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 is a good move. However, with only a few people, it could lose the game for the . If there are 3 members of the  left, the  will beat the  as they have the majority. In this situation, the  needs to try to hang the  or hope the  will kill the  for them. However, this circumstance is ideal for the.


 * Roles have different powers late in the game, too. An 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  can role block the  indefinitely, force a tie, and provide undeniable proof who is in the . In the beginning of the game, though, the  can only role block people and most likely get killed by the.
 * The generally can't do much in late game. Usually, the  and  are dead and framing won't affect anyone. It's better to do nothing, especially in the case of a possible  going on alert, but remember, you could have a chance of becoming a  if the last  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, a member of the , and a left. As a member of the , it's almost always a bad move in situations such as this to hang the . If the  dies and a  is left, the  automatically loses via the Stalemate Detector. If you are , hanging anyone will work, except if the  is a  or a . If the  can't kill in this situation, the  usually gets to decide who wins.
 * When there's a in late game and there's doubt as to who the  is, it may be good to claim to be a  if you are  and ask, "Who is the last ?" If the  catches on, he will claim to be the last  and get hanged. This can sometimes kill a  or a  and allow the remaining  to win.
 * It's also important not to give up when a possibility of winning exists. Even if the have to attack the  and the  has to attack the  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 's favor, especially when they have more than one player alive. Acting like a 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 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, or the  if there's more than one. The  would want to kill important  roles such as the ,  or.
 * The can really take advantage of mind-games in this mode. They can transport any member of the // 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  is in strong position. The only reason to attack the immune role is to predict the '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, it's best to ignore their mind games completely. Attack targets that they do not acknowledge, or even better, hang them. If the has majority if there's an active , it's safer not to attack at all. The  attacking other members of the  because of a  can cost them the game.
 * If there is more than one and you somehow find out who each of them are, you can create a combination that can make all confirmed  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 : A will heal B, B will heal C, and C will heal A.
 * become a lot more valuable late game, especially if the evils are taking over the . The can publicly claim 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 are possible, so almost any claim can work. It's important to know what people think about different claims. An  claim will seem unlikely if the player hasn't talked much during the claim. A  or  claim can seem unlikely, as many evil roles claim to be these roles. Due to the suspicious investigative result of, , or , claiming to be a  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.
 * Claiming to be a is a mixed issue. Some people might say, "A  would never claim to be a  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 . I shot someone Night 1.", "I'm . 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, 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 are alive. The only way the  can know this for sure is if a  manages to see all members of the  visit someone on the same night and shares this information with the . In the lack of a possible, the  is free to use a deception and confuse the  about the . If there's one  and no other  roles, write a Death Note laughing at the amount of , and vice versa. You may even talk to yourself in night chat and mess around with a . However, if all but one  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  into thinking all the  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  before (for example, a  masking as an  or a  masking as an ).
 * The, in turn, should always expect the worst and never trust rumors saying there are no . As a matter of fact, players who want the to believe the  are gone are usually a part of the  themselves. In general, the  should always take advantage of the idea that they usually have an overwhelming majority. It can cause people to give up prematurely.
 * Two roles become much more viable in a late game: the  and the . The  is able to make the  kill themselves through swapping targets, and an  can indefinitely role block a  role to prevent deaths. Due to their increased importance, there are certain tactics and tricks to give one side an advantage.
 * With an active, the may take a night or two to observe the situation and figure out the 's patterns. Most  either save their own skin or guard an important  role such as the  or the . Not knowing who the members of the  are, they often choose random people as their secondary targets. After observing, the  may accurately predict who the next  targets will be. This is especially important in equally balanced situation (3x3 or 2x2) where one wrong guess may lead to the  losing.
 * As for, they usually don't have any way of confirming whether their target is a role, or if the Mafia hit an immune/didn't attack at all. If that happens, the  would be wise to fool the . If an unimportant member of the  (for example, a ) was role blocked and the  happened not to kill that night, abstain from killing the next night. This will make  think they found a  role.Be careful with this, though, because if the old  dies, then your unimportant member could be promoted and be role blocked every night, The same thing applies if the  role blocked a . In an equally balanced situation, (see above) this can be the deciding factor, otherwise you may end up with a draw as the  wouldn't be able to kill or lynch anyone.
 * When playing against someone who claims or is acting like a, it might actually be a good idea to lynch them if the Jailor or Vigilante are unable to deal with them. Sometimes the person claiming will actually be an evil role.

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

Amnesiac

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

Arsonist

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

Executioner

 * Having them reveal their target is a profit, since an 's target is always a.

Jester

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

Mayor

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

Serial Killer

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

Werewolf

 * Werewolves will often claim similarly to s - except in the Werewolf's case, an  cannot tell the difference. Sheriffs can only see the  on a full moon, and any Lookouts catching the  will be killed.
 * As with, is a common claim for Werewolves. Always treat "s" with suspicion in a  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 or . To make yourself look more convincing, give yourself the default avatar, home, and name. If all goes well, the  will ignore you, since you won't be harmful to them, and the  roles will likely do the same. The only downside is, of course, the . If a  or  decides to kill you, you severely hurt the '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 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, as you can douse and people will think it isn't you. This strategy fails, however, if there is a . Also, if you are jailed then you will certainly be executed for not claiming a role.


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


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


 * Scumreading is very important when playing as the . Considering that you don't want to shoot a member of the 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. would never do this, unless they are throwing the game.


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


 * If you investigate someone and they come up as or an evil  role, don't automatically claim they're evil. Instead, pretend to be an  and post an accurate result of the player you investigated that the  would have.


 * One of the best strategies with 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, do that and announce your role the next day. It will highly decrease the chances of you being attacked.
 * Tell the and  which role you will choose to prove yourself as an . However, this may get you killed by other killing roles.
 * Not remembering a role will NEVER win the game for you, so if you feel as if you are going to die the next night or in the near future, it is a good idea to just remember a role to the faction you think will win.


 * Remember that you win with anyone, so if a, , or finds you, it is not necessarily a bad idea to help the / find other evil players or even  members.


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


 * It is possible to abuse a by making them shoot a  that has revealed themselves; this would help the  taking a step forward in winning.
 * If you know an, make them investigate someone except yourself to keep your identity safe.
 * If you know a, make them kill other players of your choice. Of course, don't make them kill randomly, because your teammate could run in to the  or . Even worse, the Godfather or  could kill their own members! However, if you know the , they will still attack the 's target, if there is one. (bugged)
 * If you find a or  make them protect yourself if you lost your barrier or if you still have your barrier protect another ally who is not night immune like the  or.


 * Not dousing the first night as an 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, 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.


 * It might be a good idea to claim that you are the after you get your first plunder, especially if you killed an evil player. That way, the Town may be hesistant to lynch you since you win with everyone after you plunder twice.


 * If your target dies early and you didn't protect them at all, it may be a good idea to wait late game to mention that you've turned into a . If you claim that you've turned into a too early, people may become suspicious of you.
 * On the other hand, if there is any investigative role, players will realize you are telling the truth.