If playing strictly for points: don't try for anything other than the left orbit -> upper loop Two way combo. It's worth 10,000,000 the first time, and 3,000,000 more than the previous on subsequent times, with no upper limit (100,000,000+ is possible). The upper loop shot is extremely early on the upper flipper. If the upper flipper isn't strong enough to make the upper loop somehow, focus on Vengeance completions by using the diverters to shoot the ramps with flashing red lights above them.
If playing for game progress and wizard mode: start the 6 Scene modes from the right saucer between the right ramp and right orbit. Lock balls toward Shadow Multiball at the Wall/Sanctum shot in the very back middle of the game. Go to the upper playfield via the shot just left of the Wall/Sanctum and try to stay there until you hit the displayed number of targets. Complete Khan at the bottom lanes to light Khan Multiball at the left saucer underneath the left ramp. Do all 4 of these to light the right saucer for Final Battle.
The Shadow has two buttons on each side of the cabinet.
The red buttons, which are the ones closest to the front of the machine, are conventional flipper buttons that operate the game's 3 flippers and move the paddle in the upper Battlefield area.
The blue buttons, situated just behind the red ones, are Phurba Diverter buttons. Hitting these buttons toggles the direction of the diverter at the top of the ramp on that side of the playfield. This is required to start and complete Vengeance mode, to pick the Skill Shot that you want, and to complete every Final Battle shot; other than those 3 cases, though, the diverters just allow the player to decide which flipper a ramp shot will go to.
The gun trigger plunger on The Shadow always sends the ball to the right in lane. The skill shot, then, is to immediately make the left ramp as soon as the ball is served to the right flipper. There are two possible skill shot awards, and you can select which one you want using the left diverter button to toggle the left ramp's direction. The left option will always be points: 10,000,000 for the first skill shot, with each successful skill shot increasing the value by 5,000,000, to a maximum of 40,000,000. The right option will always be something other than points from the following list:
The left ramp remains lit for the skill shot for about 5 seconds. Making another major shot in the game or draining the ball and using the ball saver instantly deactivate the skill shot.
There are 6 Scene modes in the game. Whenever a Scene or a Multiball is not running, shoot the right saucer (between the right ramp and the right orbit) to start a Scene mode. The left Khan saucer under the left ramp will also start a Scene mode if it is not lit for Khan Multiball. The 6 Scene modes are:
Playing all 6 modes (not necessarily completing them) is one of the 4 requirements for Final Battle wizard mode. Scoring from the modes is not added to your score immediately: instead, it is added as part of the bonus, so don't tilt on a ball where you played some modes.
If you have played all 6 modes causes the mode lights to reset. If you have not completed all of the other requirements for Final Battle, you can continue to shoot Start Scene to replay modes to get their points again. However, once you do play Final Battle, the mode lights reset again, so you can't use this as a way to possibly make early progress toward a second Final Battle.
Just to the left of the Sanctum Wall shot in the back-center of the game is the Battle drop target, and behind that is a ball popper. Hit the drop target to expose the ball popper; shoot into the popper to send the ball up to the Battlefield mini-playfield. The goal here is to hit the number of targets shown on the backglass, keeping the ball in play by using the flippers to move the paddle, like you're playing Pong or Breakout. The first Khan Battle requires 30 hits to the Battlefield targets and awards 50,000,000 points. After making the requisite number of hits, 5,000,000 points are awarded, and the drop targets in the back will stay down when hit; shoot through the back of the Battlefield to defeat Khan, which gives the 50,000,000 award and lights Start Scene for an Extra Ball. If the ball gets moving so fast on the Battlefield that it leaves via the top exit before the drop targets could re-raise, it is treated the same as a drain off the bottom with no bonus award. Each individual target has its own light in the Battlefield as well. Hit a target with a flashing light to make it solid. If you light every target by hitting them all over the course of your Battlefield progress, the Khan Award will raise by 20,000,000 points.
Khan can be fought at the Battlefield more than once. Each defeat of Khan increases the number of main playfield drop targets hit required to expose the popper by 1, increases the number of hits required to win by 20 (max 100), and increases the base Khan Award by 10,000,000 points. Defeating Khan at the Battlefield at least once is one of the 4 requirements for Final Battle wizard mode.
Light locks and make locks at the Sanctum Wall shot. For the first multiball, lock 1 is lit for free at the start of the game, and locks 2 and 3 must be qualified by hitting the Wall once first. For subsequent Shadow Multiballs, it takes one more hit to the Wall each time to light the next lock. Locking 3 balls starts Shadow Multiball.
During Shadow Multiball, the jackpot shot is the upper loop, which scores 20,000,000 points. Balls are kicked out of the Sanctum to the upper flipper at a controlled speed, making it slightly easier to hit the upper loop. If you are in the middle of an upper loop combo, the game will wait to feed any balls that are in the Sanctum so as not to disrupt your rhythm. If you relock balls at the Khan saucer or the Start Scene saucer, they will stay there for 10 seconds or until a jackpot is made. Making a jackpot with 1 ball relocked turns it into a 40,000,000 point Double jackpot, and making a jackpot with 2 balls relocked turns it into a 60,000,000 Triple jackpot.
After making 5 jackpots (and the Double and Triple jackpots do give credit for 2 or 3 respectively), the Khan saucer is lit for a super jackpot worth 100,000,000 points. You can still relock a ball in Start Scene to double this, turning it into a 200,000,000 point Double Super Jackpot! After collecting a super jackpot of any flavor, the sequence resets, and 5 more jackpots are needed once again.
Starting Shadow Multiball (you do not need to collect any kind of jackpot along the way) is one of the 4 requirements for Final Battle wizard mode.
The in and out lanes spell Khan. Go through an unlit lane to light it. The two flippers can be used to lane change the lit Khan letters in either direction. Completing Khan increases the bonus multiplier and lights the Khan saucer under the left ramp for Khan Multiball. No locks are required for Khan Multiball: once the saucer is lit, shooting it starts multiball straight away, with the game autoplunging two more balls into play.
The jackpot shots in Khan Multiball are the red circles on the playfield that look a little bit like sunflowers. There are five: the left orbit, both ramps, the upper loop, and the Battlefield shot. Making a shot scores a Khan Jackpot and unlights it. The Khan Jackpot starts at 20,000,000 points and increases by 100,000 with each in/out lane made. Just like Shadow Multiball, jackpots can be doubled or tripled by locking one or two balls into the saucers first; relocked balls are kicked out after a jackpot is made or 10 seconds pass. After making all 5 jackpots, the Super Jackpot is lit- as one of the drop targets in the Battlefield! The Super Jackpot scores 100,000,000 points, and can also be doubled or tripled. Since it's very difficult to get a multiball going and control the paddle in The Battlefield, the easiest way to claim it is to relock all balls except one to get them out of the way and then quickly shoot the Battlefield for the multiplied Super Jackpot while there's nothing else to worry about. Collecting a Super Jackpot restarts the sequence.
Playing Khan Multiball is one of the 4 requirements for Final Battle wizard mode.
Above each side of each of the two ramps is a flashing red light. This is referred to as a Shadow Ring, and making that side of that ramp scores 3,000,000 points and lights the red light solidly. Lighting all 4 rings instantly starts Vengeance mode at any time other then during Final Battle. During Vengeance, the goal is to light the 4 rings once again, within 20 seconds. The ramp value starts at 5,000,000 points. Ramps that light a ring increase the next ramp's value by 2,000,000. Lighting all 4 rings within 20 seconds scores 50,000,000 points and restarts Vengeance, but with the ramp value continuing to build. If you're really good at shooting ramps, ignoring all Final Battle progress and just focusing on Vengeance completions can be a viable scoring strategy. Be mindful of the danger of ramp combos, though, as the left ramp is very close to the flippers and missing a shot into the targets on each side could lead to a very quick center drain.
If the 4 ramp shots that light the 4 rings to start Vengeance were strung together as part of a Four way combo instead, Vengeance will become Super Vengeance. During Super Vengeance, the starting ramp value is 10,000,000 instead of 5,000,000, and the completion bonus is 100,000,000. Regular Vengeance can be upgraded into Super Vengeance by making the four ramp shots required by regular Vengeance in a Four way combo as well.
Vengeance is a possible award from the Skill Shot and Who Knows, as well. Starting Vengeance from a skill shot does not spot the right side of the left ramp for you; you must hit it again.
Six standup targets around the bottom of the game spell Mongol: two in the lower left, two in the lower right, and one on either side of the left ramp. Spell Mongol by hitting all 6 targets (or spotting the entire word from a Skill Shot or Who Knows) to start a Mongol Hurry-up on the orbits, which starts at 30,000,000 points and counts down to 10,000,000 before timing out. The yellow target in the back of the game between the Battlefield and Sanctum Wall shots will spot a letter in Mongol. Starting a Mongol Hurry-up also lights the Start Scene saucer for Who Knows. If Mongol is running, you can pull the gun trigger to instantly end the hurry-up, which awards 3,000,000 points. This should only be done if you happen to drain while a Mongol Hurry-up is running, just so you can take a few points with you.
A mystery award at the right saucer lit by completing the word Mongol. The possible awards it can give are the same as the Skill Shot awards list, with the score option modified slightly to be a random multiple of 5,000,000 between 10,000,000 and 30,000,000.
The Shadow neatly rewards players for making consecutive shots of almost any kind. Three way, Four way, Five way, Six way, and Seven way combos are available; Three way combos score 15,000,000 points, with each length of combo after that scoring 5,000,000 more than the previous. There is one Two way combo as well, though, and it is more important than any of the rest: the left orbit -> upper loop combo scores 10,000,000 the first time and increases in value by 3,000,000 each time it is made. There is no upper limit to this! I have seen the best players in the world build the Two way combo value up to well over 100,000,000 points per shot. If you are able to consistently find the upper loop shot, this is by far the best way to earn points in the game.
There are also awards for consecutive upper loops, which the game calls Shadow loops. The first Shadow loop scores 2,000,000 points, and further consecutive Shadow loops add 2,000,000 more to the previous award. Once per game, making 3 consecutive Shadow loops lights an extra ball. At any time, making 5 consecutive Shadow loops scores a 40,000,000 point Shadow bonus.
Either orbit shot scores 1,000,000 points. Consecutive shots comboed to the same orbit each double that value, up to a maximum of 32,000,000 points for a sixth consecutive orbit shot.
In addition, the game keeps track of the number of orbit shots made in the whole game. Every 4th loop brings you to a new destination: China Town at 4 loops scores 5,000,000, Cobalt Club at 8 loops scores 10,000,000, Hotel Monolith at 12 loops scores 15,000,000, Cranston Manor at 16 loops scores 20,000,000, and Mari-Tech Labs at 20 loops scores 25,000,000. After 20 orbit shots have been made, every orbit shot for the rest of that ball is a Super Loop that scores 20,000,000 points. Loop count does not reset until after the ball where Super Loops was started. The increasing loop value is just another reason why the left orbit -> upper loop shot has value; the more times you attempt it, the closer you get to Super Loops from the left orbit alone, even if you do not succeed with the Two way combo.
The loop counter is known to be somewhat buggy on pretty much all versions of The Shadow's software. The most common issue is that Mari-Tech Labs is never awarded, and the game will just give Cranston Manor a second time at 20 loops before starting Super Loops. Under certain situations, a player may be told that Mari-Tech will be awarded in 255 loops, but this usually means they'll get either the Mari-Tech Labs award or the second Cranston Manor award with the next loop shot.
After playing both Shadow and Khan multiballs, starting all 6 Scene modes, and defeating Khan at the Battlefield, the Shadow's Scarf will be completed. Shoot the Start Scene saucer for Final Battle. Enjoy the sound and light show, and get ready to fight. This is a 5-ball multiball with unlimited ball save for 30 seconds. You must hit all 27 major targets in the game before returning to single ball play. Do so, and you will be handsomely rewarded, to the tune of 1,000,000,000 points! The 27 targets you must hit are as follows:
Each target toward the 27-count scores 10,000,000 points. The two saucers do not relock balls or multiply any scoring, but they will spot one of the 27 targets for you. The strategy here is to beeline to the Battlefield so you can focus on collecting all of those targets while there is still ball save on, and not have to worry about keeping other balls alive as well. If you don't get them all, that's okay; you'll want to spot them from saucers later on, ideally when there are only 2 balls left and you can keep one under control. Returning to single ball play after the ball save is off ends Final Battle, with pretty much all progress in the game reset. If you succeed in hitting the 27 targets, the game goes dead and lets the balls drain before another fantastic sound and light show gives you your 1 Billion points. But then- Final Battle starts again! You can go through a second time, and potentially collect another 1,000,000,000 points. The catch is, this time there is no ball save at all...so good luck. :)
The Shadow has a conventional in/out lane setup. The four lanes correspond to the four letters in Khan. Going through an in or out lane lights it, and lit lanes can be rotated in either direction with lane change. Spelling Khan lights Khan Multiball at the left saucer and increases the bonus multiplier. (After Khan Multiball has been played several times, typically 2, Khan Multiball will be lit on a timer after completing the Khan lanes.)
Base bonus is contributed to by various switches. I do not know the exact breakdown. Bonus multiplier is advanced one at a time up to a maximum of 10x by completing the Khan lanes or collecting Bonus X from a Skill Shot or Who Knows. Only the base bonus is affected by the multiplier. At the end of the bonus count, the score obtained from each Scene mode played on that ball is added. This makes it very important not to tilt on The Shadow most of the time. Bonus and bonus multiplier can never be carried from ball to ball and there is no mid-ball bonus collect.
The game settings contain an option to have Specials score 30,000,000 points for competition/novelty play, but I am not aware of anywhere in the game where a Special can be earned. Please let me know if I've missed something. Extra balls cannot be set to have a point value.
By default, the various ball saves in the game are 5 seconds at the start of play, 12 seconds for Shadow Multiball, 5 seconds for Khan Multiball, and 5 seconds for Hotel Monolith. All of these can be independently changed to any value from 1 to 60 seconds.
A setting allows there to be a brief 2-second ball save whenever the Sanctum Wall or the Battlefield Drop target is hit, as an anti-frustration measure regarding center drains. This is off by default.
Farley Claymore, Punish the Guilty, Beryllium Sphere, and Vengeance can all individually have their timers set to between 5 and 90 seconds. Default is 20 for Vengeance and 30 for the rest.
The starting value of each hurry-up in Escape Underwater Doom can be set to anywhere from 20,000,000 to 45,000,000 points.
The amount of time that balls remain locked in Khan or Start Scene during multiball can be set to 1-30 seconds; default 10.
The number of consecutive Shadow loops required to light the extra ball is 3 by default (can be set to between 2 and 10), but varies widely depending on how frequently players earn extra balls during games.
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