New player guide
Welcome to Waypoint’s guides. Torn throws a lot of systems and slang at you on day one. This page is the starting point: what matters early, what the common words mean, and where to go next. Read it once, then move into the Level 15 guide when you are ready to grind.
Torn is a long-term game. There is no finish line. Early progress feels slow until Travel unlocks — that is normal. Keep your head down, build stats, make friends, and avoid picking fights with veterans while you are still weak.
Why level 15 matters
Level 15 unlocks the Travel Agency. You can fly abroad, buy items that are cheap there (classically plushies and flowers), fly home, and sell them in Torn. For most new accounts, that is the first reliable way to earn serious cash.
Before 15, money is tight. Racing to Travel is less about prestige and more about unlocking a loop that funds training, medical items, and the rest of the early game. Full walkthrough: Level 15. After you arrive: Flying & travel.
Your bars
Four bars decide most of what you can do each day. Learning what each one is for will save you a lot of confusion.
Energy
Spent on the gym and on attacks. It regenerates over time, so logging in across the day helps. Energy is one of the most valuable resources in Torn — try not to waste it.
Nerve
Spent on crimes. Early crimes teach the system and drop a little cash. Do not leave nerve sitting at full for days.
Happy
Boosts how much you gain from the gym. Raising it on purpose, then training while it is high, is called happy jumping. See Happy jumping.
Life
Your health. Heal between fights. Sitting around Okay with almost no life makes you an easy target.
Fighting terms
When you win an attack you choose what happens next. That choice matters a lot while you are levelling.
- Leave — take XP and leave them standing. This is what you want on Baldr and TAC levelling lists.
- Mug — go for cash or items instead. Usually a poor choice during the race to 15.
- Hospitalize — send them to hospital. Useful in wars; bad manners on shared levelling lists.
- Okay — they are available to attack right now.
- Hospitalized — they are on a hospital timer. Pick someone else or wait.
- Temp — a temporary combat item (for example pepper spray). Equip it and turn on re-equip in attack preferences.
More detail: Attacking & loadout.
Soft targets, Baldr, and TAC
Attack XP mostly follows the defender’s level, not how strong they are. That is why inactive high-level accounts with low battle stats — “soft†or levelling targets — are so valuable.
Baldr’s lists are the classic shared lists. Difficulty order for Waypoint: List 3 (easiest), then List 2, then List 1, then Extras (harder). DOMINO is for a medal/tag, not your default XP grind. Open Baldr.
TAC is a wider community pool when Baldr is busy. Open TAC. Prefer inactive targets, Leave for XP, and do not hospitalize them to camp.
Factions (a little later)
A faction is a player group that can offer perks, advice, chains, and some protection. You do not need a hardcore war faction on day two. A patient newbie-friendly group is usually better. See Factions, Chains, and Wars & retals.
API keys and Waypoint
An API key lets tools read your account data from Torn’s servers. Prefer a Limited key with only the permissions you need. Never paste keys into public chats. Waypoint is read-only — bars, travel time, target status. It does not attack for you. Tools that play Torn automatically are against the rules. See API keys & scripts.
Suggested reading order
- This page
- Level 15 (start Baldr List 3)
- Happy jumping and Attacking as needed
- After 15: Flying and Early money
- Join a helpful faction when you are ready