Spiders are common enemies most frequently seen in Area 1, but may be found anywhere there are pots for them to hide in.
Strategy
A spider that lands near a one-high ledge can sometimes jump sideways, but a spider that lands near a two-high ledge will always jump straight up.
Spiders are enemies that are found hanging from the ceiling in the caves of Area 1. They will only drop down and attack if you go directly underneath them (though they will detect this at a much greater length than their cousins, the Giant spiders). They may also be found hiding in pots in any of the four areas, and if an altar to Kali is destroyed, six spiders are spawned.
Spiders die in one hit from being whipped, jumped on, or having an item thrown at them. Strategically, there are several approaches to handling them:
- Spiders are most easily dealt with while they're still hanging on the ceiling. Because spiders are only activated when you move directly underneath them, it is often easy to Whip them or throw something diagonally at them before they ever even start moving. (Because the whip's backlash strikes behind and above the Spelunker, you may find it easier to hit spiders clinging to the ceiling if you first turn your back to them.)
- You can also take advantage of a spider's predictable initial movement when it is activated. Simply run under a spider to lure it downwards, then stand nearby and whip it immediately as it lands. You can also jump on it.
- However, when an activated spider isn't immediately killed, it goes from being one of the most harmless enemies in World 1 to one of the most dangerous. Spiders attack by simply jumping towards you, but their movement is fast and very erratic, and unlike frogs, they don't pause after jumping. One approach is to constrain the spider's movement so that you don't have to guess what it is going to do. Luckily, World 1 has a generous helping of 1-tile-high tunnels: by standing in one of these and whipping continuously, the spider will be unable to attack you from above, and upon entering the tunnel it will rather clumsily jump towards you, and will be easily killed.
- If you have to fight a spider in the open, stay on your toes. Try to gauge the trajectory of its jumps and move to whip it when it lands. It can also be helpful to keep in mind the spiders' behavior near ledges, as described in the picture above.
- Finally, luring a spider into a spike field often means a quick death for the creature. Remember to stay calm, though, as the same spikes that work on the spider will also work on you if you panic and attempt a jump.
Finally, while it is a rare case, spiders spawned from pots or altars in World 2 will drown if submerged in water.