Nick’s Pick’s: Mafia Wars

Image Provided by Zynga Inc.

Mafia Wars started as an application on MySpace and Facebook to play while your doing your social networking. The poing of the game is to get all your friends on MySpace or Facebook to join your Mafia and help you carry out jobs. the more people you have in your Mafia the stronger it is, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Zynga reports that more than four million people play a day, its well on its way to becoming a cult classic. I am just going to go over the basics of the game, and hopefully after reading this you will want to check it out. There are several different ways to accumulate money in this game, we are going to start with the first one, Jobs.

Crime Jobs

     Crime jobs are a really good way to earn cash, there are six stages of jobs, the more experience you build the more jobs will open for you to carry out. Certain jobs require tools to preform, you have to buy them or earn them doing other jobs. Doing basic jobs get you the start up money you need to get the tools to carry out other ones.

Fights

    Fights are a great way to earn quick cash, its your Mafia verses their Mafia. its good to build up your offence and defense and have good weapons in your inventory to rake in cash fighting others. The bigger the Mafia the harder it will be to win a fight against that mobster. I all ways try to pick on the lower level mobs, ha, ha, they did it to me so its ok. So go ahead and hit the streets and get into some fights.

Properties

    So what do you do with all that saved up cash? I’ll tell you what to do, buy some properties, its the best way to build cash. There are just a couple things you need to know. First you have to build a lot, second you have to pay to build your business, third you have to repair and defend it. But it is a sure way to generate cash to buy tool to carry out job or put it in the bank for your next business venture.

Inventory

    This is where you buy tools to carry out your jobs, There’s weapons, armor, and Vehicles. remember there is a up keep charge for your properties and inventory, so make sure you are pulling in some cash to cover it. Inventory is also where you view your loot, collections, and gifting. Having a strong inventory weapons will also help you in fights.

Hit List

    If some one is getting on your nerves or becoming too powerful you can place a bounty on there head if you have the cash to cover it. you can put a hit on someone or on the other hand you can be the bounty hunter. but keep in mind, if there is a hit on someone, they must be pretty powerful. So make sure you have the  skills to carry out the hit, or you will lose health and money.

Skill Points

    You earn skill points every time you level up, it is very important to balance your points out to be a well rounded player. There are five different places you can put your points, you can put them in attack, defense, health, energy and stamina.

Attack

    Attack is really important if you plan to win a lot of fights, the more points you put in attack, the it will increase you percentage of wins in a row. But as they always say, don’t put all your egg’s in one basket. which bring’s me to another good point, you win some and you lose some, that’s just how it goes.

Defense

    Defense is just as important as your offense, The best offense is a good defense. This skill will come in handy when you get attacked by another player, if you have a good defense you will gain money when they lose the fight. the best thing i can tell you is to keep your attack and defense about the same.

Health

    Health is going to help you in boss fights and fights with other Mafia’s, but it is something you have to keep an eye on. When your health gets under 20, you have to visit the hospital and it will cost you a pretty penny to refill it. So if you go to fight a Mafia and there are no low level mobs, just hold off because you will probably lose. Don’t worry low level mobs show up in your fight screen all the time.

Energy

    Energy is going to help you do more jobs, it will help you when you get up into the higher tier’s of jobs that require massive amounts of energy, which equals a bigger Pay out and random loot drop or reward. If pulling jobs is you MO then i would put some points in energy.

Stamina

    Stamina is important for a fighting Mafia, the more stamina you have the more often you will be able to fight . But i will tell you to get a skill point in stamina it will take two skill points from you. The more stamina you have the more fights you will be in, Meaning you will have to fill up your health more often.

   You have to get a feel for what kind of player you are before you put your points into different skills. Don’t worry you points will stack up, so they are not going to go anywhere. So find out what you like to do and put your points in the skills that are going to help you reach your goal.

The Bank

    The bank is going to be your best friend, for a small laundering fee of 10% you can safe guard you money and no one can touch. So you have to make sure you buy what you need and refill your health before you bank your money or you will lose money. and make sure you don’t take out more than you need, because you will have to put it back in and they will hit you with a 10% fee, Can you dig it?

The Hospital

    The Hospital, it’s a catch 22, it keeps you fighting, but you have to pay a hefty fee for the doctors to patch you up. Come on its not that bad, you pay a small fee to get out and make more money fighting, so its not such a bad deal.

Your Mafia

    Your Mafia is a big deal, the more members you have the better you will be, so try to convince your friends to join. they might have there doubts but when they start playing it they will have a blast. And let’s all help this become a cult classic, and hopefully they wont start charging use to play this, Ha Ha.

The Godfather

    The godfather will help you rise to the top by offering you special weapons and loot, but it will cost you, and what it will cost you reward points. you get a set limit of points when you start the game, so spend them wisely. You also get reward points by leveling up and completing tasks, or by donating money to keep this game. Also sighing up for offers from company’s who sponsor this game will give you reward points. So if you are a rich guy who sits around your big house playing this game all day, then you will have it made. But if i had that much money i would be siting in a hot tube with playboy models, but everyone has different things they want in life.

Tips and tricks (more like advice)

1.  Make sure you bank all your money when your done playing, you don’t want people who attack you to have easy access to it. If it’s in the bank you don’t have anything to worry about.
2. Look at what the job net’s you, you don’t want to go buy alot of weapons that have alot of upkeep, when you’re not going to make that much to cover it all doing the job.
3.  I covered it a ways back but lets go over it again, buy all you need before you put it into the bank. you don’t want to put your money in the bank and pay 10% and then realize ah, i forgot to refill my health or buy a tool i need to complete a job.
4.  If you don’t get much access to you PC because of i don’t know, work and life, then invest some money in propriety. Doing so will build you a little nest egg of cash to collect when you sign in. you just have to make sure you repair and protect you investments when they need it. Take care of what takes care of you, its that simple.
5. If you go into your fight screen and all the player’s come from from large mobs then just wait it out. because you will end up losing your health and money if you fight them, but you might get lucky and win on a whim. also a good way to determine if you will win a fight is to click on that players profile and look at their inventory. If they have better stuff than you they will beat you, if they have a good win/loss record then they will probably beat you. Trust me you will find a system.
6.  Make sure to give extra items to other players in your guild, it will make you stronger when they help you out in a fight. The stronger your mob is the better off you will be. And when it ask you if you want to send a gift to your Mafia members, do it, and if you can, ask them what they want. something might help them out with what they are trying to do.
7.  Try your hand at the lotto it gives you free tickets every day and i have won some good stuff playing it. You also have a chance at winning some reward points. It’s fun too, it’s like playing power ball.
8. When it give’s you the option to send your Mafia energy packs, do it, its going to help them complete jobs when they don’t have any energy.

 That’s about all i have now, if you have any questions or want to join my mob then let me know and i will get back with you. you can go www.Zynga.com, but i would just find your friend’s who play it on MySpace or Facebook to invite you.