Lion Trap (2)

Damage:	4 + stun (Spears)
Notes:	Produces light in dark levels Made of solid gold and will drop Gold Nuggets when destroyed

Lion Traps are common hazards seen in Tide Pool.

Standing two blocks tall, they repeatedly extend a volley of 3 spears from the upper and lower sections when any creature is detected on either side of them.

Lion Traps are a spiritual successor to the Tiki Traps of Spelunky HD. Other traps in the same vein of functionality exist in the form of Totem Traps, Spear Traps, and Frog Traps.

Mechanics

A Lion Trap will detect any entity - living or dead - within 3 tiles of it, and will prepare a set of three spears to stab them, dealing four damage and stunning the target backwards.

Lion Traps do not react to items like the Arrow Trap does, but cannot tell the difference between living creatures and dead corpses, and may still poke away items.

The spears have short range, extending just one tile's length from the trap, but will extend and retract repeatedly with only a short delay of about 1.5 seconds between each stab. Lion Traps only cause damage when thrusting, and spears that are about to stab or are retracting will cause no damage if contact is made with them.

The top and bottom sections of the trap operate independently, but can only extend in one direction at a time. Destroying the top section of the trap will not stop the bottom half from functioning as normal, although destroying the bottom half or the tile it stands on will destroy both sections instantly. Destroying either section of a Lion Trap will drop a Gold Nugget.

With a Metal Shield in a target's hands, the spears will not harm them, although they will still be knocked back into just out of the damaging range of the trap.

Strategy

• Lion Traps in a 1 tile gap are capable of infinitely stabbing any victims inside - players should be cautious of losing their run to Lion Traps up against the wall.
• There is just enough time in each attack cycle to jump onto the trap and climb on top of it without being knocked out, although it is always safer to bait it out before attempting to cross over, as there is a window of about 1.5 seconds before it will attempt to stab entities again that allows the player to safely pass by.
• A Lion Trap will often be found covering exit doors. As long as the player doesn't get stabbed on the way towards the door, it won't hit them during the animation as they walk into the exit door.

Trivia

• The Journal entry for the Lion Trap states that the Empress used lion traps to ward off a barbarian horde who threatened her empire in Tide Pool. Due to the nature of Lion Traps, it is implied that the barbarian horde blindly charged forward into the Empress' empire, becoming prey to easily predictable Lion Traps.