Arachnomorph

Arachnomorph

Arachnomorphs (called monstrous spiders by simple folk) are large insectoid creatures resembling spiders. They are post-Conjunction creatures, and their preferred choice of habitat is a deep, damp cave or the occasional isolated swamp.

While they don't appear in the base game, they do appear in both its expansions: Hearts of Stone expansion and Blood and Wine expansion.

Bestiary Entry

The spider shall never lie down with the fly.
– Ofieri proverb

A similar saying could gain ground in our land concerning arachnomorphs and everything unable to flee them – meaning most every creature in the world. True, the tillers of the earth and fellers of trees need not fear them in their daily labors, for arachnomorphs, as distant, post-Conjunction cousins of common spiders, strongly prefer deep, dark caves and unfrequented sodden swamps. Anyone who does come across them, however, had best hope his conscience is clear and his worldly affairs are in order, for his life shall soon end, as not even the fastest man in the world can outrun them and only a few witchers can hope to slay them. Even worse are the more aggressive and dangerous kind known as arachnomorph colossi, which are capable of devouring an entire ox in seconds.

Associated Quest

• The Drakenborg Redemption

Combat Tactics

When fighting these creatures the rule of thumb is to stay mobile (while this applies to fighting all monsters) the arachnomorphs have the ability to spit webbing that can stop Geralt in his tracks, leaving him vulnerable to further attack; they always charge in for a hit while you're tangled in the webs. Fortunately, if you are trapped in the webbing, you can still parry their fast attacks (but not strong/leap attacks), so use this to your advantage. The spiders attack as one when the odds are in their favor, but when the player starts to attack they retreat at quite a surprising speed leaving the player frustratingly out of reach, spitting the webbing whenever they can. This is one of the most effective uses of in-and-out guerrilla warfare seen by any monster type, so your main goal will be to slow them down one-by-one to hit them while dodging the attacks and web shots of the others.

• Yrden is arguably useful, for it slows arachnomorphs, though area of the sign is much smaller than arachomorphs "playground". Even more useful, however, is its secondary effect, exclusive to Arachnomorphs: It paralyzes any Arachnomorph inside for a sufficient period of time. A simple way to accomplish this is to cast Yrden and allow yourself to be struck by their webbing. The spiders will rush in to attack, be paralyzed by the sign, leaving them in a perfect place to be attacked.
• Igni can set the creatures alight and buy yourself some time to chug potions and regenerate stamina.
• Aard and Axii are also useful to disable the spiders so you can close in the for the kill, though be wary of unstunned spiders closing on you while you try to dispatch other targets.
• Quen sign as it blocks webbing hurled at the witcher, preventing the dangerous entanglement.
• Whirl attack can usually keep smaller arachnomorphs off-balance enough to constantly keep them in range (the Severance Runeword greatly helps with this) however the big ones will usually be able to jump out of range or counter-attack you and stop your attack.One should also not dismiss
• Bombs like Northern Wind can freeze them in their tracks, but it's best used on the larger arachnomorphs.

Most useful tactic (on Death March!, NG+ with upscaling) is combination of Aard Sweep, Active Shield (prevents entaglement/root and regenerates vitality) and high mobility (dodging). Sidestep creature that attack and follow up with a few quick attacks before it runs of. Refrain from chasing a single foe and fight them as a unit, since they do not regenerate health.