mantrap rants

[mlrichman]

The mantraps have completely ruined the game for me; I can't get past them without cheating. Merlins shield offered no defense. Hands of time couldn't slow them down. Meteor storm killed one, but it had already cast a spell that wiped out my entire group.

The only way I could kill them was to raise the party's will to 99, but I find that cheating spoils my enjoyment of the game. Is there a non-cheat way around them?

[Wyvern]

Hi mlrichman!!!

Have you checked the Best Tips thread for hints on how to deal with them? I think there are some there.
The best strategy seems to be to lead them to a place in the trees where they are stuck and cannot come closer but you have some freedom to move out of range and heal as needed. Range attacks are best at this stage of the game.
Another strategy I recall is running past them to Shurugeon Castle and getting yourself up on the wall where your party is out of range of their attacks, but you can still hurt them.
A search on the keyword "mantraps" in the subject only should bring up numerous threads with useful tips and hints! If you can't find them, let me know and I'll push them back up.

I hope you manage to defeat them soon!!

Wyv

[ccannon]

Hey, I am by no means an expert (see above for expert advice) but the way that worked best for me was this: You pretty much know where they are going to come out and get you so you can creep up on it, facing where you will see them. As soon as you see them, a spell like burning haze worked very well (flamestrike was also good). As soon as they started coming toward me, I'd get off one more flamestrike (or lightning or whatever) and then run back a couple of step until they aren't on the screen. Keep staring ahead, heal if you have to, and get ready to blast them again as above. You probably already know this but toe-to-toe (or toe-to-root I guess, *grin*) fighting is pretty much worthless with these guys. Like you may have read on here, don't lure them ALL the way back to town or everytime you come out, they'll be waiting. It took a while but this "low tech" system of run and fight did the trick and got all 3 of them. Hope this helped somewhat. Hey, at very least you can know that I hated those *&^#$&*^s as much as you. Best of luck!

[AliCat]

Don't we all hate those things?

Definitely follow what ccannon said, which is roughly what the rest of us with lighter weight spells do. I think the first time I ran into them, my toughest spell was either flamedrop or elemental blast (hadn't found the forum yet, so they were a TOTAL surprise -- in fact, the very first time I ran into them was at night and I thought the gasses were coming out of the ground because I couldn't see the plants), and I had to flame 'em, then backtrack out of sight, then barely see them and flame 'em again. I had the poor luck to end up luring them back to town accidentally, and it took twelve tries to get back out of town before finally a single character would survive the 100-meter-gas-dash past the plants to the Ruins, where one or two "restore life" (or whatever they're called) scrolls could be applied to the rest of the party.

So that's at least one "no cheating" version.

[Jafin]

Those things are probably the single most annoying creatures in the game.

I've beaten them in two ways. One is to cast several offensive spells/use ranged weapons on them while you are still out of their range but they are just in yours. Then, back off. Wait until they JUST become visible and let loose on them with everything you have. Repeat as necessary until they are all dead. The other method is to run you @$$ off to Shurugeon Castle. When you reach the moat, head right along it as far as you can, then swim across. There should be a little area of dry land a little further along. This is where you make your stand. Simply launch everything you have at them. You'll still be out of their range but they're well within yours. Occasionally, (and this is very rare) one might venture a little ways into the water and actually hit you with its breath. When this happens, just ran back as far as you can, cure any poison you have, and head back to where you were before. By then it will have headed back to the shore and you're fine. This method tends to take a little longer than the other but it's a little safer. You should be at LEAST level 8 by now, or if you're on your second role, level 6 if you reached level 5 or higher in your previous role.

Have fun and good luck!

-Jafin

[Soul Sinner]

ccannons way is pretty much what i used, but i have noticed, if u can separate them into just one,, soon as u notice a gap in that nasty gas they spew, rush in after u use flame drop(haze wacks ya) and hack it to pieces while using flame from ya wizards, fire is the best against weeds heh. shock is worthless against them, lightning works, as well as meteor but as u said, it drains ya. depending on your spell level, try that on one of the jungle lillies later it worked for me,, but remember, make sure u are only fighting one of them, if another is close enufff, they will eat ya lunch.

[mlrichman]

I finally killed the mantraps by rushing into Shurugeon castles and walking on the wall. A party is still vulnerable on the wall, but has more time to cast spells. It's definately something you want to do in day time.

One problem I kept having originally is that the Mantraps would sneak up on me when I with in hand to hand combat with the redlegs outside the castle, so my spell casters would have to wait their turn while the mantraps could fire at will. Now maybe I'll be able to finish the game.