Mafia Wars Releases New Bangkok Passport Loot
Details on Mafia Wars latest episode, Mafia Wars: Bangkok, have been slowly widdled out to players, but finally everyone noq has something to work towards – your Thai Passport.
There of course is a prerequisite in order to enter this new Asian territory, and it allows you to gather up all the loot required now, before Bangkok is officially opened. No firm date as been set for the opening of Mafia Wars: Bangkok, but we suspect it will definitely be over the holiday season, when most players are off school and home for the holidays from work.
There are 3 loot items you need to collect in order to gain your Thai Passport, and all 3 are located in New York. They are a Triad Coin, Yakuza Sake and a Thai Note, as shown below:
Zynga has been secretive about the new episode until now, but its’ new placeholder page offers a little tidbit on what’s to come. Looks like everyone will need to choose a side!
“For decades, the Japanese Yakuza and Chinese Triads have battled for control over the lucrative criminal markets of Thailand. As a newcomer, you’ll need to choose a side to succeed in Bangkok. This isn’t a one-way relationship, though – as you increase your standing with your chosen faction, you’ll also earn access to additional items to fill out your arsenal.”
It’s been reported that the 3 loot items are not easy to acquire, and take a heck of an amount of energy, but it’s a small price to pay now to hopefully enjoy the new release over the Christmas holidays.
Let us know your success in gathering the new Bangkok loot – leave a comment below!
Restaurant City Secrets Series: Getting Rich with the Island Layout
Has your restaurant got stuck because you can’t handle the flow of customers efficiently? If so, you might be interested in something called the “island layout.” Many people consider this layout to be one of the Restaurant City secrets of success. Would you like to learn more?
The island layout isn’t something you need to worry about right away. But once your restaurant reaches at least 2 chefs or 5 tables, the layout of the place becomes ever more important. This is when the best players move to an island layout.
The point is to make your employees as efficient as possible which means you’ll earn the most coins and Gourmet Points in the least amount of time.
What is the island layout? It’s an arrangement of tables and stoves into little self-contained groups. The idea is that you can have one stove serving its own group of neighboring tables, so the staff never has to walk very far. Each group of tables and stove is like its own island, hence the name. As your restaurant grows, you can create more islands, ensuring that you can handle the maximum amount of customers with the minimum amount of staff.
Why use this layout? If you set it up right, each chef will be right beside the tables they serve, while the waiters have to move as little as possible to take care of their tables. Lay out your restaurant with islands, and the food handling portions of your business will become much more efficient.
This article isn’t the place for me to explain exactly how to create the ideal island layout for your restaurant. But there is a Restaurant City guide that covers this in detail along with revealing many other secrets of the game. To find out more, visit this: Restaurant City Secrets site.
MouseHunt 12 Days of Christmas Begins – New Loot Daily!
Finally, the Festive Comet is starting to melt a little quicker, and revealing more and more of the goodies inside! Since its’ landing back on December 3rd, we have so far found 2 new weapon blueprints; the Gingerbread House Surprise and the Gingerbread Base. My thoughts and opinions of these two weapons will be revealed further below.
The MouseHunt 12 Days of Christmas, part of The Great Winter Hunt ‘09, seems to be fairly straightforward. Starting December 12th, a new piece of loot is revealed in the Festive Comet each day. According to Dev Dave, the pieces will be easier to find on the day they are released. Keep this in mind – if you are not able to actively play daily, make sure you at least log in and sound the horn once per day to keep the Kings’ hourly trapchecks running for you.
We will be updating this list daily on exactly what the new loot items are and which mouse is dropping it. Once all 12 items are revealed, MH Larry will be announcing what goody we will be able to craft with our new stash.
The 12 Days of Christmas:
December 12:
- One Droid Action Figure
- Dropped by the White Mouse and Candy Cane Mouse
- TIP – save your Gingerbread cheese and use Swiss or Brie to catch the White.
December 13:
- Two Festive Mitts
- Dropped by the Dwarf Mouse and the Present Mouse
- TIP – save your Gingerbread cheese and use Swiss or Brie to catch the Dwarf.
December 14:
- 3 Santa Hats
- Dropped by the Christmas Tree Mouse and Abominable Snow Mouse
- TIPS – Use a Physical set up. SB+ would be best for the Christmas Tree Mouse, otherwise use Brie to catch the Abominable Snow Mouse.
December 15:
- Four Festive Stockings
- Dropped by the Stocking Mouse (of course!) and the Troll Mouse
- TIP – Use your strongest Physical trap for these guys
December 16:
- Five Festive Ornaments
- Dropped by the Ornament Mouse (of course!) and the Treant Mouse
- TIP – A strong physical trap and aim for a Treant – they are the easier of the two to catch.
December 17:
- Six Snow Balls
- Dropped by the Nutcracker and the Abominable Snow Mouse
- TIP – Use a Physical trap, SB+ or Gingerbread cheese and try for the Nutcracker. ASM have been abundant in the Festive Comet, but the Nutcracker may be the easier of the two to catch.
December 18:
- Seven Gingerbread Mice
- Dropped by the Present Mouse and the Bear Mouse
- TIP – Save your SB+ and Gingerbread Cheese. Throw some Brie on and catch the easy Bear Mouse with a Physical set up.
December 19:
- Eight Elf Shoes
- Dropped by the Elf Mouse (they are back!) and the Dwarf Mouse
- TIP – The Elf Mouse is a limited edition mouse from last year, so put on your best Physical trap and grab this one for your collection!
December 20:
- Nine Reindeer Antlers
- Dropped by the Present Mouse and the Centaur Mouse
- TIP – The Present mouse is a physical mouse, whereas the Centaur is a tactical. Use the best set up you have between the two power types and use SB+ if possible. If not, use Gingerbread cheese.
December 21:
- Ten Candy Canes
- Dropped by the Scrooge Mouse, Candy Cane Mouse, Hydra Mouse
- TIP – You most likely are going to want to use SB+ to catch one of these guys!
December 22:
- Eleven Christmas Lights
- Dropped by the Christmas Tree Mouse and the new Frozen Mouse
- TIP – Put on your best Physical set up and use SB+
- ***NEW** 3 new mice introduced today; Frosty Snow Mouse, Toy Mouse and Frozen Mouse!
December 23:
- Twelve Litres of Eggnog
- Dropped by the Toy Mouse, Gargoyle Mouse, Scrooge Mouse and the Christmas Tree Mouse. There have been reports of the White Mouse dropping as well, but unconfirmed by the Devs.
- TIP –
On What These Items Will Craft!
New Festive Comet Weapons:
MouseHunt: Festive Comet Launches “The Great Winter Hunt ‘09″
“The Festive Comet” earlier discovered by those kooky Digby scientists has landed, creating a new hunting area, along with new festive mice, new loot, and some old friends all dressed up for the season.
New Area – Festive Comet:
The new area, aptly named Festive Comet, is accessible to all players. The best bet for those of you having to travel is to hit Gnawnia first for free, then jump over to Festive Comet for 863 coins.
Festive Comet contains not only new Rare Breeds, but a variety of mice from various regions. These mice are; Abominable Snow, Bear, Centaur, Dwarf, Gargoyle, Hydra (Sorry! No Ship Blueprints being dropped), Moosker, Steel, Treant, Troll, White, and Worker.
New Festive Rare Breed Mice:
There are 7 new “Rare Breed” mice for you to collect, bringing the total of Rare Breeds available to 17.
The new mice are:
- Present Mouse
- Nutcracker Mouse
- Ornament Mouse
- Stocking Mouse
- Candy Cane Mouse
- Scrooge Mouse
- Christmas Tree Mouse
The Scrooge Mouse looks to be one of the biggies to catch, dropping Satchels of Gold worth 1000 coins and 5000 coins. The Christmas Tree mouse is the most rare, so ensure you are using your strongest trap and base to nail this one!
Gingerbread Cheese:
In order to make Gingerbread Cheese, simply smash 1 Plank of Gingerbread. It automatically turns into 15 pieces of Gingerbread cheese.
If you have never smashed anything before, go to your Crafting tab (located under Inventory), click on the green Use Your Hunters Hammer arrow, and select Plank of Gingerbread to smash.
New Gifts/Loot:
According to the devs:
A few resident mice here have been spotted carrying gifts… twelve to be exact. I have a strange suspicion that collecting all the different items will prove to have a benefit!
So far, we have only been able to spot a few of the gift items being dropped, and the additional ones available at the limited time Festive Gift Shoppe.
Items Dropped:
- Icing sugar
- Plank of Gingerbread
- Candies
Available & Giftable from the Festive Gift Shoppe:
- Greeting Card
- Mistletoe
- Posing Mouse Action Figure
- Christmas Coal
- Burroughs Laboratory Map Piece
- Slightly Smaller Gift
- Icing sugar
- Plank of Gingerbread
- Candies
- Swiss Cheese
- Brie Cheese
- Gouda Cheese
New Crafting Recipes
The scientists also believe, given enough time, that they should be able to use this new “gingerbread”, as well as including some of the other festive items, to capture the essence of the holiday and create some most interesting trap components!
As you can see from the dev’s comments above, as of the time of this post, apart from Gingerbread Cheese, there are no available recipes. They are coming though!
However, there seem to be a few “scrooges” out there with a strange sense of “Holiday Cheer”. They have been posting fake crafting recipes, costing players over 100K. These recipes result in nothing…
We highly recommend you DO NOT attempt to craft anything, until it has been officially posted by the game developers. We will be updating this post as the new recipes are released by them, so you will be able to find them here as well.
Until then, Happy Holiday Mousin’ Mates!!
Bodyguards and Mafia Wars Bullies
You’ve got to love collecting the criminal lifestyle when you play Mafia Wars. What self-respecting mobster lacks those Mafia Wars bodyguards? Sure, they are decent defensive equipment (DEF 25), but there are better to be had in the game. Why are the bodyguards on everyone’s list of desirable loot?
Even without the lure of more mafia status, bodyguards are a useful loot because having them can prevent you getting your kass icked on the fightlist.. With all the tips I’ve read about getting a ‘whipping boy” from Mafia Wars strategists, it’s no wonder that Mafia Wars bodyguards are such a needed loot for beginning players.
You want to discover where you can find Mafia Wars bodyguards? They are found in the loot drops of Hitman Tier – Protect Your City from a Rival Family job. Having solid bodyguard defense as early as level eighteen is one great thing about this particular defensive equipment. (If you’re already visiting Cuba, you can pick up a Guerilla Squad with even greater defense than bodyguards in El Padrino tier – Storm the Presidential Palace.)
Another thing to like about Mafia Wars bodyguards is that the job where you loot them is a decent experience yield. Expend thirty-one energy and receive 58 experience. That’s a 1.87 ratio, which I like strategy-wise for leveling up more rapidly. Since the job is a good experience earner on top of a prime loot, it’s a smart bet. When your attacker is generally at your level, bodyguards will help you win the fight. It’s smart to get bodyguards for as many of your crew as you can, since bodyguards are the best defense available to you at the beginner levels.
Bodyguards may not be enough to eliminate your fightlist difficulty, though. If your attacker has you outmanned, outgunned, and outclassed, bodyguards won’t end your losses – although they will increase your percentage of wins! It’s no fun to be someone’s Mafia Wars whipping boy.
You need to tighten up your fighting strategy for Mafia Wars.
Are your personal stats out of balance?
Is your crew size puny?
Have you neglected mafia equipment?
Weak fight strategy will equal you being used to wipe the floors of Mafia Wars. I know that the desire to level up with speed has players piling all their points into energy, but if you’re being targeted as an easy mark your strategy has to alter; try to put a few points into defense. And a tiny mafia crew is a bulls-eye painted on your forehead – you’ll be outmanned every time! Building a decent sized mafia crew isn’t just for fun, it’s a first line of defense. Don’t forget that each member of your mafia has to have all three pieces of Mafia Wars equipment – weapon, armor, and vehicle. If you’re looking to discourage a persistent attacker, get the top defensive equipment you can locate.
Mafia Wars bodyguards and fight strategy can end that losing cycle – good luck!
