Not to be confused with its prequel, Black Knight (Williams, 1980), or its sequel, Black Knight: Sword of Rage (Stern Pinball, 2019).
Stay in the upper playfield at all times, and get really good at the left Skyway ramp shot to return to the upper playfield in the case where the ball does drop to the lower flippers. Hit all 3 standup targets in the upper playfield to reveal the lock shot- make 3 locks to start multiball. Lock a ball within a few seconds of completing the W-I-N top lanes to give letter progress toward The King's Ransom wizard mode.
Going through an unlit lane lights it. Lighting all 3 lanes to spell Win advances the bonus multiplier up to a maximum of 5x, and lights the lock ramp for a Ransom letter for a few seconds. Which lanes are lit can be rotated via lane change: both flippers operate the lane change, but they both move the lights in the same direction.
Shooting a ball with the upper flipper so that it makes a clockwise loop around the upper playfield scores a Skyway Loop. The first one of these scores 20,000 points; immediate, successive combos give 20,000 points more than the previous, up to a maximum of 100,000 (I think).
The number of Skyway Loops made during the game so far contributes to the base bonus at the end of the ball: 3,000 points per loop, maximum of 99.
Making a loop immediately after using the left ramp to return to the upper playfield scores a Ramp-Loop Combo worth 100,000 points.
Making consecutive loops briefly lights an extra ball at the Skyway ramp that goes from the lower playfield to the upper one. At first, the extra ball lights after a 2-loop combo. Once that extra ball is collected, it takes one additional loop in the combo to light another extra ball. The extra ball is only lit for about 7 seconds, so the only reliable way to get it is to intentionally let the ball fall to the lower playfield immediately after comboing enough loops to light the extra ball.
Making a 2-loop combo at any point during a ball also lights Hold Bonus, which carries over the bonus multiplier for one additional turn.
The drawbridge is a motorized bank of 3 standup targets. The inserts in the upper playfield labelled 1-2-3 show which targets have been hit, and which have not. Hit all three targets (in any order) to lower the drawbridge- the entire mechanism lowers to underneath the playfield, like the center target wall in Mousin' Around or the forcefield in Attack From Mars.
Shoot a ball up the exposed ramp to lock it. Locking a ball within about 10 seconds after completing the W-I-N top lanes gives a letter in Ransom, which is progress toward the carryover/wizard mode The King's Ransom. Locking 3 balls in this ramp starts Stand Up and Fight Multiball. Both multiball and The King's Ransom are discussed later in the guide.
If the game is set to hard difficulty, or if Stand Up and Fight Multiball has already been played once, the drawbridge may re-raise after each lock is made; otherwise, it will stay down until multiball is started or the current ball ends.
At the bottom of the upper playfield are another set of lanes that spell War, leading directly to the habitrail that puts the ball on the lower left flipper. Like the Win lanes, going through a lane lights it, and the lit lanes can be rotated with either flipper's lane change. If Double Knights Challenge or The King's Ransom is running, completing W-A-R scores an instant 1,000,000 points. If neither of those two modes is running, spelling W-A-R lights a hurry-up at the Skyway ramp in the lower playfield.
The first hurry-up is worth 200,000 points. It stays at max value for about 3 seconds, then ticks down to 10,000 points over the next 10-15 seconds before timing out. If the hurry-up is completed- no matter what value it is collected at- the next hurry-up will be worth more; 500,000, then 750,000, then 1,000,000, then 1,500,000. The hurry-up always lasts the same amount of time and always ticks down in 10,000 point increments, so higher value hurry-ups lose value faster, but the time you have to complete the hurry-up to guarantee that the next one is worth more will always be the same.
The only way to collect a hurry-up at full value is to one-time the ball back up the Skyway ramp as soon as it falls to the lower right flipper from the upper playfield. If you wait to trap the ball for a controlled shot, it's certainly easier to ensure you'll hit it, but you'll never collect the hurry-up for more than about 70-80% of its starting value. (Of course, 80% of 1,500,000 is still 1,200,000, so maybe it's worth the added accuracy if it means you'll get pretty good points anyway.)
Hitting any target starts a brief invisible timer. At the end of the timer, all 6 targets (3 on the left, 3 in the center) will reset. Completing all 6 targets lights a letter in Black, and relights the left kickback and right magna save if they were used up. You don't need to hit all 6 targets in a single run though: completing just one of the 3-banks acts as a checkpoint, locking in that progress toward the next Black letter and meaning that only the other bank is required to be completed. Lighting all 5 letters in Black lights the Skyway ramp for 1,000,000 points.
The Skyway is the most reliable way to get the ball from the lower playfield back to the upper one, so it should be the main thing aimed for when a ball is in the lower playfield.
Making the Skyway ramp immediately followed by an upper loop scores a 100,000 point Ramp Loop Combo.
Making consecutive Skyway Loops lights the left ramp for an extra ball as described in the Skyway Loops section above.
Completing the W-A-R lanes when neither Double Knights Challenge nor The King's Ransom is running lights a hurry-up, which is collected by making this left ramp.
Spelling Black with completions of the drop targets as described in the previous section lights this ramp for 1,000,000 points until it is collected or until the current ball ends.
The two lanes on either side of the G-H-T set of drop targets are connected: they are a horseshoe shot called the U-Turn. Going through the horseshoe in either direction will light the horseshoe for a few seconds and score 25,000 points. Going through a lit horseshoe in either direction scores 25,000 points more than the previous and resets the timer (up to a max of 250,000, I believe).
Each U-Turn made over the course of the entire game adds 3,000 points to the base end of ball bonus, up to a maximum of 99 U-Turns.
Making a U-Turn briefly lights the far right lane for Double Knights Challenge, explained below.
Just to the right of the right-side U-Turn entrance is another lane that can be lit white. Whether lit or not, this shot sends the ball back up to the upper playfield: it is kicked out from just above the drawbridge, and the easiest way to make sure you can do anything with that ball is to hold up the upper right flipper.
At the beginning of the ball, or after going through the left in lane, this lane will be lit for Spin; shoot the lane for a spin of the Lightning Wheel mystery award shown in the lower playfield. Possible awards from the wheel include:
If a ball ends up in this lane when it is not lit, the Black Knight will laugh at you and then kick the ball out dangerously close to directly between the flippers. On the machines I'm used to, it's basically required to hold the right flipper up on this kickout to prevent a center drain.
Going through the U-Turn briefly lights this lane for Double Knights Challenge. Double Knights Challenge is a 2-ball multiball- during this multiball, everything is in play except for the lock ramp; the drawbridge will raise and cannot lower until one of the two balls is drained. Completing the W-A-R lanes before draining one of the two balls scores an instant 1,000,000 points. This can be collected more than once.
During any multiball, this far right lane will temporarily lock one ball for about 10 seconds, which makes shotmaking slightly easier due to one less ball in play.
Locking a 3rd ball starts 3-ball multiball right away (regardless of who put the first two balls there- you can absolutely steal locked balls in this game!). During this multiball, all switches in the game add 5,000 points to the jackpot, which starts at 1,000,000 points and can be raised to a maximum of 4,000,000. To collect the jackpot, relock one ball at the lock ramp in the upper playfield. Don't forget that the Lightning Spin lane can be used to get a ball back up to the upper playfield in a pinch. There's only one jackpot available per multiball, so time your collect for when it's at good value; keep playing the multiball after collecting the jackpot, though, since collecting the jackpot resets its value to 1,000,000 points but the remainder of the multiball can be used to build it up further for another later multiball.
The King's Ransom is one of the first everything is lit modes in pinball, and it does not disappoint. To start it, collect Ransom letters. Ransom can be advanced by shooting a ball up the lock ramp within 10 seconds of completing the W-I-N top lanes, or as an award from the Lightning Wheel. Getting Ransom advance from the Lightning Wheel is exceedingly rare, though, and I'm nearly certain that the Wheel cannot start The King's Ransom for you when the only letter needed is the M. Progress on Ransom carries over between balls and between games, which is why I call it a carryover award and hesitate to call it a true wizard mode.
When you start The King's Ransom, the game audio flips out and the playfield gives you a fantastic light show as everything you're about to receive is revealed to you one at a time:
Everything is lit! Go to town while you can, because you don't have long. Focus especially on getting the 1,000,000 plus extra ball from the Skyway ramp, as well as the Jackpot from the lock ramp. Any balls drained while the timer is running during The King's Ransom will be re-served to the plunger lane to be sent back into play. If you're playing casually, you can leave one ball here and play the rest as a two-ball multiball to keep things less crowded and also give yourself a bona fide extra ball, but in competition play, it will likely be a rule that you are required to plunge any balls that are in the shooter lane at the first possible opportunity.
After the King's Ransom timer runs out, there is no longer any ball save, and most scoring features (W-A-R, U-Turn, Jackpot, Skyway 1,000,000) will revert to their normal/single ball rules. The multiball continues, though, and you can still complete lanes, get hurry-ups, or even relock balls toward the next Stand up and Fight. The Jackpot cannot be raised during a multiball started as a King's Ransom, though.
Black Knight 2000 has a conventional in/out lane setup.
In the left out lane is an automatic kickback. It is lit at the start of each ball, unlights once used, and is relit by completing the drop targets to add a letter in Black. It knocks the ball back into play, usually hitting off the G-H-T drop targets and toward the right flipper.
On the right side, there is a magna save above the in lane. When the yellow light on the plastic just above the right out lane is lit, the second button on the right side of the cabinet can be used to activate the magna save, which turns on a magnet for 5 seconds in an attempt to get the ball to settle above, and then drop into, the in lane. You do not need to hold the magna save button, it will always be active for the same amount of time once used. Once it is used, magna save is also relit by completing the drop targets.
The Lightning Wheel can also relight either the kickback or the magna save with a spin.
On the last ball of the game, if exactly two balls are locked, the out lanes will be lit for Last Chance. Going through an out lane at this time will kick out the two locked balls, giving the player one final push to their score with a 2-ball multiball. Neither the Jackpot nor the instant 1,000,000 from the War lanes can be collected during a Last Chance multiball. Last Chance can only be used once per player, even if extra balls are earned on that final ball of the game.
Bonus is equal to 3,000 per upper loop made during the game, plus 3,000 points per U-Turn made during the game, all times the bonus multiplier. 1 Loop and 1 U-Turn are given for free, so the base bonus will always be at least 6,000 points. Only 99 of each feature are counted toward the bonus, so the max base bonus is 2x 99x 3,000 = 594,000 points. Bonus multiplier is advanced by making the W-I-N top lanes. Max bonus multiplier is 5x, so the max full bonus is 5x 594,000 = 2,970,000 points. Bonus multiplier is only carried over from ball to ball if the current player made at least one 2-loop combo on the current ball, or if they started The King's Ransom. Bonus cannot be collected mid-ball.
In competition/novelty play, specials score 100,000 points. Extra balls are only listed in the manual as being able to be set to "a score", but I believe this is 100,000 as well.
The magna save can be set not to be lit at the start of each ball. Also, the magnet duration can be set to anywhere from 2-8 seconds (default 5).
The number of Free Spins- spins where the Lightning Lane is permanently lit for Spin, before the left in lane must be used to temporarily light more Spins, can be set from 0 to 5.
The following timers can be adjusted:
The amount by which any switch in the game increases the jackpot during Stand Up and Fight Multiball can be set to any multiple of 1,000 between 1,000 and 30,000, inclusive.
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