General tips Mafia III Guide

On this page you will find a set of various pieces of advice related to the most important game features like combat, exploration and increasing the influence in the city. You should read this chapter before starting the game because it might help you quickly become rich or reduce the risk of your protagonist losing his life.

• Combat
• Sneaking up
• Exploration
• Police activity
• Gathering money
• Criminal organizations
• Hitmen
• Lincoln's underbosses
• Associates

Combat

Fences and wooden chests can be easily destroyed, leaving Lincoln vulnerable to enemy attacks

When in a shootout, you should always remain behind a cover. Keep in mind that some chests or fences can be destroyed by the enemy fire. The opponents in Mafia III aren't very intelligent, but you should observe the minimap anyway and not let them get close to or flank the main protagonist. This is especially important in case of enemies equipped with shotguns who can very quickly kill Lincoln. You should also watch out for snipers, enemies with machine guns and ones equipped with Molotov's cocktails and other explosives. In the latter case you must be ready to quickly change the cover.

The vest will reduce the risk of a sudden death

If it is possible, you should properly prepare yourself for each larger battle. Check if you have good weapons with full ammunition supplies and if you have the maximum number of adrenaline injections. You can also equip yourself with bulletproof vests, but they can be frequently found during the missions. As for the selection of weapons, regular handguns are very effective since a single headshot will eliminate most of the opponents. The second weapon should be selected based on mission specifics (for example a shotgun will be good for missions inside buildings). It is best to find new weapons in places where you complete missions and take them from defeated enemies since their prices at the trader are high.

Retreat or hide behind cover whenever Lincoln loses half of his health. Remember that in such situations you can use adrenaline injections. However, since you have a limited number of those, use them only if you really need - when the enemies are aggressively attacking or when you need to protect yourself from dying even before you reach the safe place. When traveling through the game world, look around for lockers with medicaments that allow you to replenish your supplies of adrenaline injections.

Sneaking up

Getting rid of the sentries will make it impossible for the enemies to call for reinforcements

Sneaking up in Mafia III is very simple because, to say it delicately, the enemies aren't the sharpest ones and in most cases they have very limited range of sight. Usually the enemies have four main behavior states - they can be unaware of Lincoln's presence, be focused on checking a suspicious place, search the area for the main protagonist or actively attack him. In case of the two last states you can decide to fight back, but you can also retreat to some safe place and wait for the search to end and the enemies return to their original positions.

Sentries are unique group of enemies. When Lincoln is detected, they can decide to call for reinforcements. Try finding and eliminating these enemies in first order. If the sentry is alarmed, try killing him before he reaches a phone and calls for reinforcements. This advice is also related to direct fights with the enemies because an additional group of enemies appearing in the area is never a thing you would want.

The eliminations are perfect way to silently dispose of the enemies

When sneaking up, you should try to silently eliminate all the encountered enemies. This will save you much trouble if you are suddenly detected (in some missions you can't avoid that as it is scripted event). Early in the game you must depend almost entirely on eliminations - the silent executions performed after you get close enough to the enemies. You can sneak up on the enemies from behind or position yourself behind cover and wait for them go get close enough for you to perform an elimination. Later in the campaign Lincoln will gain access to weapons with suppressors and he will be able to silently eliminate enemies from distance.

Important - In the game options you can set whether the eliminations should be non-lethal or lethal. This has no impact on the game - the stunned enemies cannot wake up or be awakened by their friends.

You can whistle to convince the nearby enemy to walk to a more private location

Many of the opponents are positioned in places where getting close to them in order to perform a silent execution is very risky. The solution to that problem is to lure them away. The whistling is most effective for that (by default T key in the PC version) and it is available since the beginning of the game. It can be effective even when there are a few enemies close to each other - only one of them should check the suspicious noise.

Later in the game you can use the Screaming Zemi dolls that can lure away a whole group of enemies to selected location. You can then bypass them or kill all of them at once (for example with a grenade or Molotov's cocktail).

Exploration

Setting the more realistic driving model in options can make it harder to complete some of the missions

While driving the car, you should frequently use the horn. This will cause the civil cars to slightly ride of your way. It is especially useful if you use a fast vehicle or one in which it is hard to maneuver among the slower vehicles.

By default the game offers arcade driving model and you should stick with it when completing missions. Select the simulation mode only if you are interested in free rides or if you want to obtain some achievements related to driving the car easier (for example the ones related to drifting and turning by 180 degrees).

When examining the game world, frequently check the minimap. In addition to presenting the current enemy position, it can inform you about the nearby secrets. The location of the collectibles can be also seen on the main map of the city. However, this becomes available only after you wiretap various areas and is limited only to place where you installed them.

Scanning the area will make it easier to you to plan further steps and surprise the enemies

You should frequently use the Intel View (by default key V in PC version) which enables you to check your surroundings. This mode makes it easier to observe the enemies, but it can be also used for finding building entrances, sniping points and interactive objects. Among the latter you can find lockers with medicaments, with weapons, ammunition and armor.

Donovan will provide Lincoln with a portable radio

Important - during the early phase of the story campaign Lincoln will meet with Donovan with whom he will start cooperating. Once the meeting ends, go back to the motel in which Donovan has his hideout. He will provide you with a portable radio. From now you will be able to use this device, for example to call for reinforcements or for a van with weapons.

Police activity

If you're stealing a car, there is a high risk that someone will call police

The police in Mafia III aren't as effective as in rival titles, but what the law enforcers lack in "training", they make up with their numbers. Encounters with the police will be triggered automatically in many story missions. During the free roaming through the city Lincoln can face the cops if he performs a crime while being seen by an officer or if the police are called by a witness.

The law enforcers are most frequently called by the citizens of New Bordeaux. This might happen if Lincoln performs a crime, for example he starts shooting a weapon, rides over a bystander or he steals a car. You will be automatically warned that some civilian intends to alarm the police.

Try stunning a civilian before he runs towards the telephone booth and before he use it

If you're fast enough, you can react to the attempt at calling the law enforcers. You can avoid the unnecessary trouble by stunning or killing the civilian before he reaches the telephone booth and makes a call.

You can reduce the chance for a witness calling cops for example by stealing cars in places where there are no phone booths ore where they are very far away (this will increase the chance for you to reach a civilian running towards the telephone booth). What's important, the time after which the police arrive depends on the district. In the poor districts of New Bordeaux the officers will appear much later than in rich ones, making it much easier for you to escape.

Try to leave the inside of the blue circle as quickly as possible

If you have time to escape, make sure to quickly leave the smaller blue circle on the map and then the larger one. With a bit of luck you will leave the search area undetected.

If the officers located Lincoln, you must decide between fighting and escaping. The first option is recommended only if you must remain in a specific place on the map, for example because the current mission requires you to do that. In all other cases you should try losing the chase. No matter whether you escape on foot or in a car, you should select narrow paths between the buildings, at least until the cops lose the sight of you. Look frequently at the minimap and react to the icons that represent the policemen and their cars. When escaping in a car, Lincoln can also "ground" the police cars by shooting at their tires. Destroying one or two tires should immobilize it or even cause an accident.

Gathering money

Frequently return to businesses led by Lincoln's allies in order to receive your share of profits

Money is needed in Mafia III for example for buying weapons, vehicles, equipment pieces and upgrades. The funds can be gathered by completing missions (but not everyone offers financial rewards), but there are other ways of obtaining it as well.

Look for money when weakening the enemy criminal organizations. Cash is frequently lying in visible places and it is marked with a dollar icon on the minimap. Once you take over a business, you can regularly return there and collect profits from your activity (the game will inform you when there is cash waiting to be collected).

What's VERY IMPORTANT is that Lincoln can lose part of the money he has in his pocket if he dies. You can limit that problem by regularly returning to Sammy's bar which is protagonist's main hideout. In the basement you will find a safe (above picture) in which you can stack the money with no additional complications. Early in the game you should return to the safe each time you gather a few thousands of dollars because at that point each penny will be very important. Later in the game you can slightly limit the frequency of your returns to the bar.

Important advice - You don't have to take the money from the safe if you want to buy a new weapon or upgrade someplace else. The money required will be automatically taken from it. The safe is used only for securing Lincoln's money in case of dying.

Criminal organizations

Wiretapping will make it easier to you to weaken enemy businesses and it will cause the collectibles to appear on the map

Attacking the hostile criminal organizations and taking over their businesses is presented in a very good way in Mafia III's story missions. Below you will find only a few additional pieces of advice related to that process.

Never skip the step related to wiring the maximum number of areas. Thanks to that you will not only learn more about the attacked criminal organization, but you will reveal the position of all nearby secrets and you will guarantee yourself the possibility to recruit a boss of an organization. Pieces of electronic is required for wiretapping, but their location is marked on the map together with secrets and you must simply collect them from the marked locations.

Important note - Wiretapping isn't available since the start of the game. It will be unlocked automatically during the "Smack" story mission in which you take over the heroin racket in Delray Hollow. At that point the game will explain all the steps related to wiretapping (more detailed information can be also found in our guide in the walkthrough for the mentioned mission).

Getting rid of the enforcers will make it easier for you to attack the headquarter of the enemy criminal organization

Always try to complete all the minor missions related to weakening the enemy criminal organization. You especially shouldn't attack the main hideout until you eliminate all the enforcers - otherwise it will be better protected.

You can kill the bosses and informers of the hostile criminal organizations or you can let them live and order them to work for you. Despite the fact that you will receive less money for letting someone live, in long term it will be more profitable as you will increase the profits generated by a business.

Hitmen

From the moment in which you have recruited all three of the underbosses (Cassandra, Burke and Vito) and assigned them their first districts in New Bordeaux, you will have to constantly deal with the fact that Sal Marcano will send hitmen to eliminate Lincoln. An encounter with a hitman and his aids will always occur soon after you take complete control over a new district. The game will notify you about the danger and an example of such a notification has been shown in the picture above.

Depending on when exactly the notification appears, you will either be ambushed by the hitman or you will have a short moment to prepare for his assault. Regardless of the circumstances, you should not be trying to run away from the confrontation, as you will merely postpone the issue. It is best to eliminate the hitman instead, which will end the manhunt for Lincoln.

In fights with hitmen and their associates you should try to avoid the main streets, because otherwise the bystanders will signal the police, which will only further complicate the situation. One very good approach is to fall back to the vicinity of a racket, that you have previously taken over. In such cases, Cassandra's, Burke's or Vito's subordinates will help you fend off the enemies. In each encounter you should focus primarily on killing the hitman himself; hitmen are always distinguished by a special marker (as shown in the picture above). Eliminating them is of paramount importance, as it should automatically end the skirmish. Keep in mind, that hitmen are tougher than usual enemies and often use very effective machine guns or other "exclusive" pieces of equipment.

Lincoln's underbosses

Once you assign a district to someone, it will change its color on the map

Lincoln's main underbosses are Cassandra, Burke and Vito. You will be able to recruit them during the story missions. By default each of them will receive one district of the city to rule it - Cassandra will have Delray Hollow, Burke will get Pointe Verdun and Vito will take control of River Row. As for the other districts, you will be able to decide who will get them. It is best if at the end of the game each of your underbosses has three districts. If you skip someone and give him less than three districts, then during the final phase of the game you will lose that person's loyalty and you will have to kill that underboss.

Each of the underbosses has his own associates to whom you will gain access by inceasing profits of the underboss (by giving him new districts). For example, in case of Cassandra Jackie is such an associate - he offers guns. You can check the underboss menu and check your progress in unlocking new associates. Each time you gain access to a unique associate, the game will inform that you can use his help and what that help is.

Associates

Each of the underbosses has their own associates, whom you will be able to gain access to after increasing the influence of the underboss (by granting them additional districts in the city). You can check the associates menu and watch your progress in unlocking consecutive associates. Each time you gain a unique associate, the game will inform you on how to utilize his support and will explain in what form it comes.

Associates can be divided into two groups, those who provide their services for free, and those who you can only ask for help a limited number of times.

Available free associates are:

• Betty - She is a consigliere and can pick up cash from Lincoln. That is a very useful feature, as it will save you from having to waste time on dropping off the money in the safe located in your hideout. After Vito's racket grows, Betty will start automatically collecting money from rackets that Lincoln has subjugated.
• Hank McGahee - This associate can deliver cars to Lincoln. It is worth using this service each time you are about to begin a mission in which using a vehicle will be required. New machines will be unlocked after Burke's racket grows, the most valuable of which will be armoured.
• Jackie D. - This associate is an arms dealer. Jackie will supply you with some free guns, as well as more expensive firearms, ammunition or other equipment pieces. As Cassandra's racket expands and you complete more missions connected to the underbosses, the choice of unique weaponry will also be greater (e.g. silenced firearms).

The second category are paid associates. In this case their services are acquired by spending markers, which you receive for completing missions. The current number of markers for each of the three underbosses who work for Lincoln is visible in the associates menu (as shown in the picture above). Markers are a rare commodity, so make sure not to use them too often and save them with the hardest missions and most dangerous situations in mind (e.g. for when Lincoln is detected in a location with a very large number of enemies).

Available paid associates are:

• Moran (Cassandra) - This person works as a network operator and can block the ability to make phone calls in a specific area for some time. This can be useful if you will have to fight a large battle in a public location, as you will be able to prevent the police from being signalled about the skirmish.
• Police Dispatcher (Burke) - He is unquestionably the best of the paid associates. He can temporarily stop officers from acting before AND after they have received a report. Thanks to the services of this associate you can, e.g. sneak into police stations or lose police pursuits, without any issue.
• Bobby (Vito) - This particular associate can call in reinforcements, which will appear during a fight and aid Lincoln in eliminating the enemies. Try to use this action when adrenaline shots and ammo are already in very low supply, and there is still a large group of hostiles to be eliminated.