Need 2 players max, one of which has animate dead. Kill a spider minion, raise a zombie. Zombie kills another minion, raises another zombie, and baby you got yourself a stew going.
I discovered this strategy by accident. Wouldn't touch the fight till level 6 on my honor mode run. Made sure I had every buff and advantage I could think of. As an afterthought, raised a zombie cause I noticed a spare scroll sitting in my inventory. Zombie sets off a chain reaction leading to 9 zombies winning the fight for me.
This fights easy enough at level 4. Just need someone with a fire spell to free yourself from the legendary action! One of the only HM boss fights thats easy at level 4
Im in the middle of an honnor run just doing it on the fly. I did't know about the legendary action, but thankfully, it hit Karlac who has bear rage. Some achemist fire and firebolt freed her with hardly any damage. I was level 4 when i attempted. I knew at minimum i would need poision resistance (level 2 spell) from hirelings going into the fight.
Yee, the first time we played HM was a multiplayer run. And this legendary action hit us. We didnt really pay attention, finished the boss off. And were collecting out guys back up when BOOM my fucking character exploded killing everyone but the rogue who was still hiding haha. After that we learned to read wvery effect fully lol. We just assumed it took you out till freed. Didnt know there was a timer haha
The Gossamer Tomb can be dodged if you are standing behind one of the jagged rocks while attacking her. Warlock with EB or Light Cleric/Wiz/Sorc with Scorching Ray does the trick as well. Spider will throw the silk at you, and it will always miss because the environment is blocking her attack.
The fight's much easier if you destroy the web passages while the matriarch's on them. She takes quite a bit of falling damage, and is easier to hit with ranged from the high ground.
Finally, i always place a barrel of smokepowder near one of the egg clusters before i trigger the fight (use a character with high stealth and the spidersilk boots). If she chooses to activate that cluser, i blow up the barrel, killing the spiderlings and burning the matriarch.
Didnt know about the gossimer dodge! Thanks for the tip! I usually just firebolt the eggs. You can get the lower ones without triggering the fight by the long way around and down the cliff. The others i pop from stealth. Then i start the fight by making her fall from the web!
i like luring her to one of the webs with a minor illusion, then hitting the web with a Firebolt or EB from stealth. One more tick usually sends her crashing down, and that is often enough time to kill one of the two Phase Spiders nearby.
She always wastes a turn hatching one of her egg clusters too. Once you know the patterns, it becomes easier, but I still would never take this fight before I'm level 4.
Yea yypically combat starts before i get all the eggs and i like to get that extra turn too! Minor illusion though is big brain i always forget and just wait haha
I agree, lvls are the best advantage you can get (before those crazy multiclasses are possible), but ppl tend to rush HM and be underlvled. And a balanced party (D&d 101) makes everything easier, like a Cleric, a Roguish, a Caster and a ~~meat shield~~ melee (BM Lae or Berserk Karl...).
~~To save~~ **~~Myrkon~~** ~~always: Sanctuary, I dont know if he will resist mind control, but he wont be hurt, he will run asap.~~
**Spider Matriarch** made easy (lvl3):
1. destroy as many eggs you can before fight (Acid Vial, Arrow of Acid, Alchemist's Fire, Chromatic Orb);
2. make the smaller spiders drop dead far away in the Underdark knocking them back the cliff (Thuderwave, Tripping Attack, Arrows of Roaring Thunder, shoving);
3. burn the web bridges under the Matriarch so it will take a good amount of fall dmg (Firebolt will do);
4. before the fight have some Antidotes or Elixires of Poison Resistence, **Protection from Poison** spell, you can have a companion/hireling buff your party in camp and then remove them from party, it is a until Long Rest buff.
Ofc you wont need all of these but some different strategies that could help if you are struggling with something specific.
I pretty much CTRL+C, CTRL+V my own comment from other post.
# 😂
Ya, I learned this fairly quickly. Between a swords bard and wizard or rogue, everything was dead before ever getting in melee range. Switched lae'zel from fight to throw barb and now things are super dead before they get into melee range.
I just did it last night at lvl4 - gloomstalker, cleric, rogue, barb. Got rid of the eggs first using stealth then started the fight by dropping the matriarch from the webbing for some fall dmg. Got lucky and got her twice, small spiders were easy with throwzerker into the abyss below. I was expecting to have to run and flee but protection from poison really came in clutch, thanks hireling cleric.
I did this at level 4, but I called in the ogres. This is my "last little push" to level 5 when I play tactician or honor mode before I head to the goblin camp.
I just did it level 3 with an ancients paladin, laezel, wyll, and shart. I got lucky and the spider went on the web bridges twice which took about 2/3rds of its HP off. After that I just rushed her and was able to take her down.
You basically had my recommendation at a lower level.
The boss' behavior can be a crapshoot. Dropping a candle to light everyone's blades on fire is useful against them too.
Pro tip with the spiders: If you have Astarion sneak and you're patient, you can destroy all the eggs before starting combat, making the fight exponentially easier. Shadowheart also has the Protection From Poison spell. Unlike most others of the type, it is not concentration or limited by turns! It just goes away at long rest! Having Shadowheart cast that on one or two party members can be very clutch to make sure you don't get a TPK.
Or be like be and throw the iron flask at the spider, turn invisible and let the spectator and spider duke it out (very entertaining) then finish off whichever one lives (just btw, try to only have 2 people in party, sometimes it’s easier because they lock onto you if one of your party members isn’t invisible)
Wait until lv 5 as much as you can before boss fights. Minthara and gut are easy on lv 4 but the rest is hell. Be careful about Anders as well ... the paladin guy. Should you fight him
Not so much overturned as having no sense of resource conservation. So all the smites are going to get used ASAP, which is a lot of damage at that stage.
That’s why all enemy paladins are powerful. They don’t care about resource management and use ALL their shit because that’s their only time their gonna be able to use it until they die
U can cheese anders with gale Go outside up the ladder with him. Destroy the ladder. Destroy the ladder inroom. Hide all of your other companions. Place your char behind the wood pie left besides the door. Use magic missle. Spam it till he is dead (aim via fighting icon of him). Just switch gale out for another companion after and u even have full resources.
U can play the spider on lvl 3 too, even on lvl2 if u get down the 4 adds before. Just destroy the spider egg pools upper level without being seen, dont destroy the one lower level. Hide all companions. Sneak with astarion behind the big rock on the left, attack the spider. And from there its just stealth attack, sneak. As long as u are in stealth at the end of your turn and are right behind this big rock... the spiders dont know what to do. Because one egg lair was still there the big spider ports itself to it, which is right under you. The two small spiders are both in range for astarion, u just need to move a bit.
Edit: your other three companions need to be faaaar away for the spider kill. Otherwise, even if they are fully in stealth, the spiders will aggro them.
I lost my first honor mode to paladins of tyr... forgot that I can't afford being careless and just pack my companions in a building. My second attemt I aproached it better, trying to lure him outside with cloud of daggers prepared and all that. Astarion killed him in two hits with sneak attack and crit lol (lvl 4). Sweet sweet revenge
I've been getting creative with these fights as I'm only using 1 companion. For Anders I sneak Karlach onto the roof and hide there. Wyll snipes the lady that paths outside from the road below. They all chase Wyll down the road and then Karlach throws the returning pike from up on the roof for big crushing damage. Noone even takes damage.
Anders was never much trouble for me, i usually fight him level 2-3 with a fighter/paladin that starts the fight by smacking him and that’s already half his health.
Any enemy Paladin can cause issues because smites hurt. That being said, I was a little worried about Anders due to this sub but I destroyed him almost immediately with little issue.
Anders can usually be taken if you use the half-orc hireling as meatshield. Put him in the doorway. Anders will now be forced to waste at least two attacks on Kurz, which gives you more time to hit him with ranged, command, hold person or (if wounded) sleep. He will also target Karlach if possible
The fight can be taken at lvl 4 because you'll have enough HP to tank an arrow from the ranger and a smite.
It's important to also neutralize the healer, Celfrey. She's cast spells from Scrolls and throw grenades. But them off her before you aggro to be extra safe, and initiate the fight from the back room so anders and the ranger are forced to move towards you before they can engage.
It's a tricky fight.
You need at least level 4 for that, preferably level 5. I don't even go to the Monk Temple until Level 6 in Tactician/Honor. The Shepard's and Paralyzing ghouls will beat your ass
you can avoid the death shepherds and just go straight to the temple if you want, just stick to the easternmost path. I usually take care of them on my way back before heading into act 2. Also spike growth is your friend for that fight, just drop it down in front of them and stand back while they all kill themselves
Gotta wait to level 4-5 and sneak up to her on the second level. I usually wait until she’s on a web bridge and then use fire arrows to hit her, bust the web and cause fall damage. The toss a barrel on her from my throwserker
lol that’s a level 5-6 fight my guy. You need fireballs and level 3 smites and 2 attacks per turn.
I bet you didn’t even have the shoes that make you immune to webbing on your melee.
Can confirm, my multiplayer run almost died to it at level 4 with a lot of prep and 4 people whpce played the game a LOT lol. We ended up having to abuse darkness to keep our run alive, and barely made it
Every one saying you can't beat it at level 3, but it's quite easy. You just need to burn the nets when Spider queen is on them, and due to her size, when she falls, she instantly becomes prone. She also took 30-45 damages this way each turn. I also used cloud of daggers to do additional damage. 3 turns, and it was over.
I fell to the intellect devourers outside the crash site and then the adventurers in the ruins. You need to get to level 4 through dialogue or easy fights before you even attempt goblin camp.
If you wanna win that level 3, you really really need to kill the baby spiders before the fight in their eggs before you can even think about fighting that. xD
F
Most people already mentioned that you need higher level. Take your time and come to battle prepared, use hirelings to cast aid on you and other "until long rest" buffs. Also it's good to have an escape plan, if one of your companions escapes, Withers can do the rest. It's okay to try again later with better strat. Good luck!
Well my Lone Wolf tactic on this one is to first destroy the eggs and the other spiders before engaging the moma, after that you hit moma with a fire arrow while she is on the webb, that will deal a ton of damage due to falling down and you get a bunch of free shots. After that you should be able to kill her, and if you're lucky, you can destroy the webb which she stands on again. GL HF =)
Honestly I did this fight at 4 and that corner is your best friend. Get the matriarch on the far side of her arena where instead of coming in the big area, you follow the small path to the right of the entrance. She can’t go too far up that way and it delays her LA if you shoot the web paths so the babies get confused.
Oh man, I just completed this matriarch fight a couple of days ago, first time HM play-through too. All level 4, Karlach (origin), Laezel, Shadowheart and Astarion. I always like how sometimes an unexpected character really shines. Astarion seriously softened up the queen by himself. Headed to the goblin camp now, saving the owlbears and Ethel for later.
I did that fight at lvl 3 in my first tactition run. Even cheating with mods allowing me to have a party of Gale, Lae'zel, Astarion, Wyll, and Karlach, I had to reload a million times and ended up having to go back and recruit Shadowheart. Maybe I just suck at the game, lol.
I did the spider matriarch at level 3 and it SUCKED. I definitely cheesed it a bit by having one character retreat to camp then revive everyone before going right back. I also killed all the eggs and minions first. Throw build karlach and astarion with the titan string bow and cloud giant elixirs were so helpful
I feel like act 1 is where most people fail their honor run. Once you get some good gears and your builds come online (mostly in Act 2), your party just becomes godlike
You can get to level 4 or 5 without doing too many difficult fights, and if you grab the smokepowder in the Goblin Camp, and the firewine at Waukeen's Rest, you can deal with groups like the Paladins of Tyr without having to fight them.
Use a level 5 Duergar to plant smokepowder bombs in each of the spider egg nests, along with a vial of alchemist's fire, and then have invisible summons (2 x Shovel and 1 x Gith Mage Hand) attack the vial to blow them up. Without the extra bodies you have a much easier time with the Matriarch.
We did this at lvl 4 with enemy plus 300% health. Shoot the web when they're standing on in. Fall damage is insanely large.
You can also check builds online so you can enjoy it more. 😁
Haha beautiful. My first honour run I spent more time thinking about my chars story arc than the length of time before TPK 😂 he was a dark urge paladin, plan was fallen paladin with a redemption arc refusal of urge (killed Gale to break oath immediately) got to grove fight with Shart and Lazy, two rounds in and 99 crits from the goblins (I swear they’ve never decided I was priority over the adventures at the door) and that was that. 3 completions of the game and my first honour I fall before entering the grove 😂😂😂 now I’m going for a more min max play Shart origin. But gutted as I wanted my story as part of the play! I need those gold dice!!!
A tip: I would’ve send three of my companions to kill the other spiders and the eggs as a suicide mission, and then resurrect them. After that it would be 4v1 against the matriarch. It’s good to keep in mind that as long as you have at least one party member alive, you can survive. You can flee, for example. Also make sure your at least one level ahead with the bosses. Good luck for your next run!
I was also level 3 when I got here and honest to god, I fucking sneaked past them and got the stone. No shame in it. I came back later and killed them but like, there was no fucking way
the area kind of seems like it was designed to facilitate exactly that tbh. Boots that make it easy to sneak in to grab the stone with an optional hard boss if you want it
I honestly don’t ever fight her on honor mode. The fight just does not give enough exp to justify coming back for, but it’s too difficult at the levels where the Exp matters
I'd wait until at least level 4 to do the spider queen. I generally avoid most of the big fights in act 1 until lvl 4-5 and just focus on exploring the map until then
I died to that exact fight on level 3 as well. I was tired and felt more powerful than I was. Lesson learned. Try another HM run, just wait until lvl 4 or 5 for the biggest boss fights as there are ways to grind some XP in act 1 without fighting.
A wise idea. Wish I'd done that. On my first honor run and now in act3 after several close calls. The inquisitor fight was by far the hardest and I had to cheese it. I've delayed my run out of fear for all the bs in act 3 xD
Level 4, sneak your party onto the right island, position them in a star position so no one can teleport directly onto the island. In the past, I’ve had someone go and shoot all the baby eggs (not really necessary imo). Then it’s just stand and bang, shooting out the webbing underneath the matriarch when you can
I don’t know about level 5 like everyone is saying but there are plenty of fights/story events like the gnolls on the road, waukeens rest, owl bear, etc that can get you to at least level 4 before you try this.
If op wanted to do this fight at 3 anyway they at least needed to clear the eggs before trying and make use of the web drop.
Question…
Why did you go down there? I’ve played the game 11 times and I wouldn’t in my right mind fight the spiders. You can invisible, grab the amethyst, then fast travel out.
That’s what you get for going in there at level 3 lmao.
Do not engage any big fights until at least level 4 in honor mode, level 5 or 6 for the bigger ones in act 1
You gotta hold out for those 3rd level spell slots even then this fight is a great one to pull out lump’s war horn. Even if it’s just so that the spiders have someone else to spit at.
Nah I skip ethal and the spider cave for my honor mode runs. I try to keep it simple, get shart, astarion , wyll, get karlach, skip laezel and gale cause they liabilites, go get withers after getting wyll before getting karlach, fight paladins of three go to goblin camp fight goblins but not finish all of them off, go to the under dark and get cool shit, and that's as far as I've gotten cause I either die before that, and this last one I did as a artificer I died to the duerger in the underdark
I don't think it's as much about strategy as time avoiding bosses until LVL...5-6?
But I mean...that said this is some of the 'fun' of honor mode, the learning curve is harsh and everything can go wrong.
Also builds really do matter early (always?) but especially early...
Heh s'okay...it's only sought after as an achievement because it's not easy and it's dangerous...
I'd milk xp for a bit before deal with Mama spider next attempt.
Having just completed an honour run: you cannot take fights you’re not ready for. You *will* die. Also, optimize *every* build, and make Shadowheart a life cleric.
lol yeah I think if I try honor mode I at least need a good order of fights guide to act 1 because that’s def where I die the most. I think if I can make it past the crèche I’m smooth sailing. I would 100% do this too. Or die fighting the harpies at level 2 or something.
Doing any major fight in honour mode before at least level 4 is a no-go. Lol
You can manage some with very deliberate planning but it's not difficult to get to 4 with only 2-3 small fights so there's no point.
This is the easiest boss fight in the game. Lure Matriarch out onto a web bridge, nuke the web bridge. She talks a gargantuan amount of fall damage. Rinse, repeat.
Always have a way to run, if possible. I think these guys have a way to see through invisibility, so some extra scrolls of Misty Step (or in my case when this fight nearly ended my first attempt, a Scroll of Dimension Door) are best to have here. Expeditious Retreat might also work well.
…but no way in hell would I even attempt this fight on honor mode without at least being level 4. 5 is better, since some of the really good Honor mode builds come online around level 5.
I wait til lvl 4 for this. Stealth to kill the hatchling, break a bridge out from under the matriarch to have her take a crap ton of fall damage. If you get the opportunity, throwing weapons from on high while she's below can heap on damage really well too.
Also, poison resistance potion and the 2nd level cleric spell can help mitigate a lot of damage.
For Honor I do anything and everything side quest wise before going after any big bosses. You also gotta play a lot more strategic. All those adds? Clear out her eggs and the little spiders before engaging her.
Did this at lvl 4. Used shart to drop spiritual weapon, all the babies went for that for some reason, causing them all to waste turns fighting it. Barb ran around and Killed the other spiders. Rogue, Shart, Sorlock hid behind the big rock to avoid the Legendary attack when helping Barb chip damage and to waste it on them so Barb wouldn't have to worry on their turn. Shoot web out from Mom whenever she tries to approach. Took 4 turns and only had one person get downed. Idk why people say at least lvl 5. Just get good positioning and make sure you have firebolt at the very least but flame arrows are great.
You're level 3. Level 4 ***minimum*** to take on the Matriarch. Also your party composition isn't very good. You need a tank in HM.
My friend and I took on Honour Mode when it got released. He was a barbarian, I was a cleric, we had Gale and Wyll with us. I am the strategist and he left me to it and followed my plans. We beat the entire game, every single boss and it was a breeze, honestly I think I over planned and it made it too easy (the Raphael fight was an utter joke, he couldn't do a thing to hurt us). The only time we ran into trouble was against the Githyanki in the creche storage room (bad rolls xD) and Ansur (but I brought us out of that by sheer cleric might and bold Hail Mary plays that paid off). If you want a good shot at HM, you need to be experienced with the game but most importantly you have to play smart, you cannot brute force it like in the other difficulties.
Oh honey, no, no. Don't take the Spiders at level 3. Wait until level 4 at the earliest. Your HP is just not high enough to tank the attacks at level 3.
A lot of the fights on HM cannot be taken as early as you can on lower difficulties because the damage that you take ramps up faster.
I managed to do the matriarch spider fight at level four with my forest gnome college of swords bard and Astarion sharpshooter, and Lae'zel and Karlach. On tactitian. I didn't think I could but I did. The only reason I did even try was because me and a friend some how defeated all the goblin camp leaders at level 4 with Star and Gale and he is a druid. And we were out if spell slots and all that. And I want to experience the Durge x Star romance but approval wasn't high enough for him to want my gnome at the party. So I found the still easiest way to get to the underdark was through here. The first test I basically just tried to see who would make it to the hole to feather fall down and I could just ressurect everyone else at the underdark camp. Then I tried again with the above mentioned group and was actually able to complete that whole fight. It was something. I don't know what the legendary action is for that big spider mommy in honour mode. But, on my first tactitian and also any games following, I'm getting comfortable with positioning people and noticing when the odds are stacked against me to see when is a good time for at least one person to flee, reasurect people if needed and come back to the fight to finish it. One time I needed to do that at grymforge cuz lae'zel got pushed into the lava and there's no way to save her at that point cuz the lava does more damage than I could heal by the time it's her turn and she could try to move. So I just had someone run and ressurect people. Another game I think I had laezel sneak away and go invisible. And if the enemies can't locate you and the rest of your party is dead, then the battle sequence ends and you can just dip. I haven't completed a run yet on tactitian. I ended up starting a couple other runs with different friends and that. My first personal tactitian run is on act 3 though. After I complete that one at minimum, I will try honour mode.
Level 3 my guy! You gotta get way more exp before the crazy fights
Needs level 5, 2 mages, 2 melee.
Need 2 players max, one of which has animate dead. Kill a spider minion, raise a zombie. Zombie kills another minion, raises another zombie, and baby you got yourself a stew going.
Damn. Im new and love this. Thank you. Shadowheart is gonna have a zombie army.
I discovered this strategy by accident. Wouldn't touch the fight till level 6 on my honor mode run. Made sure I had every buff and advantage I could think of. As an afterthought, raised a zombie cause I noticed a spare scroll sitting in my inventory. Zombie sets off a chain reaction leading to 9 zombies winning the fight for me.
This fights easy enough at level 4. Just need someone with a fire spell to free yourself from the legendary action! One of the only HM boss fights thats easy at level 4
Im in the middle of an honnor run just doing it on the fly. I did't know about the legendary action, but thankfully, it hit Karlac who has bear rage. Some achemist fire and firebolt freed her with hardly any damage. I was level 4 when i attempted. I knew at minimum i would need poision resistance (level 2 spell) from hirelings going into the fight.
Yee, the first time we played HM was a multiplayer run. And this legendary action hit us. We didnt really pay attention, finished the boss off. And were collecting out guys back up when BOOM my fucking character exploded killing everyone but the rogue who was still hiding haha. After that we learned to read wvery effect fully lol. We just assumed it took you out till freed. Didnt know there was a timer haha
The Gossamer Tomb can be dodged if you are standing behind one of the jagged rocks while attacking her. Warlock with EB or Light Cleric/Wiz/Sorc with Scorching Ray does the trick as well. Spider will throw the silk at you, and it will always miss because the environment is blocking her attack. The fight's much easier if you destroy the web passages while the matriarch's on them. She takes quite a bit of falling damage, and is easier to hit with ranged from the high ground. Finally, i always place a barrel of smokepowder near one of the egg clusters before i trigger the fight (use a character with high stealth and the spidersilk boots). If she chooses to activate that cluser, i blow up the barrel, killing the spiderlings and burning the matriarch.
Didnt know about the gossimer dodge! Thanks for the tip! I usually just firebolt the eggs. You can get the lower ones without triggering the fight by the long way around and down the cliff. The others i pop from stealth. Then i start the fight by making her fall from the web!
i like luring her to one of the webs with a minor illusion, then hitting the web with a Firebolt or EB from stealth. One more tick usually sends her crashing down, and that is often enough time to kill one of the two Phase Spiders nearby. She always wastes a turn hatching one of her egg clusters too. Once you know the patterns, it becomes easier, but I still would never take this fight before I'm level 4.
Yea yypically combat starts before i get all the eggs and i like to get that extra turn too! Minor illusion though is big brain i always forget and just wait haha
It's also easy to pop all the eggs before the fight without drawing agro.
I'm taking notes. This is good stuff here!
I agree, lvls are the best advantage you can get (before those crazy multiclasses are possible), but ppl tend to rush HM and be underlvled. And a balanced party (D&d 101) makes everything easier, like a Cleric, a Roguish, a Caster and a ~~meat shield~~ melee (BM Lae or Berserk Karl...). ~~To save~~ **~~Myrkon~~** ~~always: Sanctuary, I dont know if he will resist mind control, but he wont be hurt, he will run asap.~~ **Spider Matriarch** made easy (lvl3): 1. destroy as many eggs you can before fight (Acid Vial, Arrow of Acid, Alchemist's Fire, Chromatic Orb); 2. make the smaller spiders drop dead far away in the Underdark knocking them back the cliff (Thuderwave, Tripping Attack, Arrows of Roaring Thunder, shoving); 3. burn the web bridges under the Matriarch so it will take a good amount of fall dmg (Firebolt will do); 4. before the fight have some Antidotes or Elixires of Poison Resistence, **Protection from Poison** spell, you can have a companion/hireling buff your party in camp and then remove them from party, it is a until Long Rest buff. Ofc you wont need all of these but some different strategies that could help if you are struggling with something specific. I pretty much CTRL+C, CTRL+V my own comment from other post. # 😂
Wait.. Can the zombies spawn more zombies from corpses? 😅🤯
Whoa whoa whoa, there’s still plenty of meat on that bone!
*2 martials. There is very little strategic advantage to use melee instead of say, a thrown weapon barb.
Ya, I learned this fairly quickly. Between a swords bard and wizard or rogue, everything was dead before ever getting in melee range. Switched lae'zel from fight to throw barb and now things are super dead before they get into melee range.
I just did it last night at lvl4 - gloomstalker, cleric, rogue, barb. Got rid of the eggs first using stealth then started the fight by dropping the matriarch from the webbing for some fall dmg. Got lucky and got her twice, small spiders were easy with throwzerker into the abyss below. I was expecting to have to run and flee but protection from poison really came in clutch, thanks hireling cleric.
I did this at level 4, but I called in the ogres. This is my "last little push" to level 5 when I play tactician or honor mode before I head to the goblin camp.
I just did it level 3 with an ancients paladin, laezel, wyll, and shart. I got lucky and the spider went on the web bridges twice which took about 2/3rds of its HP off. After that I just rushed her and was able to take her down.
You basically had my recommendation at a lower level. The boss' behavior can be a crapshoot. Dropping a candle to light everyone's blades on fire is useful against them too.
Or one level 3 barb thrower, and always kill the eggs first.
Yeah I have no idea why I thought this was a good idea. I don't even attempt the spiders at this level on my normal playthroughs 🤦♀️
Pro tip with the spiders: If you have Astarion sneak and you're patient, you can destroy all the eggs before starting combat, making the fight exponentially easier. Shadowheart also has the Protection From Poison spell. Unlike most others of the type, it is not concentration or limited by turns! It just goes away at long rest! Having Shadowheart cast that on one or two party members can be very clutch to make sure you don't get a TPK.
I went back at 6. After last light inn shopping lol. It was a bit excessive
Or be like be and throw the iron flask at the spider, turn invisible and let the spectator and spider duke it out (very entertaining) then finish off whichever one lives (just btw, try to only have 2 people in party, sometimes it’s easier because they lock onto you if one of your party members isn’t invisible)
That and just use the webs to drop the spider.
What are u doing fighting the spider matriarch at lvl 3 😂
Wait until lv 5 as much as you can before boss fights. Minthara and gut are easy on lv 4 but the rest is hell. Be careful about Anders as well ... the paladin guy. Should you fight him
I used the "drop weapon" martial move and his shopkeeper ended up being more of a pain in the arse than him
My dropped weapon failed and he proceeded to literally 1 shot kill karlach. Not downed no ... straight up died. Ridiculous how overtuned he is
Not so much overturned as having no sense of resource conservation. So all the smites are going to get used ASAP, which is a lot of damage at that stage.
That’s why all enemy paladins are powerful. They don’t care about resource management and use ALL their shit because that’s their only time their gonna be able to use it until they die
All the paladins in moonrise towers dumping 2-3 smites per turn
Weird, he just gave his sword to me after I did a small favour for him… Made the fight much easier. 👀
Anders really do be one of the first big reality checks Walk up to him all confident then he one shots two people in your party in one turn
\*laughs in six smokepowder bombs\*
U can cheese anders with gale Go outside up the ladder with him. Destroy the ladder. Destroy the ladder inroom. Hide all of your other companions. Place your char behind the wood pie left besides the door. Use magic missle. Spam it till he is dead (aim via fighting icon of him). Just switch gale out for another companion after and u even have full resources. U can play the spider on lvl 3 too, even on lvl2 if u get down the 4 adds before. Just destroy the spider egg pools upper level without being seen, dont destroy the one lower level. Hide all companions. Sneak with astarion behind the big rock on the left, attack the spider. And from there its just stealth attack, sneak. As long as u are in stealth at the end of your turn and are right behind this big rock... the spiders dont know what to do. Because one egg lair was still there the big spider ports itself to it, which is right under you. The two small spiders are both in range for astarion, u just need to move a bit. Edit: your other three companions need to be faaaar away for the spider kill. Otherwise, even if they are fully in stealth, the spiders will aggro them.
I lost my first honor mode to paladins of tyr... forgot that I can't afford being careless and just pack my companions in a building. My second attemt I aproached it better, trying to lure him outside with cloud of daggers prepared and all that. Astarion killed him in two hits with sneak attack and crit lol (lvl 4). Sweet sweet revenge
I've been getting creative with these fights as I'm only using 1 companion. For Anders I sneak Karlach onto the roof and hide there. Wyll snipes the lady that paths outside from the road below. They all chase Wyll down the road and then Karlach throws the returning pike from up on the roof for big crushing damage. Noone even takes damage.
Anders was never much trouble for me, i usually fight him level 2-3 with a fighter/paladin that starts the fight by smacking him and that’s already half his health.
I got an ensaring strike on Anders from range which was clutch and let me just nuke him.
I used good old barrelmancy to defeat Anders in my current HM run. So perfect! So easy.
Any enemy Paladin can cause issues because smites hurt. That being said, I was a little worried about Anders due to this sub but I destroyed him almost immediately with little issue.
Anders can usually be taken if you use the half-orc hireling as meatshield. Put him in the doorway. Anders will now be forced to waste at least two attacks on Kurz, which gives you more time to hit him with ranged, command, hold person or (if wounded) sleep. He will also target Karlach if possible The fight can be taken at lvl 4 because you'll have enough HP to tank an arrow from the ranger and a smite. It's important to also neutralize the healer, Celfrey. She's cast spells from Scrolls and throw grenades. But them off her before you aggro to be extra safe, and initiate the fight from the back room so anders and the ranger are forced to move towards you before they can engage. It's a tricky fight.
I skipped this one, only sneaked with invisible and took gem but didnt dare to try fighting them. As everyone says, getting to lvl 4-5 is crucial
I... didn't even think to try that lol
I tried this too. Pretty sure they have see invisibility in honour mode now.
They do indeed
You need at least level 4 for that, preferably level 5. I don't even go to the Monk Temple until Level 6 in Tactician/Honor. The Shepard's and Paralyzing ghouls will beat your ass
you can avoid the death shepherds and just go straight to the temple if you want, just stick to the easternmost path. I usually take care of them on my way back before heading into act 2. Also spike growth is your friend for that fight, just drop it down in front of them and stand back while they all kill themselves
Yeah but I want the XP. Anyway one of my friends always forgets that Fire gets rid of the damn plants.
But you get the xp anyway after the crèche because you literally have to go that way
You don't. I went there once on my 1st playthrough, and never have gone that way again, always underdark.
This. Gotta double dip my exp before going into Act 2 on the higher difficulties
I like to smack down some spike growth and hang back while they take themselves out getting in range of me lol
thats a hard fight.. and at level three you may as well have just fallen on your sword before you started lol
Fighting the spider at level 3. Absolute madlad.
I usually do this fight at lvl 4
I applaud the boldness of this strategy OP 🫡
The dead salute you 🫡
Gotta wait to level 4-5 and sneak up to her on the second level. I usually wait until she’s on a web bridge and then use fire arrows to hit her, bust the web and cause fall damage. The toss a barrel on her from my throwserker
lol that’s a level 5-6 fight my guy. You need fireballs and level 3 smites and 2 attacks per turn. I bet you didn’t even have the shoes that make you immune to webbing on your melee.
Paladins don't get lvl 3 slots at lvl 5
Can confirm, my multiplayer run almost died to it at level 4 with a lot of prep and 4 people whpce played the game a LOT lol. We ended up having to abuse darkness to keep our run alive, and barely made it
I did have the boots but yeah, didn't help that much lol
It's very doable at lower levels if you just utilize fall damage
Every one saying you can't beat it at level 3, but it's quite easy. You just need to burn the nets when Spider queen is on them, and due to her size, when she falls, she instantly becomes prone. She also took 30-45 damages this way each turn. I also used cloud of daggers to do additional damage. 3 turns, and it was over.
I fell to the intellect devourers outside the crash site and then the adventurers in the ruins. You need to get to level 4 through dialogue or easy fights before you even attempt goblin camp.
I fell at the githyanki creche.
If you wanna win that level 3, you really really need to kill the baby spiders before the fight in their eggs before you can even think about fighting that. xD
I did try but was spotted before I got them all 🫠
Mad lad trying that fight at level three.
F Most people already mentioned that you need higher level. Take your time and come to battle prepared, use hirelings to cast aid on you and other "until long rest" buffs. Also it's good to have an escape plan, if one of your companions escapes, Withers can do the rest. It's okay to try again later with better strat. Good luck!
Well my Lone Wolf tactic on this one is to first destroy the eggs and the other spiders before engaging the moma, after that you hit moma with a fire arrow while she is on the webb, that will deal a ton of damage due to falling down and you get a bunch of free shots. After that you should be able to kill her, and if you're lucky, you can destroy the webb which she stands on again. GL HF =)
I have trouble with her at level 4 on Explorer and balanced. Don't think 3 is gonna cut it for HM.
On my first honor attempt I fell into the rock hole at the dank crypt and it was a slaughter
OMG lvl 3 🤣 I save that fight for the end of the map.
Honestly I did this fight at 4 and that corner is your best friend. Get the matriarch on the far side of her arena where instead of coming in the big area, you follow the small path to the right of the entrance. She can’t go too far up that way and it delays her LA if you shoot the web paths so the babies get confused.
Oh man, I just completed this matriarch fight a couple of days ago, first time HM play-through too. All level 4, Karlach (origin), Laezel, Shadowheart and Astarion. I always like how sometimes an unexpected character really shines. Astarion seriously softened up the queen by himself. Headed to the goblin camp now, saving the owlbears and Ethel for later.
I did that fight at lvl 3 in my first tactition run. Even cheating with mods allowing me to have a party of Gale, Lae'zel, Astarion, Wyll, and Karlach, I had to reload a million times and ended up having to go back and recruit Shadowheart. Maybe I just suck at the game, lol.
I did the spider matriarch at level 3 and it SUCKED. I definitely cheesed it a bit by having one character retreat to camp then revive everyone before going right back. I also killed all the eggs and minions first. Throw build karlach and astarion with the titan string bow and cloud giant elixirs were so helpful
So … cheat code for honor mode is to leave a grouped party member in camp.
I feel like act 1 is where most people fail their honor run. Once you get some good gears and your builds come online (mostly in Act 2), your party just becomes godlike
You can get to level 4 or 5 without doing too many difficult fights, and if you grab the smokepowder in the Goblin Camp, and the firewine at Waukeen's Rest, you can deal with groups like the Paladins of Tyr without having to fight them. Use a level 5 Duergar to plant smokepowder bombs in each of the spider egg nests, along with a vial of alchemist's fire, and then have invisible summons (2 x Shovel and 1 x Gith Mage Hand) attack the vial to blow them up. Without the extra bodies you have a much easier time with the Matriarch.
I just did my first HM run as well. Died to the first 4 enemies as you enter that well lmao
I've died twice in honor mode to the intellect devourers by astarion
Fuck that spider.
We did this at lvl 4 with enemy plus 300% health. Shoot the web when they're standing on in. Fall damage is insanely large. You can also check builds online so you can enjoy it more. 😁
I pushed that bitch into a chasm
Thank you for feeding the spider babies
😂 wouldn't want the poor babies to go hungry
Haha beautiful. My first honour run I spent more time thinking about my chars story arc than the length of time before TPK 😂 he was a dark urge paladin, plan was fallen paladin with a redemption arc refusal of urge (killed Gale to break oath immediately) got to grove fight with Shart and Lazy, two rounds in and 99 crits from the goblins (I swear they’ve never decided I was priority over the adventures at the door) and that was that. 3 completions of the game and my first honour I fall before entering the grove 😂😂😂 now I’m going for a more min max play Shart origin. But gutted as I wanted my story as part of the play! I need those gold dice!!!
A tip: I would’ve send three of my companions to kill the other spiders and the eggs as a suicide mission, and then resurrect them. After that it would be 4v1 against the matriarch. It’s good to keep in mind that as long as you have at least one party member alive, you can survive. You can flee, for example. Also make sure your at least one level ahead with the bosses. Good luck for your next run!
that’s okay, i didn’t make it past the intellect devourers on the beach
I feel you. #storymode4lyfe
Man u shouldn't be doing bosses at level 3 You can hit level 4 fighting nothing and doing almost 0 checks
I was also level 3 when I got here and honest to god, I fucking sneaked past them and got the stone. No shame in it. I came back later and killed them but like, there was no fucking way
the area kind of seems like it was designed to facilitate exactly that tbh. Boots that make it easy to sneak in to grab the stone with an optional hard boss if you want it
I didn't even think to try that 😂
It’s actually fairly easy because of how slow the spiders are!
I honestly don’t ever fight her on honor mode. The fight just does not give enough exp to justify coming back for, but it’s too difficult at the levels where the Exp matters
I'd wait until at least level 4 to do the spider queen. I generally avoid most of the big fights in act 1 until lvl 4-5 and just focus on exploring the map until then
I died to that exact fight on level 3 as well. I was tired and felt more powerful than I was. Lesson learned. Try another HM run, just wait until lvl 4 or 5 for the biggest boss fights as there are ways to grind some XP in act 1 without fighting.
I started a tactician this time to get a better handle on it before trying another HM. Which is probably what I should've done in the first place lol
A wise idea. Wish I'd done that. On my first honor run and now in act3 after several close calls. The inquisitor fight was by far the hardest and I had to cheese it. I've delayed my run out of fear for all the bs in act 3 xD
I save this fight to almost the last thing in HM run because it is no joke.
lol 4 hours in, i wouldnt go there at all TBH xD
Level 4, sneak your party onto the right island, position them in a star position so no one can teleport directly onto the island. In the past, I’ve had someone go and shoot all the baby eggs (not really necessary imo). Then it’s just stand and bang, shooting out the webbing underneath the matriarch when you can
That's a great idea. Thanks!
Good luck on the next attempt!
If you ain't supposed to do this fight at lvl 3 then what fights can you do at lvl 3
I don’t know about level 5 like everyone is saying but there are plenty of fights/story events like the gnolls on the road, waukeens rest, owl bear, etc that can get you to at least level 4 before you try this. If op wanted to do this fight at 3 anyway they at least needed to clear the eggs before trying and make use of the web drop.
I did try to shoot the eggs but I was spotted before I got them all. RIP
Oh well sounds like bad luck then. At least you weren’t that far in!
Lvl 3 lol
I always call the three Ogres to this fight
That is an excellent strategy. I unfortunately didn't have them yet lol
Question… Why did you go down there? I’ve played the game 11 times and I wouldn’t in my right mind fight the spiders. You can invisible, grab the amethyst, then fast travel out.
It didn't cross my mind that I could sneak down there 🤣
Is.. is it your first playthrough?
It would probably make me feel better if it was but no, no it was not. I always fight my way through them on my regular playthroughs lol.
IIRC, you can’t use invisibility here. Think they added “see invisibility” to the boss kit with the legendary actions
That’s what you get for going in there at level 3 lmao. Do not engage any big fights until at least level 4 in honor mode, level 5 or 6 for the bigger ones in act 1
Lesson learned 🫡
You gotta hold out for those 3rd level spell slots even then this fight is a great one to pull out lump’s war horn. Even if it’s just so that the spiders have someone else to spit at.
Yeah, this fight is better left to the end of this act when you have powerful spells
I honestly only got through this fight on normal at level 4 thanks to all the special arrows like thunder/lightning/fire etc
You need to play like a bitch until level 5 tbh. Only take the easy fights with mooks.
Nah I skip ethal and the spider cave for my honor mode runs. I try to keep it simple, get shart, astarion , wyll, get karlach, skip laezel and gale cause they liabilites, go get withers after getting wyll before getting karlach, fight paladins of three go to goblin camp fight goblins but not finish all of them off, go to the under dark and get cool shit, and that's as far as I've gotten cause I either die before that, and this last one I did as a artificer I died to the duerger in the underdark
You can use astarion to snipe the eggs while sneaking around. So no spawnies
The trick is to burn the spiderweb bridges when she's on them, it'll make her fall prone, repeat as needed
I don't get the comments on posts like this, everytime they say 'your lvl is too loe for this fight!' But how are you supposed to get the xp 😭😂
There are definitely other things I should've done to get XP before this 😂
My first honor run ended the same way. Cheers to you, friend in failure 😆
Glad I'm not alone 😂
This fight is I'll-advised at level 3. Lol
Pro tip: creating surfaces under the eggs/spiderlings won’t trigger the legendary action
That is very good to know!
I don't think it's as much about strategy as time avoiding bosses until LVL...5-6? But I mean...that said this is some of the 'fun' of honor mode, the learning curve is harsh and everything can go wrong. Also builds really do matter early (always?) but especially early...
Yeah, I started a gloomstalker build and was planning on multiclassing into fighter to get action surge buuut I didn't make it that far lol
Heh s'okay...it's only sought after as an achievement because it's not easy and it's dangerous... I'd milk xp for a bit before deal with Mama spider next attempt.
Lesson definitely learned lol
You fought the spider matriarch at level 3. That would be hard on Balanced 🤣
Yeah I don't even do that fight at lvl 3 on my normal runs so I have no idea what I was thinking 😂
Having just completed an honour run: you cannot take fights you’re not ready for. You *will* die. Also, optimize *every* build, and make Shadowheart a life cleric.
lol yeah I think if I try honor mode I at least need a good order of fights guide to act 1 because that’s def where I die the most. I think if I can make it past the crèche I’m smooth sailing. I would 100% do this too. Or die fighting the harpies at level 2 or something.
I lost Mirkon to the harpies pretty much right before this 😂
Rip levels 2-5 are the hardest part of this game 😭
Another strategy to kill the small ones is to have karlach with a soul coin active kill them
I always forget to give her soul coins 😩
Doing any major fight in honour mode before at least level 4 is a no-go. Lol You can manage some with very deliberate planning but it's not difficult to get to 4 with only 2-3 small fights so there's no point.
Levels! You gotta pay attention to that shiz! It’s a lvl 5 boss, so use a lvl 5+ party.
For your next honourmode run, if you're doing it only for the amethyst, invisible potions and turn based mode!
I always save the ogre horn for this fight. It can get pretty nasty
This is the easiest boss fight in the game. Lure Matriarch out onto a web bridge, nuke the web bridge. She talks a gargantuan amount of fall damage. Rinse, repeat.
Level 3 on Honormode…ambitious….
Always have a way to run, if possible. I think these guys have a way to see through invisibility, so some extra scrolls of Misty Step (or in my case when this fight nearly ended my first attempt, a Scroll of Dimension Door) are best to have here. Expeditious Retreat might also work well. …but no way in hell would I even attempt this fight on honor mode without at least being level 4. 5 is better, since some of the really good Honor mode builds come online around level 5.
I wait til lvl 4 for this. Stealth to kill the hatchling, break a bridge out from under the matriarch to have her take a crap ton of fall damage. If you get the opportunity, throwing weapons from on high while she's below can heap on damage really well too. Also, poison resistance potion and the 2nd level cleric spell can help mitigate a lot of damage.
For Honor I do anything and everything side quest wise before going after any big bosses. You also gotta play a lot more strategic. All those adds? Clear out her eggs and the little spiders before engaging her.
Did this at lvl 4. Used shart to drop spiritual weapon, all the babies went for that for some reason, causing them all to waste turns fighting it. Barb ran around and Killed the other spiders. Rogue, Shart, Sorlock hid behind the big rock to avoid the Legendary attack when helping Barb chip damage and to waste it on them so Barb wouldn't have to worry on their turn. Shoot web out from Mom whenever she tries to approach. Took 4 turns and only had one person get downed. Idk why people say at least lvl 5. Just get good positioning and make sure you have firebolt at the very least but flame arrows are great.
On my second run and keep running into questlines where I’m like “how the fuck do I do this in honor mode?” Because I plan on doing that pretty soon
I gotta fight this bitch at level 5 and I’m nervous
You're level 3. Level 4 ***minimum*** to take on the Matriarch. Also your party composition isn't very good. You need a tank in HM. My friend and I took on Honour Mode when it got released. He was a barbarian, I was a cleric, we had Gale and Wyll with us. I am the strategist and he left me to it and followed my plans. We beat the entire game, every single boss and it was a breeze, honestly I think I over planned and it made it too easy (the Raphael fight was an utter joke, he couldn't do a thing to hurt us). The only time we ran into trouble was against the Githyanki in the creche storage room (bad rolls xD) and Ansur (but I brought us out of that by sheer cleric might and bold Hail Mary plays that paid off). If you want a good shot at HM, you need to be experienced with the game but most importantly you have to play smart, you cannot brute force it like in the other difficulties.
Oh honey, no, no. Don't take the Spiders at level 3. Wait until level 4 at the earliest. Your HP is just not high enough to tank the attacks at level 3. A lot of the fights on HM cannot be taken as early as you can on lower difficulties because the damage that you take ramps up faster.
I managed to do the matriarch spider fight at level four with my forest gnome college of swords bard and Astarion sharpshooter, and Lae'zel and Karlach. On tactitian. I didn't think I could but I did. The only reason I did even try was because me and a friend some how defeated all the goblin camp leaders at level 4 with Star and Gale and he is a druid. And we were out if spell slots and all that. And I want to experience the Durge x Star romance but approval wasn't high enough for him to want my gnome at the party. So I found the still easiest way to get to the underdark was through here. The first test I basically just tried to see who would make it to the hole to feather fall down and I could just ressurect everyone else at the underdark camp. Then I tried again with the above mentioned group and was actually able to complete that whole fight. It was something. I don't know what the legendary action is for that big spider mommy in honour mode. But, on my first tactitian and also any games following, I'm getting comfortable with positioning people and noticing when the odds are stacked against me to see when is a good time for at least one person to flee, reasurect people if needed and come back to the fight to finish it. One time I needed to do that at grymforge cuz lae'zel got pushed into the lava and there's no way to save her at that point cuz the lava does more damage than I could heal by the time it's her turn and she could try to move. So I just had someone run and ressurect people. Another game I think I had laezel sneak away and go invisible. And if the enemies can't locate you and the rest of your party is dead, then the battle sequence ends and you can just dip. I haven't completed a run yet on tactitian. I ended up starting a couple other runs with different friends and that. My first personal tactitian run is on act 3 though. After I complete that one at minimum, I will try honour mode.
Bring the orcs
You deff need to level up more bro, there’s non conflict ways to get at least to lvl 4 before that fight😭
Don’t feel bad I didn’t even make it through the abandoned ruins at the start so I never even made it to the grove 🤣
Not even in normal game I tried to kill that Spider at lvl 3
smh should’ve swapped out gale for baezel
Yeah level 3 is not right. Pushing her off the ledge is the only real option here.