All traps and how to set and activate them in Monster Hunter Wilds

There are two types of traps that you will have access to in Monster Hunter Wilds: Consumable and Environmental.

Both types work a bit differently when it comes to activating them and how the unique reaction that they have with both the monster as well as your hunter.

So if you are looking to learn more about all the different types of traps in the RPG, then the guide below will help you out.

How to set and activate Traps in Monster Hunter Wilds

Balahara Quicksand Trap in Monster HUnter Wilds

Here is how you will be able to set and activate both trap types in Monster Hunter Wilds:

1) Consumable Traps

To be able to use Consumable Traps, you will first need to select them from the inventory. You can either do this from the Radial Menu (if you have it there) or select it manually from the items list scroll located in the bottom left of your screen by L1+Square/Circle (on the PS5). Once you select the trap, place it down by tapping Square and your hunter will go into a brief animation where they set up the trap.

Both Shock Trap and Pitfall Trap activate when monsters are in their effect radius. It happens automatically and you do not have to go for an additional input to proc their effects.

Moreover, Wilds has introduced a new mechanic where you will be able to pick up any of your unused traps from the ground. This was not there in previous titles and is a great bit of quality-of-life change that Capcom has finally decided to introduce.

2) Environmental Traps

To activate environmental traps you will need to interact with them. There are two ways of doing it:

Approach the trap and press the interact button that pops up to activate it.
Use your Slinger Hook to trigger them from afar.

For the environmental traps to have any effect, the monster needs to be in their area of effect. Certain traps will need precise timing to work, and it’s very easy to miss them as monsters will usually not stay still for you to hit them with them.

Every trap in Monster Hunter Wilds and its effects

1) All consumable trap items

Trap	Effect
Pitfall Trap	when active the Pitfall Trap will pin the monster down and force part of its body under the ground. Only the head and torso of the monster will be exposed to damage.
Shock Trap	Shock traps electrify the body of the monster and incapacitate them for some time.

Certain nuances of consumable trap items:

Consumable traps do not work on Elder Dragons.
certain large monsters are also immune to a specific consumable trap. Rey Dau for example is a lightning-based monster and because of this very nature, it is not affected by a Shock Trap.
The efficiency of a particular trap goes down significantly based on how many times you have used it on the monster you are hunting.

2) All Environmental Traps

Trap	Effect
Falling Boulders	Falling boulders need perfect timing to be effective. You can use your Slinger to hit it and drop it on the monster dealing a lot of damage and knocking it down. This will give you a big window to go in with your best combos.
Sharp Crystal Pillars	Work exactly like Falling Boulders but has a much larger area of effect.
Vine Traps	Vine traps will be found on trees. You do not need precise timing for this to be effective. Once you interact with the trap the vines will fall on the ground, you can then lure the monster to it and it will get entangled giving you a large window to go in with your attacks.
Quicksand	The Quicksand is a trap that is currently unique to the Balahara in Monster Hunter Wilds. When it creates the geological effect, both monsters and hunters in the vicinity get dragged in.
Great Thunderbugs	Great Thunderbugs act like Shock Traps or even Paratoads. When a monster is affected by it, it will be incapacitated for some time. Great Thunderbugs do not affect Hunters.
Paratoads	Paratoads work exactly like Great Thunderbugs, however, they are capable of affecting hunters as well. So the best way of activating them will be from a distance with your Slinger Hook.
Flashflies	Flashflies act like Flashbombs and will blind grounded monsters or knock down flying monsters.

Note: The list is a work in progress and we will update it when we find more environmental traps.

Why should you use Traps often in Monster Hunter Wilds?

Here are a few reasons why you should be abusing the traps mechanic in Monster Hunter Wilds:

1) Traps make your hunt faster and more efficient

Traps help provide you with more windows to get some combos in on an incapacitated monter. This makes your hunts much faster because of a higher DPS uptime.

Moreover, as some environmental traps deal a lot of damage themselves, you are already chunking the monsters for a significant portion of their HP.

You can get more materials from monster captures in Wilds

2) Consumable traps let you capture monsters leading to more quest rewards

Capturing Monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds not only makes your hunts faster but also increases the total amount of quest rewards that you receive. The chance of getting a rare monster part is also higher with this method, so make sure you have enough Tranq Bombs and consumable traps before starting a quest.

Note: As Elder Dragons are unaffected by consumable traps, they cannot be caught.