In Empire of Sin, you can choose from one of many nefarious bosses to take over the streets of Chicago in prohibition America. With their leadership, you can sling booze to any passerby who’s sick to death of the restrictive laws on alcohol, as well as run illegal gambling rings and brothels.
If you’re looking for more general tips and tricks, then we do have an Empire of Sin guide that will go over the best strategies for dominating the competition, either by making uneasy alliances skew in your favour, or taking over a rival’s rackets and absorbing them into your criminal organisation. That said, you can go a long way to beating the game with your choice of boss – particularly those with a good selection of empire bonuses, or just a really good combat skill!
So, of the 14 that you can choose from, who are the best Empire of Sin bosses? Is it the singer, one of the real-life mobsters, or perhaps the Mexican den mother? We will be ranking each one of the mob bosses below.
Since the game has just come out, this list will not cover any expansions. It’s just the 14 mob bosses that come with the base game, so it will also not include any of the crew that you can hire along the way
“Bloody Angelo” was yet another bootlegger in the prohibition era and was responsible for the assassination of Dion O’Banion. His ruthlessness extends to his combat skill as well. Fan of Knives allows him to throw a total of six knives at any number of targets. He can mix and match, but all the knives inflict a small amount of damage and the bleed status ailment. These are very powerful early-game and can make short work of some skirmishes if used right. He also gets a first-strike overwatch (similar to Maria – one of the early hires) from the beginning of the game, so is a good candidate for combat-orientated tactics.
Let’s cut to the chase: Sai Wing Mock’s Death Blossoms combat skill is nuts. As long as he has line of sight, he can lob three poisonous bombs that explode upon impact with the ground. It’s guaranteed to hit anyone nearby, deals massive damage, and will poison anyone who walks into the gas left behind. It’s devastating!
Mabel Ryley took control of the Alley Cats after her husband was ‘taken care of’. It’s unclear whether she was the one who did it, or if there were others involved in his murder, but one thing’s for certain: Ryley has a ruthless streak and a gift for getting what she wants.
Maggie Dyer is a lion tamer with full-on circus ringmaster attire, and she’s a badass. Her combat skill isn’t fancy, but it does a few important things. Her whip wraps around an enemy’s neck, before she yanks them out from behind cover. For good measure, she also punches them in the mouth as the enemy gets back up, dealing decent damage. It’s best used to pull stronger enemies in a more vulnerable position and can turn the tide of a skirmish.
For beginners, Goldie Garneau is a good choice. Her Killer Queen combat skill allows her to target up to three separate enemies, sniping them with rounds that ignore armour. This is particularly useful when going up against mob boss fights.
In real-life, Alphonse Capone was one of the most infamous mob bosses, and for very good reasons. While he was widely assumed to have been responsible for the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, Capone has been portrayed in films by Hollywood greats such as Robert De Niro in The Untouchables.
Frankie Donovan is an Irish brawler who is no stranger to a scrap. Armed with a shillelagh, Dovovan’s ‘Unleash Fury’ combat skill has him saunter up to an enemy, and batter them repeatedly. If the enemy dies as a result of the beatdown, Donovan recovers all of his AP to use immediately.
Capone’s bloodiest rival in real-life, Charles Dean ‘Dion’ O’Banion was an Irish Catholic who began his criminal career as a bootlegger. So his empire bonus to reduce brewery upkeep by 15% and the ambience cost of speakeasies by 20% are fitting and valuable bonuses to have.
Sometimes introducing a bat to the face gets the job done, and Frank Ragen is no stranger to meet and beats. His Home Run combat skill smashes an enemy’s face in with his baseball bat. Should Ragen kill the enemy with his bat, he’ll get the ‘Batter Up!’ effect which makes him hit any enemy that gets too close to him with his bat. Since he can move immediately after the first strike, you can use it to potentially take down two foes at once.
This Slovakian-American gangster was one of the least successful in real-life, but one of the few that weren’t absorbed into Al Capone’s criminal organisation until much later. He was, however, one of the first to begin supplying speakeasies when prohibition era began. However, his territory was soon taken over by Capone and he fled to Wisconsin.
If you pick Daniel Mckee Jackson, you’re not exactly picking him because of his lack of prowess in combat, rather his fantastic late-game ability to reduce threat generation by 25% with a large empire. Picking Jackson means that you’re hoping to play the long game, or just expand as quickly as possible.
Despite never setting foot in Chicago in real-life, Stephanie St. Clair was notorious for running a numbers game in Harlem, and was an activist for the black community. She was aptly nicknamed “Queen of the Policy Rackets” by some. For a time, St. Clair’s gambling ring was untouched until the end of prohibition, when mobsters like Dutch Schultz waded in on her business interests.
Salazar Reyna is a Mexican gangster who has made his way to Chicago with some ruthless tactics. Chief among these is his combat skill: Santa Muerte. When activated, Reyna will fire at all the enemies within the admittedly very large circle. This is very good for dealing with clumps of enemies, or whenever Reyna is surrounded.
Sometimes, the best allies are your enemies: as Elvira Duarte’s Devil’s Breath combat skill proves. This is a close-range charming ability that lasts four turns, but will make the enemy become her ally for a good chunk of any battle. If she controls a powerful enemy, then they’re one less issue to deal with and the numbers will edge to her favour.
