In a town as deadly as Salem it is important to be strategic and to have a knowledge of what you are up against. To maximize your chances of securing a victory in Town of Salem it is important that you understand how to navigate each role. Today I’m going to be breaking down how to play each role in the Classic Mode in Town of Salem so that you can succeed.
Sheriff
The sheriff is a Town Investigative role that gives players the ability to check someone each night for suspicious activity. In Classic Mode the Godfather is the only role that has detection immunity against the Sheriff.
How To Play Sheriff Effectively:
- Work closely with the investigator and interrogate people that they claim are suspicious to help prove their innocence and or guilt.
- If you find a suspicious target early in the game, do not reveal it immediately because people will doubt your believability and suggest that you are an Executioner.
- Report your findings in your will every night to have quick access to your findings when people ask for them.
Lookout
Lookout is a Town Investigative role that allows players to watch someone each night to see who visits them. You are only able to see up to three people who have visited your target with names, if there are more than three you will only know how many people visited them.
How To Play Lookout Effectively
- Keep an updated will because Lookout is a common evil role claim.
- Keep track of what is being said during the day to spot likely targets for the following night.
- Make sure that you are watching out on all names. Even if the names don’t stick out, anyone can be any role so go for those “Jonathan Corwin's”.
Investigator
The investigator is a Town Investigative Role that allows players to investigate someone each night and receive a message the following day that includes the possible roles of the target.
How to Play Investigator Effectively:
- The investigator is a powerful role in Classic Mode because not all roles are available so make sure that you keep track of all of the results that you receive in your will.
- Compare your results to the list of dead players to narrow down player’s roles.
- Always investigate people who claim roles that seem suspicious.
Jailor
The Jailor is a Town Killing role that allows players to choose one person to jail for the night. Players must choose their target during the day for the jail to be successful the following night.
How to Play Jailor Effectively:
- Your will is your friend. Detail who you have jailed and what they claimed in your will each night.
- Don’t be too trusting and don’t be quick to execute. Take a neutral approach until all signs lead to an executable prisoner.
- Only reveal if there are other town roles that can protect you.
Doctor
The doctor is a Town Protective role that allows players to heal one person each night that ultimately prevents them from dying. All doctors are given one self-heal that will allow you to protect yourself from death for one night.
How to Play Doctor Effectively:
- Save your self-heal for later in the game. It is unlikely that you will be a target within the first couple of nights. Wasting your self-heal will hurt you in the late game.
- Find confirmed town members as quickly as you can so you can avoid healing evil roles.
- Lay low and avoid outing your role. You are a main target for the Mafia and Serial Killer to get rid of.
Escort
Escort is a Town Support role that allows players to distract someone each night, blocking them from performing their specific role.
How to Play Escort Effectively:
- Pay attention to the deaths following a night of successful role blocking. If there are no mafia deaths following the blocking of a player you may have found a killing role.
- Avoid role blocking someone multiple times unless you believe they are an evil role.
- Keep records in your will, serial killers will attack you if you attempt to role block them, and having their name in your will can quickly out them.
Medium
Medium is a Town Support role that allows the player to speak with dead players at night. Although it is a slow role at first, it proves to be important towards the mid/late game.
How to Play Medium Effectively:
- Ask the dead each night if they have any important information for you to relay to the living.
- State your name to dead players each night so they can rule you out of any potential links and help you narrow down suspects.
- It is important to keep the discussion going and maximize their freedom of discussion to get more information.
Veteran
One of two possible Town Killing roles to be chosen in Classic Mode, the Veteran allows players to shoot anyone who visits you.
How to Play Veteran Effectively:
- Do not go on alert in the early game unless you have chosen a controversial name that stands out to evil roles. Wasting your alerts is risky.
- Save your last alert for as long as you can. Once you reveal yourself you will undoubtedly be targeted.
- If you run out of alerts do not tell the town that you are empty. Your role at that point is to keep a town majority and win the game.
Vigilante
The second of the two possible Town Killing roles in Classic Mode, the Vigilante role allows players to shoot someone. Vigilantes have up to three shots if they aim their shots at evil roles only.
How to Play Vigilante Effectively:
- If the target of your shot is immune to your attack be sure to indicate that information in your will.
- Only shoot if you are sure that the person in question is a non-town role. Shooting a town role will result in their death and yours.
- If someone is nearly voted up but their vote fails, it could be worth shooting them.
Godfather
Godfather is the most powerful Mafia role available in the game. Classified as Mafia Killing, this role allows players to kill someone each night. They are also granted night immunity and protective immunity.
How to Play Godfather Effectively:
- If you are pressured to claim, it is smart to claim Executioner and give out a false target or claim Sheriff because it is an easy role to pretend.
- Assist in lynching town members in the early stages if it deems popular to weed out the competition.
- Work together with the other members of your Mafia. You may be the most powerful but what they have to say is important.
Mafioso
The second in command in the Mafia, Mafioso is a Mafia Killing role that takes direct orders from the Godfather. Upon the death of the Godfather, the Mafioso will become the new Godfather.
How to Play Mafioso Effectively:
- Always choose a target because if the Godfather is role blocked or jailed, your target will be the one killed the next day.
- Either have the same death note as your Godfather or both of you change up your death note so that if the other is jailed or role blocked there is no suspension that the other has been blocked from killing.
- If it is clear that your Godfather is awaiting their death begin to strategize with your framer on next moves.
Framer
Framer is a Mafia Deception role that allows players to choose a person to frame each night. Allowing you to manipulate information and have the town suspect other town members of being evil.
How to Play Framer Effectively:
- Frame people whose names stick out the most because town investigative roles tend to investigate them.
- Framing people who talk on Day 1 are often a safe bet to frame because they are often looked at by investigative roles.
- Framer is not very powerful on its own. Working in conjunction with your Godfather and Mafioso is important.
Serial Killer
Serial Killer is a Neutral Killing role that allows players to kill someone each night. A Serial Killer is given the special ability to attack a role blocker as well as their intended target. They also have a basic defense against attacks from other killing roles.
How to Play Serial Killer Effectively:
- If someone other than you is accused of being a Serial Killer do your best to keep them alive to clear your own name.
- Pretend to be a Jester if the Jester or Executioner is still alive. This will help you avoid a vote-in.
- Kill people who you suspect are town investigative roles such as investigator or sheriff. Jailor is another good role to target quickly.
Executioner
The Executioner is a Neutral Evil role that grants the player both detection and defensive immunity. The goal of the Executioner is to have their target lynched to win the game. If their target dies the Executioner will become a Jester.
How to Play Executioner Effectively:
- Do not be quick to accuse your target. Players will see right through your accusation and claim that you are an executioner. Waiting until around Day 3 to claim Investigator and convict is smart.
- If you are pressed for your role just claim Executioner and side with the majority in exchange for your target to be lynched.
- Jump on the opportunity to put your target on the lynching block by random vote.
Jester
Jester is a Neutral Evil role that's goal is to become lynched. Upon being lynched the jester wins. If lynched, Jesters have the ability to kill players who vote guilty or abstain from voting. This attack is unstoppable.
How to Play Jester Effectively:
- If you are framed use it to your advantage. Be active in chat but don’t be overly active.
- Staying quiet can also lead people to believe you are evil. If you maintain suspicious behavior players are more likely to vote you up.
- Continue to defend your claim even if others press you. You have a 50% chance of being sent to trial if you are up against another claimer.
Along with the 15 roles above, Classic Mode also contains a Random Town role which allows for one random role from the list of town roles to be chosen for duplication. Random Town is a hard role to navigate because other players will likely see you as suspicious. Proving your value to others and having their trust is vital to surviving as a random town.
That concludes my breakdown of how to play each Classic Mode role in Town of Salem. Although none of these strategies are full proof, they are sure to work in some capacity to help you secure a victory. So go out there and put your new-found skills to the test and play your role well.
