Quoted from Spiderpin:I've been starting with Baratheon most of the times. I'll do a short plunge, then shoot left ramp. Start battle and take Baratheon before I lock any balls. Work on Grayjoy, Stark and locking balls and drain 1st ball. Start 2nd ball and finish locking balls, having both Stark, Grayjoy and by this time Lannister is ready too. Start MB with Grayjoy and Lannister. Finishing at least Grayjoy and sometimes both houses before I drain. Start 3rd ball and F that up if I don't get the extra ball while battling Stark. I know sometimes it's the light show that gets the better of me. I'll take my PinStadium light off AS and see if that help. If it does I'll buy another set. Thanks to all who posted the last couple of days.
Short plunge, to then shoot ramp is a waste of ball save/playfield validation.
Why not, short plunge. Then with ball on right flipper either post transfer and shoot Tyrell targets to start working on lock (and potentially lighting Tyrell) or - my preferred option - shoot the Baratheon targets which then ricochet into the Tyrell targets every single time. This will light a lock without putting your ball at risk.
IF you ONLY hit 1 drop target (Baratheon) and 1 standup target (Tyrell), the playfield isn't yet valid and you can safely let the ball drain and rinse and repeat. That would mean you could start with a different House rather than Baratheon (which you would light as indicated above). I'd choose Stark (As you don't want to use Tyrell or Martell to preserve your daughters highscores) as it's a pain to hit the right ramp JUST to light Stark.
Remember: That the playfield validation rules apply ANY time a ball is served up to the shooter lane, whether that be after a lock or after a ballsave. You just have to beat the autoplunge (which can be done with a 'mini plunge' just to get the ball away from the switch, before you plunge with the right strength to allow a short plunge / trap.)
I also try and lock a ball the second it is lit, for two reasons. Firstly, If you go lock, ramp, lock, ramp, lock, ramp 3 ramps will ensure that Lannister is lit at precisely the same time that MB starts. If you hit a ramp when lock isn't lit you'll have Lannister lit before MB, and will either have to choose another house, or pass - which means you'll have to light another house before you can select anything.
Secondly, dependent on your lock settings you can't stack light locks, so you want to have the option that a ricochet in to the target lights the lock and isn't wasted.
Dependent on your feed from the pops, lighting Martell should be safe and easy, as would Greyjoy.
I'd only ever start 2 modes at once (unless playing as Greyjoy obviously) as it gives you more 'bang for your buck'.
If you are just looking at finishing a house and moving on, rather than maximising points, my preferences would be:
In single ball play: any 2 of Martell, Stark & Baratheon
In MB: any 2 of Tyrell, Greyjoy & Lannister