Mafia Wars Moscow Vory or Mafiya Part 2; Strategy Guide

As many of you have noticed (and commented about), with the release of Mafia Wars Moscow episodes 3 & 4, we got hit with a couple of nerfs.

Bank Heist job only gives 15 XP / 8 energy now with an 11% mastermind/wheelman and private island (Old: 17 XP / 8 energy).

The "Run Illegal Poker Game" job now gives 38 XP/17 energy with an 11% mastermind/wheelman and private island (Old: 41/17).

Now, these two nerfs I understand - these jobs paid out very well very early in the game and were definitely a bit out of place. In fact, I am okay with this, and it was about time really. However, the following nerf just blows my mind:

Shipping Company: Now produces Political Favor boost which offers +60 Robbing Defense skill. (Old: Fake Documents which offered -9 job energy cost).

Seriously? Robbing is not even in the game anymore and you are adding new robbing boosts?

Even if it was still in the game, or is going to be re-implemented soon, this boost is a reward from a racket in the jobs category, despite the fact that there already a set of rackets specifically dedicated to defense. You would think that +defense boosts would come from the defense category, but not this time! Defending your non-existent property (since people that have rackets don't have property) is an integral part towards completing more jobs apparently. I can only imagine how the development meeting went down to come up with this change:

Dev 1: So, rackets, what's the feedback on rackets looking like?

Dev 2: According to the official forums, about 99 in 100 people hate them.

Dev 3: Yeah, they're really unpopular - the only good racket is the Shipping Company one.

Dev 2: We better nerf it to bring it in-line with the other terrible rackets to really piss everyone off.

Dev 3: Agreed. We should make the boost something terrible just to annoy people who were mad that we took away robbing.

Dev 2: A brilliant idea Johnson! How about another worthless +robbing defense boost? That way we can snub our fanbase by not only taking away the only good racket, but also serving them with a painful reminder that they no longer have access to robbing.

Dev 3: We can sneak the change into the Moscow patch and hope no one will notice.

Dev 1: Sounds like a plan - /highfive's all around! Nerf gun fight, anyone?

Mafia Wars Moscow Vory or Mafiya Part 2; Strategy Guide

Here is the differences between Vory and Mafiya for the latest edition of Mafia Wars Moscow. For information on episodes 1 & 2, check the episode 1 & 2 Mafiya vs Vory link.

Episode 3 (Brigadir)

In episode 3, the only differences between Vory and Mafiya occurs during chapter 2. I once again included a mod so you could see XP:energy ratios. This time, I also made sure both characters had 15% bagmen. Here are the screen shots of the job tiers:

Mafiya Episode 3, Chapter 2:

Mafiya Episode 3, Chapter 2

Vory Episode 3, Chapter 2:


Unique Loot:

From the "Steal the Bank President's Car Keys" job (Mafiya Only):

Volk Luxury Sedan is Mafiya Only

From the "Use the Bank Guard's Keys To Access the Bank Armory" job (Vory Only):

Taiga Combat Shotgun is Vory Only

Conclusion

Neither tier (once again) is particularly better. The Taiga Combat Shotgun is just completely terrible though, while the Volk Luxury Sedan at least is decent. Other than that there is no distinguishing features between the two sides.

I honestly thought the tiers would diversify a bit more and have more than a job difference as more parts of the expansion came out. I guess feedback (read: mass panic over which side to pick) must have scared the developers into making it little real difference. Oh well, always episodes 5-6 to hope for! Keep on eye out on the Mafia Wars Guide homepage for updates.

Episode 4 (Avoritet)

Here are the differences for Episode 4 between Vory and Mafiya.

Here is the Mafiya Episode 4, Chapter 2 job tier:


..and the Vory Episode 4, Chapter 2:


Unique Loot:

From Mafiya only "Arrange The Sale Of Weapons-Grade Explosives" job:

The Opel Armored Helicopter is Mafiya Only

From the Vory only "Rob a Troop Convoy":

The Shturmovik is Vory Only

Conclusion

Ding ding ding, we have a winner! For episode 4 it is clear to me that Vory far and away is better than Mafiya. The Shturmovik is an 11 attack upgrade over the Guerrilla Squad, while the Orel Armored Helicopter is only a 2 defense upgrade over the Private Jet or Armored State car.

Additionally, the job that drops the new helicopter in the Mafiya pathway requires an Untraceable Cell Phone, while there is no consumable cost for the Vory pathway.

There is one catch though - it is possible in Episode 5 or 6 that the Shturmovik will be upgraded while the Orel Armored Helicopter will not - it is a risk you will have to take (unless episodes 5 and 6 come out before you finalize episode 4). I'm not afraid to make the risk - it is only a 2 defense upgrade; I'd rather not go through all the trouble of collecting a couple thousand untraceable cell phones to get a measly 1-2% defense upgrade, especially since if these helicopters are not replaced in episodes 5 and 6, they certainly will be replaced in next expansion. Vory all the way for episode 4!