Novice Guide to Pinball FX3

Welcome fellow novice. Congratulations on picking the pinball game that is the most devoted to having fun and the most forgiving... well sometimes. If like me you tend to whale away on the paddles and use your Luck attribute more than your Skill attribute, there are plenty of tables here that are quite enjoyable. There are also tables that will drive you nuts. We will cover all the tables, as soon as I buy them and get unlazy enough to write about them. First there are some important things to know about Pinball FX3.

When you are playing Single Player always actually play Single Player and not Single Player Classic. First your scores toward moving up the overall leader-board charts are taken from Single Player and also Single Player uses the Upgrades and Upgrades are the key to your success.

See all those scores above your score and wonder how those players were so good with only three balls? Truth is most of them weren't, they used the Rewind Wizard Power which essentially gives you extra balls since you can rewind balls out of the drain. So our goal is to get the Rewind upgrade for each table.

Rewind is earned by hitting level 5 on the Survival Challenge. Don't try it right away though. Go to the guides and Zen Studios: Official Pinball FX3 Guides and click the link. Look up the table you are trying to play and see if you can figure out the Skill Shot. On maybe half the tables the skill shot isn't too hard to hit and it can be great for the Survival Challenge.

The Skill Shot is your shot with the Plunger when you put the ball into play for the first time and when you lose a ball. Depending on the table this shot can be easy and give you lots of points, always a good thing. If it is easy, I'll mention it in the table guide.

Now give the Five Minute Challenge a play. The Five Minute Challenge gives you, as you might suspect, five minutes on the table and it doesn't matter how many times you lose the ball. As you score, you go up levels. If you hit level 5 you gain the Scoring Boast Wizard Power. This mode is a great way to learn about the table. Can you hit the ramps, can you get the ball onto the bumper field for some easy points, is there some way to open the specials and get lots of points? Since it doesn't matter if you lose the ball there is no pressure. Also it is a great way to start unlocking the various passive bonuses. You can get a massive bonus to Bumper Points, longer to hit this high scoring Combos and points just for making the ball roll around the table and more.

Now that you know the table, load up your Passive Upgrades and if you can get it, your Scoring Boost, and try the Survival Challenge. You should try different Passive Upgrades and see which seem to be the most helpful. Often the higher levels are the ones to use because higher level means they are being triggered the most. On a table that is mostly ramp combos, the combo time bonus really helps, while if you are shooting the ball a long way and not get much to show for it, the Distance Bonus is a good pick.

The goal here is to get to level 5 and unlock the Rewind Upgrade. Survival Challenge can be tricky as you have a minute to reach each target score and get to the next level or the game ends. That first level can be the trickiest and this is where the Skill Shot can really help you. Depending on the table the Skill Shot might get you half way or more to your first level. Also if you can get into the bumpers, hold down the X key which triggers the Score Boost Wizard Power, if you got it, and double your score.

If you are struggling, but are nearly there you might try the Five Minute Challenge again and level up your upgrades to get some extra points on the Survival Challenge. If you think you can hit the Skill Shot, the Main Single Player mode is good as you get to try it every time you drain the ball. If you can't get anywhere with a table, try another one for a while and come back to see if your luck changes. Some tables like Tesla are just rough tables unless you are a great pinball technician.

Once you get the Rewind Wizard Skill, take on the Single Player mode. Remember to hold the X down when you lose the ball, not just tap it. The ball will rewind a second, at level 1 Rewind, which is long enough to pull the ball back into play. You can do this three times. Once you get used to this you, are getting three free balls which makes life easier.

With six balls instead of three you should be able to improve your scores pretty considerably. Now that you are moving up the high score table you might enjoy a little challenge. Click on the Table Mastery banner and you will be whisked away to a huge set of unlockables. They don't do anything but they are fun to unlock and give you nice goals. You usually need 30 to 70 Stars to unlock your first Mastery Reward for a table. Each level of your upgrades and wizard skills gives you a point and every level on the challenges gives you two points. Note that the free table has an unlock at 10 points to encourage you, so you might already have that one.

Remember the stars you need and go back to the main page for the table. You will see how many stars you have, along with how many are available on the table, usually 200. Now raise those stars up to get your unlockable. Since the 1 Ball Challenge is probably at 0, unless you tried it already, and since you have rewind which makes it a 4 ball challenge, rock that table and pick up lots of points at 2 per level. You'll probably also level up your passive upgrades for more points as well. Did you get that model or picture or whatever unlocked? If not, try the 5 minute and survival challenges again and better your scores. Used the Score Bonus Wizard Power on timed tables.

Remember that the Wizard Powers improve when used so make sure to use them up every game. The passive upgrades always improve until they max out at level 10. Just playing the game and getting some levels in the challenges will usually level up your stars enough to get at least the first Table Mastery unlock.

Once you start lighting up lots of Mastery Rewards on different tables, filter for Unlocked Rewards and bask in your awesomeness as a virtual pinball player! It is kind of silly, but surprisingly fun.

Now that you kind of know what the table is about, you might want to read the in game table guide or internet guide. You probably won't absorb everything, but if you find a way to unlock a special mode or multi-ball or the like that seems easy, try it on the table. The key to high scores on most tables is to be able to start a high scoring mode of some kind. For instance on the ET table, it is pretty easy to unlock a strange little Corn maze mini-game that will give you millions of points.

Another trick is to try to get a skillshot score while using the score boast wizard power. It is tricky, but if you are holding down the X when the skillshot hits you will get double points. On one table that I'm quite bad at, I got 12 million points and maxed out survival mode in a single shot.

Once you are feeling comfortable playing, try capturing the ball on one of your paddles. When the ball is slowly rolling onto the paddle, just hold the shift button down for that paddle and let the ball rest there. Of course if you are in a timed mode you might not want to do this for too long. In the regular game, it can be a nice way to catch your breath. It can also change your routine if all the shots are missing their target. The game lives up to the name of Zen as sometimes it seems like you get into a zone and hit everything. Other times you just whale away on the little bits between the lanes and get frustrated. Taking a few seconds break and then letting the ball roll a bit down the paddle before you start again can stop a bad run and start a Zen run.

The main reason to catch the ball is to learn to aim. Often to complete a combo, to launch a mini-game or multi-ball, etc... you need to hit a certain target. If you start to get the feel for where on the paddle you need the ball to be to hit a target, you can improve your game dramatically. I'm really not very good at this which is one reason this is a novice guide. Once you master this skill you will rocket past my scores, wave as you fly by.

Son of Zeus Table

Novice Friendliness: High
Fun Level: Fairly High

Spoiler Alert!

This table which features Hercules, for those not up on who the son of Zeus is, has some nice ramps and easy to start modes. It looks and sounds pretty good as Hercules bellows and moves while being taunted by a very nasty lady. In one mode, he even fights a snake in a nicely animated battle. This is definitely Zen doing what they do best.

The ball seems to move a bit faster than on some of the other tables and play field feels a bit short and squatty, so it may not be good for your first table. If you can handle the overall speed, the Skill shot on this table is awesome and makes it novice friendly.

Skill shot: There are several skill shots, but one is quite easy to hit and gives lots of points. Hold down the Left Shift and you will see a little bit of the plunger ramp slide open. Fire off the ball by holding down Enter until the ball fires up through this bit of the ramp. Let go of the Left Shift and get ready to hit it again in a moment. The ball will fly around the top and roll onto your Left Flipper. Hit one of the flashing ramps for a Big Score. This will help you quite a lot especially on the Challenge Mode. It can be worth using the mutli-ball upgrade to increase this score.

If that isn't enough try hitting the spinner instead of a ramp. You should get five Big Scores in a row if you can make this shot. Now you are really off to a flying start.

Snake: After you have nailed the skill shot, you can try shooting up the middle ramp. After you shoot through the stone serpant's head 5 times which is pretty easy, he comes to life. Hit him 3 more times to help Herc out of his deadly clutches. Then hit the ramps to finish off the snake. Even if you don't finish off the whole process there are plenty of points to be had along the way.

Combos: Just hitting the ramps will trigger plenty of combos and points. The Combo upgrade is one you will want for this table. The spinner will also count as part of combos, but beware the ball can come out at pretty crazy angles.

Medusa: If you can handle the spinner and hit it enough times you might see a whole column rise from the table. This is a chance for more points by hitting the column and lit lanes until Medusa is defeated.

Occasionally by accident I've unlock multi-ball and other modes which are nice surprises. A good early table in your career as a pinball wizard.

Adventureland takes you to an old time carnival with lots of rides. It might take a bit to get used to all the lights, as it is a very bright and flashy table.

Novice Friendliness: Fairly High
Fun Level: High

The Skill shot is almost un-makeable for me which is about the only problem with this table. You need to hit the Aim-Me on the far right and far right and left aren't easy.

This is one of those tables where you really don't have to sweat knowing what is going on that much, as the many modes just seem to start and then you aim for the flashing lanes and targets. Sneak a peak at the display for a tip on what you are supposed to do. Once you hit a few targets, big scores start popping up and lights flash.

The two most important lanes to be able to hit are the blue one up the center that says 'Twin' and the red one of the to the right that says 'Loop'. It seems that a couple of the modes want you to hit one or both of these ramps and will reward a million points when you do. This also seems like a way to open up a lucrative multi-ball mode.

If you have hit loops and nothing much seems to be happening, hit the sinkhole right up the middle as this seems to start some modes.

The loop thing with the big number in the middle isn't too hard but it mystified me at first. You have to hit the shift as the car going around the loop gets to about 7:30 if it were a clock. This gives you a double score flaming ball for a while.

As with the other tables getting rewind will help with the normal modes and the score bonus mode for the timed modes. This is somewhat luck-based for me, but if you can hit a couple ramps you can usually get enough of a jump start to make the first level of challenge mode. Then hope for the quasi-random million points from a ramp or the hands.

Like Adventureland this has a classic pinball theme. It is an older table and isn't the most graphically impressive but it is still fairly fun. Who doesn't want to go to the wild west and duel bad guys and save stagecoaches? Unfortunately most of the modes are pretty hard to win. The one redeeming factor is a skill shot that can make life much easier.

Novice Friendliness: Medium
Fun Level: Pretty High

Skill Shot: Hit the ball hard and it will loop around the table and down to your left paddle. You will see that two ramps on the right side are lit with a blue arrow. Hit either of these ramps for 2 million points. The ball is naturally going in that direction anyway so with a little practice you can make this shot maybe 50% of the time. Of course everytime you make it your skill will go up and you will get extra points for making it. Definately take the Skill Shot as one of your two passive bonuses. This will give you huge boost to start your games. A few levels up and it can almost take Survival mode to level 5 by itself.

The table is lopsided with most of the ramps on the right side. Don't forget to use the upper paddle as this has a nice ramp shot that gives quite a few points. In general I use the bottom right paddle to put the ball through the saloon doors in the center as not much is happening on the left side of the table.

Most of the modes are too difficult. There are usually shots that are too tough or there are just too many targets to hit in too short a time. Sometimes you can get lucky and hit all the targets, but this table is generally aimed at the higher level pinball wizard.

Castles, Flaming Balls of Something and Vikings. Sadly while all this sounds like good fun, the table is a bit boring and not very novice friendly.

Novice Friendliness: Fairly Low
Fun Level: Fairly Low

The ramps on this table seem fairly unforgiving and while there are two modes that are fairly easy to unlock they aren't easy to complete. There is a reasonably easy skill shot but it isn't that lucrative unless you can hit a second ramp quickly.

Skill Shot: Loop the ball around the table to the left paddle and then hit the lit ramp off to the right. This is fairly easy but only gives half a million points. To give yourself a leg up on this table you need to now hit the flashing lane on the left side which gives a million points. These ramps aren't terribly hard to hit, but it is far from a sure thing to hit them in order.

There are two modes that you can open by just hitting the ball around. One is the Castle Siege which only requires a shot up the center ramp. You then have to hit a lot of targets without draining the ball. This is possible, thought not easy, and gives decent points that increase with each success. The simplest way to win this is just to hammer away at the flippers.

Mode Two is the Viking Invasion. Just playing a bit seems to bring them out. Each Viking is worth 100,000 points and they spawn all over. If there are a couple of Vikings off to the right side during a timed mode you can drain the ball and let the reentry kill them. These guys aren't a bad way to use your score bonus wizard power.

I tend to have a tough time getting more than a few million points unless I hit the two skill shots. This is a table for later on in your career and requires some study of the guide and some wizardly skill. Unless you are really trying to get a mastery or a high score on every table, I probably wouldn't mess too much with this one. It was an early Zen table and it shows its age.

I really enjoy this game and think that Zen have done great job of improving the tables across the years. I think you can see the big but coming here. But the Zen Classics aka the first tables are just not very good. They were clearly designed with expert players in mind and should generally be avoided except as a test to see if you can survive them. They can be innovative but the table designs and graphics are obviously old school.

Eldorado
Novice Friendliness: Low
Fun Level: Fairly Low

I have no idea how to hit the skill shot. The plunger doesn't work sometimes, especially when pulled all the way back. Try to hit the head to open modes. The lane on the left can give some decent points as can the bumpers on the right. If you like Indy Jones it might be worth trying.

Shaman
Novice Friendliness: Fairly Low
Fun Level: Low

This is the easiest of these four tables because of the drummer. Hit his three shields and then start pumping the ball under his platform. You get 80K per shot and an occasional 500K. The ramps aren't bad and there is a mini-table up above that can be won if you hit all the targets. The skill shot is blind and impossible.

Tesla
Novice Friendliness: Extremely Low
Fun Level: Medium

This has an easy skill shot, just release the plunger when it is level with the top of the two crossbars. Unfortunately the skill shot is only worth 50,000 points. If you must play this table either try to get the ball into the bumpers in the center of the table or get good at hitting the two covered ramps. If you can hit both ramps twice each, in any order, fairly quickly you will get a multi-ball mode.

There is an upper level but it is hard to get to. If you can get there and hit the five little target things, you can unlocks modes. I do it rarely and by mistake.

This is the best looking of these tables with lots of crazy mad inventor stuff. Sadly it is also one of the most frustrating tables in the game. Still worth a play once just to see how it looks.

V12
Novice Friendliness: Terrible
Fun Level: Terrible

Epically bad. Play it to appreciate all the other tables and everything else in life including root canals which will seem pleasant by comparison. The skill shot is made by pulling the plunger a quarter of the way back allegedly. I've never had any luck with it. Remember that the left exit ramp has a flipper and you can avoid ball draining in that direction which is good because the ball seeks the outlanes on this table. The ramps aren't terrible and have a few points. The sinkhole that claims to give you a huge bonus and then gives you 50 points is a low point of the table. If you are a car fan or race buff... you will still hate it.

Do you like computer role-playing games? If so you should enjoy this table once you get the hang of it. You get a character on this table that is persistent across all your play-throughs and you can level him up just like in an RPG! Your damage base and hit points go up as you level. Over time your enemies will also improve.

As you level up, you will collect better and better loot. From time to time the game will give you the option of two loot items selectable with the flippers. Common stuff will show in yellow type, Good stuff in blue and purple stuff is Epic. Take the purple or blue stuff and don't worry too much about stats. The game will always discard the worst stuff so you don't have to worry about nerfing yourself with an item choice. You get a weapon, armor, shield and helm. When you equip new armor it actually shows up on your character. My guy is currently waving around a burning club. This makes me laugh as I wonder why the wooden club that is on fire doesn't burn up.

The Skill Shot is worthless, but there are other easy ways to get points. It is easy to open several of the special modes such as fighting one of the many enemies or the skeleton horde. Because it is is an RPG table with a lot to do, it might not be a good choice for a first table.

Novice Friendliness: Moderate
Fun Level: High

Skill Shot: The Skill Shot is kind of a pain and not that rewarding. If you can get the ball to go down that little ramp on the wooden platform to your right, you get 300K points. You need to time it so the little 'tongue' on the plunger is just about to disappear. I rarely succeed.

Get Points: Fortunately that are two good ways to make some points. One is to hit a lot of ramps back to the back. The Outer Orbit ramps and the Shield ramp seem pretty easy to hit and you can rack up enough points to move up reasonably quickly. Get in a groove and hit half a dozen ramps and your score will be in the millions.

The other way to get good points is to hit the ramp just right of center or not quite shoot the loop from the left. You should end up in the 'Forest' aka the bumpers. Do this a couple times and the points will rack up. This is a good place to use your scoring wizard power. Keep an eye on the display and when it gives you the name of an enemy use the flippers to pick 'Skip'. When you are trying for points the enemies actually slow you down.

This brings us to an odd point about the game. If you are simply going for points for a single play through avoid all fights, if you are in time mode let the skeleton multi balls drain and avoid hitting the center ramp which can lead to the Orcanium. The ramps and the bumpers, skipping any enemies, are your friends for a high score.

Level Up: If you are trying to level your character than pick all the fights you can and use the skeleton multi ball to get lots of experience. You can start battles by hitting the upper left paddle to take you to the Orcanium when you get up there using the waterwheel in the middle lane or hitting the smash target many times, hitting the forest bumpers enough times or hitting the cave sinkhole off to the right. Pick the easier monsters first like the rat, the bandit and the spider.

To kill an enemy you need to hit the Sword Ramp to the right or the Smash target to the left as the game will repeatedly tell you. Other ramps will help by letting you dodge, upping your defense or letting you drink healing potions. As you defeat enemies and other things your experience bar at the bottom of the table will fill up. It is oddly exciting to level up or collect better weapons and armor. If you like that sort of thing you might spend a lot of time on this table. Note that the Bethesda table Skyrim is also a persistent RPG table though more complex.

This table captures the Haunted House pinball table genre brilliantly. It is flat out fun and easy to unlock the various game modes. This was a good choice for the game's free table as it is representative of the types of tables in the game, but at the same time is one of the best of the house tables. If you enjoy pinball, you will like this table.

Novice Friendliness: Very High
Fun Level: Very High

Skill Shot: Isn't that hard but for some reason gives me trouble. It is one of those skill shots where you hit the ball just about the softest you can while still putting the ball into play. The plunger is about halfway up. A quick hit to the ramp under the tower on the mid-left of the table gets you even more points.

Combos: Combos are fairly easy to get and fairly good for points. Just hitting the various ramps and targets will kick up the combo points. However...

The Missions mode is where the big points are. There is a spinner with three targets at the top of the table slightly to the right. You can easily loop the ball off the left flipper around the top of the spinner three times and it will pop up. Now if you hit the right hole that says Cellar, you will activate a mission. This sounds complex, but it is actually quite easy. Just hitting the ball around the table tends to pop up the spinner and the cellar hole is easy to hit off the left flipper.

There are a couple modes that take you to mini-playfields and others that pop ghosts and mystical portals onto the playfield. If you can complete a mission you will get millions of points. While not exactly easy, they are doable with a bit of luck and practice. If you can manage to do all six missions, succeed or fail, you open up the final mode which is a blast.

For the timed modes winning a mission or three will really help. There is also a Whisper sinkhole, its a bit to the left side and easy to hit from the right flipper, that can give some nice awards if you hit it a few times. It fairly often gives me a million points which bumps you up a level or two in the survival mode. The ball can drain after the sinkhole, but in timed mode it doesn't matter so much.