When to increase mafia size

[upsman_17]

Right now my stats are:

Level: 87
Mafia: 182
Fights Won: 3312
Fights Lost: 240
Robberies Won: 5704
Robberies Lost: 190
Mafia Attack: 8520
Mafia Defense: 10824
Income/Hr: 24,735


I have not been in a hurry to increase mafia size so far since I am winning 95% of my fight/robberies and am still farming the M4's. But lately I am getting very bored with the buildings that are available to rob and find myself biding my time by getting into petty revenge wars and the such. Like some others on the forums have mentioned in posts - people just aren't building many higher end buildings at this level (with my mafia size range anyway). If I were to increase my mafia size to say 300+, will that put me in another category where I will see different rivals that may have better hoods/economies? I have 2 lofts (1 level 2), 2 level 4 movie theatres, 2 level 4 internet companies, 2 level 3 Dominicans, 2 level 5 history museums, 2 level 2 beachside inns, 2 level 1 Brownstones, and 2 level 8 houses and then some of the better paying leftover shanty shacks. At my level I may see 5% of hoods with at least what I have and I know 23K/Hr isn't any great shakes - I have been slowly growing the economy since I got a late start and it was only about 2700/Hr around level 50. Heh, I just want some better stuff to rob too. And on a different note...a question for some of the HL players, just wondering how my stats will fare once I get level 100+. I seem to be strong now but obviously things will change when I am thrown into the deep end, but if I continue to farm the M4's and eventually DD's I should be able to hold my own, right? Thanks all.

[Swifty]

Depends on what you mean by "hold your own." At level 121, I cannot compete with gold buyers and higher level players.

By attacking players that are richer and weaker, I am still able to steal more from others than is stolen from me.

[upsman_17]

@ Swifty - That's pretty much what I mean. Do you find that you are attacked alot by the HL players or do they still go for the weaker hoods such as the ones that you would attack? I just dont see how some of these players are going to have any kind of joy in this game when they are sporting 3500 Attack / 4500 Defence stats.

[Swifty]

I am not high enough at 121 to get attacked by the highest level players, but I get attacked by players 10-12 levels above me.

The key to not getting robbed is to collect buildings on time, which I do poorly. If you do not collect on time, you are going to get robbed, unless your defense is very high for your level, and maybe even then.

[upsman_17]

Collections usually arent an issue, I am only building 12/24/48 hour bldgs and I have them synced except for when I upgrade something then everything gets all f'd up. At your level (121) do the weaker players at least have good, upgraded buildings to rob? Also, what is your mafia size? I know when you get into the higher levels you get lumped in with higherups level-wise, but does mafia size have anything to do with the rivals you see or that can see you?

BTW, I like your tag at bottom of your posts. People dont want to hear about (or dont believe in) small sample sizes. I was 1 for 25 yesterday and then hit on 3 of my first 4 today. Go Figure.

[Swifty]

At level 121, I have 421 mafia (rebuilding after being reset to zero because of the "ghost mafia" bug). I am unclear on the effects of mafia size on rivals list. On one recent list, there were several rivals with less than 100 mafia. Other pages of rivals are all 500.

There are more targets on my rivals list than I have stamina (92) for robbing them. It is shocking how many have good economies with poor defenses. But, of course, if they collect on time, there is not much you can do. Except attack the guys carrying around large sums of unbanked cash.

[Tramp Stamp]

You're gonna be disappointed. I found players with lower mob sizes were more likely to build high-end buildings. It makes sense if you think about it since larger mob == more money spent on equipment. The exceptions are the mega-campers who accept everyone, but you won't be able to beat them anyway if you find them.

[upsman_17]

[QUOTE=Tramp Stamp;125127]It makes sense if you think about it since larger mob == more money spent on equipment. [QUOTE]


You mean there are still players that buy their weapons? :p

[Swifty]

I would like to think that most players only buy equipment to unlock the requirements for jobs.

But maybe I am wrong about that.

[Nicholost]

It makes sense if you think about it since larger mob == more money spent on equipment.
You mean there are still players that buy their weapons? :p

I plan to when my economy can accommodate it. There are some good buys out there... and a lot of bad ones.

[upsman_17]

Yeah, I'm still a little bit away economy-wise to afford anything worthwhile. Someday maybe....someday. Getting ready to upgrade my 2nd loft to level 2, that takes enough of a chunk out of my bank account.

[Dorian Gray]

I've always had full mafia for my level so buying mace and other cash weapons really helped out along the way.

[Santa]

I plan to when my economy can accommodate it. There are some good buys out there... and a lot of bad ones.

Could someone specify the good cash equipment and the bad cash equipment? I don't wanna waste my money on obsolete equipment...

[Nicholost]

Could someone specify the good cash equipment and the bad cash equipment? I don't wanna waste my money on obsolete equipment...
There's a tab on the Money Building Payout Spreadsheet (Clicky (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgEHrvnoijXudHFVU2RxYUQzYXYtOURRd0d3M1hVR 2c&hl=en_US&pli=1#gid=0)) that has purchasable equipment. Download the spreadsheet to Excel, filter by non-blank cost, and then pick and choose what you need to purchase to fill the gaps in your missing inventory. You can make a new column that displays attack/$, defense/$, or points/$ to help come with a "best value" figure. The low cost items are going to have a skewed best value figure, so it's up to you to identify what your inventory needs. Make purchases based on that analysis.

[Santa]

Could you drop me the link for that spreadsheet?

[Tramp Stamp]

You mean there are still players that buy their weapons? :p

Cash equipment allowed me to skip the first two tiers of respect gear.


I would like to think that most players only buy equipment to unlock the requirements for jobs.

Nearly everything I bought can be used to unlock jobs.

[Chironex]

It makes sense if you think about it since larger mob == more money spent on equipment.


You mean there are still players that buy their weapons? :p


Could someone specify the good cash equipment and the bad cash equipment? I don't wanna waste my money on obsolete equipment...

This is if you MUST buy any cash equipment.

I would recommend putting onto a spreadsheet exactly what item requirements each job has starting at the last map. You will list them in order of equipment category gun, melee, armor, vehicle.

1 List item
2 List how many is required
3 List how many you have

Work backwards from the last 4 available maps to you. Buy the combination of items that will best add to your attack/defense stats. Dont be silly and go buy 2 town cars when the same dollar value could get you twice the stat-gain by buying other items. Don't go too crazy buying cash items. Make sure you always have enough $ for your next building upgrade and lvl 1 purchase.

IMHO steel garrotes are a F***ing waste and is one of the only pieces of advice on the forums which i have regretted reading. The $3M or so I have spent on it could have been better spent on items that would unlock future jobs. It will very soon be obsolete given my high chain whip count. Thank goodness I had a **** economy and could not have afforded to buy more. At least job requirements will still make use of 10 Tasers as far as I can see.

This is just my advice however, so please take the time to think about it given your current strategy.

[Nicholost]

Could you drop me the link for that spreadsheet?
It was in my previous post as "Clicky," but I'll put it below as well.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgEHrvnoijXudHFVU2RxYUQzYXYtOURRd0d3M1hVR 2c&hl=en_US&pli=1#gid=0