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Black Knight: Sword of Rage

Stern Pinball, 2019 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

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Designer Steve Ritchie, code Tim Sexton, art Kevin O'Connor/Zombie Yeti. Spike 2 hardware in Pro / Premium / LE editions. Premium/LE add a transparent upper playfield with a 3rd (right) flipper and the Catapult ball-launcher, enabling Catapult Multiball and Last Chance; the Pro is a lower-playfield-only game. The central toy is a motorized Black Knight with a spinning flail on one face and a raise/lower shield hiding the shield scoop/VUK behind it. Reputation: brutally punishing because shot guides are bouncy rubber posts close to the flippers — hence the mantra "backhand, backhand, backhand" (orbits are the safe exception).

Skill Shots

Monster Battles (the modes)

Five color-coded battles — Mud Bog (Hydra), Molten Fire (Magma Beast), Burning Sands (Sandworm), Wicked Cavern (Hell Hand), Deep Freeze (Lich Lords). Hit the three center shots to light a battle (the monster is set by the lightning wheel), shoot the flail ramp to raise the shield, then shoot the shield scoop to start. Battles carry ball-to-ball on a ~65s timer; win one for a KNIGHT letter and a lit Extra Ball. Win all five to qualify the Black Castle wizard mode.

Sword of Rage / "The Power"

Charge the meter with right 3-bank drop hits (bank completion ≈ +20%, individual ≈ +1%). When full, POWER lights at the center target — collect it during a battle for 2x scoring the whole battle plus that mode's power upgrade.

Multiballs

Combos & money

BKSOR has no conventional combo system: the only true combo is the U-Turn (orbit→orbit loop that lights an Extra Ball at the shield scoop). Real points come from farming Super Features (esp. the Super Spinner — light SUPER at the center target via the spinner, boost at the left lane until purple) and cashing them via a Magna-Save Super Jackpot inside the 3x KNIGHT Multiball, using Triple Knights as the base MB and always stacking a mode. WAR hurry-ups (complete the W-A-R top lanes) are repeatable and escalate.

Awards & defense

Mystery (complete R-A-G-E inlane/outlane rollovers) lights the scoop for a random award. Magna-Save (action button) catches the ball at the right outlane and cashes any active Supers as a Super Jackpot — relight it by completing the right drops. Bonus X advances via WAR-lane completions.

Wizard — Black Castle → RAGE Multiball

Win all five battles, start at the scoop (~200s): hit the three inner shots to light four outer loops, complete the loops, then a final shield-scoop shot delivers the killing blow and starts 6-ball RAGE Multiball. After it resolves the five battles reopen — the repeatable capstone.

Edition tags: Catapult MB, upper-playfield shots/3rd flipper, Last Chance, and Prem/LE skill shots are premium-le; everything else is all.

How Black Knight: Sword of Rage plays

Black Knight: Sword of Rage is a punishing retro Stern where the Magna-Save button is both your drain defense and your cash register. Win the monster battles to open the Black Castle, and spell K-N-I-G-H-T for a multiball that multiplies every point by the balls in play.

The loop

  1. Light SUPER on the left spinner, start a Super Mode at the center target, and boost it at the left lane until its icon glows purple.
  2. Complete the W-A-R top lanes, nudging the lit lane over with a flipper tap, to bump Bonus X and flash the center shots for a decaying hurry-up.
  3. Qualify a monster battle at the center shots, raise the shield with the flail ramp, and start the battle and a lock together at the shield scoop.
  4. Bank K-N-I-G-H-T letters as you win battles, finish WAR hurry-ups, and cash Triple Knights jackpots, then run KNIGHT Multiball from the left spinner lane and empty your boosted Supers into a Magna-Save.
  5. Win all five battles to unlock the Black Castle, beat the Black Knight, and set off the six-ball RAGE Multiball.

Reading the lights

  • W-A-R Top Lanes (lanes) — lit: The three top lanes spell W-A-R, and a lit lane is a letter still open, so roll through it to bank that letter. · then: Complete W-A-R to step Bonus X and flash the three center shots white for a fast-decaying hurry-up - bank it quickly at the flail ramp and end at the center target for a KNIGHT letter. Bonus X holds from ball to ball, so it keeps paying later. · control: Either flipper button: tap a flipper button to shift which of the W, A, and R lanes is lit, sliding it toward the lane the ball is rolling down (as the ball crosses the top lanes)
  • Super Modes (status) — lit: Ripping the left spinner lights SUPER at the center target, and starting one turns on an untimed Super Mode that keeps scoring until you deliberately cash it. · then: Stack several Supers - Super Spinner is by far the richest - and boost each at the left lane until its icon turns purple. Then dump the whole pile with a Magna-Save, ideally inside 3x KNIGHT Multiball, where they pour out 200 to 300M.
  • Magna-Save (status) — lit: The Magna-Save insert glows when the magnet above the right outlane is armed, and a dark one will not fire until you relight it on the right drop bank. · then: Each save also rings up every Super Mode you have running as one Super Jackpot and then ends them. Time that cash-out for KNIGHT Multiball and it is multiplied by the balls in play, up to 3x - the single biggest collect on the game. · control: Action button: press the lockbar button as a ball drifts toward the right outlane and the magnet grabs it before it can drain (the moment the ball heads for the right outlane)
  • Monster Battles (mode) — lit: Hitting the lit center shots qualifies a battle - a spinning wheel decides the monster - and the flail ramp then raises the shield to expose the scoop that starts it. · then: The scoop starts the battle and locks a ball at the same time, so you always drag a mode into multiball. Each of the five battles you win, from the Hydra's Mud Bog to the Magma Beast's Molten Fire, awards a KNIGHT letter, lights an Extra Ball, and counts toward the Black Castle.
  • K-N-I-G-H-T (letters) — lit: Letters of K-N-I-G-H-T light as you earn them - winning battles, finishing WAR rounds, cashing Triple Knights super jackpots - with K and N already lit at the start. · then: Spell the word to light the left spinner lane, and shooting it runs KNIGHT Multiball, where playfield scoring is multiplied by the balls in play up to 3x - the money window you save your boosted Supers for. A second spelling instead starts The King's Ransom, a low-risk multiball with unlimited ball save and a free +5x Bonus X.
  • Triple Knights Lock (mode) — lit: The small light-lock standup lights the scoop for a lock - one hit for the first multiball, more for each after - and the exposed scoop banks the ball. · then: Lock three balls to start, then run the phase jackpots on the spinner, ramp, and scoop to light a Super Jackpot at the ramp worth triple, plus another KNIGHT letter. Because a battle and this lock both live at the scoop, nearly the same shot arms both.
  • U-Turn Loop (shot arrows) — lit: One orbit shot turns the arrow in front of it red to arm a U-Turn, and looping the same orbit again with no other shot in between escalates the value. · then: Keep the U-Turns going, watching the lightning-bolt inserts change color as the value climbs, until an Extra Ball lights at the shield scoop. It is the game's one true combo and its most repeatable route to a free ball.
  • Black Castle (mode) — lit: Winning all five monster battles lights the scoop for Black Castle, the showdown against the Black Knight himself. · then: Clear the inner center shots to light four outer loops, complete those loops as the flail spins harder and the shield kicks back meaner, then land the final scoop shot. That blow triggers RAGE Multiball, a six-ball frenzy on the always-lit center target and the game's capstone.

Lane change: the flipper buttons move the lit lane. Tap a flipper button to slide which of the W, A, and R top lanes is lit toward the lane the ball is rolling down, then let it roll through to bank that letter. Completing W-A-R steps the Bonus X - which sticks from ball to ball - and flashes the center shots for a hurry-up that ends in a KNIGHT letter.

Start scoring

The Magna-Save on Black Knight: Sword of Rage

Center of the lockdown bar.

The lockdown bar button is your Magna-Save, wired to a magnet tucked above the right outlane. Press it as a ball drifts toward that outlane and the magnet snatches it before it drains. It doubles as the cash register: a successful save also pays out every Super Mode you have running.

Goals in Black Knight: Sword of Rage

Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.

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