ROB RUN Beginner Guide

You start ROB RUN with nothing: no money, no house and only a cheap rental car. Once the intro quests are done, Kefir's own advice is to pick a path (heists, hauling cargo, running a business at a base, joining the police, or fighting for territory) and to visit Lenny at his Motel to learn the core mechanics. The steps below turn that into a plan for your first hour.

What should you do right after the intro quests?

Drive into Looty Bay without a mask. In ROB RUN you only become a Criminal when you put the mask on, so until then you can walk around, look inside buildings and plan escape routes. Kefir's Gameplay Overview describes exactly this: explore safely first, then decide what to hit.

Use this first lap to find three things:

1. The bank. You will need an account there (see below).
2. The fence vans. They are marked with a dollar sign on the map. This is where Criminals sell stolen goods.
3. Two ways out of town. Creator This is Shran recommends knowing two exits before your first job, because cops can close bridges and set up roadblocks.

Why play as a civilian first?

Civilians who die inside the city keep their bag and their equipped gear, according to Kefir's help center. Criminals who die in Looty Bay lose their inventory. Out in the desert the protection is gone: anyone who dies there loses all their loot.

That makes civilian time free practice. Learn the streets, the shop layouts and where the police tend to drive before you risk anything.

What should you set up before your first heist?

• Open a bank account. You open it at the Looty Bay Bank, and only as a Civilian. You will need it later to launder money, which is the only way to keep cash safe from theft until the wipe. See the money laundering guide.
• Visit Lenny's Motel. It is a safe zone. Player guides point to a barter door inside where you trade items for heist tools such as drills, decoders and glass cutters. Check what each tool needs before you sell your loot, or you may sell the very item you needed.
• Get a weapon. Kefir says weapons spawn as loot in the city and can be bought on the Black Market from Lenny or from the laptop at your base. In the Nov 4 update Kefir lowered the price of the basic pistol and added more starter weapon spawns around the city.

One player question that comes up often: the Black Market on your base laptop shows $0 even when you have money in the bank. Reddit user Defiant-One-7172 suggests taking cash out at an ATM and storing it in the base. We have not seen an official answer on this yet.

How does your first robbery work?

Kefir's help center gives the basic steps:

1. Scout the building and your getaway route before you mask up.
2. Mask up. Now you are a Criminal. Police and other Criminals can attack you, and if you die you lose everything in your bag.
3. Keep the staff at gunpoint so they don't raise the alarm.
4. Get out and sell. Find a fence van and sell your valuables. Grab the cash off the counter right away, or it can be stolen or confiscated.

You stay a Criminal until you leave the city. The next time you drive in, you can choose your role again.

What is Notoriety and why does it matter?

Each robbery during a single visit to the city raises your Notoriety level. Higher Notoriety means better deals from fences and more perks. Kefir notes that solo players and duos start with a higher Notoriety level, to help them hold their own against police squads and full crews.

The catch is that a long streak means a full bag. If you die, you lose it all. Many players leave the city after a good run and come back clean.

What if the police catch you?

You can surrender. The cops confiscate what is in your bag, but you keep your equipped gear. If you have money in the bank, you can also offer a bribe: if the cop accepts, you keep everything in your bag. More on this in the cop guide.

How do you unlock better gear?

Open the Shipments tab (press H, or use the side menu in the desert, Lenny's Motel or Looty Bay). Some items need your base to be in a settlement of a certain level, and some need jail time, which you collect at each wipe. Player guides stress one point: you unlock an item first and then buy it, and these are two separate costs.

Beginner checklist

Next steps: how to make money, then how to buy a house so you have somewhere to keep it.