Mafia Wars Marketplace Now Live

So, the Mafia Wars Marketplace that has been mentioned over the last few days was just added into the game.

Essentially, the Godfather store has become flash-based. Note the menu bar on the side - you can scroll through for a variety of items of different sorts. This effectively lets Zynga sell more items in the Godfather store without making the page look cluttered.

There is no real significant changes except that now you can buy practically every type of boost and a large variety of limited edition loot pieces.

One of the more noticeable changes actually has nothing to do with the new interface, but rather the fact that there are now limited edition loot pieces which have a decent stat advantage over best-in-slot loot pieces.

Example of a few items you can buy:

Widowmaker (weapon; 27 attack, 52 defense)

Twin AK 47's (weapon; 52 attack, 26 defense)

Twin Garza 9s (weapon; 53 attack, 24 defense)

Love Birds (weapon; 26 attack, 53 defense)

Armed Doorman (armor; 51 attack, 24 defense)

Motorcycle Jacket (25 attack, 50 defense)

Mountain Goat (vehicle; 22 attack, 52 defense)

Crop Duster (vehicle; 52 attack, 28 defense)


While it was about time they made limited edition loot pieces worth while, the thing is that these higher end items now cost 35 godfather points. Ouch!

That seems like all with the Marketplace.. just expect 5-15 new limited edition loot pieces each week rather than the normal 3 pieces.

Respect Gift Safe House - Strategy

Looks like the Valentine's Day gift safe house has been replaced with the "Respect" Gift Safehouse.

The idea is generally the same as the previous gift safe houses - you ask your friend for gifts, and if they accept, you will get a gift in your safehouse. Additionally, the "Love Meter" concept has stayed (if friends send you a positive gift you get 10%), so when you get 10 good gifts, you will get a reward.

The difference is that there appears to be different levels of respect - you start off at 0, and when you open 10 gifts, your "respect level" will rise to 1 in addition to getting a reward.


The reward for hitting level 1 is a switchblade (weapon; 14 attack, 16 defense):

..which is pretty poor. However, in theory, the rewards could increase in value as you level up. I will keep an updated list - if you happen to hit some of the higher levels that haven't been updated, leave a comment or send an e-mail, and I will update accordingly. Here is the list so far (items are awarded upon reaching level):


Level 1: Switchblade (weapon; 14 attack, 16 defense)

Level 2: Grach (weapon; 20 attack, 10 defense)

Level 3: Puggio (weapon; 17 attack, 23 defense)

Level 4: Zip Gun (weapon; 24 attack, 16 defense)

Level 5: Samurai Helmet (armor; 12 attack, 28 defense)

Level 6: Ma Barker's Machine Gun (weapon; 30 attack, 20 defense)

Level 7: Ghillie Suit (armor; 16 attack, 42 defense)


So it appears that the items are indeed increasing in quality as levels rise. It seems like quite a bit of work though to send out all those gift requests and get them all answered for an item that only has 42 defense.

Chop Shop New York Property

For the first time in well over a year, there is a new property available in New York, the Chop Shop!


However, you can't buy it. You have to "build" it with free gifts:


Essentially, there are 5 different item types that you will need to pick up 10 of each from your friends (50 total items). The only thing is that each person only has access to 2 of the Chop Shop items, so you will need to collect from at least 3 different friends! To send these items to your Mafia Friends, simply go to the free gifts page and look for the items labeled "Chop Shop".


Here are the 5 items required to build your shop:

Acetylene Torches
Cement Blocks
Power Tools
Car Lift
Shipping Containers

You will need 10 of each! Alternatively, you can buy pieces for one godfather point.


Once completed, your Chop Shop is a standalone building that produces 1 random vehicle each day. The quality of the vehicle seems to be completely random as noted by the info in game - you can end up coming back for the day to collect a completely worthless vehicle or a good one. I see it as more of an incentive for people to check out this developing properties page.

Bangkok Job Mastery Loot Rewards

I figured I would consolidate all of the Mafia Wars Bangkok Job Mastery item rewards in a single post rather than having them spread out across several posts. Additionally, I now have in-game pics of the 5A and 5B rewards, and since I am a bit picky over these sorts of things, I wanted to have the actual pictures before I posted up the stats. With that said, here they are:

Episode 1 (Brawler) - Tiger Sak Yant (armor; 65 attack, 42 defense)



Episode 2 (Criminal) - Royal Thai Police Tank (vehicle; 58 attack, 74 defense)



Episode 3 (Pirate) - Harpoon Cannon (weapon; 88 attack, 51 defense)



Episode 4 (Commandant) - Armored War Elephant (vehicle; 96 attack, 69 defense)

I'm sure the Thai government is thrilled that an Armored War Elephant is considered more powerful than their royal tanks.

Episode 5A (Oyabun) - Ronin Armor (armor; 72 attack, 111 defense)

Episode 5B (Dragon Head) - Typhoon Cleavers (weapon; 70 attack, 112 defense)


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So, it looks like this is it for Bangkok. Overall, even with the 4 levels of mastery and the pirates, satellite phones, and drug shipments, it was definitely easier for me to complete then pre-nerf Moscow (though I'm sure the 25% mini energy packs helped with that).

On the whole, the loot upgrades are fairly disappointing. The thought of collecting 500 Lloyds Spectres for a measly 500 defense points is not all that appealing to me, and the fact that many of the best drops from Bangkok are tied with those of Moscow just adds insult to injury.

I do like the idea of 2 "best" items (armor in this case) being from the faction store, but it certainly is a bit disappointing that these 2 very expensive armors are the only real way to advance my character in fighting. Due to their high cost, it doesn't seem like it will be possible to get more than 5 or so of these armors per day (and that's being very generous, most players will get 1 per day or even less) - and since you need 1,000 to completely outfit your mafia, it'd take anywhere from 6 months to a couple years to completely outfit your mafia.

Who knows though, if this trend of not getting upgrades continues, these expensive armor pieces still might be the best-in-slot in Las Vegas!

Crisis Crates Loot List

The old Bangkok Crates were replaced by a new set, Crisis Crates, late last night in Mafia Wars.


And here is the loot list:

Weapons:

Fire Axe (common): 26 attack, 17 defense

Battering Ram (common): 28 attack, 14 defense

Shock Paddles (uncommon): 36 attack, 16 defense

Shaped Charge (rare): 51 attack, 25 defense - about time there was a decent loot piece from the crates


Armor:

EMT (uncommon): 18 attack, 35 defense

Ironside Tactical Vest (rare): 27 attack, 49 defense


Vehicles:

Hook and Ladder (common): 15 attack, 27 defense

Trauma Chopper (uncommon): 21 attack, 34 defense


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While the Shaped Charge might seem good, these are still a waste of GF points. It looks like they are headed on the right direction by making the rare items slightly better than the best-in-slot loot pieces. It's just not worth it right now though, especially since those pieces have such a low % drop rate.

Common items should be as good as uncommon items are now, uncommon items should be comparable (maybe 1-2 point advantage) over the best-in-slot pieces, and the rare items should be 8-10 points ahead of the best-in-slot loot pieces. This wouldn't create an unfair advantage for anyone, because it's not like anyone would buy the 3,000 crates needed to completely outfit their character, and even if they did, if they spent those 30,000 GF points that would be required on +4 stats, they would be unstoppable anyway.

Mafia Wars Property Change

The new property change is now live for *most players*. Check it out:


Some of the properties have changed names. Furthermore, some properties need to be collected as often as every 2 hours, whereas others only need to be collected once every other day. For most players (myself included), the properties with a collect time of less than 24 hours just lost a lot of value. Here is the property list:


Louie's Deli (can not be upgraded) - needs to be collected hourly.

Flophouse - needs to be collected every 8 hours.

Pawnshop - needs to be collected every 24 hours.

Tenement - needs to be collected every 48 hours.

Warehouse - needs to be collected every 12 hours.

Restaurant - needs to be collected every 2 hours.

Dockyard - needs to be collected every 8 hours.

Office Park - needs to be collected every 12 hours.

Uptown Hotel - needs to be collected every 24 hours.

Mega Casino - needs to be collected every 48 hours.

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Undeveloped lots were automatically converted into cash for players; lots are no longer purchaseable.

Players also now upgrade their buildings rather than buy new ones. If you had 300 mega casinos prior to the update, you will now have a "Level 300 Mega Casino".

Overall, this appears to be a nerf as some properties need to be collected manually every few hours, whereas before, many people did not have to collect a take at all (myself included).

The real purpose behind this change (I hope) is to allow players to rob each other's high level properties for some big $ and also give property some unique features (hence the map that is "Coming Soon".

I'm looking forward to it, and will withhold further judgment until more information becomes available.

I also have no idea what will happen for people with rackets, and if those influence points will be refunded. Good luck!

Episode 5B Yakuza or Triads; Bangkok Strategy

It's time for the final installment (unless they put out an Episode 6, hint hint) of Yakuza vs Triads, where you find out which side you should pick. Here we go:


Chapter 2

The Yakuza Tier


The "Make An Example Of A Wealthy Industrialist" job drops the Yakuza-only Lloyds Spectre (vehicle; 18 attack, 45 defense). This is the best-in-slot defensive vehicle. It also costs a Pirate (consumable from Bangkok business) to do this job.



The Triad Tier


The "Extort The Head Of The Hong Kong Polo Club" job drops the Triad-only Type-103 Machine Gun (weapon; 42 attack, 29 defense).



Conclusion:

Note that the Yakuza job drops a good item you will want but the Triad job does not cost a pirate. If you are short on pirates, consider picking Triad until the final time through the tier, and then switch over to Yakuza to give yourself permanent access to the Yakuza-only Lloyds Spectre. If you have plenty of Pirates, just pick Yakuza every time.


Chapter 3

The Yakuza Tier


The "Sneak An Industrial Spy Into Hong Kong" job drops the Yakuza-only Cleaver (weapon; 25 attack, 44 defense).



The Triad Tier



The "Kidnap One Of Wei's Trusted Advisors" job drops the Triad-only Monk's Robe (armor; 29 attack, 41 defense).



Conclusion:
The Monk's Robe (Triad) is garbage and the Cleaver (Yakuza) is not. Furthermore, there is no difference in consumables between Yakuza and Triad. Opt for Yakuza every time here.

Free Mystery Bags and Chinese New Year Collection; Loot

The gift safe house is finally gone now been replaced by mystery bags, which are a free gift you can receive from your friends.

Rather than making requests for mystery bags, you can send them out to your friends and accept them in the Facebook friend request tab.

In addition to loot pieces, you can also get a collection and even get free godfather points!


There are a variety of pieces you can get for a new Chinese New Year Collection, such as the Baoding Balls:


Unfortunately, the entire collection vaults into String of Firecrackers, which is a pretty weak weapon at 28 attack and 36 defense (thanks Yogesh for the info).

Feel free to post the loot up you may have found in the comments, that way we will have a fairly solid list! Will update soon!

Valentine's Day Massacre Limited Time Job Guide

The limited time job, Valentine's Day Massacre, is now available in Mafia Wars. It is quite like the New Year's Eve job in that there are 3 different jobs you can pick from, each with different cooldowns and rewards. Additionally, no matter which job you pick, you will earn some job mastery percentage points:


For doing the Trick Target to Attend Meeting, I ended up receiving the Heart Tattoo Valentine's Day collection item. This job appears to be the only way to get the Heart Tattoo Valentine's Day collection piece. The rare item is the Senza Pari, a vehicle with 21 attack and 12 defense.



For doing the Scout Out the Location job, I received a Lookout (armor; 9 attack, 22 defense):

Yes, this item shares the name of a boost.

For doing the Procure Untraceable Sub-Machine Guns job (24 hour cool down, 100 energy cost) I received Purple Gang's Gun (weapon; 19 attack, 30 defense) as a reward:



For hitting 100% job mastery, I received a Highball (weapon; 36 attack, 24 defense):




Nothing too special here; not worth spending the GF points on this event by any means - much better to use them in Bangkok.

Valentine's Day Massacre Love Meter Reward

The Mafia Wars Valentine's Day Massacre event is now live! Among many features is the Valentine's Day edition of the Gift Safe House. By receiving gifts for the gift house, you can slowly increase your site meter. Once this is maxed, you are rewarded with a limited edition loot, Cupid (46 attack, 27 defense):

Thanks to James for the pictures!

Not a bad item at all considering the relative ease of getting it. Will have more updates on the Valentine's Day Massacre event later tonight!

Episode 5A Yakuza vs Triads; Bangkok Strategy

Outlined below is a loot and job list highlighting the differences between the siding with the Triads or the Yakuza. This is where it starts to get important as higher quality loot is on the line, so pay attention and choose wisely!


Chapter 2

The Yakuza Tier

The "Help Broker A Minato-Matsumura Peace" job drops the Yakuza-only Scalding Hot Tea (weapon; 26 attack, 35 defense)

The Triad Tier

The "Assassinate The Minato-Kai Family Head" job drops the Triad-only Kage Jet (vehicle; 27 attack, 42 defense).

Conclusion: Don't be fooled by the stats on the Kage Jet; it is the same as an Armored State Car which has little value on the market. Siding with the Triads here costs extra drug shipments for the "Frame An Enemy For The Murder" job, so pick Yakuza.

Chapter 3

The Yakuza Tier

The "Gather More Evidence Of A Betrayal" job drops the Yakuza-only Tanto (weapon; 43 attack, 28 defense). This item is tied with the Ubijca Assault Rifle (from Moscow Episode 5) as the best in slot weapon. Since this job has no consumable requirement, this is a good way to farm $B. Note that the first time through, this job only costs 71 energy; with the lotto collection, farming these items can be quite efficient.


The Triad Tier


The "Spread Distrust Among the Yakuza Families" job drops the Triad-only Optical Camo Suit (armor; 43 attack, 26 defense).


Conclusion: The Optical Camo Suit is garbage; the Shturmovik from Episode 4 of Moscow has 2 more attack points. Pick Yakuza here

Job Mastery Rewards for Bangkok Episodes 3 and 4

I now have the job mastery items for both episodes 3 and 4 of Mafia Wars Bangkok available for you all to see:

For mastering Pirate (Episode 3), you will get the Harpoon Cannon (88 attack, 51 defense):


For mastering Commandant (Episode 4), you will get the Armored War Elephant (96 attack, 69 defense):


At this rate, it looks like the rewards for Episodes 5A and 5B will be a weapon and body armor piece with 100+ defense on each. Will have more information soon.

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Other relevant Mafia Wars Bangkok information:

- After completing the first level of mastery on Episode 4, players will have access to both Episodes 5A and 5B, assuming they have the faction. Episode 5A requires Trusted with the Triads, and Episode 5B requires Trusted with the Yakuza. I can only see this being an issue if you paid no attention to faction in previous episodes and sided with one side the entire time, as you can rack up quite a bit of faction will earning enough $B to beat the earlier tiers. It looks like Episode 5B will be slightly more expensive in terms of consumable and $B needed to pass through. However, Episode 5B has no collection associated with it currently.

- If you are having trouble with the Bangkok frames (can't scroll around or click things), do this: Run Firefox as your browser, simply right click on the Mafia Wars background, scroll down to "This Frame" and then click on "show this frame only". That will load the Mafia Wars game in its own window.

- The Mafia Wars Toolbar appears to be issuing mini-energy packs once again. I just got a 25% boost.




- It appears that all of that Bangkok loot that was available in fighting a week or two back is all of the current new loot in game. There are no "new" items then with the release of Bangkok that you can collect large numbers of. I am a bit surprised by this as it makes the only clear upgrade over Moscow loot to be the two armor pieces purchasable in the faction store, and the cost of these items is so high it does not seem if these will be easily collectible in large quantities.


Up-and-coming Updates:

I will post the rest of the Yakuza vs Triad info, loot lists, job mastery rewards, and any other pertinent information that I may have missed. If you have any other requests for Bangkok information, feel free to ask in the comments section.

Gun Running Operation and Yaa Baa Parlor Faction Businesses

As I have mentioned earlier, as you do jobs for the Yakuza and Triads, you will earn faction points. In addition a variety of good loot pieces, you once you earn a trusted reputation (700 or higher faction points), you will be able to earn faction-specific businesses, the Gun Running Operation (Yakuza) and the Yaa Baa Parlor (Triads).

Unlike normal businesses, these business produce boosts rather than money. This system is a lot like the politico corrupto in Mafia Wars Cuba; you can not upgrade the quality of the boost, but rather the capacity (amount of boosts the business can hold) and the output (the amount of boosts produced every 3 hours).

With that said, here are the businesses, the requirements, and the outputs:

By earning 700 or more reputation points with the Yakuza, you can buy the Gun Running Operation for B$300,000:



The Gun Running Operation produces Black Market Ammo (+32 attack skill) boosts every 3 hours. It starts out producing 1 every 3 hours, but can be upgraded to 5 every 3 hours.


By earning 700 or more reputation with the Triads, you can buy the Yaa Baa Parlor for B$300,000:


The Yaa Baa Parlor produces Hyper Alert Sentry (+32 fight defense skill) boosts every 3 hours. It starts out producing 1 boost every 3 hours but can be upgraded to 5 boosts every 3 hours.


You can get both businesses, in fact, it is rather easy to max out both factions, just follow the information in my previous faction guide post.




Fully upgraded, you can collect an extra 80 boosts per day (10 every 3 hours). Not too bad at all!

Bangkok Collections and Boosts; All Episodes

I am condensing all of the Mafia Wars Bangkok Collection and Boosts (for boosts from businesses, see the faction business post) from the first two episodes in along with the collections from the recently released episodes. Note: Currently, Episode 5B (Dragon Head) does not have a collection associated with it.


Chest Set Collection: Episode 1 (Brawler)


Reward for vaulting: +5 energy
Boost for vaulting again: Chess Master (-8 job energy costs)
Pieces in set: Chessboard, Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, Queen, King


Masks Collection: Episode 2 (Criminal)


Reward for vaulting: +5 defense
Boost for vaulting again: War Paint (+32 attack skill)
Pieces in set: Agat-Talai's Mask, Sukreep's Mask, Palee's Mask, Phra Ram's Mask, Indrachit's Mask, Hanuman's Mask, Tosakanth's Mask


Spices Collection: Episode 3 (Pirate)


Reward for vaulting: +7 Defense
Boost for vaulting again: Pepper Spray (+36 fight defense skill)
Pieces in set: Coriander, Garlic, Tumeric, Green Peppercorn, Holy basil, Lemongrass, Thai Chili


Episode 4 (Commandant)

Reward for vaulting: +4 Attack
Boost for vaulting again: Chisel (+34 attack skill)
Pieces in set: Wall Carving, Floral Statue, Dragon Statue, Decorative Nightstand, Lotus Bloom, Rearing Elephant, Stone Buddha


Episode 5A (Oyabun)

Reward for vaulting: +8 Health
Boost for vaulting again: Boutonniere (+10% payout on jobs)
Pieces in set: Marco Polo, Grace Pink, Misteen, Jade Siam, Bom Gold, Bom Blue, Fatima

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And that's it so far for Mafia Wars Bangkok collections. For some reason Episode 5B (Dragon Head) does not have a collection, if that changes, I will update accordingly.

All in all, I'm fairly disappointed with these collections and especially the boosts. They are definitely a step down from Moscow collections and boosts. The Boutonniere only gives +10% payout on jobs, which is essentially worthless - even if you got 10 of them from re-vaulting, it would only be an extra $B5,000 or so from even the best jobs, which is just over 1% of the cost of the best loot from the faction store.

Yakuza or Triads Episode 3; Bangkok Strategy

The battle for Bangkok rages on, and the ever present question still remains - Yakuza or Triads? I figured this would be good to post up as soon as possible, as there is a definite advantage of choosing one faction over the other in Episode 3.

I have broken this post down into two sections. If you want the short answer, in Episode 3, Chapter 2 - pick whichever side you fancy. In episode 3, Chapter 3, pick Yakuza every single time. For exact differences between tiers and faction-specific loot, read on!


Episode 3, Chapter 2

The Yakuza tier:


The "Truck the Cargo to Kuala Lumpur" job is Yakuza-only and drops the MalayMobil Helang (vehicle; 19 attack, 34 defense):



Alternatively, the Triad tier:


The "Ship the Cargo To Jarkarta" job drops the Triad-only Komodo Dragon (weapon; 34 attack, 22 defense):




Conclusion:

There is no real advantage to choosing one tier over the other here. Note that the "Hijack a Boat Load of Electronics" job will need to be repeated for consumables down the line, so consider finalizing the choice with your lowest faction.



Episode 3, Chapter 3

The Yakuza Tier:


The "Sink A Chinese Metals Freighter" job drops the Yakuza-only Seua Daao Sub (vehicle; 35 attack, 22 defense):




Alternatively, the Triad tier:



The "Steal Japanese Auto Shipping Containers" drops the Triad-only Fugama Kame SUV (vehicle; 33 attack, 22 defense):



Conclusion

The "Offload The Cars Onto A Waiting Barge" job is Triad-only and costs 1x Satellite Phone (a consumable dropped earlier in the tier and used in other episodes extensively) while the Yakuza-only version does not require a consumable. As a result, you always want to pick Yakuza in Episode 3, Chapter 3. There is no reason to pick Triad for this section.