Dec 14 2008
Mafia Wars - Playing Tips
This article is intended for those individuals currently playing this game It is written by someone just playing the game. The information is intended for those just starting the game although others may find useful information in the items to follow.Think of it as a condensed help file.It will be updated periodically.
(Special Forces, now Pirates, and two other games are designed by the same company and you may find useful tips here for those games, since they are similar or just another skin for Mafia Wars. Just change the names. I guess they don’t have enough Ferraris yet.)
Last update Dec.18/08
General
- Buy Mike’s Bar whenever the opportunity presents itself. The return is ridiculously high. NEVER SELL MIKE’S BAR
- Try to buy properties before you are about to receive your hourly cash infusion (last 5 minutes or so).
- If you gain cash in an attack, spend it right away (Heal yourself first, if possible). Buy properties first. They become recurring revenue. Buy items in your inventory second, especially if you need to enhance your arsenal.
- Buy the chainsaw (or other featured weapons) whenever the opportunity presents itself. It has both exceptional offensive and defensive powers. At higher levels, you will get the RPG launcher as loot. It has higher attack but weaker defense.
- Don’t buy inventory items until you need them. If you have 4 members, you should never have five of most items.Targets – Check your News Updates on your home screen. If someone has attacked you and given you a win (FIGHT!). Click on their name and check there relative strength. If you feel you are strong, ATTACK. Don’t continuously attack this opponent in future. You will find yourself on the HITLIST.
- Early in the game, only buy one (1) Abandoned Lot to be used when you get a cash infusion. Only buy the more expensive ones when you have enough cash to develop them immediately. The payouts are too small on these expensive investments.
- Resist the temptation to put someone on the Hitlist. Remember, you will show up under the Paid By list and will become a target. If someone is constantly hitting you, you may have no choice but to put out a hit on them (doesn’t have to be expensive) but try to avoid making yourself too visible to your opponents. (Some guy put a hit on me for 2.3million – I think I took 20 or 30 grand from him – stupid!)
- Check the status of your Top Mafia’s health periodically on the home screen. They may need to be healed (Remember you get this perk once every 4 hours per Top Mafia member individually)Beware of trappers in the Hitlist. These players go in with the minimum hit and appear to be weak. They are masking the strength of their team in order to trap you. Here’s a partial listing of known trappers. Some guys put hits on their mob mates or even themselves!
- Trappers List: Delucci, Warlord/Sky, Vatos Locos, Al Capone Jr., ball bag malone, Asimo Rat, Jack, Badakh, The Don, jhlee, Don Espana
- Focus on increasing levels. Persistent attackers cannot advance if they are fighting too much. They will be spending their cash on getting out of the hospital. Keep buying property to increase your cash flow whenever possible.
- A good time to buy properties or inventory is when you are wounded and can’t fight. Your opponents can’t attack you because you are too weak. They can’t steal your money in a fight at that time.
- Reward Points - Only spend your Godfather reward points on additional mob members. They are the hardest resource to get. Everything else can be bought or won in fights. It appears you get 1 point for every two level ups, so the only way to get more is to buy them or take part in the so called free points that you get from outside sources. In my opinion, most of them are in the scam category.
- Fight - Limit your attack to 1.5 the size of your mob size. Start with attacks to mobs equal or lower than yourself. Do not attack larger ones if your points are below 50%. Heal as quickly as possible. Bank any cash gained before attacking next opponent.
- Properties - Try to buy in bulk - 5 at a time. When you have 20 or more of an item, sell off 10.Buy the next higher units or buy inventory items that you may need to improve your strength. Make sure you can cover the additional upkeep charge.
- Jobs - Some jobs pay better returns for experience points while others pay better cash returns. It will depend on what your next moves are as to which is better to spend energy on.
- If your mafia is close to growing - Godfather points - plan to buy inventory items that will take you to the next higher jobs. Only return to lower levels if you need points to upgrade.
- Upgrade - Initially you will need to spread the points around (some in each category). As you advance Energy, Defense, Attack, Health and Stamina should be the order for using points. Focus your attention on Jobs. You will need to got the hospital frequently if your defense is not strong enough.
- Browsers - I have tried Explorer, Safari, Firefox and Google Chrome. Up until recently, I settled on Firefox because it had ddelivered the best results. Safari did not display the Upgrade buttons when you reached another level. As of today, I will be playing on Chrome exclusively. The difference in visual clarity is like the difference between regular TV and HD. I don’t know how they did it but it is very crisp. If you play any length of time, you will enjoy this improvement.
- If you get lucky and find an opponent that is giving you large cash in your initial fight (usually $70,000) do not take the time to read his/her strength. Attack again as quickly as possible before someone else takes the cash. Spend this “cash cow” on major items immediately such as better weapons, protection or vehicles. If you are maxed on these (equal to member count), buy the largest property you can afford. Cash flow is very important in growing in this game.
- Experience Points - Early in the game focus on 1 Attack, 2 Defense, 2 Energy. Disregard Stamina for now. Jobs and survival are more important than attacking. Once you start surviving long enough to upgrade, shift to 1 Attack, 2 Defense, 1 Health, 1 Energy. As you continue level up got to all 5 points in one category of your choice. You will start to add Stamina when you survive long enough to need it. Keep building properties to improve cash flow. Reserve inventory purchases to large cash gains. Be patient. You will be going to the hospital a lot in this game.
- Speedboat - I can’t find a reason for buying this item. It just drains you on upkeep (if you know of a reason for buying it, please write it in the comments box).
- Upkeep $ - Once you have maxed out on inventory (1 per family member) you can consider selling off items that have upkeep attached to them and turn that money into properties. Buy them later when you level up or add players.
- Adding players - Every 20 reward points earned will allow you to add players. You can recruit from friends in Facebook. If you like, you can buy reward points (that’s how the designer pays for the program and is probably out buying the Ferrari right now).
- Consumables - Health Kit, Stun Gun, Shiv, Getaway Car. Used in Boss Fights. Stun, Shiv, Health Kit (if necessary, in that order). Before you kill the “Boss” make sure you have healed yourself with the Health Kit first. I have not seen a use for it anywhere but in the Boss fight. You could go back and attack the first boss to heal if you have plenty of Health Kits. The advantage is that you save money to buy inventory or properties. Use the Getaway Car only if you can’t heal here.
- Bounties - The cost of a bounty is dependent on your level. As you grow your cost does as well. A lot of new players can get back at bigger players attacks for only $8500 but will also be subject to attack from others.
- Loot - If you gain the Armored Car, Napalm or Bodyguard in an Attack, you will be able to reduce your upkeep by selling one similar unit. Armored Car lets you reduce by one vehicle. Napalm lets you reduce by one weapon. Bodyguard lets you reduce protection by one (usually body armor). Make sure you don’t need that item to complete a job. Go to the Loot menu to determine these items’ offensive and defensive strength. This will help you in deciding which item you can sell. Continue to upgrade properties with that money.
Targets
- Try to attack opponents with fewer members than you. BEWARE – They may be better defended than you. Make sure your cash is at $0 before you attack. Try to have enough in the bank that you can heal yourself without depleting all of your revenue.
- Check the Hitlist. Look at the relative strength under “Paid By”. BEWARE – Check their Top Mafia list which will give you an idea as to how strong their mob is. These are usually weak opponents and make good targets but will usually result in small gains.
- Look for Green attacks only (successful defence)in News for future reference.There is no way of deleting items individually that I can see (unlike Mob Wars).
- If you do not have targets within your range of points, you can set a bounty on someone that has attacked you.You will ultimately get placed on the bounty list. New Green players may surface from this if your list is no longer productive. Delete your Green list periodically before it gets too large.
Can’t find what you were looking for? Post a question in comments. Remember this page is intended for the novice player. We will attempt to give you our thoughts on your question in the body above. (A lot of visitors but not one comment (must be a lot of shy people out there in the world today)
I have been reviewing the list of search questions used and am attempting to answer them. Don’t want to make this list too big. Otherwise, it’s like all the rest of the help files out there—so big that you can’t find anything useful.
Have fun!
Possibly-related Articles: (auto-generated)
Robbing is in “beta” which means Zynga is testing it and they haven’t figured out this one out quite yet, I would think.They are trying to correct the mess they made with protection and bad pay tables (too easy to get money). The bigger players are getting a large advantage here and if Zynga is not careful, they will destroy the game. I think you will see more changes coming. This loophole will have to be closed.
With Zynga’s new impersonal way of contacting them on their website for customer contact us, it will take a bit of time for the complaints to add up but you won’t be alone. They will have to react because the competition is getting stronger everyday for Facebook and MySpace games. We’ll just have to wait and see.
I agree that paying protection should result in getting protection. What Zynga really needs to do is launch Mafia Wars II and not waste time trying to fix this game. It is running its course like all games do.
I agree with Adriano and Bozoplay. I have been getting hit by level 69 player when I am level 17. It does mot make sense. I can’t get to my Mafia quick enough when I am getting hit every hour five times in a row and I cannot even try to defend myself against this level 69. Also, I noticed since the upgrade that when I go to attack the level of the choices to attack are a couple levels higher than I am. I don’t get that either. Maybe I am missing something here??
The easiest way for higher levels is to book mark those that try and rob or those that attack and fail … If they take me for any money robbing and or attacking, I book mark them and rob them for millions … It’s Fantasy life .. Rich get Richer .. the poor get poorer, before you atatck and or rob and or put a bounty out on someone .. Make sure you know what those that know how to, can easily see and get back at you 10 fold …
I wish they had a message box to send to those that took your money so they know how to deal with …
If your getting picked on, Join a family (LCN,IMG,SBG, there are a few) and the Family will take care of those who annoy you often ..
Happy Mafia Wars …
Len !
tell me how should be my points?
how much of attack, defense, health, energy and stamina
what should I have at lvl 50 or lvl 100 for all stats?
thanks for your help
If you have over 501 mafia, does it help to have over 501 of each item in inventory? Only 501 can fight. For example, no need to pay upkeep on 600 chain guns, if only 501 will be used.
Thanks.
502 mafia and counting
even thonu can only ight with up to 501 members, all of your mafia should be armed as u do not know which ones will be fighting or you, or am i just thinking too hard on this issue???
#8, how do you heal your top mafia every 4 hours? I don’t see that option. Thanks!
(It is an older function that I believe has been removed as the game changed. Unfortunately, the host of these posts locks out the ability to edit older posts)
The reason you need to buy a speedboat is to do the job ‘Move Stolen Merchandise’ in the Consigliere job category. You need two speedboats for this job.
It also makes buying a Marina make a little more sense.
(When this post was originally written, the speed boat had no value. This has changed since the introduction of the game for the reasons you mentioned. The Luxury Yacht did not exist at that time, either.)
What is more important to get more experince?
energy or stamina? my energy 800,my stamina 50..tQ
(I think I will give you my opinion in Tips 14. This requires more than a few sentences)
how do i get past boss? I’m on level 237!
(I don’t think the Zynga folks have written jobs beyond level 135 or 140. In my opinion, the listing is there for future expansion. If you have the patience, you might want to go to their “customer service” link and ask them. I’m not real fond of that system myself.)
How do iI get past Boss?
I’m on level 238, and I still haven’t unlocked the jobs past Boss!
i can tell you how you get attacked by people that are so high above you. If someone in your mafia attacks you, and that person is brought into the fight, it will come up on their news section, so all they do is click your name and click attack.
wow, there are some tips listed that shows the author has no idea how to play
(Like all games, there are as many ways to play the games as there are countries in the world. To each his own.)
About the vaulted collections, are you only allowed the benefits of one vaulted collection of each suit/chip/medal? Can you re-invite friends that may have ignored the MW invite the first time?
(I don’t think you will be able to have more than one vaulted collection of each type. I currently don’t have any that have enough to create a second set, but it doesn’t make sense that you would. Nevertheless, you probably shouldn’t gift these until you have another complete set and confirm what actually takes place.
I can’t see anyway to re-invite players through the game itself. You could try asking them through a Facebook/MySpace note to invite you to their mob and you would just have to accept their request if they respond)
Protection ? Why is it some people can just rob me blind.
In return I click rob and never get success. What is needed to succeed in robbing someone?
The payment for protection does not seem to help(just like in real life LOL)
I spend all of my earned profile points on ENERGY so my ATTACK and DEFENSE are quite low. I am level 37 and my ATTACK is 14, DEFENSE is 9, and ENERGY is 220. I lose a lot when fighting, even to people that have less mafia. I figured that it is easier to gain ATTACK and DEFENSE by purchasing a weapon. Am I correct?
Thanks!
(I think you are losing fights because both defense and attack are much too low. If you increase those numbers to much higher numbers you can win more fights and get better loot in fights than you can buy. You can also get those in jobs but you are not near those higher levels yet. My choice is attack, defense, energy and health are all pretty close and stamina is a lot lower since I prefer to do jobs more to observe what goes on there for the tips writing. You are probably levelling up too fast with your approach and need to boost your attack and defense, in my opinion. Doing more jobs is fine as long as you can defend against others attacks and the best way to get stronger is to get the really valuable loot. That is done mostly in fights at lower levels, so you need to be fighting more often but only against mob sizes that are smaller than yours.)
why does my mafia fights only with 4 chain guns, 4 armors and 4 cars??? I have host of other weapons, armor and vehicles.
my mafia size is only 4, is that the reason that its using only the highest available item… but this doesn’t happen with other mafia with whom i fight….
becoz of this i keep on losing fights
(You need to grow your mob to use more weapons. Each member gets to use one weapon, one armor and one vehicle only. The game assigns the best for each automatically. The other mobs have more members. You should try to only fight those with fewer members which is hard with only 4. Add friends. Invite players from other games that you may play.)
Ok I just started a couple of days ago. I got a notice that “Don …. and 9 other attacked me and won $500000.” I did not see any reduction in my amount of money. Could this be because I was put on a hitlist? I don’t see anything in my history screen.
(Just go to your Facebook Applications screen and turn off all messages from Mafia Wars. They will just annoy you. Make all of your messages to Only You and just pay attention to the info coming in Player Updates. That’s how I would handle it. Work on growing and defense. You will be attacked a lot at lower levels until you can gain weapons, armor and vehicles. Just have fun. Remember that it is only a game and has nothing to do with real life like some players think)
Great info, thanks for this! Question about Top Mafia: how can I determine who has me in their top mafia? I’d like to encourage this behaviour by sending them gifts from time to time.
Thanks!
JC
(I am not aware of any method of doing this. I recall a one time message when someone adds you to their top mafia that maybe you should return the favor, but I don’t recall any other mention of this or any way to do an enquiry)
1. Once you have a mafia of 501, is there any benefit IN TERMS OF -EXPERIENCE POINTS-? Yes, I know about cash, gifts, etc. The question is, will I get more experience points unexpectedly pouring in if I keep expanding past 501.
2. Are my own defense points, and the defense points of any given weapon, only used when I am attacked? Do they play any role when I am attacking someone else?
(Since I am not at 501, I can’t answer this. Perhaps someone who is could. On the defensive side, I have to believe these are two separate tables for use in the calculation of incoming or outgoing attacks–defense or offense only.)
why doesnt protection money not work? loads of people attack me the second i decide to protect my property and im losing lots of money
i get reli annoyed and attack back and lose so they attack bac - ive decided its better on to do that in future lol
Suzi, ou can resend recruit messages to people once you’ve cancelled the last request you sent them. On the “My Mafia” tab, view your sent requests and you can delete them there.
Is there a better way to get loot items, such as Concealable Camera that are required for higher level jobs, or do I just have to go back to the lower level jobs and waste Energy points hoping for a random drop? At this rate, it is going to take forever to get through a job level the 3 times needed to get the special loot.
I just want to ask why in a fight with other mafia users, i am only earning experience points and gaining only $0?
is it because those that i am attacking had very low mafia membrs?
but i still had the same case even i fight with users who have the same no. of members with me..
how could that happen? 0_o
(Those players are likely protecting their money in their bank, so no cash is available to win)
Need to update your tips!!
A couple of comments - some similar to ones made by others:
1. - related to Tip 22 and 26
Doing a 1-for-1 reduction when gaining loot is not the best idea. You need to check both the attack and defense points of loot items. Many have high attack points but low defense. So the list of weapons you see when you attack is not the same as the list used when you are attacked.
I agree you don’t need to keep all that you bought earlier, but be careful of off-loading what you think you don’t need anymore.
See RogerSan’s comment above.
2. Properties - tip 14 and 6
Don’t sell properties to buy other properties or inventory. You only get 50% of what you paid back. Simply save up and buy the next higher property.
Also remember that they increase in price as you buy more. So look at the ROI of the purchase.
Also, buy the lots in blocks of 10 too. Saves money.
3. Skill Points - tip 20 (not Exp points as mentioned above)
I say increase Defense over Attack.
- most loot you pick up has good attack but low defense
- it helps to defend against attacks. and when you win when you are attacked, you get $ and Exp points without doing anything!
So boost your defense and do be afraid to get attacked
4. Skill Points - Part 2 - Stamina
I disagree that you should ignore Stamina - you get the best loot from winning fights. And if you have low stamina, you only get a few fights at a time. So find opponents you can beat and fight them to get exp points, $, and loot.
5. Going above 501 in Mafia
Yes, it is worth continuing to increase. Why?
- for every 2 members you can buy a Special Edition Loot item. These are usually (but not always) better than the standard Inventory items.
- for every 2 members you can buy a Mafia Mikes. I have 750 MM’s and they are still the best ROI of all the properties I can buy. Plus, you can’t rob a Mafia Mikes. So you can reach a level where cash is not that important because you already have $100B in the bank, and your properties are constantly getting robbed and need repair. Theoretically you can sell all your props and have enough income off of your Mafia Mikes and not worry about property loss.
6. BIGGEST TIP OF ALL
It’s just a game.
- Don’t take it personal.
- Don’t send nasty emails to other players who beat you
- Have fun
- add friends and discuss strategy with them
- join a Mafia family (I like SBG) and interact with them
Because Facebook/MySpace is really about interacting on-line, isn’t it?
Need to update your tips!!
A couple of comments - some similar to ones made by others:
1. - related to Tip 22 and 26
Doing a 1-for-1 reduction when gaining loot is not the best advice. You need to check both the attack and defense points of loot items. Many have high attack points but low defense. So the list of weapons you see when you attack is not the same as the list used when you are attacked.
I agree you don’t need to keep all that you bought earlier, but be careful of off-loading what you think you don’t need anymore.
See RogerSan’s comment above.
2. Properties - tip 14 and 6
Don’t sell properties to buy other properties or inventory. You only get 50% of what you paid back. Simply save up and buy the next higher property.
Also remember that they increase in price as you buy more. So look at the ROI of the purchase.
Also, buy the lots in blocks of 10 too. Saves money.
3. Skill Points - tip 20 (not Exp points as mentioned above)
I say increase Defense over Attack.
- most loot you pick up has good attack but low defense
- it helps to defend against attacks. and when you win when you are attacked, you get $ and Exp points without doing anything!
So boost your defense and do be afraid to get attacked
4. Skill Points - Part 2 - Stamina
I disagree that you should ignore Stamina - you get the best loot from winning fights. And if you have low stamina, you only get a few fights at a time. So find opponents you can beat and fight them to get exp points, $, and loot.
5. Going above 501 in Mafia
Yes, it is worth continuing to increase. Why?
- for every 2 members you can buy a Special Edition Loot item. These are usually (but not always) better than the standard Inventory items.
- for every 2 members you can buy a Mafia Mikes. I have 750 MM’s and they are still the best ROI of all the properties I can buy. Plus, you can’t rob a Mafia Mikes. So you can reach a level where cash is not that important because you already have $100B in the bank, and your properties are constantly getting robbed and need repair. Theoretically you can sell all your props and have enough income off of your Mafia Mikes and not worry about property loss.
6. BIGGEST TIP OF ALL
It’s just a game.
- Don’t take it personal.
- Don’t send nasty emails to other players who beat you
- Have fun
- add friends and discuss strategy with them
- join a Mafia family (I like SBG) and interact with them
Because Facebook/MySpace is really about interacting on-line, isn’t it?
A note about the speed boat. Its only needed to do a couple of jobs in the consiglier tier and you only need 2 at this point. CAPICI
Go to www.gogetboned.com for more mafia members. I went from 174 members to 501 members over night.
Now that I’m level 174 and 788 mafia family, I’m finding fights are becoming more challenging. If I could do this all over again, I would have increased defense & attack over 200 earlier in game. Your getting attacked is going to increase by far when you reach 501 Mafia. The game also moves a lot slower once you get over level 114.
I also learned that it is better go back to earlier stages of the game to loot Napalm, Body Guards. I recently went back to finish off earlier collections I missed earlier in game such as “Statue” collection.
I don’t buy real estate. Only land and Mafia Mikes. I continue to accept members even over 788 because I can always use more mafia mikes.
(So everyone can have a different approach to the game, unlike some people that think there is only one way to play the game to be successful. Actually, success is a bad choice of words. This is a game and you should be having fun playing a game. That is how you measure the success of the game for you.)
I only put people on the hitlist when they attack me out of no where and there motive was to kill me.
How can I get my Mafia to attack someone who keeps robbing me daily?
(Just keep working at growing your mafia to get in another bracket from your attacker. It seems there isn’t much you can do until you get bigger. It seems to be a constant complaint from many players.)
I am confused about the attack and defense numbers. I know that when you fight your attack goes against your opponents defense. My problem is that how can somebody 20 levels below me have 10,000 more defense than i have? What am i doing wrong?
Also, i read about having a weapon for every member of your mafia up to 501. So i bought 500 chain guns and my total attack and defense numbers never moved. So i sold them. Can anybody help with this?
(Do jobs where you win better weapons as loot or fight to gain them. They don’t show up all the time but they improve your strength over items you can only purchase)
Can someone tell me why certain people’s properties can’t be robbed even when they’re at only 52.71% protected? Like it says “you failed to rob ___ and lost $103,000.” Is there a secret weapon you can use to protect your properties that overrides normal protection when it’s lacking?
I am a level 65 and trying to finish a ‘JOB”. It requires a concealable camera, but can only get them in LOOT dropped down.
I guess i didnt get enough LOOT.
Any advice in how i can get more?
Cant finish JOB series without it.
Thanks so much,
Trix
(Hitman - Obtain Compromising Photos - Job or ask friends to send you that as a gift. Fights will also give these but the award tends to be very random.