Shaman

"Amaze the unbelievers!"

-Tribe chief

Shaman
Date available	May 14, 2009
Category	Zen Originals
Based on	Shamanism
Designed by	Zoltan Vari
Plunger mechanism	Straight into orbit
Skill shot type	Plunger strength
Number of return lanes	5
Number of flippers	6 (4 on main playfield, 2 on element mini-playfield)
Outlane protection	2 kickbacks
Number of main missions	4
Wizard mode type	Final mission
Number of side modes	4
Number of multiball modes	4 (1 mandatory, 1 semi-mandatory and 2 optional)

Shaman is one of the first four pinball tables available in Zen Pinball when it first released for the PlayStation 3, re-released in the Zen Classics pack in later Pinball FX releases. The table is based on shamanism, depicting a witch doctor demonstrating the power of the elements on his tribe.

Objective and missions

The goal of this table is to help a young shaman to control his tribe by perfecting his sorcery to control the elements, through four missions that each represent a disaster. Missions can only be activated during single-ball play, are untimed, and must all be completed to access the final mission, Wrath of the Gods. Draining during a mission will require the player to complete the mission activation process again to return to it.

Each mission scores small points for lit shots; missions usually score 2,600,000 for completion, but a randomly chosen mission at the start of each session will score 26 million points instead. There is no way to determine which mission will give this award outside of trial and error.

Starting missions

To start a disaster, the player has to complete the following process:

• Take the ball up to the upper playfield by first shooting either native sinkhole, then shooting the magic path within 8 seconds to get the ball there.
• Spell ELEMENT on the upper playfield's rear target bank, with progress saved across visits, and score one final hit on one of four particular Element targets to choose a desired mission.
• Spell CAST at the four sinkholes underneath the mini-playfield by shooting them while the jump ramp is raised.

Missions

The following four disaster trials must be completed:

• (Target 1) Volcano: Help the Shaman control the volcano, by first spelling VOLCANO by lighting all 7 rollovers on the Volcano mini-playfield, accessed with strong shots up the right ramp; the player can cycle the positions of lit rollovers with flipper operation. After all 7 are lit, the ball will become orange for 10 seconds, and the player must unleash the volcano's destructive power on the natives by shooting the three native sinkholes. (If the ball reverts back to normal, the player must shoot the volcano ramp again to reignite the ball.)
• (Target 3) Flood: Rescue the Shaman's tribe from a devastating flood, then unleash it on the natives. At the start of the mission, both orbits will be lit and the whirlwind spinners will be active; the player can shoot either orbit, but must alternate orbits for subsequent shots - making an unlit shot will reset the progress towards completing the mission. Shooting either orbit 3 times will prime the spell for flooding, which can be directed to the natives by shooting the three native sinkholes.
• (Target 5) Tornado: Manipulate the power of wind to make all three whirlwind spinners spin in the same direction. All three lit ramp shots must be made once to put the spinners in the correct orientation; if an unlit ramp shot is made, the spinner will start rotating in the opposite direction and must be reset with another lit ramp shot. Once all spinners are spinning in the same direction, the player must then command the tornadoes to strike at the natives by shooting the three native sinkholes.
• (Target 7) Earthquake: The Shaman must save his tribe from an earthquake. This is a 2-ball multiball mission (3-ball if two balls were locked at the middle ramp), where the player has to shoot all three native sinkholes twice as the table violently shakes without losing one of the balls in play. Completing this mission successfully will start Feast Frenzy, lighting all ramps, sinkholes, and targets for 1 million points per shot until the player returns to single-ball play.

During the first phase of each non-multiball mission, the native sinkholes will lower the magic path for 8 seconds; the player can spell words that relate to the current disaster on the upper playfield. Progress towards completing these words is saved between attempts, and completing the word will score 1,500,000 points and release a ball from the middle ramp if one was already locked there.

Wrath of the Gods

Wrath of the Gods is the final disaster, which can only be started by completing all four preceding disasters and shooting the 7th target on the upper playfield - with a depiction of an owl on it.

The shaman must unleash the wrath of the gods on his people to convince them once and for all to believe in his unparalleled power. To complete the final trick, the player must first shoot one of the flashing native sinkholes, before shooting the left ramp within 10 seconds to capture the ball and score 10 million points. Each flashing native sinkhole can only be shot once; completing this process 3 times will finish the mission, score 50 million points, and reset progress on the disaster trials. Progress will also be reset if the player drains during the final mission.

Side modes

The following side modes can be activated during single-ball play, if no disasters are currently active:

• Whirlwind Juggler: Shooting the ball into the center native sinkhole behind the three drop targets will start a timed side mode, where the center whirlwind spinner will spin for 20 seconds, and the player has to get the other 2 whirlwind spinners to spin by shooting the left and right native sinkholes. Once all spinners are active, the player can score big points at the sinkholes for 20 seconds; the left sinkhole scores 1 million, the center sinkhole scores 2 million, and the right sinkhole scores 4 million. Hitting three sinkholes while all three spinners are spinning will award an extra ball.
• Delirium: If the player executes a 4-way combo, the jump ramp will lower for 8 seconds to allow access to the upper playfield, where the player must hit all 7 targets to spell JACKPOT. Doing so successfully, with the spelling saved between attempts, will raise the multiball jackpot value to 2 million points and light the "Big Jackpot" insert. The jackpot value resets between balls and after each multiball played; Delirium will deactivate if the jackpot is already at 2 million.

Multiball

There are two optional multball modes that can be activated:

• Quick Multiball: If the player shoots the left standup target while at least one ball is locked in the middle ramp, shooting it again within 5 seconds will start a 2-ball quick multiball. Jackpots worth 1 million points can be earned by shooting the middle ramp, or by spelling JACKPOT on the upper playfield; the magic path must be lowered to access the upper playfield by shooting either the left or right native sinkhole.
• Eclipse Multiball: Knocking down all 3 drop targets in front of the VUK, then shooting the VUK itself, will light the lock at the middle ramp, which remains lit until either multiball is started or the ball drains. Locking 3 balls will start Eclipse Multiball, lighting all three ramps for jackpots worth 1 million points, and lighting all targets and sinkholes for 300,000 points. The player can also access the upper playfield during this mode by shooting either the left or right native sinkhole; if the player spells ECLIPSE completely on the upper playfield, they will score an extra ball.

Perks

The following perks can be activated during play:

• Skill Shot: The goal of the skill shot is to simply plunge at medium strength to bring the ball to the bumper rollover area at the apex of the left orbit. A successful skill shot scores 250,000 points. (In Pinball FX3, a glitch prevents you from making skill shots on balls outside of the first if you get a tilt warning.)
• Ball Saver: At the start of a ball or multiball, a 15-second ball saver will be activated. During multiball, the ball saver will only save one ball instead of remaining on for the entire multiball. Once the ball saver expires, the player can reactivate it by spelling CAST at the four sinkholes underneath the upper playfield, as long as the player hasn't selected a mission or is playing a multiball mode.
• Kickbacks: Spelling MAGIC at the return lanes, whose inserts cycle with the flippers, will activate a kickback at the left outlane, then the right outlane. If both kickbacks are already lit, 500,000 points will be scored. The left or right kickback can also be lit by making 30 bumper hits; if they are relit this way while both are already lit, the player will score 2,500,000 points. Kickbacks only last for the current ball.
• Smoke Score: Making strong shots to the right ramp while the volcano disaster isn't active will allow the player to light all 7 rollovers on the volcano mini-playfield, which cycle with the flippers, across multiple visits. Lighting the rollovers will score an incremental Smoke Score, which starts at 2 million points and can be increased up to 8 times to a maximum of 25 million points. The Smoke Score value resets to 2 million at the end of the ball.
• Trick Score: If the lock isn't lit at the middle ramp, shooting the middle ramp will light the left ramp to score the incremental Trick Score award and capture the ball. The first Trick scores 80,000 points, to no known limit.
• Bonus Multiplier: Spelling WIZ by rolling over any of the bumper rollovers 3 times will advance the bonus multiplier by +2x up to 10x, which is only good for the current ball.
• Combos: Repeatedly shooting shots across the playfield will score combos, up to 2 million and a chance to start Delirium for a 4-way combo. The player has to consistently shoot different shots to make progress in the combo; if the player makes the same shot within 5 seconds, they will simply score 500,000 points without progressing the combo.
• Extra Ball: Extra balls can be collected by shooting three sinkholes after completing the Whirlwind Juggler side mode, or by spelling ECLIPSE on the Element target bank during Eclipse Multiball.

Tips

• The disasters might be the main goal of the table, but they can be very risky, can take a toll on your stamina, and often won't score as much as you'd expect for completing them. The quickest way to get high scores is by repeatedly shooting the right ramp to complete the Volcano rollovers and collect Smoke Score for up to 25 million; with nudge passing, the right ramp becomes a minimal-risk shot, which feeds the return lanes to light the kickbacks.
• The right outlane can be a vacuum on this game, particularly from shots to the four CAST sinkholes. Practice your nudging skills to save balls heading to the area, or light the kickbacks before going for those shots.
• If the right whirlwind spinner is active, the right outlane kickback isn't very likely to save you because the disk will send the ball flying right back to the outlane without compensation. Try nudging the table instead of relying on the kickback in this situation.

Changes from original release

• Scoring from the completed disasters was boosted in the Zen Pinball 2 remaster of the table.
• In the original Zen Pinball release, the Flood disaster had an additional perk that made the ball very heavy, making it difficult to shoot the lit orbits and complete the mission. This perk was removed in later releases of the table.

External links

• Official table trailer
• Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)
• Official table theme on Bandcamp