An underboss managing their mafia gang is no different from an emperor managing their empire. If there is one more thing that a mafia gang and a historical empire have in common, that would be a powerful army. In The Grand Mafia, your gang’s military manpower is composed of “associates”. Associates come in different shapes and sizes and they all play an important role in dealing with the gang’s physical confrontations.

This guide will explain the basics of mafia associates and how you can hone them to become stronger fighters. Having formidable associates means that your mafia gang will be more capable of defeating rival gangs, which can consequently lead to opportunities to expand your power all across the map. 

The Training Center

First, we need to know where these associates even come from. All of them come from the Training Center, one of the earliest buildings that you can unlock when you start the game. 

Upgrading the training center only increases the amount of associates that you can train within a single sitting. The training speed of associates is a different story. Aside from increased training capacity, upgrading the Training Center to a certain level can also give special buffs. The complete details of Training Center upgrades are listed in the table below. 

Choosing From Multiple Thugs

Upon clicking the Training Center, you will be given the option to choose from four types of associates. As mentioned, associates come in different shapes and sizes. 

Each associate type has their own strengths and weaknesses so it is wise to have a proportional amount of each as part of your strategy. The four associate types are as follows:

• Bruisers – have high speed but low on everything else (ATK,DEF,HP). Require cash, cargo, and metal to train.

• Hitmen – all of its stats are moderate, except the speed which is slightly higher. Requires cash, arms, and cargo to train.

• Bikers – same stats as Brawlers with the same requirements except that cargo is replaced with arms.

• Mortar cars – effective against explosives and walls. Require all four essential resources to train

A crucial thing to note is that associates follow a system that dictates who they are strong and weak against. For instance, Bruisers can take down Gangsters and Mortar Cars easily but will greatly falter against Bikers. These are crucial things to take note of when training your associates. Here is a table listing all of the counters: 

Recruiting Enforcers

An army always needs a general that can lead them to battle and enforcers are the perfect people for that purpose. 

Enforcers are essentially special characters that act as second-in-commands. They are able to give buffs to your associates during battles (i.e. additional HP and ATK) as well as passive boosts to resource production. You can unlock more enforcers as you play through the campaign.

Play The Grand Mafia on PC

Play The Grand Mafia on PC

When you do receive your first enforcer, it is important to take note of some of the upgradeable stats that they have. They are as follows: 

• Enforcer Level – this is the regular level of your enforcer and is the most basic measurement of their progression. Increasing the Enforcer Level increases the overall stats of your enforcer. EXP is used to fill up the level bar and this gained from completing campaign missions.

• Skills – these are the actual buffs that your enforcers distributes to your associates during battle. The effect of each skills depends on the Grade Buff Level. 

• The Grade Buff Level is represented by a segmented bar on the middle of the screen, just below your enforcer’s image. Tokens are used to upgrade this and these are earned by completing specific levels of the campaign. When you have insufficient tokens, click on “Get Tokens” to know which campaign levels contain the Tokens needed for your enforcer.

• The Grade Buff Level also has a hierarchy and goes as follows:
  • Plain > Simple > Rare > Elite > Grand
  • Note that for each category, you have to upgrade it five times before going to the next. For instance, you have to upgrade the Plain five times before moving to Simple, and so on.

• Gear – gear are pieces of equipment that can be worn by enforcers in order to receive additional buffs like added Max HP. Each enforcer has six gear slots, filling up all six slots makes the enforcer eligible for rank promotion. Ranking up an enforcer not only unlocks more Skills but also increases the amount of associates they can lead. More associates essentially mean more chances of winning.
  • Gear is unlocked as your play through the campaign. Do note that some enforcers are only allowed to wear specific gear. You can check this on their “Gear” page.

• Battle Skills – not to be confused with Skills, Battle Skills are completely different abilities that enforcers use to fight bosses in the game’s campaign. Battle Skills can be thought of as finisher moves. Ranking up unlocks more Battle Skills. 

Passively Buffing Your Thugs

Aside from enforcers, your associates can also receive additional passive boosts from other sources. 

The Investment Center has a “Crew” branch of upgrades which contain everything you need when it comes to passively buffing your associates. As you keep progressing through this branch, you get to unlock higher and stronger variants of associates. 

The mafia’s underboss – who is you – can also equip gear like enforcers. There are plenty of sets that can give additional stat boosts for certain associates. For instance, the Challenger’s Set can grant an additional 1.5% or 2.4% ATK boost.