Jobs and courses: which first and why

Careers and courses are the two permanent boosts in Vesper City. You can hold one job at a time and study one course at a time, so order matters.

Choosing your first career

Every career pays a wage. What differs is the perk, which counts only while you hold the job:

• The Evening Star: better crime odds. A good first pick if crimes are your income.
• Harbour Works: better gym gains. Pick it if you train a lot and fight.
• The Golden Wheel: bigger crime payouts. Good once you pull bigger jobs.
• City Police: shorter jail time, for those who often end up behind bars.
• St. Jude's Hospital: shorter hospital stays, for fighters.

Switching careers starts you from the first rank again, so choose one and give it time. See Jobs.

Climbing a career

Work a shift whenever the timer allows. Each shift adds points, XP and Favours, and promotions come when you have enough points and the level the next rank asks for. Higher ranks pay more and give a bigger perk. The Workshop opens from rank 4, and your career's power from rank 5. Don't let it lapse: after 3 idle days in a row you start losing points. Going away? Book leave on the Jobs page.

Your first courses

Courses run in real time, one at a time, and the fee is paid up front. A sensible opening order:

1. Street Smarts (level 1, $1,000, 4 hours). Cheap, quick, and it helps every crime.
2. Streetwise (level 5, $7,500). It opens the next tier of crimes: your first real jump in income.
3. Bookkeeping, then Business Management. Better property income and better job pay.
4. First Aid and Law School. Shorter hospital and jail stays, a quiet help if you take risks.
5. Reading the Street sharpens gathering intel, and later Safecracking and The Big Time open the top tiers.

Each course card shows its level, fee, length, what it gives and which course it needs first, so you can plan a chain. See Education.

Putting them together

• A crime player: The Evening Star or The Golden Wheel, plus Street Smarts, Streetwise and the crime ladder (Crimes).
• A fighter: Harbour Works, plus the first aid courses (Gym and training).
• An income builder: any career, plus Bookkeeping and Business Management (Properties and renting).

Tips

• Start a course before you log off, and a long one before a break.
• Do a shift every day, even on a short visit.
• Finish the cheap early courses before saving for the expensive ones.
• Staying out of the cells matters too: see Jail and hospital.