crude charm
Illicit Income is a very boring perk in my opinion, having played it myself to level 20. It is designed for cop farming, yet that strategy is not really worth doing (given the new 3 round format). Additionally, cop waves being less frequent make it feel more frustrating, making you contemplate taking the skill.
I had the idea to tie this skill in with Kill Contracts, making it a high risk/high reward skill. It should combine cops with contracts in a cool way, making you balance between two aspects (Cops and kills). I had something like this in mind:
-> Kill Contracts increase 25/45/65/100% faster per wanted level
-> Kill Contract maximum increased by 50/100/150/250%
-> Still makes you gain health on kill
Alternatives:
-> Killing civs/cops increase your Kill Contract
This would disconnect the skill from cops, only interacting with your wanted level. I think this makes more sense, since you no longer need to balance cops around it, creating more design space. Also, makes Kill Contracts more exciting! I think it can create a really cool playstyle where you need to juggle between staying alive vs. cops and getting a kill to cash out.
gentle lynx