New Player Quick Start Guide BASICS — Tutorials & Guides

Asusuz [4075878] 20 Mar 2026, 17:40 TCT · #1 · edited

🎯 Phase 1: The Rush to Level 15

Welcome to Torn! Before we get into faction wars, crimes, and making billions, you need to understand one thing: Levels 1 through 14 are basically an extended tutorial. Your absolute, undeniable #1 priority is reaching Level 15 as fast as humanly possible.

Why Level 15?

At Level 15, you unlock the Travel Agency. Traveling allows you to fly to other countries, buy plushies and flowers, and sell them back in Torn for millions of dollars a day. The "real game" and real money start at 15.

⚔️ How to Level Up: The Strategy

Do not waste your Energy attacking random active players, and do not attack NPCs just yet. To level up fast, you need maximum XP (Experience Points).

The game rewards you with massive XP when you defeat players who are a higher level than you. However, high-level active players will crush you. The workaround? Leveling Targets.

What are they? These are inactive accounts of players who leveled up high (Level 15 to 50+) but completely neglected their battle stats.
The Result: You get the huge XP reward for beating a high-level player, but the fight is incredibly easy because their stats are garbage.
Always Choose "Leave": After defeating a target, you are given three choices: Mug, Hospitalize, or Leave. Always select LEAVE. Leaving gives you the most XP. Hospitalizing gives less, and Mugging gives the least.

📜 Finding Targets: Baldr's List

To find these inactive punching bags, the community has done the hard work for you. Search for "Baldr's Basic Advice" or "Baldr's Leveling Targets" on the Torn Forums (in the Tutorials section). Baldr maintains a highly accurate, frequently updated list of leveling targets. Find a block of targets that have lower total stats than yours, and start attacking them.

🤖 Work Smart: API Keys & Security

Checking every single target manually to see if they are available to attack is a massive waste of time. You need to use your API Key to automate this.

What is an API Key? Your API key is a unique code (found in your Torn Settings -> API Key tab) that allows third-party tools to read your Torn data without needing your password.

⚠️ CRITICAL SECURITY WARNING: Treat your API key like your bank PIN. Never give your API key to a random player who asks for it. They can use it to track your money, see when you land from a flight, and mug you. Only use your API key on globally trusted, community-vetted platforms.

⚡ The Hospital Race & Kill Stealing

Because these targets give so much XP, thousands of other new players are hunting them at the exact same time. Once a target is defeated, they are sent to the Hospital ("Hosp'd"), and you cannot attack them while they are in there.

The Hosp Race: If you see a target has 2 minutes left in the hospital, wait on their profile page. The absolute second that timer hits zero, you need to click "Attack." If you are even a second too late, someone else will beat you to it.
Kill Stealing (Joining Fights): Fights in Torn are not locked 1v1 instances. If you start an attack and don't finish the target off immediately, the fight stays "open." Anyone else can join your ongoing fight and land the final blow.
* The Rule of the Last Hit: The player who lands the final hit gets to choose "Leave" and claims all the XP. If you do 99% of the damage but another player swoops in and lands the last hit, they steal your kill and your XP.
How to avoid this: Only attack targets you know you can defeat in 1 or 2 turns. Do not drag fights out!

✅ Your Leveling Checklist:

Find a target on Baldr's list with lower stats than you.
Watch for them to leave the hospital (refresh at 0:00).
Hit them fast, finish the fight quickly to avoid kill stealers.
Select "Leave".
Watch your level skyrocket. Get to 15!

🔋 Phase 2: Core Mechanics – Energy, Health, and Nerve

Once you understand how to level up to 15, you need to master Torn's three main resources: Energy, Health, and Nerve. Your character's growth depends entirely on how efficiently you manage these bars.

⚡ 1. Energy & The Gym (Your Muscles)

Energy is the most valuable resource in the game. It regenerates at a rate of 5 Energy every 15 minutes (or 5 per 10 minutes if you become a Donator/Subscriber).

The Golden Rule: Never let your Energy bar reach its maximum capacity! If your energy is full, it stops regenerating, which means you are actively losing potential growth.

🏋️ Training in the Gym

When you aren't using your energy to attack Baldr's targets for XP, you must spend it in the Gym to increase your battle stats (Strength, Speed, Dexterity, Defense).

Unlocking Better Gyms: The more energy you spend training, the more "Gym XP" you gain. Eventually, you will unlock new, better gyms that give you more stats per energy spent.
Happy Jumps (Coming Soon): The absolute most efficient way to train your stats when you are new is a method called the "Happy Jump." It involves stacking energy and maxing out your happiness before training. We will cover exactly how to do a Happy Jump in a dedicated section later in this guide!

💰 The Value of Energy: "Selling Losses" (Energy Trade)

Energy can be directly converted into cash, which is a common strategy for newbies struggling to make money before Level 15. This is called "Selling Losses" or "Slutting."

How it works: High-level players will pay you (usually around 250k - 350k per hit) to attack them and intentionally lose. You spend 25 energy, attack them, select any weapon, instantly lose, end up in the hospital, and they send you the money.
⚠️ Check for Scammers: Before selling a loss, check if the person buying them has a lot of enemies on their profile. If they do, do not hit them! They will likely not pay you.
The Trade-off: While this is fantastic money for a beginner, it stunts your growth. Every 25 energy you sell is 25 energy you didn't spend in the gym.
Personal Advice: Sell just enough losses to buy your daily 100 items, and rent a decent property. Do not become a permanent slut. Once you hit Level 15 and can fly, stop selling losses and put 100% of your energy into the gym!

🏥 2. Health & Medical (Staying Alive)

Your Life (HP) dictates if you can fight. If your life hits 0, you are sent to the Hospital. You cannot train, do crimes, or attack while in the hospital.

Getting Out of the Hospital

Wait it out: Look at the timer.
Medical Items: Use Medical Items (Small First Aid Kits, Morphine, etc.) to restore your life and leave the hospital early.
Revives: High-level players with the revive perk can bring you back to full health instantly, but this usually costs 1 Xanax or 1 million dollars. Not worth it for newbies unless it's during a Faction War.

🩸 Medical Cooldown & Blood Bags

Every medical item you use adds time to your Medical Cooldown. Our faction's limit is 6 hours (and 9 hours when we are warring). If your cooldown hits this limit, you cannot use any more medical items until the timer goes down.

The Best Healing Method: As soon as possible, take the "Intravenous Therapy" Education course (under the Biology bachelor). This unlocks Blood Bags. Empty blood bags can be filled with your own blood (giving you medical cooldown but safely storing your health). Full blood bags can be used to heal yourself for massive amounts with very little cooldown penalty!

🔪 3. Nerve & Crimes 2.0 (Your Street Cred)

Nerve is used exclusively for committing Crimes. It regenerates at 1 Nerve every 5 minutes. Just like Energy, never let your Nerve sit at its maximum!

📈 Crime Experience (CE) & Your Nerve Bar

Every time you successfully complete a crime, you earn Crime Experience (CE). CE is a hidden stat—you cannot see your exact number anywhere.

Natural Nerve Bar (NNB): As you accumulate enough CE, you will hit hidden milestones. When you cross a milestone, your maximum Nerve capacity (your Natural Nerve Bar) will increase (e.g., from 15 max nerve to 20, then 25, etc.). A high NNB is crucial for our faction's Organized Crimes (OCs).
Failing & Jail: If you fail a crime, you lose a little CE. If you get caught and sent to Jail, you lose a massive amount of CE. Avoid jail at all costs.

📋 Crime Progression (Crimes 2.0)

With the new Crimes 2.0 system, progression is based on leveling up specific crimes to unlock harder ones.

Start Small: Begin with "Search for Cash" to build a foundation. Once your skill is high enough, move on to "Bootlegging" or "Shoplifting."
Consistency over Risk: Always prioritize crimes with a 100% success rate (or very close to it). A safe crime that gives small CE is infinitely better than a risky crime that sends you to jail and destroys weeks of your hard work.

🔧 Crime Enhancers

There are specific items in the game known as Crime Enhancers (e.g., Slim Crowbar, High-Speed Drive, Wind Proof Lighter).

How they work: You do not need to "equip" them, except a few. Simply having the correct enhancer sitting in your inventory will boost your success rate or the rewards for its corresponding crime.
Tip: If you are focusing on a specific crime (like Shoplifting), buy the associated enhancer from the Item Market immediately. It pays for itself by boosting your success rates and improving your skill gains!

💊 Phase 3: The Happy Jump (Training Like a Pro)

Normal gym training is actually exponential—the higher your stats, the more you gain per train (until a soft cap of 50 million). However, when your stats are very low, those daily gains are tiny. The Happy Jump is the absolute best way for new players to slingshot their stats and build them up much quicker.

The Idiot-Proof Concept: The amount of stats you gain in the gym doesn't just depend on the Energy you spend; it also depends heavily on your Happiness at that exact moment. By artificially pumping your Happiness to the moon and spending a massive amount of Energy all at once, you bypass the slow early-game grind.

Note: Once an individual stat reaches around 400,000, the effect of happiness becomes negligible compared to your base stat. At that point, you stop Happy Jumping and return to regular training.

⚠️ The Most Important Rule: The Happy Reset!

In Torn, your Happiness automatically resets back to its normal maximum limit every 15 minutes. This happens exactly at the xx:00, xx:15, xx:30, and xx:45 minute marks (Torn Time).

A Million-Dollar Mistake: Let's say you boost your Happiness to 10,000 at 12:14. One minute later, at 12:15, the server resets. Your 10,000 Happiness instantly disappears before you even click "Train," and you just wasted millions of dollars.
The Solution: ALWAYS start a Happy Jump exactly after a reset (for example, at xx:01 or xx:16). This gives you a full 14 minutes to use your items and train before the next reset wipes your happiness.

⏳ Cooldowns (CD): Don't Waste Your Items!

Before you jump, you must understand Cooldowns. If your CD is full, the game will physically block you from using items.

Drug Cooldown (Drug CD): You get this after taking drugs like Xanax or Ecstasy. If you have any Drug CD (even 1 minute), you cannot take another drug!
Booster Cooldown (Booster CD): You get this from eating Candy, drinking Energy Drinks, or watching Erotic DVDs (E-DVDs). The maximum limit is 24 hours. If you hit 24 hours of Booster CD, you cannot use any more boosters until the timer goes down.

⚡ The Prep: Energy Stacking

Your normal maximum Energy is probably 100 or 150. However, the drug Xanax gives you +250 Energy instantly, and it can go over your maximum limit. This is called "Stacking."

The absolute maximum Energy you can stack is 1,000 Energy (using 4 Xanax).
Every Xanax gives you about 6-8 hours of Drug CD. Because you have to wait for the CD to hit zero before taking the next pill, stacking 1,000 Energy takes about 2 to 3 days. During this time, you CANNOT train and CANNOT attack anyone.
Overdose (OD) Risk: Every time you take a Xanax, there is a small chance (around 2-3%) that you will overdose. If you OD, you are sent to the hospital, you lose all the energy you stacked, and you have to start over. It hurts, but it's part of the game!

🚀 The Full Happy Jump (Step-by-Step)

This is the classic, massive jump. You will need: 4x Xanax, 4x E-DVDs, and 1x Ecstasy.

Stacking: Wait until your natural energy is full (e.g., 150).
Take 1 Xanax (+250 energy). You now have 400.
Wait for your Drug CD to hit exactly 0.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you reach 1,000 Energy.
The Waiting Game: After your 4th Xanax, WAIT FOR YOUR DRUG CD TO HIT ZERO! (If you don't do this, you won't be able to take the Ecstasy in step 8!).
The Timing: Look at the Torn clock. Wait for a 15-minute reset to pass (e.g., wait until 12:16).
The Boost: Quickly use 4 E-DVDs. Each gives 6 hours of Booster CD, so 4 will put you right at the 24-hour limit. Your happiness will skyrocket.
The Ecstasy: Take 1 Ecstasy pill. This drug does one magic thing: it DOUBLES your current Happiness.
The Finish: Go straight to the Gym and click Train! Spend all 1,000 Energy before the next reset hits at 12:30. Congratulations, you just gained massive stats!

💸 Broke Newbie Alternatives (Cheap Jumps)

A Full Jump is very expensive because E-DVDs cost millions. If you are poor, do these instead:

The Choco Jump (No Xanax, No DVDs): Don't stack energy for days. Just let your energy hit your natural max (150). Buy 48 "Big Box of Chocolate" from the item market. Each gives 30 minutes of Booster CD (48 x 30 mins = exactly 24 hours). Wait for a reset, quickly eat all 48 chocolates, take an Ecstasy if you can afford it, and train your 150 energy. It's cheap and highly effective for newbies!
The Half-Jump: Same as the Choco Jump, but you take 1 or 2 Xanax beforehand so you have 400 or 650 energy to train with instead of just 150.

🛡️ Faction Perks That Boost Happy Jumps

Jumping without a faction is a massive waste of time and money. When you are looking at different factions, these are the specific upgrade branches you want to look for, as they directly impact how safe and profitable your Happy Jumps will be:

Toleration Branch (The Drug Boosts) Since a Full Happy Jump requires taking up to 4 Xanax and 1 Ecstasy, you are heavily reliant on drugs.

1.The Toleration branch makes stacking much safer:

Overdose Risk Reduction: Every Xanax carries an Overdose (OD) risk of about 2-3%. If you OD while stacking, you lose all your energy and your jump is ruined. A faction with this perk can reduce your chance of overdosing by up to 30%.
Addiction Reduction: Every drug you take builds up hidden "Addiction," which lowers your battle stats and eventually forces you to go to Rehab in Switzerland. This perk reduces the addiction you gain by up to 50%, saving you millions of dollars and keeping your stats high!

2. Steadfast Branch (The Gym Boosts) The ultimate goal of a Happy Jump is to gain stats. The Steadfast branch directly multiplies the end result of your jump.

Stat Gain Boosts: Factions can unlock specific percentage boosts for Strength, Speed, Defense, and Dexterity. A good faction will give you a flat +10% (or more) bonus to the stats you earn every single time you click "Train." When you are training 1,000 energy with maxed-out happiness, that extra percentage equals thousands of free stats.

3. Voracity Branch (The Maximum Happiness Boosts) This branch dictates how high you can push your happiness before you train. It is vital for both cheap and expensive jumps.

Candy Effect Boost: Factions can upgrade the amount of Happiness you get from eating candy by up to 50%. If you are doing a cheap Choco Jump, this perk gives you a significantly higher starting Happiness before you pop your Ecstasy, resulting in much better stat gains for the exact same price.
Booster Cooldown Extension (The 99k Jump): Normally, the game hard-caps your Booster Cooldown at 24 hours (which equals 4 E-DVDs). However, a top-tier faction can extend your maximum Booster Cooldown up to 48 hours. This is a game-changer. It means you can use 8 E-DVDs instead of 4 before taking your Ecstasy pill. This allows players to reach the legendary 99,000 Happiness cap, resulting in astronomical stat gains.

✈️ Phase 4: Traveling & Making Millions (The Plushie Run)

Congratulations, you hit Level 15! You just unlocked the Travel Agency. This is the most important milestone in Torn because it is how 90% of players make their daily money. Forget about selling your energy as a "slut"—it's time to become an international smuggler.

🌍 The Basics: Flight Times & Restrictions

To travel, you go to the Travel Agency (or your Private Island Airstrip), pick a country, and fly.

Flight Times: Flying takes real-life time. A short trip to Mexico might take 18 minutes one-way, while a long-haul flight to South Africa or China can take over 3 to 4 hours one-way.
Restrictions in the Air: While you are flying, you are "In Transit." You cannot train in the gym, commit crimes, attack anyone, or be attacked. You are completely safe, but you can only read forums, chat, and read the newspaper. You cannot access your inventory or use items while in the air!
Restrictions Abroad: When you land in a foreign country, your options are severely limited. You cannot train or do crimes. You can only visit the local item market, attack/mug other players who are also in that country, or fly back to Torn.

🧸 Plushies, Flowers & Drugs: The Economy

Every country sells specific items in its local market. Your goal is to buy them cheap abroad and sell them for massive profits on the Torn Item Market.

What to buy: You are strictly looking for Plushies (like Camels in the UAE or Pandas in China) and Flowers (like Peonies in China or Tribulus in the UAE). Occasionally, you might buy Drugs (like Xanax in South Africa).
Why is it so profitable? You might buy a Plushie in the UK for $400, but it sells on the Torn market for $70,000+. High-level players buy these by the thousands to trade them in at the Museum for "Points," which are a premium currency. The demand is endless.
The Daily Routine: If you want to be rich, you need to be in the air as much as possible. Doing 3 to 4 flights a day can easily net you $2,000,000 to $5,000,000+ per day.

🎒 Item Capacity: Carrying More = Making More

When you first start traveling, you can only carry 5 items back to Torn. If you fly for 3 hours just to bring back 5 plushies, your profit per hour is terrible. You need to increase your carrying capacity immediately.

Here is how you carry more items:

Suitcases: Go to the Torn Item Market and buy a Large Suitcase. It is expensive, but it permanently adds +4 items to your capacity. It pays for itself in a few days.
Faction Perks (Excursion Branch): A good faction will have upgraded the Excursion perk tree, which can add up to +10 extra items to your travel capacity. This is a massive free boost just for being in the faction.
Properties: Renting or owning a Private Island with an Airstrip and a Pilot adds another +10 items.
Company Perks: Working for a 3-star Lingerie Store (+2 items) or a 10-star Cruise Line (+3 items) gives further capacity.

A fully upgraded player can carry 29+ items per flight. Aim to get your capacity as high as possible, as fast as possible!

⚠️ The Danger: Restocks & Flight Mugging

Traveling is not entirely safe. If you are not careful, you will lose all the cash you brought with you.

1. Empty Markets & Restocks

Countries do not have infinite items. The global player base is constantly buying them. If an item says "Sold Out," you have to wait for the server to randomly "Restock" the items.

2. The Danger of Foreign Mugs

When you land in a foreign country, you are holding the millions of dollars in cash you need to buy your items. High-level players know this. They will camp in foreign countries, waiting for the exact second you land, and they will attack you. If they beat you, they "Mug" you and steal a percentage of your cash.

The 15-Second Window & "Touch and Go" Strategy: The game gives you a 15-second protection window after you land (both abroad and back in Torn) where nobody can attack you. To avoid getting mugged, you must be fast. When your flight timer has 10 seconds left, have your screen ready. The absolute millisecond you land, click the item, buy your max capacity, and instantly click the button to fly back to Torn. You must do all this before your 15 seconds of protection expire. Do not linger, do not chat, do not look at other items. Buy and leave!

🛒 Phase 5: Trade, Drugs & Daily Essentials

Now that you are Level 15 and making millions by flying for plushies, you are a walking target. Torn is a ruthless city. If you don't know how to protect your money, older players will take it from you. This section will teach you how to trade safely, which drugs to use, and how to avoid the biggest newbie traps.

🛡️ Selling Your Loot: Bazaars & The "Buy-Mug"

You just landed from the UK with 20 plushies. You list them on the Item Market, and someone buys them for $1.5 million. Ten seconds later, you end up in the hospital, and $150,000 is missing from your wallet. What happened? You got "Buy-Mugged."

A Buy-Mug is when a player buys your items on the market, tracks your profile, and attacks you the exact millisecond the money goes into your wallet. How to avoid getting robbed:

The Faction Trader (Safest): The absolute best way for a newbie to sell items is to trade them directly to a trusted Faction Trader. They will usually buy your plushies/flowers at 2% or 3% below the market value. It costs you a tiny bit of profit, but the trade is 100% safe, fast, and you never get mugged.
Open a Bazaar: You can spend 250 Points at the Points Building to open your own Bazaar. Bazaars are great because you can list your items, put your money into a safe place (like a Ghost Trade or a Faction Vault), and let players buy your stuff while you are safely flying or sitting in the hospital where nobody can mug you.

💎 Points & Daily Refills (The Premium Currency)

"Points" are the premium currency of Torn. You can buy them from other players on the Point Market. Do not waste your points.

The Points Building offers many services, but as a growing player, you should only care about one thing: Refills.

Daily Energy Refill: Once per day, you can spend 30 Points to completely refill your Energy bar. If your max energy is 150, spending 30 points gives you a fresh 150 energy instantly. This is mandatory for fast growth. Buy points with your plushie money, and do an energy refill every single day to train in the gym.
Daily Nerve Refill: You can also spend points to refill your Nerve bar once a day. This is great for grinding Crime Experience (CE), but focus on the Energy Refill first if you are poor.

💊 The Torn Pharmacy: A Quick Drug Guide

Taking drugs gives you "Addiction" (a hidden stat that lowers your battle stats over time). When your addiction gets too high (a brain icon appears on your screen), you must fly to Switzerland and pay $250,000 to go to Rehab.

Here are the only drugs you need to care about right now:

Xanax ($800k+): The king of Torn. Gives +250 Energy, but temporarily lowers all your battle stats by 35% while you are on it. Used for Happy Jumps and fast gym training. High overdose risk.
Ecstasy ($60k+): Doubles your current Happiness. Used strictly at the very end of a Happy Jump before you train. Do not take this randomly.
Cannabis ($7k+): Gives +2 to +3 Nerve. It is cheap and excellent for newbies who want to do more crimes and build their Crime Experience faster.
Vicodin ($3k+): Gives a temporary +25% boost to all your battle stats. You do not use this for training. You take Vicodin right before you attack enemies during a Faction War to hit harder.

🗺️ City Finds: Free Money on the Floor

Many newbies do not know this, but Torn literally drops free items on the floor for you to pick up.

How it works: Click the "City" link on your sidebar to open the map. Occasionally, items will spawn on the map as little glowing circles. These can be anything from a useless $5 brick to a $25 Million Stat Enhancer or an $800 Million Parachute.
Awareness: The amount of items you find is based on your "Awareness" stat. You can increase this by taking the Psychology education courses or using Merit points.
Use Tools: Finding items manually on the huge map is annoying. If you use Torn PDA or Torn Tools, they will literally highlight the items for you or give you a direct link to pick them up. Check your map every day!

🎰 The Casino Trap (Don't Be Stupid)

Torn has a fully functioning Casino featuring Blackjack, Slots, Poker, and the infamous Russian Roulette (RR).

Listen carefully: The Casino is designed to take your money. We see it every single week—a newbie grinds flights for 4 days, saves up $15 million, feels lucky, goes to play Russian Roulette, and loses every single dollar in 30 seconds. They then beg the faction for money or quit the game.

Do not gamble your net worth. If you want to play Poker for fun with pocket change, fine. But do not treat the Casino as a way to make money. It is a way to lose it. Stick to flying!

🎓 Phase 6: Education & Employment (Brain Power & Daily Grind)

In Torn, your battle stats (Strength, Speed, etc.) make you a good fighter, but your Working Stats and Education make you a valuable asset. If you neglect these, you will miss out on the best perks, the highest-paying jobs, and crucial survival abilities.

📚 Education: Never Stop Learning

Education courses take real-life time to complete (from a few days to several weeks). You must always have an education course running. If your education queue is empty, you are wasting time.

Here is the exact order you should complete your courses as a beginner:

1. Biology (Goal: Intravenous Therapy)

Your absolute first priority in the Education building is the Biology, specifically to unlock the "Intravenous Therapy" course.

Why? This unlocks the ability to use Blood Bags. As mentioned in Phase 2, Blood Bags are the absolute best way to heal in Torn. They restore massive amounts of health with very little medical cooldown. You cannot be an effective fighter in our faction without them.

2. Sports Science (Goal: Gym Gains)

Once you have your IV Therapy, switch immediately to the Sports Science.

Why? Completing these courses gives you permanent, passive boosts to your gym stat gains (e.g., +1% to Strength gains, +1% to Speed gains). Over months of playing, these small percentages equal millions of free battle stats.

3. Computer Science (Or Your Choice)

After finishing Sports Science (and ideally the rest of Biology), the choice is yours. However, Computer Science is highly recommended next because it provides massive boosts to your Crime Experience and hacking success rates, which is great for Crimes 2.0.

💼 Employment: City Jobs vs. Player Companies

To get a job, you need Working Stats. There are three main working stats:

Manual Labor (MAN): Good for physical jobs (Mechanic, Furniture).
Intelligence (INT): Good for brain jobs (Software, Logistics).
Endurance (END): Good for stamina and general efficiency.

City Jobs (The Starter Path)

When you are a brand new player, your working stats are zero. Most good player-run companies will not hire you. You need to join a standard City Job (like the Grocer, Army, or Casino).

Passive Stat Gains: Every single day you are in a City Job, you will receive a small, automatic increase to your working stats. Just by logging in, you get smarter and stronger. Stay in a City Job for your first few weeks to build a baseline of stats.

Player-Run Companies (The Real Money)

Once your working stats are decent (usually around a few thousand in each category), you can apply to a player-run company. These are businesses owned and managed by other players (Directors). They offer much better pay and incredible passive perks based on the company's Star Rating (1 to 10 stars).

What to expect from a Company Director: When you join a company, you are part of a team. If you do not log in every day, you hurt the company's efficiency, and the Director will fire you.

Here is how the dynamic works:

Company Trains: Directors generate "Company Trains" every day. They can use these trains on their employees to give them a massive, instant boost to their working stats. This is the fastest way to grow your MAN, INT, and END.
The "Pay vs. Trains" Deal: If you have very low stats, you are not actually helping the company make money. A Director might hire you, but they will offer you Zero Pay in exchange for Daily Trains. This is a great deal for newbies! You get massive stat boosts for free.
Selling / Buying Trains: Trains are highly valuable. Sometimes Directors will "Sell" trains to employees. This means you literally pay the Director a fee (e.g., $250k per train) to boost your stats. Conversely, once your stats are incredibly high (hundreds of thousands), Directors will pay you millions of dollars a day just to sit in their company and boost their star rating.
Company Perks: Look for companies that fit your playstyle. A 3-star Sweet Shop gives you free Energy and Candy (great for Happy Jumps). A Lingerie Store gives you +2 Travel Capacity (great for Plushie runners). A Fitness Center gives you extra Gym gains.
The Golden Rule of Jobs: Communicate with your Director. If you are going on a real-life vacation and won't be logging in for 3 days, tell them! Otherwise, you will be fired and lose your perks.

🏁 Phase 7: Advanced Mechanics & Daily Routine

As you settle into your new life in Torn, there are a few more systems you need to understand to optimize your character's growth and avoid wasting valuable resources.

📈 The Stock Market & Benefit Blocks

The Stock Market in Torn isn't just for day trading. If you buy and hold a specific amount of shares in a company, you unlock a "Benefit Block." As long as you keep those shares, you receive passive perks or weekly item drops.

The Holy Grail for Newbies (WLT): Your first major stock market goal should be the West London Television (WLT) benefit block. Holding this block passively reduces all Education course times by 10%. This will save you months of real-life waiting time.
Other Blocks: Later on, when you are rich from plushie running, you can buy blocks that give you free weekly drugs, passive income, or gym training boosts.

🏅 Merit Guide: Where to Spend Your Points

As you play the game, level up, and achieve certain milestones (Awards), you will earn Merit Points. You can spend these on permanent, passive upgrades for your character. Do not spend these randomly! Resetting them costs real money later.

Priority #1: Education Length: You must put your first 10 Merits into the "Education Length" upgrade to max it out (10/10). This reduces your education time by 20%. Combined with the WLT stock block, you will fly through your university courses!
What's Next? After maxing out Education Length, the best places to put your merits are Bank Interest (to make passive money later), Maximum Nerve Bar (for more crimes), or Crime Experience boosts.

🏥 Hospital vs. 🚓 Jail (The Bad Places)

There are two places in Torn that completely stop your progress. You need to know how to handle them.

🏥 The Hospital

You end up here if someone defeats you in an attack or if you Overdose (OD) on drugs. While hospitalized, you cannot train, travel, or do crimes.

Getting Out: You can wait out the timer, use Medical Items (like First Aid Kits or Blood Bags), or ask a high-level player for a "Revive" (which heals you instantly but is expensive).
Watch your cooldown: Remember, using medical items adds to your Medical Cooldown. If that hits our faction limit of 6 hours (9 hours in wars), you cannot use any more meds and are stuck waiting!

🚓 The Jail

You end up here if you critically fail a crime. This is much worse than the hospital. When you go to jail, you lose Crime Experience (CE), which hurts your progression.

Getting Out: You can wait out the timer, pay Bail (which is usually a massive waste of money), or have someone "Bust" you out. You can also try to "Escape," but if you fail, your jail time increases!
The Rule: Stick to safe crimes so you never end up here in the first place.

🎯 The Mission System

Various NPCs in the city (like Duke) will offer you Missions. These usually involve attacking specific targets, mugging people, or using certain items.

Mission Credits: Completing missions rewards you with Mission Credits.
The Mission Shop: This is the only place in the game where you can buy Weapon Mods (like scopes, laser sights, and suppressors for your guns) and special stat-boosting books. Check your missions daily and complete them!

📅 The Calendar & Global Events

Torn City never sleeps. There is always a global event happening.

Check the Calendar: Click the "Calendar" link on your sidebar. Here you can see the schedule for massive city-wide events like Elimination, Dog Tags, or Halloween.
Participate: These events are the best way to earn rare items, unique masked items, and massive amounts of money. Our faction will also participate heavily in these, so keep an eye on the dates!

💎 Phase 8: Donator Status & Subscriptions (Turbocharging Your Growth)

While Torn is completely free to play, the absolute best upgrade you can get for your character is Donator Status. It provides massive benefits that essentially double your growth speed.

✨ The Benefits of Donator Status

Having active Donator Status gives you several quality-of-life upgrades, but the most important ones are related to your Energy:

Faster Energy Regeneration: You regenerate 5 energy every 10 minutes instead of the standard 5 of 15 minutes. This literally doubles how fast you can train in the gym!
Increased Maximum Energy: Your maximum energy cap increases from 100 to 150.
Other Perks: Access to the advanced search function, a personal notebook, and the exclusive Donator forums.

📦 Donator Packs (DPs) - No Real Money Required!

A Donator Pack (DP) is an item that grants you 31 days of Donator Status when used.

Buying with In-Game Money: You do NOT need to spend real money to be a Donator! You can buy a Donator Pack from the Item Market for about 25-30 million in-game dollars. Once you start flying and doing plushie runs (Phase 4), you can easily afford to buy one every month just by playing the game.
Buying with Real Money: If you want to support the developers, you can buy them for around $5 USD each on the Torn website.

💳 The Monthly Subscription

If you love the game and don't mind spending real money, you can sign up for a monthly Subscription ($5/month). This is highly recommended for active players.

The Rewards: You automatically get one month of Donator Status, PLUS you receive 90 Points every month.
Using or Selling Points: You can sell these 90 Points on the Point Market for a nice cash boost, or use them for your daily Energy and Nerve refills!
Subscriber Rewards: On the 1st of every month, subscribers receive a special gift. This can include highly valuable "Books" (which give game-changing stat boosts for 31 days), Clothing Caches, E-DVDs, Drug Packs, Box of Grenades, Business Class Tickets, Feathery Hotel Coupons (FHC), and more!

💬 Final Words

That's it, this is the end of the guide! You now know more than 90% of new players who join this game.

Torn is a marathon, and it takes time to get strong. Stick with it, fly every day, train your energy, and don't do stupid crimes. If you have ANY questions about anything in this guide, or just need some advice, ask in the faction chat or our Discord. We are here to help you grow!