Traps and stealth

[Nobs]

You drop out of stealth when setting up traps.

[Morderon]

Yup, that's how NWN works.

[Nobs]

Shame...its not the case in nwn2

Set trap be useless in this game then.

[Invader_Nym]

The server is set up to make traps useless, which is why, unsurprisingly, nobody uses them. I haven't seen a fellow player set a trap in 3 years.

Punting you out of stealth means you can't use traps in pvp.

The only good traps are epic traps which are impossible to consistently acquire, and all traps effectively do 1/2 damage given that everyone is given twice the expected amount of hit-points.

All the bosses for whom you'd want to use a trap have evasion and high saves. There are giants with 25 reflex and evasion.

And to add insult to injury, should you somehow manage to kill an npc with a trap, you don't get any xp for it.

[-XXX-]

...or you could use that invisibility wand to make sure that nobody sees you while you're setting traps.

- Even minor traps can win encounters and they are easily obtained
- Epic traps can be really oppressive
- You ~can~ acquire them consistently and they even spawn in treasure chests now

Using traps for PvP can be very tricky and requires a lot of preparation and effort, but when it works it is absolutely gratifying.

[Nobs]

im just glad i found it out at level 8 rather then 20 or something...insta delete of the toon after finding this out ;p

[Invader_Nym]

...or you could use that invisibility wand to make sure that nobody sees you while you're setting traps.

- Even minor traps can win encounters and they are easily obtained
- Epic traps can be really oppressive
- You ~can~ acquire them consistently and they even spawn in treasure chests now

Using traps for PvP can be very tricky and requires a lot of preparation and effort, but when it works it is absolutely gratifying.

Yeah, but it breaks stealth using the wand! Duration is woefully low as well, I think.

[MissEvelyn]

And to add insult to injury, should you somehow manage to kill an npc with a trap, you don't get any xp for it.

This is just sad. At this rate, what's the point of keeping player traps in the game?

[Nitro]

Traps are strong in PvP, that's pretty much their only use. Setting up an epic sonic trap around the corner before a PvP engagement can let you get the drop on someone through clever maneuvering.

It would be real swell if PvE trap kills actually gave XP though.

[Fionn]

I've never had an issue restealthing as the trap goes down. Does that somehow work different in PVP vs PVE?

[dominantdrowess]

The server is set up to make traps useless, which is why, unsurprisingly, nobody uses them.

I've been screwed up by traps in PvP a few times.

People often set them in places they plan to retreat to, before running and provoking PvP, then fight a bit, and retreat back to it. This is a relatively common practice.

[Hunter548]

The server is set up to make traps useless, which is why, unsurprisingly, nobody uses them. I haven't seen a fellow player set a trap in 3 years.

Punting you out of stealth means you can't use traps in pvp.

The only good traps are epic traps which are impossible to consistently acquire, and all traps effectively do 1/2 damage given that everyone is given twice the expected amount of hit-points.

All the bosses for whom you'd want to use a trap have evasion and high saves. There are giants with 25 reflex and evasion.

And to add insult to injury, should you somehow manage to kill an npc with a trap, you don't get any xp for it.

People don't use traps because they're generally inflexible to use, run a lot of risk to any allies you have, and require specific investment. That doesn't mean traps aren't good - because they are, extremely - but rather that traps are niche. People use traps in PvP quite a bit, despite the "punting out of stealth". It's pretty telling that even if you accept max'd hit dice as making traps do half damage, they still manage to fry people very easily.


They could probably stand to give EXP, but the flipside of that is it turns killing mobs into a risk-less endeavor for rogues.

[Red Ropes]

As someone who has been brutally murdered by traps;

wat.

[Sea Shanties]

I haven't played a trapper in a while but I remember them being okay. You can get XP for a PVE kill if you weaken something with a trap then kill it. Setting a line of traps is also good in case you need to retreat from a fight. They're a challenge in PVP, but figuring out how to best lay some to trick your opponent into crossing them is probably one of the biggest strategy-type challenges in the game. That and meta-magic, maybe. It's a whole different game than just wailing on someone with expertise up.

Also the "Take 20" rogue feat lets you set traps in combat with maximum skill, it's worth it if you're a PVP trapper.

I'd love to see some Arelith-unique traps some day though. Maybe something similar to the spellsword and ammunition changes where you can cast spells from scrolls onto trap kits to have them fire off when crossed, that would be awesome.

[Hazard]

I like traps. I see them used often and I've used them often myself, especially when it comes to PvP.

Getting XP for PvE kills would be great though, if that can be fixed somehow!

[DangerDolphin]

Original bug is not a bug, XP for kills works now.

[Might-N-Magic]

As someone who has been brutally murdered by traps;

wat.

A broken clock is right twice a day... Doesn't mean it's a good clock.
The DCs on trap saves is far too low, even if you have a full on level 30 rogue for +6 to saves. Endgame characters will just ignore it unless they roll a 1.
The damage on epic traps is also far to low, even if you hit an epic electric trap with no evasion. Endgame characters will just shrug at the minor nuisance and continue on, especially since trap stacking is no longer a thing and now they're immune to traps for 2 seconds (meaning setting more than one trap is just going to be wasted traps).
The trap side-effects you'd want (stuns, paralyzes, etc) are all (for some bizarre reason) prevented by common magical pvp buffs, even though they are entirely mundane effects which would not happen in pen-and-paper (poisons and rogue grenades suffer from this too).

Traps are just cumbersome, slow and a heck of a lot of investment for so little gain.