So, I’m going to presume you’'ve all read a few gudies and know the basics of FoL, but suddenly you’re still being screamed at to make reads. Well, this is game about catching scum (known to some people [me] as wolves) and let’s be frank; you need to know how!
Firstly, let’s get a few things out of the way, because this confuses a lot of new players:
- Why should you always lynch every day when it seems like you’d end up lynching at random?
- What is REALLY the best strategy for allignment investigators?
- Why is “seeming fishy” not a reason to think somebody is a wolf?
Why should you always lynch every day when it seems like you’d end up lynching at random?
Firstly, reads are important. Mad important. An important thing to note is that lynching is definitely SIGNIFICANTLY more accurate than random.
Secondly, while d1 reads are admittedly less accurate and it appears like most Day 1 lynches are on Town, this does NOT mean that you should sit on your ass and nolynch on Day 1. Here’s the most valuable thing for Town/Village: information. An active day generates TONS of information, and this is why the meta is to always lynch; when lynching is a near certainty discussion is livelier and is better for all players in terms of info.
‘But a nightkill as the first kill surely benefits the village more!’ I hear you cry. Surely avoiding chaos is better for the village, and having a whole night to gather information is great for them. Well, firstly, a night gives off WAAAAAAAAY less info than you think. Even in high-power setups like ToL or FoL most of the info gained on the first few nights is nowhere near as beneficial as the wolves being forced to actively push a wagon, especially since this info is usually useless for the overall village at first.
Always lynch day 1. It creates a TON of info. Of course, you need to have to be able to wolfhunt for it to be really viable; we’ll get to that.
What is REALLY the best strategy for allignment investigators?
So, you’ve got Sheriff. Imagine if you’ve got a guy you’re reading as evil for a long time, and it comes to N1. Surely you should check this guy to make sure he’s a wolf? WRONG. If you’re reading someone as evil hard you should not check them early. It gives far more value for the good guys if the people who are read as null are checked early on, as that can be far more useful when dealing with those who cannot be easily read.
later on, if somebody is still not conclusively evil in your mind it may be best to check, but as a Sheriff or simmilar class, it is better to assume that the vilalge is roughly on the right track early on.
Why is “seeming fishy” not a reason to think somebody is a wolf?
Oh my goodness! You’ve just spotted a guy say something really weird and odd and off on YOUR thread, it’s so unatural he has to be a wolf… right?
WRONG. Dead wrong.
Look at that guy who was saying something wrong or off. It’s weird and makes no sense logically, but that does NOT mean that it makes them wolf or scum. Think about WHY they posted that, and not what they posted. For example, somebody OMGUSing you is not an automatic wolf-tell; think about what scenarios lead to them voting you for voting them and whether it would genuinely make sense for a villager to think that their accuser is wolf because of that.
This is the number 1 cause of shitty reads, and it’s the first thing you have to get rid of if you want to get better at the game.
Wolfhunting, scumreading, whatever. How do I do it then, genius?
Firstly, thank you! :^)
Secondly, as I’ve mentioned the basic thing when reading for wolves or scum is to note their motivation; in a paticular post or overall. If you don’t see somebody’s motivation for posting a lot of things as coming from village, they’re likely wolf. If you see something incredibly anti-village in terms of motivation in one post, then that person is more likely to be wolf. Look at their motivation and why they’'re doing things and you’re bound to get somewhere.
Thirdly, intreractions. Are they natural? Is that argument really something that would happen between two town, two wolves, one wolf and one town? Knowing the alignment of one player in the interaction, can you see what about their interactions ended up causing their death?
Finally, when later in the game as village/town, think about their overall narrative. Does it overall make sense, each push leading naturally into another? Or is it twisted, does the perspective on the overall gamestate hugely shift after every mislynch? If it’s the foremr, you’re likely looking at a villager. If it’;s the latter, you’re likely looking at a wolf. Thinking about somebody’s play OVERALL, a macro read, is often better than microreading each individual post in lategame.
Good luck, and have fun.
PS; some of this was blatantly copied from this article on MafiaUniverse. I’d reccomend ya’ll give it a read for some more advanced stuff as well as a recap of all this.
PSS: my werewolf theme complex is killing my flow because I want to be understandable but I desperately can’t stop typing wolf and villager help.
