Help Wanted: Earn the Special at 1-2-3-4 targets

[Brandon Debes]

Does anybody have any advice for me on shooting these spot targets reliably? I never did complete this goal on the PHoF: Williams Collection disc, and now here I am again in TPA's Gorgar with all but this one ticked off. Once I managed to complete the third set to light the rotating special arrow just as my last ball drained. But usually I don't even come close.

My first question is this: can you actually shoot each of the three right targets directly, or do you have to get luck shots at them off the left slingshot? I get that the "1" spot can be shot by letting a trapped ball roll dangerously close to the tip of the right flipper. That shot scares me to death. But on the other side I don't think I can even hit either of the spots that isn't the highest one up. So I have just been getting the ball caught in a slingshot back and forth until it fires its way over to the spots. Obviously this isn't a great strategy as it involves a lot of luck. A lot of luck, actually. These spot targets seem pretty picky about registering hits.

Is there a better method though? Can "3" and especially "4" even be shot directly from the left flipper? Is there any other shot on the table that tends to lead to the ball hitting incidental spot targets?

 

[ParallaxScroll]

I think you can hit those 3 from the left flipper, but I can't do it consistently. You can also light one by sending the ball through both inlanes.

 

[Brandon Debes]

I think you can hit those 3 from the left flipper, but I can't do it consistently. You can also light one by sending the ball through both inlanes.

The free light from the inlanes is a great bonus if it happens naturally, but I'm too terrified of the outlanes to attempt to do this on purpose.

Cross-posting from the other thread about these spot targets:
Ultimately I was able to luck into it before anybody offered anything super helpful. Having done it now I don't even really have any tips for you. Like a lot of tables of this vintage, you can eventually get most goals just by keeping the ball alive long enough. As it bounces around wildly it is bound to hit every switch eventually on this dead simple and open playfield. However, just keeping the ball in play is a challenge unto itself on this table. It has a habit of taking a super fast bounce into an outlane before you could possibly issue a reactive nudge.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

That 1 spot is murder to me. I find it much harder than the ones on the right.

 

[Brandon Debes]

I guess I've figured out where on the right flipper to put the ball for a shot at the 1 spot from a held ball. And usually, if you miss late the left slingshot will put you safely in the kick-out hole.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

In general, tip shots to the left and right lower down on the playfield are very hard in TPA and PHoF. They're hard enough in real pinball, but the simulations seem to make the tolerances even tighter.

I remember "advance planet" was extremely difficult in PHoF's Pin*Bot, and I've heard it claimed that it's easier on the real machine, though I haven't spent enough quarters on the real machine to know.

 

[ScotchYeti]

Hitting the spot targets intentionally is pretty hard, I can't do it on the PS3. Fortunately random shots will hit them sooner or later so, as Brandon has already said, keeping the ball alive as long as possible is the key.

 

[Kolchak357]

I let random hits take care of it too, unless it's almost completed. Too difficult and risky for me to just go after intentionally.

 

[phreaker47]

#1 can be hit from a right trap if shot right, and from the left trap it's not difficult to get it to the vicinity of the other three... it's just that often, it seems I'll hit a spot between them and not register a hit at all. Overall, yeah, difficult to hit any of them with a deliberate shot with any consistency.

 

[Mechanix77]

I just completed all the wizard goals in one game! lol. I usually don't have the strength to play this table for more than 10 minutes, but I was on a roll! I couldn't believe it.

Now I won't ever have to play it again.

 

[MOO]

Start a 4-player game, since lit number targets carry over from player to player, and you'll get it really fast.
If that feels like cheating, and you want to get it "legit", then use the inlane rollovers to spot 1-2-3-4 targets for you. If you are comfortable with "Shatzing" the inlanes (alley passing), then you can quickly advance to the point where the special is lit.