TOTAN Tactics and Strategies

[Actionball]

The lamp is a huge hazard, if you limit your lamp use to multiball modes it makes it less deadly. There is no easy mode to this game at all, you can't be assured a good score just because you are good on this one unlike TOM where consistent shots will keep you safe. Its sort of luck of the draw if your shooting stars will be on the next time the (insert any of a dozen hazards) fires it to an outlane. Even with the best ball control and aimed shots there is lots of random on this table. For me once I pick 3x everything seems to get cursed, either instant drain or unable to hit the lamp period till time runs out. Infuriating table to try and get 150+ on a consistant basis.

 

[xNiCeGuYx]

I really love the fact that FarSight uses the original roms, but it would be nice to see a fix for the Harem/Rescue glitch.

 

[Actionball]

I really love the fact that FarSight uses the original roms, but it would be nice to see a fix for the Harem/Rescue glitch.

Probably beyond what they want to tackle since it only matters to a handful of players. I think the 3x lamp stack with Rescue is a much easier and more potent game breaker anyway.

 

[laughing_lunatic]

I just want to say a HUGE thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. I thought I was stuck firmly in the land of pinball suckdom. Although I've always enjoyed playing, I've always been very mediocre, but having read these hints and tips, I just played a game and got 78M points, rescuing the Princess and everything, right after a 68M game !! That's a stratospheric score for me, my highest score before was low 30M. So to all that read this that suck, like me, take heed, practice your nudging timing, read the rules sheets carefully and strategize !

 

[Stormchild]

Fireballs are a hazard as well. I try to only shoot for it when the ball is on my left flipper, because shooting with the right can cause a ton of unexpected bounces and during fireball the bottle won't hold the ball with it's magnet.

I actually find it pretty easy to hit the genie from the right flipper. Just a matter of getting used to the timing, I think. When I miss it, I tend to be just a bit late, and hit the ramp instead, which works out pretty well for fireball.

If you really prefer the left flippers, though, post transfers are quite easy to do on pretty much any table in TPA. Works about 90% of the time, and the other 10% I just need to try it again.

Lots of good info in your post though.

 

[bavelb]

I actually find it pretty easy to hit the genie from the right flipper. Just a matter of getting used to the timing, I think. When I miss it, I tend to be just a bit late, and hit the ramp instead, which works out pretty well for fireball.

If you really prefer the left flippers, though, post transfers are quite easy to do on pretty much any table in TPA. Works about 90% of the time, and the other 10% I just need to try it again.

Lots of good info in your post though.

Its not a matter of not being able to hit the genie, but most of the time the lampposts make the right side hit more risky.

 

[darkpigraph]

Something i always try to do after rescuing the princess and lighting "Special" is to activate multiball ASAP so as to safely drain a ball down the sidelane and get an extra ball. I've also once, and only once, had "Special" lit as a bazaar award.

 

[Mark W**a]

So guess what guys? The Lightning Lamp has a limit! Yes, you can only score so much off it and then that's it. Whether this is a glitch or not, I can't confirm. Here's what I can say for sure:

I had around 290 million with a full 12X multiplier and the Hold from the Bazaar. My Lightning lamp was maxed out at this point, obviously with a score like that.

So during my next to last ball I tried activating the lamp, but no matter how many spins I did it wouldn't activate. Then, I couldn't get wishes either! The ball just popped right out of Bazaar even though Make a Wish was lit.

Trust me this was not my imagination, I spun that ****er right round many many many times. It just would not go lightning, no matter how hard I tried.

This might explain why top scores are only around the 400 millions (not counting top 2 or 3) on Xbox. I am currently ranked 16th or so with a score of 350 million. My game was only 45 minutes long, and some of these pros go 4 hours or longer on a single game to reach top scores. Tippy top score in ToTAN is 800 million some on Xbox. So this leads me to believe that yes, this isn't a glitch and the Lamp and Wishes run out :/. Interesting if true.

Now when I say I'm 99% sure, this is why I am not 100%. After I drained that ball, I was going to try and get the lighting going again, and test the wishes again. Then if it still didn't work, I'd have finished my second Save the Princess and see if that reset it. However, OF COURSE my last ball drains immediately lol. Can't complain though with a 30 million bonus

I'm 99.9% certain that this find is true. Otherwise, high scores on this table would be in the multi-billions.

After Genie battle: A Special (extra ball) is lit in both outlanes, but only for the current ball (or maybe indefinitely, see bavelb's post below). Obviously, you want to avoid center drains, even if it means slamming the ball into a slingshot and to the outlanes.

That's about it. I notice bavelb is presenting a somewhat different strategy and choice of shots/Wish awards than I am, which is fine. Pick and choose from our strategies what works best for you. Good luck!

I can confirm that Special stays lit even if you center drain.

Excellent strategy and overview. TotAN is such an incredibly well thought out and balanced table. Lightning Lamp, for all intents and purposes, IS the Wizard Mode. Save the Princess is small potatoes compared to what you can get from that thing. But of course you should save the princess first, because it takes a while until the lamp is worth anything. That's why I say it's balanced. You pretty much want to do everything on the table until you save the princess then it's all about milking that Lamp for all it's worth. Literally.

 

[smbhax]

My lamp also maxed out when I was somewhere around the upper 200 millions in score, getting about 30 million bonuses. Saving the princess again does not "reset" it. Kind of unfortunate because the game becomes a lot less lively once the lightning is gone.

 

[Zaphod77]

If you can master the orbit shots, a worthwhile strategy is going only for harem multiball, because the jackpot doesn't reset when harem multiball ends. with 100 bumper hits (not too hard ot do if you can get the balls in there) you are getting 510k per bounce at least. that, well... adds up. Of course good luck actually doing it, because those orbits are super hard to hit, despite the droopy flippers that should make it easy.

 

[oqvist]

Is Wizard goals more or less the same as the standard goals. I am a casual player but I finished all 5 wizard goal on first try. Spend way more time on the standard ones. Wonder if there was a bug on the PC version they looked similar on a quick look though harem multiball was not there. I don´t get that often so why that is a standard goal?

 

[inspector42]

Generally Wizard goals are more challenging. TOTAN isn't well balanced like that.

 

[fromduc]

I wont open a thread for that, but i got a probleme on PS3 which could be a bug, or a rule misunderstanding on my side: after have reached the 120 lamps max, i cant light it again, if i catch the ball and look for infos on DMD, it said me i got 119 out of 120 turns, but even if i make 20 more turns on the lamp nothing happens, i just see that the lamp value is back to 300k or so. Only ways i've found until now to unblock that is to win the princesse rescue, take the "light lamp" wish if i still got a wish, or losing my ball. If somebody has an explaanation about that it woulld be greatly apreciated

 

[vikingerik]

That happens on the PC too. I'm pretty sure it's original ROM behavior. 3x Lightning Lamp is worth tons of points, so makes sense that it would have a limit like that.

 

[fromduc]

OK tx...

 

[WhiteChocolate]

120's a good limit - could you imagine putting up with 200+ 'c-h-h-h-ang' sintar chords at the end of a round?? ;0 good tips here! i had always been a 'jewel chaser' with bazaar wishes, but only managed to up my score a bit more by choosing the extra-points options (including stacking 3x and lightning lamps) instead, so it's not a bad route to go.

 

[Zaphod77]

I do better chasing jewels, as the lamp can be a drain shot.

 

[WhiteChocolate]

i understand; it's weird cuz i seem to do okay judging when to try catching the crazy bouncebacks from the lamp (i do at least have that much 'quickdraw' instinct - ;0 like i can manage to kick a bit'o'butt on bk/bk2k/phantom - i don't know what that is about... also i have just some weird little inkling how to judge trying to flip-hit the lamp to kick it out of position when it's 'flat on' or otherwise...

but when it comes to superspeed "down out of a top loop/immediate send straight down to the opposite drain" style stuff, i just can't nudge quick enough! just saying so, cuz it helped me a bit like i said - it just may help some players to try the different tactic and see what pans out...

ALSO i have been playing a lot more with camera angles! i always like to default to '3' to get the best overhead, but jeez if i've found that changing to lower, sometimes -much- lower to the table helps... seems to help my eyes read the 'dimensionality' of the different ramps and how to shoot 'em off the flippers. i thought i would always play best with a 3 cam, but that isn't always the case.

 

[Mercyscene]

Picked up TOTAN in Pinball FX tonight. I remember the left orbit shot in TPA being very tight, which made starting Harem multiball a lot more difficult. I have been able to start the Harem-Genie stack in FX3 several times, and that is the clear way to 1B. Starting Harem after playing the wizard mode is also lucrative because of the errant pop bumper hits while battling the genie.
If you want to go for the stack, good luck! Don't use the ruby for two jewels as it will automatically collect the Rocs. This is the easiest mode to use for setting up the stack.

 

[Zaphod77]

Yes, the lamp has an intentional limit. It's seven wishes, which is what makes it obvious that it's intentional. This is to keep you from wishing your way to endless genie battles. You will be able to start maybe two with wise wishing, and then you will have to complete the tales honestly.

Once you collect all seven wishes from rubbing the lamp, the light will never reset again unles you drain,, and then you still won't get a wish, it will stop short