Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap News

Hey Floor Spike Spammers, Kyle here again – Game Director on Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. It's time to talk about traps. There is A LOT to cover on that topic because as the name implies: traps are more important than ever. But I decided to skip the basics and just jump straight into the fun stuff. Let’s go over some reworked traps and then, of course, the new ones we’ve added to Deathtrap.



[H2]Poison Flower [/h2]
[H3](formerly the Confusion Flower)[/h3]

[h2]Poison Gas Emitter (formerly the Dart Spitter) [/h2]

These first two might not immediately seem very different, but they both offer something totally new to OMD!: “Poison.” We’ve decided to make some elemental magic and status effect changes in Deathtrap for a few reasons, including reducing the types of crowd control and making our magic types easier to understand. For now, this means that both “confusion” and “arcane” are gone.

“But Kyle, why do we need poison when we’ve already got fire?” Well, poison is another damage-over-time status effect, however, it deals lower damage over a longer amount of time than the burning effect. This means you can choose to trade some quick damage for an easier time getting combo points.

You’re also going to see a few enemies capable of poisoning the player as well.


[h2]Wall Blades[/h2]
[h3](formerly Wall Blades, but like, bigger) [/h3]

While the Grinder, Wall Blades, Wall Charger, and Arrow Walls do have differences, we wanted to take the least popular of the bunch and give players a better reason to take it instead of or with the others. To make this happen, we took the Wall Blades and sliced them in half to make them more versatile.

[h2]Cursed Ground[/h2]
[h3](formerly Cursed Ground, but like, smaller) [/h3]


Some of you aren’t going to recognize the name of this one, but that’s okay because it’s basically only similar in name to our old Unchained friend. The old Cursed Ground kind of worked like the Arcane Brimstone trap upgrade in OMD!3. This iteration of Cursed Ground collects the souls of the Orcs that die on top of it. As it collects souls, it becomes more powerful. This increases its damage, which is dealt out by a burst attack that triggers after a cooldown. It’s also a big boy, giving you more surface area to collect those souls.

[h2]Ice Vent [/h2]

[h2]Morning Star Shooter [/h2]
[h3](formerly Bowling Boulder) [/h3]

These two were War Machines in OMD!3 that we’ve reworked to be normal traps but also to achieve one of our design goals to have more trap size variety. The Ice Vent is the size of two floor traps. It freezes the enemies on top of it when it triggers.

The Morning Star shooter is a bit more of a rework. First, it’s only ¼ the size of a normal wall trap. You also no longer need to manually trigger it. And finally, it does not simply shoot out and roll in a straight line. It fires at a slightly random angle and then bounces off everything it hits for x seconds. This one is super fun to watch.

[h2]Bomb Dispenser [/h2]
[h3](formerly Boom Barrel Dispenser) [/h3]


The Bomb Dispenser drops bombs that act as physics objects and explode on a timer. We changed this from the static Boom Barrel the player shot to blow up for a couple of reasons. First, the larger maps meant the previous iteration wasn’t as effective if you weren’t near the trap to shoot the barrels when they arrived. And second, it’s more fun to see these round bombs bounce around, fall down the stairs, etc.



[h2]Wall Scorcher[/h2]
[h3](formerly Floor Scorcher and Deep Freeze) [/h3]


The Wall Scorcher is a rework of two traps: the Floor Scorcher and the Deep Freeze – almost making it a new trap. It’s a wall trap that blasts fire over multiple trap spaces for x seconds. It’s beautiful to see in action. The change fulfills two goals for us: it gives us a fire trap that doesn’t go on the floor, and it helps us keep our number of CC traps in check. Don’t worry – there are still multiple ice traps.



[h2]Minecart Dispenser and Track [/h2]

Here it is! You’ve probably seen this one in the reveal trailer. It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. The levels in OMD!2 featured tracks and minecarts in many of the maps, but in Deathtrap, you get to build them yourself.

It also introduces two other ideas that I’d like to keep exploring as we continue adding content to Deathtrap: a trap that requires two loadout slots and traps that offer the player a chance to be a bit more creative with their setup. This is made up of two separate but equally important traps: the Minecart Dispenser that releases the minecarts on a timer and the Track that the minecart follows. Dun dun. You’re free to just place the Dispenser and launch carts down some stairs into Orcs, but if you connect to the track, it’ll follow it until its end and deal more damage as it travels.

You switch between straight and turn pieces by rotating the trap. We’re discussing adding more types of track pieces in the future.



[h2]Acid Shower [/h2]


Acid didn’t get enough love in OMD!3, so to make up for that we’re introducing the Acid Shower. This is a ceiling trap the same size as the Ceiling Lasers. As Orcs walk underneath, acid rains down for x seconds, applying the “Melting” status effect. Instead of increasing “physical” damage like in OMD!3, acid now causes enemies to take more damage from War Mage abilities, including primary attacks.

There are a lot of high ceilings in OMDD; and this baby will work from any height. This is also true for the Shock Zapper and the Ceiling Lasers.

[h2]Ice Lance [/h2]


Besides just the high ceilings, you’ve probably noticed we have quite a few outdoor areas in Deathtrap. While we still made sure there are some great spots for your Ceiling Pounders and Swinging Maces, we also wanted to make sure we designed some ceiling traps that could work from a distance. This led to us creating a couple more ballista-style traps. The Ice Lance is a large ballista trap that fires a giant ice arrow at a target from a long distance. It deals massive damage to its target and then freezes other nearby enemies in an AoE blast.

[h2]Hookshot [/h2]


Our other new ballista-style trap might be my new favorite Orc-slaying toy. The Hookshot is a ceiling trap that launches a hook attached to a chain at a small target. It then reels that target back in to its base and dangles them in the air for x seconds before dropping them down.

This one is fun to put over water, and we made sure to give you plenty of spots for exactly that. But even when you use it elsewhere, it’s great because those dangling targets count as “Launched” and take double damage.


[h2](yes...more new traps!) [/h2]

Each War Mage in OMDD has a unique trap they bring with them into battle. These are free to place, but you only have a certain number of them. Six of seven of these are new traps and one is a returning classic. You might notice that a number of these fit more into the “support” category rather than straight damage-dealing. This is something we really like about the Hero Trap system. It allows us to give players different kinds of traps without them having to sacrifice Combo potential. It also allows us to make these as powerful as we want by limiting the number that can be placed.

[h2]Vaan’s Rift Teleport [/h2]


Vaan’s Rift Teleport is a floor trap that allows him or his teammates to instantly return to the Rift when things get hairy. This is especially useful on Deathtrap’s larger maps. He starts with one available.

[h2]Wren’s Time Crystals [/h2]


Wren’s Time Crystals lower the retrigger time on adjacent traps. You’ll know which are affected by the glowing effect. Each time a trip triggers, a crystal is consumed. The crystals reset with each wave or by a specific Wren ability. She starts with two available.

[h2]Harlow’s Boom Barrel [/h2]


Ah, the Boom Barrel. It’s a classic, but I always had a hard time as a player justifying bringing a trap that was costing me precious Rune Coin but going away after triggering once. Enter Harlow (and Henry). Harlow gets three free Boom Barrels to place around and on top of traps. She or her teammates can attack them to blow them up. Any exploded Boom Barrels go back into inventory after completing the current wave.

[h2]Mac’s Gravity Lift [/h2]


Mac brings with him OMD’s first sniper weapon; and to make the most of it, he really needs some good vantage points. Mac or his teammates can use his Gravity Lift to gain height. This is great for finding shortcuts to better angles or just getting to another part of the map. You can also use it to simply float in the air for a few seconds. And when coming out of the Gravity Lift, you’re granted feather fall – making this another great mobility option. He starts with one available.

[h2]Kalos’s Healing Berries [/h2]


Did you know we’ve brought back losing Rift Points when you die? Oh! And you also no longer heal at the Rift by default. Pretty cruel, I know. But Kalos is here with his magic berry bush to save the day. Kalos can place his Healing Berries on the floor anywhere on the map for him and his teammates to snack on and regain some HP. He starts with one available, but it comes with multiple uses that recharge over time.

[h2]Sophie’s Vampiric Jaws [/h2]


There’s another new status effect coming to OMD called “Rend.” While affected by Rend, all War Mage damage dealt to that enemy has a 100% Critical Hit chance. Oh yeah, we have Critical Hits in Deathtrap. Anyone can deal Critical Hits, but melee War Mages have a higher chance due to range War Mages’ headshot advantage (yes, there are Critical Headshots).

Our dagger-wielding Sophie brings with her three Vampiric Jaws traps that each stun a single enemy and inflict Rend. Like Harlow’s Boom Barrels, these can be placed on top of other traps and triggered traps return when the wave is completed. Rending is especially important for Sophie, but I’ll get into that another time...or you can figure it out by the name of the trap.

[h2]Maximilian’s Friendly Flip Trap [/h2]


I don’t want to show off everything Max has to offer just yet, but I thought we could at least share his trap. This one’s for you, Discord. Max brings with him one Friendly Flip Trap that allows him or his teammates to quickly flip themselves to another part of the level. He’s still customizing his trap’s look, but we can see the ability in action.

Phew, thanks for making it to the end. There is one more type of trap, but I’ll wait to dig into that when I do the map blog. Enemies are up next. In the meantime, join the Discord. I’m always in there leaving little tidbits about Deathtrap in between blogs. And don’t forget to Wishlist Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap on Steam.

Kyle – Game Director

I haven’t played a tower defence game in almost a decade, but it’s amazing how quick my Orcs Must Die! reflexes come back to me when there's a horde of greenskinned monsters running for my rift...
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Hello Knights of the Order,

Kyle back again – Game Director on Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. We’ve been busy over in Germany showing off the game at Gamescom, but I still wanted to give y’all something to sink your teeth into. This week’s topic is something we see brought up a lot in the OMD community and Steam reviews: solo and cooperative multiplayer balance. So, let’s dig into how it’s been handled in the past and how we’re tackling it in OMDD to make sure the game is playable for everyone regardless of team size. If that sounds a bit dry to you, don’t worry - I’ve thrown in a few surprises as well.

[h2]“This game was clearly designed around co-op" [/h2]
There’s a sentiment that shows up quite often that Orcs Must Die! 3 is designed and balanced around co-op, and that single player was an afterthought. And to be fair, the imagery is often presented that way: Max and Gabby, Kelsey and Egan, and Cygnus and Vorwick. But to give you a little peek behind the scenes, that was truly not the case. Orcs Must Die! 3 was designed, balanced, and primarily playtested as a solo experience. In fact, there are very few differences in cooperative play because it was not a focus when it came to balance. Yet it feels like the game was built around co-op first – why? And how do we make OMDD more flexible?

When you go from one player to two players in OMD!3, not a lot changes: enemy health and damage is the same, your loadout bar is the same size, the par time doesn’t get shorter, and the orcs come at you at the same pace. The only slight difference is that the waves of enemies, which we call Onslaughts, have a few extra orcs and friends. That means the challenge is basically identical, but now you have a second player to take aggro, hold a lane, deal damage, and keep your combos going - which equals more rune coins. So, here’s our issue: a second player simply makes the game easier regardless of the single-player focus - leading to a solo experience that feels unfair and a multiplayer experience that isn’t as challenging or interesting as it could be.

[h2]Solo Balance in Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap [/h2]
It’s easy to look at what we’ve shown of OMDD and its four-player co-op and assume we’ve gone even further in neglecting the solo experience. But you don’t need to worry. Ironically, balancing the game first around four player teams and then tuning it down for three, two, and one has given us more knobs to play with and more determination that we get this right. Let’s get into exactly how we’re tackling this.

[h3]Enemy Health and Damage [/h3]
When we set an enemy’s base health and damage values in OMDD, that’s for four player co-op. Then, we reduce both by a percentage for each “missing” player. So, if a light orc has 100 base health, he’d have 75 health with three players, 50 with two, and 25 with one. Our numbers aren’t always that clean, but you get the idea. It’s worked well so far with using the same percentage at each step, but if we need to really fine tune it, we can get more granular.

Doing it this way means we can balance our combat around not needing the enemies to be too spongey with four players while still making it fun and challenging for solo players.



[h3]Onslaught Pacing [/h3]
Onslaughts, those groups of enemies we send out that make up a Wave, in previous games came out at the same speed regardless of the number of players. In OMDD, if you are playing solo, we pace out the Onslaught so that the groups of enemies from different doors have longer delays between their arrivals. This gives the solo player time to handle defending the Rift from multiple angles. And I’ll also get into how moving around the level can be made easier in a bit.

Take a look at this minimap to see the multiplayer Onslaught compared to the solo Onslaught pacing. This change is in addition to what was done in OMD!3 with multiplayer Onslaughts featuring a few more enemies, like two Gnoll Assassins instead of one.



[h3]“Go Breaks” [/h3]
This change is more indirect but makes a huge difference. If you remember from the last blog, you now have as much time as you want between waves. In previous games, those waves that would start without a break were far more challenging to handle as a solo player. It often felt like you’d have to memorize the Onslaught to perform well. These “Go Breaks,” as we call them, now give you all the time you need to plan and implement your strategy for the next wave.

[h3]Barricades [/h3]
I’m bracing myself for this one - but trust me when I tell you that the design team truly believes this is the best change made to the game.

Barricades in OMDD are now free to place…however, you only have a finite amount. The default number is 16, but this can be increased in multiple different ways through different Threads and Skill Tree upgrades. We’ve made this change for a few reasons - but the big one is how difficult it became to balance barricades between different skill levels. We find that less experienced players place far too many barricades, especially at the start of the level, then don’t have enough Rune Coin for traps, then rely on player damage, and then feel traps don’t deal any damage. While higher skilled players are able to use the Combo system to earn so much money for barricades that any challenge we could create becomes trivial.

The new barricade mechanic means all players get to spend the first couple minutes of a map planning out their pathing strategy without worrying about their Rune Coin budget. No more needing to learn between which waves to sell early traps to place more barricades for a new door.

So what does this have to do with solo and multiplayer balance? Well, it means that solo players now get the support of at least 16 barricades before the first wave begins without spending a single Rune Coin. Barricades are the most powerful tool in the game, and this is a big buff to the early game. And the barricade number is divided (mostly) evenly between players in multiplayer, while in solo play, it’s completely up to that player how they want to route the orcs.



[h3]Loadout [/h3]
In OMDD, we’ve returned to reducing your number of loadout slots if you’re playing co-op. It’s minus one slot for each additional player. The first three slots are locked – with 1 being your weapon that allows you to use your War Mage abilities, 2 being your War Mage’s unique trap (which is also free and finite), and 3 being barricades. The remaining four to seven (really, it’s three to eight with upgrades and Distortions) are for whichever traps you want to bring.



[h3]Overdrive Combos [/h3]
A War Mage’s ultimate ability in OMDD is called their Overdrive (Overdrive, Distortion, can you tell that this OST is going to go hard?). These are unique, powerful abilities that are built up by getting Combo kills. The Combo system in OMDD mostly works the same as in previous games: kill an orc quickly with multiple damage types and sources and you get a Combo that grants you extra coins and points.

However, in OMDD, the player that gets the killing blow on a Combo kill also gets Overdrive charges to build up their ultimate.

Co-op teams have more abilities, traps, and damage sources; but solo players have weaker enemies and every killing blow to themselves – giving them some advantages in charging up that Overdrive.



I’ll wait until a future blog to get into more specific Overdrive abilities; but related to that – it’s important to note that when I was designing the War Mage kits, I wanted each one to be a viable solo player option. While it’s inevitable that some might be a bit better for solo, or different comps, or new players – they are all well-equipped enough to handle things on their own.

[h3]Playtesting [/h3]
We’ve already been doing some external playtesting – with much of that focused on the solo experience because we have to make sure we get that right. We are never done playtesting, but I couldn’t be happier with the results we’ve seen so far. The number of players, especially new players, who can jump in on their own and take down Missions has been great to see. And it’s worth stating that this game does not have the same slow buildup as the first five levels in OMD!3. We do have some cool new ways to teach players how to play, but we also throw them straight into the action with full loadouts and big four-gate maps – and they’ve been killing it.

Again, I’ll be back next week with more. In the meantime, come hang out with us in the official Discord.

Kyle – Game Director

Oh, I still owe you a surprise.
Don't forget to wishlist Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap now on our Steam page!



Get it? Steam? Steam Vent? It’s back. K, bye.

Hello War Mages,

Kyle here – Game Director on Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. I’ll be posting a series of deep dives between now and launch into all the different features and content we’re bringing you in Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. I figured the best place to start is the gameplay loop and the progression systems. Because while OMDD is still about defending Rifts by placing traps and slicing orcs – the journey, rewards, and challenges have gotten far more interesting.


After Vorwick’s defeat in OMD!3, the orc armies splintered into four factions, each led by a different general vying for control. Your goal is to help the Order bring them all down, but the road there is not a traditional linear set of levels.

Each time you set out to defend a Rift in OMDD, you’re offered a different selection of three levels. Each level has a randomized challenge attached to it that we call a Distortion. These Distortions add some flavor to your defensive duties. For instance, one raises the rune coin price of a trap every time one is placed, another makes trolls worth more Rift points, and another prevents you from selling traps entirely (tfw the trap’s half a spot off). There are dozens of Distortions, and you’ll want to consider how each affects your setup. The combination of a level and a Distortion is called a Mission.


You won’t have to take on the Distortions and hordes of orcs with just pure grit and spike traps though. During the break between each wave, you’ll get to choose a boon that we call a Thread. Threads are choices offered to the War Mages by magical beings known as Weavers that bridge the gap between destiny and free will with Rift magic.

At the end of each wave, three Threads are randomly selected from your collection, and you’ll choose one. Don’t worry – you'll have plenty of time. Waves no longer start until players start them. Threads augment a variety of your War Mage abilities and trap attributes like cooldowns, trap prices and damage, and character stats. And it’s easy to list out how these change your stats, but there are plenty that go beyond that: changing trap sizes, throwing ogres and trolls into the air, and adding homing to your War Mage’s shots. There are over 500 Threads in total.


So you’ve used your Threads, traps, and skills to overcome the orcs and the Distortion – now what? We judge you. Like in previous games, you’ll be rewarded with Skulls based on your performance during the Mission. You’ll use these skulls to upgrade your traps and War Mages, as well as purchase new traps and Threads back in the Order Fortress.

Veterans will be familiar with a lot of the scoring system, like combos. But we’ve done away with the 5-Skull grading scale. Ironically, for many players, it became binary: you either get five skulls or you fail. And while there are plenty of bonuses for different accomplishments built into your score, the par time requirement is gone as well. All of this allows us a lot more flexibility in the challenges we create and the players a lot more freedom in where and how they defend the Rift. Instead of five skulls, you’ll be seeing numbers more in the dozens or hundreds.

But what if I told you, you could take those skulls and double or triple their value? Sound too good to be true? Well, let me tell you about Gambling.

If you win a Mission, you can take your skulls back to the hub and grab some upgrades; or stake half those skulls and choose another Mission. If you win again, you’ll multiply the staked skulls and win some new ones. You can continue to do this until you are faced with an orc army general or lose.

It’s not as simple as playing another Mission, however. When you Gamble Forward, you carry with you your current number of Rift Points, your Distortions, and the enemies get some health and damage buffs. But you also get to bring your Threads along. Gambling Forward includes some fun new surprises in the levels too, but I’ll get into that another time.


Win or lose, you’ll get some skulls for playing a Mission. But if you win a Mission, you also get a gold skull. Gold skulls allow you to purchase new traps in the hub. Each trap is one gold skull; so, every victory is a new trap until you’ve collected the whole lot. This means getting new traps is no longer at the expense of leaving your current loadout underpowered.

You can use your pile of skulls to upgrade any of the traps that you own. Instead of the one stat option with three levels in previous games, traps in OMDD each have three stats to upgrade up to five times. With this extra depth, we’re also showing a lot more detail about every trap so you can more easily make decisions. For example, on the spike trap, you can upgrade and see its exact reset time.



Other upgrade options from previous entries like Unique Upgrades are now worked into the Thread system with even more options.


Trap upgrades aren’t the only way to spend skulls in the hub. You can also chat with Gabriella to fill out your skill tree. The skill tree has four branches. Three of them apply to your entire profile (oh, profiles are back): Strength, Defense, and Traps. Strength contains upgrades for things like primary attack damage and damage to bosses, for Defense it’s hit points and Rift Points lost on death (oh, Rift Points lost on death is back), and the Trap branch affects entire categories of traps like floor trap damage and prices.

The final branch is for each individual War Mage. Here you can upgrade their stats and abilities.



Players can fill out the skill tree in its entirety with enough skulls.

Unlike Threads, upgrades purchased in the hub are permanent. With your skull coffers emptied, it’s time to hop back into a Mission and feel the power of those upgrades.

I’m back next week with more. In the meantime, come join the official Discord - where I reveal more secrets about OMDD than they want me to. And don't forget to wishlist Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap now on our Steam page!

Kyle – Game Director

The Orcs Must Die series is getting another entry next year with Orcs Must Die Deathtrap, which will be the fifth game in the series from developer and publisher Robot Entertainment. The new release will have players, alone or as a team of up to four, battle oncoming waves of enemies in third-person action gameplay. This time, players will "evolve through rogue-lite progression" as they defeat hordes of orcs...
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