Difference between revisions of "Spiderdemon"

Revision as of 06:44, 14 June 2010

The spiderdemon is king of the hill in Doom, on E3M8: Dis.

The first encounter with the spiderdemon (in Ultra-Violence) in Doom II, on MAP06: The Crusher.

The spiderdemon, called the spider mastermind in Depths of Doom Trilogy's manual, is the boss of the final episode of Doom, Inferno, and again of the final episode of The Ultimate Doom, Thy Flesh Consumed. It has 3000 hit points and is one of the toughest creatures in the game. The spiderdemon appears as a huge brain with facial features on it, mounted atop a cybernetic chassis with four mechanical legs and a chaingun, making it similar to a spider at first glance.

The Doom II game booklet humorously presents the spiderdemon as the mother of the arachnotrons: You guess the Arachnotrons had to come from somewhere. Hi, mom. She doesn't have a plasma gun, so thank heaven for small favors. Instead, she has a super-chaingun. Crap.

The spiderdemon is not mentioned in the Doom game booklet, presumably to avoid a spoiler. Perhaps as a result of this, the game booklet for the Depths of Doom Trilogy erroneously states that it appears in Doom II only.

Combat characteristics

The huge chaingun on the spiderdemon's chasis fires three bullets with every shot, much like the shotgun guy's shotgun, but at a rapid rate of 425 shots per minute. When a spiderdemon begins firing, it will not stop until its target moves out of view or dies, or if it is stunned (where it will walk a bit immediately after the pain state) or killed. Similar behavior can be observed in the heavy weapon dude and the arachnotron.

Spiderdemons, like cyberdemons, are immune to all blast damage, taking only direct hit damage from hits. This means a greater number of rockets are required to kill them than might be expected.

Tactical analysis

E4M8 boss battle

On hard skill levels, there will be a few barons with her. You can use them to weaken/kill the spiderdemon. Near the spiderdemon is a hidden area with a BFG and some ammo. Check the walls while she's in a fight with an enemy so you don't risk being killed.

General tactics

When fighting a spiderdemon, it is essential to keep one's distance as much as possible; even at medium range, the monster's attack can be devastating. Using the more powerful weapons is recommended against it, although since the spiderdemon has a low pain chance, rapid-fire weapons will not completely prevent it from attacking. Using melee attacks against it is extremely dangerous, except in the rare cases where the spiderdemon is pinned by another attacker. In E3M8: Dis, it is possible to stand up on the ledge above ground level and stay at great distance from the monster. At this range, the spiderdemon's attack will not aim toward the player, and therefore never hit its target. Also, the spiderdemon is large and tall enough that, even while standing on the ledge, projectile attacks will reach it.

However, due to its large size, it will soak in most if not all BFG rays from a point blank shot, dying in only 1 or 2 hits. A skilled player can therefore kill it easily by running up to it and shooting it twice with the BFG before it can kill the player. Utilizing monster infighting can be effective when battling a spiderdemon. If one does not have the BFG, the rocket launcher or the plasma gun are recommended.

Notes

• Upon death the spiderdemon collapses into a heap, with an accompanying series of explosions. As she collapses, frame-by-frame analysis shows that a piece of metal from her cybernetic portion pierces her forehead from within as she dies. Her mouth, complete with pointed teeth still intact, is visible on her otherwise ruined corpse. Some have even speculated that the spiderdemon flips the player off during the death sequence, though that was most likely an accident on creating the graphics.
• The spiderdemon, arachnotron, and cyberdemon are the only monsters that constantly make sound when they walk.
• Near the beginning of Doom II MAP20, Gotcha!, the player is given the opportunity to lure the spiderdemon and the cyberdemon into fighting each other via monster infighting. Unless a third party intervenes, the cyberdemon usually wins. It may be convenient to allow the cyberdemon to win since, while its attack does more potential damage, it is possible to dodge.
• The term 'Spiderdemon' is actually a misnomer; Despite being called a "spider" the monster has only six visible limbs: two arms and four mechanical legs. Incidentally, the Doom novels inconsistently describe four mechanical legs at one point and six mechanical legs at another. ^{[citation needed]}
• The sprites are different from the original latex and metal model, as seen here. The model has a 3-barreled chaingun implanted right below the mouth, while the game sprites have a 6-barreled chaingun implanted into the base.
• MAP28: The Spirit World in Doom II is the only level designed by id Software that includes more than one spiderdemon at the same time. Two appear near a group of arachnotrons, on the "Hurt me Plenty", "Ultra-Violence", and "Nightmare!" skill levels.
• The spiderdemon is also one of the rarest monsters in the game, appearing in only a few select levels.

Data

Damage done by each shot from the super-chaingun

Appearance statistics

In classic Doom, the spiderdemon is first encountered on these maps:

The IWADs contain the following numbers of spiderdemons:

1. May be encountered earlier if the super secret level is played.

See also

• Models