Traps on ZA-Z: motion alarms, bait caches and tin-can tripwires
ZA-Z's Traps are three defensive traps built from the game's own parts. You can set them anywhere, and they only ever go off for strangers: never for you, the people in your safehouse, your faction, zombies or animals. That is the difference from the game's own noise and smoke traps with a motion sensor, which go off for anything that moves.
#What can I build?
| Trap | Made from | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Motion Alarm | Motion Sensor, any walkie-talkie, a battery, a screwdriver (Electrical 2) | A stranger within 8 tiles on the same floor sends a beep and a message to every friend's walkie on its frequency, as far as the walkie it was built with reaches |
| Bait cache | A Noise Generator or Smoke Bomb put in any container | A stranger taking anything from that container sets the device off |
| Tin-Can Tripwire | 3 empty tin cans and twine or wire (Trapping 1) | A stranger walking across it rattles the cans and calls every zombie for 50 tiles |
#How do I set them?
- Motion Alarm. Tune a walkie-talkie to the frequency you want it to call and carry it (with more than one, the one switched on counts). Stand where the alarm should go, right-click the alarm in your inventory and pick Set Motion Alarm here, then give it a short name such as "back gate". When it trips, everyone on your side with a walkie switched on and tuned to that frequency hears a beep and sees "Movement: back gate", as long as they are within reach of the walkie the alarm was built with. The stranger hears nothing. It calls at most once every 30 seconds.
- Bait cache. Put a Noise Generator or a Smoke Bomb into a box, cupboard or any container, right-click the container and pick Arm as bait cache. When a stranger takes something from it, the device goes off right there, the same as if it had been thrown. Grabbing the device itself does not help: it goes off in the thief's hands. It works once.
- Tin-Can Tripwire. Stand in the doorway or on the path, right-click the tripwire in your inventory and pick Set Tin-Can Tripwire here. After it goes off it stays sprung until you Reset it.
Once set, a trap disappears from view: you and your friends see a coloured ring on its square (green ready, amber sprung or flat), strangers see nothing unless they know what to look for. Right-click the ring and hover Take back to see what it is: an alarm's name, frequency, reach and battery, or whether a tripwire has gone off.
#How far does a Motion Alarm call?
As far as the walkie-talkie it was built with can transmit. A friend further away than that does not hear it.
| Walkie built in | Reaches |
|---|---|
| Toys-R-Mine | 750 tiles |
| Makeshift | 1,000 tiles |
| ValuTech | 2,000 tiles |
| Premium Tech. | 4,000 tiles |
| Tactical | 8,000 tiles |
| US Army | 16,000 tiles |
#Batteries
A Motion Alarm runs on the battery you built it with, and a full battery keeps it watching for about 7 in-game days. A flat alarm shows amber and stays silent. Right-click it with a battery in your inventory and pick Replace Motion Alarm battery; you get the old one back. Tripwires and bait caches need no power.
Done with an alarm? Take it back and craft Take Apart Motion Alarm with a screwdriver: you get the Motion Sensor, the walkie-talkie it was built with and the battery back.
#Can someone disarm my traps?
Yes, with skill. A stranger with Trapping 2 or more spots traps within as many tiles as their Trapping level (up to 8), and can try to disarm one. The chance is 25 in 100 plus 10 for every Trapping level, up to 90 in 100, and a slip sets the trap off. After a slip, that trap can't be tried again for a minute. A disarmed alarm or tripwire is theirs to keep.
#How many can I set?
Each player can have 2 Motion Alarms, 3 bait caches and 6 Tin-Can Tripwires set at once. Pick one up again (Take back) to set it somewhere else.
#Good to know
- Traps never hurt anyone and never destroy items. They make noise, smoke and alarms.
- The tripwire calls zombies to the spot, so it is loud for everyone, your own base included.
- A Noise Generator from a bait cache is left lying where it went off, and can be picked up and used again.
- Smoke from a bait cache does not show inside a non-PvP zone.
- A bait cache can't tell who took what. If a friend takes from it while a stranger stands right beside it, it goes off on the stranger.
- Your friends are your safehouse members and your faction.
More on base defence: Safehouses. To stop a car on the road instead, lay a spike strip.