Assassin's Creed has always struggled a bit when it comes to managing an in-game economy. It's not that the systems are bad, or half-baked, but ever since the second game, the series' in-game economies have always been easy to take advantage of. You may start off poor in most Assassin's Creed games, but that usually isn't the case for very long.
Surprisingly, Assassin's Creed Syndicate mostly fixes this: throughout the majority of the game, you'll have to cherry pick which purchases are worth it. Will you go for a powerful new cane-sword, or will you upgrade your gear? There are a ton of tough decisions to be made, unless you know where to invest.
At first glance, it may seem like Assassin's Creed Syndicate doesn't have quite as robust an economy as previous games in the series, but it's more about knowing where to look and making smart investments than anything else.
What are you waiting for? Those upgrades won't buy themselves—here's our guide on making money in Assassin's Creed Syndicate.
Unlock Every Chest You See
It may sound like common sense, but it's important to open any and all chests you come across. In the game's opening missions, you won't have much change in your pocket, especially if you upgrade some of your gear and weapons. Chests typically hold a few hundred pounds each, and there are plenty of different areas throughout the city that feature more than one chest. There's no obnoxious lockpicking minigame, either, meaning that chests are quick, easy ways to make some cash.
That all goes doubly for Golden Chests. You'll need to unlock the Lockpicking upgrade for your characters, but it's worth it: not only do Golden Chests hold far more money than regular ones, but they typically carry Unique Materials or new weapons. If one of these pops up on your map, go find it—they're always worth it.
Upgrade Your Gang
Once you have a few missions under your belt, you'll unlock the ability to upgrade your gang. It may be tempting to simply invest in stronger lackeys, but hold off on that—there's a better way to spend your money. Gang Upgrades aren't just about making your Rooks more powerful—in fact, the 'Swindler' upgrades are entirely dedicated to making and saving money.
For starters, you'll want to max out the 'Black Market Affiliation' tree: it starts with a simple ammunition discount, but as you continue to invest, those discounts will apply to new weapons, gear and even other Gang Upgrades. Plus, completing these upgrades first will save you a lot of money in the long run—it doesn't take long for the Gang Upgrades to get expensive.
Case in point: the next set you'll want to invest in is the 'Pub Investor' tree. It's the largest set of upgrades, as well as the most expensive, but it's also the most useful. With each upgrade, your Train Safe not only holds more money, but can make more as well: a fully upgraded safe will bring in an extra 3,000 pounds every half-hour.
But, as they say, that's not all: the 'Ale Heist' tree is going to be your next set of upgrades, and it'll bring in even more cash. At first, it'll just unlock extra Income Activities (more on those later), but a fully-upgraded tree will add a 25 percent bonus to all deposits to your train safe.
Of course, you shouldn't go in thinking you'll be able to buy all these upgrades right away: the Swindler upgrades are all expensive (especially the Pub Investor tree), so you'll want to chip away at them whenever you have the cash. Seriously, hit these as soon as possible: you'll save thousands on better gear if you unlock the Gang Upgrades first.
Complete Income Missions
Sadly, most of the game's activities don't pay all that well. Main missions will likely be your main source of income—but, aside from Assassination Missions, most don't pay all that much better than any other quest. Fight Clubs offer a decent payout, but only if you manage to beat the entire thing in one go—considering how long they get toward the end of the game, they're not always worth the time.
Thankfully, Syndicate features an entire subcategory of missions designed to make you money. Income Activities are unlocked near the beginning of the game, and even without their respective Gang Upgrades, they offer better pay than any other side mission. Better yet, the pay gets better as you progress through the story: you can expect to make it out with a couple grand during a single mission in the latter half of the game.
There's a lot to do in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and tons of stuff to spend your cash on. Just be smart about it: you'll end up paying a whole lot less if you know where to invest from the get-go.
For more on Assassin's Creed Syndicate, check out our guide to finding the grappling hook and our full review!
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