STARNIGHT // FIELD REPORT
30 DAYS IN TORN
THE IMPATIENT MIN-MAXER'S CHECKLIST
DAY 30 • NOOB STATUS: ACTIVE • ADDICTION: CONFIRMED
Today is exactly my 30th day in Torn.
There are already some amazing beginner guides out there, but many are extremely in-depth. Great if you want to understand every mechanic. Less great if you're an impatient min-maxer like me.
This isn't a encyclopedia.
This is the short checklist I wish I had on day one.
What to do, what to research and what I personally learned, without explaining what nerve is or where every button lives.
This is aimed at players who want to learn and research things themselves, but would like a stable direction instead of having 47 Torn Wiki tabs open.
Massive thanks to LittleD, my faction leader, who taught me an embarrassing percentage of everything below.
THIS IS MY 30-DAY EXPERIENCE. NOT THE TORN BIBLE.
PHASE 01
FIRST LOGIN / FIRST DAYS
01 // Do Duke's introduction missions.
Spend the Energy and Nerve when he asks. Free progression.
02 // Start Blood Bags education ASAP.
BIO1340 Introduction to Biochemistry → BIO2127 Intravenous Therapy
Once Blood Bags are unlocked, my advice is to focus heavily on Sports Science and work through the branch for the permanent gym and training bonuses.
03 // Join a faction immediately.
Find one that accepts noobs, has decent respect and perks, loans equipment and actually teaches you things.
A good faction probably accelerated my account more than anything else on this list.
04 // Buy dirt-cheap starter gear.
Leather armor + a gun below ~$50k is enough before borrowing better faction equipment.
You're level 3. You don't need Batman's loadout.
05 // Get a job.
I started Army and spent my Army Points on Strength.
06 // Abuse city shops daily.
Buy Beer from Bits 'n' Bobs and resell it. If Beer is gone, check things like Lollipops.
It's not much. Neither is your net worth.
07 // Follow an Easy Merit Guide.
[ EASY MERIT GUIDE ]
This basically became my addiction for the first few days.
MY MERIT PRIORITY:
EDUCATION 10/10 → BANK INTEREST 10/10
08 // Learn Happy / Choco Jumping.
Research it or follow [ THIS GYM GUIDE ].
My first simple target was roughly 500 in every battle stat.
09 // Focus your Nerve.
Pick a Crime branch and progress it instead of randomly doing everything. I focused on [ GRAFFITI ].
Crime isn't making you rich early. Think progression, merits and some starting cash.
10 // Enter giveaways.
I replied to a few forum giveaways and somehow received roughly $5m in starting money.
MY HIGHEST ROI ACTIVITY WAS TYPING COMMENTS.
11 // Selling losses is an option.
I didn't really do it, but plenty of new players apparently make good starting money from it.
Congratulations. Getting beaten up is employment.
12 // Optional: Donator / Subscriber Status.
150 maximum Energy and faster natural Energy regeneration is a huge early boost.
PHASE 02
THE ROAD TO LEVEL 15
01 // Use Baldr's target list.
[ BALDR'S LIST ]
Attack targets you can beat and choose Leave for XP.
I only discovered this around level 10. If you're reading this earlier, you're already ahead of me.
02 // Participate in Ranked Wars.
I made over $100m from my first three wars.
Results obviously vary. Don't quote me when your faction pays you three cans of Goose Juice.
03 // Join Organized Crimes.
Mostly passive progression and income for very little work.
04 // Learn to use Xanax.
Extra Energy means more training and more actions, especially during wars. Research addiction, cooldowns and rehab first.
05 // Grab cheap merits.
If I could reasonably get one for under roughly $1m, I usually grabbed it. Just don't bankrupt yourself collecting shiny badges.
06 // Work towards renting a Private Island.
Happiness matters massively for early training.
RENT. Don't immobilize your entire net worth because the virtual palm trees look nice.
07 // Install basic tools.
◆ TornPDA
◆ FF Scouter
◆ YATA
◆ Torn Travel Planner
◆ Bazaar / Item Market helpers
Vanilla Torn works.
So does cutting your lawn with scissors.
08 // Use your resources.
Full Energy or Nerve sitting unused is simply lost progression.
09 // Rent a Ranch Before the Private Island
Untill you have enough in your bank, it's a good idea to rent a atleast a Mansion but preferably a Ranch. With the right money making methods you can skip everything before.
10 // Check the Calendar.
Participate in events whenever they make sense. Rewards, merits and occasionally something different to do.
PHASE 03
LEVEL 15 // GAME UNLOCKED
CONGRATULATIONS.
You can now spend half your day looking at an airplane.
01 // Rent a PI with Airstrip + Pilot.
Happiness + much better travel.
02 // Start travelling for money.
Use YATA / Torn Travel Planner and choose trips based on profit, stock and time.
03 // Get a Large Suitcase.
More capacity = more stuff = number go up.
04 // Start thinking about your battle-stat build.
Research whoring and build ratios and choose what fits you instead of automatically keeping everything perfectly even.
05 // Look for a Player-Owned Company.
Once your working stats allow it, find one with specials useful to your playstyle.
06 // Stop having a homeless profile.
You've already spent enough hours here. Add a picture, nameplate, signature and some personality.
Potential lovers need marketing too.
07 // Find a spouse.
Merits + splitting property upkeep.
TRUE LOVE IS TEMPORARY.
LOWER PI UPKEEP IS FOREVER.
08 // Get a Bazaar.
Especially useful once you're regularly selling travel items.
09 // Use the daily Energy refill.
Once you can comfortably afford it, more Energy means faster progression.
PHASE 04
WHAT I'M WORKING TOWARDS
MAIN FINANCIAL TARGET
$2,000,000,000
BANK + 10/10 BANK INTEREST
Crime enhancers.
Start picking up useful Crime 2.0 enhancers once money becomes less tight.
Stocks.
After finishing the $2b bank target, I want to start looking much more seriously at stock benefit blocks.
Company ownership.
Only if that gameplay actually interests you. Running one can require serious investment.
Faction ownership.
Same idea. Do it because leadership gives you enjoyment, not because owning things automatically means winning.
Pick your own rabbit holes.
Racing. Trading. Collecting. Casino. Companies. Fighting. Faction leadership.
Eventually Torn becomes less about following a beginner checklist and more about deciding what kind of player you want to be.
SURVIVAL DATA
RANDOM THINGS I LEARNED
You will get attacked.
Sometimes you annoyed someone. Sometimes you're a mission target. Sometimes someone woke up and chose violence.
Ignore bored stronger players.
Your progression matters more than winning an ego battle against an account old enough to drive.
Friends and faction mates are 50% of the experience.
At least for me. Finding the right people completely changed the game.
Avoid Global Chat if you enjoy living.
Think before posting on the forums.
Some people here have billions of dollars and apparently absolutely nothing better to do.
Yes, I understand the irony of writing this forum post.
I barely gamble.
Wheels, Lottery and whatever I need for merits.
Use timers if you're a min-max addict.
Energy. Landing. Education. Cooldowns. Whatever matters to you.
Congratulations.
Your idle RPG now has more notifications than your job.
Protect your cash.
Bank, trusted faction storage and whatever safe or liquid options suit your situation.
Walking around with millions is basically wearing a PLEASE MUG ME name tag.
DAY 30 REVIEW
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT TORN
Overall? I really like Torn.
The community surprised me most. Yes, there are psychopaths, scammers and people who will hospitalize you for existing incorrectly...
...but I've met far more genuinely helpful people.
NUMBER GO UP
= BRAIN HAPPY
Torn is a pretty unique idle RPG with good writing, surprisingly complex mechanics, regular updates and a ridiculous number of different ways to play.
Fighter. Trader. Criminal. Racer. Gambler. Company owner. Faction leader. Collector.
Or apparently someone who flies internationally to purchase stuffed animals for profit.
I especially like that your decisions can actually impact other players. Attacking, mugging, trading, scamming, bounties, wars and faction politics have consequences.
It's occasionally frustrating, and exactly why Torn doesn't feel like another generic idle game.
UNSOLICITED FEEDBACK
WHAT I'D CHANGE
01 // More late-game active content.
Impossible for me to properly judge after only 30 days, but my biggest concern is what Torn looks like after 6 to 12 months.
I'd love more systems unlocking over time: active money-making methods, stories, progression paths, activities or entirely new mechanics.
Improving existing systems matters, but completely new things are what would personally excite me most.
02 // Make Racing somewhat profitable.
Racing is a genuinely fun RPG system, but financially there's almost no reason to do it.
I'd love small official 1st / 2nd / 3rd place prize pools. Nothing crazy. Just enough that spending two hours racing doesn't automatically mean sacrificing every profitable activity.
03 // Points feel almost TOO convenient as cash storage.
This may be my most anti-player opinion.
In my first month, Points have felt like extremely convenient liquid storage. Prices obviously move, but I've mostly broken even or made money.
Compare that with Bank investments locking money, Cayman requiring time and faction storage requiring trust.
Please don't bounty me for suggesting additional friction.
04 // Make the homepage feel more alive.
Huge update? BIG BANNER.
Major event? SHOW ME.
Player poll? MAKE IT OBVIOUS.
Torn has a very active community, but as a new player it sometimes feels like important things only exist if you happen to visit exactly the right page.
05 // Lots of tiny UI / QoL things.
Choosing which medals appear on my profile, more customization, UI improvements and better visibility for certain systems.
But I'm 30 days old and not a game developer, so I'll stop before this turns into another 8,000-word guide.
END OF FIELD REPORT
I'm sure some of this is inefficient, some veteran is currently having an aneurysm over one of my choices, and I'll probably disagree with myself in another six months.
But if this saves one impatient new player from opening 47 browser tabs just to figure out what to do next:
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Massive thanks again to LittleD and everyone who answered my endless noob questions.
STARNIGHT
SEE YOU AT DAY 180
unless Global Chat gets me first
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