I set my game up to be a little easier. I narrowed the outlanes, reduced the sling power, changed awards/specials to extra balls, and installed super post rubbers (easier to nudge ball out of danger imo).

Yes, please PLEASE settle for being mediocre if I am in a tournament with you. I appreciate getting done on time.

My problem is,i can't get farther than warp 4 or 5! can't figure out how to consistantly hit it for what,9.9??At my age i don't know if my hand, eye can do that,but i keep on keeping on!!And Aurich,s cards for ST/le greatly explain the game play,sorry,no longer available!

Pretty cool that one of the best players in the world would take time away from practicing to come taunt the rest of us.

I started Galactic Matter during league last week, and suddenly remembered this post. Started a multi-ball as quick as I could, but I missed most of it.

Snark aside, I don't feel that way, even being in the top 100. There's always stuff to learn, and ways to improve. That's what I like about pinball. I never had, or will have, the genes to be seriously competitive in sports, but pinball? Hell yeah. I've got a brain, and decent reflexes, woohoo! Just the amount of knowledge to play competitively on the wide array of available DMDs, to know the rules and whatnot is staggering.. I think that's frankly the biggest thing separating the wheat from the chaff. There's a lot to be said for learned skills, and you can't "fake it to make it" with nudging skills on an EM, but on a DMD...man if you don't know the rules and strategies, there's no two ways about it, you're just pooched. It doesn't matter what your actual skill level is. Watching Trent play World Cup Soccer in person was just ridiculous. I'm still really glad I got to go to that thing if for no other reason than that.

IFPA as a ranking system is pretty bad, overall if you ask me. I got my butt handed to me at the same event I played with Trent by a guy that is basically choosing to ignore IPFA for reasons I can't explain, but he's ranked 775-ish? Let me tell you that guy in no way should be ranked anything lower than top 50... there's a kid (I say that...they're over 18..god..and I'm only like 34...how the hell can I call someone 18-21 a kid?) in our local league that are playing like tournament veterans and consistently finishing top 4/5 against three of us that have been or currently are top 100. Occasionally 1st or 2nd. He's ranked 16000+. My point is that you don't HAVE to be a high ranked player to be good, and it's almost 100% guaranteed there are people out there that are the "best in the world" that have never been and never will be ranked.

I want to try that galactic red matter thing too, but I haven't been to league night in two weeks. Been busy getting worked on for tattoos and other stuff. =P All our local tournaments run late, so my comment was actually serious.. I seem to have a real hard time convincing people to just tank their games though. Go figure!

Yeah, anyways... it's really my honest opinion that you shouldn't settle for being an "average" player...ever. The thrill of the game is in doing the crazy stuff, getting the wizard modes, beating that score you never thought was possible. You don't have to be Keith or Trent to do that, but knowledge never hurts, and the power of having that in your head opens doors in all kinds of ways no matter what your personal tweak is. I never want to look at a pin and go "dammit! That shot is impossible!" because the second I do that, I start avoiding it, and all the stuff associated with it, and then my own mental handicap actually has made my goal impossible. That sucks.

Well said! Never stop improving!

Completely agree with scoring for league/tourney play. In those instances, with more pressure and noise around you, going for Kobi Maru is the best way to go. A local bar next to me just got a brand new ST so with strong upper flipper and no background noise or anything, 40+ ramps is very doable if you can get the timing down. And I'm sure some of the top players have gotten to Warp 9.9 in a league or tourney setting. I've seen it a few times so far from some of our top players. But the great thing with ST, is there are numerous opportunities for big points even if double scoring isn't activated.

Sorry...I'm on this kick where I see strategy threads that turn high level and worry that they discourage people from playing in leagues in tournaments. 75% of the time I pitch leagues/tournaments to people, the response is "I'm not good enough"...and it's just not true. I've had people in my league that got back into pinball via TPA and hadn't played a real table in 10 years. Last week, I discovered that the second ranked player in my league didn't know how to light TV mode in TSPP - a game we play regularly. Yeah, it's just a small local league, but it's competitive pinball.

Being a top player is certainly a lot of work and, dare I say, studying - but I'd hate for people who are consistently putting up 40m on Star Trek in their basement to think that they aren't good enough. Almost every new player comes in to my league with this "I'm not very good" attitude, only to discover that they're better than they thought...and then they start improving even more than expected.

Agree 100%. Nearly every person we have brought into leagues has been competitive even when they say they're not that good. There's nobody finishing last EVERY week that I know of.

Funny you mention that about TSPP. That took me a long time and Bowen's writeup to drill it into my head "HEY YOU *HAVE* TO SHOOT THAT!" Such an awesome game, I wish I could sell my wife on it. :\

On a fast playing game this should be SUBSTANTIALLY harder than it is than at the location I normally play at. Nothing wrong with not getting to 40, at all. On a friend's LE, I never got anywhere near warp 9.9, forget about doubling back a second time. There's a definite benefit to playing on a faster and tighter machine in the long run, so don't change it! The great news is you only need 9 for double scoring.

Competitive Pinball is like Golf... consistency is what differentiates the good from the great.

Ok, sure your best game on ST is 350mil... but what can you do in ONE game when it counts while playing multi-player, on a reasonable machine without tons of extra balls, etc.

Don't get deterred by people talking about what their best games are, etc... unless you are doing that 75% of the time, it's nice 'peak' stuff but isn't what typically happens in competitive play. And don't get thrown off by what you see in Bowen's videos, etc... the skill distribution is not linear.. the top 10% of players are way above the next 10% below them

Tips for average players on ST: as already discussed, always ask yourself if you should be short-plunging. But in ST's case, it's not just to shoot the Warp ramp. Keep in mind all the discussion of how much Klingon MB is worth now. How do you get to Klingon MB?

You don't need to have a complex strategy. But deciding on a strategy that gives you maximum points for minimum risk -- and sticking to it -- will be very satisfying, and allow you to play consistently to compete in many settings (unless the pin you're playing isn't playing nicely into your strategy, in which case: pick a new one!)

For instance, SKB's strategies can be fun and set you up to achieve some sweet points later on. But what if you just need some middle-level points to catch the next score greater than yours, and you're playing on a difficult set-up ST, and it's one that you just stepped up to cold, without the chance to dial in the timing of all the shots? Get to a multiball. Pick a mode or Galactic mode with shots that are easy (wide) to hit. Pick shots that have safe returns. I'm really enjoying ST now because there are seemingly endless strategic decisions/stacks that lead to relatively bigger points, compared to the grind of play one mode or multiball after another.

The Warp ramp can lead to awesome points with playfield 2x, and SKB's strat for STE1 is indeed HUGE points. But the Warp ramp is also the most (or one of the most) dangerous shots in the game. If you clunk a Warp Ramp halfway, get ready to try to save it from the right outlane.

Last, on multiball cradling: Just because you're in a 4-ball multiball doesn't mean that your focus is keeping all four balls in play. If you've got the "Elwin" cradle (2 on one flipper, and 1 on another) with your 4th ball still in play --- STOP FLIPPING! If the 4th ball drains, who cares! You've got three balls in control and ready to start cashing in on your multiball. If the 4th ball settles into a cradle, then play your free ball, or try to separate a 2+2 into a 3+1. And my final suggestion on multiball cradling is: if you're just starting to try this, you will see your multiball scoring drop at first until you've gotten better at managing how to deal with the single ball coming back at your flippers with one flipper raised. Don't throw in the towel, and keep trying.

This sums it up in a nutshell why Star Trek is one of my favorites!

And yea, my strategies have been mainly home use/casual play. I usually have 5 or 6 stinker games to 1 awesome setup game. If you're playing in competition, going for more safe shots is the best strat. I'd still probably start off going for warps on ball 1; and if i stink it up i'd switch tactics. And like snailman says, klingon mb is a great way for big points. Does anyone know how hard it is to light locks on tournament settings? i imagine its much more difficult.

This is up to the tournament director. I've never seen them changed from the defaults in any of our local tournaments or leagues...and there aren't any changes listed for Star Trek on the PAPA game notes page: https://papa.org/learning-center/director-resources/directors/game-notes/#S

It is now my goal to have this level of understanding on all my games. Nice stuff.

After 1300 plays and only a grand champ if 71 mill on tspp i knew I was missing something. I finally decided to check out strats and was surprised to see how many modes I had ever even seen...

Not gonna let that happen with ST...I wanna know all it has to offer right up front

Step 1 : read the rest of this thread after the above quote from ectobar followed by 50 back to back games. Going in my GC is 96M. Let's see what happens.

Here's some knowledge for all you future Billion club members:

We've brought up the strategy of finishing all the Klingon modes to start your game to get the 2X Alpha Ramp.

This strategy is excellent because the Alpha ramp is used heavily in the game, and is excellent for starting combos.

It is also good because the Klingon modes aren't particularly difficult to complete. That is, if you know how Klingon 3 works. I had previously sent this to a fellow pinsider, and thought that some of you might benefit for some clarification as well:
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The thing you need to know about KB3 is that you have to make the first shot.

The way it works is 1 random shot is lit. You make it, and then are presented with another shot. At this point, if you just cradle the ball, eventually another shot will light, and then another giving you up to 3 shots to shoot for. As you make them they go out, and the cycle continues.

The problem is, if you don't make the very first shot, nothing else ever lights up.

Before you start the mode, like while your choosing it, KB3 will show you what that first shot is going to be. You can incorporate that knowledge into your strategy. So specifically, say I'm struggling with the warp ramp that game. While choosing the mode if the first shot of KB3 is the warp ramp, I won't choose that mode. Reason being that the first shot of the mode is random, meaning the next time you go to start KB3 the first shot might not be the warp ramp.

My basic strategy is:

1. Make the first shot

2. Get control

3. Find next lit shot. Do I like it? If yes shoot, if no, continue to cradle until the next shot lights up.

4. Shoot shot.

5. repeat 2-5

Too beat the mode in one go, you will have to hit some combos, but the thing is your progress is saved. So you can take your time and cherry pick the shots your comfortable with.

KB3 isn't terrible to stack with a MB, but that first shot is all important. You can go through a whole MB and if you never get things moving by hitting that shot, your not going to get anywhere.
-------------------------------------------

Now for some fun team work knowledge.

I was aware of the skill shot, but I never really thought about the aspect of being able to get awarded the right orbit shot.

And, it applies directly to my KB3 info. If you start KB3 from the Away Team shot, and you haven't used that skill shot, you can immediately get KB3 moving. Great stuff!

The same tactic is also useful for some of the other level 2&3 modes. I just recently used it to complete PD2, and on another game get the doubled shot in DtD2.

Wait a second Ectobar, I thought all the missions were the same! You're telling me they're not?

Good stuff!

I've been having fun stacking Nero 3 (left loop), PD3 (vuk), and double scoring DTD. I hit a 28 mil final shot on DTD1! Forgot what the final DTD1 score was but I think it was close to 90 mil. I sent Dwight an email to add legendary medals; based purely on extreme difficult goals like getting 50m in a level 1 mission or hitting all the multi colored inserts in 2&3. Don't think it'll happen though. Time is limited and he's more focused on polish.

I use V1 primarily for it's mb to rack up big points in a level 1 mode, or to try and finish a level 2/3 mode in one go. Fighting the Vengeance is almost never my main concern.

A good V1 for me is when I can still have the mb going by the time whatever mode I've started has finished or timed out, and then I'll move on to finishing off the V. Because as noted, you get good points for your victory lap shots.

Now here's a part that requires some more investigating that you guys can help me out with. Once you beat the Vengeance, you can use your torpedo's to get awarded victory laps. However, I believe if you accidentally fill up your torpedo's during this time, they go out and you lose to the ability to use them for victory laps. My basic strategy now is if I see I've got most of the torpedo's after beating the Vengeance, shoot them off. The part that is confusing is I also think I've had my torpedo's turn off without filling them up. Maybe there's some kind of timer here? Need to pay more attention.

----------------------
Now a throwback to old code. Remember in v1.5 and prior, destroying the Vengeance on the combo pretty much was make or break for you score? It's gone from that was the whole game, to just another layer of onion. I saw another thread where a clown was defending his choice not to update his code, so ridiculous. New code is light years better. The ST pro on location near me that is more or less the reason I bought ST, is still running 1.5. I've played it a couple times since, and I don't think I would re-buy ST if that's all there was. Such a great game now, excited to get the last code polish whenever that may be.

Great tips, ectobar. I would love to see more tips on level 2 and 3 modes. I forget which ones, but some are confusing with how you are suppose to play them.

Torpedoes in victory laps only effects the vengeance shot. So you really only get one free shot with the torpedo button. Then the lights go out on the torpedoes til you complete all victory laps and the vengeance victory lap is lit again. That make sense (typing on my phone)?

Agreed. It also does that when starting a Vengeance mode. All lights go out and the fire button is disabled until you start a Vengeance mode. Once the mode is started, you get all the torpedo shots you had before. For a while, I also thought shots were lost when playing Vengeance modes.

Huh. Learn something new every day.

This thread is EXACTLY what I want from pinside...
Thanks for all the help - it really is enhancing my ability to have situational awareness when I am playing ST.

Are you guys hitting the warp ramp consistently when the ball comes out of the pops?

I'm having a hell of a time with it.

The ball does not run smoothly along the wall past the flipper, instead it bounces of the side and goes by the flipper in a slightly different way every time.

Can't seem to level my table in a way that get it to travel smoothly out the pops

The answer lies in this very thread.
Eskabee and my couple posts starting here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/star-trek-strategies-for-the-average-player/page/2#post-2546422

As for your question. I can't seem to hit the warp ramp for crap recently. Time to practice now.

So now that I know about GAT modes, what is the logic for when to start them? As far as I can tell it's available after the first mode shot made. I would think getting it earlier than later is the way to go. Thoughts? Really dig this thread. Need to do one for Metallica.

For tier 2, the best modes to do while in multiball are Nero (10 shots) and STE (8ish shots) since both modes are not timed and have a good number of lit shots. Space Jump 2 is really same as tier one, but its a quick timer and 6 shots I think to finish. First three shots I like to do is left ramp to right ramp to spinner. After that just hit the last three lit shots. DTD 2 was explained earlier in thread and much better than I could do. KB2 is super easy if left ramp shot is repeatable. If it is just shoot that 6 straight times and its over. Prime Directive 2 is similar to SJ, just hit the lit shots before the timer ends. As with everything, combos can be very lucrative in these tier 2 modes as well as hitting the multicolor flashing shot (number of these hit determines what medal you get). Medals become very lucrative in Kobi Maru and Enterprise Amok.

For tier 3, Nero is by far the easiest to complete, which is why I agree with trying to complete all three Nero's in order to double spinner. Then start DTD, hit one lit shot, then start galactic spinner. Shoot spinner, let it come all the way around for a live catch, combo spinner again for 4x shots. Rinse, repeat 8 times until gold medal is lit. For final shot, shoot left VUK for big points (can be combo'd if done perfect timing).

Nero 3 has two lit shots. One shot is controlled by the left flipper and the other by the right flipper. The best way to complete this mode is to cradle up on the left flipper, then use the right flipper to set the lit shot on the left ramp. Then hit 5 straight left ramps without hitting the right flipper, since that would move the arrow to the spinner or vengeance shot whichever way that rotates. This is almost impossible to complete during a multiball, so do it during single ball play.

DTD3 is very similar to DTD2. Really the rest of the tier 3 modes are just hitting the lit shot before the timer runs out. Sometimes only one shot will be lit, so it's very important to be accurate on shooting.

I'd encourage everyone to attempt every mode just for fun to see how they all are. When you get the left ramp or spinner doubled for rest of the game, then when you are going through the rest of the tier one and two modes, they are very very lucrative.

I wouldn't classify any specific mode as very hard; however, with 18 of them and usually only 5 balls, it's very very hard to get to Amok or Five Year Mission. You really have to have that goal before the game starts and not really worry about your score, which can be hard to do at times. Hope this helps for everyone. This game has countless scoring strategies, and I'm sure some other people have found one that suits them best.

ASAP.

When you start a Galactic mode, it just adds 20 seconds to your timer. Sooner you start, the more time you have. And you are correct, the start shot becomes available after completing one lit mode shot.

Hit the coffin 1000 times. Try to stack coffin with another mb.
Try to get your add-a-ball during all mb's by completing the 4 stand ups and then putting the ball in the snakes mouth.
Try to get 2x running during mb's via the fuel shot.
Get to Seek and Destroy modes, hit some shots, then hit the scoop.
Repeat.

/end tutorial.

I like MET. A lot actually, but you really don't need all that much strategy.

A video may help. I usually can get a good shot at the warp but it's not always perfect being pinball. My ball usually falls out of the pops at the bottom, rolls down the bottom wall (where it likes to get stuck), and slowly roll out into the right orbit.

Great info, thanks. I am going to try the spinner strategy with Nero. That sounds fun.

Isn't there one level 2 mode (DTD2?) where multiple shots are lit and others are flashing? Hitting lit shots didn't count - only the flashing shots would progress the mode. At least it seemed like that. I don't play the lv2 or lv3 modes very often. Getting to Kob. Maru is a decent enough challenge for me.

Great info here - thanks to everyone for posting. Makes we want to leave work, go home and play ST.

DtD 2. The goal is to complete 6 of the 7 shots. The shots light(blink) and go out in a fan pattern. As you hit the shots, they will stop blinking. So don't aim for solid lit shots anymore. During the mode, one rotating shot will also be worth double. On the prem/le this shot is shown by an alternating red/blue blink. Not sure how the pro handles it, different blink pattern?

Once you have made 6 lights stop blinking the mode is over.

Makes sense now. Thanks for explaining that!

I knew the pro version was easier!

Just messing... but here's keith elwin tearing up ST PRO. Im not too thrilled with the pinball browser choices for this pin, but some of the sound replacements were cool and fun to hear. Now the gameplay, well it is a little beyond this thread and most of us; but still very fun to watch and impressive to say the least!

Spoiler Alert: Left flipper dies during enterprise amok exploit; keith goes home heh.

ROFL! lost my lunch...because its true
I love metallica too btw, but this sums it up in a nutshell.

My scores are currently higher if I kinda wing it. As soon as I start trying to implement strategy my score drops.

I expect this to be the true for a little while but in the end my scores will be higher

To your point... I did get discouraged initially when trying strategy but in the long run I will improve.

Agreed. Small pieces at a time. Game familiarity is key

Trying to get get my brain around eskaybees Nero strategy when I just got the game was asking for trouble ( though it IS what I shall strive for)

image.jpg

I guess this thread is paying off. Missed a lot of opprotunities but still beat my best by over 20 M. Thanks

Opps so jazzed I can't get the pic right. Doh

Nice one!

My current gc is only 96m (everything at factory default settings)

Bingo. And I'm assuming you meant PD (Prime Directive) when you were saying "DTD" after your STE.