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[DurianGrey]

I am asking this since I just took down my first one, after many, many tries.

I had just lost track of one of my companions, and the other one got killed by some troglodytes. Somehow.
I eventually managed to lead the giant cave spider to a narrow passage. I set fire to everything, hoping that the flames would burn the webs before I got killed (that didn't work, by the way).
At some point, the beast crawled up a wall and just... sat there.
Climbing up to it was out of the question, so I threw my pickaxe at it. And then my shield. That didn't do much.
Then I threw some acorns at it. Again, not very effective.
However, when I threw an almond at it, the spider lost its grip on the wall (I think I managed to damage all of its left legs). It plummeted to the ground, almost on top of me, and died on impact.

Rather amusing, but there must be better ways to deal with those guys. Any tips?

[peasant cretin]

Giant cave spiders (GCSs), like dwarf/kobold non-player characters, have 10K low light vision, which means they have 20 tile view range underground.

Traveling in low light conditions, player character or NPC humans/elves can see for 3 tiles in any direction, while goblins with 100 low light vision, have a slightly better 6. If your character is one of these guys, they'll want as many companions as possible. There's no guarantee companions will help either by fighting, or by occupying the GCS's attention while you swing away.

If you are a dwarf/kobold, you can see the full 25 tiles, not just the NPC limit of 20. This means you have a safety pocket of 21-25 tiles, and if you are traveling with ambusher set to on, you'll also be able to see the big red EXTRAVISION field of the GCS well before it sees you.

With web sprayers, here are a few things to think about managing (see the raws for GSC: creature_subterranean.txt):
— Web will be triggered only when your character is 5 tiles away
— Web has a 30 tick cool down period after being sprayed
— Web, like fire, is restricted to the z-level on which it was targeted

I think it's useful to think of a GCS as an organic, level zero, no-skill, web spraying titan/forgotten beast (titans and FBs are level 6 fighter/dodger/etc skills). Versus any webber, you'll want to mass your advantages and diminish the NPC in any way you can.

So, based on playing vanilla DF as a solo peasant melee dwarf with the full 25 tile view range, my character will want begin the encounter by inflicting penalties and will want the % buffs from being at Focused!.

There's grounding via thrown/fired missile, where for every action they get you will get between to 2-3. As a standing attacker, you'll get double momentum for damage on all your swings versus the grounded opponent.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Damage/power values from Toady's DF Talk 21: http://www.bay12games.com/media/df_talk_21_transcript.html and Urist Da Vinci's incredibly useful Combat mechanics (pulping) and material/creature properties [0.40.xx] thread http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=142372.msg5580805#msg5580805 have mostly overlapping info.

Here's Urist Da Vinci's:
Quick Attack subtracts 1 tick from both the PREPARE_AND_RECOVER --> Momentum x0.5
Standard Attack does not add or subtract anything from PREPARE_AND_RECOVER --> Momentum +/-0
Heavy Attack will add 1 tick to both the PREPARE_AND_RECOVER --> Momentum x1.5
***Precise Attack will add ~2~ ticks to the PREPARE and 0 ticks to RECOVER --> Momentum is same as standard
Wild Attack subtracts 1 tick from the PREPARE, but adds *2* ticks to RECOVER  --> Momentum x1.5


***The main area where Toady and Urist Da Vinci differ is over precise attack's damage boost.

Normal weapon use momentum numbers appear in line with 0.34.11, except that there appears to be an additional x2 multiplier on top of everything if the opponent is prone.

Also, as the GCS is organic, there's making it sick with a gut shot. If sickened, it'll act half as often and have been debuffed by 50%(?) IIRC. Best to inflict both penalties if possible, but if you're under the 20 tile cut off, the GCS will be active and this will limit your chances to debuff.

Penalties logged, my character will sprint towards the now injured webber. 6 tiles away from it, my character will jump to trigger web spray (need that cool down period for swings) and land with one tile separation between himself and the GCS. You don't quite want adjacent tile landing as that tile may be filled with web. You also don't want to land on the webber as it will dodge and eat up cool down tick time. If you failed to ground the webber, you should get about 2-3 swings, before the cool down period ends and it can begin shooting web again.

Swing accuracy is based on weapon skill. So versus a zero skill web critter, you kinda want maybe 5-6 levels on it. Were I fielding a true melee, I'd go with lvl 8 skills as I'm a chickenhearted over-prepper.

Swing damage is based on material type and character strength. Character strength is modified by character size. A large sized dwarf with high strength = average size human with superior strength.

The above said, what I'd prefer to do since my character is usually an archer-ranger, is shoot the GCS to death from the 21-25 tile safety pocket and never worry about the web.

[Untrustedlife]

I am asking this since I just took down my first one, after many, many tries.

I had just lost track of one of my companions, and the other one got killed by some troglodytes. Somehow.
I eventually managed to lead the giant cave spider to a narrow passage. I set fire to everything, hoping that the flames would burn the webs before I got killed (that didn't work, by the way).
At some point, the beast crawled up a wall and just... sat there.
Climbing up to it was out of the question, so I threw my pickaxe at it. And then my shield. That didn't do much.
Then I threw some acorns at it. Again, not very effective.
However, when I threw an almond at it, the spider lost its grip on the wall (I think I managed to damage all of its left legs). It plummeted to the ground, almost on top of me, and died on impact.

Rather amusing, but there must be better ways to deal with those guys. Any tips?

Recently I was attacked by a ton of giant cave spiders in a kobold cave. (They tame them) I managed to take out 11 of the giant cave spiders before being overwhelmed (it’s like there was a hundred of them). I killed them in one hit by slashing them in the cehpelothorax . So aim for the cehelethorax.

[Castlecliff]

Cook them over an open fire and enjoy the juicy crunch that caveys have to offer.
A little dandelion salad and some willow bark tea for a full meal that will set you up for a comfortable sleep in the depths of the world while your insides are bashed to a thick paste.
What the fuck are you doing down there, run for your life. Adventuring is not for you