Know where the skill shot is and be able to hit it every time you get to plunge to score the 3,000 points. Lock balls in the two saucers and release them with the yellow mushroom bumpers or the captive ball. The blue mushroom bumper zips the flippers together; the yellow mushroom bumpers reopen the flippers; all three mushroom bumpers increase the value of the right side lane, which is the best source of repeatable points in the game after the skill shot.
Any plunge features a precise power skill shot. Plunge so that the ball falls down the lane labelled 3,000, scoring that many points and lighting the yellow bumpers. Too short, and the ball will score just 100 points and fall down the right side of the top of the table; too hard, and the ball will go all the way across the top of the table, through a one-way gate. You'll (hopefully) be able to plunge for this skill shot multiple times per ball after making locks- it's very worth learning where this skill shot is and going for it every time, as 3,000 points is not an easily earned sum in this game.
Bumpers score 10 points, or 100 when lit. The blue bottom bumper is always on. The two yellow bumpers are off to start, and are lit by making the skill shot.
The left and right saucers correspond to Odin and Wotan, the Fire Gods. Putting a ball in either of these saucers locks it. If there are no other balls in play, a new ball will be fed to the shooter lane. If there are other balls in play, this relock is treated similarly to a lost ball (see Multiball below). Locked balls are released by hitting the yellow mushroom bumper on the opposite side of the table, or by making a full captive ball shot.
When there is no ball in the left saucer, one of the inserts in front of it will be lit, and the lit insert does not move. When a ball is locked, the light will constantly scan between the 5 values. The lit value corresponds to the score awarded by hitting the target in the back of the captive ball lane.
The right saucer is connected to a side lane. There are three switches in said lane. Each switch scores 100 points, or 1,000 points when it is "lit" by hitting the corresponding mushroom bumper at any point during the ball.
The first rollover switch in this lane scores 100 points; the second switch scores 1,000 points; the standup target at the back scores the value that is lit in front of the left saucer and releases balls from both locks, if there are any.
All three mushroom bumpers score 100 points and increase the value of the right lane by changing the value of one of the switches from 100 to 1,000 points. The blue mushroom bumper in the center zips the flippers together. Both yellow mushroom bumpers reopen the flipper gap; the left mushroom bumper releases the right lock, and the right mushroom bumper releases the left lock.
A disc parallel to the playfield constantly spins during gameplay, sending the ball wildly flailing around the table. There's not much to do other than try to react to where the ball might be going and nudge whenever possible to keep it in play. The disc is one of the most frustrating aspects of the table.
Around the spinning disc are 8 rollover buttons that score 10 points each. The topmost button lights the kickback in the left out lane; the lower left and lower right buttons disable the left kickback.
Putting a ball in either saucer locks the ball. The left yellow mushroom bumper releases the ball from the right lock, and the right yellow mushroom releases the ball from the left lock. Hitting the standup target at the back of the captive ball lane releases both locks. There are no scoring changes anywhere on the playfield during multiball. Locking a ball is effectively the same as losing it; it must be released by the normal method to get it back.
If a ball is drained to return to single ball play with another ball locked immediately after, that player will be fed a new ball. However, if a ball is locked and the other, final ball is drained immediately after, the game will recognize that a ball was drained in single-ball play, and the current player's turn will end. Pay close attention to the backglass and the order of operations of locks and drains; Fireball is one of the games that sees the most disqualifications in tournament play due to players accidentally plunging the next player's ball. Be very careful!
During multiball, the gate at the bottom of the right lane will redirect a ball back to the shooter lane instead of toward the flippers. On most tables, leaving a ball in the shooter lane in this way would be an illegal stall maneuver in tournaments. However, it is typically considered an approved strategy to leave a ball in the shooter lane as a pseudo-extra ball on this game specifically. Verify this with a tournament director before playing this game in a competitive setting.
There are no in lanes. The flippers back up directly to the slingshots. The left out lane has an automatic kickback that is lit by the topmost rollover button, and unlit by the lower left and lower right buttons. The kickback is not unlit by being used, it is permanently on until the corresponding button turns it off. There is no such feature in the right out lane.
The flippers can be zipped together by hitting the blue mushroom bumper, preventing the risk of a center drain (but affecting shotmaking, making backhand shots easier) until a yellow mushroom bumper is hit.