Veteran's guide for new trappers

saekee

Well-known member
Great thread.

Perhaps someone shares notes on best ways to get to famously difficult boxes?
I can’t think of anyblowbie ones that are particlarly bad in this way—The Depths chain has some unexpected ones; those come to mind. New players spend a lot of time in quests like Gwylan’s, but those are not too bad to find.

It might be interesting to come up with a list of tough ones. I do not think anyone takes the trapper route of Sunken Sewer.

The traps I hate are in Creeping Death. Either hidden out of the way behind a column or the one where you are sliding down the water into it while searching its high DC. But that is not a newbie one.

Cabal for one has a ‘challenge’ trap and there is a door lock DC that makes House of Death Undone fast/easy or a long painful keyhunt hell. House of Broken Chains also has a high DC locked slave pen.

Other traps that are painful are the magic trap ones that freeze and DoT their victim, like in Rusted Blades, Friends in Low Places, etc. Again, not newbie quests
 

DYWYPI

Well-known member
Celdiseth, did you have a trap or quest in mind when you wrote (Post #20) that you thought was "difficult" to move through to get to the control panel... Or did you mean; you wanted to know how to reach the DCs, of the "outlier" traps with very high DC values.

Perhaps someone shares notes on best ways to get to famously difficult boxes?

Like Saekee mentioned prior, there are very few trap control panels that are hard to physically reach. I actually do take the "trapped" route through 'The Sunken Sewer'. He also mentioned the traps in 'Creeping Death', if you're a Thief Acrobat, (with Kip Up) you won't have the issue with the water current (slowly) moving you downhill... Your Search range will be good for several feet. If you place yourself correctly in advance when disabling, that running water isn't a great issue.

If you are a pure Rogue you can typically just quickly run through traps – at any time – and most likely not get hit. Of course timing also helps – I wear Feather Fall. You might be able to 'Tumble' through them to reduce damage or use Uncanny Dodge, etc.

Also decide upon which wall(s) you want to hug (plan your route) when running to reduce the chance of the blade arc in a Blade trap hitting you, etc.

The blades themselves can go about; one to two feet further than the recess itself, which isn't uncommon for the large horizontal type Blade traps. Don't rely upon that recess graphic itself (for actual damage zone area). That's the kind of thing a DDO newbie would get caught out with and if you were to get "lag" it can be extra dangerous.

You'd notice the same with the Level 2 quest: The Smuggler's Warehouse. Regarding the blade damage area extending slightly past the recess graphic. The blades on Smuggler's Warehouse ramp are much faster and harder to see than those in LoD. Although you can just walk through the centre of the ramp in Smuggler's Warehouse and not get hit. The same type of caution should be made with most types of traps. Even sprays will sometimes hit when it graphically looks like you aren't standing anywhere near the "active spay" of the jet, etc.

As a rule nearly all Control Panels in the game are positioned where it's completely safe to stand when performing: Disable.

RXGz0u1.jpg

#untrap​

The quest: Prove Your Worth (Epic) is rare; since it actually has one moving spinning blade trap, where several whirling blades will ALL eventually catch you up and make it hard to disable... But, only if you dally by the Control Panel for far too long LOL.

If you've never played a Rogue before then; yes, you might do something reckless like stand within arm's length of a blade trap or acid spay searching for a Control Panel (and get hit). I'd typically recommend keeping at least an arm's length away from mechanical traps (if possible) when performing Search. Since the graphics animations aren't always synchronised; or exact as to where they can hit you, it's something you typically learn early on, usually long before Level 10, if playing a Rogue. Of course with Hardcore the consequences of making such fatal mistakes tend to be permanent.

Relatively easy obtainable items useful for (Disabling) Traps:
+[𝑥𝑥] (Random loot) Disable (Search items will help find the Trap control panel)
+02 Fox's Cunning Potion or (Random loot) INT Item
+02 Skills (Heroism Potion)
+01 luck bonus (Scroll of Prayer)
+07 Disable Device (+5 Thieves' tools)


My Assassins don't fail traps, I soloed extensively and managed fine on my first life F2P Assassins (none heavily trap specialised build) when I was a newbie, but of course I have my head screwed on the right way. ;-)
 
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Scrag

Well-known member
Disable every single trap you can find. If your dog or hireling sniffs one and you see the !!, if the initial search doesn't work, as mentioned above, pop heroism potions (available from house k guild vendor I believe) or do some gear tetris.

Why? disabled traps stack up exp. A good trap run could net you +30% exp (ingenious). If you are going for exp over named items, or if the group doesn't mind you playing catchup, the exp bonus for trapping, even poorly at only 10% bonus, will be highly appreciated.

On maps like slavelords, r1 epic, you could be netting 180+k per quest. Add 30% and now you are looking at like 230 - 240k exp. It is crazy what the trap exp bonuses do. Even in heroics, its a huge difference.

Also, yeah, as a noob you will find yourself in parties that just blow through traps. If you are lagging, its easy to spot where you need to search. :p

Props to @Livmo for the barbarian advice on that topic. :)

The bonus for finding secret doors is also pretty hefty.

See: https://ddowiki.com/page/Experience_point#Disarming_traps_.28Party.29
 

Bunker

Well-known member
Was it mentioned in the thread anywhere about what happens if you have different types of thief tools in your inventory.

Nothing worse that having +5s and +1s, and the game uses the worse of the two.

Make sure to have your tools that you want to use in the "top left" box on your 1st inventory page.
 

Kryxal

Well-known member
For slavelords in particular, part 1 isn't worth trapping. The extra XP would be nice, but there are hundreds of the things, I think. Wheloon quests are similar, enemies lay traps that add to the count needed.

I'd say one of the roughest quests to trap is Made to Order.
 

Dogbreath68

Active member
Ok so you want to do traps. well nooblet let me brake it down for you.

Trappers are some of the most quest knowledgeable players out there (at least those of us that have mained them for a while). You will have to learn trap box locations, Trap hit radius, Safe search locations, trap timings, and last but not least what quests have random traps and were they spawn and where are safe locations for your party and if its a go/no-go and the path for it.

Now that's a lot to learn and most some players expect you to know this as a trapper(hardcore server players especially most of the time). But this isn't a post to dissuade you from playing one all to the contrary. Trappers especially competent and multi functional trappers are where you will see most players build a character to fill 2 or 3 roles. How ever these players have the Gear, lives, and tomes to back that up.... you most likely do not hence why you are reading this.

I want to set you on a path that will benefit not only you but also your party.
so here is a list in order of importance
  1. trap location and box location
  2. Quest objectives (what is required and what is objectives you should just pass on)
  3. Safe spots from traps
  4. types of traps for (insert name here) quest
Now there are other things to keep in mind like what can spawn while you are disabling, what can't be disabled, etc., ect. (trust me I could type up a novel and would still just be scratching the surface on playing a Great trapper)

But you are just starting out so I'm going to make your learning a bit easier.
Firstly you should focus on learning a quests trap locations (if they are random just know were they can spawn) you don't have to know exactly were they at just get a feel for were to look before you run into it.

Take it slow your learning I've taught several of the people in my static group how to trap and I tell them all the same thing Focus on traps first before you worry about multi roles once you have a good enough base to say ok there are X traps in the quest and they spawn here, here, and here, then you can spread out to do DPS or locking down mobs if you choose to go the caster route.

There are a number of builds both simple and advanced to choose from or ask for but for a beginner lets keep it kiss (keep it simple St....) stick with either rogue or artifice or a mix of the 2 if you want to have evasion and a dog (you only need 2 levels to get evasion but you get more sneak attack if you stay pure) just something to keep in mind if you choose to multi class.

Take a hire with you and just crawl you don't have to blitz a quest. If you want/need help with a quest through up an LFM and say New trapper please take it slow and generally you will get 1 of 2 types of people... blitzers and those that like to sniff daises (people who like to explore and pick up everything) i'm the former. But I will slow down... damn near sit still let you trap and run off and wait at the next trap location but I've also played a trapper for years.

Remember learning to trap takes time some are better then others. while some just aren't suited for the role. so Take your time everyone of the trappers in game all started where you are now. Which is looking into the abyss that screams quest mastery.

So take you time and learn it may take several runs of a quest to learn all the locations and that's completely fine. Just take a breath and buckle down and take it one quest at a time and master it you don't have to memorize everything about a quest to have mastery of it. You just have to know how to make it work for you.

something you should know the better your tools the higher you are to be able to disable the trap:
masterwork<+1<+2<+3<+4<+5 thieve tools
Worst -> best

Good luck nooblet trapper maybe you will trap for me some time maybe not who know that is for the dice to decide
This is a perfect example of why traps should be random and in different spots in quests. Knowing exactly where traps are in every quest really isnt challenging for trappers let alone non-trappers. Spice it up and put that fire trap near the entrance and see how many people just buff and run off.
 

Buddha5440

Well-known member
This is a perfect example of why traps should be random and in different spots in quests. Knowing exactly where traps are in every quest really isnt challenging for trappers let alone non-trappers. Spice it up and put that fire trap near the entrance and see how many people just buff and run off.
I completely agree. Also, why are the trap boxes always  before the trap instead after it? Are the bosses trying to keep us out or their minions in?
 

Scrag

Well-known member
I completely agree. Also, why are the trap boxes always  before the trap instead after it? Are the bosses trying to keep us out or their minions in?
They aren't always before the trap. I've died my way through a few traps to get to the other side for a remote raise :D
 

Nokowi

Active member
A trivia question once came up - what is the bonus called for getting some of the traps?

None of the trappers new - we always got the max bonus...

I tried hardcore a few years ago, not having played for several years. I was soloing all difficulties of every quest but eventually got into a group for the house D chain. I forgot about a trap and was under-geared on spot (not having farmed gear yet) and luckily I made the save.

My 2 cp:
You can maximize all the skills you need and spot is one you want.
Do go farm that gear. Find out about what items to find and go work on them. It will make your life so much easier when you are trying to keep up with players that are running through quests much faster than you would choose on your own.
 

Bjond

Well-known member
Dark Hunter get 50% reduced damage from traps when wearing medium armor. I was testing DH for hardcore running elite at +2 and that 50% was great.

The problem with reduction versus evasion is that reduction doesn't stop you from being interrupted by trap damage. The painful traps are ALL ones that require people to stand on them and take damage in order to disable them; eg. VON5 and Cabal spring to mind immediately.

BTW, if this is intended for newbies, I'd put NIH (or equivalent) as near-mandatory. Ideally, just play INQ as your first trapper. You'll get it from the cores pretty early and INQ's version is better than all the rest.
 

DYWYPI

Well-known member
That screenshot (Post #24) of me was within 'The Vault of Night' Raid (VON 5). There are plenty of completely safe places to stand to [Disable] the trap Control panels in that Raid without risk of taking damage. You just need some experience on how to position yourself correctly.

I've never had any major problems disabling that random (Acid, Fire and Poison; jets in corridor before shrine) trap within the quest 'A Cabal for One' either.

I was on my first life Level 20 Assassin, and was lucky enough to get that [Cabal] trap again... So I took off most of my wearable items to reduce the chance of me saving against the trap's Poison effects, etc.

q3vNWlq.jpg

I didn't bother looking for any "safe spots" or reposition myself, I just stood next to the Control Panel, etc.

367eTf5.jpg

If I got interrupted disarming; it was once at the most? I cannot recall. Since I rolled: "1" the poison did take hold, which was good. Obviously I saved against all the Acid sprays and successfully disarmed the trap. I'm sure if I looked for a "safer spot" I'd probably be able to find one. I just dumped myself between the two sprays at random, like I do normally with that trap. ;-)

Like was mentioned; it does help if you have some Evasion, good Reflex saves and perhaps even trigger Uncanny Dodge, if you have that available when disabling the trap.

I probably wouldn't recommend "Nothing Is Hidden" for a newbie first life [Rogue] character in most cases. I know NiH is something Bjond tends to use for trap disarming specialist builds. I do agree, however, that evasion can make dealing with active traps a great deal easier.
 
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Buddha5440

Well-known member
Was it mentioned in the thread anywhere about what happens if you have different types of thief tools in your inventory.

Nothing worse that having +5s and +1s, and the game uses the worse of the two.

Make sure to have your tools that you want to use in the "top left" box on your 1st inventory page.
One thing I do is lock my best lockpicks and put them in my second slot on pg 1 of inventory (my first slot is for my lv 20 sentient weapon to feed low lv named items to) and then I simply sell any others I accidentally pick up.
 

C-Dog

Well-known member
Disable every single trap you can find...

Why? disabled traps stack up exp. A good trap run could net you +30% exp (ingenious)...
The Traps bonus is one of the few bonuses that affect RXP (along w/ Breakables, and a (very) few other similar XP bonuses). "Optional" objectives do not add to RXP.
 
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