Strategies

Town of Salem is a game that requires lots of strategy and communication, so there are many different strategies players use to help them win the game. Below are some tricks that are helpful to use, and also how to counter other players' strategies. These include late game strategies, outsmarting roles, acting, and how to play as specific roles.

Late Game Strategies

In the last few nights of the game, normal tactics don't work. To win, players need to think differently. Usually, this is when there are about 6 players left.

Classic

• When there are only a few people left, priorities change. Normally, hanging the Serial Killer is a good move. However, with only a few people, it could lose the game for the Town. If there are 3 members of the Mafia left, the Mafia will beat the Town as they have the majority. In this situation, the Town needs to try to hang the Mafia or hope the Serial Killer will kill the Mafia for them. This circumstance is ideal for the Serial Killer, however.

• Roles have different powers late in the game, too. An Investigator is less helpful late in the game as most people will try to deduce who has what role based on what roles are left in the role list. On the other hand, during late game, an Escort can role block the Godfather indefinitely, force a tie, and provide undeniable proof who is in the Mafia. In the beginning of the game, though, the Escort can only role block people and get killed by the Serial Killer.
  • The Framer generally can't do much in late game. Usually, the Investigator and Sheriff are dead and framing won't affect anyone. It's better to do nothing, especially in the case of a possible Veteran going on alert, but remember, you could have a chance of becoming a Mafioso if the the last Mafia Killing role is killed. 
• Usually, when there are three people left, everyone knows what roles are left. If the game isn't over, there is usually a Townie, member of the Mafia, and Neutral left. As a member of the Mafia, it's almost always a bad move in situations such as this to hang the Townie. If the Townie dies and a Serial Killer is left, the Mafia automatically loses via the Stalemate Detector. If you are Serial Killer, hanging anyone will work, except if the Townie is a Veteran or a Jailor. If the Townie can't kill in this situation, the Townie usually gets to decide who wins.
• When there's a Jester in late game and there's doubt as to who the Jester is, it may be good to claim to be a Jester if you are Town and ask, "Who is the last Townie?" If the Jester catches on, he will claim to be the last Townie and get hanged. This can sometimes kill a Godfather or a Serial Killer and allow the remaining Townies to win.
• It's also important not to give up when a possibility of winning exists. Even if the Mafia have to attack the Serial Killer and the Serial Killer has to attack the Godfather in the same night, it's still worth holding out.

Custom

• Depending on the role list, there's usually a lot more doubt about each player's role, or even if that role is in the game. This generally makes stalling the best tactic. If you need to, using arguments such as: "There is an Any slot." can stall enough time. Generally, stalling works in the Mafia's favor, especially when they have more than one player alive. Acting like a Jester can be more effective as well, although custom players generally know the game better. A lousy acting job will not work well.
• When there's an Arsonist in late game, it's important to remember when he ignited someone. If they haven't ignited recently, then they are threat number one. Several people could be doused, and they could win the next night. If they have ignited recently, they can't kill anyone for 2 nights, and they can only kill one person. It's more important to take down the Serial Killer, or the Mafia if there's more than one. The Mafia would want to kill important Town roles such as the Vigilante, Jailor or Veteran.
• The Transporter can really take advantage of mind-games in this mode. They can transport any member of the Mafia/Serial Killer/Arsonist to attack who they want if they can predict them. They can also even reveal their existence and choose to transport themselves with another target. If that target is a well-known immune role, the Transporter is in a strong position. The only reason to attack the immune role is to predict the Transporter's mind games. Otherwise, the attacking player forgot the target was immune and made a bad decision that turned out to be lucky.
  • To combat the Transporter, it's best to ignore their mind games completely. Attack targets that they do not acknowledge, or even better, hang them. If the Mafia has majority if there's an active Transporter, it's safer not to attack at all. The Mafia Killing attacking other members of the Mafia because of a Transporter can cost them the game.
• If there is more than 1 Doctor and you somehow find out who each of them are, you can create a combination that can make all confirmed Doctors immune at night. All you have to do is decide who is healing who. However, this can take lots of communication. For example, A, B and C are Doctors: A will heal B, B will heal C, and C will heal A.
• Witches become a lot more valuable late game, especially if the evils are taking over the Town. The Witch can claim publicly and choose a side, reducing the chances that they will be killed at Night.

All Any

• In All Any, almost nobody is 100% sure what everyone's roles are. Ridiculous things like 5 Mediums are possible, so almost any claim can work. It's important to know what people think about different claims. An Investigator claim will seem unlikely if the player hasn't talked much during the claim. A Medium or Sheriff claim can seem unlikely, as many evil roles claim to be these roles. Due to the suspicious investigative result of Bodyguard, Godfather, or Arsonist, claiming to be a Bodyguard may also be seen with a grain of salt and lead to the lynch of the player, especially if there happens to be an active Arsonist.
  • Claiming to be a Jester is a mixed issue. Some people might say, "A Jester would never claim to be a Jester themselves!" and then hang you. Conversely, it will scare some people. It's more effective to act like you want to get lynched but never actually say, "I want to get lynched!" or, "I'm a jester." Provide a role, but mix a mistake in your explanation such as, "I'm a Vigilante. I shot someone Night 1.", "I'm Medium. I spoke to the dead Night 1." Generally making various people angry works too; however, it has to be done in such a way that people think you are a Jester, but not hang you. Make sure you are not so rude as to be reported.
• One of the most crucial aspects of late game in All Any is establishing how many members of the Mafia are alive. The only way the Town can know this for sure is if a Spy manages to see all members of the Mafia visit someone on the same night and shares this information with the Townies. In the lack of a possible Spy, the Mafia is free to use a deception and confuse the Townies about the Mafia. If there's one Godfather and no other Mafia roles, write a Death Note laughing at the amount of Mafia, and vice versa. You may even talk to yourself in night chat and mess around with a Spy. However, if all but one Mafia have died by the start of a late game, it's sometimes beneficial to lay low and withhold from attacking for a few Nights. That may trick Townies into thinking all the Mafia are gone and focusing their efforts on other evil factions. Sometimes, just one extra Night is enough, especially if you established yourself as a trustworthy Townie before (for example, a Consort masking as an Escort or a Consigliere masking as an Investigator).
  • The Town, in turn, should always expect the worst and never trust rumors saying there are no Mafia. As a matter of fact, players who want the Town to believe the Mafia are gone are usually a part of the Mafia themselves. In general, the Mafia should always take advantage of the idea that they usually have an overwhelming majority. It can cause people to give up prematurely.
• Two Town Support roles become much more viable in a late game: the Transporter and the Escort. The Transporter is able to make the Mafia kill themselves through swapping targets, and an Escort can indefinitely role block a Mafia Killing role to prevent deaths. Due to their increased importance, there are certain tactics and tricks to give one side an advantage.
  • With an active Transporter, the Mafia may take a night or two to observe the situation and figure out the Transporter's patterns. Most Transporters either save their own skin or guard an important Town role such as the Mayor or the Jailor. Not knowing who the members of the Mafia are, they often choose random people as their secondary targets. After observing, the Mafia may accurately predict who the next Transporter targets will be. This is especially important in equally balanced situation (3x3 or 2x2) where one wrong guess may lead to the Town losing.
  • As for Escorts, they usually don't have any way of confirming whether their target is a Mafia Killing role, or if the Mafia hit an immune/didn't attack at all. If that happens, the Mafia would be wise to fool the Escort. If an unimportant member of the Mafia (for example, a Framer) was role blocked and the Mafia happened not to kill that night, abstain from killing the next night. This will make Escorts think they found a Mafia Killing role.Be careful with this, though, because if the old Mafia Killing dies, then your unimportant member could be promoted and be role blocked every night, The same thing applies if the Escort role blocked a Townie. In an equally balanced situation, (see above) this can be the deciding factor, otherwise you may end up with a draw as the Mafia wouldn't be able to kill or lynch anyone.

Outsmarting Roles

There are several different strategies that can be used to try and outsmart a role in the Town of Salem. Below are several strategies for outsmarting some roles.

Godfather

• Sometimes, Godfathers will pretend to be successful or unsuccessful Executioners in order to explain their Night Immunity. For this reason, it's important to kill anyone who seems like an Executioner, and especially anyone who claims to be a victorious Executioner.

Amnesiac

• If an Amnesiac is jailed and needs to claim a role, they will need to remember their role as a Town and will be forced to help the Townies. If they remember that they are a member of the Mafia (or any Neutral Killing), their identity would be revealed immediately and would likely be executed by the Jailor. However, remember that there can be more than one Amnesiac, so a different Amnesiac may have remembered said evil role.

Arsonist

• Because an Arsonist can douse anyone without them knowing, they are able to lie and claim doused when an Investigator calls them out, but upon igniting, the Town will instantly know who the Arsonist is.

Executioner

• Having them reveal their target is a profit, since an Executioner's target is always a Townie.

Jester

• A Jester often gives false information to win the game, so do not trust what they say (for example: revealing they're a Jailor after all Town Killing roles were revealed).

Mayor

• If Mayor reveals themselves, Bodyguards, Lookouts or the Jailor will try to protect them, so be careful. However, a revealed Mayor can not be protected by a Doctor.
• If Mayor reveals themselves, they cannot be whispered to, and therefore is vulnerable.

Serial Killer

• The Serial Killer usually gives false information and false "confirmations". The usual claim for a Serial Killer is Doctor. If there is a Mayor that game, you can trick the Serial Killer to "heal" the Mayor. If they say that they did heal the Mayor, then lynch them. Revealed Mayors cannot be healed by Doctors.
• Serial Killers usually kill confirmed Townies, so confirming yourself out to the public when all the members of the Mafia and Serial Killers are alive is a bad idea. This is true mostly for roles that are needed, such as the Jailor, Investigator, Sheriff, Doctor, Bodyguard and more.
• If someone comes up as Doctor, Disguiser, or Serial Killer, lynch them. Depending on the game mode, they are probably a Serial Killer. And if they claim another role besides Doctor, lynch them. Of course, Doctor claims are suspicious anyway, especially if there is an active Serial Killer. However, if someone was jailed and the Jailor was not killed, they cannot be the Serial Killer.

Werewolf

• Werewolves will often claim Executioner similarly to Godfathers - except in the Werewolf's case, an Investigator cannot tell the difference. Sheriffs can only see the Werewolf on a full moon, and any Lookouts catching the Werewolf will be killed.
• As with Executioner, Sheriff is a common claim for Werewolves. Always treat "Sheriffs" with suspicion in a Werewolf game.
• Some Werewolves will claim Survivor to both explain their immunity and stay unnoticed. However, since Survivor is no longer part of the Werewolf's investigative results they can easily be busted.

Acting

"Acting" as a certain player can have several advantages.

Acting like a newbie:

• This is a great strategy for survival, especially if you are a Townie. Act like a player who is new to the game. For even better results, act like a bad Jester or Executioner. To make yourself look more convincing, give yourself the default avatar, home, and name. If all goes well, the Mafia will ignore you, since you won't be harmful to them, and the Neutral Killing roles will likely do the same. The only downside is, of course, the Town. If a Vigilante or Jailor decides to kill you, you severely hurt the Town's chances to win, possibly causing irreparable damage. Note that this is unlikely to work in Ranked, as you must have played several games to be in Ranked.

Acting annoying:

• Act very loud and annoying - but not too annoying, or someone will kill you at night. The Mafia tends to target players who are smarter or players who have been going undercover, so if you do the opposite, you will hopefully be left alone. Make sure you do not spam or harass others, as it is breaking the rules and can get you reported.

Acting AFK

• Say early on that you are going to be AFK for some reason, and then stay silent for the rest of the game, or possibly pretend to be back later. This works particularly well when you are an Arsonist, as you can douse and people will think it isn't you. This strategy fails, however, if there is a Lookout. Also, if you are jailed then you will certainly be executed for not claiming a role.

Role Strategies

Each and every role requires strategy. Here are some!

Godfather

• A good strategy as the Godfather is to copy the Death Note of the Mafioso. This way, if the Mafioso is role blocked or jailed, no one will know that the person role blocked or jailed is the Mafioso because the Death Note will still be the same.
• Claiming to be an Executioner that has won the game and will side with the Town is an effective strategy, but most people will kill Executioners anyway. Be careful whilst doing this.

Arsonist

• Not dousing the first night as an Arsonist is generally a bad idea; it generally wastes time. However, it is also possible to lay low and ignite at the end of the game, which can catch players off guard.
• With the Arsonist, try to douse as many people as you possibly can before igniting. If a major role reveals, then don't douse them if there is still the possibility of a Bodyguard.

Mayor

• Revealing as Mayor is a risky move because it makes you unable to be healed by the Doctor and you can't be whispered to. A good strategy with Mayor is to pretend to be a regular Townie, usually one that can provide no harm to the Mafia and killing roles, so they avoid you. Reveal only when you need to, and if you are forced to reveal by the Town, then make sure to maximize the time you have left before someone decides to kill you.

Escort

• It can be beneficial to simply not role block as an Escort, because chances are high that you will be role blocking members of the Town. Only role blocking people who are highly suspicious is a good way to make sure you don't accidentally hinder members of the Town.

Amnesiac

• One of the best strategies with Amnesiac is to not remember a role until a faction appears to be clearly winning. This way you can be sure that you are making the right choice when you remember a role. However, if you can remember Survivor, do that and announce your role the next day. It will highly decrease the chances of you being attacked.
• Tell the Town and Jailor which role you will choose to prove yourself as an Amnesiac. However, this may get you killed by other killing roles.

Vigilante

• Scumreading is very important when playing as the Vigilante. Considering that you don't want to shoot a member of the Town and kill yourself, but at the same time you don't want to be completely useless, it is often beneficial to shoot people not based off of any negative evidence, but because of scumreading and playing the numbers game.
• You can safely shoot anyone who says 'lynch me' or anything similar. Townies would never do this, unless they are throwing the game.

Jester

• It is a good idea to tell people you're a Jester, because they'll think you're a member of the Mafia trying to get away with telling them you're a Jester.

Witch

• It is possible to abuse a Vigilante by making them shoot a Townie that has revealed themselves; this would help the Witch taking a step forward in winning.
• If you know an Investigator, make them investigate someone except yourself to keep your identity safe.
• If you know a Godfather, make them kill other players of your choice. Of course, don't make them kill randomly- your Mafioso teammate could run in to the Veteran or Town Protectives. Even worse, the Godfather or Mafioso could kill their own members! However, if you know the Mafioso, they will still attack the Godfather's target, if there is one. (bugged)