Lotto

So, a new function has been added - the lotto. Here's how it works:

Once a week, 5 lotto numbers are selected randomly by the computer. You may enter tickets into the drawing with the "Lotto" function. You can find this under the Godfather tab, then by clicking "Lotto" on that page. If you match a certain number of numbers, you can win prizes. Here they are:

Requirement	Daily Chance Prizes
5 matching balls	333 reward points
4 matching balls	8 reward points
3 matching balls	A Daily Chance collection piece
2 matching balls	An unused Daily Chance ticket
1 matching balls	A random loot item

Four matching balls = 8 reward points? I mean, what are the odds for just 8 reward points? Weird.

Third, you get a point for each daily chance ticket you play. You can let these points build up to 6 total points and exchange them for rewards.

1 Ticket: Random Collection Item
2 Tickets: +10 Stamina
3 Tickets: +30 Energyy
4 Tickets: +1 Ticket
5 Tickets: +1 Stat Point
6 Tickets: +5 Godfather Points

This is actually pretty nice because without buying any reward points, you can collect an extra 5 godfather points per week. Collecting 5 Godfather Points is equivalent to ~1.43 stat points, which makes it more effective then buying +1 stat point.

You get one free ticket every day, and you may additionally buy a ticket for 52 godfather points. Doing some simple math here allows me to think it might take quite some time to collect the full lotto collection set, so I hope it is a good reward (will update when I get the information). None of the other rewards are that exciting- while 333 godfather points looks good on paper, the odds of matching all 5 are like winning the real lottery!


***UPDATE*** - lotto seems to give consumable items instead now, like illegal transaction records, cell phones, and blackmail photos instead of rare loot items.

Lottery Collection; Mafia Wars Strategy Guide

So, apparently a new collection leaked out a few hours ago, visible under the New York Collections tab for some players. It can be found at the bottom, here is a screenshot:



When you click on the "Lottery Tickets" link in the above collection, it takes you to the following window:
Apparently this is a new feature that will be live later tonight. More info later once it is actually released!

Another FAQ & A Session; Mafia Wars Strategy Guide

Well, not much game updates to write about lately, so I'll answer a few questions that have recently come up!

Q: What do you get if you finish the achievements?

A: Bragging rights? Seriously though, nothing extra, just 1 stat point per achievement!


Q: What do you get if you collect all 8 Fourth of July items?

A: Nothing, just bragging rights once again.


Q: For instance, if you have 501 TNTs, 501 Guerrilla Squads, and 501 Hu-9 Helicopters. And when you go to fight, do you use all of them? Like "Your mafia of 501 fought against xxx's mafia with 501 TNTs, 501 Guerrilla Squads, and 501 Hu-9 Helicopters."

Or would you bring in other items? Cause I want to know if I spent my time farming all these high end items, would I be able to take all of them into battles?

A: You can take 1 armor, weapon, and vehicle into battle for each person in your mafia up to 501 total items. So if your mafia size is 501, you will want 501 of the best weapons, armors, and vehicles. If you are asking what the best items are, there are two general schools of thought. One is that the weapons, armors, and vehicles with the highest attack are the best for offense, and the ones with the highest defense are the best for defense.

However, there is another popular idea that attack and defense are combined in the combat calculator and that the best items for both attacking and defense are items with the most stats. In other words, some people believe that the armored state car, with 30 attack and 38 defense, is the best vehicle in the game for both attack and defense - because it has 68 total stat points. They believe that the armored state car is better than the Hu-9 Helicopter (which has 36 stat points and gets preferentially selected) and that by simply owning Hu-9s they are gimping themselves.

So which is right? Well, neither party has conclusive evidence. However, I think it is a bit short-sighted to think that the game engine would select an item with high attack (such as the Hu-9 Helicopter) over an item with the most stats (armored state car) and end up making you weaker on attack. This whole idea comes from the mafia wars combat calculator, which by the creator's own admission, is his own equation and could be completely inaccurate! It is simply a tool designed to allow you to estimate the strength of your mafia - it does not necessarily mean it is the formula used by the game engine! On the other hand, some people have been able to demonstrate winning many fights on offense despite only loading up on defensive stat points and equipment.

In the end, it hardly matters - in Cuba, the Guerrilla Squad has more attack and defense then any other armor, and the difference between the Armored State Car (68 total stat points) and the Hu-9 Helicopter (63 total stat points) is not that significant. The only category where it would matter is the Gaff Hooks vs TNT - TNT has 62 total stat points (but only 20 defense) and Gaff Hooks have 50 total stat points (with 30 defense). So, if the combining stat theory is really how the game engine works, owning gaff hooks could potentially make you a bit weaker on defense. Either way, if you have 500 mafia members and collect 500 TNT, Guerrilla Squads, and Armored State Cars and are still losing fights, your issue is a lack of attack/defense stat points, not a lack of loot!




Finally, our most popular comment of the week:

Q: The lotto sucks.

A: That is not a question, but agree!



Got any more questions? Post in the comments below!