Traps. How do they even work?

hope0burns · March 2019

Seriously, I just don't know. I'm so tired of traps in this game. I'm crouching, sneaking around, spot a trap and stop. I edge just a little closer.. a little closer.. then I get the "disarm" prompt. I press the button and my character does the little animation to disarm it and it "goes off" and blows me up, trips me, or whatever else it's supposed to do.

What even is the point of disarming traps if they still hit you? Many are blocking whole sections and can't be gone around, but when you "disarm" them suddenly you're lit on fire, or, even if you're standing like two yards away it still somehow manages to trip you. I just don't get it. I'm obviously doing something wrong here, must be positioning or something because "disarm" only springs the darn things!

Is there only a % chance of actually disarming and I'm just getting super unlucky or what? What's the skill here? The positioning? The technique? Clearly something isn't right when disarming still sets the trap off, knocks me on my butt, lights me on fire, etc, and alerts people around me.

Finally, to specify, I only get as absolutely close as I need to to get the prompt to appear. If my character moves after that point it's all automatic and out of my hands and she does so just to do the little trap disarming animation so I can say with absolute certainty that I'm not getting close enough to set these things off.

AcadianPaladin · March 2019

Works okay for me about 90% of the time. But maybe 10% of the time, it does just as you describe. I don't know the reason. Perhaps, as you mention, there may be a hidden % chance of failure or such. Sorry I couldn't help much beyond letting you know you are not alone in wondering about this.

Nestor · March 2019

Fortunately, there are only a few of these traps in the game. I don't think there is a chance to succeed, it just works so not sure what is happening here. Unless there is mob aggro somewhere...

Are you killing the mobs around the trap first? If not, try that first, then disarm.

Edit I too have had it just not work every once in a while, esp in Glenumbra.

zvavi · March 2019

You have to be hidden to disarm them without them exploding. I think.

Nestor · March 2019

I just did this quest a couple of nights ago, the one in Glenumbra at the Red Rook Camp.

1. You have to be outside the trap to disarm and not take damage.
2. You have to be be in sneak mode, but....
3. You do get pulled from stealth as disarming the trap is really the same as blowing it up, so a nearby mob will notice this.

hope0burns · March 2019

Nestor wrote: »

I just did this quest a couple of nights ago, the one in Glenumbra at the Red Rook Camp.

1. You have to be outside the trap to disarm and not take damage.
2. You have to be be in sneak mode, but....
3. You do get pulled from stealth as disarming the trap is really the same as blowing it up, so a nearby mob will notice this.

I was always outside the trap, never stood in it. I know for a fact that even sneaking the trap will go off if you step in/on it. Been there a few times.

I have learned, however, that if you stand a decent ways from the corner of the trap where the post is where the wire connects and point your cursor at the little post of the wire traps and similar traps that the trap seems to miss you when you disarm it.

I was able to repeat this four times in a row on different tripwire traps. I don't know if it'd work on others or if I was just getting lucky.

Nestor · March 2019

I forgot the corner thing. I have been doing them for so long, that part is second nature.

It won't always damage you if your along the sides. But, as you say, you have to be as far away from the trip wire as possible, and that is easier to do on the corners.