Strategy for wrecking the castles

I have tried and tried but can't seem to stay alive long enough to kill all castles. The "drawbridge STDM bug" makes it pretty much impossible, and I can't seem to find a good way of nudging on iPad.

I seem to have found a way to do this though. First I shoot the drawbridge down. Typicall by letting it bounce on the left flipper and hit it on "volley". This shoots it at the drawbridge every 2nd time or so.

When the drawbridge is down I let it bounce on the left and catch it on the right. It has the same bounce every single time. Then I aim for the lock, which is a quite simple shot. I shoot it until I get multiball and go for the drawbridge...then I do it again and again.

This is a veeery slow approach but it works decently. It's mostly a matter of not missing the lock and trying to hit the drawbridge as much as I can during the multiball.

Still, I have only gotten to the 4th castle. Anyone else who have come further?

Multi-Ball, multi-ball and even more multi-ball! Always try for the 4 ball multi-ball if you're comfortable in dealing with trolls.
Learn to capture the ball more and place your shot so the ball hits the yellow troll nipples (I prefer the left one) AND the gate, so as not to get a direct shot on the gate. This will cut down on SDTM drains and net you many trolls/troll bombs.
Direct shots on the gate (and the yellow troll nipples) are bad. On the drawbridge, not so much. Always be prepared for a SDTM drain.

I just finished a major battle, and still failed to crush through the last castle. The drawbridge is great fun to bring down, but the gate is a nightmare. I find it very easy to hit the DB and Gate, by holding the ball in the flipper (both sides) and then quickly releasing and shooting, this works most times. I don't mind losing a ball or two down the middle every now and then, I like to build up the hurry-up before I shoot for the gate...a risk v's reward thing. Obviously the multi-ball is the best option...but I do like the quick points on offer in MB and I love the graphic for Treasure Chest or whatever it is called. It took me a while to work out that EB is only offered once in Castle Multi-ball...very dissapointed. In my last game I even got the EB in Video Mode...that was great. Anyway I came in fifth, but that wont last long. I wont be happy until I get King of the Realm...my family are already looking at me like i'm a freak. I've been playing MM from day one and haven't stopped since...every day...i'm going crazy. I finished all the other tables (except the two old classics) in a matter of days, but this one is nearly too much. Best and worst game so far.

I catch the ball with the right flipper, let it come to a rest, then release the flipper, let the ball roll down a bit before I smack it. I have gotten pretty good at hitting the castle drawbridge/gate and I rarely get drains down the middle (iphone 4). If I lose a ball it is usually due to the bumpers tossing it into the out lanes or a troll getting is big ugly face in the way.

I agree, hitting the gate and drawbridge is easy. The drawbridge offers no problems either, it is only the gate. In order to eliminate all the castles one need to hit the gate some 20 times since it increases for each castle. Since there is a 30% risk of STDM on this, this pretty much means that you will lose 6-7 balls doing this. This pretty much means one has to do the troll-bounce-trick as squid mentioned or do it during multiball.

I managed to destroy all castles after a while, by using the strategy I mentioned. When I was done I only had one or two balls left which was not enough to get all the remaining challenges done, unfortunately, so I didn't get to Epic Battle.

This strategy, though, is quite boring. Feels like I have to use one glitch of the system (that it always comes down the same way) in order to conquer another glitch of the system. I can't see how one can finish this game with just normal skillful play, which is the case with all the other tables.

Hope they will fix the bug with the flippers being too far apart in the next update. It would be great if they could do something about the "standard" ball routes as well.

Same as ND3G, I use the right flipper for castle shots.
You get an accurate shot by cradling in the right, let it drop, about 1/3 down flipper shoot, it should hit the castle drawbridge /gate and drop into the collector near the castle. After a couple of seconds it gets spat out to the left, let it bounce pass off the left flipper and catch and cradle with the right again.
This can be repeated quite quickly to destroy the castles more easily.
I don't like the trolls though, I tend to sit em out otherwise I always drain!

Every version of this table I've ever played makes the castle shot a large drain risk. I don't think it's a bug but quite possibly the way that the table plays. I've played 4 or 5 different virtual versions at this point and that seems to be the one thing that they all share. I've not played it IRL so i don't know for sure.

I just took out four castles with my first ball using my/Nik's technique and I only lost the ball due to missing the gate on one shot, hitting a troll bumper and center draining.

Guys, this version is harder than the actual table because of the lack of super skill shot. THAT is how you get ahead on the castles. It is a free shot at the gate that also scores big points. If it happens to go STDM, the ball save is on, so it was a freebie. The gate is punishing on the real table and the only time you should risk a shot at it is during multi ball or when the ball saver is active. I'm sure this will be addressed in the next round of updates since it is such a huge part of the game for this table and for AFM.

Tony C said:

Guys, this version is harder than the actual table because of the lack of super skill shot. THAT is how you get ahead on the castles. It is a free shot at the gate that also scores big points. If it happens to go STDM, the ball save is on, so it was a freebie. The gate is punishing on the real table and the only time you should risk a shot at it is during multi ball or when the ball saver is active. I'm sure this will be addressed in the next round of updates since it is such a huge part of the game for this table and for AFM.

Click to expand...

The gate takes 27 hits over the trek to Battle for the Kingdom. It is not practical to get all 27 hits in during multiballs. You're going to have to make another 7 gate shots during Battle for the Kingdom (perhaps under time pressure if you get down to one ball during BftK, and definitely with the trolls in the way because you can't use troll bombs on mobile devices), so you need to be able to hit the gate at will.

Dealing with the gate involves hitting it, immediately determining which way it's going after contact, and nudging appropriately. Expect to have to nudge (and perhaps slap save) after every gate shot. That's just how the real table was, and the saucer/forcefield in AFM is even worse. You're going to have two major problems doing this on TPA: the relative difficulty of nudging accurately on mobile devices, and the bouncy physics makes live catching more difficult than it should be.

If you encounter the real table, the preferred method is to shoot very slightly off-vertical from either flipper so that the ball strikes the gate and falls to the other flipper, live catch it (or nudge and slap save if it's not going where you want), and repeat. Basically you pass the ball between the flippers via the gate. The left flipper shot is somewhat safer than the right simply because of the angle of the gate. This procedure is not 100% safe, especially if you botch the angles, but it's the safest way outside of multiball I've discovered to take down castles.

Nik: How do you manage to drop it into the collector when the gate is down? That only works when the drawbridge is up, no?

The problem is not to hit the gate though. It's to stay alive afterwards. In a way that is quite realistic, if you would storm a castle gate during medieval times, you would probably be able to damage it a bit...but you would probably get killed soon thereafter

What is the super skill shot? I haven't played this table IRL for a looong time.

You, who are playing this on iPads and smartphones are you actually able to nudge in a controlled way? I find that very difficult and rather jerk it in an uncontrolled manner, basically losing sight of the table. That's the only way I get an effect...or do you do the tap nudge?

By the way. What is the deal with the video mode? I can only make it passed 5 birds - maximum. Seems just as impossible as hunting crows with pitchforks IRL. Is there a trick?

I'm starting to get the hang of the motion nudging on iOS and i think it's a lot more subtle than i realized at first, also improved when i updated to iOS 5.1 ( i was way behind).

The super skill shot is activated by holding the left flipper when you launch the ball...impossible as of now on mobiles.

I've never played the real table but the one consistent thing between every virtual table iteration was that the gate is a sewer shot and you need to basically nudge away from the flipper you shot it from as soon as you hit the gate.

ND3G said:

I just took out four castles with my first ball using my/Nik's technique and I only lost the ball due to missing the gate on one shot, hitting a troll bumper and center draining.

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I know it's not the bravest of things to do, but i have sat cradling the ball for 30secs till the trolls time out and disappear. I just don't have the nudging skills required to deal with the trolls.
Practice makes perfect I guess.

Cristobal said:

Nik: How do you manage to drop it into the collector when the gate is down? That only works when the drawbridge is up, no?

The problem is not to hit the gate though. It's to stay alive afterwards. In a way that is quite realistic, if you would storm a castle gate during medieval times, you would probably be able to damage it a bit...but you would probably get killed soon thereafter

What is the super skill shot? I haven't played this table IRL for a looong time.

You, who are playing this on iPads and smartphones are you actually able to nudge in a controlled way? I find that very difficult and rather jerk it in an uncontrolled manner, basically losing sight of the table. That's the only way I get an effect...or do you do the tap nudge?

By the way. What is the deal with the video mode? I can only make it passed 5 birds - maximum. Seems just as impossible as hunting crows with pitchforks IRL. Is there a trick?

Click to expand...

Hey Cristobal, I don't know if it's an Android only thing as i've not played the real table or the ios version, but if you get an accurate hit on the gate from the right flipper without ricochet off other playfield items the collector should pick up the ball and spit out to the left. Accuracy is the key, slightly off and it'll bounce back on you.
Apart from the skill shot problem, another thread on this site proves this emulation is more difficult due to the flippers being farther apart than on real tables, and the physics are a little bouncier than in real life, but damn it sure as hell is still in my top 2 tables on TPA at the minute.
Thanks again Farsight!

I have no shame in stating that I now regularly sit out Trolls. Without Troll bombs (on mobile), the Trolls are a big problem, second only to Castles. My problem with Video Mode was that I never ever got it, and then I got it once the other day and i've had it three or four times since; I got an EB and even finished it once...heaps of fun. I might try nudging on the Castle shot...it's quite difficult on my mobile, but it might be worth it. I'm employing a Castles only strategy now and generally manage to get up to the last one, but with a combination of nerves (the magic of Pinball) and lack of balls, I always miss out.

To Cristobal: A helpful tip for defeating the video mode is to hang around the middle baby (or cow) as much as you can. Do not stray too far from it. This allows you to have a decent reaction time to both sides of the field. When you get to around 20-22 falcons, watch for the extra ball. (beyond the wizard goal, this is what you really want. the 4mil for completing the video mode doesn't seem worth the effort.)

To GDW: You really need to go for the trolls. A lack of slain trolls WILL hold you back from reaching The Battle for the Kingdom. You also should hang on to a troll bomb or two for the Battle for the Kingdom. Troll bombs are the only way to get rid of the trolls in the Battle for the Kingdom.

Nik Barbour said:

I know it's not the bravest of things to do, but i have sat cradling the ball for 30secs till the trolls time out and disappear. I just don't have the nudging skills required to deal with the trolls.
Practice makes perfect I guess.

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I just shoot in between them. If the drawbridge is up it is a non-issue. If the drawbridge is down I find they actually help keep the ball from going SDTM if I don't manage to get into the mote after hitting the gate.

I just took out the King of Pain's castle and am currently 148th overall on MM!

ND3G said:

I just shoot in between them. If the drawbridge is up it is a non-issue. If the drawbridge is down I find they actually help keep the ball from going SDTM if I don't manage to get into the mote after hitting the gate.

I just took out the King of Pain's castle and am currently 148th overall on MM!

Click to expand...

Nice placing!
I've given up with Facebook on my phone, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't , so I just play as a guest and remember my PB.
Not as good as yours probably but been getting around 70mil mark on average recently.
As you say you can make the shot inbetween, it's probably just me getting phased out but I always seem to fluff it and drain off a bad ricochet when the trolls are up, so if I think im going near my PB I tend to chicken out until those troll bombs get fixed, then they're gonna get it big time!

Pretty good strategy for getting video mode as well since the bounce off the left flipper will light a FIRE letter.