Battles

I'm honestly having a hard time completing a quest I've had practically since I started playing this game. The one where you have to complete 10 contracts for the Duke, and one of the contracts is to defeat five players. My RNG luck must just be really awful or something because I've been trying to fight players of a similar level to me, and I've lost every single time. I've got two out of the five players, but I did that WAY back when I first started playing Torn, and I don't even remember how long ago that was now. I just don't get why I'm having so much trouble with defeating other players. It's honestly making it frustrating to try and play the game.

You have not played the game consistently. Start playing every day. Invest all your E in the gym, level up your Gyms. And over the course of time, You will see it becomes easy to beat players. Torn is a long term game. It does not provide gratification immediately.

I don't expect immediate gratification, but players of similar levels to me shouldn't be as hard to beat as players who are up in the 50s to 100s in levels. Like, I expect to be murdered by players who are up in the 50s or 100s, but I've been targeting players who are maybe level 15 to level 17. I'm level 14. And I don't expect to always be able to beat players of similar level to me, either. But I am CONSISTENTLY losing to EVERY player of levels similar to me. That's my main gripe, is just that I'm always losing to players that are around the same level as me. And I know I haven't played the game consistently. I kinda said that in my original post. It's just a little bit annoying to me that I am consistently losing all the time to players who are right there at the same level as me. That's all.

People can level hold in this game. That means one player can literally have enough xp to be in level 90 but stay in level 15. You have to check their time played, Xanax taken, best damage made to guess their power. Alternatively you can use torntools which predict their stats, FFscouter is a free script (requires API) that also predicts player power and finally BSP is a paid script that you can use to predict your opponents strength. 

Usually torntools extension or torn PDA is enough. 

The key point is level do not indicate power

You can also use some temporary items to help you in battle. For example, buying pepper spray at Al’s (accessible through the city button) and using it during a battle makes it difficult for the opponent to hit you for a few turns. 

You can also try saving up 70-80k to buy a weapon that similarly leveled people probably won’t have e.g. a macana since it’s got high damage and accuracy. 

Your account is over 3 years old. You have played for a total of 9 hours. You have 7 kills, have taken no Xanax. You have not trained. You are not in a faction and your house is crap. Join a faction. Level to 15 so you can fly. Take Xanax and train. Marry someone with a PI. Then, and only then, can you start learning to be a Jedi Knight.

By that logic, I don’t know why you expect to be able to beat players who are level 15-17 when you’re only level 14… they should be able to consistently beat you since they’re higher level, no?

But as others are saying, level isn’t an indication of battle stats. Some players level hold (extremely hard to beat), some players spend a lot of gym training (will be strong at a lower level), some players spend a lot of time attacking others instead (will likely be weaker at a higher level). So checking on how active they are, how many attacks they’ve done, if they take xanax, etc. is a better indication whether you can beat them. 

The other thing is - even if you’re fairly matched up stats-wise, what gear are you using? If you’re using low-rated armour and inaccurate weapons, then you’re going to lose against players with the same stats who have combat armour and a macana. And using the right temp can be crucial - if you’re not using a flash or pepper to lower your opponent’s stats right away, you’re also putting yourself at a disadvantage.