Espada

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A guide to level fast

Now, by this point in the game, you should be ~level 150 by the time you finish up Consigliere. If you've been putting all your point in energy (as you should), you'll find that supplementing with the "Bank Heist" job is quite tedious (which it is). However, at level 100, you'll unlock the "Settle a Beef... Permanently" job in the boss tier. While not quite as efficient as the Bank Heist job, it comes quite close and is much more convenient. So, from this point on, feel free to settle beefs in order to get your "filler" experience while working on mastering the underboss and boss tiers.

Now for underboss, you may find yourself lacking illegal transaction records, which is quite possibly the case. Simply spend a few levels between the settle a beef job and the steal bank records job. You'll gain quite a few levels this way pretty handily, and you'll be able to save your energy packs for robbing the electronics store. However, if you've been taking your time leveling up and have plenty of concealable cameras (you'll need a LOT for the Boss jobs), feel free to use an energy pack to collect documents.

Try not to level recklessly, stretch out your energy and master as many jobs as possible with each energy bar. I've said it before but it is worth repeating - each time you level, you'll need more exp to level again, but with less energy sitting around to do so. You should be able to finish off the Underboss by level 210 at the most. If you've been efficient, or have taken your time, you can easily be under level 200. It is important to get the Private Island (+5% exp) by around level 210, without it, any level past then becomes pretty tight!

Boss

You should shoot to finish off the "Underboss" tier by level 210 or 220. At this point, it is time to level off the boss Tier. If you have a private island, many of the jobs will be masterable quite easily and self-sufficient. The hardest (and longest) part about the Boss tier is collecting several hundred Blackmail Photos. However, if you've been using your energy packs to rob the electronics store, you should have plenty of cameras stocked and ready to go. Working this last tier will take a little bit longer. Even if you are using filler jobs to allow you to collect blackmail photos, this process may still take a day or two. If you diligently count energy and put all of your stat points into energy, you can probably master boss without waiting for any energy packs. I chose to wait since doing that is a bit tedious though; the point of playing a game is for entertainment, right?

New Bonus Items

Street Thug (lvls 1 - 4)

You have mastered all of the level 3 "Street Thug" jobs earning the title of "Master Street Thug".
A Pistol Bayonet has been added to your inventory, giving you +4% damage dealt in fights.

Associate (lvls 5 - 8)

You have mastered all of the level 3 "Associate" jobs earning the title of "Master Associate".
A Bugatti has been added to your inventory, giving you -7% damage received in fights.

Soldier (lvls 9 - 12)

You have mastered all of the level 3 "Soldier" jobs earning the title of "Master Soldier".
A Golden Skull has been added to your inventory, giving you a 30 second reduction on your health regen timer.

Enforcer (lvls 13 - 17)

You have mastered all of the level 3 "Enforcer" jobs earning the title of "Master Enforcer".
A Money Plate has been added to your inventory, giving you a 5% discount on property purchases.

Hitman (lvls 18 - 24)

You have mastered all of the level 3 "Hitman" jobs earning the title of "Master Hitman".
A Chainsaw Bayonet has been added to your inventory, giving you a 30 second reduction on your stanima regen timer.

Capo (lvls 25 - 34)

You have mastered all of the level 3 "Capo" jobs earning the title of "Master Capo".
A State Senator has been added to your inventory, giving you a 5% discount on property repairs.

Consigliere (lvls 35 - 59)

You have mastered all of the level 3 "Consigliere" jobs earning the title of "Master Consigliere".
A Helicopter has been added to your inventory, giving you a 30 second reduction on your energy regen timer.

Underboss (lvls 60 - 99)

You have mastered all of the level 3 "Underboss" jobs earning the title of "Master Underboss".
A Private Island has been added to your inventory, giving you a 5% bonus on job experience.

Boss (lvls 100+)

You have mastered all of the level 3 "Boss" jobs earning the title of "Master Boss".
A Golden Throne has been added to your inventory, giving you 2x the energy regenerated per regen period.

New Limited Items

Colt Pistol +1 - 3 ATK 3 DEF ($2000)

Gold Desert Eagle - 25 ATK 15 DEF ($10,000)

Chrome Skyline - 12 ATK 18 DEF ($10,000, Silver Nissan)

A Pint o' Green Beer - 15 ATK 29 DEF ($10,000)

Half Dollar Body Armor - 13 ATK 30 DEF ($10,000)

Midas' Butterfly Knife - 26 ATK 20 DEF
($10,000)

AA-12 Auto Shotgun - 27 ATK 15 DEF
($10,000)

Easter Egg Bomb - 28 ATK 13 DEF ($10,000)

Bushmaster ACR - 27 ATK 16 DEF ($10,000)

'35 Cabriolet - 10 ATK 20 DEF ($10,000)

New Rare Crate Items

Gold Crowbar - 26 ATK 23 DEF (25 reward points)

Silver Knuckles - 25 ATK 24 DEF (25 reward points)

St. Patty's Shillelagh - 25 ATK 25 DEF (25 reward points)

M32 Grenade Launcher - 28 ATK 12 DEF (25 reward points)

Red Hammer Crates

.45 ACP Pistol - 18 ATK 12 DEF
Grach - 20 ATK 10 DEF
PPSH 41 Submachinegun - 22 ATK 9 DEF
Ushanka - 10 ATK 20 DEF - Armor
IZH-35m - 25 ATK 18 DEF
VSK-94 Sniper Rifle - 28 ATK 12 DEF
Dragunov - 36 ATK 14 DEF
Impression - 15 ATK 35 DEF - Vehicle

Yazuka Crates

Samurai Sword - 35 ATK 15 DEF
Nunchucks - 22 ATK 18 DEF
Kunai - 18 ATK 12 DEF
Kamas - 13 ATK 17 DEF
Type 100 SMG - 30 ATK 10 DEF
Nambu Type 14 Pistol - 22 ATK 8 DEF
Samurai Helmet - 12 ATK 28 DEF - Armor
Ninjacycle - 36 ATK 14 DEF - Vehicle

Random Godfather Gifts

There are now free items randomly given to you as you play.

Mafia Wars: A Newcomers Guide

A brief introduction

Welcome to the gang ridden Facebook world of Mafia Wars. If you are already playing the game and just looking for specific tips search for the information you are looking for. For the rest of you, you probably have gotten a request to play from one of your friends, followed by e-mails, phone calls, text messages, and a horse head in your bed till you finally agreed to play. Here you should find all the basics you need to get started and get your own personal Family going.

The game is broken into a few key objectives. There is a level based system that rewards you and your friends for your continued growth in levels. There is an economic engine that rewards you for making smart choices and converting as much of your earned income into passive income as possible. There is also a social networking aspect that rewards you for having more and more friends playing with you, whether it is from signing up the friends you already have or making new friends who are already playing. The game is fun, addictive, and best of all can be played well with a minimum daily investment of time.

Your first time in

When you log in for the very first time, there will be a little spiel to get you excited, a picture of your first property – Uncle Louie’s Deli – and a bar with your initial stats. These stats are what you will spend most of your time tracking.

Cash

Every hour your properties will pay out and any items you have with maintenance costs will deduct from your earnings. On the Properties tab which you will see later you can always see how much you are making and how much it is costing you. See the Property Moguls section of the guide for a better breakdown on earned vs. passive income and how to maximize this. It is also worth noting you have a bank account that you can store money in, but any money in the bank will not be reflected here.

Health

This is a fairly meaningless stat and it is the only naturally replenishing stat that the game will not show you a timer on. It is critical in boss fights which are outlined in great detail in the Doin’ the Job section. Other than that, it just sets the amount of times you get attacked when a hit is put out on you and how many fights you can engage in before healing.

Energy

Energy is the principal source of your earned income and a large chunk of your XP. It will come back 1 point every 5 minutes. Doin’ the Job will give you a thorough breakdown on leveraging your energy as well as discussing the speed leveling technique utilizing energy. Jobs and items will be your initial focus once you get in to the game.

Stamina

This also regenerates at one point every 5 minutes. Stamina is used to try to attack other players, rob other players, cash in on a hit on another player, sucker punching, and placing hits on other players. Fightin’ and Robbin’ will get in to all the specifics of how you can leverage your stamina, win more fights, get robbed less often and all those great details. Outside of jobs, this is the only other way to generate XP.

Do Something About It!

The game will walk you through a simple series of examples of what the game contains once you are completely free to make your own choices. The first job is exactly what most will be about… You spend X energy for Y experience, some amount of money, and with some jobs, a small chance at special loot. Enjoy this first one as you will never get 2 or more experience per energy later in the game. And congratulations! You got a loot item and a dummy NPC to invite in to your mob to get to size 1! We will talk more about Mafia size later and the Fightin’ and Robbin’ section has a lot more to say. Next you will make your first attack and then buy your first property and the first real decision comes in to play.

Choosing your Character type

You can change your name later, but there will be a fairly hefty cost, so think about how you would like your Mafioso name to be. "Don" plus your last name works well and the game supports multiple people with the same name. Default Don is the most common name out there followed by all the characters from the Godfather. The more unique and memorable your name, the more thematic some of the in game text will be for your friends. As for character type, here is a break down on what the choice entails. Currently, there is no way to change it once you make it, so consider carefully.

Mogul

As a Mogul your cash flow will come in every 54 minutes rather than every hour for the other character types. As a Mogul you are also the only character type eligible for being a Bagman. As a Bagman in one of your friend’s Top Mafia, you have the change to get double money from performing jobs. Since we want to be generating passive income rather than earned and there is no real use for money anymore once you get to around level 40, this is the least interesting of the character types unless your friend group happens to need more eligible Bagmen options.

Maniac

As a Maniac, your energy regenerates at a rate of 1 every 3 minutes instead of 5. You also become eligible to be a Button Man which gives you a chance to automatically win any fight you initiate. General consensus on the web before the Top Mafia changes was this was the best type to choose since energy drives a lot of your leveling. The flip side to this is if you are speed leveling, you are counting more on the energy refills from leveling up and Energy Paks than from natural regeneration. The special Top Mafia ability is not very exciting as we will only be initiating fights we expect to win anyway. Basically, it boils down to out of the 5-10% of fight you will lose to Critical hits, you will win about 5% of them instead.

Fearless

As a Fearless character your health regenerates at a faster rate. You also have the ability to be a Top Mafia Wheel Man which has the best special ability. Whenever you perform a job, there is a small chance that job will cost no energy. Since at higher levels jobs can cost as much as 60 energy to run, this is a very non-trivial bonus and will greatly aid the speed at which you level. The health regeneration itself is not a very meaningful bonus since using the hospital to top off at any point in time is a non-issue.

Your initial Skill Points

After you make your decision, you will get your first skill points to spend. It is highly recommended you just upgrade your Energy till at least 30 before touching the other stats. See the speed leveling section under Doin’ the Job for more details on spending your initial skill points.

Starting over or... not

Unfortunately, the game currently does not really support anyway for starting over. If you are unhappy with your initial choices, you have to delete the application, wait 60 days for it to time out, and then log in again to get a clean start in the Mafia world. None of the choices you make outside of character type though can't be fixed, so we recommend you try to work with whatever state you are currently in. If you do wish to delete the app and wait 60 days, in the lower left hand corner of any Facebook page you should see a button labelled Applications. Click on it to open the menu and near the top of the menu you will see Edit. Choose this and then click on the x next to Mafia Wars to remove it as one of your applications.

Mafia Wars: Moscow Preview

Mafia Wars is about to launch its next expansion into a new location: Moscow. From Mafia Wars:

Mafia Wars: Moscow Preview! To celebrate the upcoming release of the Mafia Wars: Moscow, all jobs and fights can drop Russian Mafia items. Collect them all for a chance to unlock an exclusive item. Hurry before time runs out.

This is like the July 4th loot...except you get a prize for collecting all 8 items. If it is anything like July 4th, there will be lots of items in the first few hours, with fewer and fewer as time goes by. So play now!

Here are the items I have found so far:

.45 ACP Pistol 18 Attack 12 Defense.

PPSH 41 Submachine Gun 22 Attack 8 Defense

Grach 20 Attack 10 Defense

IZH-35M 25 Attack 15 Defense

VSK-94 Sniper Rifle 28 Attack 12 Defense

Ushanka 10 Attack 20 Defen

Mafia Wars Hints and Tips

It’s time for another tips session, and this time, it’s off to the mafia. Mafia Wars seems like a simple game at first glance, but once you get into it, it actually begins to become somewhat complicated with hits, different jobs, adding members, equipping all of them, and so on. What do you buy? What quests do you do? How should you level? These are all questions that are posed by new players, and it can be a bit daunting. Well, we searched high and low for ways to help you out, and hopefully these tips and tricks will help those new players that simply feel overwhelmed.

So you’ve started Mafia Wars and you’re not sure where to start, well, the first choice is easy enough: 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. That said, it’s time to get down to business.

DO NOT add to you mafia right away. Yes, you do want a large mafia to be stronger, but if you are ill-prepared, this is going to hurt more than help. Essentially, you want to have a “Mafia Mikes” and a “Bloody Chainsaw” (please note, that the bloody chainsaw is a special item bought from the home page and will periodically change. For all intents and purposes, the special item tends to have similar stats, and is often interchangable if the chainsaw is gone) for every two members. Here’s the thing though, the game bases the amount of members you need for another one of these items based on your current members. So say 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 spend some experience points.

Ideally, you want to put all of your points into energy so you can level faster. Since quests are going to be your primary source of experience and cash (hence why you used maniac), your limiting factor is how fast your energy recharges. Furthermore, energy resets every level, so having an high energy and a fast regeneration can get you to higher levels exponentially faster. Of course, you will want other stats eventually (when that is, is completely up to you), but this will give you a nice start.

Okay, so now you’re leveling at a nice pace and you’re getting those Mafia Mikes and Bloody Chainsaws when you should. What’s next? Why, equipping your mafia of course, and 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 (since you’ve been buying them every two members right?), thus the other half should utilize the Chain Guns (.50 Caliber Rifle is better once you start looting).
Armor: Body Armor all around – period. 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 should be more than enough to get you started on the right track in Mafia Wars. However, before things get wrapped up, here are some other interesting tips found around the web that should work for both the MySpace and Facebook versions of the game.

Avoid the Hitlist as best as possible. 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.
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

Best of luck, and happy gaming.

How to record a video of any PC game?

Now you can record videos of any games which you play on your PC. How? Just follow my tutorial..

Step#1
To record a video of any game you need a recording software. So I would recommend you to first download Fraps which can be used to record Videos aswell as capturing Screenshot at any instance.
You can find the trial version at their offical website i.e www.fraps.com

Note:- There are many other video recorders, but fraps is stable & user-friendly.

Step#2
Install the application, once finished run the software.

After running the software, a window will pop up as shown in the above image. After that, go to the Movies tab and change the settings as per your requirments.

Note:- The higher the fps, more will be the size of video as its play an important role in the quality of the video. So make sure you have upto 5gb of free space on your harddisk. The size of the video can later be reduced by Windows Movie Maker.

Step#3
Once you are finished with the settings, minimize Fraps and you should be able to see some yellow numbers on the top left of your screen and a icon on your taskbar as shown in the below image.

Note:- Those varying yellow numbers on the top left of your screen are nothing but FPS.

Step#4
Now start the game whose video you would like to record. Press the assigned key to record the video and also note the change in the colour of your FPS from yellow to red ( Red colour indicates that the video is being recorded). Press the assigned key again to close the recording.

Step#5
Once you are done with the recording, you can view it in the Fraps Directory whose default path is "C:\Fraps".

You can also capture screenshots by just pressing the assigned key for capturing screenshots.

Note:- The size of the video is large if you record 2-3minute videos, the size can be reduced to 5-10mb by using Windows Movie Maker software which comes default with windows. Once you reduce the size you can also host it on Youtube and show the video to your long distance friends.

Hope you like this tutorial & sorry for the grammatical errors.

Here is one of the video which was recorded by me. =D

Click Here!

Do you want to show your friends your favorite image,picture or any graphic which you have made on a forum,etc ? In this quick tutorial, I will teach you how to do so.

Step#1
Choose an Image Hosting Service and open it in your browser. We will be using www.tinypic.com as our Image Hosting Service. There are many other website which allow you to upload an image e.g:- www.imageshack.us, www.photobucket.com

Step#2

Click on the "Browse" button shown in the above picture.

Step#3

When you click on the Browse button as mentioned in Step#2, a new window Pops up in front of you. Selected the desired image which is saved on your computer. Once you have selected the desired image from your PC, click on "Open".

Step#4

Now click on "Upload Now!" and wait till the processing is done. The time taken for the processing depends upon the size of image. [Smaller the size, lesser the time taken & vice-versa]

Step#5

Once the processing is done, you will be redirected to a new page consisting of various links to your image as shown above.

Step#6
Copy the link as per your requirment & paste it.

Done! You have now successfully uploaded and displayed your first image! Congrats!

Hope this tutorial was easy to understand & sorry for the grammatical errors.