Quoted from vikingerik:

I'm pretty sure Msteakhaus meant with saved progression, since he said he's up to level 61. He's talking about Knull and with saved progression then yes you really want some grid work for that.
I haven't yet really had the foresight for when to leave a grid dot open to work on other stuff. But here's one galaxy-brain move: with the grid full, change to Gwen, hit the Doppelganger skill shot, and while Doppel is running you can lock balls and start Mayhem!

Quoted from GCS2000:

https://pinball.avidcreations.com.au/collections/venom-pinball-wireform

Quoted from vikingerik:

And I beat it all the way through Klyntar in one game today. So after playing it way too much the last few days, here's my strategy now:
The basic idea of stacking Mayhem and Carnage with both 2x exp modifiers is unbeatable. This easily gets up to 20 or more for level and nothing else comes close to doing that. I had said to do this with the flamethrower too, but the problem is that requires three hosts to set up, so you can't do it all on ball 1 (you're not going to reach and beat a boss to get a second host change without the levels from Mayhem.)
My plan now is start with Peter, fill his dots, then switch to Gwen and do Mayhem/Carnage with her as soon as you fill the 2x exp box. (You don't even need all six locks for Mayhem, just at least the three on the left.) This order is better than the reverse in order to have Gwen's 2x infected power during the stacked multiball, to push Doppelgangers and get Sleeper (10 infected) for Toxin Team-Up after.
Level 20-25 is high enough to go for Phage while still on Gwen. If you lose (not by draining), just keep going on Gwen and try again, you want to regain that 2x exp box. If you win, change to Eddie next. If you lose by draining, pick Flash next.
The tricky part now is navigating around Flash, since Agony almost always gets beaten during Mayhem, and if you switch to Flash then you can't get off him except by draining or going through Grendel. The way to handle this is, whenever you do drain (could be before Mayhem, or anytime after such as on Phage), make sure you pick Flash for ball 2, when you'll have a free host change available to get off him.
Assuming you do drain somewhere along the line and then do Flash, then you'll come to Eddie as the last column of the grid. This is where it's worthwhile to avoid finishing the grid - avoid the yellow combo (and the skill shot) so you can do blue and white for the +1 playfield box. This is the time to fill in the other features - the other two Carnage modes, rampage, host hurry-up, bell tower frenzy, and it's also fairly likely to get a second Mayhem here.
Eventually, do finish the grid, then bounce around the hosts to knock off any remaining first-tier bosses, then go for Grendel and Knull. Switching to Gwen is helpful if you can but not critical. At any rate, if you lose to Grendel or Knull, redo the grid with that same host before trying them again.
Galaxy brain move: After finishing the fourth first-tier boss, switch to Gwen, shoot the Doppelganger skill shot, and while Doppel is running you can lock balls and start Mayhem - so do that, pick Hybrid, just aim for the bell tower playfield multipliers, then use Hybrid as you drain out of the multiball. All in order to take Hybrid's big fat playfield multiplier into Grendel!
Galaxy brain move alternative version: If you haven't done a second Mayhem, do this. Finish the first-tier bosses, be on Eddie, start Grendel, but intentionally time it out and lose. Then redo the blue and white combos to regain the +1 playfield box but don't do yellow. Now go for a huge Mayhem with all six locks and Hybrid available!
One other thing to think about: Competition Mode. My Klyntar game was actually with that, trying it out. The big point is that it fixes the Mystery awards: the sequence is always bonus multipliers, 1000 exp, light 3 locks, +1 playfield, start bell tower frenzy. The downside is the mystery will never award any grid box, but that list of awards is all pretty decent and might be worth the tradeoff to avoid the garbage like big points or increase Carnage, and also avoids any problem awards like lighting Carnage too early. (Just know that Captain America's power doesn't work in competition mode, so don't be me and pick him after beating Knull!)

Quoted from Msteakhaus:

Kind of wish you could kill the Knull battle with the start button cause inevitably I shoot it up that middle ramp. I’ll work on populating that grid from now on.

Quoted from vikingerik:

And I beat it all the way through Klyntar in one game today. So after playing it way too much the last few days, here's my strategy now:
The basic idea of stacking Mayhem and Carnage with both 2x exp modifiers is unbeatable. This easily gets up to 20 or more for level and nothing else comes close to doing that. I had said to do this with the flamethrower too, but the problem is that requires three hosts to set up, so you can't do it all on ball 1 (you're not going to reach and beat a boss to get a second host change without the levels from Mayhem.)
My plan now is start with Peter, fill his dots, then switch to Gwen and do Mayhem/Carnage with her as soon as you fill the 2x exp box. (You don't even need all six locks for Mayhem, just at least the three on the left.) This order is better than the reverse in order to have Gwen's 2x infected power during the stacked multiball, to push Doppelgangers and get Sleeper (10 infected) for Toxin Team-Up after.
Level 20-25 is high enough to go for Phage while still on Gwen. If you lose (not by draining), just keep going on Gwen and try again, you want to regain that 2x exp box. If you win, change to Eddie next. If you lose by draining, pick Flash next.
The tricky part now is navigating around Flash, since Agony almost always gets beaten during Mayhem, and if you switch to Flash then you can't get off him except by draining or going through Grendel. The way to handle this is, whenever you do drain (could be before Mayhem, or anytime after such as on Phage), make sure you pick Flash for ball 2, when you'll have a free host change available to get off him.
Assuming you do drain somewhere along the line and then do Flash, then you'll come to Eddie as the last column of the grid. This is where it's worthwhile to avoid finishing the grid - avoid the yellow combo (and the skill shot) so you can do blue and white for the +1 playfield box. This is the time to fill in the other features - the other two Carnage modes, rampage, host hurry-up, bell tower frenzy, and it's also fairly likely to get a second Mayhem here.
Eventually, do finish the grid, then bounce around the hosts to knock off any remaining first-tier bosses, then go for Grendel and Knull. Switching to Gwen is helpful if you can but not critical. At any rate, if you lose to Grendel or Knull, redo the grid with that same host before trying them again.
Galaxy brain move: After finishing the fourth first-tier boss, switch to Gwen, shoot the Doppelganger skill shot, and while Doppel is running you can lock balls and start Mayhem - so do that, pick Hybrid, just aim for the bell tower playfield multipliers, then use Hybrid as you drain out of the multiball. All in order to take Hybrid's big fat playfield multiplier into Grendel!
Galaxy brain move alternative version: If you haven't done a second Mayhem, do this. Finish the first-tier bosses, be on Eddie, start Grendel, but intentionally time it out and lose. Then redo the blue and white combos to regain the +1 playfield box but don't do yellow. Now go for a huge Mayhem with all six locks and Hybrid available!
One other thing to think about: Competition Mode. My Klyntar game was actually with that, trying it out. The big point is that it fixes the Mystery awards: the sequence is always bonus multipliers, 1000 exp, light 3 locks, +1 playfield, start bell tower frenzy. The downside is the mystery will never award any grid box, but that list of awards is all pretty decent and might be worth the tradeoff to avoid the garbage like big points or increase Carnage, and also avoids any problem awards like lighting Carnage too early. (Just know that Captain America's power doesn't work in competition mode, so don't be me and pick him after beating Knull!)

Quoted from vikingerik:

And I beat it all the way through Klyntar in one game today. So after playing it way too much the last few days, here's my strategy now:
The basic idea of stacking Mayhem and Carnage with both 2x exp modifiers is unbeatable. This easily gets up to 20 or more for level and nothing else comes close to doing that. I had said to do this with the flamethrower too, but the problem is that requires three hosts to set up, so you can't do it all on ball 1 (you're not going to reach and beat a boss to get a second host change without the levels from Mayhem.)
My plan now is start with Peter, fill his dots, then switch to Gwen and do Mayhem/Carnage with her as soon as you fill the 2x exp box. (You don't even need all six locks for Mayhem, just at least the three on the left.) This order is better than the reverse in order to have Gwen's 2x infected power during the stacked multiball, to push Doppelgangers and get Sleeper (10 infected) for Toxin Team-Up after.
Level 20-25 is high enough to go for Phage while still on Gwen. If you lose (not by draining), just keep going on Gwen and try again, you want to regain that 2x exp box. If you win, change to Eddie next. If you lose by draining, pick Flash next.
The tricky part now is navigating around Flash, since Agony almost always gets beaten during Mayhem, and if you switch to Flash then you can't get off him except by draining or going through Grendel. The way to handle this is, whenever you do drain (could be before Mayhem, or anytime after such as on Phage), make sure you pick Flash for ball 2, when you'll have a free host change available to get off him.
Assuming you do drain somewhere along the line and then do Flash, then you'll come to Eddie as the last column of the grid. This is where it's worthwhile to avoid finishing the grid - avoid the yellow combo (and the skill shot) so you can do blue and white for the +1 playfield box. This is the time to fill in the other features - the other two Carnage modes, rampage, host hurry-up, bell tower frenzy, and it's also fairly likely to get a second Mayhem here.
Eventually, do finish the grid, then bounce around the hosts to knock off any remaining first-tier bosses, then go for Grendel and Knull. Switching to Gwen is helpful if you can but not critical. At any rate, if you lose to Grendel or Knull, redo the grid with that same host before trying them again.
Galaxy brain move: After finishing the fourth first-tier boss, switch to Gwen, shoot the Doppelganger skill shot, and while Doppel is running you can lock balls and start Mayhem - so do that, pick Hybrid, just aim for the bell tower playfield multipliers, then use Hybrid as you drain out of the multiball. All in order to take Hybrid's big fat playfield multiplier into Grendel!
Galaxy brain move alternative version: If you haven't done a second Mayhem, do this. Finish the first-tier bosses, be on Eddie, start Grendel, but intentionally time it out and lose. Then redo the blue and white combos to regain the +1 playfield box but don't do yellow. Now go for a huge Mayhem with all six locks and Hybrid available!
One other thing to think about: Competition Mode. My Klyntar game was actually with that, trying it out. The big point is that it fixes the Mystery awards: the sequence is always bonus multipliers, 1000 exp, light 3 locks, +1 playfield, start bell tower frenzy. The downside is the mystery will never award any grid box, but that list of awards is all pretty decent and might be worth the tradeoff to avoid the garbage like big points or increase Carnage, and also avoids any problem awards like lighting Carnage too early. (Just know that Captain America's power doesn't work in competition mode, so don't be me and pick him after beating Knull!)

Quoted from vikingerik:

And I beat it all the way through Klyntar in one game today. So after playing it way too much the last few days, here's my strategy now: ...

Quoted from vikingerik:

Another strategy to throw into the mix...
Same idea to start with both 2x experience modifiers stacked with Mayhem-Carnage, but do it with Gwen first then Peter instead of the other way around. With Peter, do only the blue and white combos (don't do the spot mode skill shot), then the stacked multiball. This is a longer term play. The idea is, after Mayhem while still on Peter, go through the other two Carnage modes. Then that's taken care of for Klyntar, and the big upside is that when you get to a second Mayhem later on, that can be stacked with Carnage multiball a second time. That also enables a second round of Toxin Team-Up too.
That's more complicated, but there may be higher long term upside there if you can get all the way through it. I did it and was level 45 after the second round of Mayhem-Carnage and Toxin, and that made getting through Grendel and Knull pretty easy.
Besides that, I've also been paying attention to and trying out the idea of intentionally losing to Grendel, in order to reset a host's column. I mentioned this before; the ideal way is to do it on Eddie, then redo the +1 playfield box with blue and white but don't finish the grid with yellow, so then you have a window to do a second Mayhem with near-full grid power and Hybrid online. I've pulled over 2 billion out of that second Mayhem a couple times now.

Quoted from TigerLaw:

So, my wife is having some difficulty getting to Lasher/Riot/Agony...she's level 86 now... Is there a setting I can turn on that lets her qualify them in one shot or perhaps get them the newsroom award or some way other than making the shot twice? If yes, is there a way to set it up exclusively for her account?
(That would be a really cool feature if you could code specific rules to certain players in the settings). Thanks!

Quoted from Xaqery:

Remember that you can beat minor bosses in Mayhem Multiball.
1 - Play Eddie
2 - Lock 2 (or 3 balls if you can complete a mini-mode)
3 - Let Mayhem start
4 - While the ball save is going hold down The Action button to start Spider-Sense. Let the button go when you see the game selecting a shot
5 - Shoot that Spider-Sense shot. This will light Super Jackpot
6 - Shoot the scoop to collect Super Jackpot and defeat a Minor Boss

Quoted from Peanuts:

New gamed code!!!!
LE/PREMIUM V1.02 - AUGUST 15, 2024
==================================
** FIXED:
- Some of the popups could play speech that could step on other speech.
** NEW:
- Added speech to HOST HURRY UP is lit.
- Added speech for entering HIGH SCORE TO DATE.
- Added LOWER LANE DIFFICULTY FEATURE ADJUSTMENT. When set to HARD, the
flipper buttons LANE CHANGE their respective sides. Default is EASY
which is the normal LANE CHANGE rule. HARD also takes effect during
IMPOSSIBLE MODE.
- Added speech to RIOT, AGONY, PHAGE and LASHER battles.
- Tightened up collision detection on SCREAM VIDEO MODE.
- Added Wolverine is unlocked for all regardless if you have unlocked him on
your own for a limited time. From noon Friday 8/16 (Central Time) through
noon Friday 9/6 (Central Time).
** TWEAKED:
- After GRENDEL PHASE 4, the new ball will no longer be auto plunged.
*** MOVED TO SYSTEM 3.76 ***
Conagent v1.0.15
Updated to nodeboard firmware/protocol v1.19.0
Various behind the scenes improvements for correctness and performance.
Updated Service Menu->Util->Install->Home to set: "KNOCKER VOLUME" to VERY LOW
Various behind the scenes improvements for correctness and performance.
Update Standard Adjustment #45 Knocker Volume to have settings of:
OFF, LOW, NORMAL, VERY LOW with a default setting of NORMAL
Update Diag->Knocker test to use knocker volume as specified by the Standard Adjustment
Various behind the scenes improvements for correctness and performance.

Quoted from GCS2000:

Was not aware

Remember that you can beat minor bosses in Mayhem Multiball.
1 - Play Eddie
2 - Lock 2 (or 3 balls if you can complete a mini-mode)
3 - Let Mayhem start
4 - While the ball save is going hold down The Action button to start Spider-Sense. Let the button go when you see the game selecting a shot
5 - Shoot that Spider-Sense shot. This will light Super Jackpot
6 - Shoot the scoop to collect Super Jackpot and defeat a Minor Boss

Quoted from Fezmid:

This only works with Eddie?
I need to read the rules again....
New code today! Unfortunately, nothing about a topper, but fixing Scream collisions is a good thing I hope!

Quoted from Peanuts:

New gamed code!!!!
LE/PREMIUM V1.02 - AUGUST 15, 2024
==================================
** FIXED:
- Some of the popups could play speech that could step on other speech.
** NEW:
- Added speech to HOST HURRY UP is lit.
- Added speech for entering HIGH SCORE TO DATE.
- Added LOWER LANE DIFFICULTY FEATURE ADJUSTMENT. When set to HARD, the
flipper buttons LANE CHANGE their respective sides. Default is EASY
which is the normal LANE CHANGE rule. HARD also takes effect during
IMPOSSIBLE MODE.
- Added speech to RIOT, AGONY, PHAGE and LASHER battles.
- Tightened up collision detection on SCREAM VIDEO MODE.
- Added Wolverine is unlocked for all regardless if you have unlocked him on
your own for a limited time. From noon Friday 8/16 (Central Time) through
noon Friday 9/6 (Central Time).
** TWEAKED:
- After GRENDEL PHASE 4, the new ball will no longer be auto plunged.
*** MOVED TO SYSTEM 3.76 ***
Conagent v1.0.15
Updated to nodeboard firmware/protocol v1.19.0
Various behind the scenes improvements for correctness and performance.
Updated Service Menu->Util->Install->Home to set: "KNOCKER VOLUME" to VERY LOW
Various behind the scenes improvements for correctness and performance.
Update Standard Adjustment #45 Knocker Volume to have settings of:
OFF, LOW, NORMAL, VERY LOW with a default setting of NORMAL
Update Diag->Knocker test to use knocker volume as specified by the Standard Adjustment
Various behind the scenes improvements for correctness and performance.

Quoted from Peanuts:

New gamed code!!!!
LE/PREMIUM V1.02 - AUGUST 15, 2024
...

Quoted from GCS2000:

I agree I would have thought this update would have coincided with an accessories release as well.
Hope they sneak out an announcement tomorrow or next week but not getting any warm fuzzies unfortunately. Game has been out over a year now and when is the last time a game went over a year from release with no accessory announcement?

Quoted from Xaqery:

No. I just picked Eddie because he lights lock for starting with him.

Quoted from Tuna_Delight:

Downloaded the new code and was wondering why Wolverine wasn't available still.
Then I read the read.me doc and now see that he kicks in tomorrow (8/16).
Boy oh boy!

Quoted from Peanuts:

My game is super loud since the 1.02 update. I've formatted my sdcard and flashed the update (raw format) with balena Etcher. I play at 11 volume instead of 16, previously. Anyone has this problem?

Quoted from Peanuts:

My game is super loud since the 1.02 update. I've formatted my sdcard and flashed the update (raw format) with balena Etcher. I play at 11 volume instead of 16, previously. Anyone has this problem?

Quoted from Killerinstinct47:

Anyone manage to get the "such a messy break up" badge in the path to excel quest? I beat phage as wolverine in one game then lasher and Grendel in another game. Got the Grendel badge but not the one for lasher and phage. Does it have to be the same game? It doesn't say that in the description.

Quoted from Eskaybee:

My best guess is you have to defeat both mini bosses in one game?[quoted image]

Quoted from Killerinstinct47:

That's what I'm assuming, but most badges specify if it has to be in a single game. Kind of sucks if that's the case. Guess I'll beat knull and then have to try at phage and lasher on the 2nd go round