Mafia Wars Raid the Docks Reward

As part of Big Apple Week, there is a new limited job - Raid the Docks. It works much like Rob the Candy Truck job did. The XP:Energy ratio is 2, and you can only do the job once every so often. The amount of energy the job costs seems to be completely random. On an account of mine at ~600 energy, it cost me 60 energy, on my account that is in the 1200s it cost me 100 energy. However, on a third account (I know, lol) where I have 5000+ energy it only costs me 60 energy.

However, a few things are different. First off, the rewards are much better - you get 15-30 untraceable cell phones the first time you do the job (I am assuming this changes each time you do the job).

Another thing is, the amount of job mastery and items you get depends on how much energy the job cost. On my high level account, I spent 100 energy and got 25% job mastery and 30 cell phones. On my lower level account, I spent 60 energy but only got 15 cell phones and 15% job mastery.

Cooldown

If you spent 100 energy on the job, you have to wait 24 hours to do it again. If you spent 60 energy on the job, you only have to wait 8 hours.

Steps: Note in the picture above it says "Step 1". If you do this job once (at 25% mastery) or twice (at 15% mastery), this changes to "Step 2".

For step one, you get untraceable cell phones.

For step two, you get computer set-ups.

Easy Way to Increase Mafia Size; Mafia Wars Guide

Here is an incredibly easy way to increase your mafia size and is not by any means an exploit.

In some of the "add me" threads on the Mafia Wars fan page, sometimes people will post e-mail lists of people who are looking for more Mafia Wars members. With this list:

1. Click on the "Invite Friends" sub-tab under the "Friends" tab at the bar found at the top of Facebook.

2. On the "Invite Friends" page, simply copy and paste e-mails off of the e-mail list into the first box and type "mafia wars" into the second box. As mentioned below, I would only recommend pasting about 40 e-mail addresses a day (will result in about 20 friend invites).

3. Since these e-mail addresses already exist in the system, Facebook will automatically send them a friend request for you (you can easily send 20+ friend requests with the click of a button this way).

4. Someone posted a list of a few hundred people in this add-me thread, but there are tons of other e-mail lists floating around out there in various Facebook groups.


It is as simple as that. Set your Facebook status and that is all there is to it. I would not recommend adding more than 20-30 people a day with this method - any more than that and you could be flagged for spamming

Mafia Wars Halloween Candy Truck; Strategy Guide

Well, due to a game change (or some sort of bug or another) the once a day cap came off of the Rob a Candy Truck job in Mafia Wars. For mastering the job, you get a Halloween Candy Truck, which is a vehicle with 20 attack and 35 defense:



Unless the once-a-day cap comes back on, it appears that this job can be done an unlimited number of times for more Halloween Candy Trucks. This could be really good for low level players. For a higher level player like myself, I have better vehicles, so I am okay with just one.

Edit:

...and the cap is back on!

When the other Halloween limited edition loot comes out I will post up more information.

Mafia Wars Halloween Event - Rob a Candy Truck; Guide

Looks like Halloween came early this year. Tonight, the limited time only job "Rob a Candy Truck" was added to the game.

The job pays out 2 xp for every 1 energy it costs, and the cost of the job appears to vary based on your level. The reward for completing the job is a Treat Bag (weapon, 15 attack 18 defense) and 25% job mastery.


You can only do the job once per day, so you will presumably have to do it four times over the Halloween weekend to get the mastery reward (probably a pretty good LEL Halloween item). On the second day I robbed the truck, I got another treat bag.


Also, available via the free gifts function (enter Mafia Wars via bookmark for a good chance to go to this screen), you can send and receive treat bags in addition to two more items:

Ghost Thug (armor, 10 attack, 20 defense):


Mystery Van (vehicle, 15 attack, 15 defense):


I am assuming the treat bag and "Rob the Candy Truck" will be in addition to another series of 8 limited edition loot pieces dropping randomly from jobs, so when those are released, expect another post!

Mafia Wars Moscow Best Weapons, Vehicles, and Armor List; Strategy Guide

Due to the partial releases of Mafia Wars Moscow, the recent upgrades to some old equipment, and the several more expansions on the horizon, it seems like it would be a good idea to maintain a running "Best Of" list to outline the best offensive and defensive weapons, armor, and vehicles in game.

Note, to qualify for the list, it must be an item that drops from jobs (job mastery items (like the cazador assault rifle, godfather points items and limited edition items like the Red Coat will be excluded from the list).


Best Offensive Weapons:

Ubijca Assault Rifle: 43 attack, 18 defense - from the "Help "Plan" The Next Attack" job (Vory Only) in Episode 5 in Moscow.


Best Defensive Weapon:

Zmeya Carbon Blade: 28 attack, 44 defense. Drops from the "Hit a Vory Nightclub" job (Mafiya Only) in Episode 6 in Moscow.


Best Offensive Armor:

Shturmovik: 45 attack, 28 defense. Drops from the "Rob a Troop Convoy" job (Vory only) in Episode 4 in Moscow.


Best Defensive Armor:

Executive Overcoat: 22 attack, 45 defense. Drops from the "Acquire Classified Files On Crime Syndicates" job (both sides) in Episode 6 in Moscow.


Best Offensive Vehicle:

Zoloto Sports Car: 43 attack, 22 defense. Drops from the "Ship Black-Market Caviar To London" job (both sides) in Episode 6 in Moscow.


Best Defensive Vehicle:

Konstantin Cargo Carrier: 18 Attack 44 Defense - from the Vory only job in Episode 6 (need name/picture).


Conclusion

Currently, all the best items in the game now come from Moscow. However, not all upgrades are the same. TNT/Canonazos have 1 less attack than the Ubijca Assault Rifle, and the Armored State Car only has 2 less defense than the Konstantin Cargo Carrier. The executive overcoat, zoloto sports car, shturmovik, and zmeya carbon blade however are all very nice upgrades. As a result, you would do well to focus on collecting the latter four items first and replacing your TNT last.

Mafia Wars - New Achievements; Strategy Guide

Tonight, 10 new achievements were added to Mafia Wars along with some other changes. The new achievements are as follows:


Hitman: Earned by collecting a bounty from the hitlist.

Bounty Hunter: Earned by collecting 50 bounties from the hitlist.

Master Collector: Earned by vaulting all of the New York and Cuba collections.

Next!: Earned by mastering all of Cuba.

Dedicated: Earned by logging in and completing a job 20 days in a row.

Set Them up for Later: Earned by losing 10 fights in a row.

Brawler: Earned by winning 100 fights in a row.

It's Good to be the King: Earned by being promoted to at least 10 friends' top mafia.

First Blood: Earned by declaring and winning a war.

Veteran: Earned by participating in 500 wars.


Also, when you complete an achievement now, you can advertise it to your friends:

When your friends click on the banner, they can get some money, experience points (highest reported is +50) and a consumable item.

Nice little addition. The hardest ones seem to be "Set Them up for Later" and "Brawler" - these events would not occur often naturally. However, I think it would be pretty easy to rig it; just have a stronger friend attack you 10 times (set them up for later) or attack a weaker friend 100 times (brawler). Some other updates have been made and I will cover them in the next post.

New Mafia Wars Combat Formula; Strategy Guide

As some of you may have noticed, when Mafia Wars put in the new combat screen which tallies item equipment scores and displays them on the fight screen, they changed the combat formula.


These were not just minor tweaks either. Under the previous system, testing had shown that for some reason on certain servers, attack and defense did not matter and all stat points were lumped together. Clearly this is no longer the case - attack is used for attack, and defense is used for defending.

Additionally, under the old system, attack and defense stat points were weighted much heavier then weapon and armor attack and defense points. In other words, under the old system, someone with weak equipment and a very high attack and defense stat score could beat someone with great equipment and poor stats. This is no longer the case. Under the new system, equipment scores are weighted very heavily - someone with great equipment is going to win most of their fights regardless of stat point allotment. The actual equation is unknown, but it definitely relies a lot more on equipment then it used to.

Honestly, I think that in theory this was a good change - stat points accounted for way too much and equipment accounted for way too little when it came to fighting. However, the problem is that currently players can easily boost their total equipment attack score to over 56,000 attack points by simply collecting 500 track loaders, TNT/Canonazos, and Guerrilla Squads. However, players can only boost their defense equipment score to around 49,000 points. As a result, even the best players can not win every fight on defense.

For example on my level 220 fighter account above, I have almost the best equipment, and a moderate amount of attack and defense (about 400 of each). I win literally every fight on offense even though I put a decent amount of points into energy and stamina and the account has no bonus godfather points. However, I sometimes notice that I lose fights on defense, other people are able to rob me, and so on and so forth. This is because I (and other players as well) can not boost my defense to match up against a well geared players offensive capabilities.

One strategy you could use it to put more stat points into defense then you do in offense. Because the equipment is better for offense, you do not need as many stat points in attack as it is. However, if Russia comes out and balances out the equipment, or worse, makes better equipment available for defense then there is for offense, this could backfire in a bad way. I think that stacking the odds slightly in favor of offense is a good thing - everyone wants to win fights on offense - but right now the difference is so significant that if someone has the best offensive items you are going to lose all your fights on defense even if you have a lot of +defense stat points and great defensive equipment.

For now, the only real fix is to wait until Russia and hope they add better defensive weapons.

Mafia Wars Hard Labor Day Loot List; Strategy Guide

Here is a list of the loot drops you have a chance of getting this labor day weekend:

Weapons:

Dillinger's Wooden Gun 12 Attack 42 Defense

Ma Barker's Machine Gun 30 Attack 20 Defense

Pretty Boy Floyd's .45 22 Attack 22 Defense

Machine Gun Kelly's Gun 25 Attack 14 Defense

Baby Face Nelson's .351 21 Attack 24 Defense

Armor:

Ness' Fedora 28 Attack 22 Defense


Vehicles:

Bonnie & Clyde's B-400 32 Attack 19 Defense

Capone's Armored 341A 14 Attack 38 Defense


Eight total items in the set. There is no bonus for collecting all 8 other than bragging rights. The item that sticks out the most right away is "Dillinger's Wooden Gun" piece. It has 42 defense which is way higher than the Gaff Hook, the otherwise highest defense item in game (not counting LEL).



These items will drop randomly from all jobs and fights until Monday night at midnight PST. Good Luck!

Mafia Wars Moscow Loot Preview; Strategy Guide

Looks like the new Mafia Wars expansion is indeed going to be in Russia. It was announced late last night that Mafia Wars: Moscow will be the next expansion. As a teaser, 8 new loot pieces were put into game this morning that randomly drop from jobs.

Again, these items, just like the 4th of July items, drop completely randomly from jobs. So, if you want to get these items, just use your energy pack and do the 1 energy job in the Street Thug tier a few thousand times. That way you can be sure to get them all!

Here's a pic:

Weapons:

.45 ACP Pistol - 18 attack 12 defense
Dragunov - 36 attack 14 defens
Grach - 20 attack 10 defense
IZH-35m - 28 attack 15 defense
PPSH 41 Submachine gun - 22 attack 8 defense
VSK-94 Sniper Rifle - 28 attack 12 defense

Armor:

Ushanka: 10 attack 20 defense

Vehicle:

Impression: 15 attack / 35 defense

Special Reward Item for Collecting All 8:

Shturmovik(armor): 45 attack / 28 defense



There is two options here. First off, these could just be limited edition loot pieces and mean nothing. However, if these are actually pieces that will drop from jobs in Russia, it means that Russia content will start out at a pretty low level, just like Cuba did, so that both new players and advanced players will be able to use it.

As far as release date goes, this promotion alone will last about a week. So Mafia Wars: Russia will not come out for at least another week. Then, they will probably put it in beta just like the did with Cuba for a week. I can't imagine them releasing it too soon because El Cacique just came out and it is a harder tier to master with an 872 politico corrupto requirement. Stay tuned for more updates about Mafia Wars: Moscow!

El Cacique - New Job Tier, New Loot; Mafia Wars Facebook Strategy Guide

New tier went live tonight in Mafia Wars: Cuba called "El Cacique." There are 8 new jobs available with two new loot drops. Here is a picture with all the jobs, their energy cost, and what items they require:


Couple of notable things:

New Items: the Canonazo (weapon) and the Track Loader (vehicle):

These are now the two best weapons in slot. The Canonazo, with 42 attack and 22 defense, has the same attack as TNT but with +2 defense, so nothing spectacular there. However, the Track Loader, with 37 attack and 32 defense, is a pretty nice item. Although the Track Loader is only 1 attack over the Hu-9 Helicopter, it does have a hefty extra 5 defense. With 69 total stat points, it is the best vehicle around.

Secondly, Consumable Costs:

The consumable costs on El Cacique are very high. The "Help Get An Associate A No Bid Contract" costs 8 politico corrupto, which in and of itself is pretty high. To make things worst, through the first tier, you only get 4% job mastery progress each time you do the job. In other words, 200 politico corruptos just to do the first tier. I am assuming it will drop to 3% and 2% for the final two tiers, making the grand total 872 Politico Corruptos needed to master the El Cacique tier. Wow!

Also, some New York items are needed to do this tier, including Untraceable Cell Phones, which I do not think is that big of a deal, because anyone who mastered the Boss tier should have plenty of extra phones from collecting all those blackmail photos.

Conclusion:

Lots of new stuff to do, and with 800+ politico corruptos most likely needed to finish off the tier and a new vehicle to collect, we should be busy for quite a while!

Mafia Wars Boosts ! Mafia Wars Strategy Guide

Just logged in to some cool new updates. One new feature in Mafia Wars is the boost. Also, a new Cuba tier was added - El Cacique. I'll cover boosts in this post, Cacique in the next. Boosts are consumable power-ups that give you added bonuses, for example +5 attack when fighting or energy reduction costs for jobs.

You can get them two ways. The simpler ones can be bought by going to Inventory, then "Boosts". As of now, you need to be in New York to buy boosts, they are not sold in Cuba (yet). I am assuming they will put more purchasable boosts in. This is a needed change because it actually gives Mafia Wars players something to do with their virtual cash. Here are some pictures:

That is an example of some the three boosts you can buy. You may notice that below it is an item called "Hobo Lookout" which provides +60 robbing skill. The more powerful boosts like this one are the result of turning in collection items. You can re-vault a collection to receive a number of boosts. This number appears to vary from collection to collection (but it not a random number). Feel free to post in the comments how many items each vault gives so I can post it up.

Boosts are automatically used if you have them. As an example, one of my hobos will be used up every time I am robbed. Once I have been robbed 7 times, all my hobos will be gone and I will no longer get that bonus. Here is an picture showing using a boost in a fight:

This is where the new interface comes in handy; things would get quite messy if your boost was listed somewhere in the wall of text of equipment in the old fighting interface.

When you vault a collection, you get a message like this:
The boosts can then be found in your inventory. There is a different set of boosts for each collection. Here is a complete list:

Diamond Flush Collection:
Tripwire: +10 fight defense skill

Heart Flush Collection:
Cappuccino: -3 job energy costs

Sculptures Collection:
Alarm System: +15 robbing defense skill

Poker Chips Collection:
Bulldog: +18 fight defense skill

Club Flush Collection:
Problem Solver: -5 job energy costs

Boxing Collection:
Semi-Pro Boxer: +15 attack skill

Cigars Collection:
Fixer: -8 job energy cost

Spade Flush Collection:
Sting Grenade: +20 attack skill

Billiards Collection:
Bouncer: +27 robbing defense skill

Rings Collection:
Blueprints: -10 job energy cost

Ties Collection:
Injunction: +25 fight defense skill

Paintings Collection:
Motion Detector: +37 robbing defense skill

Cufflinks Collection:
Corporate Muscle: +35 attack skill

Barber Collection:
Shave and a Haircut: +30 fight defense skill

Great Race Horses Collection:
Inside Tip: -16 job energy costs


Cuba Boosts (need to be at Cuba collections screen to turn these in):

Rum Drinks Collection:
Flaming Shot: +30 attack skill

Tropical Fruits Collection:
Boosted Smoothie: -18 job energy costs (2 received per vault)

Entertainers Collection:
Sandbag Wall: +35 fight defense skill (7 received per vault)

Tropical Fish Collection:
Blowfish Dart: +40 attack skill

Beards Collection:
Hobo Lookout: +60 defense skill (7 received per vault)

Conclusion:

All in all, a nice little addition to the game. Hopefully the developers will add more boosts that you can purchase with money so that in game currency actually has some value!

Mafia Wars Blunderbluss and Lefty Guns' Leather Coat; Strategy Guide

Yesterday Mafia Wars added some new free gifts to their free gifting menu. I'm guessing these items will continue to cycle through with regularity like in FarmVille.

There are currently 5 "limited edition" items that you can send:

Claymore: Weapon, 19 attack, 10 defense

Blunderbuss: Weapon, 27 attack 7 defense



Lefty Guns' Leather Coat: Armor, 10 attack 24 defense


Mara Serpiente: Vehicle, 24 attack, 18 defense

Garza 9: Weapon, 25 attack, 10 defense

The first three items were originally the "limited edition" items you could buy for $10,000 for each 2 people in your Mafia. The Garza 9 and Mara Serpiente can be also found in Cuba, so nothing to exciting here.

Mafia Wars Moscow Re-tuned; Strategy Guide

And by re-tuned, I mean nerfed.

Update:

Yes, bribe penalty is completely gone - confirmed; jobs are paying out 100% now regardless of the items you own.

Here is a picture of the new business payout as well (click for full size):



Businesses now pay out around $70,000,000 a day. This is about 3.5x as much as before, which makes it a big buff. But, considering you need 6,000,000,000 rubles to get through Moscow and upgrade your businesses. At this amount, it would still take your businesses over 2 months to produce that.

Also, I noticed on a lower level account that I can buy the Trafficking Operation despite only being on Episode 4. Not sure if this is intended as I have not seen it mentioned anywhere officially.

So, even with this unprecedented boost, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a second Moscow nerf within a month if they want to stick to the plan; the plan being Mafia Wars Bangkok coming out around the holidays. Even with this business upgrade, I'm betting the majority of the 6,000,000 daily Mafia Wars players will not be done by Christmas.