy: 730
Stamina: 10
Respect: 90,389
Money: $137,925,791
Defense buildings: 50 sniper's den, 50 gatling turrets, 50 Muay Thai Centers and 50 machine gun turrets

Migs
Level 14
Jobs Completed: 5
Fights Won: 263
Fights Lost: 5
Robberies Won: 25
Robberies Lost: 0
# of Mafia Members: 248 accepting all invite requests 907-040-620
# of Weapons: 233
# of Armor: 136
Total Mafia Attack: 6760 no toilet paper or turkeys
Total Mafia Defense: 9522 no toilet paper or turkeys
Income Per Hour: $1,645,238 (2 x level 6 night clubs, saving for level 7 now)
Attack: 22
Defense: 1
Energy: 260
Stamina: 6
Respect: 16,842
Money: $589,487,142
Defense buildings: safehouse and guard towers, most likely will sell these once I unlock machine gun turrets and especially Muay Thai centers

Migs now has 20 level 10 income buildings - 2 x loft, 2 x movie theater, 2 x house, 2 x T-shirt stand, 2 x ice cream shop, 2 x souvenir store, 2 x Italian restaurant, 2 x basketball court, 2 x pizza parlor, 2 x laundromat

[duder]

Out of curiosity, is Migs fully equipped with the mafia unlock equips (steel garrote, grenade launcher, blast guard helmet, & audi)?

[emcee]

Out of curiosity, is Migs fully equipped with the mafia unlock equips (steel garrote, grenade launcher, blast guard helmet, & audi)?

Welcome back.

I've got the best cash items except for grenade launchers. I've been untouchable (knock on wood) with some event items so everything goes back to economy for now. Even though it will only take about 2 collections on my night clubs to pay for the minimum grenade launchers to have the best possible cash/mafia unlocked equips I'll just delay that for now. Besides I'm not planning on participating any events until I get my night clubs to level 10 and by then scratchers should be able to fill up any gap in weapons and create a further buffer in the other categories.

If you want to check out my hood send invite to 907-040-620 for Migs.

Cheers

[Bala82]

I have send you request i just want to see how successful you been at your strategy

[white frog]

@ emcee... I would hold off on the grenade launchers! I did out of necessity for my economy, and now have flame throwers available with 13/9 vs 12/9 of the grenade launcher. I know this seem petty, but the cost isn't really that bad for the extra point.. and also the next weapon that matches the attack stat doesn't open up till level 118, so if you're only using cash items, I'd definitely go for the 13 over the 12!

Then again, if you're staying put at level 14 the grenade launcher is about the only things you've got down there! Flame thrower opens at 65, I think!

[Ak Killah]

Currently following this guide on my camper, much appreciated.

[brynt1726]

I have 2 accounts. One played without the use of this forum and new so called camper account.
And I have to say I agree on both front... But also with the events coming thick and fast and being sensible with your mafia size I have become quiet strong.

Level 25
Mafia members 68
IPH 35913
Attack 8087
Defence 7744

Slow and steady early on is a good way to go, but I think I agree when you his level 32 and get the Dominican restaurants then its time to play for the respect for the better weapons that only come from pvp action!

Each to there own! Good luck all! And remember its only a game! (But what a game lol)

[Dreno33]

hey emcee, hope all is well. my guy (camper, but only participates in bosses) is lvl 57 with A/D at 57k/47k. My IPH is high 900k but am currently upgrading a NC to lvl 5.

I wish I could say I'll race you to two NC lvl 10s but dam you are ahead! lol. Take care mate.

[emcee]

Then again, if you're staying put at level 14 the grenade launcher is about the only things you've got down there! Flame thrower opens at 65, I think!

Not sure when flamethrowers unlock as I can't even see it in the store. Must be closer to level 70 or so.
I'll hold off on launchers considering scratchers are helping to fill the void for now.

I suggest for campers to seriously go for night clubs and try not to waste cash on items that can be replaced by respect or scratchers. Reinvest fully back into economy as I have a feeling that Gree will introduce mob wars in this game similar to factions in modern war. If so, cash is going to be a very important commodity to beef up defense, get income bonus, health regen, etc. I guessing if such a thing is in the works they need to seriously weed out cheaters.

[emcee]

hey emcee, hope all is well. my guy (camper, but only participates in bosses) is lvl 57 with A/D at 57k/47k. My IPH is high 900k but am currently upgrading a NC to lvl 5.

I wish I could say I'll race you to two NC lvl 10s but dam you are ahead! lol. Take care mate.

Slow and steady wins the economy race at least. I have level 7 night clubs on lower level account and level 8 is some serious saving without any modifiers; somewhere around 1.4 billion.

30% saving on upgrades is a serious game changer for Miguel, level 76, especially when saving for level 9 night club now. I see a light at the end of the long tunnel.

[emcee]

So syndicates (gangs) are coming to Crime City just like factions in MW. As such high income will play a big role in unlocking syndicate group bonus; most likely health regeneration for boss events, defense building boost, income building boost and increasing overall group numbers. As a result money has a totally new weight moving forward. IPH thread is no longer just for bragging rights.

[Elastic Earl]

So syndicates (gangs) are coming to Crime City just like factions in MW. As such high income will play a big role in unlocking syndicate group bonus; most likely health regeneration for boss events, defense building boost, income building boost and increasing overall group numbers. As a result money has a totally new weight moving forward. IPH thread is no longer just for bragging rights.

You are correct. How are you going to choose a Syndicate? Will it be a camper Syndicate or will the prizes, if they are as good as MW, tempt you to come out of your shell?

Cheers

[emcee]

I've joined a close knit group in MW so would like to follow suit in CC if they think I can help. At worst I will bring my combined $5 million/hr as syndicate financier.