First order of business: upgrade the vault to tier 2. The extra interest plus heat reduction lets me run three regional jobs back-to-back without a raid.

Pair saboteurs with a specialist carrying sonic charges. They melt military transports and still have time to steal research data on the way out.

Rotate continents every two missions. Europe funds my doomsday project, Asia nets intel, and by the time heat spikes I am already looting South America.

Don't neglect corridors. Two turret choke points and a fear emitter mean investigator raids end in the lobby while my master plan keeps ticking.

Auto-deposit laundered funds into henchmen payroll. Happy thugs hold the line when rival masterminds send counterattacks.

Cinematic cutscenes still crack me up. Nothing like monologuing about world domination while launching three synchronized kidnappings.

Invest in the intel wing early. Extra dossiers reveal which agencies are weak to bribery, saving tons of troops and downtime.

Time management matters: queue a gadget build, a training session, and a bank hit before logging off. When I return the empire is stronger and richer.