Poison Cloud Traps

[Grillkick]

I know that Darkgod likely put a lot of work into them, but the poison cloud traps as they are add absolutely nothing to the game but annoyance. In some zones they are nigh omnipresent, make autoexplore frustrating, and do so little damage that they are negligible. Some of the other new traps I think are clever (and some potentially deadly), but this one and similar designs are not working imo. So far everyone I've talked to in chat feels the same way. What does everyone else think about them -and does anyone have ideas on how to make them feasible?

[Dekar]

Limited amount of charge, 2-3.

[Grillkick]

I like that idea. Also, it would be good if rooms didn't instantly fill with poison and stay that way till it disappears. Something that would more accurately look like a poison gas trap would start out with one square then slowly start expanding from there until dissipating. Like a slow poison nova from Diablo II.

[ghostbuster]

Poison traps are a real nuisance. Not only when autoexploring, but you cannot dig a wall, nor rest on a stair before entering a new level.
I would suggest to modify their triggering and to trigger on movement. If nobody moves in the surrounding, they do not trigger. This would make resting/digging/etc, doable.

[SageAcrin]

Poison Cloud traps could use a higher cooldown or a limited charge.

Higher cooldown is easiest-in theory, the fact that they run for a while, then give you some down time, is what's supposed to help there, but the cooldown should be closer to 20-50 than the 10 or so it is(which counts the time the cloud is running, so really it's like four turns of cooldown).

Explosion traps also kinda need to allow you to escape fully from them, something they don't-it's possible with the right terrain to eat three explosions off one without being able to get out of the range at all. One more turn before the explosion going off would prevent this, and make it a trap designed around getting out of the area *fast*-something you don't always want to do, since enemies will be in the way-rather than just randomly pegging you for overly high damage because the RNG doesn't like you.

[Aoi]

Also, poison traps stay working in the Arena. Even if you disarm the trap. (Not sure what happens if you disarm the trap before the wave [and therefore, current trap] changes though.)

[Hunter]

They're an interesting idea, and add a touch of complexity to the game, but I agree with the others -- they're beyond annoying, especially at early levels when you really can die in a few turns from them. Ran a ghoul beserker and was being killed by white mice because the room kept filling with poison gas every few turns.

[tannin]

I like the new traps as well, especially the spinning ray trap. I do agree, however, that something is lacking with the poison gas cloud trap. I would like to see it do something entirely different than it currently does, perhaps a spray trap (a pressure plate with a nearby nozzle that shoots a cone) with a long cooldown that causes healing reduction, silence, or another status effect, in addition to some weak damage. I don't like the idea that a trap is only good for disrupting autoexplore and giving rogues some bonus damage. I want it to be a threat, but a threat that is avoidable once you know how everything works.

[mekamoari]

My biggest issue with poison traps, by far, is the fact that they keep reapplying that visual effect and after 4-5 turns of moving through them the game slows down to a crawl and starts freezing for up to say 30 seconds EVERY TURN until the cloud stops triggering and displaying. It's really ridiculous.

[grayswandir]

You can adjust the amount of particles that display to make the game move faster.

[edge2054]

You can adjust the amount of particles that display to make the game move faster.

Yeah, if those particles are slowing you down you should turn particle effects way way down (probably 10% density). A wretchling pack would demolish your game speed otherwise.

[mekamoari]

Yea same issue with wretchlings. I'll try what you suggested, thanks