Mafia Wars is a simple-to-play game that requires no more than a few clicks of the mouse. However, the strategy behind the game is complex and involves making careful decisions.
When first starting the game, it can be unclear what direction to take your mafia. Some players enjoy leveling up as fast as possible, while other players enjoy taking the game slow and acquiring wealth, items, and collections. Some players might try to build up the biggest mafia to fight other players, while others might focus on completing every job in each tier. Either way you play, there are a few basic strategies you must be aware of in order to maximize your Mafia Wars experience.
Completing Jobs
Jobs are a fundamental aspect of Mafia Wars. They assist in gaining levels, earning money, finding special loot, and collecting the 7 special items necessary to complete a collection.
When you first begin playing Mafia Wars, there will only be a couple of jobs that you will be able to complete. These initial jobs are a great way to earn some cash and get started building your mafia empire. As you progress through the levels you will be able to unlock new, more challenging jobs that may require special items, a certain mafia size, or a certain level to complete.
To complete jobs, click on the “Jobs” tab in the main menu of Mafia Wars. From there you will be able to see your available jobs, energy required, items required, and a button to perform the job.
Mastering Jobs
As you complete jobs, you will notice a ‘Job Mastery’ area that shows what percent you are to mastering a certain job. After you get every job in a job tier to 100%, you will reach level two job mastery for that tier. When you complete every job to 100% for a second time, you will reach level three job mastery. The rewards for each mastery level are below:
Mastery 1: Tier Title
Mastery 2: “Skilled” Tier Title; +5% to loot drops in that tier
Mastery 3: “Master” Tier Title; +10% to loot drops in that tier; bonus item
Mastering job tiers takes time and lots of energy, but in the end you will be paid off with beneficial bonus items that will offer permanent boosts to your mafia. The current bonus items for each tier are listed below (New York only).
| Level | Bonus Item |
|---|---|
| Street Thug (lvls 1 – 4) | Pistol Bayonet: +4% damage dealt in fights |
| Associate (lvls 5 – 8) | Bugatti: -7% damage received in fights |
| Soldier (lvls 9 – 12) | Golden Skull: 30 second reduction on your health regeneration |
| Enforcer (lvls 13 – 17) | Money Plate: 5% discount on property purchases |
| Hitman (lvls 18 – 24) | Chainsaw: 30 second reduction on your stamina regeneration |
| Capo (lvls 25 – 34) | State Senator: 5% discount on property repairs |
| Consigliere (lvls 35 – 59) | Helicopter: 30 second reduction on your energy regeneration |
| Underboss (lvls 60 – 99) | Private Island: 5% bonus on job experience |
| Boss (lvls 100+) | Golden Throne: 2x energy regeneration |
Recruiting Mafia Members
A larger mafia size is essential to advancing in Mafia Wars. More members allows you to complete more jobs, defend yourself from attacks, attack other mafias, buy special properties, and hire Top Mafia members which give you additional bonuses for jobs and fights.
To add more members to your mafia, click on the “My Mafia (X)” button in the main menu. The ‘X’ in parentheses dictates the current size of your mafia.
From the next page that appears you will be able to invite your friends to join your mafia. Note that 501 is the maximum size of any mafia (500 friends and yourself) so choose wisely!
Upgrading Your Character
As you level up your character by completing jobs or fighting other mafias, you will gain skill points. 5 skill points are awarded for leveling up and one skill point is awarded for mastering a job and mastering a job tier.
To use your skill points, click on the ‘Profile’ tab in the main menu. This will take you to a screen where you are able to upgrade your mafia’s attack, defense, stamina, energy, or health. Choose your point allocations wisely as you will not be able to undo them!
