Police and the underworld
Guns and the underworld
Go dark on the Burner and you carry a gun. So does every other dark player in town, and they can see you on the map. Stay civilian and nobody can touch you. That's the whole deal.
- Only dark players shoot, and only dark players get shot
- Dying costs time and hot goods: never chips, guns or ammo
Opt in
Going dark
There is one switch: "Go dark" in the Burner app. While guns are on it shows a card first. Read it once: it's the deal down here.
- Both sides, or neither. A dark player can shoot another dark player, and be shot by one. A civilian can't draw, and no bullet, grenade or rocket touches a civilian or the car a civilian drives.
- On the map. Everyone on your server sees where you are, every 2 seconds, whether you share your activity or not.
- Arming. For 10 seconds after going dark, and after every landing (a warp, a door, a join), you can be shot but can't draw. It counts down inside safe places too, so the Gunsmith's counter is the place to go dark: you walk out armed.
- The police treat you as underworld: up to five stars, the longer lock-up, the underworld's fine cap.
- New in town? You can go dark after your first 10 minutes. Under City Rank 5 the card says what most beginners find out the hard way: most dark players carry rifles. Try the Range at Stonk Arms first.
- Every arrival while dark says so: "You're dark: any dark player can shoot you", with Stay dark and Go civilian, for the first 8 seconds.
Telling them apart
Red means dark
You never cross the map for someone you can't shoot. A dark player looks dark from across the street and on every map.
- The nameplate: a blood-red band, a red diamond and their Burner title.
- The body: a red rim round the figure, readable at the edge of the street you can see, by day and by night, on every quality setting.
- The face: a red bandana while dark.
- Far off: past about 25 m, a red diamond over the head, the same size on screen however far, for anyone you can shoot right now. Never over your own crew.
- The car: a dark driver's car throws a low red underglow on the road, and the red diamond rides over the driver's name at any distance.
- A civilian
- Dark
- Dark, gun out
- Dark, in a safe place
The minimap and the big map
Dark players near you, and every other dark player on your server from the room's dark list: a red mark, ringed when their gun is out, pulsing while they're in a fight, faint in a safe place. Dark players get the list every 2 seconds, civilians every 6 seconds.
The overview and phones
The city overview shows your server's dark players in red. Phones keep only the map, and see the same list there (signed in).
Off the map
Nobody is put on the map while they can't be shot: while down, while shielded, for 20 seconds after getting up, while arming, and the whole party of a loaded run (the run's search circle is its mark).
The Hunt tab
The Burner's Hunt tab lists the dark players nearest you, with what they're doing. Hunt puts the GPS on where they were seen last, and follows them while they stay on the list.
In a fight
The tag, and the way out
Firing, getting hit or hitting someone tags you. The tag is what stops a fight being dodged.
01Tagged
For 45 seconds after a fight you can't go civilian, warp, take a door, switch servers, swap your car or jump in a civilian's. A near miss tags you for less. In a safe place the tag runs down at half speed.02Standing down
Out of a fight, switch off and you stand down for 10 seconds: still dark, still on the map. Draw and you stay dark.03Civilian
Then you're a civilian: nobody can touch you. You can go dark again after 2 minutes.
On the receiving end
Wasted
Down for 5 seconds, then back on your feet a few blocks away, shielded.
| Question | You lose | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Goods | The hot goods you carry: they fall where you dropped, for anyone dark to grab | — |
| Time | The time down, and your run's lead | Every board job and contract: its clock waits for you |
| Chips, guns, ammo | Never | All of it |
The WASTED card says who got you and with what, and what it cost. It has the buttons that matter in that moment: Go civilian while the shield lasts, Mute and Report the killer, and for beginners Try the Range. A kill pays its killer a little XP and Rep, never chips, and nothing for a friend, a crew mate or someone far below their rank.
The law
The police
Gunfire brings stars (heat and stars).
They shoot back
From three stars, armed units shoot at dark gunmen, never at civilians. They shout "drop the weapon!" first, and holstering for a few seconds makes them hold their fire.
A police kill is a bust
Shot down by the SCPD, there's no respawn: the cops close in where you fell and the bust opens, with the usual capped fine or the lock-up.
A player kill keeps the heat
Wasted by another player while wanted, the chase picks you up again at the respawn, and escaping it pays nothing.
Safe places
Where nothing can touch you
- The casino, the club, the Speedway, the rinks and courts, Island Games and every hall off the map.
- The airport and the police station, and the lock-up.
- Stonk Arms' door, and its Range behind the shop: anyone, dark or civilian, can shoot targets there, with no heat and no tag.
- Plazas are not safe. Civilians there are untouched anyway: bullets pass through them.
Phones
Phones keep the map
The street, and so the fight, is for a computer. A phone has the Burner, the shop and the map, where it sees the same dark players in red. A tablet that walks the street anyway is warned on the card: touch players are at a disadvantage against a mouse.