Hunting Sequence

Listed below are the sequence of events that occur during a hunt with some explanation about how a hunter can prepare to maximize their chances in each step.

The hunt is started

There are a few ways a hunt can be started, most commonly by the Hunter's Horn. Hunters can start an immediate hunt by sounding the horn themselves, or if friends are hunting in the same location and sound their horn, all of their friends who are ready to hunt will automatically have their horns sounded as well. Players have to sound their horn themselves once per hour in order to continue to be ready to hunt with friends. The second way a hunt can be started is by a trap check. These trap checks happen once per hour throughout the day. Hunters must have their trap baited and have sounded the horn once within the previous 24 hours in order to have a receive a trap check.

The population of mice that can be encountered depends on location and choice of bait

Once a hunt is started, the specific breed of mouse that hunters might encounter depends on the location they are hunting in, and what type of cheese they have baited. For example, the scent of SUPER|brie+ can attract Master Burglar and Nibbler mice in the Town of Gnawnia, only Cherry cheese can attract the Cherry mouse in Calm Clearing, and Maki boosts the encounter rate for student mice in the Dojo by a rather large margin.

The bait either attracts or fails to attract a mouse

Each type of cheese has a different, and fixed chance of attracting a mouse in each hunting location. Each time a hunt is started, whether or not a mouse is encountered depends on how attractive the specific cheese is in that location. As mentioned above, which mice that can be encountered also depends on choice of bait. Within the game, the terms "encounter" and "attract" are often used interchangeably. It is also worth noting that the attraction bonus of a trap setup will boost the attractiveness of the bait in a positive way, but does not have any effect on which specific breeds of mice that can be encountered. Carefully read the descriptions of the various baits in the game to give hints about how effective they are at attracting certain types of mice, and in what areas of the game. The attractiveness of the bait is also reflected in the "Effectiveness" message shown under the hunter's trap setup on the camp page. It is important to note that bait has absolutely no effect on whether or not you catch a mouse once it is attracted.

Should you fail to attract the mouse you encountered then your bait has a chance of going stale based on your trap's cheese effect. The time you purchased your bait has no effect on whether your cheese turns stale. A stale trap setup typically consists of a weapon and base with a stale cheese effect.

Hunters with the rank of Apprentice or above can collect several varieties of stale cheese, depending on what kind of cheese was used as bait. These seemingly useless stale cheese can be used to craft different varieties of cheese that may prove useful to hunters and is often a requirement for successful hunting in the Bristle Woods region. Oftentimes, the trap setup used is an Obelisk of Incineration, Arcane Capturing Rod Of Never Yielding Mystery or Mutated Venus Mouse Trap paired with the Magma Base or Explosive Base because these setups give the lowest cheese effect currently possible and thus increases chances for the cheese to go stale. This method is commonly referred to as stale farming.

Your trap versus the mouse

Should a hunter successfully attract the type of mouse they encountered, it is now up to the statistics of their trap to determine if they catch the mouse or not. A more powerful trap has a better chance to trap a more powerful mouse, although the probability to catch a mouse is never 100% (so even a puny White Mouse has a small chance to get away from the most powerful traps). Aside from power, a trap's luck rating also provides a chance to catch a mouse purely from luck. It is not uncommon for lucky traps to catch mice that are far more powerful than the trap or even outside of its power type (discussed below).

Weapons not only have power, but also a specific power type. Some mice are susceptible to certain power types, while others are resistant if not completely immune. An example is in the Mousoleum where the vast majority of mice are vulnerable to shadow traps while being resistant to physical traps.

The hunter's title also plays a small role in their ability to catch a mouse. As players progress upwards through the ranks, their traps stats are boosted slightly providing an extra edge.

The outcome of the hunt

The outcome of the hunt is fairly straightforward.

Should you catch the mouse you will be awarded points and gold based on the type of mouse you caught. The mouse also might drop one or multiple pieces of loot.

Should you attract but fail to catch the mouse, your adversary will always consume the one piece of cheese your trap was baited with. In some hunting locations, it is also possible for mice to steal additional pieces of cheese, gold or even cripple your courage.