Landmines

Landmines
BANG!
Basic Information
Ability	Does area damage upon contact with an enemy
Range	Contact-fused with a small splash radius
Effects	2.2
Modifiers
Level 1	+1 landmine
Level 2	+1 landmine
Level 3	+1 landmine
Level 4	+Camoflage
Level 5	+20s Duration
Level 6	+20s Duration
Level 7	+20s Duration

Landmines are power ups in Crash of Cars. Lacking use in a direct assault, it can be pretty a nasty surprise when unexpected.

Function

When obtained, the player will be equipped with a small dispenser containing a landmine on top of their vehicle.

When used, the dispenser will deploy a certain number of landmines on the ground at set intervals in random directions, though usually behind the player. This may happen even if the vehicle is destroyed. However, if the deployment process is incomplete, any remaning mines will not appear at all.

When placed on the ground, Landmines are identified as small explosives with a glowing red light. If given a camouflage modifier, the mines will resemble light purple pickup boxes but with an exclamation mark instead of a question mark, and can block enemy Homing Missiles. Upon contact with a hostile vehicle, they will explode, doing damage in a small area around it and knocking applicable vehicles back.

If not triggered, Landmines will eventually self-destruct and disappear after 15 seconds.

Minesweeper

The Minesweeper does not take damage from landmines lying on the ground and is immune to it's knock-back. It will simply trigger the mines instead. It does not interact with allied landmines.

Bomb Bot

The Bomb Bot can pick up Landmines, allied or not, and release them upon collision with the added bonus of increased AOE. Other stats are not affected.

It is not immune to landmines' damage, though if it is not holding an explosive, it will not take damage nor suffer knock-back when stealing a landmine.

Strategy

With

Landmines are best used defensively against chasers. If used correctly, they will inflict massive damage and likely destroy the opponent if their health levels are low. Their knock-back also briefly disables them by knocking them back, giving you even more time to escape. Generally, faster vehicles, or those with bad handling are more vulnerable as they will not have enough time to react before they hit the mines. Even if the mine carrier is destroyed, it's still possible for them to bump into the mines.

It also functions as a great area denial to discourage chasers from taking the fastest route. The possibilities may vary, but at the very least it will usually dispel them. An even nastier method is to only release them when a chaser is very close - That way, they will never have any time to avoid them. With the camouflage modifier, it can also block any incoming Homing Missiles that follow the player.

Compared to most power-ups with multiple modifiers, landmines' counterparts vary significantly. The camouflage modifier is useful for confusing unwary players, while the quantity modifiers can halt even the toughest of the advancing enemies or disorient them. The duration modifier presents a lingering threat, waiting to ambush unsuspecting vehicles with devastating blasts.

However, when using them, enemy Minesweepers and Bomb Bots will pose a threat. Quantity can stop a single bomb bot, but the Minesweeper's ability makes any number of mines count for naught, forcing the player to find another counter while under the pressure of pursuit.

Against

A surefire way to tackle landmines is with the Minesweeper who can plow through them and continue the chase. The vehicle itself is not very versatile, however, and will be vulnerable to other power-ups. Additionally, the Bomb Bot is not a comprehensive counter, but will be able to neutralize them when in smaller numbers.

Mines are visible on a vehicle when it's mounted so if possible, one can simply choose not to chase the vehicle. As mines have little other purpose, the other vehicle will be forced to use them in order to take another power-up. Depending on the player's vehicle, this may or may not open up other possibilities against the other vehicle, but regardless it makes the mines much easier to avoid.

Be wary that homing missiles will not be able to travel though camouflaged landmines.

Trivia

• Landmines were based on the eponymous real-life weapon archetype, where they are generally stationary high-power explosives intended to destroy enemy vehicles via ambush tactics.

• As each mine does 2.2 damage, if with the maximum amount of quantity modifiers, the total damage (a whopping 11) is sufficient to destroy almost any vehicle (disregarding immunities), assuming that the vehicle takes damage from all the mines.
• Allied Landmines have a white aura, similar to most power-ups.
  • Prior to the Hollows Update, they only have a red aura, making allied and hostile landmines indistinguishable.

• Before the Golf Course Update, the Bomb Bot cannot pick up allied landmines and will just ignore them.
  • Also, prior to the Frozen Vale Update but after the Hollows Update, it will still take normal damage from landmines while picking it up simultaneously, resulting in one mine appearing out of nowhere.
• A visual glitch may cause the borders for landmines to disappear, making it impossible to differentiate it's allegiance. The only surefire method against them is with the Minesweeper.
• Bots will release landmines a second after another vehicle closes upon them from behind. Additionally, they will actively attempt to avoid landmines deployed by other vehicles and will only ever bump into them due to external factors (other vehicles' attacks, etc).
  • Quite ironically, NPC Minesweepers and Bomb Bots (the latter of which possible if the game suddenly switches to offline) will actively avoid them, as the game does not have a specific AI for these vehicles which interact with them differently.
• Like Oil and Health, if the units are deployed over inaccessible areas (like water surfaces), they will instantly expire after a very brief duration. This makes them impossible to use if with a vehicle that can cruise on or bypass water surfaces, should they be above one.
  • The behavior of these three power-ups are strikingly similar, as they all deploy separate entities which has varying effects on other vehicles, suggesting shared coding regarding this aspect.
• When landmines are deployed, each individual unit makes a clicking sound, which presumably indicates that they are arming. The unit also makes a single instance of a "poof" sound, resembling one from a mechanism.
  • When the mine explodes, it makes a brief, high-pitched digitized shattering sound and disappears with an explosion and a puff of smoke.
  • Technically, deployed mines are instantly armed when they exit the container. As soon as the power-up was activated, they launched briefly into the air before they land on the ground. Due to this, it is possible to damage a flying Plane/Bomber Plane if they soar above it just as the mines were deployed. This requires extreme luck and is generally ill-advised, but has devastating results to go with in most circumstances.
• If the player's vehicle is destroyed and they manage to rejoin the same map before the placed mines expire, the mines will become hostile and can damage the player.
• Prior to the Castle Update, vehicles can still activate and take damage from allied Landmines. Interactions with the Minesweeper cannot be determined, as it was released long after this change.
  • In Team Death Matches after the 2020 Mansion Update, Landmines can still detonate when triggered by an ally, although this effect only knocks them back and doesn't damage them.