I’m so happy to see this guide! After you expressed a fondness for this class as well as the Banner Spear, I knew that I wanted to try this class out (because I loved BS!). I’m level 3 Trapper now and absolutely loving it.
My Trap mastery was against a boss that was hard to damage with regular attacks. The scenario wants the players to solve that in a specific way, but my Trap had laid out a ton of traps controlling the monsters. I think my Trap was level 3, so the traps were still relatively small, but there was a chain of them across 3 rooms. The boss moved next to my Trap, and from there it was one push with Path of Pain to set off 8 or 9 traps until the boss took 25-ish damage and died.
Yeah bosses are often the way to go. I would have gotten the mastery without a multi-attack if the boss didn't draw a specific card. It made me redo my turn, still dropped it but with fewer trap triggers.
Love all your guides and can't wait to see more classes! Just yesterday my group played scenario 8 and I was able to use Path of Pain to YEET a polar bear through a long line of 7 traps, one-shotting it and completing my mastery! Yeah, I also ended up putting 2 blesses in the monster deck but they never drew them anyway😝 Now I'm level 3 and can't wait to start using Extra Teeth!
This will be very helpful! I'm a beginner who will start this class at level 3 this weekend, and I need a lot of help to wrap my mind around the traps 😃
This is a good guide, I agreed with 97% of your assessments and didn't necessarily totally disagree with the last 3%. If I had everything to do over I'd probably have changed my Level 5 pick to the one you recommended. Just about to retire at level 7; had a blast playing this class. I kinda played somewhere between striker and controller, building a trap wall/maze when it was helpful or sending big meaty enemies to the shadow realm when that was necessary. It's a class I'd be happy to come back to later once I've gotten to play some others and one of my favorites across Gloom/Jaws/Frost.
My biggest thing with Trapper is that small hand size feels really brutal. There are a lot of similar handsizes in Gloomhaven, but many of those classes were direct in how they dealt damage. Pair that with usually playing in a duo in my campaign and that hand size just makes Trapper fairly stressful to play unless you have a really strong synergy with the other class being played. It also could be because so far in Frosthavens classes that I've played, large hand sizes seem to be pretty common. Compound that with stamina potion nerfs and anything smaller than 10 feels really tight in a lot of the scenarios (especially since many of them are far more complex and lengthy than Gloomhaven). That said, conceptually and in theory the Trapper is by far one of the coolest classes to be added into the games and potentially my favorite (next to Coral), just for me personally, the payoff isn't quite worth the investment and mental energy needed to play it. Maybe if I wasn't actively the "DM" so-to-speak in my groups, I'd have more bandwidth to play a class like this.
Trapper doesn't have a hand size problem. The class only takes like 1 loss card to a scenario which at early levels, you might not even take for the loss ability. The heals you can put on the board should pretty effectively ensure you never have to worry about burning a card to prevent damage. These are all things classes with larger hands have to deal with. The class also has good movement. There are multiple move 4 cards and some move 5 cards. You're not spending card after card to cover long distances. Of the classes I've played, Deathwalker and Blinkblade were generally much closer to running out of cards in a scenario than Trapper.
@@VaultBoy13 To clarify, I didn't say their hand size is a "problem" per say, more that it's less comfy -- even just psychologically. As for the long distances, I personally haven't encountered really any moment in my campaign (done around 40 scenarios at this point) where large distances ever really needed to be covered except for some chests. As a 2 player party, there's less getting in the way and enemies are often positioned a lot closer to entryways than in Gloomhaven from what I've noticed so big movement hasnt really been necessary so far.
@@VaultBoy13 I'm curious how you have more problems as Deathwalker. you could drop 2 losses during first rest cycle and you would still have a turn more than trapper that scenario. I suppose trapper is much less likely to lose cards due to damage unless there's a lot of flying or ranged enemies.
This is going to be my next class. I am a little concerned about our bone shaker's skeleton horde, but he should retire soon even if it's a big problem.
I haven’t found it particularly constraining to play alongside with Boneshaper, so far. If anything, it helps limit the monsters from ganging up on my big summons or multi attacking to hit me as well.
I really like how in frosthaven, that even when you have two level up options where one is better than the other, it's never as big of a disparity as you would see in gloomhaven. At least, I haven't run into any cards where I feel like taking them ended up with a dead card I never got to use. It's nice to feel like if I don't want the most optimized or best options, I'm still getting good cards I can use. I can take the fun cards and still feel like I'm capable of contributing to my team.
Awesome Guide :) The trick of triggering 7 traps is making a trail of bleed/weak traps in a row with a "nuke" at the end that you built in the first or second room. It's a lot of set up and a little silly. But its a fun idea if you can pull it off. I think items is what makes this class absolutely crazy. You can +1 target to nukes, pull without an action, enticing bell, boots of transferrance. The solo reward. The overall damage potential is super high too. At level 5 with PH - you're dropping an average of 7 damage a round. Alternatively, during Round 1 you can have 5 traps laid on the board - perk, path of pain, dangerous grounds. Though honey pot is smarter for the fast innitative. It's a very hard class to pilot though. My intial take was it seems too simple and dull due to card selection (and I still think it is). But it plays in a very dynamic complex way due to the many mechanics and great deal of planning required. So a lot of fun to play. I never got good use from "electrified net". But it's because I played too cautiously. If I was playing again from level 1/2 - I would deploy it earlier instead of waiting. Maybe after the second shuffle? Second room? Or just as soon as it would be good value. Frosthaven is the most fun with an aggressive tempo.
@@RageBadgerGaming One thing I've noticed with Frosthaven, compared to Gloomhaven, is that while certain classes may seem rather weak or dull on their own, the amount of synergy between certain classes is completely bonkers. Disregarding that you sold this one as is, it's potential with at least one other class that shall remain unspoiled is just madness waiting to happen!
Loved this class. I didn't have a lot of use for Enticing Bait or Flurry of Nails. Electrified Net dropped out of my kit pretty quick. Electrified Net is one of those cards that just sounded better than it ended up being. Improvised Improvement was just more useful due to having movement with the bottom trap. Furry Facade is a very situational, but in the situations where you can use it is great. I didn't take it very often though. Probably as much as I took Spring-Loaded. I was mostly a damage build, but I took Stalker's Spoils. It's just too useful. The heal traps were great control, but that move, loot, heal was fantastic.
Improvised Improvement ends up winning out due to the bottom but electrified net's bottom is just really good with the right group. Blink Blade, especially. I absolutely took Furry Facade more than Spring Loaded but I had a Marcel retirement quest and there are some weird scenarios so might be biased lol. Stalker's Spoils init/bottom is too good. That's why I absolutely think any build can take it.
The trapper will be joining us on our next scenario! Looking forward to a support build on the team. Looking for a little bit of advice as a Blinkblade playing with the trapper. Also have a Meteor and Fist in the 4p party. Fist has been tanking and Meteor is fairly new so hasnt carved his role out yet, but just got the ignore hazards perk - I'm assuming he will be a hybrid control/damage build and will have to negotiate the zoning with the Trapper. As Blinkblade, should I be trying to jump back and forth across a zoning wall of traps (Overdrive jump?) Or is there a more effective technique, maybe staying on the other side of the enemies or alternating sides? Ive seen a lot of players talk down the Overdrive card, but it seems like a must-have with a trapper. Im hoping to take advantage of strengthen/heal traps frequently as I seem to stall out for several turns right now when hp gets low.
Just hit level 6 playing Trap in a game with a Death walker and the Prism, at 5 I ended up just taking both 4's. Also went right into the solo scenario at 5 and the bottom where you set all the traps off was absolutely nuts 😅
Hey there! So when stacking traps and unleashing them with dismantle you'll want a way to get advantage so an item that does that (such as spyglass) is advised. I'd generally advise for some mitigation and movement (leather armor isn't bad since you can use it). For movement, any of the +move boots is great, you have plenty of move 2 + other effects that really pick up if you can turn them into move 3. If you take Careful Footing you won't need to worry about jump as much. I liked battleaxe as an item with path of pain and easy to get but handed items that reduce damage, status effects etc are always solid. Any item you get that as a free action forces enemy movement is 100x better for your class.
I feel like enemies would walk into positive traps, or am i wrong about this? They are considered positive hexes, so what you describe in terms of walling enemies off does not seem to be accruate.
Hey Rage Badger we have a question at the table: does trapper HAVE to place a trap or can they forgo it just for the movement. Does this work the same with meteor? (For lava bomb, am I required to create lava underneath them?)
Would love to see him paired with the Snow dancer. Total lock down of the board, playing pinball bouncing and pulling mobs through traps - I bet it's a real good time
Thanks for the guide, we were playing Banner spear (me) and boneshaper (partner) which was really fun but boneshaper just retired and I'm retiring next scenario too. My partner is picking up fist, so was thinking of either Trap or Kelp; I was initially worried trap might be a little too complicated but after watching this video i feel like i'm leaning towatds Trap!
edit: the mastery was modified it seems - it now reads "move enemies through seven or more traps with one ability" rather than one enemy to spring 7 traps
i have 2 questions for the masterys first the master says have a healing trap with a valou of 20 on the field but the rules say a trap can has both healing and damage at the same time so as far as i see it you can have a heal 1 20 damage trap and it would still count and be useful and the second mastery now reads move enemys throug 7 traps with one ability and thats easy just enetic bait with 4 monsters is move 8 and you need 7 traps they can trigger ... i belive things changed a bit ... or is my version and interpretation wrong
I feel like the bottom of Enticing Bait is the easier way to move enemies through seven traps for the mastery, since you can share trap damage across 4 enemies.
Quick question: At 33:00 you mention a monster choosing to step through a worse trap (Monster choosing to "step through the worst trap"). My understanding was that the monster will always step through the least painful trap (in your case the caltrops.) That's not how we were playing it since my understanding is that monsters will chose to step through the least painful trap. Am I doing something wrong? Doesn't a monster ALWAYS choose to step on a caltrop over a boar trap if there is a total wall?
@@RageBadgerGaming Whoa... so if there are multiple possible paths with the same number of "negative hexes" (which also include healing traps!)... it's up to me to chose which route they take and which traps they trigger? I have NOT been playing that way.
Hey Badger. I'm playing Trap right now and one of us is playing this incorrectly when it comes to placing a trap on like you did at 7:04. You placed a trap on an overlay tile. According to the rule book, that's not legal (At least I think it's not if I'm reading it correctly.) See the third sentence of the final paragraph below. Overlay Tiles p.13 of Frosthaven Rulebook Overlay tiles are placed on top of map tiles to provide additional features for the scenario. The type of overlay tile is defined by the colored border of the tile, as depicted in the scenario book, not necessarily the illustration on the tile. If the scenario layout depicts an overlay tile covering the border hex of a map tile, the overlay tile also covers up any adjacent wall lines. The overlay tile creates new wall lines between it and any adjacent border hexes without overlay tiles. A hex with no overlay tiles is considered featureless. A hex with no figure is considered unoccupied. *A hex with neither overlay tiles nor a figure is considered empty.* Tokens are not overlay tiles. In my first game with Trap, I tried to place a trap exactly like you did there and was told I couldn't. (It's in blue which means it's a new Frosthaven rule) We all read and re-read that last paragraph and came to the same conclusion that traps couldn't be placed on a door or ANY overlay tile. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for the vid!!
When doors are closed, yes. However when they're opened they just become "corridors" and are featureless. The blue layer around it is specifically for a door hex. They cease to be door hexes once opened.
@@RageBadgerGaming That's what I thought too. But the rules specifically say that it can only be placed on an empty hex not a featureless hex. The cards read empty not featureless So any tile that has an overlay on it whether it be the light blue corridor door or any other tile like that would not be considered empty correct?
@@AlexSwireClark Page 13 says that a hex with no overlay tiles at all is considered featureless, excluding corridors and pressure plates which are also considered featureless despite having an overlay tile down on them. Page 14 indicates open doors count as corridors and explicitly states they do count as featureless. So if it has no figures in it, it is also empty and thus a viable target for trap placement.
@@RageBadgerGaming YES!!! Thanks for the explanation! Door traps are in play! Let's go drop some 8 damage stun traps on some beasties!!! Thanks Badger!
Hi!! I just wanted to ask, if youre going to finish up the starters with the geminate guide? Really enjoying the character, I can do so many things pretty well. Takes so much effort though.
A question just popped up which is not clear to me. Lvl 5 Proficient Hunter lets you add +2 value (damage or heal) to 1 trap each turn. Are traps without damage/heal (like wound, strengthen...) considered a 0 damage trap per default? Thx for the guide ❤
It took a while to get into this class, but I love it now. You spoke about completely blocking off the monster early in the guide. I thought it you can not fully wall off a monster with traps? Maybe I read it wrong.
@Rage Badger Gaming thanks I have been actively avoiding this. ❤ I had to be so creative to get them to go through, ie. Blocking the only path through with a team mate.
Quick question: What is that "lost card" symbol on "Always Be Prepared"? 1:04:18 If it says "At the start of each scenario..." it can clearly only be done once. And it's not on the perk list on the character sheet.
The lost symbol just means do this action once then lose/flip it. The perk is pretty clear it's done once at the start of the scenario, the perk cards are exclusively for reminders.
I'm no master of this class, just finished 6th scenario with it at level 4, but I think you underestimate the possibilities of the Honeypot top from lvl 4 onward. With Stalker's Spoils, I have another way of looting, and while I keep Honeypot specifically for the bottom part, when I get the chance to create 3 or more 2dmg traps, I sure go for it. Creating traps worth 6 dmg is just pure value on that level. On the last scenario, I got really lucky, created 4 of those traps, and on the next turn, I combined it with Boar Catcher trap laid earlier using Extra Teeth bottom, creating a 12 dmg trap, which I could immediately Dismantle and blast elite Shrike fiend, 1shotting it. It needed the setup, but still, 12 dmg is really good at lvl 4. I can see that the usefulness of this card will drop off, but for the scenarios that swarm you with low mobs while the stronger guys will spawn later, Honeypot trap generation seems really solid to me (and somehow we got several of those scenarios lately). And the best part is, I can play Stalker's Spoils on the next turn and get my loot anyway.
You said Trapper is good with Blinkblade because strengthen and blessings. As of right now i have heard that Fists is also very good with blessings and strenghten. That might mean that fist and trapper has good synergy as well. What is a better or more fun 2 man team of the combinations of blinkblade, trapper and fists?
I tried to avoid talking about other locked classes in the video BUT yes. Trapper pairs very well with Snowflake and Fist. Re: Fist. Since the Fist wants to avoid taking hits, dropping traps to zone out stuff is huge. Additionally if you drop bless/strengthen/heal traps, the Fist makes GREAT uses of all of those so you could use more positive traps, zone out enemies and keep your fist regenerating health and buffed.
I’ve played Trap to level 3 so far and I’ve felt powerful during all of one scenario. The rest I’ve been dealing with multiple ranged and/or flying mobs or the scenarios have forced us to split up. It’s been an absolute pain and the least fun I’ve had playing any mercenary in Gloom or Frost so far. I picked Path of Pain at level 2 and Extra Teeth at 3. I’ve yet to get any use out of Path of Pain upper and I’ve really regretted not taking Unavoidable Outcome instead. Extra Teeth has been the one highlight though. I’m partying with Coral and Deathwalker. The Coral wanting to place water tiles everywhere has also been annoying especially in small rooms and small maps. My conclusion right now is the Trap is extremely sensitive to scenario design and which other mercs are in your group. I hope further level ups will improve the gameplay experience, but right now I’m seriously considering playing another merc instead of finishing my personal quest.
I am not sure where the dislike for lure of the snare comes from. I think it's the non loss bottom action that can allow you to instantly trigger a trap and it even works against flying enemies. And you can use it on yourself or allies for positive traps. And the move is after the trap goes off, so your can kill an enemy and get the loot Yeah inititive is meh, but you have other carsd for that. I am only level 1 and only played 2 scenerio's as a trapper. So I am not quite sure what I will focus on. But I think the choice on level 5 seems to be between lure of the snare for easy trap triggering and proficient hunter for a persistant boost on my traps. Both seem good options. And I guess it will mostly depend on how well I can manipulate enemies into triggering traps or my allies can push or pull enemies in traps. Having better traps doesn't do anything if they aren't triggered.
Hey Rage Badger I had a question about a mechanic about a locked class I just started playing. It was about the Pain Conduit's level 2 card "reversal of fate" bottom half. If I were to negate the damage by discarding a card would the effect still take place? I couldn't find anything in the rule book that aided in this answer. Thanks for your help.
The zoning seems a bit durdley with only 2 players as the clock ticks with only 9 cards. Is that a consideration or is trap still decent with only 2 players?
I was confused, Flurry of nails is an attack 3 push 2, you said it was attack 3 push 1 when comparing the card to path of pain, does that make flurry of nails more valuable or not really much of a change?
Yeah misspoke there lol. No, I spoke with the value of Flurry as it was. I still used it a bit but basically never once I hit level 4+. I used it in every scenario at level 1 though.
4th Ed DND did have the best tactical combat system and I loved it for that. And it gave fighters choice other than which goblin to swing your sword at.
I was having a blast with my Trap/Fist pair that started at the same time. Now I have a lvl 2 meteor and a level 5 trap and it is just not working for me. I have played about 6 scenarios with the pair and only one of them was fun.
@@RageBadgerGaming I think the problem I'm having is the levels are too off balance. If Meteor was level 5 and Trap was level 2 I think I could make it work in many situations whereas right now, I'm kinda stuck. Meteor can't take many hits and can't do enough damage and Trap can't consistently help. It's bumming me out 😭
Spring loaded mostly. Depends on the density of stuff in the scenario though. Dangerous ground bot can wreck things depending on the room. Unavoidable outcome if you hate dealing with them.
@@RageBadgerGaming ok thank you! I was pretty sure but wanted to check. I feel as though the modifier deck is much less important to this mercenary then.
Hi, are you sure that Proficient Hunter works with Improvised Improvement, because I think it doesn't. Improvised Improvement doesn't destroy and create, it replaces. The word "create" isn't used, hence Proficient Hunter effect is not applied.
Super helpful, we’re having a grand time with Trap in our campaign. Do you know if there is any errata for special rules scenarios that move characters and summons to allow Trap to bring a single trap along? Otherwise it can really trip them up when transitioning to a new area.
The mastery says move "one" enemy through seven traps. Seems like moving multiple enemies through seven total doesn't actually fulfill it. Wouldn't it say "Move enemies through seven or more traps..."?
@@RageBadgerGaming Ooooh. Well that explains it. That seems much more plausible. Moving two or four enemies will greatly ease the pain. Thanks for the content!
Scenario 14 is a pretty bad design tbh. A couple of classes can cheese it and everyone else needs luck. Blink Blade also has a card that can cheese that scenario though, which I sure did to get us through it!
The more I play trap, the more I am convinced that it is totally great at higher levels BUT is really underpowered at level 1, prosperity 1 (the level I initially took it at.) Very much reminds me of [Triforce] which IMHO is totally unplayable at L1P1 and totally unstoppable at very high levels. When we are talking about "ceilings and floors", I think levels are really important too. I'm happy to admit some if it is "A skill issue" but looking back, I would advise against taking trap at level 1. This also affects a tier list. I would put level 1 trap on a different tier than level 5 trap for both fun and power. That would be different than a level 1 vs. 5 blinkblade (A very fun and effective L1 class.) Again, thanks for your time and thoughts.
Totally agree that 4th edition was the best Dungeons & Dragons. That is, until Pathfinder 2e came along - all the good bits of 4e with the bad bits removed.
Also love the irony of a Rat setting traps.
lol it's particularly great.
Perfect timing! We just unlocked this class last week! Very excited to watch your review
I very much hope it helps! Have fun!
I’m so happy to see this guide! After you expressed a fondness for this class as well as the Banner Spear, I knew that I wanted to try this class out (because I loved BS!). I’m level 3 Trapper now and absolutely loving it.
My Trap mastery was against a boss that was hard to damage with regular attacks. The scenario wants the players to solve that in a specific way, but my Trap had laid out a ton of traps controlling the monsters. I think my Trap was level 3, so the traps were still relatively small, but there was a chain of them across 3 rooms. The boss moved next to my Trap, and from there it was one push with Path of Pain to set off 8 or 9 traps until the boss took 25-ish damage and died.
Yeah bosses are often the way to go. I would have gotten the mastery without a multi-attack if the boss didn't draw a specific card. It made me redo my turn, still dropped it but with fewer trap triggers.
Love all your guides and can't wait to see more classes! Just yesterday my group played scenario 8 and I was able to use Path of Pain to YEET a polar bear through a long line of 7 traps, one-shotting it and completing my mastery! Yeah, I also ended up putting 2 blesses in the monster deck but they never drew them anyway😝 Now I'm level 3 and can't wait to start using Extra Teeth!
Love how you break these down in a way that is so easy to understand. I am definitely thinking this could be a fun class to play
You're very welcome!
Thank you for this 😊😊
I just retired and had the choice of Meteor or Trap. You have thoroughly convinced me that Trap looks amazing! Thanks!
I'm definitely tempted to try the Trapper class now. Thank you!
Love the new format!
Finally. Keep em coming you awesome content creator. 😊
I try :)
Great video, we just unlocked this last night
I appreciate you! Playing for the first time. Started with Boneshaper and I'm about to retire into Trapper
Your my source for frosthaven info
This will be very helpful! I'm a beginner who will start this class at level 3 this weekend, and I need a lot of help to wrap my mind around the traps 😃
This is a good guide, I agreed with 97% of your assessments and didn't necessarily totally disagree with the last 3%. If I had everything to do over I'd probably have changed my Level 5 pick to the one you recommended.
Just about to retire at level 7; had a blast playing this class. I kinda played somewhere between striker and controller, building a trap wall/maze when it was helpful or sending big meaty enemies to the shadow realm when that was necessary.
It's a class I'd be happy to come back to later once I've gotten to play some others and one of my favorites across Gloom/Jaws/Frost.
This is definitely a class I also want to revisit! Glad you appreciated the guide!
My biggest thing with Trapper is that small hand size feels really brutal. There are a lot of similar handsizes in Gloomhaven, but many of those classes were direct in how they dealt damage. Pair that with usually playing in a duo in my campaign and that hand size just makes Trapper fairly stressful to play unless you have a really strong synergy with the other class being played.
It also could be because so far in Frosthavens classes that I've played, large hand sizes seem to be pretty common. Compound that with stamina potion nerfs and anything smaller than 10 feels really tight in a lot of the scenarios (especially since many of them are far more complex and lengthy than Gloomhaven).
That said, conceptually and in theory the Trapper is by far one of the coolest classes to be added into the games and potentially my favorite (next to Coral), just for me personally, the payoff isn't quite worth the investment and mental energy needed to play it. Maybe if I wasn't actively the "DM" so-to-speak in my groups, I'd have more bandwidth to play a class like this.
Trapper doesn't have a hand size problem. The class only takes like 1 loss card to a scenario which at early levels, you might not even take for the loss ability. The heals you can put on the board should pretty effectively ensure you never have to worry about burning a card to prevent damage. These are all things classes with larger hands have to deal with.
The class also has good movement. There are multiple move 4 cards and some move 5 cards. You're not spending card after card to cover long distances.
Of the classes I've played, Deathwalker and Blinkblade were generally much closer to running out of cards in a scenario than Trapper.
@@VaultBoy13 To clarify, I didn't say their hand size is a "problem" per say, more that it's less comfy -- even just psychologically. As for the long distances, I personally haven't encountered really any moment in my campaign (done around 40 scenarios at this point) where large distances ever really needed to be covered except for some chests.
As a 2 player party, there's less getting in the way and enemies are often positioned a lot closer to entryways than in Gloomhaven from what I've noticed so big movement hasnt really been necessary so far.
@@VaultBoy13 I'm curious how you have more problems as Deathwalker. you could drop 2 losses during first rest cycle and you would still have a turn more than trapper that scenario. I suppose trapper is much less likely to lose cards due to damage unless there's a lot of flying or ranged enemies.
This is going to be my next class. I am a little concerned about our bone shaker's skeleton horde, but he should retire soon even if it's a big problem.
I haven’t found it particularly constraining to play alongside with Boneshaper, so far. If anything, it helps limit the monsters from ganging up on my big summons or multi attacking to hit me as well.
@Joshua Marcus don't the bones move into the traps when trying to attack enemies? This would negative effect the summons, right?
I really like how in frosthaven, that even when you have two level up options where one is better than the other, it's never as big of a disparity as you would see in gloomhaven. At least, I haven't run into any cards where I feel like taking them ended up with a dead card I never got to use. It's nice to feel like if I don't want the most optimized or best options, I'm still getting good cards I can use. I can take the fun cards and still feel like I'm capable of contributing to my team.
Awesome Guide :) The trick of triggering 7 traps is making a trail of bleed/weak traps in a row with a "nuke" at the end that you built in the first or second room. It's a lot of set up and a little silly. But its a fun idea if you can pull it off.
I think items is what makes this class absolutely crazy. You can +1 target to nukes, pull without an action, enticing bell, boots of transferrance. The solo reward.
The overall damage potential is super high too. At level 5 with PH - you're dropping an average of 7 damage a round. Alternatively, during Round 1 you can have 5 traps laid on the board - perk, path of pain, dangerous grounds. Though honey pot is smarter for the fast innitative. It's a very hard class to pilot though. My intial take was it seems too simple and dull due to card selection (and I still think it is). But it plays in a very dynamic complex way due to the many mechanics and great deal of planning required. So a lot of fun to play.
I never got good use from "electrified net". But it's because I played too cautiously. If I was playing again from level 1/2 - I would deploy it earlier instead of waiting. Maybe after the second shuffle? Second room? Or just as soon as it would be good value. Frosthaven is the most fun with an aggressive tempo.
Ragebadger MVP
I started out hating this dude. Now I miss him dearly. Just did his retire scenario last night. Dude is badass.
Great guide and solid insight
I would _love_ to play this class! Didn't watch all of the cards (don't want it spoiled too much), but the potential of this class is just massive!
IT'S HUGE! I loved it so much, I was a hard carry for a lot of recent scenarios lol
@@RageBadgerGaming One thing I've noticed with Frosthaven, compared to Gloomhaven, is that while certain classes may seem rather weak or dull on their own, the amount of synergy between certain classes is completely bonkers. Disregarding that you sold this one as is, it's potential with at least one other class that shall remain unspoiled is just madness waiting to happen!
Just retired the blinkblade and was deciding between this and banner spear. Perfect timing!
Good look with your new trapper!
Loved this class. I didn't have a lot of use for Enticing Bait or Flurry of Nails.
Electrified Net dropped out of my kit pretty quick. Electrified Net is one of those cards that just sounded better than it ended up being. Improvised Improvement was just more useful due to having movement with the bottom trap.
Furry Facade is a very situational, but in the situations where you can use it is great. I didn't take it very often though. Probably as much as I took Spring-Loaded.
I was mostly a damage build, but I took Stalker's Spoils. It's just too useful. The heal traps were great control, but that move, loot, heal was fantastic.
Improvised Improvement ends up winning out due to the bottom but electrified net's bottom is just really good with the right group. Blink Blade, especially.
I absolutely took Furry Facade more than Spring Loaded but I had a Marcel retirement quest and there are some weird scenarios so might be biased lol.
Stalker's Spoils init/bottom is too good. That's why I absolutely think any build can take it.
The trapper will be joining us on our next scenario! Looking forward to a support build on the team.
Looking for a little bit of advice as a Blinkblade playing with the trapper. Also have a Meteor and Fist in the 4p party. Fist has been tanking and Meteor is fairly new so hasnt carved his role out yet, but just got the ignore hazards perk - I'm assuming he will be a hybrid control/damage build and will have to negotiate the zoning with the Trapper.
As Blinkblade, should I be trying to jump back and forth across a zoning wall of traps (Overdrive jump?) Or is there a more effective technique, maybe staying on the other side of the enemies or alternating sides? Ive seen a lot of players talk down the Overdrive card, but it seems like a must-have with a trapper.
Im hoping to take advantage of strengthen/heal traps frequently as I seem to stall out for several turns right now when hp gets low.
Just hit level 6 playing Trap in a game with a Death walker and the Prism, at 5 I ended up just taking both 4's. Also went right into the solo scenario at 5 and the bottom where you set all the traps off was absolutely nuts 😅
Great guide, any recommendations for starting items?
Hey there! So when stacking traps and unleashing them with dismantle you'll want a way to get advantage so an item that does that (such as spyglass) is advised. I'd generally advise for some mitigation and movement (leather armor isn't bad since you can use it). For movement, any of the +move boots is great, you have plenty of move 2 + other effects that really pick up if you can turn them into move 3. If you take Careful Footing you won't need to worry about jump as much.
I liked battleaxe as an item with path of pain and easy to get but handed items that reduce damage, status effects etc are always solid.
Any item you get that as a free action forces enemy movement is 100x better for your class.
I feel like enemies would walk into positive traps, or am i wrong about this? They are considered positive hexes, so what you describe in terms of walling enemies off does not seem to be accruate.
There is no such thing as positive hexes. All traps regardless of effect counts as negative hexes. Even if they're really nice helpful traps.
@@RageBadgerGaming Wow, you are right.... that is interesting
Do you plan on doing a class guide for Geminate?
I might. I'm not a big fan of the class lol
Thanks for the response! I’m mainly excited for it since I like the sound of the unique class mechanic.
Which items would you recommend starting with?
Could you do a Kelp guide purty please 🙏?
I'll add it to the list of requests, I think that's very possible to be the next few but probably not the next one.
Hey Rage Badger we have a question at the table: does trapper HAVE to place a trap or can they forgo it just for the movement. Does this work the same with meteor? (For lava bomb, am I required to create lava underneath them?)
Would love to see him paired with the Snow dancer. Total lock down of the board, playing pinball bouncing and pulling mobs through traps - I bet it's a real good time
I'm enjoying your class guides, any idea when you will have one for shackles or coral? Looking to start one or those after retiring my blinkblade 😢
Havent unlocked this one yet so I won't watch the video but im saving this one for later
We have that rug!!!
Thanks for the guide, we were playing Banner spear (me) and boneshaper (partner) which was really fun but boneshaper just retired and I'm retiring next scenario too. My partner is picking up fist, so was thinking of either Trap or Kelp; I was initially worried trap might be a little too complicated but after watching this video i feel like i'm leaning towatds Trap!
It's a fun character! Hope you enjoy playing it!
4e D&D ❤
Great guide as always.
I find enticing bait to be the easier and more obvious choice to do the mastery than path of pain
edit: the mastery was modified it seems - it now reads "move enemies through seven or more traps with one ability" rather than one enemy to spring 7 traps
"Strong bottom traps" 😳
Couldn't say that with a straight face.
i have 2 questions for the masterys first the master says have a healing trap with a valou of 20 on the field but the rules say a trap can has both healing and damage at the same time so as far as i see it you can have a heal 1 20 damage trap and it would still count and be useful and the second mastery now reads move enemys throug 7 traps with one ability and thats easy just enetic bait with 4 monsters is move 8 and you need 7 traps they can trigger ... i belive things changed a bit ... or is my version and interpretation wrong
What do the little squares on the cards mean? For example, right after the damage symbol on spike pit.
I feel like the bottom of Enticing Bait is the easier way to move enemies through seven traps for the mastery, since you can share trap damage across 4 enemies.
It's a good one too! I should have mentioned that, thank you!
Quick question: At 33:00 you mention a monster choosing to step through a worse trap (Monster choosing to "step through the worst trap"). My understanding was that the monster will always step through the least painful trap (in your case the caltrops.) That's not how we were playing it since my understanding is that monsters will chose to step through the least painful trap. Am I doing something wrong? Doesn't a monster ALWAYS choose to step on a caltrop over a boar trap if there is a total wall?
Page 41 - it only says *fewest negative hexes* not *lowest damage*.
@@RageBadgerGaming Whoa... so if there are multiple possible paths with the same number of "negative hexes" (which also include healing traps!)... it's up to me to chose which route they take and which traps they trigger? I have NOT been playing that way.
@@matthewmorgano610 Yup, check out the rulebook for pathing! It's surprisingly straight forward.
Hey Badger. I'm playing Trap right now and one of us is playing this incorrectly when it comes to placing a trap on like you did at 7:04. You placed a trap on an overlay tile. According to the rule book, that's not legal (At least I think it's not if I'm reading it correctly.) See the third sentence of the final paragraph below.
Overlay Tiles p.13 of Frosthaven Rulebook
Overlay tiles are placed on top of map tiles to provide
additional features for the scenario. The type of
overlay tile is defined by the colored border of the tile,
as depicted in the scenario book, not necessarily the
illustration on the tile.
If the scenario layout depicts an overlay tile covering
the border hex of a map tile, the overlay tile also covers
up any adjacent wall lines. The overlay tile creates new
wall lines between it and any adjacent border hexes
without overlay tiles.
A hex with no overlay tiles is considered featureless.
A hex with no figure is considered unoccupied. *A hex
with neither overlay tiles nor a figure is considered
empty.* Tokens are not overlay tiles.
In my first game with Trap, I tried to place a trap exactly like you did there and was told I couldn't. (It's in blue which means it's a new Frosthaven rule) We all read and re-read that last paragraph and came to the same conclusion that traps couldn't be placed on a door or ANY overlay tile.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for the vid!!
When doors are closed, yes. However when they're opened they just become "corridors" and are featureless. The blue layer around it is specifically for a door hex. They cease to be door hexes once opened.
@@RageBadgerGaming That's what I thought too. But the rules specifically say that it can only be placed on an empty hex not a featureless hex. The cards read empty not featureless So any tile that has an overlay on it whether it be the light blue corridor door or any other tile like that would not be considered empty correct?
@@AlexSwireClark Page 13 says that a hex with no overlay tiles at all is considered featureless, excluding corridors and pressure plates which are also considered featureless despite having an overlay tile down on them.
Page 14 indicates open doors count as corridors and explicitly states they do count as featureless. So if it has no figures in it, it is also empty and thus a viable target for trap placement.
@@RageBadgerGaming YES!!! Thanks for the explanation! Door traps are in play! Let's go drop some 8 damage stun traps on some beasties!!! Thanks Badger!
Hi!! I just wanted to ask, if youre going to finish up the starters with the geminate guide? Really enjoying the character, I can do so many things pretty well. Takes so much effort though.
I don't think I will any time soon, sorry for the mega delay on the response!
A question just popped up which is not clear to me. Lvl 5 Proficient Hunter lets you add +2 value (damage or heal) to 1 trap each turn. Are traps without damage/heal (like wound, strengthen...) considered a 0 damage trap per default? Thx for the guide ❤
Correct. So for path of pain you can change one of them to 2 damage wound!
@@RageBadgerGaming thx so much for your answer and fast response. I watch all your vids. You are awesome
@@raphaelstocker9874 I greatly appreciate the kind words 😊😊 hopefully the guides help!
@@RageBadgerGaming they do. I hope there will be some more in the future for the locked classes, but for now I am good (Boneshaper into Trap) :-)))
It took a while to get into this class, but I love it now. You spoke about completely blocking off the monster early in the guide. I thought it you can not fully wall off a monster with traps? Maybe I read it wrong.
You can't fully wall off a monster with obstacles but you can with traps (the monster will walk over the traps to get to you)
@Jake Levine Omg, that will make my life so much easier 😅, I feel like I've been playing in hard mode.
Yup, which is why you can toss traps on doors but not obstacles!
@Rage Badger Gaming thanks I have been actively avoiding this. ❤ I had to be so creative to get them to go through, ie. Blocking the only path through with a team mate.
Quick question: What is that "lost card" symbol on "Always Be Prepared"? 1:04:18 If it says "At the start of each scenario..." it can clearly only be done once. And it's not on the perk list on the character sheet.
The lost symbol just means do this action once then lose/flip it. The perk is pretty clear it's done once at the start of the scenario, the perk cards are exclusively for reminders.
I'm no master of this class, just finished 6th scenario with it at level 4, but I think you underestimate the possibilities of the Honeypot top from lvl 4 onward. With Stalker's Spoils, I have another way of looting, and while I keep Honeypot specifically for the bottom part, when I get the chance to create 3 or more 2dmg traps, I sure go for it. Creating traps worth 6 dmg is just pure value on that level. On the last scenario, I got really lucky, created 4 of those traps, and on the next turn, I combined it with Boar Catcher trap laid earlier using Extra Teeth bottom, creating a 12 dmg trap, which I could immediately Dismantle and blast elite Shrike fiend, 1shotting it. It needed the setup, but still, 12 dmg is really good at lvl 4. I can see that the usefulness of this card will drop off, but for the scenarios that swarm you with low mobs while the stronger guys will spawn later, Honeypot trap generation seems really solid to me (and somehow we got several of those scenarios lately). And the best part is, I can play Stalker's Spoils on the next turn and get my loot anyway.
You said Trapper is good with Blinkblade because strengthen and blessings. As of right now i have heard that Fists is also very good with blessings and strenghten. That might mean that fist and trapper has good synergy as well. What is a better or more fun 2 man team of the combinations of blinkblade, trapper and fists?
I tried to avoid talking about other locked classes in the video BUT yes. Trapper pairs very well with Snowflake and Fist.
Re: Fist. Since the Fist wants to avoid taking hits, dropping traps to zone out stuff is huge. Additionally if you drop bless/strengthen/heal traps, the Fist makes GREAT uses of all of those so you could use more positive traps, zone out enemies and keep your fist regenerating health and buffed.
I painted guy recently, he looks fun and complicated
A bit complicated but very fun!
I’ve played Trap to level 3 so far and I’ve felt powerful during all of one scenario. The rest I’ve been dealing with multiple ranged and/or flying mobs or the scenarios have forced us to split up. It’s been an absolute pain and the least fun I’ve had playing any mercenary in Gloom or Frost so far.
I picked Path of Pain at level 2 and Extra Teeth at 3. I’ve yet to get any use out of Path of Pain upper and I’ve really regretted not taking Unavoidable Outcome instead. Extra Teeth has been the one highlight though.
I’m partying with Coral and Deathwalker. The Coral wanting to place water tiles everywhere has also been annoying especially in small rooms and small maps.
My conclusion right now is the Trap is extremely sensitive to scenario design and which other mercs are in your group.
I hope further level ups will improve the gameplay experience, but right now I’m seriously considering playing another merc instead of finishing my personal quest.
Yay! Hold my calls.
Actually, I'm going to do the right thing and finish my lunch and do my job and watch this later when I can enjoy the entire hour!
Capitalism takes its toll once more. :P
I am not sure where the dislike for lure of the snare comes from.
I think it's the non loss bottom action that can allow you to instantly trigger a trap and it even works against flying enemies.
And you can use it on yourself or allies for positive traps.
And the move is after the trap goes off, so your can kill an enemy and get the loot
Yeah inititive is meh, but you have other carsd for that.
I am only level 1 and only played 2 scenerio's as a trapper. So I am not quite sure what I will focus on.
But I think the choice on level 5 seems to be between lure of the snare for easy trap triggering and proficient hunter for a persistant boost on my traps.
Both seem good options. And I guess it will mostly depend on how well I can manipulate enemies into triggering traps or my allies can push or pull enemies in traps.
Having better traps doesn't do anything if they aren't triggered.
Hey Rage Badger I had a question about a mechanic about a locked class I just started playing. It was about the Pain Conduit's level 2 card "reversal of fate" bottom half. If I were to negate the damage by discarding a card would the effect still take place? I couldn't find anything in the rule book that aided in this answer. Thanks for your help.
The zoning seems a bit durdley with only 2 players as the clock ticks with only 9 cards. Is that a consideration or is trap still decent with only 2 players?
Personally think it's better in 2p lol. More room for zoning restrictions 😎
Some added Guides I’d like to see: Pyroclast, both Lurkers (Deep Wraith, Crashing Tide), all 4 of the Unfettered Classes, Infuser.
4? Unfettered?
Shackes next!
Definitely not soon sadly.
I was confused, Flurry of nails is an attack 3 push 2, you said it was attack 3 push 1 when comparing the card to path of pain, does that make flurry of nails more valuable or not really much of a change?
Yeah misspoke there lol. No, I spoke with the value of Flurry as it was. I still used it a bit but basically never once I hit level 4+. I used it in every scenario at level 1 though.
@@RageBadgerGaming Ah ok makes sense, I just retired and picked the trapper yesterday so thanks for the timely guide on this!
4th Ed DND did have the best tactical combat system and I loved it for that. And it gave fighters choice other than which goblin to swing your sword at.
As a 4e fan I'm also loving Pathfinder 2. :)
I was having a blast with my Trap/Fist pair that started at the same time. Now I have a lvl 2 meteor and a level 5 trap and it is just not working for me. I have played about 6 scenarios with the pair and only one of them was fun.
Ooo, did you find fist and trap a good pair? What was their synergy like?
Trap/Fist pairs well. Meteor/Trap could do well but a good chance of stepping on each other's toes.
@@tobiasnenseter8044 Fist and Trap were great. I started them at the same time so it took a few scenarios for me to figure it out.
@@RageBadgerGaming I think the problem I'm having is the levels are too off balance. If Meteor was level 5 and Trap was level 2 I think I could make it work in many situations whereas right now, I'm kinda stuck. Meteor can't take many hits and can't do enough damage and Trap can't consistently help. It's bumming me out 😭
Can u use honeypot with thiefhood?
how often did you end up exhausting in scenarios?
Maybe once? I had a longer retirement too.
What do you do about flying enemies?
Spring loaded mostly. Depends on the density of stuff in the scenario though. Dangerous ground bot can wreck things depending on the room. Unavoidable outcome if you hate dealing with them.
Question: no modifier card is drawn when an enemy triggers a placed trap, correct?
Correct!
@@RageBadgerGaming ok thank you! I was pretty sure but wanted to check. I feel as though the modifier deck is much less important to this mercenary then.
Hi, are you sure that Proficient Hunter works with Improvised Improvement, because I think it doesn't. Improvised Improvement doesn't destroy and create, it replaces. The word "create" isn't used, hence Proficient Hunter effect is not applied.
I am very certain. Replace performs a remove and create. Page 33 of the Frosthaven rulebook!
The Mastery says move *ONE* enemy through 7 traps
Super helpful, we’re having a grand time with Trap in our campaign. Do you know if there is any errata for special rules scenarios that move characters and summons to allow Trap to bring a single trap along? Otherwise it can really trip them up when transitioning to a new area.
I don't think so. I think you gotta start fresh in those scenarios.
if an enemy has to stop in the heal 4 trap, will it heal?
Yes but if there's a tie between traps you can pick the trap it steps on.
The mastery says move "one" enemy through seven traps. Seems like moving multiple enemies through seven total doesn't actually fulfill it. Wouldn't it say "Move enemies through seven or more traps..."?
Oh the mastery image I downloaded is the wrong one oh nooo. It's move "enemies" not "one enemy" the box should be correct.
@@RageBadgerGaming Ooooh. Well that explains it. That seems much more plausible. Moving two or four enemies will greatly ease the pain. Thanks for the content!
"a strong bottom trap" I feel so seen 💪🥺
I'M GLAD SOMEONE DID lol. It me tho
Scenario 14 is a pretty bad design tbh. A couple of classes can cheese it and everyone else needs luck. Blink Blade also has a card that can cheese that scenario though, which I sure did to get us through it!
Just started a Trapper and they already have item 177. Feels like cheating almost!
The more I play trap, the more I am convinced that it is totally great at higher levels BUT is really underpowered at level 1, prosperity 1 (the level I initially took it at.) Very much reminds me of [Triforce] which IMHO is totally unplayable at L1P1 and totally unstoppable at very high levels. When we are talking about "ceilings and floors", I think levels are really important too. I'm happy to admit some if it is "A skill issue" but looking back, I would advise against taking trap at level 1. This also affects a tier list. I would put level 1 trap on a different tier than level 5 trap for both fun and power. That would be different than a level 1 vs. 5 blinkblade (A very fun and effective L1 class.) Again, thanks for your time and thoughts.
You are doing a great job of confusing me on what to play next, trapper or snowflake. Grrr.
Totally agree that 4th edition was the best Dungeons & Dragons. That is, until Pathfinder 2e came along - all the good bits of 4e with the bad bits removed.
I really should check that out.
Yes! I knew it. And yes, 4e is the best. :D
THE VERY BEST. I do think a rebrand would have done it lots. Chainmail Tactics is what I thought might sell.