Killing another player is the most direct form of power in GangCity — and the most risky. A hit is not a push of a button: you need a valid detective, a weapon and enough immediately usable bullets. The Kill page checks your target in advance and shows the rank and Heat surcharge before you confirm. Killing is closely tied to the hitlist, the detective agency and your family.
What do you need?
- A valid detective — you must track down your target first and be in the same city. A report remains valid for one hour.
- A weapon — every weapon gives an attack bonus; better weapons hit harder. Without a weapon, you cannot attack or fire back.
- At least 250 base bullets — rank difference and Heat determine how many bullets are actually spent.
- No active blocker — you cannot attack from a safehouse, during beginner protection or while your previous kill cooldown is active. A target on vacation, in a safehouse or under active protection cannot be attacked.
Who can you attack?
You can normally attack a player up to two ranks above or four ranks below your current rank. This applies to everyone: after Prestige, only the current ranks of both players are used.
Only the lower limit has exceptions. A target below 20 XP, or one who has been inactive for more than fourteen days and is not on vacation, may be more than four ranks lower. The upper limit of two ranks, account restrictions and temporary protection are never waived by this exception.
Rank surcharge on bullets
Shooting down-rank costs extra. The surcharge is capped from four ranks of difference onward, including when an exception waives the lower rank limit.
- Same rank or a higher target: 1.00×
- One rank lower: 1.60×
- Two ranks lower: 2.56×
- Three ranks lower: 4.10×
- Four or more ranks lower: 6.55×
Protection for new and promoted players
- Beginner protection lasts 48 hours from the start. During that period you cannot be killed and cannot carry out a hit yourself.
- Rank protection lasts 48 hours after promotion into ranks 4 through 12 during your first run. Prestige players do not receive this promotion protection.
- An outgoing hit attempt accepted by the server ends rank protection immediately. A rejected request does not.
Free and received bullets
Your total bullet stock can contain immediately usable and temporarily locked bullets. Bullets earned through your own gameplay are available immediately. Bullets received from another player, through a family bullet vault or through Obay cannot be used for a hit for 24 hours. They still remain part of your stock and can be used for other permitted actions or as backfire.
Status and Kill show your total, your free bullets, the amount still locked and the next unlock time. The final cost is:
base bullets × rank surcharge × Heat surcharge
When you confirm, the server checks your target, protection, detective, cooldown and free stock again. A stale preview can therefore never bypass the final rules.
Heat and cooldown
Every successful offensive kill keeps counting towards your Heat for fourteen days. Heat belongs to your account line, so it does not disappear through Prestige, a different name or starting again after death. When a kill becomes older than fourteen days, your Heat drops automatically.
- Heat 0 — no recent kills: 1.00× bullets and a 24-hour cooldown.
- Heat 1 — one recent kill: 1.25× bullets and a 36-hour cooldown.
- Heat 2 — two recent kills: 1.50× bullets and a 48-hour cooldown.
- Heat 3 — three recent kills: 2.00× bullets and a 72-hour cooldown.
- Heat 4 — four or more recent kills: 3.00× bullets and a 96-hour cooldown.
The Heat level is determined before the new attempt. Your first kill after a quiet period therefore uses Heat 0; the next attempt sees that kill as Heat 1. The Kill page always shows your current level, multiplier, cooldown and next drop.
Attack and defence
The outcome of a hit depends on factors on both sides:
- Weapon — increases your attack power.
- Protection — a bulletproof vest, shield and a property or villa in the relevant city reduce the damage you take, up to the applicable maximum.
- Bodyguards — up to five bodyguards absorb part of the damage together, but may die during the hit.
- Kill experience — inexperienced killers receive a penalty; experience grows through kills and can eventually grant an advantage.
- Vigilance — Alert and Bunker strengthen your defence but weaken your own attacks. Bunker is explicitly a defensive stance.
- Approach — Careful lowers your damage and the backfire damage you receive; Aggressive raises both. Normal leaves both unchanged.
Backfire: the risk for the attacker
In their combat profile, your target chooses either a percentage of your base attack bullets (10–500%) or a fixed number of bullets per hit. The rank and Heat surcharge only increases what you actually pay, so a percentage is not calculated over that higher debit. A fixed amount is attempted on every valid hit, even when you use only 250 bullets.
Backfire is always capped by the target's total bullet stock. Without a weapon, nothing is fired back. Every bullet actually fired back is deducted from the target, even when overkill reduces its damage. Received bullets that cannot yet be used for the target's own hit can still be used as backfire.
The bullets fired back also reduce your attack, up to 40% of the target's health pool. This maximum reduction is reached when the return fire is at least twice your base amount; any further return fire only increases the possible backfire damage. A well-armed target or an aggressive approach can seriously injure or kill you. A hit can end in four ways: the target dies, you die, you both die or you both survive.
The loot and consequences
- Loot — a successful kill gives you your target's cash on hand. If they have no will holder, you also receive half their bank balance, up to $25,000,000.
- Hitlist — killing a target from Pickpocket rank onward puts you on the hitlist for 72 hours unless you cover your tracks with Honor Points. An existing bounty on your target is paid after a valid kill.
- Witnesses — a recently active player may see the murder and receive a persistent witness report.
- Cooldown — every accepted attempt starts the cooldown belonging to your Heat before that attempt, even if nobody dies.
Death and starting again
A death is linked to your account line exactly once. This prevents the same death from creating multiple new characters or future recovery benefits. You also cannot attack another character from your own account line. A new name or Prestige does not clear these safety rules or your active Heat.