DOOM

> "Demonic presence at unsafe levels. Lockdown in effect."
>
> - Union Aerospace Corporation facility address

***DOOM*** is one of the three pinball tables in the *Bethesda Pinball* mini table pack, released in 2016 and available for *Zen Pinball 2*, *Pinball FX 2* and *Pinball FX 3*. Based on the sci-fi horror first-person shooter video game series of the same name, created by id Software, it primarily takes inspiration from the 2016 reboot of *DOOM* while incorporating elements from the three major titles released before it (*Doom*, *Doom II* and *Doom 3*). The table follows the Doom Slayer's mission to brutally eradicate demonic forces throughout Mars, Hell and beyond with an array of deadly weapons to protect humanity.

## Table overview

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

The table incorporates a mix of environments from the 2016 reboot of *Doom*, with the back of the table reflecting the rocky terrain of Mars where much of that game takes place, particularly representing the Kadingir Sanctum. At the back left corner of the table is a raised platform containing a mini-playfield with an adjustable hell stone paddle positioned near its outhole. Towards the back of this mini-playfield are two rows of seven demon rune drop targets and behind those 14 targets are 7 portals. In front of this mini-playfield is a Titan skull whose magnetic mouth serves as a sinkhole and brief ball lock. Once a ball goes there, it can either be kicked back out of the hole towards the flippers or diverted into either of two habitrails coming out of its eyeholes: a left habitrail leading to a portal that brings the ball to the mini-playfield and a right habitrail dropping it into a raised bumper area at the opposite back corner of the table, which is also situated in front of a towering figure of the Cyberdemon, the game's first boss and the table's final boss. The bumper area can be rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise using the flippers, and has three exits that can drop the ball either a) in front of the spindisk, b) at the mini-flipper or c) down the right orbit.

To the left of the Titan skull is a pair of crosslanes that must be accessed by the flipper at the right entrance to the miniloop. One of them is a looping crossramp with a long habitrail that loops around the Titan skull and threads underneath the mini-playfield, eventually bringing the ball to the right inlane; while the other is a mini-orbit that sends the ball back to the upper right flipper for another shot. Four lamps representing caches of ammo stud its entrance. To the right of the skull mouth are a pair of captive balls and the left entry of the miniloop, with a spinner marked with the image of a demon rune governing the latter. Inside the miniloop is a spindisk that can be sealed or lower into the playfield during certain events. A large orbit wraps around all of these features, with each entry containing five lamps of either medkits or armor packs. To the right of the left orbit is a ramp shaped into a flipped question mark, with its entrance marked with three lamps of runic symbols. It leads into a habitrail that crosses a pit of lava typically seen in the foundries of the UAC base, before leading into the left inlane. The right entry of the orbit is positioned right beside the mini-flipper and the right entry of the miniloop. Throughout the upper half of the table, there are five target posts that spell out IDDQD, a cheat code for the original game that granted invincibility.

### The lower half of the table

Near the lava pit at the left side of the table is a sinkhole where balls can be locked for Deathmatch Multiball. A figure of the Doom Slayer stands in front of it, with his back turned to the lava pit the left ramp crosses. The lower left quadrant of the table also incorporates visual elements from the UAC facility's foundries, with crates appearing on its left apron. At the other side of the table is a short, looping ramp that brings the ball into the right inlane, converging with the terminus of the crossramp's long habitrail. It loops around a platform where figures of demonic enemies may appear and disappear. To the right of the ramp entrance, which is studded with five lamps, is another sinkhole that is obstructed by a stasis tube cap that when struck several times will lower, where the ball can be trapped and lowered inside to be locked in one of two stasis tubes on the lower right wall of the table, which appears to resemble part of the Lazarus Labs inside the UAC facility.

There are four return lanes that spell the game's title, two rebounds and two flippers. A personal teleporter (featured in the reboot's multiplayer mode) may appear in either outlane that serves as a kickback that captures the ball if it falls into a particular outlane. Near each flipper are meters resembling the ones in the heads-up display of the Doom Slayer's helmet visor systems, with the left one gauging his health and armor and the right one indicating his current weapon and available ammunition. Above the outhole is a Gauss cannon that may capture the ball if it drains while certain conditions are met and shoot it back into play under the player's control. Its position, combined with the health, armor and ammo readouts, further pays homage to the games' trademark first-person shooter perspective, as well as their tendency to position weapon barrels at the bottom center part of the screen in such a view.

### The plunger

The plunger is a chainsaw that propels the ball by raising and slamming its blade down on the ball, sending it up a straight shaft that sharply turns left into a one-way drop onto the bumper area. To achieve a skill shot, the player must shoot the ball in between the Cyberdemon's arm cannon blasts so that it safely reaches the bumper area. Immediately after that, the bumpers will briefly be lit to score more points than usual and add to the skill shot value, with the base score of a skill shot increasing for each successive instance of it occurring.

## Objective and Missions

The goal of the table is to help the Doom Slayer get to and slay the Cyberdemon, closing the portals to Hell in doing so, after completing five missions. To start a mission, the player must shoot the ball into the Titan skull once while no Argent Cells are available to claim or Pit of Evil isn’t currently lit. Each mission must be completed successfully to access the wizard mode, and missions will continue across balls until they are completed successfully, the Doom Slayer is defeated, the tilt alarm is triggered or when all balls are lost. Completed missions score 15 million points (with **To Hell and Back** scoring 7.5 million due to the easier objective of the mission).

The following missions must be completed successfully to access the Wizard Mode:

* **Observe, Repeat**: The Doom Slayer must escape a dangerous part of the UAC facility by using a hologram device to highlight an escape route. To progress through it, the player must watch and retrace two series of three hologram ball trails that briefly appear on the table, while encountering a demon wave in between the two. To reveal the second set of ball trails to follow, the UAC targets must be hit once. The UAC targets can be hit at any time during the mode to briefly show the ball trails that haven’t been collected.
* **Recharge**: The facility's power generators go offline, and its head honcho, Dr. Samuel Hayden, instructs the Slayer to restore power. The player assists in this operation by hitting the spinner at the miniloop 100 times and hitting the bumpers 60 times while the table is darkened to reflect the loss of power. When either task is 50% completed, a wave of demons will appear, which must be fought off in order to continue progressing through the mission.
* **The Pit**: A nod to the ninth level of *Doom II*, this mission sees the Slayer ascending through four levels of a hellish pit, navigating through its treacherous terrain and fighting a wave of demons on the way up. The spindisk functions as an elevator that takes the Slayer up one level, and every time it is used to go up to the next level, it is sealed until a particular task is completed for that particular level. The player must clear all four levels to finish the mission:
	+ The Slayer begins at the deepest of the four levels of the pit and can immediately board the elevator to the next level up by shooting the spindisk.
	+ At the next level, the elevator to the next floor will open up once the player shoots any orbit a total of 6 times, which must again be accessed with the spindisk.
	+ The third level up has a wave of demons that must be defeated before the elevator to the next floor unlocks to bring the Slayer to the topmost, final level of the Pit.
	+ The last level of the Pit has the player shooting any ramp a total of 6 times to get to the final elevator leading out of the Pit, accessed with one last shot at the spindisk.
* **Lazarus Labs**: The Slayer travels through the Lazarus Labs, full of portals created by the corrupt interdimensional experiments of the UAC. He must travel through the portals to investigate the labs’ secrets, and will not encounter combat unless Power-Up spawns enemies. There are 3 active portals at any given time at the beginning of this mission; one at the miniloop, one at either side ramp (Rune Trial and Power-Up ramps) and one at either side of the orbit. Hitting a portal at the miniloop or orbit will make it disappear and reappear on the other side of the miniloop or orbit. Hitting a portal at the Rune Trial ramp will make it disappear and then reappear at the Power-Up ramp and vice versa. The ball must hit the portals placed throughout the table a total of 30 times. After 20 portals have been hit, there will only be two portals available for the rest of the mission.
* **To Hell and Back**: The Slayer enters Hell through an interdimensional tether and looks for a way to close some portals to Hell to limit the spread of the demonic invasion. To do so, the player must knock down each of the two rows of demon runes at the mini-playfield by bouncing the ball at them with a moving hell stone, while being aware of two other hell stones moving across the playfield that affect the ball's trajectory. If the ball falls into the mini-playfield's outhole four times, where it is "devoured", the ball will drop back into the main playfield as the Slayer is besieged by a large wave of demons. They must all be defeated to light the Titan skull to return to the mini-playfield for four more attempts. Once all 14 drop targets are hit, the mission will be successfully completed once the ball is "devoured" or hits one of two random portals behind the knocked-down targets.

After a mission is completed, the player must shoot the Titan skull to claim an Argent Cell that will increase either the Slayer's maximum health, armor or ammunition, depending on the player's choice, before another mission can be started. Each perk can be upgraded three times per game.

Once all 5 missions are completed, the wizard mode, **Cyberdemon Takedown**, will be unlocked and can be started the same way as the main missions. This is a four-phase final boss battle against the Cyberdemon, which must be defeated to close the portal to Hell (in reference to the Cyberdemon being the final boss of *Doom 3*). The Cyberdemon has a separate health bar for each phase of the battle, shown on the scoring display, which must be reduced by shooting lit attack lanes to fire weapons against him while he periodically fires his arm cannon at the Doom Slayer. Once a phase is finished before the last one, there will be a brief pause as the Cyberdemon reels around, then removes a bumper from the bumper area (which is inaccessible for the entirety of the wizard mode) to transition to the next phase. The ball must be kept in play during this brief transition period.

The four phases of the battle are listed below:

* The first phase of the battle is a one-on-one fight against the Cyberdemon where shots have to constantly be made to deal damage.
* In the second phase of the battle, the Cyberdemon will summon demon drop targets to make it difficult to shoot any attack lanes that are at the top of the table. The player must time shots past the demons to reach such lanes and find ways around them, because once all of those demons are defeated, another set of demon drop targets will respawn in their place, summoned by the Cyberdemon. (They will not respawn after the second phase.)
* In the third phase of the battle, portals will appear that may take the ball away from the attack lanes.
* In the final phase of the battle, hell stones from the Titan's Realm side mode will appear to further interfere with the ball as additional obstacles, making the battle even more difficult.

Once all four health bars of the Cyberdemon are depleted, the Cyberdemon will hang his head and chest down in defeat as a four-ball victory multiball starts and lit lanes can be shot for jackpots. This continues until all but one ball is lost; when this occurs, the Cyberdemon will stand back up, the three bumpers he removed will respawn, and the five main missions will be able to be played again (however, Argent Cell upgrades will carry over and can continue to be collected). If the Doom Slayer falls to the Cyberdemon, the wizard mode will restart automatically back at the beginning of the first phase, meaning that it can be attempted as many times as possible until all balls are lost or the Cyberdemon is defeated.

### Difficulty

There are two levels of difficulty that the player can choose from at the start of a session: Hurt Me Plenty (medium) or Nightmare! (hard). The latter difficulty sacrifices all ball protection (ball saver, kickbacks and extra balls) and reduces the number of lit lanes available for attacks or jackpots in exchange for a 50% score boost.

### Combat and weapons

The table features a unique combat system that is paramount to defeating demon waves. Combat begins when a wave of demons appears on the table, comprising of a series of demon drop targets popping up at the middle of the table (which may be either a Possessed Soldier that can be defeated in 1 hit, a Pinky that can be destroyed with 2 hits or a Mancubus that must be knocked down with 3 hits), and a demon leader (usually an Imp or a Lost Soul) appearing on the right side of the table. The player must defeat both the demon drop targets and the leader within a brief amount of time to defeat the wave in its entirety. Drop targets are attacked by directly hitting them with the ball, while the leader must be attacked by shooting any of three randomly selected attack lanes (two on Nightmare difficulty), marked with the word "shoot". (The lanes will change if the ball is drained.) If a weapon other than the default pistol is equipped, attacking the leader will require and consume ammo, and once ammo for a weapon is exhausted, it cannot be used until more ammo is collected. If a certain amount of time passes without an attack against the leader, it will attack the Doom Slayer, decreasing his health, and if it fully depletes, the current mode or mission will end prematurely. If the player defeats the drop targets but fails to defeat the leader (or drains the ball), one drop target will respawn. If the player defeats the leader, but fails to get rid of all drop targets in time (or drains the ball), the leader will respawn.

To increase the Doom Slayer's survivability, 5 shots to either side of the large orbit will spawn a health or armor pickup somewhere on the table that must be collected with the ball. Health and armor pickups can also be spawned from defeated drop targets. Spare ammunition can be found in a similar manner by shooting the smaller one-way orbit 4 times. The current amount of health, armor and ammunition can be checked at the heads-up display meters near the flippers. Argent Cells can increase the maximum amount of health, armor or ammo available and are collected after each mission is completed by shooting the Titan skull once. Once a Cell is collected, the player must choose to whether to spend its energy on augmenting the Slayer's max health, armor or ammo. Each of the three attributes can be upgraded up to three times.

There are various weapons that the player can collect for the Doom Slayer to use against his demon adversaries, with most weapons imparting a different effect. New weapons can be collected by hitting the captive balls enough times (3 for the first weapon, increasing by 1 for each subsequent weapon). Once a new weapon is found, the Doom Slayer equips it automatically. To change the currently equipped weapon, the player can hold down the launch button to open the weapon wheel, press the flipper buttons while the launch button is held down to cycle between owned weapons and release the launch button to confirm the new weapon to equip. The ammunition gauge will refresh to reflect the amount available for the newly equipped weapon. The effects of each weapon are listed in the Perks section below.

## Side modes

During play, the following side modes can be activated:

* **Rune Trials**: In the *DOOM* reboot, the Doom Slayer can complete special missions called Rune Trials to earn special upgrades that can make him stronger. On this table, however, they are timed opportunities that reward 5 million points when completed, and begin once the left Rune Trial ramp is shot six times. One of the three time-limited mini-missions listed below will then be picked and started at random:
	+ Shoot 5 combos within the time limit, with each successful combo extending the timer.
	+ Hit 5 explosive barrels, one by one, placed throughout the table, with each barrel destroyed adding extra time.
	+ Quickly defeat three Imps, with every demon defeated awarding extra time.
* **Barrels o' Fun:** Named after the 23rd level of *Doom II*, this side mode is an opportunity to unleash explosive mayhem as many explosive barrels spawn, with the capability of instantly defeating any demons. After this mode begins with 6 shots to the crossramp, a few barrels will spawn in front of the drop target area. Hitting one will instantly detonate the rest. Then, another couple of barrels will appear in front of the Cyberdemon, and the Slayer must take a shot at them by shooting a lit attack lane. Lastly, a group of demon drop targets will spawn with a final group of barrels placed before them, serving as the ultimate opportunity to kill them all with the barrels. Hitting just one of the final barrels will end the mode successfully and award a 2.5 million bonus. Barrels o’ Fun can be started at any time during single-ball play, even during missions; if it is activated and completed during a combat wave, the demon wave will be defeated.
* **Titan's Realm**: In the reboot game, the Doom Slayer can enter the Titan's Realm, a huge graveyard containing the remains of deceased, giant demons. After the ball is shot into the Titan skull six times, two mysterious hell stones will then float across the middle of the playfield, interfering with the ball. The stones can be hit for small points, but opens up a huge risk of an unwanted ball drain, so the player must be cautious and try to avoid starting this mode if ball protection is of great concern.
* **Pit of Evil**: If the spindisk is hit 6 times, the Titan's Skull will lead the ball through a habitrail in its right eye that teleports it into the mini-playfield over the skull, in which it can be bounced by a controlled hell stone to hit up to 14 demon runes. However, only a few runes will appear at a time, and the back has portals that can be hit and removed for bonus points. The mode continues until the outhole devours the ball twice, or when all 14 rune targets. Each target hit scores 500,000, so hitting all 14 scores 7 million.
* **Meltdown**: The UAC facility's foundries are only kept stable by a cooling system that can be disabled to trigger a dangerous meltdown, started by shooting the left entry of the miniloop six times. This will cause lava to flood the bumper area and drip into one of three possible exits at random, which may be a) in front of the spindisk, b) in front of the right entry of the miniloop or c) at some point into the right orbit. If the ball touches the lava, it turns into a molten ball and can inflict extra damage against demons. Shooting ramps while the meltdown is in progress will award bonus points. While the meltdown is occurring, the bumper area cannot be accessed, and if the ball saver is used during a meltdown, it will teleport the ball to some other part of the table. The meltdown will stabilize after some time has passed.
* **Cyberdemon Frenzy**: Hitting each bumper 32 times will enrage the Cyberdemon at the back right corner of the table, leading to a brief battle against him. The player must quickly hit a lit attack lane to redeem a dwindling large score shown on the display.
* **Hell on Mars**: After escaping from the Kadingir Sanctum, the Doom Slayer returns to the Argent Facility, only to discover that demons have found a way to enter Mars, raising chaos wherever they go. The Slayer must struggle to survive in this frenetic environment, killing demons and traveling through portals. Once this mode begins with 6 shots through the right entry of the miniloop, the table will glow red with terror as a wave of demons appear. The player must defeat the demon wave, but can escape by hitting a portal placed at a random point in the table. This side mode will continue until a time limit is reached, or when the Doom Slayer is defeated by the demons.
* **Demon Rune**: In a multiplayer match, a player can terrorize rivals by collecting a demon rune that grants control of a Revenant, a frightening, rocket-powered demon that can unleash a barrage of missiles through its shoulder cannons. The player will have the opportunity to try out this power by getting it as a random power-up from the right ramp. During this mode, the player pivots the Revenant as it flies, aiming at barrels and drop targets representing multiplayer rivals, via the flipper buttons and taps the launch button to fire missiles at the on-screen reticule. Bonus points are awarded for each hit, and the mode will continue until a time limit is reached, indicated by depleting meters that flank the reticule. Similarly to Barrels o’ Fun, this power-up can be used to instantly complete any combat wave.

### Multiball

There are three multiball modes that can be activated:

* **Super Shotgun Multiball**: The Super Shotgun is the Doom Slayer’s weapon of choice. Collecting it from Lock 'n Load (described below), will start a 15-second long 2-ball multiball, with doubled scoring. The mode will continue until time expires or one ball is lost.
* **Deathmatch Multiball**: *DOOM* features a multiplayer mode where rivals can battle each other for bragging rights over who is the supreme Slayer. Locking three balls into the left sinkhole through 9 total shots (2 for the first ball, 3 for the second ball and 4 for the final ball) will begin this 3-ball Multiball where drop targets representing rival players will appear, move and disappear at random. Every third drop target defeated will light a lane that can be shot to collect a jackpot. Each rival defeated will also add points to the end-of-ball bonus. Deathmatch Multiball can be started during any mission, but will take priority over whatever mission it started during until the Multiball ends.
* **Experimental Multiball**: Witness the dangerous experiments of the UAC when two balls are locked into the stasis tubes at the right wall of the table. To open the stasis lock, the player must first hit the right sinkhole's cap once (or twice for the second ball) to lower it down, then shoot it once more to capture the ball and lower it under the table where it is loaded into a stasis tube. (It is also possible to lock the first ball by earning it from the Spin it Up Award instead.) Once two balls are locked, they are released into play and the player can shoot lit jackpot lanes for extra points. Experimental Multiball can be started during any mission and progress towards completing the mission will proceed as normal.

## Perks

The following perks can be earned during play:

* **Lock 'N Load**: The Doom Slayer needs bigger and better weapons to effectively exterminate the demons, and more can be acquired by hitting the captive balls to the right of the Titan skull hole a few times. The number of hits needed to acquire a randomly chosen weapon begins at 3, and increments by 1 for each weapon acquired. The following weapons available are listed below:
	+ **Pistol**: The Doom Slayer begins each session with this weapon. It has unlimited ammunition, but is weak.
	+ **Super Shotgun**: Delivers more damage than the standard pistol. Once acquired, a quick 2-ball multiball will start.
	+ **Chaingun**: Deals area of effect damage to all enemies.
	+ **Rocket Launcher**: Deals high damage to the demon leader.
	+ **Plasma Rifle**: Deals area of effect damage to all enemies.
	+ **Lightning Gun**: Damages the demon leader, while spreading an arc of electricity that electrocutes the ball on contact. The electrocuted ball can inflict extra damage on drop targets.
	+ **Gauss Cannon**: Deals great damage to demon leaders, and grants the player more control of the ball saver when it is used. Every time a ball saver is used after the Gauss cannon is collected, the ball will be locked into a Gauss cannon above the outhole, which can then be aimed with the flippers and fired with the launch button to shoot the ball back into play.
	+ **BFG-9000**: Instantly destroys a demon wave in a single shot and also deals maximum damage to the Cyberdemon. However, ammo has to be refilled each time the BFG is used, making it an unreliable weapon unless you’ve spawned ammo.
* **Spin It Up:** Hitting the spinner at the left miniloop entry enough times will eventually grant a random award. Possible prizes include 5 million points, an Experimental multiball lock or a ball saver.
* **Power Ups**: The Doom Slayer can earn temporary power-ups that affect combat. One power-up will be awarded once the right ramp is shot 6 times. The sixth shot locks the ball at the end of the ramp before it falls into the right inlane, while a power-up is chosen at random with the launch button. Most power-ups help the player, but some might make things more difficult depending on your play style and when the power-up is collected. All power-ups except Mega Health last for 30 seconds and will spawn a wave of demons regardless of what modes are currently active. The possible power-ups are listed below:
	+ **Mega Health**: Permanently increases maximum health and armor to its highest value and refills health and armor. This remains in effect for the rest of the session, eliminating the need to assign Argent Cells to health or armor to restore those stats.
	+ **Haste**: This causes the ball to move faster for a limited time. If you’re having trouble defeating a demon leader before the drop targets reset or vice versa, this can be helpful; otherwise, it’s certainly not the best power-up.
	+ **Invisibility** or **Invulnerability**: Prevents the Slayer from taking damage by making him invisible or invincible for a limited time.
	+ **Berserk**: This grants the Slayer lethal melee damage, allowing the ball to instantly destroy drop targets with a single hit. As demon leaders are defeated using projectile based weapons, they still need to be defeated by hitting lit lanes.
	+ **Quad Damage**: This power-up quadruples the amount of damage the Slayer's weapons can inflict, allowing him to dispose of demon leaders with a single shot, or deal great damage to the Cyberdemon. All scoring is quadrupled while this power-up is active as well - complete a mode during this time for 60 million and watch the score fly!
	+ **Demon Rune**: Grants the player temporary control of the Revenant, starting the aforementioned Demon Rune side mode.
* **Health**: The Doom Slayer will need to stay healthy to endure against the demons, because the total depletion of health results in defeat and failure of the current mode or mission. If he needs to tend to his wounds, the player can shoot the left orbit 5 times to spawn a health pickup that can be collected with the ball to restore lost health.
* **Armor**: Armor can provide additional protection against demonic attacks, and the Doom Slayer can find more if the player shoots the right orbit 5 times to spawn an armor pickup that can be collected with the ball. At the start of a session, the Slayer will not have any extra armor.
* **Ammunition**: As powerful as his arsenal is, the Slayer's weapons need lots of ammunition to keep the Slayer's offense uninterrupted. More ammunition can be found by shooting the mini-orbit four times, which will spawn an ammo crate that can be collected with the ball.
* **Secret Area**: The first two *Doom* games contained secret areas, and one can be discovered if a left mini loop - mini-orbit - crossramp combo is executed, turning the spindisk gray and the ball into a pixilated version. Hitting it, or the barrier blocking it, will award 3 million. Only one secret area can be discovered per game.
* **UAC Data Logs**: Throughout his mission to eradicate demons, the Slayer can investigate the facility and unearth data logs that can reveal why the demons invaded and how they could be stopped. Hitting the UAC targets 3 times will spawn a UAC data log that can then be collected with the ball. Data logs will contribute to an end-of-ball bonus, and six data logs on Hurt Me Plenty difficulty will light an extra ball.
* **Bonus Multiplier**: The bonus multiplier can be increased by +1x by spelling DOOM twice on the return lane rollovers. (The letters will glow yellow the first time they are spelled and red when spelled for the second time.) The multiplier is only good for the current ball and can be raised to a maximum of 10x.
* **Redeemer Kickbacks:** Spelling the cheat code "IDDQD" by shooting the 5 post targets in order (from left to right) will open up a chance to activate a kickback in the form of a personal teleporter by shooting either side of the mini-loop. Shooting the mini-loop clockwise awards the left kickback, while shooting it counter-clockwise awards the right kickback. If one kickback is activated, but not the other, the player must be careful not to activate the one that's already turned on, as doing so will reset the IDDQD kickback targets. Once turned on, kickbacks will remain available until they are used. Kickbacks are unavailable on Nightmare difficulty; the lit Redeemer lanes will simply award an “extra score” of 500,000.
* **Ball Saver**: A 30-second ball saver is granted at the start of each ball and multiball mode, and can be reactivated when awarded as a random prize from Spin it Up. The ball saver is permanently disabled on Nightmare difficulty, so caution is advised as early drains will not be compensated.
* **Extra Balls**: Extra balls can be lit by acquiring the BFG-9000, raising the bonus multiplier to 6x for the first time, finding 6 UAC data logs, as a random Spin it Up award, or reaching the final phase of the Cyberdemon Takedown. Extra balls are claimed by shooting the Titan skull. No extra balls can be awarded on Nightmare difficulty, so it must be played with a strict 3 ball supply. However, each extra ball that would’ve been lit will score an “extra score” of 5 million.

## Tips

* While ball drains don't result in mission failure, it can be quite easy to drain the ball thanks to the difficult kickback activation process, the dangerous feeds from the spindisk, and the Titan's Realm mode and Haste power-ups that can cause you to lose control of the ball. Combined with the fact that extra balls are very difficult to earn, this may arguably be one of the hardest tables in the game. However, since non-combat portions of missions have no time limit, you are strongly encouraged to take your time in beating them, using flipper trapping and trial and error to figure out the best flipper timing to hit certain lanes. You can also skip the Titan's Realm mode if you start it and are not comfortable with risking a drain by safely trapping the ball with a flipper until the mode ends.
* When the ball goes to the bumper area, take advantage of how you can rotate the bumpers with the flippers to influence where the ball goes once it leaves there. The middle exit is preferable, as it gives you a chance to immediately use the upper right flipper to shoot the ammo mini-orbit.
* Be more strategic in choosing the order in which to tackle the main missions. It would be helpful to start with the Lazarus Labs, since combat is not typically encountered during that mission unless Power-Ups are triggered. The next missions to complete would then be To Hell and Back and The Pit, since the former is very simple to complete and the latter blocks off the spindisk, guaranteeing it that it will not pose a hazard. Your early Argent Cells should be assigned to health and armor to make sure the Slayer can withstand more punishment against demon attacks, decreasing the likelihood of prematurely failing missions. Then, as you get closer to the wizard mode, give some Argent Cells to ammo so that you can increase the amount of damage you can deal quickly to the Cyberdemon during the final battle before having to replenish ammo.
* The random nature of the Power-Ups can be slowed down with the slow-motion power in Pinball FX3. Use this to your advantage to choose ones you need; Demon Rune can be helpful if you’re currently in a combat wave, and Quad Damage can lead to scoring 60 million if it is collected right before finishing a mission. If you want to put Haste out of the power-up rotation, collect it during Lazarus Labs, as the mission has no combat waves and the faster physics can make combos very easy to collect.

## External links

* Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)