Blade

> "I feel my strength returning."
>
> -Blade

***Blade*** is one of the first four *Marvel* pinball tables released in 2010 and available for *Zen Pinball 2*, *Pinball FX 2* and *Pinball FX 3*. It is based on the superhero vampire hunter of the same name, who is a human-vampire hybrid with powerful weapons and abilities, collaborating with the supernatural detective Hannibal King to hunt and eventually bring down Marvel's version of the famous vampire Dracula.

## Table overview

### The upper half of the table and mini-playfield

At the back left corner of the table is a right-looping ramp paved with stone, representing a citadel that Blade visits to hone his abilities. It leads down a passageway destined for the left most inlane. This ramp loops around a large hole where a figure of Deacon Frost, a villain Blade once fought, appears, transformed into some sort of monster. A series of sinkholes appear to the right of the front of this hole, blocked off by targets on the outer wall of this looping ramp.

Next to this ramp is an elevated mini-playfield, whose lanes comprise of a fire miniloop wrapping around a mission sinkhole blocked by rotating drop targets containing rune marks of some sort. This mini-playfield is guarded by two mini-flippers. Its left wall, which is also part of the citadel ramp's outer wall, is also the mini-playfield's entrance, implemented as a diverter gate that can fold out into the ramp's trajectory to bring the ball in. Balls that drain from the mini-playfield go down a long habitrail destined for the right inlane. Below this mini-playfield are two lanes: one leading to a sinkhole representing a shrine and the left end of another mini-loop.

To the right of all these is a ramp representing alleyways where vampires may hide, with targets on its front corners. It approaches the back right corner of the table before turning into a spiraling drain representing the sewers. The ball goes down this drain and down the right end of the abovementioned mini-loop, which is gated by a flag and flanked by the alley ramp and another ramp that shares its destination: the sewer ramp. The latter also has a diverter mechanism that deflects the ball down a hidden sinkhole to the right of the ramp's entrance, locking the ball in a platform containing a figure of Hannibal King, a detective assistant of Blade.

The entrance to the citadel ramp is gated by a bumper area representing ultraviolet energy, with the frontmost one also having a lair sinkhole in front of it. The bumpers are arranged in such a way that they allow both a clear shot up that ramp, as well as a clear left cross-shot up a short lane leading into a sinkhole that is a vertical upkicker popping the ball into the citadel ramp's path. On the other side of the table is the mini-flipper that is the only one that can access such hole. It sits between the right end of the main miniloop and the sewer ramp, whose entrance is further towards the front of the table, beneath Hannibal's platform.

### The lower half of the table and citadel mini-playfield

The front half of the left table wall is themed after the citadel that is the destination of its namesake ramp. It contains a mini-playfield of its own that balls entering the ramp must pass through, comprising of a passageway, with its left wall lined with pushers operated with the flipper buttons and its right wall lined with holes that allow the ball to travel down another passageway that runs parallel to it, with its opposite wall lined with targets representing talismans that Blade uses to enhance his abilities. Both of these passageways converge to one dropdown that brings the ball to the leftmost inlane. Beneath this mini-playfield are a series of sinkholes representing treasure, with an exit vertical upkicker all behind them that takes the ball down a short, straight habitrail leading to the inner left inlane.

On the other side of these sinkholes is another lone sinkhole used for ball locking. There are five return lanes, 2 rebounds and 2 main flippers. The left outlane is guarded by a low-power spring-loaded kickback, while the right outlane is guarded by a diverter gate that diverts the ball back to the plunger. A figure of Blade stands on the left apron on an oversized copy of a comic book about him. A mysterious compass used for locating vampire hideouts is on the opposite apron. Score multiplier lamps appear between the right inlane and plunger shaft. The right table wall also contains two gauges representing the amount of energy Blade has gained and his available funds.

### The plunger

The plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism shaped into the handlebars of a motor bike Blade uses to get around places quickly, with its tachometer serving as the plunger's strength gauge. It launches the ball up a short straight shaft that turns left to bring it into play diagonally, although a diverter mechanism will occasionally pop in and out of the turn's wall to influence the ball's movement. The goal of the skill shot is to guess the correct time and amount of plunger strength that will launch the ball into a flashing treasure sinkhole on the other side of the table. A successful skill shot will take the ball to the VUK behind these holes to bring it to the left flipper for a chance to shoot the alley ramp to feed it to the mini-flipper and use it to shoot the hidden sinkhole left of the bumpers for a super skill shot.

## Objective and missions

The goal of this table is to help Blade and Hannibal hunt down vampires and eventually challenge Dracula to rid the world of vampires through seven missions. Four of these missions (which involve fighting Blade's nemesis, Deacon Frost) require a unified, specific activation procedure to access and the player can choose any of such missions to attempt each time it is performed. (*It is to shoot the citadel ramp at nighttime to divert the ball to the mini-playfield, then knock down enough runes blocking the mission sinkhole with its flippers to eventually shoot the ball into it.*) The other three missions have their own activation procedures. All but one of these missions must be completed in nighttime mode, with the remaining one available at any time. (*It will be daytime at the start of a session.*) Most missions must be completed without losing the ball. In the few other missions where this rule does not apply, it is either not possible to fail the mission, or the ball will be held motionless during it.

The following missions must be completed to unlock the wizard mode:

* **Visions**: Blade can seek out vampires through visions. Hitting the bumpers many times in either time of day will eventually spell out the word VISIONS. Once the word is fully spelled out, Blade will be able to figure out what Dracula is up to and the mission will be complete, lighting the letter D in the name DRACULA. This mission has no unique activation procedure and cannot be failed.
* **Clear A Lair**: Blade must root out vampires from lairs where they hide. To start this mission, the player enter nighttime mode, then shoot the lair sinkhole, shoot a lit lane and then shoot the lair sinkhole again. The player must then shoot lit lanes five times. The lanes are all arranged in a row and will cycle positions from left to right every two seconds and every time a target lane is hit, one lit lane will disappear, making it progressively more difficult to hit the remaining ones. The player has 15 seconds to hit each target lane and will earn the letter R in the name DRACULA if they can complete this mission successfully.
* **District Sweep**: Some vampires can disguise themselves as humans and Blade and Hannibal must use their skills to single them out. This mission begins when the player shoots the shrine sinkhole twice at night. The second shot lock the ball for a video mode in which the player must quickly race against time to find a vampire among four suspects on the scoring display. The player uses the flippers to select which one is the vampire and presses the launch button to confirm. The vampire will look differently than the other three. There are four levels of difficulty (each representing the four districts Blade and Hannibal investigate) and their difficulty level number is the number of rounds that must be cleared successfully to win. This mode can only be completed four times per wizard mode run; any further shrine sinkhole shots will instead award 1 million points. Beating the first level lights the letter A in DRACULA.
* **Personal Differences**: Blade has a score to settle with his nemesis Deacon Frost. This is one of the four missions that involve fighting Deacon Frost and must be activated through the mission start procedure described above at nighttime. In this mission, the player must shoot three different lit target lanes quickly before Blade's energy fully depletes. Doing so will award the letter C in DRACULA.
* **Nocturnal Visitors**: Blade and Hannibal argue over who is more capable of stopping Deacon Frost. This is one of the four missions that involve fighting Deacon Frost and must be activated through the mission start procedure described above at nighttime. In this mission, the player must shoot three of five lit lanes once to help sort out the argument; hitting any previously shot lane three times or taking too long will cause Blade's energy to deplete, resulting in mission failure. (*The five lanes available at the start are both ends of the main miniloop, the citadel ramp, the alley ramp or the sewer ramp.*) Completing this mission successfully lights the letter U in DRACULA.
* **Mirror Images**: Blade and Hannibal must battle clone mirror images of themselves. This is one of the four missions that involve fighting Deacon Frost and must be activated through the mission start procedure described above at nighttime. This is a 2-ball multiball mission in which the player must hit any of 3 target/sinkholes and any 3 ramps/orbits, then lock either ball into the shrine sinkhole. Blade's energy does not deplete during this mission and it will fail only if either ball is lost. Successfully completing this mission awards the letter L in DRACULA.
* **The Cathari Katana**: Blade builds his ultimate weapon, the Cathari Katana. This is one of the four missions that involve fighting Deacon Frost and must be activated through the mission start procedure described above at nighttime. In this mission, the player must collect each of the four pieces of the sword, strewn over four lanes: the alley ramp, the sewer ramp and both ends of the main miniloop. Each lane can only be shot once and for each lane hit except the last one, the player must shoot the citadel ramp before shooting any of the remaining lanes containing the sword parts. Successfully completing this mission lights the letter A in DRACULA.

Once all 7 missions are completed, the wizard mode, **Dracula**, will be available to start the same way the Deacon Frost missions are started. This is a final battle between Blade and Dracula. To defeat Dracular, the player must perform the following tasks:

* First, the player must hit 15 lanes or targets within the time limit.
* Second, the player must help Blade obtain all four talismans to gather the power to defeat Dracula. This involves hitting all four talisman targets in the citadel mini-playfield once. There is no time limit and the player must shoot the citadel ramp as many times as possible and make the necessary pusher jabs at the right time to strike each of the targets once.
* The final stage is a 3-ball multiball in which the player must shoot ten lit lanes before all but one ball is lost.

After completing all three phases successfully, the wizard mode transitions to a victory multiball where any balls lost in the final stage are replaced and lit lanes award jackpots that are triple the value of shooting targets/lanes in the first phase. This victory multiball continues until all but one ball is lost. The player can try the wizard mode as many times as possible until it is won or all balls are depleted, then the table will reset.

### Day and night cycles

Pivotal to this table is a day-night cycle, with modes available in one time of day, but not the other. Because vampires are active at nighttime, Blade must gather strength to battle them when that time of day comes. Each table session starts in the daytime where all but one mission is disabled. Energy can be recovered by shooting sinkholes, especially the shrine sinkhole, in the daytime. The time of day changes automatically through time, although this can happen earlier if certain actions occur. The table changes between time of day instantly when the player cradles the ball and holds the launch button, and will also change from night to day if Blade's energy depletes.

The missions, side modes and perks available for either or both times of day are as follows:

* District Sweep
* Personal Differences
* Nocturnal Visitors
* Mirror Images
 Side modes
* Darkhold Chapter Suppression
* Daywalker Multiball
* Payback
* Lone Vampire
* Haunted Alley
* UV Multiball
 Perks
* Score Multiplier
* Kickbacks
* Ball Saver
* Extra Ball
* Talismans
* Workshop
* Treasure
* Flaming Ball
* Deacon Frost Mission Rewards

## Side modes

The following side modes can be activated during play, depending on time of day:

### Day-exclusive side modes

* **Bound Captives**: Blade occasionally rescues people in peril in the daytime. If the player shoots the alley ramp or the sewer ramp in the daytime, the barriers blocking the score multiplier sinkholes will go down for a chance to shoot them and earn score rewards, plus funds for the workshop.
* **Darkhold Chapter Suppression**: The Darkhold is a dangerous spell book created from dark matter in hell and Blade seeks to neutralize its eight chapters to keep the world safe. If the player found Darkhold Chapters by knocking down targets blocking the mission hole at night (or by obtaining Musenda's Boots in the daytime, one of the four talismans), the player can suppress each one by shooting the shrine sinkhole for score rewards.

### Night-exclusive side modes

* **Darkhold Chapter Search**: The Darkhold is a dangerous spell book created from dark matter in hell and Blade seeks to neutralize its eight chapters to keep the world safe. Every time the player knocks down a drop target blocking the mission sinkhole, a chapter will be ready to suppress in the daytime with a shot to the sinkhole.
* **Payback**: Hannibal King delivers vengeance with a powerful cannon. If the player shoots the sewer ramp four times, the ball will be locked into Hannibal's platform and the player will have a chance to shoot a target near the citadel ramp from his perspective with the launch button for extra points.
* **Lone Vampires**: Blade frequently hunts down and eliminates vampires. If the player strikes both front corners of the alley ramp at night, the player must shoot a flashing lit lane to slay a vampire. The reward for doing so increased with each vampire slain.
* **Haunted Alley**: Blade also enters haunted alleys to slay more vampires. If the player shoots the alley ramp four times, the player must shoot a flashing lit lane to slay a vampire. The reward for doing so increased with each vampire slain.

### Multiball

There are three optional multiball modes available, one in the daytime and two in the nightime:

* **Daywalker Multiball (Day)**: Despite being half-vampire, Blade can survive the daytime and sun rays. If the player executes a 5-way combo or spells BLADE by collecting a talisman, collecting treasure, completing Bound Captives successfully, purchasing one item from the workshop and shooting the shrine sinkhole, a quick multiball will begin where the player can shoot 3 lit lanes and then the citadel ramp for a jackpot. This mode continues until all but one ball is lost.
* **UV Multiball (Night)**: Blade weaponizes ultraviolet energy to defeat vampires. If the player hits all 3 treasure sinkholes at night, a 2-ball multiball will start. The player must shoot lit lanes to plug security breaches. Doing so five times adds a third ball into play. Every 100 security breaches shot will also award a score bonus. This mode continues until all but one ball is lost.
* **Hannibal Multiball (Night)**: Hannibal is a skilled supernatural detective. If the player shoots the lock sinkhole once, its ball locker will then be able to accept 3 ball locks. Once 3 balls are locked into the sinkhole with 3 more shots, a multiball will start, where any of three ramps (the citadel, alley or sewer) grants a jackpot, with the shrine sinkhole awards a super jackpot. The value of the next super jackpot depends on how many jackpots were collected before it was hit, and the value of jackpots themselves rises with each main miniloop shot. This mode continues until all but one ball is lost.

## Perks

The following perks are available during play, with some of them being available on only one time of day:

### Perks available on either time of day

* **Ball Saver**: At the start of each ball and multiball, a 30-second ball saver will activate. Once it expires, it can be reactivated by performing the kickback activation method when kickbacks are already activated, purchasing the twin blades from the workshop or by shooting the hidden sinkhole four times with mini-flipper cross-shots.
* **Kickbacks**: Shooting the left end of the miniloop several times will activate both kickbacks, which are only good for the current ball. Kickback activation can also be purchased as Kevlar armor in the workshop. Either method activates both kickbacks simultaneously. The left kickback is a low-power spring-loaded mechanism, while the right kickback diverts the ball back to the plunger.
* **Score Multiplier**: The score multiplier, which is only good for the current ball, can be advanced through the following methods: successfully completing enough Bound Captive side mode runs in the daytime such that all 3 multiplier sinkholes are hit, purchasing the Tearwood Dagger at the workshop or completing the target bank that blocks such sinkholes in the nighttime.
* **Funds**: Blade needs money to develop special weapons and technology to aid in his mission of ridding the world of vampires. Every mode, whether mandatory or not, awards extra funds if completed successfully. Funds are then spent at the workshop in the daytime to buy certain perks, each represented by a special technology item that can be built at the workshop.
* **Extra Ball**: Extra balls can be awarded by destroying all Darkhold Chapters, starting the Daywalker Multiball by spelling BLADE, maxing out the score multiplier or performing poorly on the first two balls. All extra balls are claimed by shooting the lair sinkhole or draining the ball in either outlane.

### Perks available in the daytime

* **Energy**: Blade requires special energy to become a powerful vampire hunter at night. To gain energy, the player can shoot any sinkhole in the daytime, with more energy awarded at the shrine sinkhole (if no Darkhold Chapters are available to suppress). The more energy collected, the more time Blade has available to clear night missions against Deacon Frost successfully.
* **Talismans**: To defeat Dracula, Blade must obtain special talismans from his mentors to augment his powers further. Shooting the citadel ramp in the daytime will take the ball to its mini-playfield, which involves using the pushers to strike any of four targets beside the mini-playfield's main corridor to obtain talismans, each with their own unique benefits. They are as follows:
	+ **Ogun's Wristband**: A mystic wristband worn by a corrupted ninja that once trained Wolverine and has the power to possess other people. Obtained by hitting the rearmost of the four targets in the citadel mini-playfield, this item permanently increases all scores by 100 points.
	+ **Musenda's Boots**: The boots of a mystic African assassin. Obtained by hitting the second rearmost of the four targets in the citadel mini-playfield, this item seizes half of the 8 Darkhold Chapters and makes them ready to destroy at the shrine sinkhole.
	+ **Azu's Belt**: The belt of another mentor of Blade. Obtained by hitting the second frontmost of the four targets in the citadel mini-playfield, this item doubles all scoring permanently.
	+ **Jama's Shades**: The shades of Jamal Afari, Blade's early stepfather and guardian. Obtained by hitting the frontmost of the four targets in the citadel mini-playfield, this item halves the costs of purchasing items at the workshop.
* **Workshop**: Blade has a workshop that allows him to create powerful technology to defeat his vampiric adversaries, for a price. If the player hits both targets on the front corners of the alley ramp, then shoots the ramp itself, the player can access the workshop and purchase a variety of upgrades and perks that grant special advantages, as listed below:
	+ **Friendly Handshake**: A free upgrade that awards points.
	+ **Santa's Bag**: An upgrade that costs $15 and awards points.
	+ **Silver Bullet**: An upgrade that costs $25 and awards points.
	+ **Swirling Blade**: An upgrade that costs $40 and increases the amount of points earned per flag spin in the right end of the main mini-loop.
	+ **Flamethrower**: An upgrade that costs $50 and unlocks the Flaming Ball mode at night.
	+ **Tearwood Dagger**: An upgrade that costs $60 and advances the score multiplier.
	+ **Garlic Essence**: An upgrade that costs $75 and awards points.
	+ **Kevlar Armor**: An upgrade that costs $80 and activates both kickbacks.
	+ **Twin Blades**: An upgrade that costs $90 and activates the ball saver.
* **Treasure**: If the player shoots the lair sinkhole in the daytime, a lit sinkhole can then be shot to obtain treasure, amounting to bonus points and extra funds. Possible sinkholes include treasure sinkholes, the score multiplier sinkholes or the lock sinkhole.

### Perks available in the nighttime

* **Flaming Ball**: Once the flamethrower is purchased from the workshop, the player can shoot the fire mini-loop at the mini-playfield 3 times to ignite the ball and double all scoring for a limited time.
* **Slashing**: Every time the ball bounces off a rebound into an inlane a slash occurs. 20 slashes will result in a slash attack that awards more points. The value of the attack increases with each successive one.
* **Deacon Frost Mission Rewards**: Spinning the flag in the right end of the mini-loop at night will increase the reward of beating missions against Deacon Frost. This value maxes out at 5 million points.

## Tips

* It can be difficult to shoot the citadel ramp because its entrance is gated by a bumper area. Make sure you've nailed down the timing for making a clean shot up the ramp.
* Shoot the left end of the main mini-loop to activate kickbacks and the ball saver to keep your ball alive! Also, take advantage of the multiple ways to earn extra balls to extend your session.
* Because almost all missions take place at night, you need to gather strength for Blade in the daytime - and enough energy such that you have time to beat each mission, as mission failure will result if Blade's energy depletes. Aim for the shrine sinkhole to get bigger bursts of energy, then when you think you have enough energy, activate nighttime mode and start tackling the missions.

## External links

* Official table trailer
* Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)
* Official table soundtrack on Bandcamp (tracks 19 - 23 of *Marvel Pinball Original Soundtrack*)