One of the most important types of traps players can place in Orcs Must Die 3 is not a trap at all and instead is a Barricade.
Barricades are accessible to players after they complete the Hidden Dock map, which admittedly takes a bit of time to unlock but will need to be part of everyone’s loadout on every map.
Barricades are perfect for players who are on a map with lots of floor space, when walls are too spread apart or when there are multiple paths that players must either block off or merge together in order to set up a particular tunnel to ensure that the most amount of mobs are damaged at once.
As much as I wish I was good at being a damage dealer in Orcs Must Die, the reality is that I am a player who relies of properly placing traps in order to deal the majority of my damage output.
The only issue with Barricades is that they are quite costly, meaning that players will want to ensure that they get as many combos early on when damaging enemies while keeping their kill streak up as high as possible to ensure that they have enough coins for later rounds. Luckily, in most cases, players will only have one door to manage with for a few rounds before they will actively need to rely on Barricades to siphon enemies in order to deal the most damage.
Barricades, in my opinion, are the best when players do not have a place to put a kill room, other than close to the Rift, being that having separate kill rooms may be tricky or unmanageable, especially in the harder levels where there is a very short path in tandem with two longer paths.
BARRICADE BASE STATS
The Barricade is a 2×2 square trap, essentially being a full sized square that most players are accustomed to.
Players will be able to place one for 1,200 Coins, though unlike many other traps, the Barricade can be upgraded to change its cost and size.
Unlike other versions of Orcs Must Die, players will be able to place Barricades to fully block off the path to the Rift, though this is not recommended as mobs will begin damaging the Barricade immediately in order to get to the Rift, essentially wasting a player’s money and risking them a loss. While not “META” there are some ways that this can prove to be effective, especially if players are simply trying to buy some extra time before mobs leak into the rift, though again, very costly.
Barricades only have 100 base health, making them fairly weak, though again they can be upgraded to have more health as players invest skulls.
Luckily, players will be able to keep Barricades up until they are destroyed, which is mostly by Archers, Heavy Mobs and Fire Damage dealing mobs, so be careful as soon as you hear the prompt “They’re destroying our barricades” locate the mob that’s dealing damage and as you get more used to the game make sure you target these enemies first so they don’t destroy your kill box.
In many cases these mobs will appear differently on the map, for example fire damage dealers will appear as yellow on the map, making it very easy to identify and kill them quickly.
BARRICADE UPGRADES
Barricades have two types of upgrades, similar to most types of standard traps.
There are Level Upgrades, that are unlockable immediately for players, and there are Unique Upgrades which simply require players to place 15 barricades on maps. Note that players do not have to place 15 Barricades on a single map.
I strongly recommend that you focus on levelling up your Barricades early on as their upgrades are some of the best for a player in the early game, especially as players will potentially be using them on every map they play on.
LEVEL UPGRADES
As mentioned, Level Upgrades are accessible as soon as players have access to a Barricade and upgrades will both Increase the Health of the Barricades as well as reduce the cost of the Barricades.
I strongly recommend utilizing these first as this will make the Barricades much more accessible early on and will ensure that they do not get destroyed immediately upon placing. *cough*
The first upgrade requires 4 Skulls to unlock and will allow the Barricades to have 150 HP, also reducing their cost to 950 coins.
The second upgrade requires 6 Skulls to unlock and will allow the Barricades to have 200 HP, also reducing their cost to 900 coins.
The first upgrade requires 8 Skulls to unlock and will allow the Barricades to have 250 HP, also reducing their cost to 800 coins.
UNIQUE UPGRADES
As mentioned, in order to unlock Unique Upgrades players must place a total of 15 Barricades on their maps. Players will be able to do this over time, though I strongly recommend unlocking this as early as you can as well as the two selections are going to be game changing for players.
The first upgrade players can choose from is to make their Barricades stronger, essentially causing them to take 40% less damage. This upgrade costs 6 Skulls and is an extremely strong upgrade.
I personally don’t choose the first type of upgrade as I prefer the second, though if you are playing in co-op I strongly recommend having one person take one upgrade and the other take the alternate as there are many instances where players will want access to a single barricade for cost efficiency.
The second upgrade provides players with double barricades, essentially creating a 4×2 Barricade. Barricades will cost 400 Coins extra, essentially making it so the Double Barricade is cheaper than placing two single Barricades, though again there will be some instances where having the Double Barricade isn’t worth it, essentially when there are three slots that must be covered instead of 4.
The second upgrade costs 6 Skulls, and I strongly recommend taking this when in co-op, but taking the first upgrade when playing in solo, simply because of cost.
IS THE BARRICADE GOOD?
The Barricade is by far the most essential trap that players can have access to.
Not only will Barricades be able to ensure that players can funnel enemies, but it can severely lower the speed that mobs begin entering the Rift Room.
I strongly recommend always scouting out a map before the first round starts to ensure that you have an idea of how you would like to build a “maze” to ensure that mobs take as much damage as they can before you the end of the map.
But I’m curious, what are your thoughts on the Barricade? Do you like the single or dual Barricades more? Let me know in the comments below!
Leave a Reply