I’ve typed a fair amount about this on Pinside but it’s worth repeating here.
You DO NOT get a true 2x multiplier from completing the set of 3 missions.
You get the combo value (which is 2x) for mode shots.
The result is that going 3 deep isn’t as valuable as everyone makes it out to be. It is still the max points strat because you want to get as many medals as possible before starting the wiz modes. The medal cash in’s are where all the biggest points in the game are.
Using some fake scores to illustrate:
Say ramps are worth 1m.
Ball cradled on left flipper.
Shoot Alpha ramp, and combo into Beta ramp.
You would get 1m (Alpha) + 2m (Beta combo) = 3m
Now,
Complete all 3 StE to permanently light the right ramp.
If you were getting a true 2x multiplier, and did the same pattern you would get 1m (A) + 4m(Beta combo x 2) = 5m
You don’t. You still just get 3m.
I’ve pulled the glass and tested. On Pinside SKB noted that Dwight confirmed this. (Maybe he can weigh in here)
As such, a good strat is to go 3 deep on whatever shot you like to start with. For me I like to start with the Alpha ramp and then combo into either the Beta ramp or right orbit, so I generally start by completing a 3 Klingon battles so my pattern starts with a combo.
I like to think of it as getting three deep on a shot makes that shot a permanent combo multiplier (so you don’t need to hit it in a combo to get the scoring benefits)
Playing this on pinball arcade app and discovered for the level one galactic away team missions, once you achieve a gold medal the game jumps to the final mode shot regardless of how many seconds are left on your timer. So even though starting an away team mission adds 20 seconds to your mode timer, it doesn’t mean you get +20 seconds of hitting unlimited valuable warp ramp shots in save the enterprise or rolling through lit top lanes in prime directive.
EDIT: Possible this jump to final shot after gold medal is standard behavior for modes and just easier to observe after away team because of 20 second boost
EDIT: Didn’t jump to final shot after gold medal in klingon battle. Hmm…
I just discovered that you can stack vengeance scoring with Klingon multiball which provides some extra insurance when trying to get the extra ball without costing yourself a ball.
yup - I had vengeance scoring qualified as well as the third lock (on the left scoop). Shot vengeance to start mode, then shot third lock to start mb. Was frankly surprised starting vengeance didn’t temporarily disable the ability to lock a ball.
On pinball arcade, the mode insert for the left ramp doesn’t light. That shot should be the “red” shot for kobayashi, except it doesn’t light its colors like others. And it doesn’t light at all during modes (such that if I’m playing a mode and nothing is lit, I know that means I have to shoot the left ramp).
Three questions:
Am I crazy? (As in, this isn’t the case for other people. That would be weird, but this itself is also weird in a different way).
If not, is this a software bug that was also present in the real games?
Not really, assuming it behaves as in Pinball Arcade. Starting Klingon MB disables Vengeance Battle. When Klingon MB is over, Vengeance Battle is resumed from where you left.
I just made some changes to the formatting of the wiki to update it to a similar format of the newer Stern machines that are being released. This is primarily by adding a Table of Contents, but also some header changes to make it easier to find the information someone new to the game might be looking for.
This generally means that the point value for completing the T-R-E-K lanes keeps increasing until you drain, and then resets to base value for the next ball. (I haven’t personally verified for this specific case.)