Hello exiles! In the world of Path of Exile 3.23 that we are going to look at more closely, there is a class that has been hiding in darkness: Trappers. The META was shaken but Trappers are still powerful. We shall review Trap mechanics and some new Transfigured Gems that have given these strategists a new lease of life.

• How Resilient Are These Trappers?
• Static Trap's Ball Lightning
• Blasting Fire Trap
• Hoarfrost's Ice Trap
• Shrapnel's Explosive Trap
• Choosing the Right Ascendancy

↖ How Resilient Are These Trappers?

Long term, they were traps when it comes to tactical combat enthusiasts. When seismic trap stopped being too dominant it seemed like saboteur had lost its edge however this is not true. Saboteur’s skillset is so rich and with correct setting they can rule the game again.

↖ Static Trap's Ball Lightning

The recent hotfix resolved an issue where Ball Lightning from Static Trap doesn't target properly after being deployed through mines or traps.

This change has significant implications for Trappers especially if they are using Snowblind Grasp gloves or investing in cooldown passive tree nodes or Tinkerskin chest piece and advanced traps linked with your ball lightning gem which makes it insane despite its long cooldowns With smart combinations of skill gems, you can make a trapper that shoots out large numbers of lightning attacks quickly.

↖ Blasting Fire Trap

The raw power behind fire trap of blasting seems to be ignored by most players. It exchanges damage over time effect for huge single hit damage plus more fire damage against those burning enemies. This makes it one ability that scales very effectively into the end-game content as it gives the highest single-target damage potential for trappers.

↖ Hoarfrost's Ice Trap

The Hoarfrost ice trap is an 18 percent upgrade over its previous iteration and has an area of effect that looks like a donut. Because of this unusual shape, you can have nice things with certain item synergies such as Sunblast which reduces the duration of your traps allowing for more frequent explosions across screens. Additionally, freezing helps defensively and makes it a good choice if you want to control the battlefield.

↖ Shrapnel's Explosive Trap

One of the biggest weaknesses of explosive trap shrapnel in its original form was clear speed. With increased explosion radius plus increased overlapping, this skill can destroy whole screens with ease. It may not have much superiority to other choices in terms of single-target damage but it is considered priceless by any trapper because it can clear quickly.

↖ Choosing the Right Ascendancy

There are several viable options when it comes to choosing an ascendancy for your Trapper build:

• Saboteur: Versatile and defensive making it ideal for league starts.
• Trickster: Balanced approach providing increased trap throwing speed and defensive stats.
• Assassin: Perfect for those who want to maximize their single-target damage outputs.
• Inquisitor: It offers passive mana regeneration and also defenses if you care about them.
• Hierophant: This ascendancy can be quite tough in terms of mana management but for lightning-based builds he turns into nothing short of a god.

Conclusion

Looking towards the next league, Trappers still have much to offer. With continuous advancements and new Transfigured Gems to try out, there is so much potential for innovation. Although they may not be among the meta's most popular classes, trappers can be very interesting to play around with.