I'm getting very worried. It's already the 4th and I still haven't caught the Gladiator Mouse, which means I have no Ski Sign!

I have my highest Physical trap on, but all he does is steal cheese from me. Crafty and annoying little thing...

I'm wondering, should I used Seasoned Gouda or SB+ to catch him?

Chloë Máiréad, I don't think that the cheese variety is going to help you one way or another. Stick with Seasoned Gouda, as that's probably your best chance of attracting him. Here are some statistics from furoma.com when it comes to catching the Gladiator:

All of these traps are paired with the candy-cane base as it is a high luck base that everybody playing in the festive comet should have purchased

Christmas Cracker Trap: 28.2% Catch Rate
NVMRC Forcefield Trap: 20.87% Catch Rate
Swiss Army Mouse Trap: 12.64% Catch Rate.

Chloe, I don't know what traps and bases you have at your disposal. You might have some of these, you might not, but whatever the situation, you can use this link to figure out which trap setup will work best for catching the Gladiator.

He is not an easy mouse to catch. . . not by any means.

I'm using the Swiss Army Mouse Trap/Candy Cane Base. I was thinking about buying the NVMRC Forcefield Trap, but I want to save all my money for Ronza.

So I guess I'll just hope for the best! And if I don't catch him...well, I'll survive.

So I guess I'll just hope for the best! And if I don't catch him...well, I'll survive.

That's a very good attitude to have. Even if you can't craft the upgrade (which you wouldn't be able to do for some time any ways as it requires the rank of Hero (as well as nearly 1.1 million in gold) to craft. The Explosive Toboggan Ride makes for a great Hydro trap.

Like I said, the Gladiator is tough. He's usually not even encountered by hunters who do not at least have the ranking of Legendary.

Christmas Cracker Trap: 28.2% Catch Rate
NVMRC Forcefield Trap: 20.87% Catch Rate
Swiss Army Mouse Trap: 12.64% Catch Rate.

Oh, wow. I feel lucky now. I finally caught a Gladiator using the NVMRC Trap, the Candy Cane Base and Seasoned Gouda, but he stole cheese from me 13 times before I snagged him. Even so, I'm only a Grandmaster so I can't upgrade the trap for awhile anyway.

And I still haven't caught the New Years Mouse. He hasn't even tried to take cheese from my trap. Oh, well. I'm just going to stick around the FC until after Ronza comes and then I'm either going to head to the Mountain, the Gauntlet, or the Calm Clearing, still haven't decided which. Probably the Mountain.

I think once my gingerbread's gone I'll use my gilded to catch a Master Burglar and go for the Gauntlet. Any suggestions on trap setups for that?

The King's Gauntlet is... well... a Gauntlet. You'll start off using your best lucky trap. After that, read the description on each tier of cheese to know which trap to use. Throughout the Gauntlet, you'll use every single trap type in the game (except Parental). It goes something like this...

Tier 1 - Puppet Mice - Your best lucky trap - Swiss or Brie
Tier 2 - Thief Mice - Physical Trap - Tier 2 cheese
Tier 3 - Melee Mice - Tactical Trap - Tier 3 cheese
Tier 4 - Bard Mice - Tactical Trap (Horrific Venus Mouse trap, Zugzwang's Last Move, Snow Barrage) - Tier 4 cheese
Tier 5 - Magic Mice - Shadow Trap (Clockapult, Cackle Lantern) - Tier 5 cheese
Tier 6 - Noble Mice - Arcane Trap (ACRONYM) - Tier 6 cheese
Tier 7 - Dust Mice - Hydro Trap (Toboggan, Ancient Spear Gun, Double Diamond, Heat Bath) - Tier 7 cheese
Tier 8 - The Eclipse Mouse - Forgotten Trap - Tier 8 cheese

The difficulty of the gauntlet is whether or not you have the ability to be patient and wait to advance to the next level. You will want...

- Loads of potions to start off with. If you don't have the lucky golden shield, probably 175-200 Tier 2 potions should do it.
- A high level trap in each category. (I listed some suggestions above)
- A high luck setup. (The higher the luck, the more potions will drop, and if you don't get enough potions, you won't make it.)

If you don't have those things, then I would highly suggest not attempting the gauntlet until you do, or at the very least, not continue on to the next level. I can't tell you how many times I saw players advance to the next tier before they were ready, run out of cheese, and have to start completely over at the beginning.

I'm wondering, should I used Seasoned Gouda or SB+ to catch [the Gladiator mouse]?

If you're attracting him, which you are, you're using the right cheese. The difficultly, as DiGs said, is he's a very high level mouse and you have a very low level trap.

The nice thing is, the Explosive Toboggan is also a VERY nice trap... much better than the earliest hydro traps available in the game. It will carry you through the vast majority of the places you'll need a hydro trap for. And when you need a better one, there's the Heat Bath which is better than the Double Diamond. (That's a long ways off though. )

I have decided to give up on the new years mouse, so I'm back in the Mousoleum. I might try going up to Digby, though. I'm seeming to start my Mousoleum ill-luck run again.

I suddenly remembered tonight that I had never looked through last Friday's FBF Summary. Here are some highlights of interest...

Double Diamond Adventure [may] have some underlying abilities that hunters may profit from later on the game.

Oh?

Ronza is coming probably after the Winter Hunt ends and Dave said something about a short visit, so I'm guessing she's not here for long? Trap Charm is a trap component, so be prepare for it.

Trap Charm huh? Intriguing.

Seasoned Gouda is useless after the event so use it as much as possible. Dave may allow it to be smash to make Gouda Cheese too!

/hopes it will be smashable

I'm likely going to be hurting when Ronza comes. I need to level up twice so I can get the upgrade and get money for Ronza. I'll probably just skip the upgrade till after Ronza.

Yes, I know I've used that word thrice.

I too hope SG will be smashable.

I AM LEGENDARY!!!! (11:24 PM EST)

Question to an advanced player in the game:

What is the best trap setup for gathering runes? I currently have ACRONYM paired with my highest luck base (Candy Cane Base), and Ancient Cheese, but have only collected four runes within the past two days.

How many runes should I aim to gather? 100? More ?

That's about the best you can do Digs. It isn't the easiest section in the game. I'd go for 100. Acolyte mice attraction rate is high. Acolyte catch rate is very low. You still need the forbidden box trap to catch it though.

I AM LEGENDARY!!!!

Congratulations

How many runes should I aim to gather? 100? More?

You will need 60 runes to craft the Ice Maiden Trap in addition to however many you use for Runic Cheese.

When you go after the Acolyte, if you are not concerned about making gold at the same time, the mice in the Jungle of Dread drop Runic Cheese Potions, but it's a very expensive conversion.

... but have only collected four runes within the past two days.

Runes collect in waves for me. One day I'll get a lot, the next day, next to nothing.

It's good to know that at least I'm on the right track, and not completely lost when dealing with this area. Part of me misses the simplistic (and more fun) days of the game back when things were easier (like in Whisker Wood and The Harbour), but part of me likes the fact that I have to have a plan in order to succeed.

Thanks for the help you two!

I have finally topped the 3 mill in gold mark. The first time I've made it up this high. Closest I've gotten before was when I bought the clockapault.

Have you tried the gauntlet yet Digs?

No I haven't Kat. It's on my to do list .

I broke 1.8 million gold this morning (hoping to get up to two before Ronza arrives)