v50 Steam/Premium information for editors
  • v50 information can now be added to pages in the main namespace. v0.47 information can still be found in the DF2014 namespace. See here for more details on the new versioning policy.
  • Use this page to report any issues related to the migration.
This notice may be cached—the current version can be found here.

Difference between revisions of "v0.31:Giant cave spider"

From Dwarf Fortress Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 55: Line 55:
 
At this point, the spider will begin blasting the goblin with webs, and most of the webs will fly through the fortifications and land on the floor to the left. Once enough webs have accumulated, pull the lever to open the chamber for collection and raise the 3 bridges - the bridge on the left will prevent the goblin from scaring your weavers away, and the 2 bridges on the right will block the path between the goblin and the spider, causing it to calm down and stop trying to shoot webs (in order to reduce lag). Once all of the webs have been collected, simply pull the lever again to reseal the chamber and start the spider webbing again.
 
At this point, the spider will begin blasting the goblin with webs, and most of the webs will fly through the fortifications and land on the floor to the left. Once enough webs have accumulated, pull the lever to open the chamber for collection and raise the 3 bridges - the bridge on the left will prevent the goblin from scaring your weavers away, and the 2 bridges on the right will block the path between the goblin and the spider, causing it to calm down and stop trying to shoot webs (in order to reduce lag). Once all of the webs have been collected, simply pull the lever again to reseal the chamber and start the spider webbing again.
  
−
Note that since this design requires the giant cave spider to be tamed, your fortress must have a {{L|dungeon master}} or you must modify your raws to make giant cave spiders non-exotic pets.  Silk can be farmed just as easily from wild GCS with a few changes.  Since the spider must be placed via a lever-controlled deconstructing cage rather than chained, its enclosure must be slightly larger, or there's a risk of the deconstructed cage or mechanism propping open one of the doors.  It's also highly recommended that you place a back-up cage trap for the GCS, in case your design needs revision; keep in mind that this cage trap is as likely to capture dwarves with all the webbing around it!
+
Note that since this design requires the giant cave spider to be tamed, your fortress must have a {{L|dungeon master}} or you must modify your raws to make giant cave spiders non-exotic pets.  Silk can be farmed just as easily from wild GCS with a few changes.  Since the spider must be placed via a lever-controlled deconstructing cage rather than safely pitted (or chained), its enclosure must be slightly larger, or there's a risk of the deconstructed cage or mechanism propping open one of the doors.  It's also highly recommended that you place a back-up cage trap for the GCS, in case your design needs revision; keep in mind that this cage trap is as likely to capture dwarves with all the webbing around it!
  
 
{{gamedata}}
 
{{gamedata}}
 
{{Creatures}}
 
{{Creatures}}
 
{{Category|Animals}}
 
{{Category|Animals}}

Revision as of 20:01, 18 July 2011

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼
Giant cave spider

S

Biome

  • Underground Caverns (dry)
  • Underground Depth: 1-2
Pet Attributes
Pet value 2,500

Cannot be trained

Exotic - cannot be tamed 

Size
Birth: 20,000 cm3
Mid: 100,000 cm3
Max: 200,000 cm3
Alignment

Savage

Age
Adult at: Birth
Max age: 20-30
Butchering returns

(Value multiplier ×4)

Food items

Meat 19
Fat 18
Brain 1
Heart 1
Intestines 1

Raw materials

Skin Chitin
v50.12 · v0.47 · v0.34 · v0.31.25 · v0.28 · v0.23
This article is about an older version of DF.
A large underground monster with eight legs and sharp, venomous fangs.

Giant cave spiders are far different from your regular Template:Ls; those are just treats for your Template:L. Giant cave spiders are as big as Template:Ls and will make treats of cats, dwarves and the occasional careless adventurer. You can find giant cave spiders in, obviously, caves, caverns and most underground areas. They are extremely dangerous as they feel no pain and thus cannot be stunned, can Template:L creatures and have the ability to shoot Template:Lbing to ensnare their prey.

Giant cave spiders are fortunately (depending on your point of view) not a rarity anymore and there are dozens present in the underground caverns, deep below the surface. They can be extremely hard to kill. Due to the material changes, however, chitin is not as great as armour as it used to be, resulting in a few dwarves, on occasion, punching one to death within a few attacks by punching its skull into its brain, which can be a godsend on an unlucky cavern breaching excercise.

They are both a boon and a bane, the boon being their webs (whenever they aren't a part of the bane.) Giant cave spider Template:L is worth much more than ordinary Template:L and given the proper setup and victims, they can produce endless amounts of it. Be aware that if they are tamed, Giant Cave Spiders will not spit webbing at enemies (or fight back at all) unless they are being attacked themselves.[Verify]

If you see one in adventure mode, an announcement, "You've spotted a Giant Cave Spider!" will appear.

Giant cave spider venom appears to be a neurotoxin which causes progressive Template:L and is ultimately fatal due to suffocation (and being eaten) as the victim's diaphragm succumbs and ceases to function. The poison's effects set in relatively quickly with complete paralysis at phase 5 (360 seconds) and death usually occurs at around 1300 seconds.

Capturing

Due to the considerable value of giant cave spider silk, many players attempt to capture a live spider and set up a silk farm to boost their fortress's economy. While simply opening a path to the Template:Ls and lining it with cage traps may eventually work, a much more effective method is to take advantage of one peculiar behavior of Template:Ls - simply build a Template:Len Template:L within the caverns and surround it with cage traps (to a distance of at least 2 tiles), and any giant cave spider (or Template:L, Template:L, Template:L, etc.) that enters the caverns will immediately charge toward it and be captured.

Farming Silk

Several setups have been devised to harvest giant cave spider silk in large quantities. One proven design is as follows:

╔ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ╗
║ + + + + + + + + + + + ║
║ + + + + + + + + + + + ║
║ + + + + + + ╥ ╔ ═ ═ ═ ╣
≡ + + + + + + ║ ╬ ╞ ╡ + ║
║ + + + + + + ║ ╬ + ╬ ┼ ╣
║ + + + + + + ║ ╬ g ╬ S ║
║ + + + + + + ║ ╬ + ╬ ┼ ╣
≡ + + + + + + ║ ╬ ╞ ╡ + ║
║ + + + + + + ╨ ╚ ═ ═ ═ ╣
║ + + + + + + + + + + + ║
║ + + + + + + + + + + + ║
╚ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ╝
  1. Dig out (and optionally smooth) a sufficiently large room (example shown is 11x11).
  2. Template:L all of the light gray Template:Ls and red Template:Ls.
  3. Build the 3 green Template:Ls, all raising lengthwise to form long walls.
  4. Construct a Template:L somewhere convenient in your fortress and link it to the 3 bridges.
  5. Build 2 non-wooden Template:Ls above and below the gray "S". Mark both doors as pet-inaccessible but leave them unlocked. This allows the spider to path to the bait (due to a long-standing pathfinding bug); without that path, the spider will only attempt to web it extremely infrequently.
  6. Build a restraint underneath the gray "g". Assign a disarmed captured Template:L soldier to the restraint (do not try to use a thief or a wild animal, as it will almost certainly escape before it reaches the restraint).
  7. Pull the lever to raise the bridges (and hide the goblin from your mason), then construct the blue wall to seal the chamber.
  8. Build the 2 Template:Ls and link them to the lever, then pull the lever again.
  9. Using a pit/pond Template:L on the Z-level above, drop a tamed giant cave spider into the gray "S" square. Place a 1-tile meeting zone on this tile so the spider will be content to stand still while webs are being collected, reducing lag.

At this point, the spider will begin blasting the goblin with webs, and most of the webs will fly through the fortifications and land on the floor to the left. Once enough webs have accumulated, pull the lever to open the chamber for collection and raise the 3 bridges - the bridge on the left will prevent the goblin from scaring your weavers away, and the 2 bridges on the right will block the path between the goblin and the spider, causing it to calm down and stop trying to shoot webs (in order to reduce lag). Once all of the webs have been collected, simply pull the lever again to reseal the chamber and start the spider webbing again.

Note that since this design requires the giant cave spider to be tamed, your fortress must have a Template:L or you must modify your raws to make giant cave spiders non-exotic pets. Silk can be farmed just as easily from wild GCS with a few changes. Since the spider must be placed via a lever-controlled deconstructing cage rather than safely pitted (or chained), its enclosure must be slightly larger, or there's a risk of the deconstructed cage or mechanism propping open one of the doors. It's also highly recommended that you place a back-up cage trap for the GCS, in case your design needs revision; keep in mind that this cage trap is as likely to capture dwarves with all the webbing around it!

V · T · E
Races
Dwarf • Elf • Goblin • Human • Kobold
Subterranean
animal people
Outdoor Animals
Alligator • Alpaca • Badger • Beak dog • Bilou • Black-crested gibbon • Black-handed gibbon • Blue peafowl • Black bear • Bonobo • Buzzard • Capybara • Cat • Cavy • Cheetah • Chicken • Chimpanzee • Cougar • Cow • Deer • Dog • Donkey • Duck • Elephant • Elk • Fox • Gazelle • Giant badger • Giant capybara • Giant cheetah • Giant desert scorpion • Giant eagle • Giant jaguar • Giant leopard • Giant lion • Giant moose • Giant platypus • Giant tiger • Gigantic panda • Giraffe • Goat • Goose • Gorilla • Gray gibbon • Grimeling • Grizzly bear • Groundhog • Guineafowl • Hippo • Hoary marmot • Horse • Ice wolf • Jaguar • Leopard • Lion • Llama • Mandrill • Moose • Mountain goat • Mule • Muskox • One-humped camel • Orangutan • Panda • Pig • Pileated gibbon • Platypus • Polar bear • Rabbit • Raccoon • Reindeer • Rhesus macaque • Rhinoceros • Saltwater crocodile • Sasquatch • Sheep • Siamang • Silvery gibbon • Strangler • Tiger • Turkey • Two-humped camel • Unicorn • Vulture • Walrus • Warthog • Water buffalo • White-browed gibbon • White-handed gibbon • Wolf • Yak • Yeti
Subterranean Animals
Aquatic
Humanoids
Semi-Megabeasts
Megabeasts
Nonexistent
Retrieved from "https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php?title=v0.31:Giant_cave_spider&oldid=151451"