I think it is extremely difficult, and only the best players will ever get there. I don't think I ever will. I would love one day just to complete Rescue MB. There are a few tips here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/woz-strategies-for-points-and-for-the-quest

And, there is a great video tutorial that someone did of how to get there under 5.05 code. It also has a surprise ending.

No chance for me. In fact I haven't melted the witch with the last 2 code updates and only once with early code.

Wasn't last code update over a year ago?

In two years of owning it, the closest I came to finishing rescue was 3 letters. And I used to stack like crazy to get that far. The only reason ECMB existed was to get me farther through Rescue Multiball. In the end I accepted the fact that I would never finish Rescue. And to be honest, that annoyed me a bit. There was one point where I tried for a month to finish rescue, and never got close. It detracts from the game a bit. I was unlikely to put a game together with all the requirements to get to SOTR. However having one that is impossible for me was annoying.

Last one is 6.06 and I believe it's also the last one

I believe I read in another thread that there was another update at some point planned, mostly a 'clean-up' type update; I do not know if it will add any new features.

That said, my son and I spent some time with the glass off the other day when rescuing the witch from that damn plastic tube - and we batted around the ball by hand for - I'm not kidding - at least 30 minutes... and we could NOT figure out how to get SOTR! I know we did every multiball several times... has anyone ever actually *seen* this mode?!

I did it (glass off, by hand) the week I sold it, just to see it. And yes, it exists. However doing it must follow the rules. For instance finishing Rescue with all the letters, and completing it with an upper playfield combo shot. It took quite a while even doing it by hand. However the game tells you everything you need with the emeralds and diamonds. So you should have been able to see at all times what the game thought was incomplete.

Search YouTube. There is at least one video of SOTR being played, and, as I said, a tutorial of the game leading up to SOTR with a surprise ending.

I'll try to post the videos later when I have more time.

To this day I've never heard of someone reaching SOTR on 3 ball with default settings. Seems like the most difficult wizard mode to reach in pinball.

Never played the game, so I did not know what SOTR stood for.

I just assumed you invented a new abbreviation for "sell or trade"!

Here's the tutorial with the surprise ending:

In this video, you can see the SOTR mode:

What does SOTR stand for??? I am a new WOZ owner and based on my first 50 games I am never going to see any of this shit.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The requirements for it are on the status screen that shows how to collect each of the 8 diamonds. Collecting the 4 emeralds and then beating the wicked witch awards 1/8 diamonds, then there's a bunch of other stuff to do for the other 7. Basically complete everything there is in the game.

I wonder if Keefer has any plans to make rescue mega requirements any easier.

There'll probably be at least one more, if for nothing else but a bug fix. There's a problem with the 15.10 Ubuntu and the Linux kernel they updated to in all the 6.xx versions including 6.06 that causes lockups in attract mode on certain (ECLE only?) WoZ machines.

I know this topic is 2 years old, but I'm considering buying a WOZ and wanted to know if SOTR was made more achievable since the last post here.

I hear you guys saying it's impossible to reach on default, but curious to hear how it compares to Valinor and SDMEWM.

I've been final shot away from Valinor, but couldn't clear the ramp due to flipper fatigue.

And one of the reasons I sold my TSPP is that I got tired of playing over an hour to not even be halfway to SDMEWM.

I think Valinor is the perfect challenge, andSDMEWM is just stupid.

So, how does SOTR compare?

Nope, it is just as difficult as before. Only a rare few will ever make it. I've only played LOTR a few times, but my understanding is that if you came close to getting Valinor, then you at least have a shot at making SOTR. More than me at least.

And, there's also plenty of other reasons to love WOZ other than just making it to SOTR.