Empire of Sin has 14 mob bosses and syndicate leaders to choose from, including infamous figures such as Al Capone, Sai Wing Mock, and Angelo Genna. Oh, and just so we’re clear, you can’t create a custom boss. Anyway, here’s our guide to help you out with the ones that are in the game.
Note: For more information, check out our Empire of Sin guides and features hub.
Empire of Sin: Mob bosses guide
As cited in our official review of Empire of Sin, the game offers a plethora of unique perks and skills for each mob boss. The problem, however, is that these bonuses aren’t enough to differentiate how you’d progress throughout the sandbox.
Empire bonuses are, in general, those that reduce upgrade costs or offer extra benefits depending on the racket (business). Diplomatic bonuses, meanwhile, can be next to negligible due to the way Empire of Sin‘s campaign works.
Since expansion often leads to increased threat and higher notoriety, you’ll take “diplo hits” versus cops and rival bosses. Likewise, when you consider that winning the game requires you to eliminate every major faction/boss, playing the diplo game is just a means of delaying the inevitable (warring and taking over someone’s domains).
For the most part, you’d be looking at how boss skills are used during battles. For instance, Al Capone’s “Rain of Fire” is great for target suppression (like an active overwatch) and for multi-target damage. Other examples of skills that hit several targets or do AoE damage include Mabel Ryley’s “Swindler’s Shot,” Angelo Genna’s “Fan of Knives,” Salazar Reyna’s “Santa Muerte,” and Sai Wing Mock’s “Death Blossoms.”
Perks and skills
| Boss and Faction Name | Unique Combat Skill | Empire Bonus | Diplomatic Bonus |
| Al Capone The Outfit | Rain of Fire: Fires a stream of bullets in an area; those caught in the area are suppressed and anyone moving in the area takes damage. This effect lasts until Al Capone takes damage or once he takes his next turn. | -20% brewery production cost; -20% brothel ambience cost | Stronger Bonds: +1 passive faction rating gain while in a defensive pact. |
| Frankie Donovan The Donovans | Unleash Fury: A flurry of melee strikes against an enemy; kills restore your fury and AP but make you exhausted. | +5% brewery production rate; -20% speakeasy word of mouth cost | Bygones Be Bygones: -50% negative effects with other factions from previous wars. |
| Angelo Genna Genna Crime Family | Fan of Knives – A barrage of throwing knives that can target several enemies or a single enemy multiple times. | +1 brewery guard; -5% speakeasy upgrade cost | At Your Service: +100 faction rating when honoring pacts; +50% honor gain when honoring pacts. |
| Goldie Garneau Fortune Tellers | Killer Queen: Places a mark on enemies then fires a shot at each target; increased crit chance and ignores defense. | +5% speakeasy earnings; -5% casino upgrades cost | Room To Grow: -50% threat generation in a neighborhood you share with other factions. |
| Sai Wing Mock Hip Sing Tong | Death Blossoms: Select multiple locations and throw poison bombs. | +1 brothel guard; -20% casino games cost | Enemy of my Enemy: Trades and truces with enemies does not reduce your rating with factions that you have a business arrangement with. |
| Maggie Dyer White City Circus | Lion Tamer: Lash out with your whip to pull an enemy, meleeing them and knocking them down. | -20% brothel security cost; -25% speakeasy raid chance | The Heartbreak Kid: -50% faction rating loss when breaking treaties and business arrangements. |
| Dion O’Bannion The Northside Mob | Blastphemy: Fires an explosive shotgun shell that knocks back the foe and destroys their armor. | -15% brewery upkeep; -20% speakeasy ambience cost | Turncoat: -50% truce duration; +20% business arrangement difficulty. |
| Salazar Reyna Los Hijos De La Llorona | Santa Muerte: Spin around and fire your dual-wielded revolvers to hit nearby hostiles. | -20% brothel ambience cost; +10% casino draw | Headhunter: -50% threat generation when killing other bosses. |
| Daniel McKee Jackson Vice Kings | Last Rites: Fire your pistol’s entire clip at a target; if the target dies before the clip is emptied, automatically shoot another target. | -25% brothel raid chance; +20% casino earnings | Founding Father: -25% threat generation when you have a large criminal empire. |
| Frank Ragen Ragen’s Colts | Home Run: Rush a target and knock them down; automatically strike an enemy that gets near with the “Batter Up!” effect if your initial target dies. | +5% brewery production rate; -15% speakeasy upkeep | Strength in Numbers: -20% threat generation when you have six or more crew members. |
| Mabel Ryley The Alley Cats | Swindler’s Shot: Mark multiple targets and fire a single shot that bounces and hits these targets. | -10% casino security cost; -25% casino raid chance | Fair Price: +10% trade acceptance chance. |
| Elvira Duarte Los Luceros | Devil’s Breath: A psychotropic smoke turns a target into a temporary ally; it also causes a damage-over-time effect that slowly kills them. | -20% brothel security cost; +1 casino guard | Peacemaker: +100 faction rating when making non-aggression pacts. |
| Joseph Saltis Saltis Gang | Stampede: Charge and knock back enemies along your path. | +5% brothel earnings; Speakeasies start with an extra level for their upgrades | Jive Joint: -50% threat generation in a neighborhood when you open a speakeasy. |
| Stephanie St. Clair Card Sharks | Firing Squad: Any friendly and allied characters within range will open fire at a selected target. | -20% brewery upgrade cost; -20% casino security cost | Roll of the Dice: -50% threat generation in a neighborhood when you open a casino. |
On a final note, remember that one of the most useful level-up perks in Empire of Sin is the “Heal” ability. Bosses get this as a tier 3 skill, and this allows you to keep your crew members completely healed outside of battles.
Empire of Sin is available via Steam. For more information, head over to our guides and features hub.
Published: Dec 1, 2020 06:00 am