Scared Stiff Tactics and Strategies

[Slam23]

Well, I have been binge-playing Scared Stiff to get those 1000 HOF Points and waddayaknow, I pulled out a respectable 1.9B game out of the hat. If not for daily life distractions, this one could easily be higher but as it was, the game took place in spurts over 3 days, probably around 3,5 hours total. I don't think there is much to add to this thread but maybe some insight into making particular shots can be useful.

How to get to the Spider Hole
One of the major ways to get extra balls, which in turn can help you extend this game beyond belief (top score as of 15 september 2014 70B+, if this is not a bogus score/hack, and this equates to 100+ hours of playing if I extrapolate correctly from my own game) is spinning the Spider Wheel and playing Spider Mania MB:
- the three eyeballs lit extra ball
- starting Spider Mania lits an extra ball
- crystal balls (or orbs?) can give an exta ball outright or lit one outright, not sure which of the two (happened to me once, so may be rare)
- crystal balls can give 3 or 4x multipliers, sometimes in the same Spider Wheel round (never 8x together for some reason, always max 7x), this goes towards the 8x Dead Head bonus multiplier for extra ball that is otherwise quite hard to get in regular gameplay. If you get your bonus up to 3-4x in regular play, getting a crystal ball can get you over the hump. The bonus multiplier actually goes beyond 8x, I had it up to 12x in my 1.9B game. I'm curious if it maxes out.
- I'm not sure that the "Telepathetic Special" earned from achieving Spider Mania MB really counts towards your extra balls. Common wisdom for season 1 tables is that it would, given that on most tables the special equates to an extra ball, but even in my 1.9B game in which I activated Spider Mania MB probably around 4-5 times, I didn't think it did. That maybe would have even been to "stiff" a reward for TPA to implement as extra ball. Get it? "Stiff"
In short: the Spider Wheel beats regular table play in giving repeatable extra balls, especially later on in the game when you already got the 6M "replay" extra ball, the Leaper Mania extra ball and the 8/30 Web Ramp extra balls. So I think one of the main objectives is to visit the Spider Hole often and filling out that Spider Wheel!

There are essentially 5 shots that lead you there, ranging in difficulty and risk:
- plunge softly to go direct to the Spider Hole. This is lit at the start of a new ball. When plunging after a locked ball, you'll offcourse have to lit the Spider Hole beforehand. If you plunge and miss the hole but also not trigger any other main switches, you can safely drain and try again. You have to weigh this strategy against going for the 2.5M maxed skill shot which is good scoring for one shot that is also quite easy to go for. (thanks to VikingErik for pointing this one out)
- the most safe shot after plunging is from a controlled ball on the tip of the left flipper. Just shoot it when it's still full on the end of the flipper. If you are late, the ball will go under the Web Ramp to the crate, if you are a bit earlier, you often get a soft ricochet from the rightpost of the Web Ramp and still go into the hole. If you are very early, you just have shot for the Web Ramp, congratulations! Doing this with a moving ball is far more risky (see below)
- the next safe shot is from a controlled or rolling ball from the right flipper into the left orbit when the "Monsters Lab" light is on. This will feed the bumpers under the Web Ramp and often ends with the ball going into the Spider hole. I would say 2/3 of the time this will happen, especially with a softer shot. The risks associated with this shot is hitting the left post of the Bony Beast Ramp with unpredictable result, or a popout from the bumper area towards the crate.
- next up is the Crate shot from the left flipper. If your aim is really good, you can shoot it from the right post of the Crate directly in the bumper area, almost straight to the Spider Hole. Also a really early shot to the Crate (aiming left) will sometimes do this. Otherwise it's a tossup if you get some lucky bounces between Crate, bumpers and the Dagger Hole. A late shot will go towards the Dead Heads and via the Dagger Hole back to bouncing around. Just don't be very late with the shot, because you'll hit Leaper target number 3 on the left post of the Web Ramp and that's a definite risk for a SDTM drain. Main advantage of this shot, is that it will up your Crate hits with a direct one, and often some more from lucky bounces. The Crate MB is the most difficult mode to relight later on in the game because it takes a progressive number of shots. Coffin MB also progressively needs more ramps, but those can be looped without difficulty with some practice. Looping the ramps is a major skill to master on this table, especially double looping when in MB. I haven't kept track of my record for double looping, but I know for sure I have achieved 30 in a row and even more!
- lastly you can try to one-time it from the left flipper with a moving ball, but that's really risky. The added momentum will give unpredictable results and often result in an uncontrolled ball and drain.

It's all in the rhytm
In this thread was already mentioned that flipper passing after a ramp shot can help you alternate between ramps, especially nice when you have Coffin MB going. It's also a major move to get the Spider Hole relit after a left ramp or eject from the Spider Hole itself. When you have visited the Spider Wheel, keep the right flipper up to let the ball go over to the left flipper. Now comes the tricky part: you have to give it a millisecond pause and then shoot for the right ("Web") ramp. Et voila, lit Spider Hole again in most cases. Sometimes you'll have a ball that lost momentum somehow in the right inlane, this will still go over to the left flipper, but now you'll shoot for the unlit Spider Hole, setting the thing up again for another try. Resist the temptation to one-time it directly to the Spider Hole from the left flipper when you just shot the Web Ramp, unless you are very steady in your aiming. I often go for the Crate instead, building up those hits and hoping a lucky ricochet will get me back to the Spider Hole. Otherwise I try to get ball control on the left flipper and then shoot for the Spider Hole with much less risk. I found that I was around 80-90% accurate in relighting the Spider Hole again with this method. This really speeds up the filling of the Wheel and gets you those extra balls that much quicker.

Other useful shots
* The passage to the Dead Heads right next to the Crate is important, it's where you get your extra balls and light those Dead Heads. Later in the game, the Dead Heads themselves are major scoring opportunities, they max out at 2.475M each. That's almost 5 ramps or Crate shots worth of points when compared to jackpots in Coffin Multiball! The passage is quite narrow and only reachable from the left flipper shot. I found that a controlled shot is most succesfull when you shoot the ball if it is directly above the "gap" on the flipper between both bones. A rolling shot is just slightly after that. A rolling shot has a decent chance to be send right back to the left flipper without clearing the passage, as if the ball hits soms kind of post at the top of the passage, be on the lookout for that one. The best way to collect lit extra balls, is to start a multiball and get the lucky shot to the passage. As far as I know, lit extra balls "stack" so don't hurry to get them immediately, especially if a MB is right around the corner.
* If you get proficient in shooting ramps, it can be a nice payoff to go a step further and learn to master the left ramp shot while "grazing" the left-most Leaper target. Just shoot a bit late from the right flipper and you'll take that Leaper out while still making the ramp shot. It's a bit risky because being too late will hit the Leaper right on, and this leads to uncontrolled balls and drains. In the end I think it's a safer way to collect Leapers than shooting straight for them, I would recommend this especially for collecting the extra ball from the first Leaper Mania. The most safe shot directly to a leaper is shooting the second one (right post of the left ramp) from the right flipper. This will usually feed a controllable ball back to the left flipper.
* As usual the question is flow or control? I think looping the ramps is a "flow" aspect to this game that with enough practice can be semi-automatic and very safe. I sometimes just shoot for ramps if I can't decide on my next move quickly enough. An incomplete left ramp is not very risky, and can most of the times even be one-timed back up the ramp from the left flipper. An incomplete right ramp is a different thing, because the ball often ricochets from the left rampwall when coming down. With high speed this still goes to the left flipper albeit with a bit of a curve, but when "trickling" down you have to watch out for a SDTM drain. Nudge it towards the right flipper and you'll be good. Ball control is essential for safe shots to the left orbit (although I often onetime it from a left ramp to the Coffin lock), Dead Head passage and Spider Hole. Deadpassing to control the ball on the other flipper is a good skill to use for setting up those shots.

Well, that's it from me. After that 1.9B game I'll probably won't revisit Scared Stiff anytime soon. It takes an autistic-like patience to go towards the 10B barrier, a patience-level that I don't possess I'm afraid Prolonging those MB's into multiple tens of millions is very satisfying though....one more game!

 

[vikingerik]

How to get to the Spider Hole
There are essentially 4 shots that lead you there, ranging in difficulty and risk:

You missed the easiest one: Plunge softly directly into it. Every locked ball means a free Spider shot as well. Just make sure it's lit, shoot the web ramp before locking if you need.

- I'm not sure that the "Telepathetic Special" earned from achieving Spider Mania MB really counts towards your extra balls.

I remember some weirdness here too. I think it awards an EB the first time in the game but not after. Or else it does but we're just always maxed on 4 EBs in stock so we never see it. Or else we're failing to actually collect the special in the outlanes.

Well, that's it from me. After that 1.9B game I'll probably won't revisit Scared Stiff anytime soon. It takes an autistic-like patience to go towards the 10B barrier, a patience-level that I don't possess I'm afraid

Ha, same here. I do have autistic-like patience for TPA, but 3B is as far as I've ever managed to grind in Scared Stiff. (And then a ball got lost which killed the game. Not trying that crap again anytime soon.)

 

[fromduc]

3.5 hours for 1.9B, i definitely dont get it... took me 8 hours for 2B... maybe u explain it later in the post, but like u guys i dont to give to much time to this table

 

[Slam23]

You missed the easiest one: Plunge softly directly into it. Every locked ball means a free Spider shot as well. Just make sure it's lit, shoot the web ramp before locking if you need.



I remember some weirdness here too. I think it awards an EB the first time in the game but not after. Or else it does but we're just always maxed on 4 EBs in stock so we never see it. Or else we're failing to actually collect the special in the outlanes.



Ha, same here. I do have autistic-like patience for TPA, but 3B is as far as I've ever managed to grind in Scared Stiff. (And then a ball got lost which killed the game. Not trying that crap again anytime soon.)

Good addition, will edit post to incorporate the plunge to Spider Hole. Getting the maxed skillshot at 2.5M is no chump change either though, although if weighed against progression on the wheel and specific rewards, it may indeed be better to go for the Spider Hole. About that special: does it light one in the outlanes or give it outright? I hear a knocker sound that seems to indicate that it gives it outright.
I had two major bugs lately in 2 bigger games, one that killed it, and one that actually was profitable. The first one was a crate that froze up while in Scared Stiff mode, and I had to tilt away the remaining balls to save that particular score (don't ask how high it was, it's a painful memory... ). The other one was a Monster MB where all balls got stuck in the crate or dagger lock. The game then proceeded to dispense a single ball that I got to use to score jackpots. When I lost that one, I got the next, up until the fourth ball after which regular play continued without any glitch (my nerves were a bit frayed the rest of the game though). Needless to say that I rocked that MB for 100+ million! My 1.9B game was totally free of bugs and glitches though, so it's a devilish random thing if your game goes belly-up or not. If games were mercifully shorter than on Scared Stiff I would say that this would add to the regular suspense of playing (Bowen Kerrins always comments in his tutorials that faulty behaviour is part of pinball) but I can't imagine going for 3B only to have a bug kill your game....

 

[Slam23]

3.5 hours for 1.9B, i definitely dont get it... took me 8 hours for 2B... maybe u explain it later in the post, but like u guys i dont to give to much time to this table

My 3.5 hours is a guestimate because it was spread out over 3 days of playing and I didn't keep track exactly. So it may have been 4 or even 4.5, but definitely not 8 hours (my GF would have something to say about that! )
You pose an intrigueing question: can a table with quite even scoring options differ that much in playing time vs. scoring? There is no exponential scoring on Scared Stiff like a superdupermegajackpot on another machine (Bride of Pinbot comes to mind as a prime example). The only thing that I can think of, is that I was extremely proficient in scoring in MB situations. Really only Monster MB comes to mind as mode that can quickly rack up millions, and in my 1.9B game I had a 92 Scared Stiff level, which means I played 9 Monster Multiballs. I do remember a couple of them lasting very long, and I do have the double looping thing under control. This may not be the safest way of racking up jackpots, but hey, it looks d@mn sexy if you do it I can't think of another reason why our games would vary that much in length of time. Did you time your game exactly?

 

[fromduc]

No i didnt, and it was a long time ago (in my 8 months long PAF life i mean ), but definitely it wasnt less than 7 hours. But i got maybe the reason: i was never playin score before having the 4 EBs, and i was bad in stopping the spider, at least the 4 1st hours, the fact is i hadnt play the table that much before, and not since a month before i think, so i've been surprised to turn on infinite play, it was one of the 1st time this happened to, if not THE 1st time... so u can bet i wasnt that good on MB neither... it looks like i'll need to take another shot on this table, when i'll be really desperate because of the winter ^^

 

[Slam23]

Aside from being impressed that you got to your score without playing much MB, I can understand the difference then, because I played those 9 Monster MB's AND did the wheel 4-5 times. Which also means a lot of Coffin and Crate MB (5 each at least, Coffin probably more because it's easier to activate). If you extend those MB's with Spider rewards, you can boost your score quite quickly. "Winter is coming" seems to mean more TPA playing time on these forums Game of Thrones would make for a killer pinball license come to think of it.....let's call Jersey Jack!
Best of luck on your next Scared Stiff game though, if you are capable of a 2B game without much practice and without going where the points are, you certainly have a killer score in you!

 

[fromduc]

Well, i'll have to seriously improve my MB skills or i wont go there, i wont spend another 8h for only a 25th spot Not sure i'll try it, bu if yes i'll keep u in touch

PS: it was really my most boring game on TPA ^^

 

[Storm Chaser]

There really should be a word or two about how to manage the game without getting it wrecked by the multiball bug (in which one is believed by the ROM to be left on the table, while it's not). Is there any way of making sure that doesn't happen? I have two games over 500M wrecked by it. Since some of you have gone longer without encountering it - have you done anything to avoid it purposely or were you lucky?

 

[Slam23]

Good point Storm Chaser. I haven't fired this table up in a while, so I'll do this from a slightly foggy memory: I did take care not to "overload" the crate with balls, because it seems like it then loses track faster of how many there are on the table. You can also hear that clicking "ball colliding" sound, as if there is not enough space in the crate to hold that many balls. So I keep firing them up the ramps in a lot of situations. I also like to keep my MB's simple, so draining that extra ball is not something I try to avoid. Then again, I had my share of ruined SS games because the crate would lock up on me in Scared Stiff mode.

 

[Storm Chaser]

I try to shoot the ramps as well but my gut feeling says you're right about the Crate. It does seem to have a Black hole. I have only had that "locked up crate" bug once in all those games, though.

Yesterday I encountered a weird bug in which the Web value never stopped. It continued looping up to some 12 M and back. Couldn't score anything and eventually I drained - had to tilt it to get a new ball fed to the plunger.

 

[Slam23]

I remember that bug too, only I believe I could play on regardless, but maybe it needed a drained ball to reset or something. Some tables are more "buggy" than others, and often it's a ROM thing more than what Farsight did in it's programming. I still would like to see a "hard kill" button besides the "Call Assistant", to end games or even better, balls, that otherwise leave you stuck. Offcourse with your score up until then saved, so you still have that to show for those couple of hours of hard work! I have been thinking if this could lead to an exploit, but can't think of anything.

 

[vikingerik]

Offcourse with your score up until then saved, so you still have that to show for those couple of hours of hard work! I have been thinking if this could lead to an exploit, but can't think of anything.

Here's one: On Teed Off, right before you're about to lose your score to a failed Skins double attempt, kill the game to keep your score.

Same could go for a Champion Pub cash fight.

But in general, yes, the ability to just end a game with credit for your current score is sorely needed, to recover from all these game-killing bugs in various forms.

 

[Slam23]

I don't know if I should applaud your cleverness or frown upon your evil mind..... Maybe then also add a non-clearable bomb in a Casino Run on Jack*Bot?

 

[Storm Chaser]

I have had some tedious hours with this table lately. Two good games ruined by bugs and then a great game (1.3B) "ruined" by the fact that I accidently had Tilt:Off. I finally this morning made up for it with a 1.1B game which is good enough. Caught the 1.000 HOF-points and fiiiiiinally passed you Slam23! Still had to do some Jack*Bot scores in order to pass so I expect you to take back that #4 position quite soon.

My tactic for this game is based upon the multiball bug. I shoot for the "extra ball lane" as much as I can and try to build up and score on Dead Heads. Quite often you will miss and hit the crate (which is always the obstacle for Monster Multiball). I always relight the Web since the ball, from the dead heads, often end up there below the bumpers. So, in my games I get a lot of bonus, a lot of extra balls (quite a few from 8x). I don't spam Stiff multiball, which would be an easy access to collect more dead heads in risk of the multiball.

The multiballs I actually do play I try not to shoot too much at the crate but rather the dead heads and ramps. That's pretty much it.

 

[Kaibun]

Why does this table get more tedious the longer you play it?

With the other tables that give out a dozen extra balls easily, like STTNG, JD or TAF I always play all the way til the end; but after getting Monster Multiball, I'm already sick of Scared Stiff.