Training smart

Training is a long game. A few good habits make every session count for more. The basics are in Gym and training; this page is about doing it well.

Start with your mood

The happier you are, the more each session gives. Training costs a little happiness too (2 per session), so a long run wears your mood down. Raise your Happy bar before a big session:

• A night out is the safe way to a better mood (Nights out and drinks).
• A better home raises your happiness maximum, and upgrades such as a better bedroom make it refill faster (Home upgrades).
• Keep drinking for after your crimes and fights, never before.

Choose a gym, then stay

The first gym is free, and better ones open at higher levels for a one-off fee. A better gym multiplies every session, and many have a speciality. The sensible plan:

1. Look at your build. Do you train one stat more than the others?
2. Choose the gym whose speciality fits that stat, or whose sessions cost less energy.
3. Stay put. A new active gym needs 5 sessions to settle in, and you can only switch every 3 days.

You keep every membership you buy, so upgrading never wastes money; hopping around only wastes time.

Balance your stats

Gains shrink as a stat grows, and each session varies a little, so low stats grow faster than high ones. Don't pour everything into one stat. Strength hits harder, Defense takes hits, Speed strikes first and Dexterity lands the hits. A rounded fighter beats a lopsided one more often (Fights). Each card shows roughly what one session adds right now.

Spend energy wisely

Energy refills over time, even offline, so empty it before you log off. But attacking costs energy too: keep some back if you plan to fight.

Cut the cost of a session

• A home gym room makes sessions cost less energy.
• The Harbour Works career gives better gym gains as a perk (Jobs).
• In jail the gym is free, and strength gains are 10% better inside, so a short sentence needn't be wasted.

Where courses fit

Courses train your head, not your body, but they matter just as much. Study one while you train, since the course clock runs on its own. Good early picks are Street Smarts for crime odds and First Aid for shorter hospital stays. See Education.

Tips

• Raise your mood first, then train, and spend the whole bar.
• Pick one gym that fits your favourite stat, and stay.
• Never skip a course because you "have no time": it runs while you are away.