40d:Giant cave spider

Web in the open

Web inside a pit

These eight-legged beasts are not your ordinary harmless cave spider (those were just treats for your cat). Giant cave spiders are bigger than horses and will make treats of cats, other dwarf pets and the average careless adventurer. It would be rather easy to know when a giant spider roams in the area, for they usually build a huge spider web, sometime spanning several screens wide (pictures to the right), except these webs (as well as the spider) are not actually visible until a hapless creature becomes ensnared in one (at least in Fortress Mode).

Unlike most monsters in the world, giant spiders rely on more than just brute force. Using sticky web projectiles, paralyzing venom and powerful jaws, the giant cave spider has multiple methods of incapacitating its prey before going in for the kill. They do not feel pain or remorse or fear and cannot be stopped unless killed. For this reason, it's suggested that you engage them at a distance, bring plenty of drunks to distract it in adventure mode or simply try to overwhelm it with a high number of attackers. Cases of non-legendary adventurers fighting giant cave spiders at close combat and winning the fight without sustaining major injuries have been reported, but it seems to be very rare.

Most giant spiders build their web over cliffs of some sort so caution should be taken against dwarves or the spider itself falling down to their death or into a big chasm.

When a dwarf comes into contact with a giant cave spider web, he becomes stuck and unable to move (effectively paralyzed) for a given amount of time, after the duration of which he becomes unstuck and is free to move again.

If you manage to collect a giant cave spider's webbing and use it to produce silk, the resulting thread is worth ten times the value of cave spider silk, making it far more valuable than any other in the game.

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