The Murder System: How to Take Out a Player

The murder system is the heaviest weapon in your arsenal: this is where you take out a rival for good. A successful hit (under Underworld → Murder) puts your target down and earns you a share of their cash, respect, murder XP and any bounties. But you do not commit a murder from behind your desk: you have to be in the same country as your victim. Where is that? The detective tells you, or you guess, at your own risk.

How a hit works: track, travel, strike

A professional hit takes three steps:

• 1. Track down. Hire the detective to find out which country your target is hiding in. Strictly speaking this is optional: you are allowed to hunt on pure luck, but guess wrong and you pay the price (see below).
• 2. Travel. If your target is in another country, you catch a flight. With every completed lead you see right away whether you are in the right place: if it says "Strike", you can go ahead; if it says "Travel there", you need to fly first.
• 3. Strike. Choose your weapon, load your bullets and pull the trigger.

The wrong country: guessing comes at a price

Strike while your target is somewhere else and the hit comes to nothing: no bullets wasted, no weapon wear, because you never fired. But sneaking around a foreign country with a gun is no innocent trip. There are three ways such a night out can go:

• 🚓 Busted: by default a 15% chance (adjustable) that a cop taps you on the shoulder. Someone called in about "that creepy guy with the gun" and before you know it you are face down on the asphalt: 8 to 16 minutes in jail.
• 🩸 Jumped: by default a 25% chance that the local boys spot you snooping around on their turf. Four guys in an alley, no small talk, just a beating: you lose 5 to 15 health.
• 💨 Slipped away unseen: the rest of the time you simply walk back to the airport as if nothing happened. No jail, no beating, but your night is wasted and your target is still breathing.

Every failed attempt also comes with its own atmospheric little story: from a locked door at an old granny's place to a bartender laughing right in your face. Fun to read, less fun when it keeps happening to you. Serious hunters hire the detective first. Guessing is for gamblers: professionals know where their target sleeps.

Cooldown: no assembly line of hits

After every murder attempt, whether a kill, a hit or even a miss in the wrong country, you have to lay low for a while before you can strike again. By default this lasts 60 minutes (adjustable, and it scales automatically with the chosen economy preset). While the cooldown runs, the murder page shows a countdown instead of the hit form. This stops one player from wiping out an entire server in a few minutes and makes every job a deliberate choice instead of a button to spam.

Choose your prey wisely

Since the base loot scales with your target's rank, not every target is equally lucrative: a low-ranked street rat yields a meager handful, an established Tycoon a serious haul. Combine that with an active bounty and a kill on the right person can earn more in one blow than an hour of committing crimes. Keep in mind: the higher the rank, the better armed and protected someone usually is, and the rank protection further down this article puts a ceiling on who you can attack anyway.

The hit: target, weapon, bullets

On the Hit tab you fill in:

• Target: your victim's username. If you use the "Strike" button on a lead, it is filled in automatically.
• Weapon: a dropdown with all your working murder weapons, including their condition and bullet use. Your equipped weapon is preselected, but you can pull a different weapon out of the closet for every job. Broken weapons cannot be used: repair them first in the murder shop.
• Bullets: at least your weapon's minimum, but you can load more for a better hit chance and extra damage. Every weapon has its own maximum: at least 6 extra bullets above the minimum, or 3× the weapon minimum if that is higher (whichever is greater counts). That gives even a sniper rifle (1 bullet per shot) a useful range of 1 to 7, while an Uzi (6 bullets minimum) can go up to 4×, to 24. A melee weapon uses no bullets.
• Message: if you like, send your victim a personal message: a final greeting from their killer.

The default message: your calling card

Do you type the same threat with every murder? Then set a default message. On the hit form you will find the "Default message" option: one click takes you to a screen where you set your fixed text, or choose one of the ready-made classics, such as "Nobody betrays the family and lives to tell the tale." Once a default message is set, the box is ticked and your text is ready in the message field automatically; type something else and the box unticks itself. Saving it empty removes the default message again.

Who is untouchable?

Not everyone is a valid target. Three rules:

• Rank protection: you cannot murder anyone who is 2 or more ranks above you. A street rat trying to take out a Tycoon gets laughed off by the bodyguards. Climb the ranks yourself first and the big names come within reach. It does not work the other way around: high-ranked players can be attacked by lower ranks. The top is a shooting target.
• The staff: admins and moderators are completely untouchable. Do not waste a bullet on them.
• Hiding: a target who is currently in hiding (available via Go Into Hiding in the Shop) cannot be found: a murder attempt on them is simply impossible until their hiding period ends.

What decides your hit chance?

If you are in the right country, the real hit is rolled. Your hit chance is no coin flip; these factors count:

• Your weapon and its condition: every weapon has its own accuracy, and it only counts in full when the weapon is well maintained. A rusty piece shoots crooked.
• Your murder skill: your murder rank and murder XP from the shooting range add a lot to your chance and your damage.
• Power vs. defense: your strength against your target's defense gives you an advantage or a disadvantage.
• Extra bullets: loading up to 4× the minimum gives a bonus to your hit chance and damage.
• Your target's protection: active armor makes them harder to hit and absorbs up to just over half of your damage. A target with backfire enabled is also on guard.

The outcome is always capped: even the perfect hit is never a guarantee, and even the worst one has a glimmer of hope. And note: your weapon wears down with every attempt, hit or miss. At 0% it is broken and needs repairing.

What do you get for a kill?

If your damage brings the target to 0 HP, it is over, and you collect the spoils:

• Loot: a guaranteed base loot (jewelry, a watch, car keys: you always grab something), which scales with your victim's rank: the higher they stand, the richer the prey. If they also had cash in their pocket (money in the bank is safe), a percentage of that is added on top. Both scale with the season theme and the staff's economy preset.
• Bounties: if there is a price on their head, you collect it automatically. See bounty hunting.
• Murder XP: 40 to 60 per kill by default, raising your murder rank so your next hits have a better chance.
• Respect and season points: every kill builds your standing and your season position.
• A chance at extras: a tuning part or a vault code can drop out of a hit.

Hit your target but they survive? Then you deal damage, earn a modest portion of murder XP and your victim now knows who is hunting them. Their armor partly absorbs the blow, and can break in the process. If you had a detective lead, it is used up after the attempt, hit or miss: for a second attack the detective has to go back to work.

Backfire: the target shoots back

A target who has set up their backfire (weapon and bullets ready) automatically fires back at the attacker after surviving a hit, even if the attacker missed. That can wound you, or worse. Hunting is fun until the prey bites back. Under Settings → Backfire you choose how you return fire:

• Do not shoot back: backfire is off.
• Same amount as the attacker: a fair, predictable answer: as many bullets back as were fired at you.
• Random amount: an unpredictable volley, from a single shot to a hefty load. More lead means more damage, but also more bullets used.
• Fixed amount: you decide exactly how many bullets your backfire always fires (for example 10 by default), as long as you have them on you. Fully predictable and in your own hands.

Can a target be killed twice?

No. If several players attack the same target at the same time, only one hit counts as the real finishing blow: whoever actually brings the health to 0 first gets the kill, the loot, the bounty and the glory. Anyone who is just too late neatly sees "someone else beat you to it" instead of two (or ten) jobs accidentally paying out at once. You do lose the bullets and weapon wear of a late hit: you really did fire, even if you were a moment too late. That keeps a group attack tense and realistic: everyone who joins takes a risk, but the loot goes to whoever actually finished the job.

How do you protect yourself?

• Bank your cash. Only money in your pocket is loot.
• Wear armor and keep your health high. Protection lowers the hit chance and absorbs damage. See weapons & protection.
• Go into hiding when things heat up. Via Go Into Hiding in the Shop you are completely untraceable for murder attempts for a number of hours: the ultimate emergency brake when you know someone is hunting you.
• Turn on your backfire. Whoever shoots at you gets an answer.
• Keep moving. A detective lead expires after a while: players who regularly switch countries are harder to catch.
• Check the bounty list. If there is a price on your head, be extra careful.

Strategy: from beginner to top killer

Start small: build your murder rank at the shooting range, hunt targets of your own caliber and reinvest your loot in a better weapon and more bullets. Be combat-ready before the lead comes in (weapon maintained, bullets in stock, plane ticket at hand): a lead is only valid for a limited time and expired information is money thrown away. Load extra bullets for important targets: the bonus to hit chance and damage is often the difference between a wounded rival and a dead one. And do not forget your own defense: the best killer is the one who stays standing the longest.

Frequently asked questions

Can I murder someone without a detective?

Yes, but then you are guessing. If your target happens to be in your country, the hit goes ahead as normal. If they are somewhere else, the job fails and you risk arrest (15% chance, 8 to 16 minutes in jail) or a beating from the local boys (25% chance, 5 to 15 health). The detective takes the guesswork out of it.

Do I have to travel to my target's country?

Yes. You must be in the same country as your target to strike. With every detective lead you see a "Travel there" button if you still need to fly.

Who can I not murder?

Players 2 or more ranks above you (rank protection), the staff (admins and moderators are untouchable), and players who are currently in hiding (temporarily untraceable via Go Into Hiding). Everyone else is fair game, including players ranked lower than you.

What is the default message?

A fixed farewell you set once via the hit form. Once it is set, it is ready to go with every hit; type something else and the box unticks itself.

What do extra bullets do?

Every weapon has its own maximum above its minimum use: a guaranteed range of at least 6 extra bullets, or 3× the weapon minimum if that is higher. The closer you get to that maximum, the higher the bonus to hit chance and damage, up to an adjustable cap (+20% by default) that you actually reach at the maximum. Often the push that makes a hit lethal.

What do I get for a successful kill?

A share of your victim's cash, any bounties, 40 to 60 murder XP by default, respect and season points, plus a chance at a tuning part or vault code.

Can my target fight back?

Yes. If they survive the hit and have set up their backfire, they automatically fire back: with real bullets and real damage.

Play for free and prove in the underworld of BELLOCCO that you are the most dangerous name on the streets.

Panic Room

A Panic Room in your Estate gives you +2% evasion chance per level when someone attempts a hit on you.