Dart Trap

Dart Trap*

Statistics

Inflicts Debuff

Projectile created* Poison Dart
Sounds

* Internal Item ID: **539**
* Internal Tile ID: **137**
* Internal Buff ID: **20**
* Internal Projectile ID: **98**

**Dart Traps** are traps that fire poisoned darts when triggered via wire. The trap does not consume any ammunition, its output being limited only by how frequently it can be triggered, which is a maximum of once every 3 1/3 seconds ( 3 seconds). Dart Traps are found naturally placed in random areas in the Cavern layer, and more frequently in the Dungeon, and can be freed and harvested by players with a pickaxe or drill. They are found wired to Pressure Plates that trigger when the player or an enemy steps on them.

In order to use harvested Dart Traps, players must wire them to a triggering mechanism that sends a signal to the trap, which can be done with tools available from the Mechanic (who can be found in the Dungeon after Skeletron is defeated). Dart Traps will be placed facing the direction the player is facing, and on the PC version, Console version, Mobile version, tModLoader version, and tModLoader 1.3-Legacy version, can be hammered to rotate them after being placed, allowing them to fire vertically.

## Notes

* Dart Traps do pierce damage, triggering invincibility frames for 1/6th second (10 ticks) on enemies. If an enemy is hit by more than one dart in that time frame, it will only take damage from one dart. Keeping 8 tiles of space between dart traps should guarantee that each dart deals damage.
* The cooldown period of dart traps is 200 ticks (3.33 seconds, or 3 1/3 seconds), making a 1 Second Timer only trigger a shot once every 4 seconds.
	+ Due to the 3-second cooldown period, a 1 Second Timer will trigger a shot once every 3 seconds.
* Darts travel 45 blocks per second (60 mph).
* Darts can fly for up to 60 seconds, at which point they will break as if they had struck a block. At 45 blocks per second, this gives the Dart Trap a maximum range of 2,700 blocks.
* Darts travel at 1/2 speed in water, and 1/4 speed in honey.
* While the damage and debuff duration stays the same across all difficulties for Enemies, players receive double the damage in Normal Mode, Expert and Master Mode have an increase of 40 and 80 respectively (40/80/120). Also, in Expert Mode, the Poisoned debuff duration is changed from 10 seconds to 20 seconds or 25 seconds in Master Mode. With this, a fresh character can easily die from a Dart Trap on higher difficulties.
* Unlike with the traps inside the Lihzahrd Temple, dart traps in the Dungeon do not appear to be made of the same dungeon brick material as they generate in, and are identical to all other dart traps.

## Tips

* With some planning, Dart Traps can also be used to very quickly harvest entire Mushroom/Glowing Mushroom/Vile Mushroom/Underground Jungle and Herb (planted on soil) Farms.
* A wiring-related item, such as a Dart Trap, Pressure Plate, or Wrench, can be switched to in the Hotbar or held in the opened inventory to reveal any wire on screen. It will be visible as red, blue, yellow, or green lines, including the naturally-spawned wires connecting a Dart Trap to its Pressure Plate.
	+ Alternatively, having the Mechanical Lens or Grand Design will reveal wires without switching to a wire-related item, as well as highlight wires in dark places.
* Dart Traps still function normally when actuated. Using an actuator, it is possible for the player to place multiple dart traps in a line, since the darts won't hit the traps themselves.
* The tip of the dart spawns one block in front of the dart trap; two dart traps can be placed in a row and both will fire without problems.
* If two dart traps are placed 180 blocks apart with a 1 second timer, the darts will overlap, allowing for a continuous dart trap.
* A Teal Pressure Pad placed 153 blocks away can be used to make a continuous repeating trap firing mechanism at its current maximum firing rate. With this looping mechanism, the trap will continue firing until the player logs out of the game (or otherwise breaks the loop).
* Multiple dart traps can be chained together with Teal Pressure Pads to create very precise, repeating timers in relatively compact spaces (useful for traps in honey). As Dart Traps are fairly common, they can be especially useful when trying to activate statues or other traps as often as possible.
* Seven 1/2 second timers strung together will give a 3.5 second delay between firings, which roughly matches the 3.33 second maximum.

## Trivia

* The Dart Trap's graphic resembles a stylized stone head. Traps involving such heads firing darts out of their mouths are a common sight in popular culture, such as the Indiana Jones movies.
* This is one of two reusable traps available prior to Hardmode, along with the Geyser.

## History

PC version
* Desktop 1.3.1:
	+ Sprite updated, old sprite were
	+ Can now be hammered to rotate 90 degrees at a time.

* Desktop 1.3.0.3: Fixed bug where traps could critically hit.

* Desktop 1.2: Stack limit increased from 250 to 999.

* Desktop 1.1: Introduced.

Console version
* Console-Release: Introduced.

Nintendo Switch version
* Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

Mobile version
* Mobile-Release: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DSversion
* 3DS-Release: Introduced.

## Footnotes

1. ↑ A tick is a time unit countable by the software. Most of *Terraria*'s updating logic happens every tick. A tick has the length of 1/60th of a second, hence there are 60 ticks in a second and 3600 ticks in a minute.
2. ↑ 1 tick = 1/60th of a second