Comparison: Shadow Traps
Shadow Traps: the original “new type” trap. What was once a fairly unused trap type has now become a staple in any hunter’s arsenal. Shadow traps are a much lower power than other traps in mousehunt, but nevertheless are critical in catching some of the toughest mice in the game.
There are two tiers of shadow traps- the first tier of traps is best suited for catching mice in Mousoleum as a master. The second tier is designed for pretty much everything else, most notably the Jungle of Dread in the Tribal Isles.
Tier 1 Shadow Traps
These traps serve one purpose- to catch the mice in the Mousoleum in the Burroughs. While many hunters do use these traps to collect pieces of the Ancient Box Trap in the Jungle of Dread, it is a “get in and get out” kind of strategy; hunters don’t stay there for long. The traps that fit this criteria are the Sinister Portal, the Ambrosial Portal, the Bottomless Grave, the Chrome Nannybot, and the Pumpkin Pummeler.
Sinister Portal & Ambrosial Portal
Stats: 1025 power, 5% power bonus, 0% attraction bonus, 0 luck, Stale Effect; 1025 power, 0% power bonus, 5% attraction bonus, 0 luck, Fresh Effect
The classic mousoleum portals- if you’ve read my guide (any guide, really) you’ve heard that the sinister portal is the best portal in the moz between the two options. The power bonus outdoes the attraction bonus of the Ambrosial Portal. There isn’t really much of a discussion about these portals- pick the sinister between the two. The real question lies in how these portals compare to the next three traps.
Stats: 1200 power, 5% power bonus, 5% attraction bonus, 6 luck, Fresh Cheese Effect
This trap was released at Mousehunt’s second birthday, and provided a unique counterpoint to the portal traps. With more power and a nice 6 luck bonus, this trap is clearly a much better option than the portals. However, the great stats of this trap do come at a price: the three upgrades that are required in order to make the Chrome Nannybot could only be obtained from three mice- the Big Bad Burroughs Mouse, the Dojo Sensei and the Silth. Those represent three of the most difficult mice in mousehunt to catch. And if you did not catch all three of those mice, you had to fork over 508,000 gold.
If you got this trap, good for you- it’s definitely a powerful, useful trap. WAY too expensive, though- and in order to get it for free, odds are you’re far enough into the game that you already have a portal anyway. Cool trap, but really not much of a replacement for the portals.
Stats: 1150 power, 5% power bonus, 10% attraction bonus, 5 luck, Fresh Cheese Effect
Ah, much better! While not as powerful as the Chrome Nannybot, the Pumpkin Pummeler has one really strong thing going for it- price. At 168,000 gold this trap is VERY competitively priced against the sinister and ambrosial portals. A little bit more in price in exchange for more power and some luck. However, this trap has the added value of later being transformed into the Cackle Lantern. This makes this worth an extra 20,000 gold.
If you don’t have the portals, get this trap! And as we’ll explain later on, if you don’t have the clockapult yet, get this trap! Hell, for reasons explained when we talk about the Cackle Lantern, get the pummeler even if you have the clock!
Stats: 1500 power, 0% power bonus, 0% attraction bonus, 5 luck, No Cheese Effect
This trap is an oddball, really. With 1500 power and 5 luck, it’s clearly a step above the the previous traps. However, it’s also clearly a step below the next three traps. This puts it in a kind of no-man’s land. It’s far too expensive to make any sense as a mousoleum trap, but then it’s nowhere near powerful enough to do much in the Jungle of Dread. Ever since its creation, this poor trap hasn’t really had a proper place in mousehunt, and that remains true today. There’s no purpose to this trap, and you’re better off just skipping it.
Tier 2 Shadow Traps
These traps are the big boys- designed to tackle the Monsters of the Jungle of Dread, these traps are insanely expensive, but they’re the only options for these mice.
Stats: 2000 power, 5% power bonus, 5% attraction bonus, 7 luck, Stale Cheese Effect
I guess you could call this the “basic” Jungle of Dread trap. The stats aren’t quite on par with the next two traps, but they are absolutely enough to get you through the Jungle of Dread. And seeing as this trap is a LOT cheaper than the other two traps, this is a great poor man’s JoD trap.
However, it really doesn’t serve as a long-term replacement for those traps, and eventually you should probably invest in one of the other two. Of course, at nearly a million gold on its own, many hunters prefer to just wait for the Clock or Cackle Lantern rather than spending so much gold only to buy them later anyway. What you do is your decision- however, this trap will definitely get you through the bare minimum that a shadow trap needs to- namely, it will get you your ABT loot and some fire salt, and will get a Harvester in the garden.
Stats: 2275 power, 10% power bonus, 5% attraction bonus, 10 luck, Extremely Fresh Cheese Effect
The ultimate shadow trap. The most power of all shadow traps, and the golden standard for any experienced Jungle of Dread hunter. However, that golden standard comes at an awfully steep price: 2,700,000 gold. Far and away the most expensive trap in mousehunt, this trap has frustrated many a hunter (myself included) in the search for enough gold. However, there is no denying the results- the catch rate difference between the two traps is significant, and the trap is well worth the cost.
Unless of course you have this next trap…
Stats: 2200 power, 5% power bonus, 10% attraction bonus, 12 luck, Extremely Stale Cheese Effect
With roughly the same power and an additional 2 luck, this trap is the Limited Edition equal to the Clockapult of Time. And necessarily, the price is roughly equivalent as well. As a crafted trap, the ingredients are simply exorbitantly priced- you need one obelisk parts at 316k, one drillbot parts at 405k (alternatively from a nugget mouse, but good luck on that!), one VMT husk at 299k, and then 24 platinum bars at 60k apiece for a total of 1.44 mil. All told, it’s a little over 2.4 million gold. It also carries a steeper point requirement- 29 million to the 20 million of the clockapult. With such a high point requirement, many hunters are frustrated, and rightfully so. How can you expect to get to 29 million points without finishing the Jungle of Dread, they ask? Well, the simple answer is to hold over with a trap like the Pumpkin Pummeler (which you have) or the Bottomless Grave (which you can get).
Now, that brings up a second question- since it’s almost as expensive as the clock anyway, why not just buy the clock and save yourself that time getting to 29 million points? What’s so special about the Cackle Lantern?
The answer to this is that the Cackle Lantern has a unique stat that no other shadow trap has- the Cackle Lantern increases fire salt loot drops. I don’t mean that in terms of more loot drops by virtue of luck- I mean that, sometimes, the JoD mice drop two fire salt instead of one! It’s an awesome feature and makes a HUGE difference in fire salt collection. With the Dragon Mouse continuing to be one of the most profitable mice to chase, both in terms of points/gold and in terms of that awesome dragon chest, as well as the heat bath blueprints that only tend to come in 1/10 chests, and you’ll be glad to have that additional fire salt to help you get dragons faster.
And that’s all there is to the shadow traps. Owners of the Pumpkin Pummeler are essentially set in shadow traps; go straight from that to the Cackle Lantern. Owners of different traps have an interesting crossroads- what traps do you drop the gold on? Do you go for the throat and get that clock ASAP, or do you settle for an intermediate trap at a much lower point and gold requirement?
I can’t answer that for you, but hopefully this article will help you make a decision on that.
