Beginner's guide

Also in this guide: fighting and weapons · shipping, vehicles, property and crew · the 26 cities

The clock

Drug Lord 3 is a race. At the lowest rank you have until day 25 to be promoted. Every promotion moves your deadline back by five days. Every flight costs a day, two if the flight is delayed, and so does waiting in town for tomorrow's prices. If the deadline passes before you reach the next rank, the run ends.

A few things add time. New players get bonus rookie days on their first runs. Passing net worth milestones ($10K, $100K, $10M, $1B and $1T) adds a day immediately, and that day is added to every future run too. You can also add short extensions with Dope Dollars or by watching an optional ad.

Your first day

You start with $1,000. Half of it is yours, and half is a loan from Buddles at a steep daily interest rate. A good first day looks like this:

1. Open the Market and look down the list. Each product shows how many units are on offer and an arrow for which way the price moved.
2. Tap a product to open its buy sheet and look at the chart. The shaded band is that product's normal range in this city. A price near the bottom of the band is a buy, and one near the top is a sell.
3. Fill your carry limit with whatever is cheapest relative to its band. At the start you can only carry 10 units, so pick the item with the biggest gap between price and band, not the most expensive one.
4. Open Travel and look at the departures board. Cheap nearby cities are your friends at this stage. A cheap hop that sells at the top of the band beats a $2,500 flight almost every time.
5. Sell, then repay Buddles as soon as you can afford to. Interest compounds daily, so a $500 debt left alone grows quickly.

Reading the market

Every city keeps its own prices, and they change every day. Some products are abundant in one place and scarce in another, and that gap is where your profit comes from. Three habits separate good runs from bad ones:

• Trust the band, not the number. A product that costs $3,000 might be a bargain, while one that costs $80 might be overpriced. The chart tells you which.
• Sometimes the best trade is tomorrow. If everything is near the top of its band, don't force it. Wait a day, or fly somewhere else.
• Leave no space empty. Your carry limit is your income cap. Flying with half a load wastes half a ticket.

Watch the news, too. Rumours and paid intel hint at price spikes before they happen, and random events can flood or starve a market overnight.

Bigger units as you rank up

At the start you deal in single units at street prices. As you climb you move to bigger units, all the way up to whole bricks at Distributor, and bigger units come at a deep bulk discount, roughly a third of the street price per gram. The discount cuts both ways: stock you bought at street prices sells at bulk rates after you move up. When you're promoted, your suppliers round what you're carrying up to whole units for free.

Travel

Tap a city to see the flight. Fares come from the real-world distance between the two cities plus an airport quality factor. At the start, a short hop like Amsterdam to London costs a couple of hundred dollars, while long-haul routes cost $1,000 to $3,000. The departures board also shows each route's status:

• Closed: no flights on that route today.
• Delayed: the flight costs you an extra day.
• Last minute: about one flight in fourteen is a last-minute ticket at double the fare. If you're carrying a full load, it's usually still worth it.

Check the board before you buy. Nothing hurts like filling your bags for a route that has just closed.

Customs and disguises

If you fly with stock, customs may search you. At checkout you choose a disguise. Better disguises cost more but sharply cut the chance of being caught, and heavier loads are riskier. Getting caught raises your heat, which makes security, couriers and insurers treat you worse until it cools, by three points a day. Later you can skip airports entirely with your own vehicle or a courier.

The rank table

Your rank is your net worth: cash plus bank. Debt to loan sharks does not count against you, so you can be promoted while you still owe money. If your net worth falls below your current rank's threshold, you're demoted.

Deadlines are before rookie days and milestone bonuses. A vehicle can raise your carry limit above these figures. See vehicles.

Notice the shape of the table. Each threshold is seven to nine times the last, but your carry limit grows faster than that at the top. Early ranks are won by picking good trades. Later ranks are won by moving volume safely, and that's where shipping, stashes and vehicles come in.

Loan sharks and the bank

Buddles is the first of five sharks. When you need more than he'll lend, the others are there, and each charges more interest per day than the last. When a shark comes to collect you can pay, beg for more time, or fight. Each choice has consequences, so decide based on what you can afford.

Borrowing is a tool, not a crutch. A loan that fills your bags with a product near the bottom of its band, sold tomorrow near the top, pays for itself. A loan to cover a bad trade usually just makes the next one worse.

The bank is where your money is safe. Cash in your pocket is lost if you die, but your bank balance isn't, and it still counts toward your rank. Bank regularly, especially before a risky flight. Later, front businesses raise the daily interest your balance earns.

Ten tips

1. Clear your debt early. Every day it waits, it grows.
2. Find a tight route and work it. A pair of nearby cities with a good price gap is worth more than a world tour.
3. Check the chart before every buy. If the price is near the top of the band, wait or move on.
4. Check the departures board before you fill up. Closed and delayed routes ruin plans.
5. Bank between trips. Banked money survives a bad fight, and it still counts for rank.
6. Keep a buffer above your rank threshold. A market dip can knock you down a rank, and your deadline drops back with it.
7. Hire your first crew member at Runner. Even one fighter changes how encounters go.
8. Ship weight, fly light. Couriers skip airport security and get cheaper per gram as loads grow.
9. Lay low when you're hot. Heat cools by three points a day. A quiet day is sometimes the best investment.
10. Don't over-insure small loads, and do insure big ones. Losing a cheap shipment is a lesson. Losing a huge one can end the run.

Ready? Play Drug Lord 3 →