Crimes turn Nerve into cash and experience, with a chance of setbacks. This guide explains how to read the requirements, understand the risk and build a sustainable routine. See Crimes for the five base crimes and their costs.
Check your available Nerve, the required Crime Rank, the cooldown and any equipment requirement. Mugging requires an equipped melee weapon. Armed Robbery requires an eligible equipped firearm. A weapon sitting in your inventory does not satisfy an equipment requirement.
The five base crimes cost Nerve. Crime Specialties can also require Focus. An attempt spends its resources and starts its cooldown even if the outcome is unsuccessful.
Each crime has its own cooldown. Base crimes and specialties also share a two-second global cooldown, so switching activities does not bypass that short wait. You cannot attempt base crimes while travelling, jailed, hospitalized or laying low.
Base crimes use two rolls. The first decides whether you succeed. If it fails, the second decides whether the failure is soft or critical.
| Outcome | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Success | Cash, character XP and Crime XP. Payouts vary, and a separate loot roll can award items. |
| Soft failure | No cash payout, but some experience. Heat and additional Nerve loss depend on the crime and outcome. |
| Critical failure | Some experience, with more serious consequences. These can include cash loss, Life loss, jail or hospital treatment. |
Critical consequences can overlap. Being robbed does not necessarily spare you a jail sentence. Read the full result rather than assuming its headline lists every penalty.
General Crime progression improves the first roll for base crimes. It does not directly reduce the conditional critical-failure probability used after a failed roll. However, fewer failed first rolls also means fewer opportunities for a critical failure.
For example, an 80% success chance followed by a 20% critical chance on failure gives a 4% critical-failure chance per attempt: 20% failure multiplied by 20% critical failure. This is an illustration, not the rate of a particular crime.
Equipment, careers, upgrades and active events can affect the applicable odds. Some base crimes also vary their success chance slightly between attempts. Treat the displayed chance as guidance, and allow room for a bad outcome.
Heat gain depends on the crime and outcome. Some low-risk successes add no Heat. Applicable progression, equipment, career, family, city and event effects can change Heat gain.
Heat falls over time. At 100 Heat, an additional arrest check can occur; reaching 100 does not guarantee arrest. The Crimes screen also shows Heat restrictions for individual activities. See Heat and Lay Low for managing recovery.
Jail and hospital durations depend on the activity and applicable modifiers. Waiting is always an option. A bust attempt can release a prisoner, but a critical failure can jail the person attempting the bust. A failed attempt does not automatically extend the target prisoner's sentence. See Jail and Busting and Hospital and Recovery.
Crime Specialties unlock at general Crime Level 25. Repeating a base crime builds general Crime progression and relevant success milestones; it does not directly train a specialty discipline. Each specialty starts its own progression, and the general base-crime rank bonuses do not apply to its attempts. See Crime Specialties.
Compare the possible reward with the Nerve cost, cooldown and consequences of failure. A larger cash payout can come with more Heat or longer time away from other activities. Keep recovery costs in mind before moving up the ladder.
Check the result after each attempt. A successful crime can produce cash without loot, and an unsuccessful one can still award experience. Repeated outcomes remain uncertain even after a run of successes.
Mechanics checked against the game code on 17 September 2026.