Business Hugs
New member
- Aug 17, 2012
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but I FINALLY won the Battle for the Kingdom. It was the last goal I needed to accomplish all the wizard goals. I thought I would share some of the things I picked up.
Battle for the Kingdom is the hardest wizard mode I've encountered so far. Granted, I haven't played a ton of pinball in general. There are just so many things about Medieval Madness that are ruthless and unforgiving, and you have to accomplish soooo many annoying sub-goals before you can even START BftK.
To me, the two "hardest" goals are Castle Crusher and Master of Trolls. The castle shot is the easiest shot in my opinion, it just takes a lot of castle shots to actually get the goal. (if you add it up, you need 15 drawbridge shots, 21 castle gate shots, and 6 shots into the castle.) Trapping the ball after a castle gate shot is very unreliable and was one of my biggest sources of stress. It usually found its way back to the right flipper, but very rarely would it just sail down and sit on it without bouncing up, hitting the right bumper and bouncing around the playfield for a bit. Sometimes the ball would drain into the moat after a castle gate shot, which would make me happy. When it spits the ball out from the castle, you can just let it sail down and bounce off the left flipper into the right one for an easy capture. This is why lowering the drawbridge is the easiest shot in the game for me, and also why I get upset whenever I get "lower the drawbridge" from Merlin's Magic. It's not actually difficult to crush all the castles, but doing it without losing a single ball is.
The trolls aren't necessarily "hard" either. You need to kill 10 trolls to get the Master of Trolls title. The first 2 are a little stressful, since sometimes the ball drains straight down the middle, slowly, after a direct troll shot. Other times it can bounce unexpectedly to one of the outlanes. It's important not to take this shot, or any shot, too hard because the ball in this game can be unpredictably fast. Once you win the regular troll mode, Troll Madness will be lit (if you haven't played any of the other non-Castle multiball modes yet, anyway). This is the best way to get the Troll title and often times it's the first one I'll get. If you can light Trolls and activate it along with another multiball mode, it makes it a lot easier. It's just the sequencing that is annoying.
The first thing I do in-game is activate Merlin's Magic. When I do this, I'm looking for Light Trolls, Start Trolls, or Smack-a-Troll, in that order. If I don't get one of those, I start trapping the ball and making castle shots. If you do a regular skill shot, once the ball finishes with the jets it sails down to your right flipper, where you can do two things: hold the right flipper down, and (almost) every time it will bounce up once and then trap safely, or you can let it bounce off the right flipper and trap it with your left one. The castle shot is easier with the right flipper, but you can do it with either one. I like to start with the castles, especially if I don't have trolls lit yet, because in the process of hitting the castle door the ball will sometimes hit one of the troll stoppers on the way back down, or maybe you'll accidentally hit one trying to make the castle shot anyway. You need a total of 24 troll stopper hits: 8 to light Trolls, and 8 more each to get two Troll Bombs, which are really important for BftK. Generally in the process of hitting the castle door so many times I'll accumulate all of these, but I've made it to the King of Payne before without getting more than 2 shots towards a Troll Bomb, which is a pain because making dedicated troll stopper shots can be stressful and unreliable. I usually stop after lowering the King of Payne's drawbridge because I don't like the castle door shot, and I can usually get castle door hits as incidentals from trying to accomplish another goal, or in a multiball mode.
In a perfect game, I'll have lit Trolls with 2 troll bombs with at least the first 4 king's men defeated. After that, it's on to the ramp and orbit goals. For me, The Peasant ramp is the easiest to hit. The rest can be equally difficult at times, but if I had to choose the easiest one I'd choose the Damsel ramp. I have a lot of difficulty reliably hitting the Joust orbit, which is a great source of frustration for me. I believe it's easier to hit on the right than on the left. Because of the speed the shot requires, too often the ball will hit the edge of the Peasant ramp and fly quickly over to one of the outlanes, resulting in a ball drain. With the right orbit shot, usually the worst that happens is you accidentally hit a Merlin's Magic target and the ball flies around for a while.
You have to get 2 of each goal: 2 joust victories, 2 damsels rescued, 2 catapult slams, 2 peasant revolts. Well, really you need 3, but you can get the 3rd one for each of those from Royal Madness. Making the first catapult shot in that mode will give you 1 catapult slam, the first peasant ramp will give you 1 revolt, and so on. This is easy and it is a blessing.
Usually the last goal I'll find myself needing is Joust Champion. I just can't make enough joust orbit shots reliably. I've had more games than I would have liked where I got all the other goals with 1 or 2 troll bombs, only to lose 3 consecutive balls trying to make the orbit shot. The ball just flies around too fast, especially when you are trying to make shots under pressure.
As for the actual Battle for the Kingdom itself, I played the mode 7 or 8 times before actually winning it. The first half is reasonably easy, all you have to do is make a bunch of jackpot shots. The strategy I used at first was focused entirely on preservation; that is, make sure not to lose any balls and you will eventually hit all the jackpots. This isn't a bad strategy per se, it's just too conservative and not very resourceful. Often times I'd lose one ball before making it to the second half, and the second half is hard, really hard, or super hard, depending if you have 2, 1, or 0 troll bombs. The strategy I switched to (and the one I used to finally win) was to focus as hard as I can on making the two joust orbit shots, and ignoring any balls that drain. The theory behind this strategy is that the 20 second ball saver lets you ignore unlucky drains or drains that are too difficult to nudge-save, and in the process of trying to make the joust shots, you'll probably make all the other ones. It's not exactly scientific, but I found that actually focusing on the shots finishes the mode faster (who would have thought?). The second half, you have to hit the castle gate 7 times, then shoot the ball into the castle. The mode starts off with 2 trolls in the way, and there's no way to get rid of them except with a troll bomb. Hopefully, you saved up 2 troll bombs before making it here. Often times I would make it to this mode with exactly 2 balls left and no more ball save, and try to make the shots methodically, since the castle gate is the easiest shot, right? It's not so easy in practice. The 10 second timer is brutal, and that's if there aren't any trolls in the way. When I finally beat this mode, it was because I had 2 troll bombs and 4 balls with a tiny bit of ball save, and I managed to get 3 castle gate shots amidst the chaos of multiball preservation. After that, I simply had to make 4 more castle gate shots without any backup (most stressful shots of my life) and when I actually did it, it felt soooo good.
Here are some general tips:
-You can trap the ball from almost anywhere. I find the ball sails down the center but leaning toward the left flipper a lot, and usually it'll hit the left flipper and bounce to the right one for an easy trap. Sometimes you might need to give it a nudge. Remember, nudge in the opposite direction of where you want the ball to go.
-When the ball comes down from the castle kickout, holding the left flipper sometimes bounces it into the left inlane (giving you a decent left flipper shot, or hold pass to the right flipper) but I find this unreliable, since maybe 3 times out of 10 it'll bounce with enough velocity to sail right into the left outlane for a frustrating drain. It's better to let it bounce off the left flipper to the right one for an easy trap, and you can pass it over if you need a left flipper shot.
-When the ball is coming from the Catapult/Peasant ramp, the most reliable way to trap it is to hold the left flipper and let it sail over to the right one for an easy trap. I've done this pass hundreds of times and I've only seen it fail once.
-The same is not true for the Damsel ramp. When the ball is coming from the right ramp, you can't hold the right flipper and pass it to the left one. More often than not, it won't go fast enough and it'll bounce right off the right flipper into a center drain.
-The castle shot is super easy, but you have to completely trap the ball first. Once you do, shoot it reasonably gently from the center of the flipper.
-Try to light Trolls before activating Catapult or any of those other multiball madness modes. It's super easy to kill the trolls with 2+ balls instead of just 1, and if you kill them with the multiball mode still active, it'll start Troll Madness and give you a chance to kill the other 8 trolls you need for Master of Trolls. In fact, try to start Trolls with at least 2 madness modes.
-Castle multiball (and the madness modes when you already have Master of Trolls) is kind of useless for advancing to BftK, but you can still salvage 2 things from it: making a lot of stress free castle drawbridge/gate shots, and getting an extra ball from killing all the knights. I usually go for castle shots.
-The ball moves around very quickly on this table, so there's a lot of variance. Try to prioritize extra balls if you can. I get the 28 million point one and the 2-castle one every single game, and I'm pretty happy if I make it to video mode and get that one too.
-Speaking of video mode, whenever you get a Catapult Slam, try to hit the cow. If you launch 3 cows, the children in video mode will change to cows, which makes it a little easier to get to the extra ball (since cows are heavier than children and the crows don't fly away as fast).
-You can get any catapult ammo you want every time by memorizing the pattern and counting the sounds. Whenever you start a new game for the first time, the pattern is always Bowling Ball, Cow, Chicken, Cat, Skull, and that's order it cycles in. I find it's easy to let it cycle through once. For example to get the cow I would let it blink 6 times, then hit both flippers (since it starts on the bowling ball, takes 5 blinks to get back to the bowling ball, then one more for the cow). This is also useful if you haven't completed the Barnyard Multiball goal yet. If you play one complete game and start another one without leaving the table, the order and point values will be different. (For that matter, the princess order is always the same when you start fresh too, it's always valley girl, librarian, fat lady. I suppose it's the same if you turn a physical MM machine off and on again.)
-The most frequent drains for me are outlane drains. The left outlane is killer. Too many times I'll go for a joust shot, only to hit the edge of the peasant ramp and have it fly uncontrollably quickly to one of the outlanes. Most of my center drains feel completely avoidable via nudging.
I'm sure there are more things I learned that I can't remember and I'll post them if I do. I remember struggling super hard to start Frog Frenzy in Ripley's and cursing how difficult the table was, but walking away feeling like the table was one of the best I've ever played because of how incredibly deep and skill-rewarding it is. I feel the same way about Medieval Madness. The table is very well designed. I feel like there are more unlucky drains than in Ripley's though, which sucks.
Battle for the Kingdom is the hardest wizard mode I've encountered so far. Granted, I haven't played a ton of pinball in general. There are just so many things about Medieval Madness that are ruthless and unforgiving, and you have to accomplish soooo many annoying sub-goals before you can even START BftK.
To me, the two "hardest" goals are Castle Crusher and Master of Trolls. The castle shot is the easiest shot in my opinion, it just takes a lot of castle shots to actually get the goal. (if you add it up, you need 15 drawbridge shots, 21 castle gate shots, and 6 shots into the castle.) Trapping the ball after a castle gate shot is very unreliable and was one of my biggest sources of stress. It usually found its way back to the right flipper, but very rarely would it just sail down and sit on it without bouncing up, hitting the right bumper and bouncing around the playfield for a bit. Sometimes the ball would drain into the moat after a castle gate shot, which would make me happy. When it spits the ball out from the castle, you can just let it sail down and bounce off the left flipper into the right one for an easy capture. This is why lowering the drawbridge is the easiest shot in the game for me, and also why I get upset whenever I get "lower the drawbridge" from Merlin's Magic. It's not actually difficult to crush all the castles, but doing it without losing a single ball is.
The trolls aren't necessarily "hard" either. You need to kill 10 trolls to get the Master of Trolls title. The first 2 are a little stressful, since sometimes the ball drains straight down the middle, slowly, after a direct troll shot. Other times it can bounce unexpectedly to one of the outlanes. It's important not to take this shot, or any shot, too hard because the ball in this game can be unpredictably fast. Once you win the regular troll mode, Troll Madness will be lit (if you haven't played any of the other non-Castle multiball modes yet, anyway). This is the best way to get the Troll title and often times it's the first one I'll get. If you can light Trolls and activate it along with another multiball mode, it makes it a lot easier. It's just the sequencing that is annoying.
The first thing I do in-game is activate Merlin's Magic. When I do this, I'm looking for Light Trolls, Start Trolls, or Smack-a-Troll, in that order. If I don't get one of those, I start trapping the ball and making castle shots. If you do a regular skill shot, once the ball finishes with the jets it sails down to your right flipper, where you can do two things: hold the right flipper down, and (almost) every time it will bounce up once and then trap safely, or you can let it bounce off the right flipper and trap it with your left one. The castle shot is easier with the right flipper, but you can do it with either one. I like to start with the castles, especially if I don't have trolls lit yet, because in the process of hitting the castle door the ball will sometimes hit one of the troll stoppers on the way back down, or maybe you'll accidentally hit one trying to make the castle shot anyway. You need a total of 24 troll stopper hits: 8 to light Trolls, and 8 more each to get two Troll Bombs, which are really important for BftK. Generally in the process of hitting the castle door so many times I'll accumulate all of these, but I've made it to the King of Payne before without getting more than 2 shots towards a Troll Bomb, which is a pain because making dedicated troll stopper shots can be stressful and unreliable. I usually stop after lowering the King of Payne's drawbridge because I don't like the castle door shot, and I can usually get castle door hits as incidentals from trying to accomplish another goal, or in a multiball mode.
In a perfect game, I'll have lit Trolls with 2 troll bombs with at least the first 4 king's men defeated. After that, it's on to the ramp and orbit goals. For me, The Peasant ramp is the easiest to hit. The rest can be equally difficult at times, but if I had to choose the easiest one I'd choose the Damsel ramp. I have a lot of difficulty reliably hitting the Joust orbit, which is a great source of frustration for me. I believe it's easier to hit on the right than on the left. Because of the speed the shot requires, too often the ball will hit the edge of the Peasant ramp and fly quickly over to one of the outlanes, resulting in a ball drain. With the right orbit shot, usually the worst that happens is you accidentally hit a Merlin's Magic target and the ball flies around for a while.
You have to get 2 of each goal: 2 joust victories, 2 damsels rescued, 2 catapult slams, 2 peasant revolts. Well, really you need 3, but you can get the 3rd one for each of those from Royal Madness. Making the first catapult shot in that mode will give you 1 catapult slam, the first peasant ramp will give you 1 revolt, and so on. This is easy and it is a blessing.
Usually the last goal I'll find myself needing is Joust Champion. I just can't make enough joust orbit shots reliably. I've had more games than I would have liked where I got all the other goals with 1 or 2 troll bombs, only to lose 3 consecutive balls trying to make the orbit shot. The ball just flies around too fast, especially when you are trying to make shots under pressure.
As for the actual Battle for the Kingdom itself, I played the mode 7 or 8 times before actually winning it. The first half is reasonably easy, all you have to do is make a bunch of jackpot shots. The strategy I used at first was focused entirely on preservation; that is, make sure not to lose any balls and you will eventually hit all the jackpots. This isn't a bad strategy per se, it's just too conservative and not very resourceful. Often times I'd lose one ball before making it to the second half, and the second half is hard, really hard, or super hard, depending if you have 2, 1, or 0 troll bombs. The strategy I switched to (and the one I used to finally win) was to focus as hard as I can on making the two joust orbit shots, and ignoring any balls that drain. The theory behind this strategy is that the 20 second ball saver lets you ignore unlucky drains or drains that are too difficult to nudge-save, and in the process of trying to make the joust shots, you'll probably make all the other ones. It's not exactly scientific, but I found that actually focusing on the shots finishes the mode faster (who would have thought?). The second half, you have to hit the castle gate 7 times, then shoot the ball into the castle. The mode starts off with 2 trolls in the way, and there's no way to get rid of them except with a troll bomb. Hopefully, you saved up 2 troll bombs before making it here. Often times I would make it to this mode with exactly 2 balls left and no more ball save, and try to make the shots methodically, since the castle gate is the easiest shot, right? It's not so easy in practice. The 10 second timer is brutal, and that's if there aren't any trolls in the way. When I finally beat this mode, it was because I had 2 troll bombs and 4 balls with a tiny bit of ball save, and I managed to get 3 castle gate shots amidst the chaos of multiball preservation. After that, I simply had to make 4 more castle gate shots without any backup (most stressful shots of my life) and when I actually did it, it felt soooo good.
Here are some general tips:
-You can trap the ball from almost anywhere. I find the ball sails down the center but leaning toward the left flipper a lot, and usually it'll hit the left flipper and bounce to the right one for an easy trap. Sometimes you might need to give it a nudge. Remember, nudge in the opposite direction of where you want the ball to go.
-When the ball comes down from the castle kickout, holding the left flipper sometimes bounces it into the left inlane (giving you a decent left flipper shot, or hold pass to the right flipper) but I find this unreliable, since maybe 3 times out of 10 it'll bounce with enough velocity to sail right into the left outlane for a frustrating drain. It's better to let it bounce off the left flipper to the right one for an easy trap, and you can pass it over if you need a left flipper shot.
-When the ball is coming from the Catapult/Peasant ramp, the most reliable way to trap it is to hold the left flipper and let it sail over to the right one for an easy trap. I've done this pass hundreds of times and I've only seen it fail once.
-The same is not true for the Damsel ramp. When the ball is coming from the right ramp, you can't hold the right flipper and pass it to the left one. More often than not, it won't go fast enough and it'll bounce right off the right flipper into a center drain.
-The castle shot is super easy, but you have to completely trap the ball first. Once you do, shoot it reasonably gently from the center of the flipper.
-Try to light Trolls before activating Catapult or any of those other multiball madness modes. It's super easy to kill the trolls with 2+ balls instead of just 1, and if you kill them with the multiball mode still active, it'll start Troll Madness and give you a chance to kill the other 8 trolls you need for Master of Trolls. In fact, try to start Trolls with at least 2 madness modes.
-Castle multiball (and the madness modes when you already have Master of Trolls) is kind of useless for advancing to BftK, but you can still salvage 2 things from it: making a lot of stress free castle drawbridge/gate shots, and getting an extra ball from killing all the knights. I usually go for castle shots.
-The ball moves around very quickly on this table, so there's a lot of variance. Try to prioritize extra balls if you can. I get the 28 million point one and the 2-castle one every single game, and I'm pretty happy if I make it to video mode and get that one too.
-Speaking of video mode, whenever you get a Catapult Slam, try to hit the cow. If you launch 3 cows, the children in video mode will change to cows, which makes it a little easier to get to the extra ball (since cows are heavier than children and the crows don't fly away as fast).
-You can get any catapult ammo you want every time by memorizing the pattern and counting the sounds. Whenever you start a new game for the first time, the pattern is always Bowling Ball, Cow, Chicken, Cat, Skull, and that's order it cycles in. I find it's easy to let it cycle through once. For example to get the cow I would let it blink 6 times, then hit both flippers (since it starts on the bowling ball, takes 5 blinks to get back to the bowling ball, then one more for the cow). This is also useful if you haven't completed the Barnyard Multiball goal yet. If you play one complete game and start another one without leaving the table, the order and point values will be different. (For that matter, the princess order is always the same when you start fresh too, it's always valley girl, librarian, fat lady. I suppose it's the same if you turn a physical MM machine off and on again.)
-The most frequent drains for me are outlane drains. The left outlane is killer. Too many times I'll go for a joust shot, only to hit the edge of the peasant ramp and have it fly uncontrollably quickly to one of the outlanes. Most of my center drains feel completely avoidable via nudging.
I'm sure there are more things I learned that I can't remember and I'll post them if I do. I remember struggling super hard to start Frog Frenzy in Ripley's and cursing how difficult the table was, but walking away feeling like the table was one of the best I've ever played because of how incredibly deep and skill-rewarding it is. I feel the same way about Medieval Madness. The table is very well designed. I feel like there are more unlucky drains than in Ripley's though, which sucks.
. Something like "How to beat Medieval Madness!" Its not too hard and the fact you ahve a tutorial how to beat it sorta proves it. Its one of the more challenging goals/modes to get, Ill grant you that.
