Chaining tips for all levels

June 2, 2015 L4suicide Leave a comment

Given War 2.0 is coming this may only be useful for a small amount of time (Ched time, as we know, can last a while though!)

The very best chainers of all time have never had the best stats. They haven’t had time to waste lurking for retals. They have never even been the person with the most hits for their faction. The best chainers are the ones who win 100% of their fights, don’t stay above 150e for a long time, and don’t complain when they lose a war.

Why are they the best chainers? They are effective. They are the core of any faction war effort. But how can you be one of these unsung heroes?

Stack Energy and bide your time

Stacking energy is an important step – it allows you to bank a possible 50 attacks in a short time frame. Yes, a two player team could in theory do a 100 chain!

How do you stack? Take Xanax, but don’t use the energy, take another xanax.. until you have 1000e.

As well as Xanax you can also use energy drinks. If you can afford this it is recommended you only use cans when you are in 12 hours of the war time. This avoid overdoses and if you only use 6 cans you can ensure your booster cooldown is at zero for the start of the war. It also means you are not under the effects of xanax for the kick off.

Another tip is to get to 150e using points refill before you start stacking – this minimises the ‘energy loss’ of not gaining energy every 10 minutes.

Research your targets

There is nothing worse than hitting start on your attack only to find your enemy dodges every attack and crits you ever turn. Ensure you know who in your warbase is just too much for you. Every attack you make can be seen as potential income, and 25e ~ 1mil. The same as a stat spy. Get someone to spy your main war targets, it’s cheaper than losing to them!

Stay in hospital

Remember war is a two horse race. You vs Them. The winner is the fastest chainers, specifically the team who can hit the most bonuses on the opponent as quick as possible. The easiest way to slow your opponent is to reduce the number of targets they have. Wait for full life, Wait for any retal timer to lapse. Then you can med out and smack em down again.

Tabs are king

When I am preparing to chain I ensure I am in hospital to start with (self hosp using RR, wrong blood bags, get someone to bounty, etc). Then I have all the time in the world to find my targets.

Now I am safe I head to the warbase

With most modern browsers (and on windows, but I’m sure you can do the same on linux or mac) you can hold the CTRL key and click links to open them in new tabs. So for all of your potential targets use this to open up links to their attack pages. I start by having tab 1 as war base, and tab 2 as items (you can press CTRL+1, or CTRL+2 to quickly go to these tabs), then my targets.

I then do 3-5 in a row, starting with the ones I know will be tougher, then open an item tab so in the middle of it I may use meds again, and then do 3-5 more. If you are a proper pro you will have a tab for each potential target for all your energy. You may even want to open up a points refill tab after your 40th target, then 6 more targets. I like to open up a tab to the war base if I know my 17th hit will be a bonus hit as well, so I can ensure its on the right faction. Bonus hits are super important so best to ask a faction mate to tell you in chat if you are approaching a big one!

At this point you tell your faction to get out of the way as well. Head to the item screen in tab 2, or get a revive, and med out and use as many as possible to get to full health. It’s then a matter of pressing CTRL+TAB to get to your next target, then CTRL+R to reload the page (as initially it will be a ‘you can do this, your in hospital)

It will refresh, you press start, you beat that sucker down, and then CTRL+TAB, CTRL+R again. I like to close tabs once I have the ‘you hospitalized xxx’ message, makes it easier to know where I am.

If you are good you can do all your hits in a matter of minutes. I like to then use a wrong blood bag to put myself back in hospital so I can’t be retalled.

Staying alive…

Now with the latest attacking update life has become a major issue. This means attacking non stop is not going to last long without meds or very wise target choices. For the rich there are three ways of avoiding the med cooldown bar filling up too quick:

1. Lose an attack and get revived.. not great as you only get 20% life back
2. Use temp items like pepper spray, flash grenades or smoke grenades to stop your opponent hitting you.. doesn’t always hit, but can slow the life loss down
3. Use pharmacy booster Seratonin. These cost 1.3m each but they do two things.. They give you more life AND they boost your def stat for 120 seconds. So you don’t even need to use one each battle.

before use:

after use: life back at max, 120 seconds of Seratonin shown, def beefed!

War timing

If you are the leader of a faction you can choose when to start your wars. I prefer 8am TC Time, this allows those with stacked energy to use it all, and that days points refill, then get another points refill after the reset (midnight TC time). For those rich enough to use FHC as well that is a whopping 76 hits for a single player.

Any more?

There are always more little tricks I’ve not come across, so feel free to leave a comment below with your own. Happy chaining!

Income

Simple ways to make money

May 29, 2015 L4suicide Leave a comment

You need money to make money, right?

Not always. And in torn there are plenty of ways you can earn a decent amount. These aren’t original ideas, but they are the go-to ideas for those who are broke or new.

Reviving

Yes, this does involve needing to have completed the medical job promotions. But if you keep an eye on the forums for big wars you are sure to find someone who wants bulk revives. Mail the leader of a warring faction (usually top 20 factions use a lot of revives during war) and ask if they need any. If you can join a faction that has the special to reduce energy cost per revive, you can earn 6m from a full energy bar.

Slutting

Anyone can do this, but be sure you don’t get duped. Lots of players want achievements or extra exp and are willing to pay anywhere from 10k to 500k for someone to attack and lose to them or for people like bryan demosthenous to take it from you. Personally I have asked players to try and run from me, if they manage it (1 in 100 perhaps for low stats) I paid them a whopping 3m. If they failed I still paid 50k.

Slutting comes in many forms. for higher levels you may be able to charge people for attacking you. If you unequip and med out for example so someone can beat you 6-12 times in a row (I charge 300k per attack for this service).

Services

Perhaps you are good at graphics? Have awesome recruitment skills? Have time to mail on behalf of others?

Be creative, chances are if you can do something someone else is too lazy to do they might pay you to do it. I know a few players who just look for good deals and find buyers for items, acting as a middleman, without need for any trading themselves. If you told me about a good deal I would happily tip up to 50% of the profit.

Spies and other job benefits

There are a few jobs in torn that provide capabilities others may want to use. Spying is the obvious one, but there is also the respect boost for factions and the ability to see stock in foreign countries. Some of these companies don’t care too much about work stats as long as you pay the owner a small fee. Sweet shops often charge 1 can a week or so for being an employee – the job points allow you to get a minimum of 3 cans a week (3-6mil depending on luck).

Flower and Plushie running

If you can fly and have the time you can pick up flowers and plushies for a tiny fraction of the price they get on the market. Even if you can only carry 10 items that is 1m per run, which will take around 5 hours, perfect for players who only log on 2-3 times a day anyway, or you can run your own shop as well, with aluminium windows and doors so your shop looks great and sells a lot.

Many many more

I’ve been wealthy for a while, which makes it easier to make more money. There are plenty more things you can do to earn money without needing stats or education/job specials.

For those who do have a little money trading is the big money maker. I’ll post my trading tips soon, so keep reading

Gambling

Blackjack Basics

May 27, 2015 L4suicide Leave a comment

So I wrote an article on blackjack that seems a bit advanced for some players who are new to both blackjack and statistical gambling. Rather than clutter the original I decided to explain some of the basics of blackjack, and the torn blackjack game, so those who want to try it don’t have to guess their way through it. If you’re interested in exploring more, consider checking out strategies and games at an Online Casino for a comprehensive gaming experience.

Now during this discussion I will presume we are always betting 100. I will use the following to talk about cards:

A = Ace
2-9 = 2-9
T = Ten, Jack, Queen or King (any card of value 10)
J = Jack, Q = Queen, K=King

Scoring and the goal of blackjack

So in blackjack each card has a value from 2-10, with Aces being special in that they count as 1 or 11 depending on the rest of the cards

Card:	Ace	2-9	10 / J/ Q/ K
Score:	1 OR 11	2-9	10

Both player and dealer are dealt two cards to start, although the player only sees one of the dealers.
The player must then choose an option based on the total score of their hand and the potential score of the dealers final hand

Normally the player has two choices, either ‘stand‘ with their current total, or ‘hit‘ and get another card to add to the total. If the players total is over 21 however the player loses instantly.

When the player stands with a score under or equal to 21 the dealer then has to ‘hit’ until their total is over 16. Again if the dealer goes over 21 the dealer loses, but the player wins.

If both players manage to make a score of under 21 the highest score wins. If they have the same score then normally they ‘push’ – meaning the player does not win or lose, but gets their stake back.

Outcomes

Bust: Player has more than 21

Lose: Player has a lower total than the dealer, or a hand not as strong as the dealer

Win: Player has a stronger hand, or higher score, than the dealer

Push: Your hand is equal in value and strength to that of the dealer

Soft score hands

So a soft score is one where an ace is used at a value of 11. As a starting hand you may have A2, A3, A4, A5… A9. If we take A6 for example it can either count as 7 or 17 (although when you stand it is always the highest value that counts). These hands are good because you can hit without fear of busting, with anything of value 1,2,3 or 4 getting you closer to 21, any T giving you the same total but ‘hard’ meaning if you hit again you can bust, or anything 5-9 giving you less score.

The special hands

There are in torn blackjack 2 special types of hand.

The first is the most famous being 21 – or in torn Natural. That is an Ace and any card with a value of 10. If the player has this combination to start with they win and get paid 3:2 (100 + 150 winnings)

The second is 5 card charlie – Not often found in casinos – That is any 5 cards with a value of under 21. A 5 card charlie will beat any hand other than Natural, or a higher valued 5 card charlie. This is where soft hands have good potential, A2-6 for example can put you in a good place for that 5 card charlie, or give you 2 chances of getting to 21.

Split hands

When you are dealt two of the same card you can Split your hand. This means you pay another 100 and now have two hands to play against the dealer instead of one. If you do this at the right time though that means you can win twice as much, right?

Double Down

If you are feeling lucky, or you think your cards compared to the dealers allow for it, you can double your bet and get an extra (and last) card. This can only be done when you only have two cards (if you have split your hand you can only double on the second hand). If you win you win twice that amount (400)

Surrender

If you are almost certain the dealer has you beat, and you still only have two cards (again not on first split hand though) you can surrender and get half your bet back (50).

Insurance

If you have a good hand, but the dealer is showing an Ace, you might worry that he has AT. Insurance will cost you 50, but if the dealer has AT you will win 150 (covering your bet). Not great odds, you may only want to use this feature to get your merit!

WARNING: Blackjack is a game of luck, and even with a winning strategy in the short term you can lose big. If you are going to play only ever gamble a small fraction of the total amount you are willing to lose!

Talk Torn

Chaining tips for all levels

Simple ways to make money

Blackjack Basics

Tips and Tricks for Torn the game