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. A hunter can start an immediate hunt by sounding the horn themselves, or if a friend is hunting in the same location and sounds their horn it will automatically sound the horn of any friend who is also ready to hunt. The second way a hunt can be started is by a trap check. These trap checks happen at each hour throughout the day. A hunter must have their trap baited and also have been active within 24 hours in order to have a receive trap checks. Once a player leaves the game for 24 hours they will stop receiving trap checks.

A mouse is encountered

Once a hunt is started, a hunter will then encounter a specific breed of mouse. The most significant factor affecting what breed of mouse they encounter is the location they are hunting in. Secondly, the type of bait a hunter is using can have a small effect on what type of mouse they encounter. For example, the scent of Brie and SUPER|brie+ can draw Burglar Mice in the area a little closer to a hunter's trap, and Maki boosts the encounter rate for student mice in the Dojo by a rather large margin.

The encountered mouse is or isn't attracted to the bait

Once a mouse comes around a hunter's trap, it is then up to the specific bait the hunter is using to attract that specific type of mouse. Carefully read the descriptions of the various bait in the game to give hints about how effective they are at attracting certain types of mice, and in what areas of the game. It is important to make the distinction that bait has very little effect on the type of mouse you encounter and it has absolutely no effect on if you catch a mouse or not. The main job of a hunter's bait is to attract the mouse to their trap after it has been encountered. It is also worth noting that traps that have an attraction bonus will boost the attraction capabilities of the trap's bait in a positive way.

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. Oftentimes, the trap setup used is an Obelisk of Incineration or Arcane Capturing Rod Of Never Yielding Mystery paired with the Explosive Base because this setup gives the lowest cheese effect currently possible.

Hunters with the rank of Apprentice or above can collect stale cheese, which depends on what kind of cheese was used as bait. When cheese crafted with Magic Essence goes stale, with the exception of Ancient cheese, it turns into Stale SUPER|brie+. Meanwhile, Radioactive Blue cheese turns into Radioactive Sludge while all other kinds of cheese that cannot be classified in the previously mentioned categories turn into basic stale cheese. 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.

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 more powerful than the trap.

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

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. A popular example is in the Mousoleum where the vast majority of mice are vulnerable to shadow traps while being resistant to physical traps.

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 as well as its weight. Heavier mice are considered to be weaker than the smaller, quicker mice and are therefore worth fewer points, but more gold.

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, as well as points or gold.