Mafia Wars Strategy Guide - Guide for Mafia Wars

================================
    MAFIA WARS STRATEGY GUIDE

          by John Gugie

      View more of my work 
      @ Associated Content
================================

This is a strategy guide to Mafia Wars, a text-based role-playing game from
Zynga that is available on Facebook, MySpace and elsewhere. The premise is that
you build a Mafia empire and try to defeat other Mafias. I play Mafia Wars on
Facebook, so, if you play it on another site and things are set up different,
some of my strategies might not work there. The guide shows how to start
playing, then a guide that describes each feature of the game going in the
direction of the game menu setup to make it easier to follow, and then a few
random leftovers.

====================
CHOOSING PLAYER NAME
====================

You will need to choose a Mafia name. It is not really important what you call
yourself but you will be stuck using it for a long time. If you really do not
like your name at a future point in time, you can change your name for 15
Godfather points, which is really a waste of Godfather points.

====================
CHOOSING PLAYER TYPE
====================

When you first sign up for Mafia Wars, you will need to choose a player type.
There are three kinds of player types: Mogul, Fearless and Maniac. Each type
offers a different slight advantage. 

Moguls are all about earning the money -- they receive money every 54 minutes
instead of the usual 60 minutes.

Just to clarify, members of the Mogul class in Cuba receive a 5% increase in
profits from selling crates produced by Cuban businesses. This should give the
Moguls an advantage in Cuba, where cash is a little harder to come by.

Fearless are able to fight more often my regenerating health quicker -- they
receive one point of health regeneration every three minutes instead of the
usual five minutes. 

Maniacs are able to rob were often -- they receive energy every three minutes
instead of the usual five minutes. 

I would say that the Maniac type offers the best advantage. Moguls only earn
money six minutes faster than usual, which is not really a great advantage.
Fearless players maintain their health quicker but health can be refilled with
cash every 45 seconds, which, if you earn a lot of money per hour and doing
other jobs to earn money, you can easily refill your health as much as needed.
Maniacs are able to earn more energy to do everything within the game and level
up faster.

====
BANK
====

Before going into fights, always be sure to deposit all of your cash into the
bank. Other players can attack you at any time, so it is a good idea to keep a
zero cash balance most of the time and especially before signing off. If you
don't, other players will fight and rob you. Depositing money does incur a 10%
laundering fee but is very little in the scheme of things.
Inventory 

====
JOBS
====

Jobs are the most important aspect of the game. Almost everything that you do
revolves around the jobs. You will need to do thousands and thousands of jobs
throughout the game, so it is very important to understand. You need specified
amounts of energy to do each job, ranging from 1 energy point to over 100
energy points. Jobs are separated into tiers, each requiring increasingly more
energy for each job under that tier. You can not access upper tiers until you
reach higher levels, so you need to do jobs to access bigger jobs. Jobs also
require different inventory, such as armor, vehicles, weapons or various other
loot that you pick up while doing other jobs or fighting. The specific job tier
and the respective levels are below:

--------
New York
--------

Street Thug (Levels 1 - 4)
Associate (Levels 5 - 8)
Soldier (Levels 9 - 12)
Enforcer (Levels 13 - 17)
Hitman (Levels 18 - 24)
Capo (Levels 25 - 34)
Consigliere (Levels 35 - 59)
Underboss (Levels 60 - 99)
Boss (Levels 100+)

-----------------
Cuba (Levels 35+)
-----------------

El Soldado (Levels 35 - 59)
El Capitan (Levels 60 - 84)
El Jefe (Levels 85 - 109)
El Patron (Levels 110 - 129)
El Padrino (Levels 130+)

You cannot access the Cuba job tiers until at least levels 35. Cuba jobs do not
work parallel to New York jobs; they are like two different games that merge at
times during different activities but they are basically separate once you get
to level 35.

-----------
BOSS FIGHTS 
-----------

Boss fights are special premium jobs available one in each of the first four
job tiers. The job is basically to defeat a major boss or other character that
is very strong and to defeat them requires a lot of health in order to
withstand the back-and-forth fight between the two of you. You don't go into
the fight alone; one or two of your mafia members will be randomly selected to
fight the boss or his henchmen first. They will fight with them until their
energy is gone and, if the boss and his men are not defeated by them, then you
are the last line of defense. If you think that you will lose, you can always
quit for a fee and the boss will forgive you. If you defeat them, the payout is
huge, especially the amount of experience points that you earn. To fight the
boss, you need to have the required amount of energy, Mafia members and
materials. Based on the required amount of energy, the energy that you learn is
really proportionately worth it compared to other jobs. The boss fights are a
good way to earn money and experience points when starting out in Mafia Wars
but not really worth the energy after you reach the Hitman job tier.

Street Thug (Levels 1 - 4)
Giancarlo Morillo
Risk: $0
Payout: $39,900 & 133 Experience
Requires: 133 Energy, 2 Mafia, Crowbar X1, Colt Pistol X1

Associate (Levels 5 - 8)
Detective West
Risk: $0
Payout: $39,900 & 160 Experience
Requires: 133 Energy, 4 Mafia, Colt Pistol X2, Tommy Gun, X1, Bullet Proof Vest
X1, Sedan X 1

Soldier (Levels 9 - 12)
Luis Castana
Risk: $0
Payout: $39,900 & 173 Experience
Requires: 133 Energy, 8 Mafia, Machine Pistol X2, Tommy Gun X4, Armored Sedan X2

Enforcer (Levels 13 - 17)
Agostino Cleto
Risk: $0
Payout: $39,900 & 186 Experience
Requires: 133 Energy, 16 Mafia, Tommy Gun X9, Chain Gun X3, Getaway Cruiser X2,
Town Car X2

=============
HELP REQUESTS
=============

You do not have to do jobs alone. You can't do the same exact jobs together
with members of your Mafia but they can help. The help request feature of Mafia
Wars allows you to request help from others for one specific job at a time.
Your Mafia members can help you once per member for each job request sent.
Separate members can help you once each until the job is done -- I believe they
can help you 10 times for each job request over the span of two days, at which
time you can send out another help request. 

Once a help request is done, you will receive experience points and cash, in
different amounts depending on the job. On the lower levels, don't expect much
of a return but, on the upper levels, expect a pretty good return, especially
if your Mafia fully completed all 10 times. It helps to have a larger Mafia
because there is a better chance that your help request will be fully done,
earning you a bigger profit and making more of your helpers willing to help you
again. 

On the flip side, you can also do help requests for other members of your
Mafia. You will earn immediate experience points and cash. The more Mafia
members and friends that you have, the more help requests you can fulfill and
earn quite a bit of experience and cash that do not require any energy, health
or stamina from you. It is also a good idea to 

Note that (on the Facebook version of the game at least) in order to do help
requests for others members of your Mafia or to have them help you, they not
only need to be members of your Mafia but they also need to be on your friends
list. I do not know why they make this feature require friends only when many
of the other features do not require it.

--------------------------
MULTIPLE JOB HELP REQUESTS
--------------------------

Whether due to a glitch or not, Mafia Wars allows you to send out multiple help
requests. They can't be done all at the exact same time but they can be done
consecutively for as many times as you energy will allow. Theoretically, you
can probably send out over a dozen help requests during a 48-hour time. This is
a lot compared to the usual one per 48-hour period, so it can earn you and your
Mafia members tons of experience points and cash quickly. Follow the steps
below to send out multiple help requests.

1. Save up a lot of energy to guarantee that you have the maximum energy to do
the most jobs and make the most help requests.

2. Wait for the job bonus button to appear after you do a job but don't click
it yet. 

3. Open up multiple job bonus tabs or windows by right-clicking on the "Do This
Job Again!" and opening it in a new tab or window of your browser. You can keep
opening up Windows with help request buttons until you run out of energy. Do
not close any of the tabs or Windows!

4. Click on one (and only one) job bonus button on one of the tabs or Windows
and you should see the message "Your mafia has been alerted to your request.
Come back often to see the results" on the tab or window. Other mafia members
will start to do your help request.

5. Wait for one of the help requests to be completed. You can open up another
window to refresh it to check for a notification that the help request has been
completed. 

6. Go to another tab or window with an active job bonus button and click on the
job bonus button the same way you did for the first. Wait for it to be
completed and notify you before beginning the next job request.

========================
JOB TIER MASTERY REWARDS
========================

Each time you master one of the job tiers (level 1-3), you are rewarded one
profile point. When you master the job tier completely (the third time), and
are awarded a special bonus or item. A list of each reward is as follows:

--------
New York
--------

Street Thug: Pistol Bayonet: +4% damage dealt fights
Associate: Bugatti: -7% damage received in fights
Soldier: Golden Skull: 30 second reduction on your health regeneration timer
Enforcer: Money Plate: 5% discount on property purchases
Hitman: Chainsaw Bayonet: 30 second reduction on your stamina regeneration time
Capo: State Senator: 5% discount on property repairs
Consigliere: Helicopter: 30 second reduction on your energy regeneration timer
Underboss: Private Island: 5% bonus on job experience
Boss: Golden Throne: 2x the energy regenerated per regen period

----
Cuba
----

El Soldado: EL Rey Roadster
El Capitan: Guerrilla Commando
El Jefe: Avispa Machine Gun
El Patron: Che's Beret
El Padrino: Cocodrilo APC

========
FIGHTING
========

Before going into fights, research your opponent before pressing the attack
button. Just do a quick run through to see how powerful the player is. 

First, look at the size of the player's mafia. I always tried to attack players
with nearly the same size or smaller mafia than I have because more members,
which means more weapons that will be used against opponents. Note that only
your top 501 Mafia members can help in a fight.

Second, look at the number of jobs, which will give you a sense of the player's
experience and how his profile points are distributed - the higher the number,
the higher the probability that their attack and defense is strong. I usually
attack players with about the same amount of jobs completed or lower.

Third, look at the number of wins and losses that your prospective opponents
have. A higher loss to win ratio offers you a better chance of defeating them.

Forth, quickly browse through the player's weapons arsenal. If you see that
they have much stronger weapons than you or a large quantity of stronger
weapons, it is best not to attack them.

Fifth, look at the player's properties to get an idea of how much money they
possess and how much they can be robbed. Gaining money from attacks is good but
not always necessary. Winning attacks earns you experience points at a fairly
steady pace without wasting any energy. Often times, I will earn a few hundred
thousand dollars off of an opponent and then keep earning experience points
after they are broke.

Once you find a good candidate to attack, test them out with an attack. If you
lose the first fight, move on to another player to attack. If you win the first
attack, take advantage of it and repeatedly attacked them until you are out of
stamina or you lose a fight. It's unrealistic that mafia wars lets me win
repeated attacks on a player and then suddenly gives me a loss; I haven't
figured out why. 

If you keep winning attacks against a player and you run out of health points,
keep the attack window open until you earn more health points. I usually open a
new window or tab to the game where I can restore my health and deposit money
or do jobs without interfering with the player that I want to keep attacking.
Once you earn enough stamina or restore your health, go back to attacking the
player until you lose. One other thing I learned about the health points is
that you can pay the doctor to restore your health with the money that is in
your bank account, so there's no need to keep money at all in the cash box.

Create an attack list of those members that you have attacked and beaten. This
way you can go back and attack them again in the future, knowing that they are
probably beatable again to you. Using Mafia wars, you can't just keep track of
them or look them up later, at least not to my knowledge. Instead, right click
on the name of the member and copy the link location. When you're ready to
attack again, simply paste the link location to the member's profile into the
navigation bar of your browser.
One warning, though, is that there's always the chance of the members, we have
attacked repeatedly, will seek revenge at some point. Either they will grow
stronger and attack you later or they can put a hit out on you using the hit
list and get other stronger members to take you out. You need to weigh the
factors involved and, whatever you do, try not to get a really, really stronger
member mad at you! 

=======
ROBBING
=======

Robbing is a variation of attacking but one in which yields more cash but fewer
experience points. If you need more cash, especially if you need it fast,
robbing is the way to go. After you really get your weapons and stats together,
you should be able to make at least $300k-$800k per robbing, depending on which
properties you attack. It is always best to attack the most expensive
properties because they yield the most cash. You don't want to waste energy and
stamina on cheap properties because they will not yield as much money. While
you do get fewer experience points from robbing, you still do receive points --
I usually receive an average of two experience points each time I rob someone
and win. One good thing about robbing versus attacking is that, once you
successfully rob a property, you can keep robbing them successfully every time
unless they build their stats up later, which you really should not be
concerned with because you probably won't find them again to rob. This is a
good thing because you usually know that you won't waste stamina or energy due
to a loss from a critical hit from your opponent.

================
GETTING ATTACKED
================

Other members can attack you even when you are not logged in to the game. This
is to be expected. But, for revenge or another reason, some members will target
you because they see you as weaker or richer. This is not usually a problem
when the other member is almost even with use strength-wise. It becomes a major
problem when the other member, while being at nearly the same level, has more
money, weapons or a lot of strong members in their mafia. They can attack you
at will, as much as they want. 

I had one such member attack me last week. He robbed my properties dozens and
dozens of times. I lost about $60 million preparing and protecting my casinos
because he kept attacking and attacking.

What can you do when a member keeps attacking and robbing you? You can wait for
them to get bored with you or you can be pro-active. There are two ways that I
found to combat the situation. The first is to add the member to the hit list
with a sizable bounty and hope that a really stronger member attacks your
enemy. However, if this does not work and you keep getting attacked, the last
resort is to sell off your properties, especially the big ones, and wait a few
days for your enemy to get bored with you and move on. You can always buy your
properties again; it is just a minor setback.

When you get stronger and gain more members, you can always go back and enact
revenge on the person that repeatedly attacked you. Copy and save the link
location to this member for future use. At least, that is what I would do but,
I am a very vengeful person! Muhaha!

==========
PROPERTIES
==========

In New York, properties are another big way to earn money. You can get by with
fewer properties if you can earn a lot of energy to do jobs and attack or rob
other mafias, but you should really get some sort of steady income that pays
you without the need for energy. 

When you first start the game, you earn a free Louie's Deli for defeating one
of the bosses. This property is like a freebie just to get you started; all of
the other properties need to be purchased. 

First, you need to buy the undeveloped space (Lot, block, property) on which to
build your property. You earn income on the undeveloped spaces but nowhere near
as much as when you build a property on them. If you buy a space and then buy
another without helping a property on them, the price will go up -- it is a
good idea to buy them in quantities of 10 to lock in the lowest prices. Once
you buy 10 spaces, you should build properties on them right away before buying
any more because, once you build a property on the spaces, the price of the
spaces will be sent to the original cost. Before purchasing spaces, you should
have enough money to purchase the coinciding properties as well. A list of the
undeveloped spaces available is as follows:

Abandoned Lot
Cost: $4,750 
Income: $100

Commercial Block
Cost: $47,500  	
Income: $300

Prime Downtown Lot
Cost: $950,000 	
Income: $2,000

Beachfront Property 
Income: $8,000
Cost: $3,800,000  

Once you buy undeveloped spaces, you can start building properties of them and
earn more money. Just like the spaces, it is a good idea to buy the properties
in quantities of 10 to lock in the lowest prices. The difference is that when
you buy properties in quantities of 10 at the same price, each consecutive
quantity of 10 will cost you more. A list of the properties available is as
follows:

Louie's Deli
Earns: $250

Mafia Mike's
Built on: Abandoned Lot
Earns: $12,000

Rent House
Built on: Abandoned Lot
Earns: $300

Italian Restaurant
Built on: Abandoned Lot
Earns: $700

Apartment Complex
Built on: Commercial Block
Earns: $5000

Valu-Mart
Built on: Commercial Block
Earns: $10,000

Marina Tourist Shops
Built on: Beachfront Property
Earns: $50,000

Office Building
Built on: Prime Downtown Lot
Earns: $150,000

5-Star Hotel
Built on: Beachfront Property
Earns: $200,000

Mega Casino
Built on: Prime Downtown Lot
Earns: $300,000 

Undeveloped spaces and properties can also be sold at substantially lower
prices than the original cost.

In the first 10 or so levels, don't think too big with properties. You should
focus on Mafia Mike's and Rent Houses, neither of which can be robbed, and
Italian Restaurants because the income is too low for robbers to care about
robbing. Mafia Mike's should be your focus in the beginning because they earn
the most at a relatively low price. Note that Mafia Mike's require a certain
number of mafia members to buy more than one. After the first one, each
consecutive one requires two more members. 

Once you get past level 10 and earning a few hundred thousand dollars an hour,
then you can start buying bigger properties, such as the Apartment Complex and
Valu-Mart.

When you start earning close to $1 million an hour, then you can start taking
on the bigger properties, such as the Marina Tourist Shops.

Finally, when you start earning over $1 million an hour, you can start saving
up for the biggest properties, such as the Office Building, 5-Star Hotel, and
Mega Casino.

One piece of advice, if you want to save money buying properties, is that if
you buy them in quantities of 10, each property will be the same price. If you
buy one at a time, the price will increase by 10% each time. Buying properties
in quantities of 10 results in all 10 properties costing the same price --
after you buy the 10, the price will go up for the next 10 and so on. When you
buy lots of land, the price goes up until you build something on them and then
the prices reset, so nothing to worry about with land.

One concern to think about is that your properties will be attacked, so you
will need to buy protection. If it is attacked and the health goes down below
100%, it will start earning less and less money each hour. I try to keep all my
property at full health at all times. Once you see that your property was
attacked, you need to repair all of your properties to bring it up to 100%
health. Then you will be asked to pay for protection. I'm not really sure how
effective this protection is because the health of the property being attacked
seems to go down as soon as someone with the strength to do it robs me. My
suggestion is that, if you have a lot of money, pay for the protection; if you
need your money, skip it.

==========
BUSINESSES
==========

When playing in Cuba, there are no properties. Instead, you need to take over
businesses and then earn profits off of the goods. One thing that makes them
unique from New York properties is that they do not earn money just by waiting
for each hour to go by. In Cuba businesses, every three hours each of the
businesses produces a set number of products that need to be manually sold for
money. The products will remain in stock until you sell them off, so you need
to keep on top of it, especially if you need a lot of Cuban money. When each
business is fully upgraded (5-10 upgrades each), quality will be at different
values C$8-C$80 (after 5 upgrades), capacity will be at 2240 (after 10
upgrades), and output will be at 280 every three hours (after 10 upgrades).
Stocks will be full after 24 hours, so it is a good idea to sell off all of the
stock each day and let it refill. A list of the businesses, what they sell and
the quality price per unit is as follows:

Tobacco Plantation: Perfectos (C$8)
Sugar Plantation: Anejo Rum (C$16)
Factory: Engines (C$32)
Coca Field: 100% Pure Coca (C$80)

Two businesses were just added into the mix, as the Cuba side of the game is
updated. They both are unique compared to the original for businesses. 

The Bodega produces canned goods and a quality price of C$2, capacity of 800
and output of 100 every three hours. So far, this business cannot be updated. 

The Bribery Ring is a work in progress business that does not exactly work like
a business. It does not earn you money but buys you Politico Corrupto, or
corrupt politicians, for use in certain jobs in Cuba. When fully upgraded, the
capacity is 10 and the output is 5. Like the businesses, it produces corrupt
politicians every three hours, making it full every six hours. You really need
to stay on top of things to make the most of this "business" because it can be
filled four times a day, producing up to 40 corrupt politicians each day. I
assumed that this business will play a larger role in the game over time.

=========
INVENTORY
=========

Many of the jobs in Mafia Wars require special items (weapons, armor, vehicles)
or loot in order to do them. The inventory section is where you can either
purchase (or sell) items that you need, keep track of the loot that you
acquire, and gift items to your fellow Mafia members.

Loot items can be acquired during jobs or fights. Each job tier offers the
possibility to acquire different loot; each job that offers the possibility to
acquire loot as a little icon next to it that tells you exactly what you might
pick up by doing the job. You are not guaranteed the item but rather it is a
random thing. A list of the loot that you can acquire is as follows:

STREET THUG (Levels 1-4)
Beat Up Rival Gangster - .22 Pistol 2 ATK 0 DEF
Rob a Pimp - .9mm Semi-Automatic 3 ATK 2 DEF
Diamond Flush Collection can be looted from any job

ASSOCIATE (Levels 5-8)
Collect Protection Money - Butterfly Knife 2 ATK 1 DEF
Rough Up Dealers - Brass Knuckles 2 ATK 2 DEF
Take Out a Rogue Cop - .45 Revolver 3 ATK 2 DEF
Preform a Hit - Tactical Shotgun 3 ATK 2 DEF
Heart Flush Collection can be looted from any job

SOLDIER (Levels 9-12)
Clip the Irish Mob's Local Enforcer - Lucky Shamrock Medallion 1 ATK 7 DEF
Lucky Shamrock Medallion Attack: 1 Defense: 7
Destroy Enemy Mob Hideout - C4 5 ATK 2 DEF
Kill Protected Snitch - Stab-Proof Vest 2 ATK 5 DEF
Bust Made Man Out of Prison - Automatic Rifle 4 ATK 4 DEF
Fight Haitian Gang - Semi-Automatic Shotgun 5 ATK 4 DEF
Steal a Tanker Truck - Firebomb 4 ATK 2 DEF
Sculptures, Poker Chips and Club Flush Collections can be looted from any job

ENFORCER (Levels 13-17)
Smuggle Across the border - Armored Truck 4 ATK 8 DEF
Rob an Electronics Store:
Computer Set-up Attack: 0 Defense: 0
Untraceable Cell Phone Attack: 0 Defense: 0
Concealable Camera Attack: 0 Defense: 0
Cigars and Spade Flush Collections can be looted from any job

HITMAN (Levels 18-24)
Obtain Compromising Photos - Black Mail Photos
Repel the Yakuza - Grenade Launcher 14 ATK 10 DEF
Disrupt rival smuggling ring - .50 Caliber Rifle 16 ATK 11 DEF
Invade Tong Neighborhood - Armored CAR 14 ATK 15 DEF
Sell Guns to the Russian Mob - RPG Launcher 20 ATK 12 DEF
Protect your City From Rival Family - Bodyguards 8 ATK 25 DEF
Assassinate Political Figure - Night Vision Goggles 5 ATK 16 DEF
Exterminate Rival Family - Napalm 25 ATK 9 DEF
Rings and Ties Collections can be looted from any job

CAPO (Levels 25-34)
Steal an Air Freight Delivery - Prop plane 5 ATK 20 DEF
Run a Biker Gang Out of Town - Harley Davidson Motorcycle 18 ATK 6 DEF
Steal Bank Records - Illegal Transaction Records
Paintings and Cufflinks Collections can be looted from any job

CONSIGLIERE (Levels 35-59)
Influence a Harbor Official - Luxury Yacht 10 ATK 20 DEF
Ransom a Businessman's Kids - Porche 911 20 ATK 14 DEF
Fix the Big Game - Bookie's Holdout Pistol 24 ATK 12 DEF
Great Race Horse Collection can be looted from any job
UNDERBOSS 60-99
Break Into the Armory - Humvee 26 ATK 22 DEF
Rip Off the Armenian Mob - AR-15 Assault Rifle 32 ATK 10 DEF
Take Over an Identity Theft Ring - Falsified Documents 2 ATK 30 DEF

BOSS (Levels 100+)
Buy Off a Federal Agent - Federal Agent 15 ATK 25 DEF
Make a Deal with the Mexican Cartel - Private Jet 12 ATK 38 DEF
Blackmail the District Attorney - Police Cruiser 22 ATK 28 DEF
Shake Down a City Council Member - Armored Limosine 16 ATK 36 DEF

Gifting is a good thing because it allows you and your Mafia family to give or
trade items that you each need, to make it easier for each other. Some jobs
require dozens or hundreds of specific items in order to master them, so
anything to help it along is a good thing. Gift often because you never know
when another member of your Mafia might have something that you need in the future.

===========
COLLECTIONS
===========

Collections are a relatively new feature added in early 2009. Basically, you
need to collect specific items within each job tier. They are given randomly
during jobs, so you will never know when you get them before you do the job.
You will need to do repeated jobs in each job tier until you get all of the
collection items for the job tier -- you might have to do them even after you
have mastered the third level of the tier. It is like a random scavenger hunt
that can eat up considerable amounts of energy. You will not see the benefits
of the collection (unless you like scavenger hunts for no purpose) until you
complete the collection by getting all seven items in each collection. Once you
complete the collection, you need to put them into a vault by clicking the
vault button and then you will receive a specific bonus that increases your
profile statistics in different ways. Note that some collections will not show
up on your collection screen until you have acquired one item from that tier. A
list of the collections, job tiers, collection items and the vault bonuses are
listed below:

--------
New York
--------

Diamond Flush Collection (Street Thug Job Tier)
Eight of Diamonds, Nine of Diamonds, Ten of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, Queen
of Diamonds, King of Diamonds, Ace of Diamonds
Vault Bonus: +1 energy

Heart Flush Collection (Associate Job Tier)
Eight of Hearts, Nine of Hearts, Ten of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, Queen of
Hearts, King of Hearts, Ace of Hearts
Vault Bonus: +5 health

Sculptures Collection (Soldier Job Tier)
Rat Sculpture, Sheep Sculpture, Rooster Sculpture, Monkey Sculpture, Tiger
Sculpture, Snake Sculpture, Dragon Sculpture
Vault Bonus: +3 defense

Poker Chips Collection (Soldier Job Tier)
White Poker Chip, Brown Poker Chip, Red Poker Chip, Blue Poker Chip, Green
Poker Chip, Purple Poker Chip, Gold Poker Chip
Vault Bonus: +2 attack

Club Flush Collection (Soldier Job Tier)
Eight of Clubs, Nine of Clubs, Ten of Clubs, Jack of Clubs, Queen of Clubs,
King of Clubs, Ace of Clubs
Vault Bonus: +3 attack

Boxing Collection (Soldier Job Tier)
Hand Tape, Gloves, Headgear, Boxing Trunks, Speed Bag, Heavy Bag, Boxing Ring
Vault Bonus: +3 attack

Cigars Collection (Enforcer Job Tier)
Ebony Cigar, Sky Cigar, Rose Cigar, Ivory Cigar, Turquoise Cigar, Gold Cigar,
Royal Cigar
Vault Bonus: +2 energy

Spade Flush Collection (Enforcer Job Tier)
Eight of Spades, Nine of Spades, Ten of Spades, Jack of Spades, Queen of
Spades, King of Spades, Ace of Spades
Vault Bonus: +2 stamina

Billiard Balls Collection (Enforcer Job Tier)
One Ball, Two Ball, Three Ball, Four Ball, Five Ball, Cue Ball, Eight Ball, 
Vault Bonus: +1 stamina

Rings Collection (Hitman Job Tier)
Topaz Ring, Opal Ring, Amethyst Ring, Emerald Ring, Sapphire Ring, Ruby Ring,
Diamond Ring
Vault Bonus: +5 defense

Ties Collection (Hitman Job Tier)
Solid Tie, Striped Tie, Checked Tie, Geometric Tie, Dot Tie, Paisley Tie,
Knitted Tie
Vault Bonus: +6 defense

Paintings Collection (Capo Job Tier)
Warhol Painting, Cezanne Painting, Matisse Painting, Van Gogh Painting, Dali
Painting, Monet Painting, Rembrandt Painting
Vault Bonus: +6 energy

Cufflinks Collection (Capo Job Tier) Silver Cufflinks
Gold Cufflinks, Amber Cufflinks, Jasper Cufflinks, Agate Cufflinks, Onyx
Cufflinks, Pearl Cufflinks
Vault Bonus: +10 health

Barber Shop Collection (Capo Job Tier)
Barber Pole, Razor, Brush, Seat, Towel, Scissors, Cream
Vault Bonus: +4 energy

Great Race Horses Collection (Consigliere Job Tier) Mill Reef
Sea Bird, Arkle, Golden Miller, St Simon, Ormonde, Eclipse
Vault Bonus: +7 energy

----
Cuba
----

Rum Drinks Collection (El Soldado Job Tier)
Pina Colada, Hurricane, Bahama Mama, Mojito, Rum Runner, Long Island Ice Tea,
Cuba Libre
Vault Bonus: +8 energy

Tropical Fruits Collection (El Capitan Job Tier)
Items: Banana, Lime, Pineapple, Papaya, Coconut, Passion Fruit, Dragon Fruit
Vault Bonus: +3 Stamina 

Entertainers Collection (El Jefe Job Tier)
Items: Magician, Fan Dancer, Comedian, Band Leader, Cabaret Singer, Crooner,
Burlesque Dancer
Vault Bonus: +10 Health

Tropical Fish Collection (El Patron Job Tier)
Items: Pufferfish, Sergeant Major, Yellowtail Snapper, Great Barracuda, Queen
Angelfish, Reef Shark, Blue Martin
Vault Bonus: +5 Attack

Beards Collection (El Padriano Job Tier)
Items: Garibaldi, Hulihee, Vandyke, Mutton Chops, Soul Patch, French Fork, Fidel 
Vault Bonus: +7 Defense (also an achievement)

---------------
Lottery Tickets
---------------

Lotto Collection (Lottery Tickets)
Bingo Card, Deck of Cards, Dice, Roulette Wheel, Slot Machine, Craps Table,
Baccarat Shoe

The Lotto collection is a new collection that you can only earn as prizes
through the Mafia Wars new lottery feature. They are very hard to get, so plan
on trading for a lot of the collection with your Mafia members.

=======================
GODFATHER REWARD POINTS
=======================

Godfather reward points are points that you earn when leveling up and in
special circumstances and can be redeemed for special loot items, various
refills and other benefits. You earn one Godfather point each time you level
up, so be careful with how you spend them. The game also offers programs and
offers off-site that can be filled out for more reward points. It is really
unnecessary and some of the sites are scams, so be careful if you choose to do
any of them. Below is a list of what can be purchased with Godfather points and
how many points are required.

Colosseum crate 20 reward points
60% chance for common
30% chance for uncommon
10% chance for rare

3 Colosseum crates 55 reward points
60% chance for common
30% chance for uncommon
10% chance for rare

$591,991,000 		10 reward points
10 extra family members 20 reward points
full energy refill 	10 reward points
full stamina refill 	10 reward points
full health refill 	2 reward points
new name 		15 reward points
4 skill points 		14 reward points

=====
LOTTO
=====

Lotto is one of the newest additions to the game, one which the creators are
still working on. It can be found under the Godfather menu. The virtual lottery
runs for  approximately 7 days, at which time five numbers are drawn and, if
any of your lottery tickets contain at least one of the numbers drawn, you earn
prizes including Godfather reward points, loot and other rare items. Each day
you play Mafia Wars, you are given one lottery ticket and more tickets may be
purchased with Godfather reward points. Each ticket earned each day needs to be
used within 24 hours or it is lost. For each ticket, you choose five numbers
from 1-70 or have the program automatically choose random numbers for you. I
have chosen the numbers manually and automatically without much of a difference
in what I won. With the low-level items given as prizes and the odds of winning
anything at all being so improbable, it probably is not worth buying extra tickets.

==============
PROFILE POINTS
==============

As soon as you master a job or level up and earn profile points, use them to
increase your strength of attack and defense, which will help you immediately
in fights. The more fights you win, the faster you will earn experience points
and level up. Round and round it goes like a circle. Sometimes I level up so
fast, I feel like I am flying!

The profile stats are as follows:

Attack:  	Increase your attack to do more damage and win more fights.
Defense: 	Increase your defense to repel more attacks.
Health: 	Increase your max health to survive intense fights.
Energy: 	Increase your max energy to do more jobs.
Stamina: 	Increase your stamina to fight more often. Requires 2 skill points to
increase.

When first starting out, it is a good idea to increase your energy stat the
most because they will allow you to do more jobs and level up faster. You will
be attacked a lot but you do not have much to lose at this point and many
players will not rob you because you do not yet have the money to buy better
properties.

Health and stamina should be your next focus. The higher your health, the more
attacks and robberies you can sustain and the more you can attack and rob
others. Stamina is only good for one thing -- to attack and rob others more.
While attacking and robbing others yields relatively few experience points, it
can add up if your stamina is high enough. Often times, you only need a few
points to get to the next level and not enough energy to do jobs, so attacking
others can give you that little extra to level up.

Attack and defense stats should be utilized more once you start getting further
into the game and especially once you start buying the more expensive
properties. These two statistics increase your ability to win fights and defeat
attackers. When finding, the attack and defense stats are added together, so it
will not matter which one you put your points into. Large mafia families and
powerful weapons along will not strengthen you sufficiently. These two
statistics are the most important factors in determining who wins fights. It is
said that a good rule to live by is to keep the combined total of these two
stats to at least double your level in the game.

========
MY MAFIA
========

In the beginning, you can invite your friends to be members in your mafia. A
small handful will join your mafia but that is not enough. You need a large
mafia if you expect to be in any condition to attack larger mafias later on in
the game. So, you need to look elsewhere for members, especially strong members
because they will help you a lot in fights.

You can find members on countless groups, on and off of Facebook, dedicated to
mafia wars. I know what you're thinking, that you do not want strangers to be
on your friends list. This is a legitimate concern but, one trick is that, once
they become your friend and join your mafia, you can delete them from your
friends list. They will remain a member of your mafia, regardless of their
being on your friends list.

There is a specific method for Facebook players. Every new person that wants to
join my Mafia, I put them into a "mw" list. This way they are sorted into a
separate folder. You can then go up into your privacy settings and limit the
access of the members in each list.

When I went to invite a lot of members to my mafia, I posted a comment on the
front page of each group. I asked for people to join my mafia and a lot of them
did. The comments will accumulate fast on each group and your comment will be
quickly pushed to another page, where it will not be seen as much, so you want
to post a comment occasionally for new members to see and join your mafia. Do
not overdo it or you will be labeled a troll or spammer and most likely booted
from the group. You can also add members, who are requesting mafia members, to
your friends list.

Once they are on your friends list or you are on their list, either one of you
can send an invite to the other to join each other's mafia. If either of you
run out of invites for the day, keep them as friends and invite them another day.

After they are on your mafia list, you can delete them as a friend. One
complication with this is keeping track of who is friend and who is just there
for the game. What I did was label purely mafia people as mafia and then, after
adding them to my friends list and mafia, I could open up the friends list to
the label for mafia members and quickly delete them. If you are planning on
adding a lot of real friends to your friends list, it's probably best to hold
off on mass inviting purely mafia members to your friends list for a few days
or everyone will get mixed together quickly and it will take a lot of work to
delete those people that are not your friends.

Mafia Wars also has a feature that allows you to update your status message
with a direct link to your mafia so that other friends may join your mafia easily.

=========
TOP MAFIA
=========

Another new feature for Mafia Wars in 2009 is the top mafia feature. Basically,
the top mafia are the players, who are members of your mafia, that you choose
to be almost like your top officers. Top mafia members are split up into six
different positions, each one requiring specific strengths. They should be the
best players in your mafia with the proper traits coinciding with each position
because the stronger the top mafia member is, the higher the bonus you will
receive while playing the game. Choose your top mafia wisely. A list of each
top mafia position, their traits, and the bonuses that go along with each is
listed below:

Mastermind – Choose a member with many jobs completed to promote to Mastermind
to get more experience points from doing jobs. Your Mastermind gains a small
chance of gaining 50% more experience when performing jobs.

Wheelman – Choose a member with the Fearless character type and a high level to
promote to Wheelman to get a reduced energy cost for jobs. Your Wheelman gains
a small chance to perform jobs for no energy.

Button Man – Choose a member with the Maniac character type and a high level to
promote to Button Man to get an Attack bonus. Your Button Man gains a small
chance to always win fights they initiate.

Bodyguard – Choose a member with many fights won to promote to Bodyguard to get
a Defense bonus. Your Bodyguard gains a small chance to always win fights when
they are attacked.

Safecracker – Choose a member with many successful heists to promote to
Safecracker to get more money from fighting and robbing. Your Safecracker gains
a small chance to gain double the money when fighting or robbing.

Bagman – Choose a member with the Mogul character type and a high level to
promote to Bagman to get more money from jobs. Your Bagman gains a small chance
to gain double the money when performing jobs.

===========
ENERGY PAKS
===========

Energy paks are power boosts that you can receive once a day. They will fill
your energy to full +25% more energy, so they are very important to use wisely.
Only other players can send you energy Paks, making it good to have large families.

When a member of your mafia sends you an energy pak, do not immediately use it.
Look at your current energy level to see where it is at the moment. If it is
low, like around 10 or less, you should use the energy pak right away before
your energy refills again. If your energy level is high, like above 10, 20 or
higher, do a few jobs to use up your energy until it is below 10 or less,
before using the energy pak. Why do this? Simple. As soon as you use an energy
pak, your energy will be boosted to its maximum +25%, no matter the energy
level before using it. By using up your current energy and then using your
energy pak, you will get twice as many jobs done. If your current energy level
is, say 50, and you use an energy pak, that is 50 points wasted.

Be courteous with your energy paks. When a member sends you an energy pak, you
should use it and then send everyone an energy pak. Even if no one sent you an
energy pak, you should send them to your members and some of them may send you
an energy pak back in return. If you have a very large Mafia, do not need to
worry about energy Paks because someone is always sending them out and they
last 24 hours.

===========
LEVELING UP
===========

Leveling up is always fun because it brings you full health, energy, stamina
and profile points but, you should use careful planning before leveling up.
Always keep note of how close you are to leveling up. Once you get within, like
50 experience points away from leveling up, you should use strategy to reap the
most benefits of the next level. As soon as you level up, all of your attribute
levels will be replenished, so it is a good idea to get your attribute levels,
especially the energy, as low as possible before leveling up because, by using
them up first, you are, in essence, getting twice as much done due to the fact
that the levels will be replenished as soon as you level up. 

If you have a lot of energy left before leveling up, take a few big jobs with a
lot of experience points because they will use your energy quickly while
bringing you a lot of experience points. Watch how close you are to leveling
up, so that you don't use a small amount of energy to bring you a little amount
of experience points but enough to level up. You do not want to level up with a
job that only earns you enough experience points to level up, while leaving you
with a lot of energy that is wasted because your energy will only be refilled
enough to fill it to the maximum.

If you have a little amount of energy left and are very close to leveling up,
you can always attack other members to nudge you to the next level to replenish
everything.

Before leveling up, I try to get as many jobs and fights done as possible. This
way, I use up all of the health, energy and stamina that I have and then level
up to do it all over again. It is like getting twice as much done. 

============
ACHIEVEMENTS
============

Achievements are another new feature added to the game in 2009. You can access
the Achievements page through your Mafia Wars Profile page. At this time, there
are 39 possible achievements that you could earn. Each achievement requires you
to fulfill the specific requirements of each the reward is one profile point
and bragging rights. The achievements really are not that important to do aside
from the low profile points gained but they can be fun to try to complete
before your friends do. The list of the achievements and their requirements is
listed below:

One Down: Earned by mastering at least one stage in New York
What else you got?: Earned by mastering all New York job tiers
Napoleon Complex: Earned by defeating someone with a bigger 
Unstoppable: Earned by winning 15 fights in a row
Armed & Dangerous: Earned by owning 10 Tommy guns
Personal Fleet: Earned by owning 500 town cars
The First is the Hardest: Earned by depositing $1,000,000 at once (after bank fee)
Personal Bailout: Earned by depositing $1,000,000,000 at once (after bank fee)
That's with a "T": Earned by depositing $1,000,000,000,000 at once (after fees)
Nest Egg: Earned by depositing $10,000,000,000,000 at o
nce (after fees)
Collector: Earned by vaulting any collection set
Curator: Earned by vaulting at least nine New York collection sets
Wing Man: Earned by helping out 10 friends who call for backup
Mercenary: Earned by helping out 200 friends who call for backup
Giver: Earned by sending ten gifts to your mafia
Spreading it Around: Earned by sending 501 gifts to your mafia
Island Bound: Earned by travelling to Cuba
Banana Republic: Earned by owning all four businesses in Cuba
Havana Hat Trick: Earned by mastering at least one job tier in Cuba
No Razors Needed: Earned by vaulting the entire beard collection
Like a Hurricane: Earned by winning 1000 fights in Cuba
My Little Friend: Earned by gifting an M16A1 to a friend
International: Earned by collecting over 1,000,000 Cuban Pesos
Big Business: Earned by fully upgrading a single Cuban business
Tycoon: Earned by fully upgrading all Cuban businesses
Working Man: Earned by doing 20 jobs in one day
Dependable: Earned by doing a job every day for seven days
Big Spender: Earned by purchasing an item or service with Reward Points
Treasure Hunter: Earned by finding a Rare Item in a Mystery Crate
Slum Lord: Earned by owning 30 Apartment Complexes
Cashing Out: Earned by selling 50 Mega Casinos
Getting the Crew Together: Earned by promoting friends to each Top Mafia position
Crime C.E.O.: Earned by assembling a Top Mafia with all players above level 100
Knife Thrower: Earned by looting 10 Butterfly Knives
Uncle Sam: Earned by owning 50 Federal Agents
What's after Trillion?: Earned by depositing 999 Trillion Dollars
Bulletproof: Earned by surviving for over 60 minutes on the Hit List
That's Amore: Earned by giving a Diamond Ring to any player below level 8
The Best Offense...: Earned by defeating 6 attackers in a row