I started a new character a while back to go through the game again and see what changes have occurred as well as to try different strategies. The best strategy for right now seems to put all your points towards energy and try to get through New York as quickly as possible as this will allow you to earn double energy points every time the clock resets. At this point, you can start spending your points on attack, defense, etc.
As far as getting mafia tutorials, it was easier this time around. There are sooo many Facebook groups now with the objective of getting more mafia. Find one of those with an email list and add your email to the list per the instructions. In my case, I got over 200 new mafia members in 2-3 days. If you do this a couple times, you will be at or above 501, which is still the most you can use in a fight.
Some changes:
-New York properties were more difficult for new players, but with the recent changes, it’s the same for everyone now
-My new player can not rob properties. Zynga is planning on bringing back robbing for everyone soon though. In the meantime, if you can still rob, get a leg up by robbing a bunch to get your robbing score up.
-Politico Corruptos- Jet Mafia Wars Anyone who has already gone through Cuba knows how much of a pain these were. It appears that they keep adding them as requirements for new jobs in Cuba, which means those that have not gone through Cuba yet are going to have an even harder time. The best strategy here is to start your businesses in Cuba as soon as possible. Reinvest all the money you make in Cuba into your businesses and as early as possible you should be trying to get the max amount of Politico Corruptos and collect them often so that by the time you are doing the jobs in Cuba that need them, you are already stocked up.
If anyone has some other strategies for new-ish players or any other comments, please share them below. Also, help this site out by digging or tweeting this article please!