Sindicate

From HiveWiki

Sindicate is an online multi-player game for social networks. The player assumes the role of a mob boss and recruits friends to be hoods in his family. Using their hoods, the player constructs and expands new assets, and can engage in warfare with other Bosses.

Unlike many other games operating on Facebook, Sindicate is competitive, and to some extent zero-sum game. In other words there can be losers as well as winners. Be aware that other players will attack you, steal your hoods, and do things to you which you'd rather they didn't. The game gets very competitive very quickly, and players will benefit from developing good strategies for playing. This site can help explain the finer points of Sindicate and guide you and your family to glory.

Sindicate is currently in beta, which means that while the game can be played and enjoyed, it is not complete. There are still bugs (errors) in the code, and the rules may change at any time without warning. The developers welcome your comments and suggestions. Please report bugs and provide feedback about the game in the Sindicate forum. Playing a beta game can be particularly fun and interesting, but it can also be frustrating. You have been warned! Our understanding of specific equations and calculations is constantly updated as new insights are found.

This Wiki is written and maintained by and for Sindicate players, based on communal research and discussion, and the odd revelation from the Sindicate Developers.

[edit] Getting Started

[edit] First Steps

You first task is to start production in your Mansion. Recruit a few friends and go to the City screen. Click Mansion → Assign Hoods, and move some of your hoods from the Streets to the Mansion.

When you start you will get 2 Punks, each of 5 power. These are yours forever. They will never rebel and cannot be stolen. They also do not contribute to your power. You can't use them to attack, but they can be placed in defense and will fight if your city is attacked by others. If you go to the Notifications drop down and verify your email address, you will also get a 15 power homegirl named Candy. Apart from the power, Candy behaves just like your Punks.

From the Mansion view, you can direct your hoods to construct assets. Tell them to construct the Casino. Once construction is in progress, you can wait for it to finish or click 'Buy' to hurry the construction with your cash. After constructing a Casino, expand existing assets so they can use more hoods and build up your defenses. You need to build Lookouts, a Security Outfit and a Harbor Patrol. Finally, after you've built the defensive assets, expanded them, assigned defenders and built a Hide Out, you will be ready to go to war.

When you go to war, your cash can be heisted or your hoods can be kidnapped, just as you can heist and kidnap from others. You cannot protect much cash in war, only a small amount if you man the Safe House, but you only need a relatively small amount on hand for healing when you're a new hustla, say $400 or so. If it's your first time entering war and you only have 1 to 5 hoods of Power 20 and above, place those hoods in one defense only, topping it up to four defenders with 10s if necessary.. as soon as you enter war, start spending your cash on buildings!! Build your Emergency Room to size 5, Foreman's Office and Safe House right away.. If you can build more buildings, build the Foreman's Office to 5 to get the Bar, build Bar to 5 to get Chopper, then build everything else.. You want the Safe House first, it protects a small amount of cash and any hoods you place in it will defend at 4x their power from being kidnapped (half that against rescue).. it's a good place for your most valued hoods on first entering war - usually you want top hoods on front defense, but if you only have one or two P20s, the Safe House may be a better place for them. Kidnap 20s, don't waste your time on thugs, and fill out your other buildings with them.. fill the Defense buildings first, then you can put hoods elsewhere in that region.. look at your City view to see which regions are manned and protected by which Defensive building. Only man your Casino if you can't heist enough cash from others or if it produces much less than your Safe House protects.. just keep one or two P10 thugs in Mansion and Foreman's Office to keep them operational, use cash to buy expansions and upgrades in war. These suggestions are for those first entering war, your strategy will change as you gain power and attack strength.

[edit] Some game concepts

Your 'Power' score directly benefits your Boss, not you.

More important than your total hood Power is having highly productive Defense buildings relative to your Army Strength.

The size and upgrade of your buildings only matters if you actually have hoods manning them.

You don't have to man every building. In war, it may be better to concentrate powerful hoods in one or two columns than to thin them out over all three.

Increasing your Army Size always decreases defense. No that isn't a typo. All buildings are effectively more efficient with a smaller army size. here's why

Go to war as soon as possible after you start.. make your mistakes early when you have nothing much to lose, you'll be matched with people who have the same attack strength and power as you anyway, so if you're a noob with 6 thugs and no hustlers, don't worry, you'll be in a bracket with other noobs who have just 4 to 8 thugs.

Everyone in your Attack Bracket has similar Attack Strength (+-20%) and Power (+-40%) to you, so a stronger player is one with stronger defenses. Since defenses are limited by Army Size, strong defenses are made by manning buildings with hoods as near in power as possible to your top, attacking hoods.

Don't be intimidated by players in your bracket with higher Power than you, army strength matters more.

Increasing your Power will make war more challenging, not less. Players at higher brackets are usually more active, experienced, players. The right bracket for you is one that is fun to play in, not necessarily the highest bracket you can reach.

Promoting to the next title makes playing below the minimum power for that title much more challenging since lower titled players get a significant Alert bonus against higher titled players, plus your higher base power means lower titled players in your bracket have more hood-power than you. Wait til you're confident warring at your current level before promoting.

Note: If you man your Black Van while you're offline, and you're close to promoting, someone of the next title above you may bv-feed you thugs and promote you to kill your lower title alert bonus. So don't do that. If it happens, congratulations.

There are no perfect defenses, you will always stand a chance of losing hoods in war, but if you kidnap more hoods than you lose, you'll get ahead. That said, a huge Unmarked Chopper goes a long way once you've reached Enforcer power.

[edit] War

Constructing a Hide Out makes you eligible to attack and to be attacked. Make sure you have strong defenses before you go to war. Expand your Mansion and all defenses to at least size 4 before going to war. Also, swearing an oath of loyalty to a boss at this stage, or even joining an alliance, is beneficial; see below for details.

To go to war you need to have built a Hide Out and have at least 4 hoods (not including punks or homegirl). IMPORTANT NOTE: when you first construct the Hide Out, you will automatically go to war if you have 4 eligible hoods. Dropping below four hoods will disband and going above it will gather again. When you want to leave war mode you click 'SCATTER YOUR ARMY'. Disbanding takes 24 hours. You must disband, and wait 24 hours to return to peace mode, with more than four "real" hoods. While disbanding, you are still in war mode - you will be able to attack, and be attacked. You are not safe from attack until the 24 hours is up.

When you go to war, you will have a rank, which is shown on your 'stats' on your home screen. The only exceptions to this are if you have fewer than 4 hoods.

You begin the game with a maximum number of 2 attackers, but you can increase or decrease your army size at the Hide Out. A smaller number of attackers is best for defense, but increasing army size makes kidnapping easier.

Once you go to war, start pulling heists (stealing cash) To do this, go to the Attack screen, select an opponent and click 'Pull a heist', select which of your hoods should attack, and which part of the enemy defenses they should target. It's important not to have large amounts of cash on you in war; until you have a manned Safe House you can't protect your cash, so it's best to spend whatever you aren't going to use for healing on building and upgrading.

Next you'll want to 'Kidnap a hood'. This is a little harder than 'Pulling a heist' because your attack needs to exceed alert, defenses and double the Power of the hood you're kidnapping. After choosing which of the enemy's hoods to capture, select your attacking hoods, and which part of the enemy defenses they should target. If your attack is successful, the captured hood appears in your Streets. If the target hood was not in the section of the City you attacked, or if the defenders were too strong for your attacking force, then the capture will fail.

For example: If you have an army size of 2 and only Thugs (P10s, short for Power 10s) your attack strength of 20 will allow you to kidnap another thug (P10) if defender's alert is 0 and defense is at 0 health. You can improve your odds of success by attacking the area you think the target is in several times then waiting til alert drops back to 0, and by using your Bar to double your attacker's strength for one attack - hold 'juiced up' attackers in reserve for the final kidnapping attack.

Tip: Try 'pulling a heist' at each defense area once, one area may be undefended and you may break through right away. If you want to 'Kidnap a hood', there's a good chance the hood is behind a defended area so pick the strong area and keep hitting it. Each attack does one point of damage to every defender, so if the defender's top hood is a P10, 10 attacks will bring the defense health to 0.

You can also attempt to make other players your hoods by Taking Over. This is sometimes easier than capturing another hood of equal power, but remember that your newly captured hood may also try to rebel!

[edit] The Effects of Acquiring Hoods

The more and stronger hoods you have and the more equal they are in strength, the more 'powerful' you will be. Capturing more powerful hoods is more difficult, so build up your forces gradually. Thugs are not very useful, so collect Hustlers wherever possible. Remember that if you steal a hood that has a power above the lowest value in your TAS (the hoods that make up your attack), it will increase your TAS, so it would be prudent to mind your defensive capabilities when selecting hoods to acquire.

Don't keep or recruit oodles of thugs when you're in war. This is a common mistake, it's okay in peace, but in war if most of your power is made up of Thugs (Power 10s), and you have just one or a few stronger hoods, you'll be facing other players whose power is mostly made up of stronger, useful, hoods. This means their defenses will be much better than yours.. you'll be like a kid on stilts walking into a fight against giants. Release all but a handful of thugs, 4 to 8 is probably enough. The lower brackets are easier to get ahead in, so if you want to replace those thugs with hustlers, that's where you want to start. To release a thug, go to his profile and click 'Release Soandso!'

If you go to war looking like this;
80 20 | 20 20 10 10 10 10 10 10... (many more 10s) <=== army size of 2, attack strength of (P80 + P20 = 100)

someone else in your bracket may look like this 
50 50 | 50 50 50 48 45 45 40 38.... (a few more hoods) <=== army size 2, attack strength of (P50 + P50 = 100)
note that your attack strength is the same, and we assume you have so many 10s your power adds up close to his, too.

soon you'll look like this;
80 10 | 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10... (many more 10s) <=== attack strength 90, no more Power 20s.

Do not promote yourself to the next title unless you're doing well in warmode at the title you're at. Players of lower title gain a significant Alert bonus against higher titled players now.

[edit] Further Family Developments

After asset the Hide Out, build a Emergency Room and a Foreman's Office. The Emergency Room is used to heal your hoods, and the Foreman's Office is useful for improving the efficiency of your assets.

Later, when you expand your Hide Out to size 5, you can build Informants. A size 5 Emergency Room allows you to build a Safe House. A size 5 Foreman's Office allows you to build the Bar. With a size 5 Informants, you can build a Black Van. A size 5 Safe House lets you build a Bodyguard Detail. A size 5 Bar lets you build an Unmarked Chopper. These are useful defensive assets.

[edit] Invite Page Problems

If people do not show up on the invite tab there are a few possible reasons:

There may be a delay before they show up depending on how long they have been on your list of friends.
Somebody else may have already added them and they simply haven't installed Sindicate yet. Get them to install Sindicate and see who their Boss is.

[edit] Freelancing and Loyalty

Every player is either freelance (independent) or a hood of another player (their boss).Only a minority of players are freelance. Most players are hoods most of the time. Hoods are other players in the game, although they may not be actively playing. All players need hoods to expand their City, or to attack other players. Success is determined by the number and power of the hoods you have.

When freelance, you serve no one, but you can swear an oath of loyalty to anyone of an equal or higher title, but cannot rebel for 24 hours. As a Freelance player, you can swear loyalty to one other player. The Boss to whom you swear will have to accept your plea of loyalty, even if that Boss is a friend on FB. You will not become a hood of the Boss until such time as he/she accepts your plea. A player can never be hood to another player of lower title. A boss can release their hoods at any time, after the initial 24 hours. Bosses cannot swear back or be bought by the bosses that released them within 24 hours.

If a hood gains a higher title than their boss, they are released automatically, and become freelance. Hoods may also rebel. If rebellion is successful, freelance status is achieved. Freelance status does not confer any benefits, though it can be a liability, as it leaves one open to the possibility to be Taken Over.

Hoods can be Kidnapped from their boss by another player. If you are Kidnapped or Taken Over by another player, you become that player's hood. If Taken Over, you may rebel immediately. When you become the hood of another player as the result of being Kidnapped, your previous boss has 72 hours or 10 attempts to rescue you, whichever comes first. The rescue period is shown next to your picture on your new Boss's page, with the words "loyal to ..." and a counter showing the time remaining for rescue. Hoods who are Kidnapped are not subject to the 24 hour loyalty period as they are still loyal to another Boss. They can be released immediately by the Boss who Kidnapped them. While loyal to their previous boss, Kidnapped hoods will not help you attack other players, but may be included in defense.

Thugs are those players who have been invited to play Sindicate , but have not installed the application. If they do not install the application, they leave the game 14 days after they were first invited, but can then be recruited again. These hoods are generally not very useful, but they are essential when starting to play the game.

You can recruit friends using the "Recruit" screen on the main menu. They join your Streets immediately, and receive an invitation to play the game. Any friends who install the Sindicate application automatically become Hustlers.

Hustlers have a minimum power of 20, and do not leave the game (even if they uninstall the application). However, if one of your hoods stops playing the game, or uninstalls the application, their power can drop quite quickly as they release or lose hoods.

[edit] Assets

Your hoods construct, expand, and upgrade assets in your City. Expansion and upgrades may run at the same time for the same asset. Assets are constructed and expanded by Mansion hoods, and upgraded by Foreman’s Office hoods. The maximum current expansion for any asset is size 12.

[edit] Exchange rates of cash in asset processes

If you have cash to spare, you can pay to hurry the asset, expansion or upgrade of assets. Go to the Mansion view (build, expand) or the Foreman’s Office view (upgrade), enter the amount of cash you want to pay, and click "Buy". The exchange rates of cash in the various processes are:

When building a new asset (Mansion): 10 cash per 1
When expanding a asset (Mansion): 10 cash per 1
When upgrading a asset (Foreman's Office): 5 cash per 1

[edit] List of Assets

The following assets are available:

Asset	Function	Tier	Requirements	Cost	Comments
Streets	Any number of hoods can be in The Streets, though they are idle while there. The Streets are the default location for recruited and kidnapped hoods.	-	-	-	“Leaving your hoods in The Streets ain’t doing you any good. Leave us here and we just get lazy and we ain’t useful at all. Get us out of The Streets and back to work.” -Lester the Hood
Mansion	The Mansion is the central hub for orders. The underworld can be expanded and new assets constructed through orders given from the Mansion.	-	-	-	“The Mansion is where it all happens. From here I help you build your empire. You can order new assets to be built and improved. The more hoods you have at the mansion the faster stuff gets done. A good castellan knows how to handle his people and get work done.”- Vincenzo the Castellan
Casino	The Casino is your gangs main source of income. The larger and more advanced it is, the more cash it’ll bring in for the family but you have to have hoods there or it’ll sit there doing you no good.	0	-	5	Time is money and the more money you want, the bigger and better your Casino should be. The more hoods you give me to work the tables and work over the customers the more the cash flows in. - Vito the Pit Boss
Lookouts	The Lookout is your main line of defense for the Hide Out, Informants and Black Van. The more hoods you have acting as Lookouts the safer you’re assets will be.	0	Casino	5	Keep your Lookouts well staffed to protect what’s yours. You don’t want some punks strolling through your city stealing you blind. I don’t collect ton’s of money on bad loans and interest so some jerk can come in and steal it. Keep your Lookouts manned and my cash safe. -Charlotte the Loan Shark
Security Post	The Security Post is the first line of defense for your Mansion, Safe House, Bodyguard Detail and Emergency Room. Keep it well staffed to protect your cash and hoods.	0	Casino	5	Defends hoods in assets in the center column on the City screen from attacks.
Harbor Patrol	Defends Casino, Foreman’s Office, Bar, and Unmarked Chopper.	0	Casino	5	The Security Post is a vital asset. It does you no good to build your underworld if you’re going to let other families stroll in and steal it out from under you. Some mook steals from me by getting past my Security Outfit than there’s going to be some bloodshed. -Jackie the Trigger Man
Hide Out	The Hide Out is where you store your army of hoods before you go to war. These are your soldiers in the battle for supremacy of the underworld. They also act as reinforcements for the Lookouts. As of 12-19-08 deploy you can visit your Hide Out to change your army size once every 24 hours.	1	Lookouts, Security Post, Harbor Patrol.	5	You want to keep guys in your Hide Out so you don’t get any surprises from your Lookouts being taken down and you need them as a steady supply of muscle for your Heists, Kidnappings, Take Overs and what not. I keep these guys supplied with whatever they need to stay ready for your attacks so they’re ready willing and able to make war. -Didi the Smuggler
Emergency Room	The ER is where you can heal hoods that have been damaged in Heists, Take Overs etc. The Emergency Room is a vital part in the war of aggression in the underworld.	1	Hide Out	10	The ER is more than just a healing spot for when you’re guys get hurt defending your turf. Make use of it when attacking as well to keep your hoods frosty for their own attacks. The doors to the ER are always open; or rather, the back door to the ER is always open. - Franklin the Mob Doc
Foreman's Office	The Foreman’s Office lets you increase the effectiveness of your assets. The more you invest in the asset the better your hoods will perform their assigned duties.	1	Hide Out	10	The Construction Office and Mansion combo are your main sources of growth for your kingdom. Issue orders here to improve your assets and get your underworld running smoothly. If you aren’t asset up in the underworld than your dying out and your opposition will see that as weakness. -Tony the Foreman
Informants	The Informant keeps you apprised of troublemakers in your family and helps quell rebellions.	2	Hide Out Size 5	25	You need your Informants to keep any of your hoods from getting any bright ideas on leaving your employ. I keep an eye on all these guys and the opposition for you; don’t forget that good info is almost as important as good muscle. - Freddy the Snitch
Safe House	The Safe House is a asset that kidnapped hoods can be placed in while you wait for the heat to blow over. They’re harder to steal back when they’re at the Safe House. It’s also a good place to store some extra cash and make it harder to Heist.	2	Emergency Room size 5	25	You need the Safe House to help you recruit new hoods to your cause and keep them on ice until they’re ready to work for you. It also makes it harder for their former employer to get them back from you. It’s a safer place to store cash as well. I can’t believe the number of times a good safe house has saved me and my cash from a jealous boss. -Carmen the Femme Fatale
Bar	The Bar increases the Hype of your hoods. The more hyped up they are the more likely they are to succeed at their actions.	2	Foreman’s Office size 5	25	You need to keep your hoods hyped up to give them the edge over opposing hoods on attack actions. You don’t want your boys going up against some opposition that’s more motivated than they are. No one gets men more excited than me but without a good bar to dance it my moves are wasted and your boys are bored. -Ginger the Dancer
Black Van	The Black Van is used to trap the lowest level hood from failing attacks on your underworld.	2	Informants size 5	50	The Black Van is your ticket to free recruiting. When suckers fail to get past your Lookouts they can be turned to your side. You know with me at the wheel they don’t have a chance to escape. - Jackie the Wheel Man
Bodyguard Detail	The Bodyguard Detail keeps specific hoods on ice for you making it even harder to have those guys Kidnapped.	3	Safe House size 5	50	The Bodyguard Detail is your best bet for keeping hold of that hood you just kidnapped into your employ. Use these mooks to keep your favorite acquisitions under wraps. A good bodyguard detail can almost deter someone as good as me….almost. -Grace The Pro
Unmarked Chopper	The Unmarked Chopper adds to your underworld’s alert over time and keeps you aware of the threat level to your City.	3	Bar size 5	50	The eyes in the sky will keep you apprised of threats to your slice of the pie. It’s an important early warning system you should take advantage of. If there’s one thing a world class assassin doesn’t like it’s being surprised by anything. Take my advice, keep your eyes in the air so you don’t get caught with your pants down. -Joy the Assassin

[edit] Power, Rank, and Title

Your Power score (shown at the top of every page under the symbol of a fist) is one tenth of the total power of all your hoods, plus a base value depending on your title (for a Hustler this is 20). So, recruiting or stealing a hood of power 10 increases your power by 1. If one of your hoods gains 10 points of power, your power increases by 1. Gaining a higher title increases your power by 10. Your power determines your usefulness as a hood; it is also used in your defense against Take Overs.

The Rank shown under the symbol of a crown is your position relative to all other players in the Power rankings. For example, if your Rank is 100, then 99 other players have a higher power than you. If you view the Underworld screen, the default view shows you with players of similar Power, in order of Rank. This has no direct significance within the game, but is widely regarded as a measure of success.

Your Title, (e.g. Hustler, Enforcer etc.) shown before your name, affects relations between hoods and their bosses; no player can ever be a hood to another player with a lower title. A higher title also leads to a 10 point increase in power, which is not dependent on your hoods. You receive promotion to the next title when you achieve a certain level of power (shown on the progress bar below your portrait) You can never go down to a lower title; even if you lose all your hoods, your title remains the same.

There can be serious disadvantages to promoting to higher title if you aren't yet confident that you won't get taken to pieces by other people playing at your level. this might take 24hrs, might take a month but people who jump power without spending any time in War Mode for that bracket won't really know what it's like.

Higher titled players in lower brackets now have a penalty to attacking lower titled players; The lower titled player will have a bonus added to their alert equal to Number of Title steps difference x Attackers Army Strength / Attacker's army Size.

Base power (as shown below) is the power of a player with this title if they have no hoods at all.
• Thug: invited but application not installed; power 10.
• Hustler: application installed; base power 20.
• Associate: power 60; base power 30.
• Enforcer: power 150; base power 40.
• Captain: power 500; base power 50.
• Consigliore: power 1200; base power 60.
• Godfather: power 3600; base power 70.
• Underboss: power 10000; base power 80.
• Mastermind: power 30000; base power 90.

Your opponents in the Attack screen are determined by your ranking according to a different value, which is not directly visible in the game. This value is calculated based on your Rank and your maximum attack strength, i.e. the total strength of the best hoods you can use in a single attack. Your opponents will be those whose Rank (Power) and maximum attack strength is approximately the same as yours; however, the further you move up the rankings the greater differences you will find in the power of people you are facing, and in their maximum attack strength. Again depending on your level in the game, you should get between 3 and 10 pages of opponents to choose, each page containing 10 players. Players should be aware that because of the greater differences in the power of the opponents you will face at higher levels, it is even more essential to ensure that your defenses are considerably in excess of your TAS as you progress up the rankings.

The rankings for the Underworld (in order of Power) and Attack (in order of power and maximum attack strength) screens are not determined instantly, but recalculated for all players every five minutes. Each of these five minute periods is called a "round"; at the end of the round, rankings are recalculated, and the opponents in your Attack screen may change.

[edit] Base Alert For Lower Ranked Players In Your Attack Bracket

Your rank will affect the base alert value of an opponent. An opponent of the same or higher rank that you will always have a base alert of 0.

For lower ranked opponents in your attack bracket, the base alert is calculated as follows...

Opponent Base Alert = <rank difference> * <your army strength>/<army size> 
Eg. 

For an opponent one rank below you, if your army size is 3, and your TAS is 60...
Opponent Base Alert = 1*60/3 = 20 

For an opponent two ranks below you, if your army size is 2, and your TAS is 80...
Opponent Base Alert = 2*80/2 = 80

The base alert acts as mobilization alert, which means it will affect the combat odds for heisting, kidnapping, conquers *AND* rescues! For this reason, you are strongly encouraged not to rank up until you are ready to do so, as a higher rank can still leave you in an attack bracket with lower ranked opponents. They will have a base alert that will make it harder for you to succeed in combat, and harder to rescue anyone taken from you.

[edit] Attack and Defense

There are multiple tactics for keeping your hoods safe and scouting enemy defenses. Click the word tactics (guess we gotta add that, eh?) to link to further details.

Always balance attack and defense power! It is vitally important to understand the balance required between attack and defense in the game. Do not expand your offensive capabilities beyond your ability to defend your family.

Since Maximum Usable Defenders is limited now by army size, the strongest defense possible is at Army Size 2, with all defenders roughly equal in Power to those in your Attack Strength.

[edit] Combat

Combat can only take place between players who have built a Hide Out and are not in "Peace Mode," having disbanded their armies.

When you select the attack tab in the game, you are presented with a list of people you can attack. That is your Attack Window. The Attack Window is a set of randomly chosen people that are in your Attack Bracket. The people you see in your window will change every few minutes, and you'll see players come and go.

There are four basic ways to attack someone from this window. (Specific equations are below.)

[edit] Heisting

You can Heist players in your attack window for cash. This is easier, as their defense power will be the lowest possible. You select the person in the list and hit the Heist button. You then select which area to attack and who to attack with.

If your attack succeeds, you will get cash from the player - approximately 10% of their stash. You can Heist them again after the timer (10 sec) has elapsed.

You can heal your hoods from the attack page.

For a successful Heist, the total power of your attack force must exceed the defensive power of the area you attack. Mobilization Level from attempted Heists and Kidnappings, but not from Unmarked Choppers or as the result of a successful Kidnapping, apply to their defense.

[edit] Kidnapping

You can Kidnap hoods from the players in your attack window. This is harder, as the power of the hood you are trying to Kidnap is taken into account when the defense value is calculated. The player's alarm is also taken into account when calculating the defense value when trying to Kidnap one of their hoods. You select the person in the list and hit the Kidnap button. You then select who you would like to Kidnap, and then where you would like to attack and with whom.

If your attack succeeds, you will get a notice saying you have Kidnapped the hood. (He/she will appear in your Streets, and you must allocate him/her to where you want, especially if the Streets is not guarded by hoods in Lookouts.) If you beat the defenders, but the target hood is not in one of the assets behind that position, you will get a notice telling you couldn't find the hood there.

For a successful Kidnapping, the total power of your attack force must exceed the total power of the defenses of the area you attack, plus double the power of the targeted hood. Both alarm bonus components (alert and mobilization) apply. If the target is in a supplementary defensive asset, such as the Safe House, or Unmarked Chopper, the defense of that asset is added as well. If in the Safe House, the hood's power is quadrupled instead of doubled. Targets who are protected by the Bodyguard Detail add the total HP of the Bodyguard Detail defenders.

[edit] Take Over

Players can attempt to Take Over freelance players and make them their hoods. One advantage of Taking over someone is that there is no loyalty timer so you can gift them or use them to attack right away. Disadvantages are that you will become top heavy, your Army Strength will rise beyond what you can easily defend against, and they will likely rebel.

Takeover succeeds if your Attack Strength is greater than (double the Defenders Power) + Defense + Informants.

Alert is not added to defense against Takeover. (unknown if mobilization applies?)

Example: you are a Power 30 Hustla with 1 Power 20 and 8 Power 10s - and you have the P20 and a P10 'hyped up' because you put them in your brand new Bar - you might see a Power 29 Freelance player in your bracket.. you probe each Defense Region using just a single P10 attacker.. you are repelled at two defenses but get through on the first try at the Water Front Region, so you know his Harbor Patrol isn't manned.. now wait for alert to drop back down to 0 again and attack with the 'hyped' P20 and P10.. the attack of 60 is more than enough to 'takeover' the P29's Defense against Takeover of 58, and now you go off on a kidnapping spree using your newly acquired P29 as a beatin' stick to take P20s!

[edit] Rebellion

Rebellion is another form of attack. If you are captured (Kidnapped, Taken Over etc) you can rebel against your new boss immediately. This 'inside' attack is targeted against one of the defensive assets in exactly the same way as a Heist or Kidnap, and if it is successful you will become freelance. Unlike a Kidnap, however, it is not necessary to break out through the defensive area in which you are being held. The number of rebellion attempts is unlimited, but if you joined a boss by swearing an oath of loyalty, you cannot rebel for the first 24 hours. It can be useful to co-ordinate your rebellion with your former boss in order to both attack the same asset.

You should be aware however that in order to rebel, you must be in war mode (i.e. have a Hide Out and at least 4 hoods, then gather your armies).

To rebel against your new boss, you should go to his/her home page and hit the Rebel button, usually below the 'Send cash' button.

[edit] Rescue

If a loyal hood is Kidnapped from you, you can attempt to perform a rescue. As with other forms of attack, rescue is conducted against a specific defensive asset. If the attack succeeds, you will regain the hood. Note that the rescue option is available only to the Boss to whom the hood is loyal. If you Kidnap a hood from another Boss, and subsequently have the hood stolen before the loyalty timer expires, you will not be given a rescue option. Also, if all rescue attempts are exhausted, it is still possible to reclaim a hood before the loyalty timer expires if the new boss is in peace mode.

[edit] Ransom

If you have a hood Kidnapped from you, you can negotiate for your stolen hood's return. On the Kidnapped hood's Boss view page, you will be able to offer a ransom. The new boss can request a ransom as well from the same page. Either of you can withdraw your bid, change it any time or accept the other side's offer. Accepting will exchange the hood for cash, so you don't have to trust the other side to keep their word. Many people use a standard ransom of 100 times the hood's power rating.

There is a restriction on the former boss: you can offer only as much cash as you have. If you fall below that amount for any reason, your bid will be automatically canceled. (The new boss is free to ask anything, of course.) Also if your hood changes hands again, the new ex-boss's offer will be canceled, and yours will stay.

Remember that all bids only last as long as the lost hood is still loyal to you. As soon as time runs out, you're out of luck.

You can also reclaim your former hoods if they become freelance for any reason while they are still loyal to you.

Note: You need to click the Change Offer bit when offering or updating. The Enter key doesn't work.

[edit] Contractors

Contractors can be purchased for credits to perform a one-time task. You can keep a contractor as long as you want, but once you use a contractor's special ability, he/she disappears. Contractors must be used with other hoods. They cannot attack by themselves, and only one of each type of contractor can be used at a time.

[edit] Peace Mode (Scatter Army)

You can also scatter your armies. The button to do so is in your Hide Out. It takes 24 hours to disband them, but the return to War mode is instantaneous; you can cancel the disbanding process any time if you wish. When you are in peace mode (your armies have disbanded), you are not included in the rankings, so you cannot attack anyone or be a target of an attack yourself.

Peace mode mainly serves three goals: if you want to develop peacefully beyond Hide Out; if you want to take some time to build defenses; or if you are going away from the Internet somewhere and would like not to worry about your Sindicate account for a while.

[edit] Disadvantages of Peace Mode

While disbanded, any and all of your ranked hoods can choose to leave (Abandon) you. Any hoods Kidnapped by you and still loyal to another Boss can be reclaimed by their former owners with no resistance from you. If you swear to a disbanded player, you cannot abandon them for 24 hours.

While disbanded (in peace mode), you will be unable to gift cash or weapons or offer hoods to other players who are at war.

If you have a hood Kidnapped by someone who switches to peace mode, you will have the ability to reclaim that hood by merely clicking a button that replaces the rescue button. You can also reclaim your former hoods if they become freelance for any reason while they are still loyal to you.

Uninstalling the game whilst in peace mode will immediately start the process of regathering your army - and therefore any disbanded player who removes the application will reappear in an attack bracket 24 hours after they uninstall the game. In addition, any war mode hoods may abandon you.

why we don't want a Knighthood style thug market

[edit] Related Information

Knighthood Cheatsheet - for those who are familiar with Knighthood
Sindicate Release Notes

Retrieved from "http://wiki.hive7.com/Sindicate"