Rethink strategy suggested to lower levels?

[Rarelibra]

So something I noticed is that there is always a lot of strategy talk on the forums. Of course.

Lower levels want to know "how it's done" so they can avoid certain items and beef up along the way.

However, I am noticing that in the last few maps (including Army Base, North Side, Lookout Hill, etc) the game forces you to buy the items that we suggest not buying (like 150 machine pistols, 50 SMGs, 120 shotguns, etc). Same with melee, armor, and vehicles (I am having to buy junkers to do missions in Army Base and North Side?).

So a different strategy for starting players would be to stock up on these items - 100 each - to help their strength as they go and get stronger. Because in the end, you will have to spend a lot of $$$ on these anyway. Filling out the requirements for the maps from Empire Airport up to Municipal District will drain at least $25 to $30 million out of your pocket.

One example are steel toed boots. Some players say it is a waste of time to get these, however when you get to the Municipal District, one of the jobs requires you to have 130 of them. So stock up early and get the low-level benefit.

You farm items as we've mentioned, but levels 30 and below should stock up on low level items.

[Duke.0]

Thats one way of looking at it.
It seems it would apply if your planning on taking more of a "goals" oriented play style as your main way of playing. Getting a lot of the required items to complete goals and putting many of your skill points into energy.

I have really not been concerned with completing goals right now( Level 90) and more concerned about getting my mafia strong so by the time i'm thrown in with the level 130+ players i can compete.

Looking at the new map North Side here is some of the items required to complete the goals:

130 steel toe boots
12 town cars
75 pickup trucks
150 machine pistols
85 Hatchbacks
120 revolvers
18 machine guns
3 armored SUV
82 fire axes
82 meat cleavers
25 stilletos
6 machettes
100+ junkers (i can't see the number it says its "100/....." aka i already own 100 and it wants more)
145 crowbars

There is more too but this is just an example.

I never really gave it much thought as to the items i "should" have for goals, i just have been not really paying attention to it. There is no wrong way to play the game. If you want to try this, go for it :)

[downrange]

I guess I should update my "Equipment Caps" file: (but it's still a decent baseline)

http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?15336-Your-Mafia-is-weak!&p=79499#post79499

Yes, this has been suggested for low-levels and I would say for mid-levels as well. I think it's a solid strategy, especially for folks who decide to opt for 'max mafia'. In those low/mid levels there are massive hoards of players who max their number of mafia but don't give them each items. Having an item of each type per mafia is one fight factor, and at the lower levels I recall multiple nearly-inexplicable early losses where the only reasonable explanation was that my low item count vs my rival had to have influenced the outcome (yes, i considered skill points and random chance). Once I raised my item count, primarily with cheap items that added no appreciable atk/def points, those annoying losses to high-item-count rivals stopped.

I consider economy of critical importance, but even for folks who do not pump all available money into their money buildings, there is incredible value in buying the least expensive items on the list I linked to. Most folks might be surprised just how far into the lvl 40s 50s and 60s and even beyond (just checking my own stats right now) those first two or three items on the list might be in use.

I just played with my mafia count and found that incremental mafia members are adding 6 atk and 7 def. This is at levels 78 and 70 (two accounts), neither of them at max mafia, though one is close. However, my newsfeed is almost entirely green, and each acct has many thousand RP banked (indicating I could add 500-800 atk/def in an instant - i like to save that to surprise anyone who somehow manages to get a successful robbery). So I am definitely still using the weakest items in several categories, as I'm starting to consider my final preparations toward the red zone. If I had decided to buy even mid-range items at any point so far, my economy couldn't be where it is now. Holding off on mass numbers of mid-range purchased-items has been easy since gun farming began at level 30, and I'm confident I'll be able to buy Steel Garotte by the handful soon, probably just as I start to need 'em.

Reality for me has been that I needed item count more than atk/def points, and anyone in those low/mid range areas today who follows the guides that Syn compiled will be in the same shape. Do PVP and farm you-know-what once it unlocks. Focus your economy on Type-A buildings and reinvest basically everything, buying cheap items for value (as this thread suggests). There will be one rough spot starting somewhere around level 20 (guessing, I can't recall it was so long ago now) and ending about five levels past level 30, once you've got enough of those guns to pull away from the pack. My PVP has slanted heavily toward robbing - primarily LM respect farming - but you do have to fight enough to pad your stats with PVP loot. Item buying sections and recommendations from the guides written months ago are now dated, in my opinion. Buy the cheap stuff and between PVP and farming@30 you're not just fine, but extremely dominant. (with the slight caveat that maybe my success is partially based on so much robbing - over 10,000 robs on each acct).

[Tramp Stamp]

I specifically suggested the "incremental value" strategy downrange brings up in my economy guide. I also recommend buying SMG over AK-47 as the latter goes obsolete rather quickly because it is not used for questing.

I do not recommend purchasing specific numbers. Instead I recommend establishing a spreadsheet that shows the player where the best value is. For example, while Junkers seem ludicrously expensive early on, eventually +1/+1 for $2000 becomes quite economical. A lot of people try doing this intuitively, but the best value at the moment is not always obvious.