Economy Question

[joaquim]

Hi. I'm new to the forum. I've been playing Crime City for about a month or two. I'm currently at Level 79 with a mafia attack of 8426 and defense of 9741 with 785 mafia members. I have an income per hour of $17115. OK enough about me now back to the question. I'm currently upgrading one of my two Level 9 Ice Cream Shops to Level 10 and I'm building my second History Museum. After that, I'm going to build my second Movie Theater. When I'm done upgrading both Ice Cream Shops to Level 10, I'm going to upgrade a Level 3 Pawn Shop to Level 4. Am I following the right path or should I do something else?

Thanks and don't forget to add 944 334 519

[Spartacus]

Okay, here is my advice.

1) Having more than 500 mafia members is somewhat useless. You can only outfit 500 mafia members max in a PvP situation. Having less mafia members will make you stronger (relative to your rivals), so if you are losing lots of fights I would suggest getting rid of some mafia members.

2) Focus on upgrading and/or building Movie Theater's and Lofts. They will give you the biggest ipH (income per hour) increase.

3) Forget about Pawn Shops. They will eventually be sold and should only be upgraded if you don't have enough funds for any better buildings. But don't necessarily sell them.

[joaquim]

Okay, here is my advice.

1) Having more than 500 mafia members is somewhat useless. You can only outfit 500 mafia members max in a PvP situation. Having less mafia members will make you stronger (relative to your rivals), so if you are losing lots of fights I would suggest getting rid of some mafia members.

2) Focus on upgrading and/or building Movie Theater's and Lofts. They will give you the biggest ipH (income per hour) increase.

3) Forget about Pawn Shops. They will eventually be sold and should only be upgraded if you don't have enough funds for any better buildings.

Thanks I'm actually one of the stronger players at my level so would it still be a good idea to trim my mafia size. I'm going to go get rid of my Pawn Shops. Any opinions on the Gun Shops, Barbershops, and Bagelshops? Sorry about all the questions

[Spartacus]

Thanks I'm actually one of the stronger players at my level so would it still be a good idea to trim my mafia size. I'm going to go get rid of my Pawn Shops. Any opinions on the Gun Shops, Barbershops, and Bagelshops? Sorry about all the questions

Questions are completely fine, as long as you don't make separate threads for each one. That just irks me.

1) You will almost always be "better off" in terms of relative strength if you trim your mafia size.

2) Gun Shops are okay if you aren't super active as they almost never get robbed. Barbershops, meh. Level them up early or don't get them at all. Bagel Shops are a decent 12h building. But they shouldn't be the focus of your economy.

Any more questions?

(Feel free to listen to other advice also. I'm not a senior member, I'm just giving you my thoughts and observations.)

[Maniaxe]

Thanks I'm actually one of the stronger players at my level
No you are not.

If you don't need to get rid of the lower level buildings then don't. They still bring in income that can pay for explosives and opening event boxes. They are also usefull for upgrading while you save for more expensive upgrades and buildings as the upgrade times tend to be longer on those early A buildings. As spartacus stated The MT and Lofts should be your primary focus at this point. I hope this helps you decisions and remember the best of the best guide has a lot of usefull information as well a the forum search.

[joaquim]

Questions are completely fine, as long as you don't make separate threads for each one. That just irks me.

1) You will almost always be "better off" in terms of relative strength if you trim your mafia size.

2) Gun Shops are okay if you aren't super active as they almost never get robbed. Barbershops, meh. Level them up early or don't get them at all. Bagel Shops are a decent 12h building. But they shouldn't be the focus of your economy.

Any more questions?

(Feel free to listen to other advice also. I'm not a senior member, I'm just giving you my thoughts and observations.)

Thanks again. You're probably my best friend on the forum right now, Spartacus. I really appreciate the advice. Before joining the forum, I've read posts about triming mafia size if you're among the weaker players at the level but I didn't worry about since I was one of the stronger players. Would around 500 mafia be good right now I just completed the Thug Life goal for 440 mafia members a few days ago.

I have two Barbershops at Level 1 and 2 so they probably won't be good use for me. Since I play almost all the time would it be wise to keep my Gun Shops? Also would it be wise to upgrade Lv.2 houses at this point in the game. I may be one of the stronger players at my level but I'm definitely not the wealthiest one!

[joaquim]

No you are not.

If you don't need to get rid of the lower level buildings then don't. They still bring in income that can pay for explosives and opening event boxes. They are also usefull for upgrading while you save for more expensive upgrades and buildings as the upgrade times tend to be longer on those early A buildings. As spartacus stated The MT and Lofts should be your primary focus at this point. I hope this helps you decisions and remember the best of the best guide has a lot of usefull information as well a the forum search.

Thanks for the advice, Maniaxe. I've read a lot of the Best of the Best Guides and I was able to double my income per hour in about a week or two ( IDK, I'm not counting the amount of weeks) so their really usefull. I'll keep some of my lower level buildings like Italian Restaurants and T-Shirt Stands and upgrade them in the near future.

[Spartacus]

Thanks again. You're probably my best friend on the forum right now, Spartacus. I really appreciate the advice. Before joining the forum, I've read posts about triming mafia size if you're among the weaker players at the level but I didn't worry about since I was one of the stronger players. Would around 500 mafia be good right now I just completed the Thug Life goal for 440 mafia members a few days ago.

I have two Barbershops at Level 1 and 2 so they probably won't be good use for me. Since I play almost all the time would it be wise to keep my Gun Shops? Also would it be wise to upgrade Lv.2 houses at this point in the game. I may be one of the stronger players at my level but I'm definitely not the wealthiest one!

Don't take this personally, but I don't think you are the strongest at your level. I am at 3 mafia right now, but if I had 500 mafia I would have way better stats than you. But I'm sure you're stronger than many other players at your level, so don't worry TOO much.

1) Your mafia size is your choice. If you are into completing Thug Life (TL) and Hardcore Hitman (HH) goals then 500 mafia is probably a good place for you. Just find the sweet spot where you can comfortably grow your economy without being excessively robbed.

2) Keep the Barbershops until it comes down to: selling them vs. spending millions on an expansion. Any money is good money. Same with the Gun Shops.

3) Houses are great buildings IMO. They are a relatively cheap, yet have long upgrades that can help you save up for "bigger" upgrades such as Movie Theaters or Lofts. Get them to 10 if you have the time/patience!

I don't want to get into a camping discussion but I believe that wealth will translate into strength. Better to have both wealth and strength as opposed to just strength, correct?

[TenderPlacebo]

I wouldn't sell anything unless you have something better to put in its place. Theres no reason to sell pawn shop, its a got good collection time and some money is better then none.
As others stated focus on MT and lofts, big payout after a few upgrades. I would say the house is still worth upgrading, at 9, I think they payout like 17k, there small and also have good collection time. You can always upgrade these or pawn shop if while your saving to upgrade MT or loft, or any other expensive upgrade.
You should always be upgrading something, as well as building if applicable: you might already have all builds, but there's always defense.

Ok he beat me to it, too slow :)

[joaquim]

Don't take this personally, but I don't think you are the strongest at your level. I am at 3 mafia right now, but if I had 500 mafia I would have way better stats than you. But I'm sure you're stronger than many other players at your level, so don't worry TOO much.

1) Your mafia size is your choice. If you are into completing Thug Life (TL) and Hardcore Hitman (HH) goals then 500 mafia is probably a good place for you. Just find the sweet spot where you can comfortably grow your economy without being excessively robbed.

2) Keep the Barbershops until it comes down to: selling them vs. spending millions on an expansion. Any money is good money. Same with the Gun Shops.

3) Houses are great buildings IMO. They are a relatively cheap, yet have long upgrades that can help you save up for "bigger" upgrades such as Movie Theaters or Lofts. Get them to 10 if you have the time/patience!

I don't want to get into a camping discussion but I believe that wealth will translate into strength. Better to have both wealth and strength as opposed to just strength, correct?

Thanks. First I'm going to trim my mafia to 550. I already sold my Barbershops. I didn't like the payout that much anyway. I'm gonna keep my Gun Shops and I'm going to focus on Houses when I'm done with Ice Cream Shop upgrades.

[murf]

Thanks. First I'm going to trim my mafia to 550. I already sold my Barbershops. I didn't like the payout that much anyway. I'm gonna keep my Gun Shops and I'm going to focus on Houses when I'm done with Ice Cream Shop upgrades.

There is no difference in your attack/defense stats if you have 501 mafia or 10000. The max you can bring to a fight is 5 x your level capped at 500. (so for you currently, that's 79 x 5 = 395) anything more than that is not used.

[murf]

Thanks. First I'm going to trim my mafia to 550. I already sold my Barbershops. I didn't like the payout that much anyway. I'm gonna keep my Gun Shops and I'm going to focus on Houses when I'm done with Ice Cream Shop upgrades.

And since you have Ice Cream Shops, you seem to be OK with the 3-hour collections, then Italians should be the highest low-level priority upgrade.... even souvenir store might be better then house depending on how often you can collect...6 collections on Souvenir Store = 1 collection of House, it's marginally cheaper and MUCH less risk of being robbed

[joaquim]

And since you have Ice Cream Shops, you seem to be OK with the 3-hour collections, then Italians should be the highest low-level priority upgrade.... even souvenir store might be better then house depending on how often you can collect...6 collections on Souvenir Store = 1 collection of House, it's marginally cheaper and MUCH less risk of being robbed

Thanks for the advice, Murf. I see what you mean when you say that it's marginally cheaper so now I'll be switching my focus from Houses to Italian Restaurants and have them upgraded to Level 5 or 6 before switching to Houses for a while, or upgrading Movie Theaters and buying a Lofts if I have the money.

[murf]

Thanks for the advice, Murf. I see what you mean when you say that it's marginally cheaper so now I'll be switching my focus from Houses to Italian Restaurants and have them upgraded to Level 5 or 6 before switching to Houses for a while, or upgrading Movie Theaters and buying a Lofts if I have the money.

Yes, I think Italians are good for that medium price, long upgrade time so you can save for MT and Lofts...I would order the MT/Loft decision as this:

2 MTs to level 3
Buy Loft, upgrade to L2
Buy 2nd Loft, upgrade to L2.
Then, switch back and forth upgrading MTs/Lofts and mix in buying good buildings that unlock as your primary economy build and while needing to save, build gatling turrets and upgrade Italians and other cheap upgrades (T-Shirt, House, etc).

That's a general strategy, but would work very well for the next few weeks IMHO.

[Silvio]

I think the key advice is to be broke always. Once you are ready to upgrade, you select the highest ROI you can afford. This will naturally gravitate towards preferentially upgrading lofts and movie theatres, as the time spend upgrading the italian restaurants, etc, will create sufficient collection time to have money to get the big upgrades. You cannot underestimate the importance of upgrading lofts. They are game changers once you get up them leveled.

[joaquim]

Yes, I think Italians are good for that medium price, long upgrade time so you can save for MT and Lofts...I would order the MT/Loft decision as this:

2 MTs to level 3
Buy Loft, upgrade to L2
Buy 2nd Loft, upgrade to L2.
Then, switch back and forth upgrading MTs/Lofts and mix in buying good buildings that unlock as your primary economy build and while needing to save, build gatling turrets and upgrade Italians and other cheap upgrades (T-Shirt, House, etc).

That's a general strategy, but would work very well for the next few weeks IMHO.

Thanks, but should the MTs and Lofts be upgraded all the way to Level 10 or is there a level with better value?

[murf]

Thanks, but should the MTs and Lofts be upgraded all the way to Level 10 or is there a level with better value?

At some point the high-end builds are a higher priority and you will revert back to cheaper upgrades to build Hotels, Office Buildings, etc. And the Nightclub will become the game-changing upgrade you will be saving for. And then when you get NC upgraded to L2-3 and have Casinos, MT (L8-10) and Loft (L6-10) upgrades will be those long, cheap upgrades which allow to save for the higher-end ones

[joaquim]

Hey what do you guys think is the best 1 hr building at this level? I want to be able to know when I can open a box for the event without looking to see how much time left until I can open.