10 Top Tips for Pro/Master You NEED!

[TheQuisling]

After finally earning the 100% completion for Pure Pool in just over a month, i can officially confirm this was/is nothing short of a living nightmare! I cannot outright remove the hellish baize laden road ahead (if you wish to follow suit) but if i can even somewhat reduce the torture, it is well worth my/your time? The most useful 10 tips i can provide to overcome the 8-ball and 9-ball related trophies are as follows:

 

1. MOST IMPORTANT: Your mentality has to be right. Yes, the AI is nothing short of an unfair, unrealistic, egregious and poorly designed/implemented cluster f*** of little to no compare on the Pro and (particularly) Master difficulty. You HAVE to expect and come to terms with it AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. Do not waste mental capital hoping and praying for a missed shot (Master'.) Either instantly restart the frame if/when you miss OR mentally switch off and do something else because 95% of the time the AI will clear the table with zero positional play and Hollywood esque potting from every distance/angle imaginable. It doesn't matter. NEXT ATTEMPT!
2. As previously touched upon, positional play is absolutely paramount to be able to consistently defeat the AI on the harder difficulties. Learn the angles and how to stun (bottom spin) and follow through (top spin) with the cue ball as quickly as you can. Use the practice table and begin to assess the pace needed not just to pot but to then reach your next desired ball of choice. 'Hero' potting akin to the AI will only get you so far. The more you run out of position, the closer you come to missing your next pot.
3. Speed kills! It is tempting to hit the ball hard for a variety of reasons, yet try your utmost to refrain from doing so unless absolutely necessary. The harder you hit the ball? The less chance it has of going in. This is multiplied by 1,000,000 on the Snooker career with much tighter pockets!!! Always aim for 50-60% power OR LESS to give the pocket every possible chance of 'accepting' the ball.
4. Try to alternate with the directional 'lines' turned on and off from an early stage. The Master career(s) will require an in-depth knowledge and 'feel' for the camera angle and what it denotes when aiming at the balls/shot. Look at the balls with the aiming tool and then without to help your eyes understand what is required. Once the camera zooms in and focuses on the ball (it believes is the next shot) it will ALWAYS begin aiming dead centre. This is a lifeline on Master' career where aiming can almost feel ambiguous. USE that starting point. The slightest of adjustments are the difference between catching the jaw of the pocket (missing) or actually potting the ball in question. You have to practice a lot because it is akin to learning to pot 'blind'.
5. The AI on Master difficulty is definitely the 'table' Terminator but it does have two glaring weaknesses which you must remember and try to exploit whenever possible. Namely it is unable to register a possible 'plant' shot (hitting one ball onto the other which will then pot the latter) and it is unable to register a potential 'double' shot (hitting the ball off the cushion/rail into another pocket.) Exploit these. If the frame begins and the AI has a ball over a pocket but one or more of your balls are in front of it? LEAVE IT THERE until the very end. Same applies to their balls on the cushion with one of your own balls over the nearest pocket. Always think in a 'if i miss' scenario etc. Insurance.
6. Strategy. Following on from the aforementioned. This can mean the difference between winning and losing the frame. If you have run out of position and cannot pot your next ball, you must do everything in your power to prevent the AI from either seeing their intended ball or being able to pot it. Remember in both forms of pool (NOT snooker) you cannot just 'roll up' behind your ball because a ball MUST hit a cushion or it becomes a foul. Yet if you are near a cushion, it presents a good opportunity to gently roll your ball into said cushion so it may then rebound and hopefully obscure the AI's ability to see their intended target (or at least the potting angle.) Desperate times can indeed call for desperate measures.
7. The break is the single most significant shot of the frame/rack. If i didn't pot a ball from it? I instantly restarted. Strongly advise you to do the same. It takes a matter of seconds to break and assess the table. Why waste time continuing when you are deliberately 'handicapped' (reduced/removed aiming 'lines') and are pitted against a vastly superior opponent on Pro/Master'? Break. Pot a ball or two. Get a good angle on the next shot and then carry on. This is not a chess/checkers scenario. It is a 'playing on last life' emergency whereby you should only be continuing into the proverbial level if you are already 'ahead' of where you would like to be!
8. 8-BALL SPECIFIC: You are not permitted to pot the black until you have potted all of your colours or you lose the game in question. Use this to your advantage. If it has run over a corner pocket from the outset and the AI has a ball in/around it? Cannon another one of the AI's balls over to that corner pocket (won't work in the middle because it can still pot in the corners.) Make sure you judge the cannon(s) correctly though. Don't pot the black yourself!
9. 9-BALL SPECIFIC: Unlike in 8-ball you CAN pot the 9' before you actually pot all of your colours. You cannot hit it directly but if it is ANYWHERE near a pocket and you feel that you have the potting angle using your next designated colour, i would strongly advise you to go all out for the cannon/plant. Even if the 9 ball doesn't pot you may 'jar' it in the jaws of the pocket where it will remain and potentially be covered by another ball either then or later in the 'rack'.
10. Fouls are a blessing and a curse. If you foul on Master'? The frame is over (unless one of their last balls is blocked off.) Restart. If the AI somehow goes 'in off' (into the pocket) or pots one of your balls and you have the ball-in-hand? MAKE IT COUNT! If it is 9-ball you need to be scanning that table for a position to put the cue ball to hit one of your balls into the 9' to pot it. If it is blocked or you are playing 8-ball try your best to use that opportunity to pot whichever ball is in the most DIFFICULT position or is blocked from a few angles. Always leave your easier pots until last because the ball-in-hand on Pro and Master' are like gold dust and they will be your best opportunity to win (looking directly at best-of-5 and best-of-7 matches!)

 

It is worth noting the respective career modes are very forgiving with the star system awarded for each match/challenge. You DO NOT require 3 stars on everything you see to progress to the end. If you aren't efficient on a particular challenge? Try to at least obtain a single star and then move onto an easier one you can pickup 2 or 3 stars (Royal Rumble is your best bet.) Same applies for the 3 match objectives. You are already guaranteed a star for winning the match. No heroics required.

 

Snooker is a whole different beast and the 'Maximum break' (score a 147 break) trophy makes the 8-ball and 9-ball careers seem tame in comparison. By FAR the most intimidating challenge on the game and the sole reason only 11 of us maniacs have attained the 100% (as of writing this.) It IS worth noting that you DO NOT have to complete the Pro or Master careers for the Snooker related 'It's the Championship shot' trophy. Winning the Amateur career will 'pop' the trophy so you can breathe easy there.

 

Finally for the vast majority of players this will be the most difficult attempt you have ever undertaken (certainly the 100% completion.) Combined with the grind to lvl. 126 for the 'Pure Pool Grand Master' trophy it requires a serious amount of patience and dedication but it IS possible with the correct approach and a little luck along the way (much like anything else.) Think weeks and months. NOT i can do this in a few days etc. Stick with it. Chip away at each challenge and you WILL get there.

 

           

✌️ I hope any of this may have helped and good luck taking on the Pure Pool challenge. ?

[det_gittes]

2 hours ago, TheQuisling said:

After finally earning the 100% completion for Pure Pool in just over a month, i can officially confirm this was/is nothing short of a living nightmare!

 

From time to time I am tempted to try some more to get the remaining 9-ball and 8-ball trophies (in both modes I am one final match away from the trophies) but then I remember how infuriating this game gets  Also, the temptation is weaker because 100%-ing this game seems impossible to me - I don't think I can ever make a 147. I am truly impressed by anyone who's got it. But from the tips you're offering I also noticed that snookering the AI can be exploited to an extent - even if it means making a deliberate foul after the break to tie up some balls.

[TheQuisling]

2 hours ago, det_gittes said:

I am tempted to try some more to get the remaining 9-ball and 8-ball trophies (in both modes I am one final match away from the trophies) but then I remember how infuriating this game gets

?️ There is no 'definitive' barometer for a players POTENTIAL level of skill on a video game (particularly for an ultra rare and world class completion.) Yet you have the 100% completion for Trials Fusion. Apologies for those of you in the virtual 'back' @det_gittes has finished TRIALS FUSION. This all but confirms (by default) that you are more than capable of achieving the for BOTH 'Master 8-Ball' & 'Master 9-Ball' which would then only leave the laborious grind to lvl. 126 for your ?

 

2 hours ago, det_gittes said:

the temptation is weaker because 100%-ing this game seems impossible to me - I don't think I can ever make a 147. I am truly impressed by anyone who's got it

?️ As i mentioned on another thread, it is no surprise the total completion for Pure Pool is 0.03% after over 7 YEARS. The for 'Crypt of the NecroDancer' is 0.04% for crying out loud! 'Maximum break' is the single most difficult trophy i have ever achieved in 30 years of playing video games (starting on Atari through to PlayStation 5.) It is a little sad that because the same requirement was/is on other EASIER snooker related games over the years, it continues to fly a little 'under the radar' on Pure Pool. Yet the level of sustained perfection (even using the free ball +8 points method) is almost painful! Yet once again, you have achieved something like the  for 'Speedcuber' which also demands a similar level of prolonged perfection. If you have the time and motivation? You could do it....

 

2 hours ago, det_gittes said:

I also noticed that snookering the AI can be exploited to an extent - even if it means making a deliberate foul after the break to tie up some balls.

?️ I deliberately omitted even attempting to foul/snooker the opponent on most occasions (particularly in 8-ball') because by the time you reach the latter stages of Pro and the dreaded Master careers you need to be of a more 'prevention rather than repair' mentality. I snookered the AI numerous times whilst celebrating and planning my next shot only for it to simply turn, aim and pot a ball (IT COULDN'T SEE) coming off 3-4 cushions. The more common occurrence is the aforementioned 'ball over the pocket' situations and it doesn't matter if it is theirs or yours. If you can get 2-3 of the AI balls over in that direction it could potentially take them 2-3 shots to clear that proverbial 'bottleneck'....

 

? All the trophies ARE possible with the necessary perspective. Whatever the method(s) @det_gittes and others may utilize i am sending positive vibes and the best of luck. You got this. ?

 

 

[yowzagabowza]

Man, what a great post! I LOVE this guy!

[pinkrobot_pb]

Thanks for this. I have also been told that the 1.0 disc version of Pure Pool is a little more forgiving. so I bought a copy some time ago. Saves are incompatible though, so I would need to restart the 8-ball career completely while I am only a couple of games away from the final there on the digital version. Maybe having that disc version as a backup gives me the motivation that I need to finally get that finished. I also have the DLC but will probably not even attempt the 147 to save me what little sanity I have left.

 

Edit: after a several month break to regain my composure, I finally got lucky enough to beat Madison in the final game. I even beat her 4 - 1 because she started missing a couple of times and made some very odd shot decisions.

 

When the trophy did not pop I was pretty disappointed to find out I had skipped this same opponent in the final of part 3. So I need to keep going. No luck so far,  but at least I know I can do it now.

 

My personal tip to add to the ones posted in the original topic: feel free to be a potting hero in the first 1 or 2 frames and only really focus once you put a couple of frames on the board.

 

Also. there is no shot timer, so take as long as you need to line up the shot. It becomes tempting to hit and hope but once you get a feeling for the angles it becomes easier to predict where the ball will end up.

 

When you are put in an awkward position with no chance of keeping your opponent from a potting position, hit and hope can save the day. Only use it as a last resort though, if you're certain that the opponent will clean up the table if you give them the chance.

Edited August 24, 2022 by pinkrobot_pb

[DarthRyuu]

hello all ?

 

i still have the 8 & 9 ball careers to do but other than that im just missing The Ultimate Accolade and Pure Pool Grand Master fot the 100% but i think my accolade list is bugged, for exemple i unlocked the one for winning 30 stars in snooker career but the one for 15 stars is not unlocked, anyone knows if its bugged or will it unlock if i continue playing the snooker career mode?

 

because if i unlocked 30 stars i had to unlock 15 stars before that no? im a bit confused lol ?

[det_gittes]

7 hours ago, DarthRyuu said:

hello all 

 

i still have the 8 & 9 ball careers to do but other than that im just missing The Ultimate Accolade and Pure Pool Grand Master fot the 100% but i think my accolade list is bugged, for exemple i unlocked the one for winning 30 stars in snooker career but the one for 15 stars is not unlocked, anyone knows if its bugged or will it unlock if i continue playing the snooker career mode?

 

because if i unlocked 30 stars i had to unlock 15 stars before that no? im a bit confused lol 

I am pretty sure that you don't need the snooker akkolades for The Ultimate Accolade - so if your pool accolades are fine, nothing to worry.

[Baker]

The snooker accolades are bugged indeed. But @det_gittes is correct. You don’t need them so nothing to worry about. 

[DarthRyuu]

ok thank you both! that will give me a bit more motivation to at least try and finish the pool careers on master but that grand master grind... fak me!! ?

[Baker]

32 minutes ago, DarthRyuu said:

ok thank you both! that will give me a bit more motivation to at least try and finish the pool careers on master but that grand master grind... fak me!! 

I see you got the Maximum Break which imo is much, much harder than the Master Pool careers so you will be fine.

 

As for the grind. Yeah, it’s insane. I didn’t keep time but it was at least 100 hours of self boosting.

 

Good luck.

[DarthRyuu]

On 06/12/2022 at 0:17 PM, Baker said:

I see you got the Maximum Break which imo is much, much harder than the Master Pool careers so you will be fine.

 

As for the grind. Yeah, it’s insane. I didn’t keep time but it was at least 100 hours of self boosting.

 

Good luck.

 

thanks! yeah i got it recently playing online with a friend wich is all i did for the past year on pure pool  ?