How does the game choose what equipment to fight with and who wins a fight?

Submitted by Ava Tagliano on Wed, 06/17/2009 - 18:46
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This is a very interesting and unintuitive subject, and one that has been the topic of much conversation.

If you look at the How to Play page in Mafia Wars, under Fighting it tells you:

There's a war going on outside! Fight it out with other Mafia Families for honor and fame. It's your family versus theirs: each member of your Mafia is armed with the best offensive and defensive weapons you've got and same deal for your opponent. You should try to have at least one offensive weapon, one defensive weapon, and one vehicle for each member of your family. Pick fights to win cash and bragging rights on the streets.

 

This is only half the story. Maybe even only 1/3 the story!

"Best Equipment" as chosen by the game:

  • The game will automatically choose equipment for you when you attack or are attacked (also called defending)
  • It will choose 1 weapon, armor and vehicle for each person in your mafia, or as many as you have, if you don't have enough to go around.
  • When attacking, the game will choose items with the highest attack stats first, then select progressively weaker items until your mafia is outfitted or you run out of items.
  • When defending, the game will choose items with the highest defense stats first, then select progressively weaker items until your mafia is outfitted or you run out of items.

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"Best Equipment" for winning a fight:

  • When you are in a fight, the game totals up a combat score for you and a combat score for your opponent.
  • Whoever has the highest combat score wins the fight, except in the case of a critical hit where the game randomly decided one person wins regardless.
  • The combat score calculation is not a known equation, but many dedicated and smart players have worked hard and gotten very close to calculating it -- see yours by running the brilliant Wanderer's Combat Calculator.
  • Attack and defense appear to be summed for equipment (and incidentally your own attack and defense player stats), meaning the overall total is what determines combat strength, NOT just the attack or defense number!!

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A Hypothetical Example:

If you are being attacked, a 21 att / 1 def item will be chosen over a 20 att / 10 def item. However, the 21/1 item has a total combat score of 22, where the 20/10 has a total combat score of 30. Though the game deems the 21/1 item to be superior when you are attacked, it is actually 8 points weaker overall than the 20/10 item.

If you were attacked and had 501 of the 21/1 items in your inventory and 501 of the 20/10 items, the game would use solely 21/1 items, meaning you are missing out on (501 x 8) = 4008 total combat score, due to the way it chooses based on a single stat yet uses the total in the combat score!

This is why I advocate caution and doing your research before loading up on Limited Edition Loot, since it cannot be destroyed or given away.

Player stats:

  • The evidence suggests  that player stats are significantly more important than equipment. Placing points into your attack and defense skill can hugely outweigh what equipment is being used. At higher levels, the estimates place equipment accounting for 20% or less of your total combat score.
  • The higher your attack and defense stats, the less important your equipment becomes. This is why I argue against spending Godfather Points on Godfather crates and loot and advocate getting 4 skill points for 14 Godfather Points instead.
  • Player stats also appear to be summed and the total is what counts. Despite what the game says on your Profile page, Attack does not appear let you win more fights, and Defense does not seem to help you win when you are attacked. The sum of the 2 matters! Winning and losing is solely dependent on the combat score and critical hits -- and the combat score is based on sums of attack and defense, not one or the other alone!

Final Thoughts:

  • You will need 2 sets of equipment -- 501 of the best attack items, and 501 of the best defense items.
  • You need enough equipment to fully outfit your mafia! Make sure there's enough weapons, armor and vehicles to go around! The Combat Calculator will alert you to this.
  • You'll need a cooperative person to attack you and send you the combat results if you want to see what equipment you are defending with. Tons of forums have threads just for this purpose, so it's not too hard to find someone to help you out!
  • Pump those Attack and Defense stats!
  • Be careful before purchasing large quantities of Limited Edition Loot or Godfather loot -- you can't get rid of it.
  • if you're curious about weapon stats, see Verbal Di's awesome Item list.
  • Run the Combat Calculator often on yourself.
  • Read and follow the Combat Math thread to learn more and watch if new info comes to light.