Eight Ball Deluxe - Tactics and Strategies

superballs

Active member
Apr 12, 2012
2,653
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Been a while since I've done one of these

This is a pretty simple table, I'll be working on the table goals and not so much tourney strategies.

The toughest goal seems to be the 10 Specials. I will be not relying on completing DELUXE, though that will make things easier

Priorities are key:
Left Flipper Shots
Always be trying to sink your balls and getting the 8 ball
After the first two, the 8-ball alternates between 50K and Special, if you do end up completing deluxe on the backglass (in a single game), you will get the 3 specials from that, plus you will have accumulated 4 Specials from the alternating Deluxe Specials and Specials from getting the 8-ball (this might be 6 specials, I need to double check the rules, bonus if it is and I'll edit this later to reflect my findings).

If you're playing for score, sink everything and hit the 8-ball, and pound that corner pocket, even better if you have the multipliers shot (see right hand shots)

Right flipper shots:
First on every ball, if you get the ball to stop in the right flipper, you will want to shoot first for the left path, get your extra ball as quick as possible. Do not waste these shots, you really never know how many you will get. It's important to get your extra ball every ball, as you will want to be able to get your special every other ball to get to your 10, and to make sure you are eligible for your EB on the next ball. Once you've lit this, you can ignore this shot for the rest of the ball.

Multipliers, these are important for racking up points as the corner pocket will become a gold mine for points. Also, once you've hit the 5X, this shot alternates between 50K and a special. Spam it when you can. Again, don't waste your shots off the right flipper, although, at least if you miss, you have a chance at an easy 70k from the left pathway. If you're collecting specials, you might want to concentrate on this, but extra balls are a bit more important, alternately you can shoot for this and just collect the other special accidentally with misses. This is a slightly riskier shot and requires a lot of ball control to make it safe, as you get the 4x and 5x it's a bit safer and you get a bit more reaction time.

General strategy wrap-up:
Always concentrate on the ball drop targets and your 8-ball
Slam away at the corner pocket once your multipliers are up
Spam the side pocket once it's opened up
Concentrate on that Extra ball and special in the left lane before the multiplier as it's a fairly safe shot

Ball Control:
Paramount in this game.
Never let the ball hit the kickers on the top, outside.
Never let the ball hit the kickers near the top without a good solid upward nudge, or a side nudge to soften the impact (nudge table right if the ball is going to hit the right kicker). If you are using a game controller this is almost expoitable as you can soft nudge all day and it has a big effect on the ball.
Still testing, but a right nudge when you shoot from near the top of the upper flipper may be an easy 8-ball shot, just found this this morning and will try to recreate.

It's been a while since I've made any of my gameplay videos, but I'm going to start taking footage from this table and still deciding whether I'm going to go with live commentary or scripted commentary afterwards. Maybe a hybrid of both, who knows.
 

DA5ID

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Aug 27, 2014
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thanks for the tips - this table is killing me in the current tournament.

good to know about extra balls - i thought there was only one per game, didn't know it alternated between extra ball and special.
after my first extra ball I stopped going for that shot.
 

DanBradford

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Apr 5, 2013
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Why pound the corner pocket for score, if you only get 50K? You can get 70K a shot by just going left orbit all day and trying to rack up the 25Ks from the lit arrow shots.
 

EldarOfSuburbia

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Feb 8, 2014
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The corner pocket (behind the 8-ball standup) scores your entire bonus every time you hit it.

If you have 5x bonus lit, 112K Super Bonus lit, all 7 drops and (by necessity) the 8-ball down (so you're currently working on DELUXE letters), this results in 112K + (8 x 7K) x 5 = 168K x 5 = 840K. Add in the fact you're going to get 60K(?) for just dropping the 8-ball target, that's a whopping 900K per shot to the corner pocket. Nothing else comes close. By all means though when you have the ball on the right flipper, go for the 70K - I've found post transfers to be a bit hairy on EBD, to the extent I'm willing to risk making the left orbit and taking on the bumpers.
 

DanBradford

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Apr 5, 2013
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I watched the Bowen tutorial video, and he mentioned that it was possible in the settings for that saucer to score the bonus ..... but in the table instructions it says it maxes out at 60K, look -

a37c643e2909e5bc57fd5aafe219cfd7.jpg


I hope you're right though, maybe I misread it
 
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EldarOfSuburbia

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Feb 8, 2014
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I watched the Bowen tutorial video, and he mentioned that it was possible in the settings for that saucer to score the bonus ..... but in the table instructions it says it maxes out at 60K, look -

a37c643e2909e5bc57fd5aafe219cfd7.jpg


I hope you're right though, maybe I misread it

Nah, it's knocking down the 8-ball that gets 60K max.

The saucer most definitely scores the bonus. No way we'd be seeing the scores we're seeing (particularly in the 10-minute tournament) if it were otherwise.
 

superballs

Active member
Apr 12, 2012
2,653
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That's so hard to do though. Especially if the ball is rolling down slowly. It's just begging to be launched.
Plus you can get a nice volley going. It is a risk witch certain targets though.

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk
 

superballs

Active member
Apr 12, 2012
2,653
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Yeah touchscreen nudging is a pain. Enough of one that I'm considering a controller even for my phone

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk
 

Slam23

Active member
Jul 21, 2012
1,279
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Wow, nice video Relaxation. With my iPad I come nowhere near that kind of flipper/ball control. It shows how different physics can be cross-platform too. For example, I even can't get the ball to roll up the inlane like you do in the video, it only moves a bit in that direction but not enough to get any momentum. Micronudging is off the table (no pun intended :) ) in general.
I'm strangely hooked on this table, because the sheer amount of houseballs and drains that are completely out of my control are not usually conducive to me keeping playing as I do. I can live with drains from my own missed shots, and even with the occasional bad luck. EBD is in a whole other realm. Every time the ball goes into the bumper area it's a crap shoot. And two of the most important shots lead there: the left orbit for EB and the side pocket behind the 8-ball target for the most valuable shot in the game. So you can't really avoid it. Maybe if you make a science out of the left side pocket shot for 50K per 2 shots, but I haven't had the patience, nor the precision to milk that one. It's quite controllable if you're down to that level. I haven't been able to see patterns to how the ball will leave the bumpers, so some pre-emptive nudging could be applied. I haven't played a real EBD yet, and judging by the reactions of the table fans, the recreation by Farsight has been very good. So maybe it's a fickle table IRL too.
 

relaxation

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Oct 8, 2015
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Wow, nice video Relaxation. With my iPad I come nowhere near that kind of flipper/ball control. It shows how different physics can be cross-platform too. For example, I even can't get the ball to roll up the inlane like you do in the video, it only moves a bit in that direction but not enough to get any momentum.

I did forget to mention to roll up the inlane you have to be as quick as possible*. I'm curious for mobile users: can any of you make it go up the inlane like I did there? I want to know what kind of lag your input device might have. Only 1 technique used an analog stick input and it isn't my #1 choice on this table so bring up your complaints to farsight, 1 technique was a digital nudge and the others were flipper-only techniques.

*I know I can go quicker but only when it's involuntary from stress.
 
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Slam23

Active member
Jul 21, 2012
1,279
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I did forget to mention to roll up the inlane you have to be as quick as possible*. I'm curious for mobile users: can any of you make it go up the inlane like I did there? I want to know what kind of lag your input device might have. Only 1 technique used an analog stick input and it isn't my #1 choice on this table so bring up your complaints to farsight, 1 technique was a digital nudge and the others were flipper-only techniques.

*I know I can go quicker but only when it's involuntary from stress.

The best I can manage is getting the ball right on the tail end of the banner on both sides. That's maybe 0,5 cm. I don't know how to make videos on my iPad while I play and post them, but I hope this description gives an idea. I can approximate the nudge technique but only full force, so it's nowhere near as subtle as with soft nudges. I think full alley passes are possible, but I have to practice them some more to see if they are a dependable shot. Now I often hit edges of the slingshots and flippers. I'm curious why you state that I have to take my complaint to Farsight. I wasn't aware of me complaining about something. If you refer to the difference between analog and digital nudging: it's just a fact that analog nudging gives way more control and there are a lot of youtube videos that prove that. It's also a fact that platforms differ maybe not so much in input lag (they probably do) but that the spatial resolution of input differs greatly. I'm not a technical guy but I remember VikingErik making that comparison with the PC platform saying that the PC has vastly superior resolution, which makes for more precise imput. And lastly, not all tables behave the same in the physics department. These differences go either way probably. For the record: I like playing on my iPad because of the portability and I don't think I could be in the same league as say a Tarek Oberdieck even if I played on PC. So there's that :) so no complaints here
 

relaxation

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Oct 8, 2015
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That comment wasn't just for you, but all the mobile players who say they can't/don't have as much control as they'd like.

In the future: if they're implementing ball spin [everywhere] on mobile just to hide their prominent railroads.. wouldn't that still be a railroad?

I saw satandouche (iOS player) do railpasses on MSF, so I thought they may be applicable to mobile players on this table, to learn they can't flick as quickly as we (PC/console) can.. gives us an idea why we (all of us) haven't/wont get real cradle separation interactions added
 
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satandouche

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Sep 27, 2015
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That comment wasn't just for you, but all the mobile players who say they can't/don't have as much control as they'd like.

In the future: if they're implementing ball spin [everywhere] on mobile just to hide their prominent railroads.. wouldn't that still be a railroad?

I saw satandouche (iOS player) do railpasses on MSF, so I thought they may be applicable to mobile players on this table, to learn they can't flick as quickly as we (PC/console) can.. gives us an idea why we (all of us) haven't/wont get real cradle separation interactions added

Awesome video showcasing your passing skills. I was able to backhand the ball multiple times in a row to "rock" it hard enough back up the inlane to successfully complete a rail pass, but I couldn't do it consistently on iPad. Might be possible with some practice. Sometimes it backhanded a fair bit back, but on the return it slowly reached the end of the flipper and you had to hit it to avoid draining. Definitely can't backhand it once and complete the rail pass.

Just a different game in many aspects on mobile vs other platforms. Not a bad thing except when it limits gameplay - like the mini flipper (or lack of it) in Starship Troopers. Real pinball has so many nuances and every machine has it's own personality that you have to figure out to be successful. Kind of miss that with the apps, but at least you don't have weak flippers to deal with!

I'm a goal hunter, but it looks like I may hold the top score on iOS as soon as the leaderboard updates. Got 11mil plus by spamming the 5x and bonus scoop. I'll enjoy that till some lunatic buries my score with a marathon game.

Cheers Wizards!
 

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