Strategies

Different players have different ways of playing. They each have their own style and strategies that they use. Listed below are all different strategies available from the community.

Late Game Strategies
In the last few nights of the game, normal tactics don't work. To win, the 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 can be a Town-losing move. If there are 3 Mafia left, then the will automatically beat the. In this situation, the town needs to try to hang the or hope the  will kill the Mafia.

Roles have different powers late in the game too. An Investigator is less helpful late in the game, because most people will try to deduce who is what role based on what roles are left. An Escort can stop the Godfather indefinitely, force a tie, and provide undeniable proof who is in the Mafia. Whereas, in the beginning of the game, the Escort can only role block people and get killed by the Serial Killer.

The Framer generally can't do much in the 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 being on alert.

Usually, when there are three people left, everyone knows what roles are left. If the game isn't clearly over, usually a Town, a Mafia, and a Neutral are left. As a Mafia, it's almost always a bad move in situations like this to hang the Town. If the Town dies and a Serial Killer is left, the Mafia automatically loses.

When there's a Jester late in the game and there's doubt as to who the Jester is, sometimes it's good to claim Jester and ask "Who is the last town?" If the Jester catches on, he will claim last town and get hung. This can sometimes kill a Godfather or a Serial Killer and allow the remaining town player(s) 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 turn, it's still worth holding out.

Custom
There's a lot more doubt as to each player's role, or even if that role is in the game. It generally makes stalling the best tactic. People don't want to make the wrong move and using arguments such as "There is an Any role" can stall enough time. Generally stalling works in the Mafia's favour, 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 late game, it's important to remember when he ignited or doused someone. If they haven't ignited recently, then they are threat number one. Several people could be doused, and they could win next turn. If they have ignited recently, they can't kill anyone for 2 turns, and they can only kill one person. It's more important to take down Mafia if there's more than one. The Mafia would want to kill town roles such as Vigilante, Jailor or Veteran.

The Transporter can really take advantage of mind-games in this mode.They can transport the Mafia/Serial Killer/Arsonist to attack who they want if they can predict them. They can also even say their existence and choose to transport themselves and 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 lucky.

To combat the transporter, it's best to ignore their mind games completely. Attack targets that they do not acknowledge. Or better, hang them. If mafia have a majority after a lynch, it's safer not to attack at all. A missed attack with 3 people left can cost the mafia the game.

If there is more than 1 Doctor and you somehow find out who each of them is you can create a contraption that can make all confirmed doctors immune at night. All you have to do is decide who is healing who. For example A B and C are doctors; A will heal B, B will heal C, and C will heal A, like a triangle. Although there can only be 6 doctors because as of 1.5.10.4747], this technique can work on any amount of doctors between 2 and 6.

All Any
In All Any almost nobody is 100% what everyone's roles are. Ridiculous things like 5 Mediums have happened before, 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 claim can seem unlikely, because many evil roles claim to be a Medium. Due to the infamously suspicious investigative result "Bogyguard/Godfather/Arsonist" claiming a Bodyguard may 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 Jester is a mixed issue. Some people will say that "Jester would never claim themself!" and then hang you. Conversely, it will scare some people away. 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. "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 badly in order to make people think you are a jester, but not hang you.

One of the most crucial aspects of late game in All Any is establishing how many Mafia members are alive. The only way Town can know this for sure is if a Spy manages to see all Mafia members visit someone at the same night and shares this information with the Townies. In absense of a Spy, Mafia is free to use a deception and confuse Townies about their family. If there's one godfather and no more, write a Death Note laughing at the amount of mafia. 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 few nights. That may trick townies into thinking all Mafia is 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). Town, in turn, should always expect a 5-man Mafia and never trust rumours that there are none. As a matter of the fact, players who wants us to believe Mafia is gone are usually Mafia. In general, 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: a Transporter and an Escort. Transporter is able to make Mafia kill themselves through swapping targets, and Escort can indefinitely roleblock a Killing Mafia preventing deaths. Due to their increased importance there are certain tactics and tricks to give one side an advantage.
 * With an active Transporter, Mafia may take a night or two to observe the situation and figure out 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 Mafia members are, they often choose random people as their secondary targets. After observing, 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 Town gaining a vote majority.
 * As for Escort, they don't have any way of confirming whether their target is a Killing Mafia or not other than the absense of Mafia kills. For that, Mafia would be wise to fool the Escort. If an unimportant Mafia member (for example, Framer) was roleblocked and Mafia happened not to kill this night, abstain from killing the next night. This will make Escort think they found a Killing Mafia. Same if the Escort roleblocked one of Townies. In equally balanced situation (see above) this can be the deciding factor, otherwise you may end up with a draw as 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 Town of Salem, for example, making Godfather become revealed after having the Mayor reveal (if there is one), etc. Below are several strategies for outsmarting some roles, but at the same time, their role would be announced to the rest of Salem, confirming you would be a fake.

Godfather

 * Sometimes, Godfathers will pretend to be 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 they will be forced to help the town members. If they remember that they are a Mafia member (or any Neutral Killing), their identity would be revealed immediately.
 * Tell the town which role you will choose to prove yourself as Amnesiac. However, this may get you killed if your role is a Town role.

Arsonist

 * An Arsonist lying that they were doused is a bad idea, since their identity will be revealed when they ignite the doused players because they will not die after the ignition.
 * It is acceptable however to lie about being doused in the late game. However, once they do ignite, people will know something is up when they haven't died.
 * On the other hand, claiming you were doused likely puts off any suspicion from town, possibly making them suspect someone else is the Arsonist. This should work until you are confident that all the roles that can hurt you are dead or doused. In that case, torch the town, and laugh at the dead for falling for your trick.
 * Conversely, claiming you were doused immediately after someone claims they role blocked you, when they indeed did role block you, is a terrible idea. Most people will take this as a sign you are Arsonist instead of its intended effect, deflecting suspicion.

Executioner

 * Having them reveal their target is a profit, since the Executioner's target is always a Town member.

Jester

 * A Jester often gives false information to win the game (for example: revealing they're a Jailor after all Town Killing roles were revealed).
 * It is a good idea to tell people you're a Jester, because they'll think you're Mafia trying to get away with telling them you're Jester.

Mayor

 * If Mayor reveals themselves, BodyGuards or the Jailor will try to protect them, so be careful. However, a revealed Mayor can not be protected by a Doctor.

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.


 * 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.
 * Serial Killers usually kill the confirmed townies, so confirming yourself out to the public when all the mafias and Serial Killers are alive is a bad idea. And mostly for roles that are needed. Like Jailor, Invest, Sheriff, Doctor, BodyGuard and more.
 * If someone comes up as Serial Killer and other roles, lynch them. The chances are that they are a Serial Killer. And if they claim another role then what the given roles were then that is another reason to lynch your target.

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

Acting like a noob:
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 killers 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 irrepairable damage. Note 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 be left alone. Make sure you do not spam or harass others, as it is against the rules and can get you reported.

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 then no one will know because the death note will still be the same.
 * Claiming 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 Arsonist and claiming to be doused is usually a good strategy. This strategy can turn out badly, however, as the second the Arsonist ignites people will know you are lying. If there is a second arsonist and you are doused, then you can wait a night and clean yourself, and claim you were doused the next night.
 * With the Arsonist, try to douse as many people as you possibly can before igniting. If a major role reveals then don't douse it if there is still the possibility of a bodyguard.

Blackmailer

 * A good strategy with the blackmailer is to not blackmail at all and pretend to be Spy whilst feeding the town information. Claiming spy as the blackmailer can be risky because if you are promoted you will no longer be able to complete spy tests, but if there are no blackmailings then people are more likely to believe your claim.

Mayor

 * Revealing as Mayor is a risky move because it makes you unhealable 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 by the town then make sure to maximise the time you have left before someone decides to kill you.

Escort

 * It can be beneficial to simply not role block as 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 accidently 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 a Survivor died, his neutral status might guarantee the victory for Amnesiac if they indeed remember a Survivor.