Spike Trap

Spike Trap is a Devices Demon Hunter skill unlocked at Level 17. It is sphere thrown onto the ground that, when triggered by movement, erupts into a whirling device of spinning blades that damage to any target in contact. The damage is dealt steadily over time, so keeping an enemy atop the blades, via stun or positioning, will greatly increase the damage taken.

[edit] Background

Spike Trap in action.

The Demon Hunter throws a sphere onto the ground that, when walked over, springs up into a whorl of blades and shadow, cutting any enemies in the vicinity.

[edit] Skill Rune Effects

See the Spike Trap rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

Name	Level	Description

Spike Trap
(database)
Devices

22

Cost: 30 Hatred

Lay a trap that arms after 1.2 seconds and triggers when an enemy approaches. The trap does 275% weapon damage to all enemies within 8 yards.

You can have a maximum of 3 Spike Traps active at one time.

Echoing Blast
(database)

27

Your Spike Traps can explode up to 3 times, dealing 275% weapon damage as Poison to all enemies within 8 yards each time.

Sticky Trap
(database)

30

Plant a bomb on an enemy rather than on the ground. If the target dies within 60 seconds, the bomb explodes dealing 404% weapon damage to all enemies within 16 yards.

This skill is affected by your characters: Custom Engineering, Skill Level (set to 1 for example above)

Long Fuse
(database)

39

Increases the arming time to 2 seconds but increases damage to 371% weapon damage.

Lightning Rod
(database)

46

When the trap is triggered it releases a pulse of lightning that will bounce to up to 3 enemies for 275% weapon damage as Lightning.

Scatter
(database)

55

Simultaneously place all 3 traps.

[edit] Skill Design

Spikes once sprung.

The skill works similarly to those found in the Assassin's set in Diablo II. It is a trap that, when thrown onto the ground, can be triggered by enemies who walk over or near it. It is best used in tight quarters to help control or "herd" the movement of the enemy. Much like the Wizard's Hydra, you can only have a set number of traps active at any time.

[edit] Synergies

The following Demon Hunter passives provide a benefit to Spike Trap, runed or not:

Name	Level	Description

Steady Aim
(database)
Passive

16

As long as there are no enemies within 10 yards, all damage is increased by 20%.

Numbing Traps
(database)
Passive

30

Enemies hit by Fan of Knives, Spike Trap, Caltrops, Grenades and Sentry fire have their damage reduced by 20% for 3 seconds.

Custom Engineering
(database)
Passive

40

The duration of your Caltrops, Marked for Death, Spike Trap, and Sentry is increased by 100%.

Increases the maximum number of Sentries to 3 and Spike Traps to 6.

This skill is affected by your characters: Skill Level (set to 1 for example above), Sentry, Spike Trap

[edit] Development

It goes up to 11.

Spike Trap was first shown at BlizzCon 2010 as one of the originals when the Demon Hunter was unveiled. Wyatt Cheng had this to say about it[1]:

One of her themes is going to be traps and gadgets. This is not unlike some of the Assassin gameplay you might have seen in Diablo 2. In this case we want to sell again the shadow theme and the gadgets theme. We just take an ordinary trap spell, weave in some Shadow themes and the art kind of brings out the flavour, differentiates her from the other characters. Another thing I really like about Spike Trap is it has that sense of preparation. We want the player to know that the Demon Hunter is somebody that goes to sleep at night and dreams about killing demons. She wakes up in the middle of the night and goes "Oh, I have this great idea for a trap that will be awesome for killing demons", goes back to sleep, wakes up and kills a lot of demons. That's her thing.

[edit] Beta

Skill tiers were removed shortly before the beta started in September 2011, and Spike Trap became a level 14 skill, but was soon changed to level 16. The skill system was once again overhauled for the Beta Patch 13, and Spike Trap was classified as a Devices skill and moved to level 17.

[edit] Media

Spike Trap can be seen in action on video here:

Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

The trap lying in wait.
The spike trap after activation.
That can't feel very nice.
The trap opening up.
Trap in the ground.

[edit] References

BlizzCon 2010 Gameplay Panel Transcript
BlizzCon 2010 Demon Hunter PvM Hands-on Report
Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
HardRock's Demon Hunter Skills and Their Rune Effects — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
Demon Hunter Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

Fan-made Classes			Fan-made Skills [e]
• Alchemist • Arcane Warrior • Artisan • Aurian Mage • Bard • Channeller • Dragon Warrior	• Flagellant • Giant (U) • Hollow Man • Nomad • Onaga Manji • Phase Knight	• Ranger • Slayer (U) • Techpriest (U) • Telepath • Untainted (U) • Zealot	Dragon Warrior Skills • Bow and Throwing Skill Tree • Dragon Disciplines Skill Tree • Martial Arts Skill Tree	Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree • Void Skill Tree • Wrath Skill Tree	Aurian Mage Skill • Holy Power Skill Tree • Shadow Spells Skill Tree • Nature Forces Skill Tree
(U) = Unfinished

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