Quoted from SilverWings:
I have SIM card carry-over turned ON. But also, I'd like to know how y'all rate the different disaster modes:
Which modes do you like to do first? Which do you think are the most difficult? Do you save the Big Bang to complete modes that are more difficult?
Here's my list - in order of difficulty for me. (and disclaimer: I probably have some of the rules wrong here. Rules link posted below)
11) Meteor Storm - easiest mode for me. If available, its the first I will get done. High success rate with this one.
10) EMP Pulse - I can get this one done as long as the ball doesn't get tossed STDM or directly into an outlane.
9) Acid Rain - Shot into the jets, then hitting the left ramp 3x is "doable" for me, but difficult within the time frame.
8.) Flash Fires - Left ramp / Bob targets. I can do it if its a day where I'm making the Bob shot.
7) Tidal Wave - One left ramp shot to complete the mode. Maybe a tie with Acid Rain for difficulty.
6) Eruption - Theater / right ramp / theater / right ramp. Can do maybe 1 in 5 attempts.
5) Singularity - left orbit / left ramp / theater / right ramp (?). Hard. Its those orbit shots that kill me.
4) Sink Holes - shoot either orbit 3 times to complete. Again, orbits for me are hard.
3) Earth Shaker - shoot either lit target not sure how many times... never done it yet.
2) WhirlWind - Left ramp / right ramp / left orbit / side ramp. Yeah, right. Done it once.
1) Alien Invasion - I LOVE how the saucers look when they blow up! But damn its hard to make all those shots. Completed this maybe 2 times ever. Fun to watch!
Link to DI rules:
http://tiltforums.com/t/dialed-in-rulesheet-wiki/2855
So, what modes do you like the best and what ones are the hardest for you? What's your strategy?
I try not to do the modes in a particular order...simply because I don't want games to play out the same each time. Same with LOTR...I know that doing war of the ents first would be best but I just don't want to do it every game.
If I was at a tournament though....you want to do the easier ones first (like meteor storm) so you can start collecting those DI letters to multiply your later mode scores.
The only mode I might plan for...is Eruption. This mode gets SIGNIFICANTLY easier if you qualify MB before it. Auto plunger shots trigger the right ramp success switch (the switch on the habit trail). So, it turns into hit the theater, then you get to aim just in the general direction of "right"...you can either hit the right ramp naturally, or...hit the phone scoop, which starts MB and will trigger right ramp. Afterwards...hit the theater (easiest shot in the game), then if in MB...drain a ball during the ball save! Which triggers another auto plunger. You can get this mode done very quickly with MB queued up. Helps in modes requiring right ramp too, just not as much (singularity, whirlwind).
Edit: Sorry, forgot to mention. On your first MB lock, I always go for the trap door for the virtual ball lock so the first MB always does an auto plunger on launch. On other MB...you can just use the ball save trick. Also...if you have a ball lock ready on side ramp...and you are doing Eruption, you can hit the theater shot and combo into side ramp for a ball lock. Then the auto plunger will trigger your right ramp success when shooting your next ball in play.
Sink Holes is actually a bit different. Its right orbit success...not right ramp. The success trigger is the right orbit entrance switch, so auto plunger shots generally don't trigger it. It also means....it should be a bit easier to make those shots, b/c a slow shot up the right orbit that has no chance of making it all the way up the right ramp, will trigger success.
As for my ratings:
11. Meteor storm - easy peasy
10. EMP Pulse - on 1.57 I think this used to be MUCH harder and ball drain dangerous. Maybe in 1.73 (or sometime earlier) they turned down how often the PF magnets triggered, or their strength. (or maybe its just my imagination)
9. Eruption - Move this up in difficulty if you don't have MB qualified. With MB qualified its a lot easier.
8. Tidal Wave - technically its only a one shot mode. With nothing else running its fairly easy. I get tripped up sometimes on this if there is a theater mode running that traps the ball there with the magnet. No way to cancel those theater modes so you have to start going for left orbit and sometimes it wont' make it all the way around to right flipper.
7. Earth Shaker - I find this easier than your ranking. There are 2 shots always lit, and usually one of the shots is easy (theater, left ramp). Just keep shots flowing/combos going and I find it easy going. Especially since you only need 4 shots to finish. (other modes require 5-6 shots).
6. Flash Fires - left ramp is easy, but bob targets are a bit harder on my machine...maybe I have flippers set a tad too high.
5. Whirlwind - only 4 shots and the shots do setup for the next shot in sequence so you can technically combo this in one go.
4. Sinkholes
3. Acid Rain - I don't know...I just find shooting consistently into the pops is hard on my machine...just seems really tight. Even if I do get it in there, sometimes it doesn't bounce around much and requires a second shot. Or betty is blocking the shot first or ...whatever. If I can get the pops quick...then its no problem because left ramp is easy.
2. Singularity - More shots than whirlwind, and the shots don't setup for the next shot so you have to get back in control of the ball each time.
1. Alien invasion - I also agree its the hardest. Its manageable if I can trap the ball on right flipper from the phone scoop VUK and get the left ramp quick. Otherwise I have to wait for the theater shot and hope betty isn't blocking me. Otherwise...I'm going for big bang because I've lost too much time if I have to wait for another shot cycle to come around.