Strategy: Career Criminal

Good evening, fellow Browncoats!

I want to thank all of you who have popped in to read the blog.  I'm glad to know that there is a large community of fellow captains who love the game.

Tonight's topic is a strategy that I have come to call "The Career Criminal".

General Premise:

The Career Criminal prefers to skip the low-pay, low-risk jobs of Harken and Amnon Duul to start doing quick, high-paying jobs for Patience, Badger, and Niska.  Crime jobs are typically single-staged (only have to fly to one destination to complete the mission) and pay is usually $2500 or above.  All crime jobs require a player to Misbehave, at least once, so there is some risk of drawing a bad card.

How to Start:

When it comes to Captain selection, Malcolm is the best Leader to take this strategy due to his perk that grants him a $500 bonus for Crime Jobs.  With a high concentration of criminal activities in Badger's and Niska's Contact Deck, Malcolm will make large sums of money very quickly due to this perk.  His only downside is that he is Moral, which will limit his options with Niska somewhat, as many of his jobs are Immoral.

A second runner-up, especially for a captain that wants to deal almost exclusively with Niska, is Womack.  He gets a $500 bonus whenever he completes an Immoral job.  Working for Niska will net the player a lot more money with Womack.

The best starting positions for the players (in my opinion) are Silverhold and Regina.  Starting at Silverhold, you can quickly stock up on Firearms, Explosives, and crew.  If you start at Regina, not only are you close to Niska, but you can pick up most of the equipment keywords in Regina, along with a few gun hands.

When playing this strategy, I find it beneficial to spend my first two turns using a Buy Action to dig through the decks a bit to find some equipment and crew, using the Make-Work action to add $200 per turn, while you are shopping.  Since the goal is to completely skip the lower level Shipping and Smuggling Jobs, you want to build up a crew quickly so that you can start being a bad guy.

Crew Composition

There are many theories on this strategy.  Some will advocate a crew that is balanced between the three skill tests.  Personally, I advocate for a strong Fight and Negotiate team, equipped with a lot of Keywords.  Fight and Negotiate skills will get you through about 90% of the Misbehave deck, so by focusing on those two areas, you will strengthen your crew against most disasters while misbehaving.

Typically when I play this strategy, I will try to opt for cheaper crew (like Scrappers, Gun Hands, or even Hill Folk) and equip them with high quality gear.  The reason for this is that they will take a smaller cut of your profits, allowing you to accrue large amounts of capital quickly.  Now, if the game objective is not based on the accumulation of wealth (like Desperadoes and Respectable Person of Business), I will opt for some more expensive crew to beat the large skill checks.

There are certain crew members that contribute a great deal to a player that is following a Career Criminal path:

• Two-Fry - You can find Two-Fry on Regina.  He may be a Merc and only have one Fight skill, but if you pair him with a Sniper Rifle, he grants you a perk that allows you to draw 1 fewer Misbehave card, down to a minimum of 1.  This gives you a huge advantage over the other criminals, as your exposure to risk in the Misbehave deck is considerably reduced.
• Billy -  Billy, in addition to adding 2 Tech and a cargo for every Salvage Op, has the same costs as other scrappers and gives you a crew member that can wield Burgess' Laser.  He also provides the Mechanic keyword.  He is located on Persephone.
• Tracey - Located at the Space Bazaar, Tracey provides 1 Fight and 1 Negotiate skill, and if someone has to die, he must be killed first.  However, he only costs $100 so he is a very fine bullet sponge to keep along.
• Interrogator - Niska's Interrogator is the only Medic in the game that is not moral.  He only provides 1 Negotiate but his low price of $100 makes him a viable medic to have around.
• Saffron / Yolanda / Bridgit - While she is expensive at $300, YoSafBridg is a very effective criminal.  First, she is the only other companion, besides Inara, but she is also a grifter.  A large percentage of crime jobs give bonuses to Grifters and Companions.  So the cost investment for having her onboard is easily exceeded by the bonuses that she will provide.

Obviously, having these four is not an ideal crew, however, they each bring a valuable asset to the team, beyond simple Gun Hands or Hill Folk.  Due to their low cost and low skills, they will need to have powerful equipment to back them up.  Here are some of the gear and upgrades that will greatly assist you in the criminal underworld:

• Skyhook - You can find the Skyhook upgrade in Regina.  It requires a Pilot to use and it counts as a Transport.  After completing a Crime Job, you get to load 1 Contraband.  If you are solid with Niska, this upgrade will pay for itself after one crime job.
• Cry Baby - When being a career criminal with a less-than-reputable crew, having a Cry Baby handy will prevent the Alliance Cruiser from getting the drop on you and taking your illicit cargo or nefarious crew members off to a penal colony.
• Hacking Rig - Simply because it will help you pass several Misbehave cards, a Hacking Rig is a must have.
• Fancy Duds - For the same reason as the Hacking Rig.  Also, there are certain jobs that require this and the Hacking Rig.
• Burgess's Laser - The holy grail of weapons, at a whopping cost of $1800, this beauty packs a walloping 3 Fight Skill and gives Firearm and Explosives keyword.  It requires a single Tech skill to carry it, but it will give you team a huge advantage in the Misbehave deck.
• Vera - Jayne's iconic rifle costs slightly less than the laser.  It provides the Sniper Rifle and Firearm perk and gives the crew 2 Fight & 1 Negotiate skill.  Giving this to Two-Fry makes him a force to be reckoned with.

Contacts with Crime Jobs:

• Niska has 17 Crime jobs in his deck, 9 of which are Immoral jobs.  Pay Range: $3500 - $6000.
• Badger has 12 Crime jobs in his deck; 1 of which is Immoral.  Pay Range: $2800 - $4000.
• Patience has 10 Crime jobs in her deck; 2 of which are Immoral.  Pay Range:  $2000 - $3000
• Amnon Duul and Harken do not have any Crime jobs.

To sum up the strategy, there are four key things to do:

1. OBTAIN Low-cost crew early.
2. OBTAIN High-value equipment early, especially the Skyhook or the 4WD Mule (I have done both of them in the past.
3. IGNORE missions for Amnon Duul and Harken.
4. BUY a Cry Baby and keep it handy for incursions into Alliance space.

Thanks for reading.  I have updated the Companion's article with details about which contacts offer the most bonuses for Companions, as per a reader's comment.  Your feedback is read and implemented.

If you have a strategy or a question, leave a comment and I will answer it, either as a reply comment or in a post all of your own.

Stay Shiny,

~ Captain Paddy Bardic