Gangster Nerd

Mafia Wars is one of my favorite online gangster games. Before you get started, I have to tell ya it is damn addictive.

Here are some tips and cheats to get you on your way. You want to start off right so that you become one of most skilled players around. People will give your gang respect!

Mafia Wars may look simple at first, click here click there, but it actually involves strategy - doing different jobs, adding members, equipping, leveling up, etc.

The first choice is easy, pick a “Maniac” class. While earning more cash or health might seem appealing, energy is what allows you to do quests and it is significantly better to earn both cash and experience instead of just one.

DO NOT add to your mafia right away.

You want to have a large mafia to call the shots but having too many crew members at the start is going to hurt you. Essentially, you want to have a “Mafia Mikes” and a “Bloody Chainsaw” (a special item bought from the home page).

Special items in Mafia Wars tend to have similar stats and appear based on number of members, ie. interchangable for every two members. For example, if you bought a chainsaw with a mafia of 12, but then added 8 people, you’ll now need 22 members to buy another one, thus losing out the extra chainsaws you could have bought at 16, 18, and 20 members.

Assuming that you are now equipping properly, it is time to do some jobs and boost your experience points.

Mafia Jobs

At the start, you may want to focus all of your points on energy so you can level faster. Since quests are going to be your primary source of experience and cash (that is why why you used maniac), your limiting factor is how fast your energy recharges.

Furthermore, energy resets every level, so having a high energy and a fast regeneration can get you to higher levels faster. Of course, you will want other stats eventually but this will give you a strong head start.

Equipping

Now you’re leveling at a nice pace and getting those Mafia Mikes and Bloody Chainsaws, you should equip your gang members next. This can be done either via looting or buying.

In general, it is better to loot in higher missions, but if you want to be safer, just buy, and if you’ve been doing what’s been said so far, money shouldn’t be a serious issue. The recommended equipment is as follows (once you can buy them of course):

* Weapons: Bloody Chainsaws should be available to half your mafia and the other half should utilize the Chain Guns (.50 Caliber Rifle is better once you start looting).
* Armor: Body Armor all around. Yes, you can buy other stuff too, but this is a definite purchase.
* Cars: Secondary to armor and weapons, but if you must have one, the Towncar comes recommended.

This tutorial should be more than enough to make Godfather proud of your gang in Mafia Wars. By the way, take note of these pointers to be a smarter gangster.

* Avoid the Hitlist. While it might be fun at higher levels, drawing attention to yourself at lower levels is just going to get you killed over and over again by high level players. Stay under the radar as long as you can.
* If you ever attack someone and get the maximum amount of cash ($70,000), bookmark them and attack them as often as possible.
* When you do start using other stats besides energy, it is best to keep attack and defense equal.
* More Energy – Send an energy pack to a friend and they will send one to you too. Spread the goodwill around.
* Best Early Cash & Experience Jobs:
o Level 1 – 4: Auto Theft
o Level 5 – 8: Bank Heist
o Level 9 – 12: Museum Break In
o Level 13 – 17: Wiretap the Cops

Ok, it is time to put these tips and cheats into practice in Mafia Wars. Good luck!