The tonic timer

Energy and nerve items are the quickest way to get back on your feet: a Bag of Peanuts, a Black Coffee, a Pep Tonic, Smelling Salts, an Adrenaline Shot, a Hip Flask and the like. We call them tonics. Every tonic always works in full. What keeps them in check is one simple thing: your tonic timer.

One timer

Every tonic you use adds time to your timer: 60 minutes for every 20 energy it gives, and 60 minutes for every 2 nerve. A Bag of Peanuts adds 15 minutes, a Black Coffee 30 minutes, a Pep Tonic 1 h 15 min and an Adrenaline Shot 3 h 45 min. Some items have their own number. Ten peanuts one at a time add exactly the same as ten at once.

The timer counts down in real time, even while you are logged out. The Inventory shows what each tonic gives and adds under its Use button.

Only using a tonic counts. It does not matter where it came from: the Black Market, the Bazaar, a gift or your gang's Armory. Items that only lift your happiness or mend your health are not tonics and never touch the timer.

Running on fumes

While your timer is under 12 hours, nothing else happens. A normal day of snacks never gets near it.

From 12 hours you are running on fumes. Tonics still work in full, but each one also costs a little happiness: 1 happiness for every 4 energy it gives (nerve tonics cost the same for the time they add). Happiness makes your gym training stronger, so a long binge shows up in the gym. Your happiness never drops below 0 from this. The Use button tells you the cost before you take one.

The cap

Your timer can hold up to 24 hours, plus 1 more hour for every full 10 levels you have, with no upper limit. A tonic that would take your timer past the cap can't be used: the Use button tells you when it can ("back in 2 h 10 min"). If you use several at once, you take as many as fit and the rest stay in your suitcase.

Below level 10 the cap is 8 hours, to protect new players. Buying them at the Black Market has a daily limit of its own and a price that rises with each one you buy that day (see The Black Market); the timer decides how many you can use.

The bottle

While your timer runs, a small bottle sits beside your bars. It fills up as the timer grows, with a faint line where running on fumes starts, and the liquid turns a deeper red-brown once you are on fumes. Point at it (or tap it) to see the time left.

Gold refills

A Gold energy or nerve refill always fills the bar in full and is never refused. It adds 120 minutes to your timer, even past the cap. Donator status makes no difference to the timer.

Using them wisely

• Keep a few tonics for when you really need them rather than draining your bars all day.
• Spread them out: the timer drains all day, so a tonic now and one later keeps you off fumes.
• Watch the bottle. Once it turns red-brown, every tonic costs you some happiness.