Orcs Must Die 3 Best Traps

[Cora Auch]

Thefantasy genre has always been filled with unique games that tell a compelling story and showcase a beautiful yet complex fantasy world. Games like Dragon Age and The Legend of Zelda are among the best fantasy-driven game series since they have fun game mechanics gamers enjoy. But, indie game developer Robot Entertainment decided to bring a new meaning to the fantasy genre by mixing it with tower defense game mechanics, thus creating the Orcs Must Die! game series.

This game implements everything that a normal tower defense game has, like setting up traps to stop incoming waves of enemies but also lets players fight head-on those hordes of enemies through third-person combat. And with Orcs Must Die! 3, players now have access to dozens of new weapons, trinkets, traps, and a couple of new heroes. But, not all traps are built the same, so players must know which ones are worth using to complete the various game modes.

One of the most potent status effects in Orcs Must Die! 3 is that of Distracted since it makes enemies walk back towards their initial spawn portal. And in that way, it gives players time to re-group or have more formidable enemies pass through traps again. The Confusion Flower is among the top-tier trap in Orcs Must Die! 3 because it releases a cloud of spores that Distracts enemies for 3-seconds with a 12-second cooldown (can be reduced to 8).

Moreover, once players upgrade this trap (which should always be a priority), they will increase the cloud radius to 7 and can affect 100 enemies simultaneously. But the downside of the Confusion Flower is that it can't affect flying enemies until players max it out with Skulls (7).

The Orcs Must Die! game series is well-known for unleashing hordes after hordes of orcs, giving players barely any room to catch a breath. But, with the Gravity Pillar, players can effectively stop enemies in their tracks while dealing some damage. And that's because the Gravity Pillar lifts all enemies (except boss-type enemies) and smashes them into the ground dealing 16 damage to every enemy.

Players that invest in upgrading this trap will be able to increase the duration enemies are suspended in the air and lower its cooldown to 9-seconds. The Gravity Pillar is a must-have trap for any set-up and merits being in the trap tier list since it can help players deal with large groups of orcs without breaking a sweat.

The Flip Trap is one of the original traps that has continued to appear in every Orcs Must Die! game and continues to be one of the best "flip-type" traps players can use to defeat hordes of orcs and score a 5 Skull win. And while it hardly damages enemies (5-10), it can launch huge groups of foes toward deadlier traps.

The Flip Trap will launch light enemies over 28 tiles, while very heavy boss-type enemies will be launched only 2 tiles away, which can turn the tide in any game mode. Players should focus on maxing the Flip Trap since, at max level, it'll have a 6-second cooldown and the ability to flip large enemies (and some bosses).

Apart from the Distracted status effect, Frozen is one of the most valuable status effects since it not only slows down enemies but also makes enemies take +30% more damage from Physical and Ice weapons. And the Deep Freeze trap is perfect for slowing down enemies, allowing players to crush them with an AOE weapon or trap.

Once players max the Deep Freeze trap, it'll also deal Acid damage to enemies, further increasing its damage potential. The major downside of this trap is that it costs 850 coins to place, which can be expensive in the early stages of a level. Players can create a trap combo by placing the Confusion Flower in front of a Deep Freeze Trap, so enemies pass through it a second time.

The Haymaker has one of the shortest base cooldowns (10-seconds) in Orcs Must Die! 3 and has an active duration of 4-seconds, meaning the Haymaker will repeatedly throw and knock around orcs. Apart from hitting orcs, the Haymaker deals 48 damage per second once maxed.

The short cooldown and high damage output is why this trap is ranked high on this tier list, but there are some downsides to the Haymaker. The worst downside is that heavy and flying enemies cannot be knocked down even at max level (perhaps a future mod will change that), so players should use this trap in the early stages of their playthrough since the later ones have plenty of them.

Another OG trap that continues to be used in the entire game series is the Arrow Wall since it's one of the best DPS traps. Even without being upgraded, the Arrow Wall deals eight damage per arrow, meaning a single volley will deal 288 damage to enemies that pass in front of it.

But, fans should prioritize maxing this trap out since it'll increase the damage of each arrow to 12 and will deal fire/pierce damage to enemies. The best set-up for the Arrow Wall is placing several of them in a corridor with several Confusion Flowers or Deep Freeze traps. And it only costs 600 coins to place, making them very affordable for the entire stage.

Despite dealing no damage or status effect, the Barricade is hands down the best trap in Orcs Must Die! 3. The main reason this is a top-tier trap is that once players fully upgrade it, it'll have a massive hit-point pool of 250. That gives players plenty of time to wipe out hordes of enemies without risking being killed or having enemies reach The Rift.

And Robot Entertainment didn't stop there since each upgrade buffs its durability (the amount of damage it needs to take to lose a hit-point) for a maximum of 33%. Moreover, the final upgrade increases the Barricades size by two tiles, which means only light enemies can pass through it. But, to counter its OP mechanics, Robot Entertainment increased its final cost (once fully upgraded) to 1,200 coin.

Kobolds are a major problem in my trap setups. Not because they aren't killed by most traps, and not because they can make it to the rift very easily without player intervention, but because they set off all of my traps without actually being effected by them.

This causes a problem where a kobold will run through my traps, setting all of them off, and causing them to all need to reset. Meanwhile, a wave of orcs will come waltzing through my defences because all of my traps are resetting themselves.

I've tried placing brimstone almost immediately after the rift (brimstone is one of the few traps that kobolds will be affected by). This helps immensely with the kobold sappers (the one's with the explosives) because they're normally the first ones out of the rifts, and it sometimes helps with regular kobolds, but the problem is that sometimes kobolds come after the first few orcs have already wasted my brimstone.

What is the easiest and most reliable way to deal with kobolds? I would prefer if there's a strategy that needs no player intervention, but I'm starting to think that I'm just going to have to keep an eye out and shoot them quickly.

+1 to Kelox for the grinder, as this is by far the most effective way to deal with both kobolds and sappers. However, because of their short range, they are not always an option, so here are a few other options:

I find the grinder trap to be incredibly effective at dealing with kobolds. With the unique upgrade to clear jams quicker, and one normal upgrade (for faster jam clearing), a single grinder trap was resetting it's bar to full between each kobold.

Dunno if anyone's tried this but I feel the Wind Belt is actually quite effective for the Sappers anyway. Upgrade the primary to increase range if you like and when you knock them back with the primary attack they just blow up when they land, killing even more Kobolds with their own explosion. It's wonderful.

Orcs Must Die! has done something I'd thought impossible: it's a tower defense game that actually gets deeper and more rewarding the longer you play it. The joy comes not just from the sadistic delight of watching a wall-trap viciously fillet a crowd of almost lovable cartoon orcs with a series of spinning-blades, but also from the Portal-like cycle of running into a tricky problem, taking a break to ponder it, and then racing back to try a new solution.

With friends' scores taunting me on my personalized leader board (my Sunday night was ruined by Dan Stapleton knocking me off the top of every single level), I'm constantly trying to design even better murdermazes on early levels. The first time through I only had a few tools, but in playing through the lengthy series of levels I've now unlocked at least a dozen different traps and special powers. Every time I got a new toy, my mind immediately ran wild with the possibilities of elegant abattoirs that I could create on some of the nettlesome early maps.

Spiked pressure plates on the floor are all well and good, but a spring trap that launches flailing orcs helplessly into pools of lava is more stylish. I also delighted in the cruel irony of a push trap that shoves surviving orcs back into the same gauntlet of traps they just escaped.

The traps are the most fun way to dispatch orcs and their allies (like fast-moving rat men and huge, hard-hitting ogres), but using my War Mage to personally slay, shoot, and fry them in third-person view can often be the difference between victory and defeat.

And even with its whimsical, World of Warcraft-derived art style, it certainly is gruesome. There are moments of eye-popping carnage as orcs are chopped into pieces, or sent catapulting through crowds of their fellows before plummeting into waiting acid pools.

Orcs Must Die!'s levels defy easy solutions, and that's what sets it apart from other tower defense games. Solutions themselves change in hugely interesting ways as you bring more advanced items and powers back from the later levels, giving a challenge that not only doesn't pale with experience, but actually grows richer. Not since Lemmings has a game so seamlessly mixed engaging mechanics, humor, cuteness, and gleeful cruelty.

I think Nightmare mode is hard but once a guide is released it should be able to be done. There is some skill needed because of the 3rd person action elements but for me the hardest part of Nightmare is that I'm not prepared and there is no time to plan anymore.

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