Traps

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Traps are randomly generated mechanisms that cause harm to players, and to a lesser extent, enemies. Generated underground, they can catch many players off guard, which can often lead to a swift death. Traps can be collected by players and utilized in arenas, and are usually essential to battling the Pumpkin Moon and Frost Moon events in singleplayer.

All traps are illuminated by the Dangersense buff, allowing the player to avoid and collect them.

Reusable Traps
Reusable traps generally fire projectiles. They can be activated limitlessly with a 3-second delay.

Dart Trap.png Dart Traps
Dart Traps fire a poisoned dart when activated. When found naturally, they are always wired to Pressure Plates in their line of sight. The Pressure Plate can sometimes be very far away from the Dart Trap.

Dart Traps are the most commonly encountered trap, found throughout the Underground and Cavern layers. Many can also be found in the Dungeon.

Super Dart Trap.png Super Dart Traps
Super Dart Traps function like ordinary Dart Traps, but do significantly more damage. They are found in the Lihzahrd Temple.

Spiky Ball Trap.png Spiky Ball Traps
Spiky Ball Traps drop a single spiky ball that bounces and persists for a long time before despawning. The projectile's prolonged lifetime allows it to do significant damage to anything in its path, which comes in handy for areas often walked on by enemies. Spiky Ball Traps are found in the Lihzahrd Temple.

Spear Trap.png Spear Traps
Spear Traps thrust a long spear from the ceiling downward. They are found in the Lihzahrd Temple.

Flame Trap.png Flame Traps
Flame Traps fire flames, similar to the Flamethrower, that extend 23 blocks with 1 block above and below, and inflict the On Fire! debuff. They are found in the Lihzahrd Temple, but are much more rare than other trap types, sometimes not spawning within a world at all.

Single-use
Single-use traps can only be used once, and require player intervention to reset. They can be found in the Cavern and Underground.

Boulder.png Boulder Traps
Boulder traps features a Pressure Plate wired to a 2x3 arrangement of Active Stone Blocks above it, with a Boulder resting on top. When the Plate is triggered, the stone blocks become inactive and the Boulder drops on the area below.

Explosives.png Explosive Traps
Explosive traps are Pressure Plates wired to Explosives that blast a gaping pit in the terrain and inflict extreme damage on characters. Early to mid-game players caught in these traps are often killed instantly. Explosive traps are much rarer than most trap types.

Tips

 * Trap wiring displays on-screen while the player is holding any mechanism, including a trap block itself.
 * Randomly generated traps are a very cost-effective method of acquiring Wire once you have a Wire Cutter, saving you for every bit of wire collected (as opposed to purchasing Wire from the Mechanic). Extras can also be sold for a high price in high quantities.
 * Wires of different traps may intersect, sometimes producing multiple traps with multiple triggers. This often happens when a vertically wired Boulder trap crosses a horizontally wired Dart trap.
 * Dart traps often spawn on top of underground houses, often with pots in the way. They also commonly spawn in large open caverns, where the trap and the pressure plate are very far from each other.