Vehicles, upgrades, damages | Transportation Bounty Train Guide
Last update: 14 June 2017
In this chapter we focus on gathering the basic information and tips on building trains and using upgrades. Below you can also find information about repairs but you also can learn about ramming barricades that appear during each fight with enemies. Remember that you shouldn't upgrade your worn out vehicles.
Locomotive
You use your locomotive to move on the map. You can attach carriages to it if you want to transport goods and people. The amount of carriages that can be attached and how many goods can be transported depends on its ma pulling weight, the power of your locomotive. By lowering weight you increase speed (because of that it is worth to load coal yourself - those a few tones can make a difference). Each model has different parameters - buying a new one doesn't necessary meant that it has more power, it can simply use less coal or be faster. New models are unlocked over time, two of them can be acquired prematurely by completing two side quests (check out List of side quests chapter). Below, you can see the list of all locomotives:
- Tom Thumb 2-2-0
- DeWitt Clinton 0-4-0
- John Bull 4-2-0
- Cumberland Pioneer 2-2-2T
- Forney 0-4-4T
- Chicago Pioneer 4-2-0
- Mogul 2-6-0
- General 4-4-0
- Sierra 4-6-0
When you upgrade a locomotive the first thing that should be done is to lower consumption and increase power. If you don't plan on changing it in the future you should increase durability - it allows you to use this particular model for a longer time before a locomotive will start to wore out because of the number of kilometers travelled. Increasing armor is also a good option because a locomotive suffers the most during fights, especially when you hit a barricade (the repairs cost a lot and requires some time).
Carriages
In order to create a train you must attach carriages. Each of them has a few parameters - those, that are the most important to you are weight and capacity. There are three basic types of carriages:
Freight carriage - in default, their capacity is between 5-14 units. Each model can be upgraded and increase its capacity by up to 5 fields (depending on carriage). It is better to buy a bigger carriage or upgrade a smaller one than buying two heavier or two smaller ones. Without those carriages you can't transport cargo or luggage for some passengers. Upgrading fire protection is very important because a cargo can be destroyed when it is exposed to fire. If you happen to transport illegal cargo you must remember to buy locker that lowers a probability of discovering a contraband. You can also find armored carriages - they are very resistant to enemies' attacks but their capacity is smaller and they weight more.
Warning: if you have two carriages then you should place a contraband in the one in which you have better security against detecting a contraband (smaller carriages are more prone to have contraband detected, regardless of legal-to-illegal cargo ratio).
Passenger carriage - they are used to transport passengers and are lighter. You can transport from 2 to 4 passengers at the same time, depending on carriage's size. You don't have to upgrade them and if you really want you should focus on durability. If you happen to transport more cargo you can detach passenger carriages to lower the pulling weight.
Crew carriage - the number of companions that can travel with you depends on its capacity (from 2 to 4). It is worth to attach them at the back of a train because they don't have any real value and because a turret can be installed in the back of it (which can't be done with other carriages). This option can be very helpful during escapes.
Medical carriage - a special carriage that has no windows and allows you to heal your teammates during fights. It is useful especially if you don't have a healer in your team. You should upgrade healing speed and attach it between carriages so anyone can have a quick access to it.
Mortar carriage - the last type of carriages, unlocks after many years. Mortar is a very powerful weapon, perfect against any covers that can be used by enemies. Its disadvantages are the weight and the fact that it must be used by two people.
Repairs
Carriages breaks often. You can repair them during fights / escapes (when you have someone with mechanic skill and the damage is "visible" - a hole in the floor). But usually you repair them in depots - simply click on a carriage and adjust the level of repairs. Turns, they happen during escape mini-games, that were entered with too much speed and fire that can appear during fights are deadliest for carriages.
Usually, you don't need carriages to be in perfect condition especially when they are used and you will get new ones soon. It is worth to only repair the damage marked by an exclamation mark that have a negative impact on the speed of the entire train (e.g. wheels damage -15% to speed). A rate of damage depends only on carriage's mileage (a percentage chance for a malfunction can be seen when you click on a carriage that is in depot).
Just remember to keep your locomotive in good shape. You lose when it is destroyed. To increase its resistance to damage during fights you should upgrade a locomotive and carriages by increasing armor and fire protection. If you want to be protected from random damage while you are travelling you must increase durability (increasing this value in a vehicle with mileage and a malfunction chance slightly lowers the probability of sustaining damage).
Ramming barricades
During each fight you hit a barricade that stands on tracks. The strength with which it was hit influences how quickly it gets removed, allowing you to leave a battlefield (especially when you are the one being attacked and you don't feel like you can win or put up a fight). The ramming force depends on speed of your train - its power-to-load ratio and its construction preferences (some locomotives are explicitly described as faster but with lower maximum pulling weight). Only the last available locomotive, Sierra 4-6-0, allows you to ram barricades with full load.