I can do this on my game but I think it’s not always a guarantee that it can be backhanded. That or backhanding that shot is the only thing I’m better at involving pinball than Bowen. 
2 Likes
I tend to have the exact opposite experience and will generally just shoot the spinner if the kickback is lit.
2 Likes
That is one skill I am going to see if I can translate to WCS. I have a pretty wicked backhand one LOTR, TAF, and WOZ and if I can do it here then I will be a real champ!
That scoop is so hard to hit, but it makes such a satisfying sound when you make it. 
3 Likes
What do you want to know? There’s a lot of subtlety, so let’s go over it real quick:
LIGHTING LOCK
- Level 1, one attribute is spotted for you at ball start (like GREED). Each shot can be shot up to twice for an attribute (this MAY include Striker, which is usually always available no matter what). The each shot twice limit isn’t that bad because only one shot can turn off for you.
- Level 2, each of the 3 shots needs to be made once, then all 3 will relight (and not go away). Striker acts strangely during this one, he’s always lit, but somehow counts towards taking away one of the 3 main shots. Super-exact details on this one are a little sketchy for me.
- Level 3, Only right ramp and striker are lit. Striker is always lit. Each main shot you make moves the arrow to the left, i.e. right ramp->left ramp->spinner->right ramp->left ramp. Striker will move the shot as well.
- Level 4, I believe starts on right ramp, but it only alternates between right ramp and left ramp. Striker is always lit and IIRC advances the lit ramp as well. This is the hardest level.
What’s my Jackpot worth?
- As mentinoed, locking a ball advances you 4 spots IF you start via final draw. The lock credit does not seem to count from my remembery if you start via striker. mystery.
- Every 2 goals BEFORE YOUR FIRST MULTIBALL advances you 1 spot. I thought that this INCLUDES if you start multiball via striker, but that’s not what the manual says.
- The manual states the following (must depend on options because I’ve never seen FD lit on ball 3):
- If multiball is awarded by striker, you start at rank 16.
- If multiball is awarded by final draw, then you get the +1 rank/2 goals bonus.
- If a ball was locked before final draw, then +4 ranks.
- Every multiball you start after the first automatically advances you 2 more spots from where you left off, there is no more goal bonus at this point.
- Yes, it is possible to start on Germany if you make like 22 goals BEFORE starting multiball (John McEwen’s infamous GoalFest did this).
How do victory laps work?
- After defeating Germany for 250M, the goal, the left ramp, and the right ramp all light for victory laps of 50M each.
- After 5 shots, the game will switch to the left ramp (ONLY). At this point you alternate between the left ramp and the goal for the rest of multiball.
- The left ramp feeds the left flipper so there’s no looping one ball with the same (right) flipper.
- The next multiball you start after victory laps goes back to a 250M Germany goal (now ranked #2
) and 5 “easy” victory laps.
) and 5 “easy” victory laps.Got it?
9 Likes
Does this mean it’s impossible to start at some of the weird ranks like 14, 13, 12? I thought you could do that if you get some goals but to not lock a ball and start multi ball from Striker. It would seem weird to have those teams in the code if there was no way to actually face them… oh I take that back, I guess you could start at rank 16, and work your way through them. There just isn’t a way to START on those ones?
Earlier this week I played WCS in a tournament and my opponent started his first multiball via striker on ball 3 and he started at rank 13. His first jackpot was 25 million. I think the manual must be wrong on this one.
I was surprised both because I didn’t realize the striker could award multiball and also because I noticed that his next opponent was Saudi Arabia, which I had never seen before.
Like I said, I thought it included Striker, and that probably did in fact change after the manual was written I’m guessing, since Final Draw doesn’t light as the manual states. I was just adding what was written in the manual. I’m pretty sure I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve started multiball via striker over the last 22 years!
Thank you
coolest “new” thing to try on WCS is the “Magna Catch”. On the one at NWPC (haven’t played one since to try it on others), if the ball came down the left in-lane from the left ramp, you could trigger the Magna Save at just the right time and the ball would actually self trap on the left flipper exactly like a post catch.This is quite useful, of course, so that you can then take a cradled, controlled shot at Final Draw instead of trying to hit it on the fly. Once Escher discovered this, I used it successfully in every round of finals on that machine, lol.
We’ve already seen (and discussed!) the “Magna Pass” when the magnet fires during ball search, but this is an example of the Magna Save being used for good, instead of evil. YMMV.
4 Likes
Oh I plan on doing as many evil things tonight that I can with magna-save
Interesting. I have never used my Magna Save as a sword, but it isn’t a bad idea. I have always used it as a shield - and very specifically on left ramp rejects.
I think multiball is never awarded by striker in tournament mode. In non-competition play, it’s only awarded on the last ball of the game and only if you haven’t played a multiball yet.
I think this is correct, that you can’t earn the freebie multiball in tournament mode.