CV Tactics and Strategies

Sean DonCarlos

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Mar 17, 2012
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OK, so most of you know by now how these threads generally go. Insert the usual introduction here about how this is not the One True Way to play a game of Cirqus Voltaire; I'm not trying to pass myself off as the Bowen Kerins of TPA, yada yada yada. :p That being said, on to the...

General strategy: Shoot the Ringmaster! That's it. No, really. OK, there are a few exceptions, but 95% of the time you shoot the Ringmaster. OK, but why? Because it's an extremely safe shot (compared to ToM's Trunk or MM's Gate) and because the Ringmaster Battle can eventually be milked for tens of millions each time through. At some point during your extreme prejudice of the Ringmaster, the other 7 marvels will take care of themselves through lucky bounces and errant shots, at which point you play through the wizard mode and hopefully have a good Party Multiball.

Wrecking the Ringmaster's face: Trap up, launch ball into WOW targets. Now, right when the magnet releases the ball, quickly determine where it's going. You want to nudge such that the ball lands on a flipper, not the center drain (obviously!), but also not the slingshots, which will launch the ball into the Menagerie or the bumpers, both of which are risky places for the ball to be. You want as little side-to-side motion as possible. Ideally the ball is going straight up and down from the right flipper to the Ringmaster and back.

Do the same thing 5 more times when the actual Ringmaster appears, then shove the ball down his throat. (Actually, use a light touch, a full-power shot sometimes circles around the opening and flies back out.) Repeat ad nauseum.

Ringmaster Frenzie, Ringmaster Razz and Ringmaster Special: Go ahead and play these carefully - which means keeping one ball on a flipper so that you don't double drain. When Razz starts, you get your first exception: shoot up the Juggler for an extra ball.

Ringmaster Battle: More Ringmaster face-pounding! But this time for 1M per hit! And with unlimited balls! Here's the catch: You don't want to actually win the Ringmaster Battle. Yes, there's 10M and light extra ball for winning, but if you win the Battle, the Ringmaster is locked out until you finish the wizard mode. This means you're locked out of unlimited millions. Also, each additional Ringmaster you defeat outside of the battle is worth 6M+1M (so starting your second Battle scores an instant 6M, your third scores 7M, etc.) Eventually, you'll be getting the same amount for starting RB as you would for finishing it - but you can start it any number of times and only finish it once.

Don't bother trapping any longer than you need to aim your shots - the Ringmaster starts off slowly, but after about half a minute you'll need to shoot him every 3 seconds to keep up. You want to aim for about 15 to 20 hits on the Ringmaster. Depending on your skill and luck, you may only get 4 or 5 in - fear not, just avenge yourself by raising the next Ringmaster. You want to stop before 25 hits. Around that point, the Ringmaster stops fighting back and you have no choice but to win - which you don't want. You also want to slow down if you see the 4th collar light illuminate, which means you're 2 shots from winning.

You can keep up this cycle of raising the Ringmaster and Battling him almost endlessly. With proper patience and discipline, your score will be determined almost solely by your luck - when the ball goes screaming into the outlanes too fast to save - and it eventually will - will it bounce out on its own or not? On iOS the answer is almost certainly no; on the 360 you have about a 40% chance of keeping the ball even without action on your part. But what your out-of-control balls will also do is start completing marvels on...

The rest of the table: Your control will not be perfect, and so sometimes the ball will get out of control. Between that and your subsequent saves, it will wander into the targets, up ramps, around orbits, etc., for the 7 non-Ringmaster marvels. Boom! tends to start right away as there are Volt rollovers near the Ringmaster; ignore it and wait for the bumper to go back down. Spin will eventually take care of itself; watch out for SDTM drains and nudge defensively. Menagerie also self-completes; but keep an eye on the ball and nudge to keep it out of the left outlane area. Acrobats will usually self-complete by the 4th or 5th Battle. Sideshow is trivial, but when you see it activate, pray for Neon Multiball (more on this later).

Juggler Multiball and Highwire Multiball are the two that generally activate last. The Ringmaster occasionally throws the ball onto the Highwire rail, so you'll eventually see Highwire MB even if you never shoot the left ramp. Juggler is 6 shots that generally don't make themselves, and is most often completed accidentally by Spot Marvel.

Once all 9 marvels are lit, your Ringmaster Battle fun is over for a bit. It's instead time to...

(Gratuitous interruption: If you see you're at 8 marvels, it is then worthwhile to try to win Ringmaster Battle outright for the extra 10M and the light extra ball. The EB is helpful if the wizard mode doesn't go completely according to plan.)

Join the Cirqus: The table instructions contain the detailed procedure for progressing through Cameron Silver's multi-level wizard mode, so just a few tips here.
  • Step 1 - Spell Cirqus: Go for "R" (Highwire ramp) and "S" (Acrobat orbit) quickly, while the ball saver is still running. These are the most dangerous shots. The other four will take care of themselves, and if you can't hit "U" (the WOW targets) after all that Ringmaster bashing, you deserve a pie in the face!
  • Step 2 - Unmask Voltaire: This is the hardest step. The Ringmaster part again should be cakewalk for you by now, but that ramp is not fun. Do as you will while the ball saver runs; once it's about to expire, trap up. Your aim is the Elwin pose (two balls on the left, one on the right). Take the right-hand ball and do the straight-up-and-down shot to the Ringmaster (nudge gently so as not to tip the second ball on the left off the edge), get control, shoot the ramp, when it comes around aim for the loop to the left of the Ringmaster (it will be going too fast for a vertical shot straight to Ringmaster) and nudge to kill the momentum so it comes gently down to a trap. Repeat until Madame Voltaire is unmasked. If the ball drains, pass one over to the right off the Ringmaster. Post transfers are pretty hideous on CV; I don't recommend them.
  • Step 3 - Meet the Cirqus: Not much to say strategy-wise. Shoot the lit jackpots. Careful, controlled play is your friend. After this, it's...
Party Time!: The DMD, lights and sounds are going to encourage you to go nuts. Don't! That ball saver that ran for 20 seconds in each previous step only runs for 3 seconds in Party Multiball, which is really not fair. Start trapping up right away (don't be saddened at losing a ball; trying to keep all 4 is unreasonably difficult without subtle flipper control). Aim for orbits or the Ringmaster, any of which score 1M. Because you have not been spending much time in the bumpers, their value will be very low, don't bother throwing balls in there.

Once the party's over, start again on demolishing Ringmasters.

Sideshow modes: Depending on how many times you hit the standups next to the Ringmaster instead of his actual face, you may go through the Sideshow multiple times. A few comments on some of the modes there.
  • The Amazing Roonie: Scream. Seriously, this is the worst video mode ever. Just jump as many as you can, it's worth something like a couple hundred thousand an obstacle.
  • Cannonball Run: You don't really get a choice about this one. Play it out and see if you can get the cannonball to launch itself out of the backbox.
  • Popcorn Mania: This is not worth abandoning your Ringmaster strategy over. The Popcorn Jackpot is only 500K and you make twice that per shot in Ringmaster Battle.
  • Hat Trick: Let this time out. The shot itself is not hard, of course, but the eject often puts the ball out of control.
  • Neon Multiball: This gets its own section, just because the neon is that damned cool (on the consoles, at least).
Neon Multiball: If this starts, this is going to be one of your better games. Get into your Elwin pose again, and do what you do best - hit those WOW targets. This actually becomes semi-challenging, because the strobing neon screws with your perception. Ten shots is worth an extra ball, which on average translates to another three trips through Ringmaster Battle. This is usually worth another 15 to 45 million.

Strike-an-Arc Multiball: If for some reason this starts - perhaps you're bored of beaning Mr. Ringmaster all the time and are just playing for entertainment value only (which is perfectly fine!) - keep in mind you do not need to play this as a frenzy. Strike-an-Arc is not on a timer. Careful controlled play that gets you 50 switch hits over 5 minutes is preferable to 25 switch hits the first minute followed by a drain. Note that if you can stack this with Highwire MB (only possible by having the fifth ramp shot also lock the third ball), this scores much better. Looks much nicer, too.

Skill shot: Don't forget about this. You plunge a fresh ball after each Battle, and the skill shot builds to 1M each. The plunger is nice and consistent, unlike TotAN or BoP, the shot isn't going anywhere once you find it. (It's about two-thirds of the way back.)

Extra balls and specials: Besides the obvious ones at Ringmaster Razz and 25M points, extra balls are available by shooting the Menagerie 50 times (not going to happen!), winning Ringmaster Battle (should only happen if you notice you're one marvel away from wizard mode), and 15 Boom! balloon hits (will happen eventually in a good game - you do enough spelling of Volt to raise the balloon several times).

Strangely enough, CV has no specials.

Fun with bonus: Bonus is not all that exciting on CV. All that horsing around with the Ringmaster pretty much guarantees you a perfect 10 on that part, and defeating the Ringmaster also fires the cannon, so you'll have quite the stack of cannonballs near the end. Otherwise, bonus is pretty mediocre. Think of it as a million-point-or-so cherry on top.

Entertainment value: While playing CV focused on the Ringmaster will get you a consistent score (even my "bad" games are usually 60M or so), it can get incredibly mind-numbing after a while. Be sure to play some wild and crazy games of CV every now and then, not worried about score, so that you don't start to hate the table. If it's not fun, it's not pinball!

Good luck!

P.S. It's been ten years since I've played a real Cirqus Voltaire, but I'm fairly certain that the real table dumped you back to Ringmaster Frenzie if you lost Ringmaster Battle - that you weren't able to re-attempt RB back-to-back until you won. Can anyone shed some light on this? Was it changed at some point? I know Ringmaster Battle itself was made much harder to win as of ROM v1.3...
 
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SKILL_SHOT

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Jul 11, 2012
3,659
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stack multi balls, if you have 2 WOW letters lit get ringmaster and try for sneaky lock wich ISNT random NUDGE right first left next 2 then left repeat. Then finish juggler multi or highwire...get ringmaster start a double multiball, last ball shoot highwire ramp. Just past middle right flipper.
 

mmmagnetic

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May 29, 2012
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Thanks, great guide! I actually kinda enjoy the single big shot gimmick on this table, the "Gulp!" as the ball slams into that big hole is really satisfying.
 

bavelb

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Apr 16, 2012
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As well as beaning Ringmaster, make sure you start a multiball each time a Ringmaster multiball is about to start.

I generally get ringmaster one out of the way, shoot WOW till he pops up for his second round, then collect the highwire locks, start highwire multiball, and play that while getting the ringmaster frenzy to stack the multiball. The beauty of it is, that even if you lose a ball before Ringmaster Frenzy, by starting it you will still go to 4 ball multiball.

I do Juggler for 3rd and highwire or strike an Arc for the 4th.
 

Sean DonCarlos

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Mar 17, 2012
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Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

As well as beaning Ringmaster, make sure you start a multiball each time a Ringmaster multiball is about to start.

I generally get ringmaster one out of the way, shoot WOW till he pops up for his second round, then collect the highwire locks, start highwire multiball, and play that while getting the ringmaster frenzy to stack the multiball. The beauty of it is, that even if you lose a ball before Ringmaster Frenzy, by starting it you will still go to 4 ball multiball.

I do Juggler for 3rd and highwire or strike an Arc for the 4th.
If you do this - and it's not a bad idea, essentially more scoring during Ringmaster MBs in exchange for more risk while making the shots to start the other multiball - identify one of the other marvels to specifically avoid (probably Acrobats), so that you don't start Join the Cirqus prematurely. Juggler and Highwire MBs are the hardest marvels to start accidentally, so if you deliberately activate them for stacking, you'll need to be more careful later on.
 

bavelb

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Apr 16, 2012
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Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!


If you do this - and it's not a bad idea, essentially more scoring during Ringmaster MBs in exchange for more risk while making the shots to start the other multiball - identify one of the other marvels to specifically avoid (probably Acrobats), so that you don't start Join the Cirqus prematurely. Juggler and Highwire MBs are the hardest marvels to start accidentally, so if you deliberately activate them for stacking, you'll need to be more careful later on.

Several options there to refine that strat:
1)substitute Juggler mb for Strike-An-Arc mb.
2)pick either Juggler or Highwire to stack with and leave the other (highwire locks are riskier to activate though)
3)don't go for Ringmaster Battles before your first Wizard mode (the subsequent juggler and highwires are harder to obtain, thus harder to stack with a Ringmaster MB). You also start on Ringmaster Frenzie after your wizard, so the road to Ringmaster Battle is shorter the second time.

I usually try to play for option 3. I like me some Party Multiball :)
 
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WilliamPorygon

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Apr 21, 2012
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Strategy for milking Ringmaster Battle for all it's worth: At least in the ROM version TPA is using, the speed that the Ringmaster re-strengthens himself seems to be dependent only on the closest you've gotten to winning the current battle. Always intentionally allow him to strengthen once you get to 3-4 hits, and it'll stay at a manageable speed. Get to 6 hits (the point where the third purple ringmaster light comes on) and it'll become fast enough to be challenging to keep hitting him faster than he takes hits away. Get to 8 hits (the fourth purple light) and hits start going away at Ludicrous Speed™. If you are intending to win, you really want to make sure you get those last two hits in as quickly as possible, because if you fall back at that point it's going to be darned near impossible to catch back up.

The fact that the ringmaster does eventually give up and force you to win is also a consideration, but stopping intentionally around 25 hits as Serenseven mentioned is playing it far too conservatively. I don't know exactly how long it takes for that to happen, but in my 1B+ game I scored close to 200M in one Battle round and didn't trigger it. The rulesheet at Pinball.org says it takes about "15 or 20 minutes" to happen... in any event, I wouldn't consider stopping deliberately until I've been going for at least several minutes straight.
 

Sean DonCarlos

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Mar 17, 2012
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The fact that the ringmaster does eventually give up and force you to win is also a consideration, but stopping intentionally around 25 hits as Serenseven mentioned is playing it far too conservatively. I don't know exactly how long it takes for that to happen, but in my 1B+ game I scored close to 200M in one Battle round and didn't trigger it. The rulesheet at Pinball.org says it takes about "15 or 20 minutes" to happen... in any event, I wouldn't consider stopping deliberately until I've been going for at least several minutes straight.
In my days against the real table, I remember it taking longer than 25 hits. But in TPA, I've gone 30 hits against the Ringmaster and he's immediately given up on me, which is why I said stop after 25 to be safe. It needs further experimentation; I would be grateful to anyone who is willing to test. I am focusing on TZ and ST:TNG these days.
 

WilliamPorygon

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Apr 21, 2012
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In my days against the real table, I remember it taking longer than 25 hits. But in TPA, I've gone 30 hits against the Ringmaster and he's immediately given up on me, which is why I said stop after 25 to be safe. It needs further experimentation; I would be grateful to anyone who is willing to test.

Okay, thanks for the reply and explanation. I don't know what other factors might influence when the ringmaster gives up (Long time without draining any balls? Surviving at the higher recovery speed long enough?) I generally played my battles trying to keep at least one ball in control whenever possible and not being concerned if any balls drained, and trying to avoid getting more than 5 hits stacked up on the ringmaster as long as possible. If anyone else has any different results playing it with that strategy (or a different strategy) it would be helpful to know. :)
 

ParallaxScroll

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Aug 21, 2012
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Nice observation about the speed at which the ringmaster strengthens. I agree that 4-5 hits is a good value to keep it at. I'm not sure what causes the ringmaster to give up. I've had it happen before, but I played a couple games today with some 100+ million battles and never had him give up on me. Strange.
 

Squid

Senior Creature
Mar 22, 2012
591
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Thanks for the tips guys. You shouldn't have done that. Really!

In less than 2 hours I managed to get 541,128,440 points. I never once got to join the Cirqus either. There was an extra ball or two left to try for as well. I did the Ringmaster Battle at least 15 times. This table seems to be too easy now.
 

Baintz

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May 25, 2012
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Wow thanks for this S7. I can see what you mean when you say 'you don't actually want to win the ringmaster battle'. I was actually trying to win it, but I find it's very difficult. I kept losing and restarting it, and noticed the points really points really start to pile up. My previous best was about 130m or thereabouts, just clocked 415.8m for 8th spot in the leaderboards! Just two places behind Squid!
 

MadScience2006

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Oct 5, 2012
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Mod: please delete duplicate. Thanks!

Spectacular write-up, Serenseven! Thanks for your hard work on this...it's very much appreciated!
 

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