Hello everyone.
Welcome to 'Into The Fog', the series where I take you further into the realm of Dead By Daylight. In this series we're going to take a deep dive into the killers of Dead by Daylight and look at how they work, their in-game lore and what makes them such interesting characters.
In this first entry, we're going to be looking into The Trapper, (who henceforth known as Trapsy Malone or something like that š¤·š½āāļø)
With this being the first article, I almost don't know where to start. Lets begin by saying that The Trapper is one of 27, (yes 27), killers currently featured in the game. He was introduced as a member of the Original Killer Trio, (OKT), when the game released in 2016. Trapsy moves at 4.6m/s (115%), has a terror radius of 32 meters, and is tall. Trapsy is an area-control killer, able to apply pressure across the map by placing, (you guessed it), bear traps for the survivors to step into. Playing as Trapsy is very simple. You start with, and can carry a maximum of 2 traps by default, (although this can be influenced by add-ons), with the rest of them spawning randomly throughout the map. By pressing the power button, (M2), you'll be able to place and arm a bear trap on the ground. The survivors are able to disarm the traps, so you do need to be careful where you place them. Once armed, any survivor who steps into the trap will become immobilised and create a loud noise notification. If they were healthy, they will then be put into the injured state. Trapsy can pick up a trapped survivor, or can choose to hit them to put them into the dying state. You should act quickly though, as the survivors are eventually able to free themselves or be freed by another survivor. Trapsy can also walk into the traps himself, so you need to be wary of your surroundings and where you've placed your traps.
Now seems like a good time to talk about his teachable perks. His first perk is Unnerving Presence. Survivors repairing or healing within your terror radius suffer from the following effects:
- Increases the trigger odds of skill checks by 10%
- Decreases the success zone of skill checks by 60%
On paper this is a pretty useful perk. The downside is that more experienced survivors, will be pretty good at hitting skill checks under pressure, so this may have little-to-no effect on them. Less experienced survivors however, will most likely not be able to hit their skill checks so it could be a good perk to use at lower ranks. His second perk is Brutal Strength. This increases the action speed of breaking pallets, breakable walls and damaging generators by 20%. This might not sound like much, but believe me, you play a game with and then without Brutal Strength and you'll see the difference. It's particularly useful after breaking a pallet as it means the survivor your chasing will get slightly less distance. His third and final perk is Agitation. Whilst carrying a survivor you benefit from the following effects: - Increases your movement speed by 18%
- Increases your terror radius by 12 meters.
When you consider that Agitation was probably designed with Unnerving Presence in mind, it makes this perk seem a little more viable. However, there are now many more perks that can make use of the increased terror radius, such as: Infectious Fright or Starstruck. Agitation can also be used as part of a basement build, designed to allow you to transport and hook the survivors in the basement. Aside from stacking with other perks or using a basement build, I don't think this perk is very viable to use.
In this next segment, I'm going to talk about some of Trapper's notable add-ons. Each killer has their own unique add-ons that allow them to manipulate their powers in different ways. Most of the time, this makes their power stronger but on the odd occasion there are some add-ons that make their power weaker, in exchange for extra bloodpoints (in-game currency) at the end of the game. I'm going to start with my favourite one, the Honing Stone. Survivors who free themselves from a bear trap are put straight into the dying state. Usually they would be able to run away injured, but why allow them to do that when you can punish them for stepping in your bear trap in the first place? The second add-on I'll mention is the Bloody Coil. When a healthy survivor disarms a bear trap, the survivor is then inflicted with the injured state. This add-on is easily countered by the survivor being in the injured state in the first place, but it can be useful when the survivors just won't leave your traps alone! I did wonder about the last add-on I should mention, but I'm going to talk about the Iridescent Stone. Every 30 seconds, a randomly chosen disarmed bear trap is automatically reset and armed. This is another add-on that is useful if the survivors keep bullying your bear traps. Not only will it reset your trap for you, but it means that the survivors are constantly kept on their toes, not knowing if traps are armed or unarmed until they get there.
So, I guess this is the part where I should talk about my own personal opinions of The Trapper. Whilst I could swear I started playing this game in 2016, itās more than likely that it was in fact 2017/18 as the licensed killer Michael Myers was already introduced to the game. When I first started playing, I predominantly played as a survivor with my friend, (who introduced me to the game), and my brother. When I first plucked up the courage to play as the killer, Trapsy is the first killer I decided to try, (this wasnāt actually by choice, my friends Xbox account and mine glitched together so I had all of his progress.) So I played my first game, and honestlyā¦it was really easy. Of course his was only because I was at a low killer rank, and it matched me with other newbie players. If I was to play today however, my games would not go quite so well. Today, unless your new to the game, survivors can pretty much always guess where your traps are hidden. I personally always struggle to think of outside the box places to hide my traps as the survivors always seem to be able to find them and disarm them. Itās very frustrating.
And to add to this, skill-based matchmaking was introduced to the game last year. Now of course, this doesnāt only include your general killer skill, it also includes how good you are with that specific character. Having said that, playing as The Trapper at a high level is still really difficult. Iām not saying itās impossible, but it is for casual players. Iām the long run, heās just not a viable character to play as. As an introductory character, heās perfect. Especially because newbie survivors wonāt be expecting your traps, so you can actually place them in obvious locations, such as in front of pallets or windows. However more experienced players will either constantly disarm them or run past them, (itās usually impossible to completely block of a pallet with your traps, as the survivors can abuse their hit-boxes and often squeeze past them, whereas The Trapper cannot).
So in conclusion, is Trapper a good killer? Meh. I honestly find minimal joy in playing as him, and when I do find a good spot to place a trap its usually a one trick pony as the survivors are smart enough to not fall for it again. Below I've linked a couple of videos of some YouTubers that I watch, both using different kinds of builds on The Trapper, if you're interested in seeing him in action. I did try to record a video myself using him with his adept build, (using his 3 unique perks only), but it didn't go very well so I just gave up š.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3bp25E_K2s_vDcMzwJzuKg
I've got to this point and realised I haven't mentioned any of Trapsy in-game lore. I'll be honest I don't really care for it, but if you are interested, then its below for you.
Evan MacMillan idolised his father. It wasn't just that he was heir to a great fortune, it was the way he ran the estate. Raised under his firm hand, Evan had taken to running the workforce with an iron hand. Production was always high and the MacMillan Estate prospered under father and son.
As Archie MacMillan's mental health slowly disintegrated, Evan protected him from the herd who wanted a piece of the fortune. No matter what his father asked of him, Evan would do.
When Archie MacMillan finally snapped, Evan became his enforcer in what would become known as the worst mass murder in modern history. They never proved that Evan lead over a hundred men into those dark tunnels before detonating the explosives and sealing them to their fate. The tale of the MacMillan Estate is a tale of wealth and power gone very wrong.
How many victims fell to the hands of father and son is unknown. No record is ever made of what became of Evan MacMillan. His father is another unsolved puzzle, found trapped in the locked basement of his own warehouse - starved and abandoned.