Cuba Coming Back ???

The big question in Mafia Wars tonight is whether or not Cuba Is Returning !!!

Well if I was a betting man I would say some form of it is returning. Will it be a full blown re-release of the city revamped, will it be a special district & mission like Brazil’s Smugglers Haven I can't confirm right now BUT I am pretty sure it is coming back right after the end of Smugglers Haven because you know how Zynga likes to release back to back missions. Always remember nothing ever fully dies in GAMES & Soap Operas and well this is both LOL.
How do we know it is coming back in some form well first of they have changed and added a new achievement to Cuba.

So this is clue number 1 the second clue is they have added numerous items to the inventory and YES IT IS ALL CUBAN !!! 

Here is a closer look at the items. 

Cuban Mercenary from Cuba

(no stats)

Cigar Box (A:76 D:165)

Smoker (A:65 D:97)

Old Cannon  (A:110 D:75)

Trigger Happy (A:151 D:60) 

Shelled Torso (A:151 D:60)

 

Barrier Coat (A:96 D:60) 

Kit Vest (A:71 D:110) 

CM Tango (A:109 D:73) 

Seaside Runner (A:60 D:95) 

Renaldo (A:98 D:62) 

Cuban Tody (A:73 D:111) 

Goliath Grouper (A:96 D:64)

 

Brown Anole (A:62 D:95) 

Sleet (A:84 D:155) 

So based on this and Zynga’s desire to save the game I am going to conclude YES CUBA IS COMING BACK !!! I cant confirm it for sure but all the clues are right here in front of us and believe me I will get you the details.  It would be nice if they were up front with us for a change.

Smuggler's Haven Ruby Mastery Item

JEFF THE KNIFE

Family Boss Fight FAQ

Updated 08/26/2011 at 22:47

Q:  When was this feature released? A:  This feature was released on 08/22/11 to a limited audience.  Not all players will initially see this feature as we complete tests to ensure that it is working as intended. Q:  Is this a permanent feature to the game? A:  Yes!  When the final testing of this feature is complete it will be available to all players. Q:  What exactly is a Family Boss Fight? A:  The Family Boss Fight is a boss fight like no other previously released.  For this boss fight you will need to help of your family in order to achieve victory. Q:  How long will we have to defeat the boss? A:  You will have 7 days to defeat the Family Boss.  To keep you on track there will be a timer on the home page of the boss fight page, as well as above the leaderboard.  It is important to note that the current Family Boss feature will take 7 days, however, future bosses may be shorter/longer. Q:  What will happen if my Family is not able to defeat the Boss within the 7 day period. A:  This feature is a permanent and if you do not beat him in the first 7 days you will have the opportunity to fight him again. Q:  If my Family defeats the Boss during within the 7 day time frame we will be able to fight him again? A:  Yes!  Because this feature is permanent you will have the opportunity to fight him again each week to earn different rewards. Q:  Do I need to be in a Family in order to participate in this boss fight? A:  In order to participate in this feature, you will need to join or create a Family. Q:  How do I join or create a Family so that I can participate in this feature? A:  Instructions on how to join or create a Family can be found here:  http://support.zynga.com/cp_articleview?gameId=43&Id=kA160000000GooHCAS Q:  Where will I find this boss fight within the game? A:  You will find a new button on your home page called 'Bosses' with a number indicating that a boss fight is available.  Upon clicking this button you will be taken to the Family Boss Fight page. Q:  How do I begin the boss fight? A:  After you have opened the Family Boss fight page you will be given a feature overview and prompted to select one of three different boss fight roles.   Q:  What do Bruiser, Arsonist, and Racketeer do? A:  Each character plays its own part in the boss fight, and it is important to remember that each role can ONLY cast on others. Bruiser:  Grants you the ability to cast the double damage buff on someone who has requested help. Arsonist:  Can cast a buff that will reduce the Boss's rage so that more damage can be done. Racketeer:  Resets your Fatigue so you reduce the cost of Stamina for your attacks.   Q:  Which type is better? A:  Each part plays its role in defeating the Boss.  The most important aspect is the coordinated effort of all roles in order to bring the boss down. Q:  After I have selected a role am I able to change it? A:  No.  When you select a role for the boss fight, this is what you will be until the boss has been defeated. Q:  Are there consumables for this boss fight? A:  Yes.  There are four different types of consumables that are available to help you with this boss fight.  These four consumable will become available as soon as you have started a boss fight. Q:  What are the consumables for this boss fight, and where will I be able to get them? A:  There are four consumables that can be used for this boss fight: Backstab drops from Jobs and will do between 80-110 in damage. Crowbar Swing drops from Robbing, and will do 70 damage. Sucker Punch drops from Fighting, and can do between 90-100 in damage. Rifle Round is available by using the 'Ask' button, and can do between 100-130 in damage. Q:  Are there limits to the number of consumables that I can have? A:  Yes.  There is a limit of 20 consumables that a player can have in their account at any one time. Q:  Will I be able to purchase consumables while fighting the boss? A:  Yes.  If you run out of any of the consumables you will have the opportunity to purchase an additional 10 for 10 Reward points. Q:  Can we use the consumables in specific combos to deliver an extra punch? A:  Yes!  There are a total of four combos that can be used to deal incrementally more damage to the boss.  These combos are meant for self discovery and can be shared with your family.  Please note that with each upcoming boss the combos may vary, and some bosses may have more/less combos available. Q:  How do I attack the boss? A:  You can use the consumables that you have collected to attack the boss, or you can attack him directly using the stamina attack button located directly under the consumables on the boss fight screen. Q:  What is the difference between attacking the boss with consumables and attacking him with my stamina? A:  Stamina attack uses up stamina, and the base damage you do is based upon attack strength.  Consumables do not use Stamina, and they do a fixed amount of damage. Q:  What is the Fatigue meter, and how does it affect the boss fight? A:  The Fatigue meter increases each time that you attack the boss and is directly related to how much stamina that you use against the boss.  The higher the Fatigue meter, the more stamina it will cost you to attack the boss. Q:  How can I reduce the Fatigue meter so that I can use the least amount of stamina possible? A:  There are two ways for you to reduce the Fatigue meter.  The first is to ask your family for help by clicking the '?' button on the boss fight tool bar.  This will alert your family that you need help.  For 5 Reward points you can also buy 5 Fatigue buffs to use yourself.  To purchase these buffs simply click the coin icon next on the boss fight tool bar.  When you have the Fatigue buffs available for use, they will automatically be applied each time you click the Attack button, therefore reducing the Fatigue meter. Q:  What is the Rage meter and how does the Arsonist affect it? A:  The Rage meter for the boss increases each time that you attack it using either the consumables or the attack button.  The higher the Rage meter, the less damage that you are going to be able to do to the boss.  You can also request help from your family by clicking the '?'.  Additionally, you also have the option of buying Arsonist buffs for 5 Reward points so that you can use them to reduce the Rage meter.  As with the other buffs, Arsonist is applied each time that you attack, and will bring down the rage meter, therefore increasing the amount of damage that you can do to the boss. Q:  Is the amount of damage the Bruiser does related to the Rage or Fatigue meters? A:  The Bruiser does double the amount of damage to the Boss, however, the higher the Rage meter is the less double damage that can be done.  In order to take advantage of the double damage that can be dealt, work with your family to ensure the Rage meter is as low as possible.  Like the other buffs, you can request Bruiser buffs from your family or you can purchase 5 at a time for 5 Reward points. Q:  If I have chosen to be a Bruiser in this boss fight to do double damage, will I do double damage again if is use the Bruiser buff? A:  The way the roles work, a player who has chosen the role of a bruiser must cast their buff on you.  Once they do, you will receive five charges, which means that your next five attacks (through stamina or combos) will do double damage.  You cannot buff yourself with the double damage. Q:  What will happen if I request help and multiple members of my family seen me the buff that I have requested? A:  Only the first request applied will count.  Other players who click should not have their casts complete. Q:  How will I know if my family needs help? A:  When you family needs help you will see this indicated on the leader board to the left hand side of the buff fight page.   Q:  How many times can I can help my fellow players? A:  Each player will have 5 buff items of their chosen character, either Bruiser, Arsonist, or Racketeer.  You can send these buff items to your fellow family members to help them on their side of the fight.  These will regenerate every 30 minutes, and you can only send them to your family if you have them available. Q:  How does the leaderboard work and are there any benefits to be at the top? A:  The leaderboard is based upon the amount of damage or activity that an individual family member contributes to the defeat of the boss. The higher you are on the leaderboard the better chance you have at getting a superior item. Q:  What items are available as rewards for defeating the boss? A:  There are three tiers of items that are available for taking the boss down.  The reward for defeating the Family Boss is awarded randomly, however, your chances of receiving a higher rated item will increase slightly by doing better on the leaderboard.  It is very important to note that there is a minimum amount of participation that each family member must perform in order to be eligible for a reward item if the boss is defeated.   Q:  Does this boss fight feature further my progression in the Family Progression? A:  No.  This is a separate feature and does not count towards Family Progression. Q:  Is there any type of penalty for leaving the boss fight before he has been defeated? A:  The boss fight is active until he has been defeated.  You can't leave the boss fight before then unless you opt to leave the family.  If you choose to leave the family before the boss fight is defeated, you will not be able to collect the reward.  It is important to note that the Boss Fight is owned by the Family. Q:  If someone is attacking me while I am engaged in the Boss fight, will that affect by battle with the boss in any way? A:  No!  Your health is not involved at all when participating in Family Boss fights, so you're free to play as you normally do while still participating and helping your family defeat the Family Boss fight. Q:  How can I become most affective at dealing damage to the boss? A:  This system is designed to encourage and reward tight cooperation between multiple players in the same family.  The groups who will do best are the ones who have a high level of coordination and a sound strategy for when to use their casts.  If you are interested in increasing your personal contribution, you should continue to increase your own personal fighting strength (attack skill, mafia attack) to do more damage, and by doing core game actions to collect consumables.

BONUS XP

Easily Collect From All Your Properties With Union Hall!

You've been asking for it, and it's finally here! We've added the ability to collect from all of your properties in one easy location! We call it Union Hall, and it appears in the "Build Your Empire" section of the home screen:

Simply click a city's "Collect All" button to receive the cash and consumables ready for collection in that city! For Brazil, you also have the option of collecting your Real (cash), energy, and stamina separately. Just click the yellow arrows next to the "Collect All" button to cycle through the options:

Coming Soon: Rob Squad Collection Bonus
When you have a Rob Squad boost, pressing a city's "Collect All" button will use the boost to gain you bonus cash and consumables from that city. Don't have any Rob Squad boosts? You can ask for them every 8 hours directly from the new window!
Super Shipments
Click the large yellow arrows on either side of the "Build Your Empire" content you're currently viewing to flip to the other pages. The "Build Your Empire" page one click to the right of the Union Hall allows you to send and request Super Shipments, as well as build from and upgrade your NYC construction properties.

Click the "Ask for all parts" button and, when someone clicks on the request posted on your wall, you'll receive 0-6 construction parts, up to one for each of the construction properties you can own (the Chop Shop, Weapons Depot, Armory, & Private Zoo in NYC, the Black Market in Brazil, and the Port in Italy), depending on if you've already collected a part for those properties within the last 12 hours. Super Shipments don't allow you to collect more construction parts; they just offer an easy way to collect, all at once, those that you have not yet received via individual feeds.
We're excited to make managing your properties much more convenient! Try it out, then let us know what you think of the feature by completing this quick survey.

FREE 2X MASTERY

Game News

Hello
Just dropped in to check out the recent game news and look for updates....
Thanks Sarah for all the cool info and time you put into " The Sadistic Skull Bangers"
blog... very much appreciated :)

Secret combo to beat The Raven

Bloody Knuckles -> Bloody Knuckles -> Crack of the Bat -> Sniper Shot to score bonus damage on The Raven. Try the combo!

Family Progression

Mobsters,
You devote a lot of time and energy to becoming the baddest mobster you can be, and now your efforts are about to pay double! With the introduction of Family Progression, many of the things you already do, including completing jobs, crafting items via your NYC properties, fighting, and helping your family members in various ways, will count towards your family's shared experience as well!
Details About the Roll-out
We're eager to give every family the chance to gather collective experience, but, as with all new features, we need to roll it out slowly to ensure stability. Fortunately, we're starting with one of our highest starting percentages ever. 50% of families, chosen randomly, received the Family Progression feature last night, and we will be rolling it out to the rest as soon as we can. So, if your family doesn't have Family Progression yet, it will very soon. We will be tweaking the feature based on player feedback, making a survey available once every family has received Family Progression.
What It Looks Like
When your family receives the Family Progression feature, you'll notice a change to your home screen. A "Family" button will appear in the top right corner of the "Game Progress" section. Clicking on the button will change that section to display your family's progress. Clicking the "Progress" button that replaces the "Family" button will return the section to displaying your personal game progress.

The 4 progress bars at the bottom show how much of the required experience your family has gained in its progression to the next level, which includes experience earned from completing jobs, ices resulting from fighting, crafting items via your NYC properties, and helping members of your family in the ways listed below. Your family levels up and receives the associated perk once you've collectively filled all 4 of the family experience bars.

These details can be found on your Family page, so let's take a look at that now:

A family page with Family Progression includes the following new information: the same family experience progress bars as those on your home screen, the ability to see which family members are contributing the most in each of the four areas, some details about what game activities contribute to your family's collective experience, and a tab devoted to the perks family members receive at each level of Family Progression:

To see your personal contribution to your family's progress, return to the home screen, where a family icon now appears in the Missions bar. Clicking it opens a window in which you can see how much you're contributing each period, the maximum being 2,400 family experience points. The timer in the top right corner of this window lets you know when the current period ends and the next period begins. You have until then to maximize your contribution to your family's collective experience. Fill any of the four personal progress bars and a "Collect" button will appear. Clicking the button rewards you and your family with the amount of experience indicated in the window. (This is in addition to the personal experience you already gained in the process of completing the tasks.) As with mastery events, you don't get to collect unless and until you have filled the bar. Unlike mastery events, Family Progression does not disappear when the timer runs out. When the timer reaches zero for a given period, you and your family will have earned the experience you collected by clicking the "Collect" buttons that you triggered, the timer resets, the leaderboard on your family page resets, and a new opportunity to collect as much experience for your family as you can begins! It is challenging, but entirely possible, to earn the full 2,400 experience points for your family each period just by doing the things you normally do in the game!

We're excited to bring this new layer of experience and rewards to Mafia Wars, especially because they come from doing the things you already do! The fun part for you and everyone in your family, then, will be developing a strategy for how to work together to level up your family faster than it would happen naturally.
We hope you enjoy Family Progression,
~The Mafia Wars Team