Using Proximity Mines [Complete]

[Cody Nightblade]

Gracie Conrad is one of my favorite companions to have on the crew when I'm playing on my Musketeer.

As you might've guessed, it's for the Proximity Mines Power she has.
Simple in concept, but actually not so simple.

This is a detailed guide on how Proximity Mines works, including some advanced techniques I sometimes use when she's on the team.

What Proximity Mines Does

The game states that Proximity Mines allows Gracie to place a mine on an empty square.
However, that doesn't say much.

Here's some specifics on the Proximity Mines Power and the mine it places:

Proximity Mines

Place a mine on an empty square. Range: Infinite Formation: Single Square 　 Targets an open square. 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 Effect: places a Mine (Trap) on the selected square.

Mine Properties
ー is a Trap
ー is considered an ally to the team that summoned it
ー has 10 HP
ー may randomly take 0 Damage from any incoming attack
ー Mine Activation:
　 ー Damage type: Magical
　 ー Base Damage formula: 3 ✕ [Spell Power] (Spell Power of caster)
　 　 You can boost the base damage with Scratch's Spell Power buffs.
　 　 Actual damage dealt is affected by Alert 1 / 2.​
　 ー 2 ways to activate:
　 　 １．Mine is approached by anything it can target (including obstacles with health that get knocked back)
　 　 ２．Mine is destroyed (reaches 0 health)

Depending on how the mine activates, it may deal damage to different units.
The difference is notable and significant, so I have provided Power images (with names ー I will be referencing these later in this guide) to represent the two ways it activates:
(Note: these Power images are edited and not official)

Proximity Trip

Damage approaching enemies. 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 Condition: an enemy or obstacle with health approaches the mine Range: 1 Formation: Radius (1 square) 　 Targets enemies and obstacles with health.

Self-Destruct

Damage all surrounding units. 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 Condition: the mine is destroyed (reaches 0 health) Range: 0 Formation: Radius (1 square) 　 Targets adjacent allies, enemies, and obstacles with health.

Using Proximity Mine

As expected for Traps, the most common use for the Mine would be to damage enemies when they move.

Depending on the situation, you can also place a Mine next to a group of enemies so that an enemy that tries to attack and destroy it (typically by casting a Power on it, as it's technically an enemy to them) will cause that group of enemies to take massive damage.
However, doing that isn't advised unless you know what you're doing, since the chance that the Mine won't be destroyed isn't the only thing you'd need to consider ー depending on the turn order of the enemies, enemies may disengage from the Mine before it's destroyed, resulting in lost potential damage. Also, the enemies aren't guaranteed to target the Mine....
　 (It is nice to pull that off and defeat half of the enemies almost effortlessly in a single turn, though.)
　 The most notable place where you'd be able to use the Mine this way would be at the Tower of Moo Manchu when facing multiple Witchdoctors, as they may cast Mojo Storm on their turn.

Double-Tripping the Mine
Remember how there are 2 ways to activate the mine?
Well, using the Musketeer-exclusive Power, Powder Monkey's Palisade, you can cause the mine to activate twice.
To set it up, the Mine is placed next to a set of Powder Kegs summoned by Powder Monkey's Palisade.
It works when an enemy approaches.
When this happens, the Mine damages the approaching enemy and an adjacent Powder Keg, which destroys the Mine.
The Mine them damages the approaching enemy again, this time by self-destruction.

Two examples of this happening are provided below.
I will break these situations down below the clip to make them more understandable.

Proximity Mines v. Diskylos

To start with a simple example, here's a short clip of a Mine activating twice on Diskylos.



To activate the Mine, I used Ratbeard's Clear the Decks! Power to push Diskylos back to where I wanted him to be.
Before this happens, this is what the battlefield looks like right before he is knocked back.



Note that the Mine is next to 2 of the Powder Kegs my Musketeer summoned.
(Having at least 1 Powder Keg next to the Mine is one of the requirements for double-tripping the Mine.)

This is what the field looks like directly after he gets knocked back, before the Mine activates:



Note where Diskylos is in relation to the setup ー he is next to the mine, and at least 1 Powder Keg is next to him.
(Having at least 1 Powder Keg next to the approaching enemy is another requirement for double-tripping the Mine.)

Since Diskylos "approached" the Mine, it activates, using "Proximity Trip" on him:



In the process of damaging Diskylos, one of the adjacent Powder Kegs (the one to his right) get affected.
(Technically, all three Powder Kegs would be affected, but the game processes one of them at a time.)

That Powder Keg is destroyed and explodes as a result:



Diskylos and the Mine both get caught in the explosion.
The Mine gets destroyed as a result, activating again ー this time, "Self-Destruct" is used:



Note that Diskylos gets hit by the Mine a second time as a result.

The Powder Keg to the right of the Mine is destroyed, damaging Diskylos as a result:



Finally, the last Powder Keg, destroyed by the initial Mine trip, explodes:



Excluding the knockback, this 1-turn setup dealt 5,376 Damage to Diskylos.

Note that this was a battle I did alone.
With more Pirates, the Spell Power buffing potential and the resulting potential damage increase tremendously.

Proximity Mines v. Captain Blood (Nightmare)

This short clip is with two Pirates ー @ultimatewizardx (who has the original footage) and me:



This setup was activated when Captain Blood (Nightmare) moved.
(We both refer to him as Obsidian Blood.)

That said, this is what the battlefield looked like before he moved:



Note that my Player's Mine is next to the Powder Keg.

After moving one square, this is what the field looks like:



Note that Blood has approached both ultimatewizardx's Mine and my Pirate's mine.
Also, note that Blood is next to the Powder Keg.

ultimatewizardx's Mine activates first, using "Proximity Trip" on Blood and the Powder Keg:



The Powder Keg is destroyed and explodes as a result:



My Pirate's Mine is destroyed, activating "Self-Destruct" on Blood and ultimatewizardx's Mine:



ultimatewizardx's Mine is destroyed as a result, activating "Self-Destruct" on Blood:



Since my Pirate's Mine was destroyed before it could damage Blood, it was not able to activate "Proximity Trip" on him.

In total, this setup dealt 6110 Damage to Obsidian Blood. (That's 95.35% of Obsidian Blood's health....)

Do note that this setup was done on the first turn of the fight.

Force-Tripping Proximity Mines

If you don't feel like waiting for the enemy to activate your setup (or want to deal with the enemy possibly not moving as you wanted), you can force the setup to activate early.

The example earlier with Diskylos is an example of this ー instead of having the enemy move to the preferred square, you could knock the enemy into that preferred square (assuming you're able to do so).
This activates the setup as if the enemy you knocked back walked to that preferred square.

You can also forcefully trip the mine during your turn by damaging the Mine with destroyed Powder Kegs.
(You destroy a Powder Keg next to the Mine right after the Mine and Powder Keg are placed.)

Here is a short clip of that happening:



You can also forcefully trip the Mine on Black Annie Rackham's fight by placing it next to one of her Musketeer minions and having Crimson Volley activate to destroy the Mine (although if the Mine doesn't take damage from it, it definitely would get knocked back unless the square it'd be knocked back into is already occupied).

Risks and Things to Know Before Double-Tripping Mines

Recall that the Mine can take no damage from incoming attacks.
(I currently do not know why this happens, but from personal experience of double-tripping Mines and using the above strategies, it appears to occur at random.)
Therefore, double-tripping or force-tripping the Mine is not very consistent.

Another danger of using the Mine in such a manner is that your units and allies may be damaged if the Mine self-destructs from being destroyed if you're not careful.

Short story, I used Proximity Mine during one of my Black Annie Rackham fights.
One of her Musketeer minions used Tempest of Torpedoes, destroying the Mine.
As a result, four of my team's units were dead. (I think the mine did over 4000 Damage...ouch.)

That said, please use proper caution when using Proximity Mines (especially in the ways I mentioned).

Conclusion

In the several months that I've used Proximity Mines, I can definitely say that even with the risk of failing to double-trip a Mine or forcefully activate it, it's definitely a great Power and Trap to have at one's disposal.
Even with only using the "Proximity Trip" to damage enemies, the Mine can be placed to hit multiple enemies at once ー a wonderful ability to have, especially since its damage can reach insane levels with Scratch's Spell Power buffs.

Thank you for reading this guide!
If you have any questions about Proximity Mine or how it works, please ask away; I'd be glad to answer them!
Any and all feedback is appreciated!

Thanks
Special thanks to....
ー @ultimatewizardx, for allowing me to use his clip in this guide
ー You, for reading this guide

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[GoldenGuardian]

An excellent and informative post, as usual. First time I have been aware of that double trigger, so may add that to my list of tricks when need be.

I think another interesting case to consider is the terror-cotta warriors from the Tower of Moo Manchu. Proximity Mines can cause chain reaction explosions when the spell power is high enough. I think this is an exclusive case.

For example, if a heavily spell powered Mine deals 5000 damage, and a terror cotta warrior approaches it, the terror cotta warrior [who obviously dies from 5000 damage] explodes- but the damage of the explosion is significant! I am not sure, but I think the explosion also is 5000 damage, which kills another adjacent warrior, who also explodes with 5000 damage, killing another warrior and so on, causing a very strong chain reaction!

There are two things I should mention:

1.) For clarity, in the above example, the first terror-cotta warrior is adjacent to the mine, but the second and third and so on is not! The explosion from the first warrior damages the second and so forth.

2.) The TC damage from such an explosion is only severe for fellow enemy NPC TC warriors, explosions for pirates seem to be about 800-1000 from observation.

I have used this trick a lot in the tower, but it needs more examination as most of what I have said is empirical. Since this seems to be a hobby of yours, perhaps you can conduct an investigation with fellow pirates if need be and fully find out how it works.

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[Cody Nightblade]

An excellent and informative post, as usual. First time I have been aware of that double trigger, so may add that to my list of tricks when need be.

I think another interesting case to consider is the terror-cotta warriors from the Tower of Moo Manchu. Proximity Mines can cause chain reaction explosions when the spell power is high enough. I think this is an exclusive case.

For example, if a heavily spell powered Mine deals 5000 damage, and a terror cotta warrior approaches it, the terror cotta warrior [who obviously dies from 5000 damage] explodes- but the damage of the explosion is significant! I am not sure, but I think the explosion also is 5000 damage, which kills another adjacent warrior, who also explodes with 5000 damage, killing another warrior and so on, causing a very strong chain reaction!

There are two things I should mention:

1.) For clarity, in the above example, the first terror-cotta warrior is adjacent to the mine, but the second and third and so on is not! The explosion from the first warrior damages the second and so forth.

2.) The TC damage from such an explosion is only severe for fellow enemy NPC TC warriors, explosions for pirates seem to be about 800-1000 from observation.

I have used this trick a lot in the tower, but it needs more examination as most of what I have said is empirical. Since this seems to be a hobby of yours, perhaps you can conduct an investigation with fellow pirates if need be and fully find out how it works.

Although I have used Proximity Mines during the two Terror-Cotta fights in the past, I have not noticed any significant Damage like what you described from Explosive!, the Epic Talent that damages surrounding units when the unit that has it is defeated.
I don't think the damage from the Mine is carried to the Explosive! Epic Talent.

I could look into whether it does actually carry the damage, but first, I'd have to experiment with the Explosive! Epic Talent, which can be pretty difficult to do, considering the fact that it's not readily available except on summons, where the actual damage dealt appears to be halved (or in the case of the Terror-Cotta Troupe, cut to 25% ー did you know those summons have 278 base WP and ～92 Strength, but a base 125 Damage Vicious Charge?).

I don't mind doing that, though, so I'd be glad to look into it for a day or two.
I'll be investigating using the Terror-Cotta Troupe Power (since battling floors 9 and 10 repeatedly is quite time-consuming).
I'll reply with the answer when I conclude the details of the damage for your scenario from my research.

I will also ask @ultimatewizardx about this to see what he knows about this, since he has done the Tower many more times than I have.

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[Cody Nightblade]

An excellent and informative post, as usual. First time I have been aware of that double trigger, so may add that to my list of tricks when need be.

I think another interesting case to consider is the terror-cotta warriors from the Tower of Moo Manchu. Proximity Mines can cause chain reaction explosions when the spell power is high enough. I think this is an exclusive case.

For example, if a heavily spell powered Mine deals 5000 damage, and a terror cotta warrior approaches it, the terror cotta warrior [who obviously dies from 5000 damage] explodes- but the damage of the explosion is significant! I am not sure, but I think the explosion also is 5000 damage, which kills another adjacent warrior, who also explodes with 5000 damage, killing another warrior and so on, causing a very strong chain reaction!

There are two things I should mention:

1.) For clarity, in the above example, the first terror-cotta warrior is adjacent to the mine, but the second and third and so on is not! The explosion from the first warrior damages the second and so forth.

2.) The TC damage from such an explosion is only severe for fellow enemy NPC TC warriors, explosions for pirates seem to be about 800-1000 from observation.

I have used this trick a lot in the tower, but it needs more examination as most of what I have said is empirical. Since this seems to be a hobby of yours, perhaps you can conduct an investigation with fellow pirates if need be and fully find out how it works.

After my brief testing, I concluded that the Mine’s damage does not carry to the Terror-Cotta Warriors’ Explosive! Epic Talent.
@ultimatewizardx said that the damage does not carry because they are separate procs and deal damage separately as a result.


I believe what you’re describing can be traced to the fact that the game processes 1 attack at a time.
This can be seen on many things, from using Musketeer trick-shots out of hide to the use of Novablast and Powder Kegs activating one-at-a-time instead of the same time.
In fact, this happened in the short clip with Obsidian Blood in the guide. (This explains why my Pirate’s Mine did not activate twice, although in theory, it would have if this was not taken into account.)

In the case with the Terror-Cotta Warriors, what happens first is that the approaching Terror-Cotta Warrior is defeated (obviously).
Before the Mine’s damage to other enemies is accounted for, that Terror-Cotta Warrior’s Explosive! Epic Talent activates.
After that (and any Explosive! chain that would result from that Terror-Cotta Warrior), the Mine’s damage to other enemies is accounted for.
I would assume that in your situation, you confused the damage from Explosive! and the damage from the Mine, simply because the game never tells you that it processes one attack at a time.

(If this doesn’t make much sense, then I wouldn’t mind helping break down the order in which these things happen, if I was given a short clip to break down.)

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