Arachnotron (Doom Eternal)

An arachnotron fires with its plasma turret. Close inspection shows that its right legs have had their armor plating destroyed.

This article is about the monster in Doom Eternal. For other games, see:

• Arachnotron
• Arachnotron (Doom: The Dark Ages)

The arachnotron returns as a monster in Doom Eternal, its first appearance in a main-series Doom game since Doom 64, and in any Doom game since Doom II RPG. As with previous versions, it is a brain-like monster with small, frail arms, equipped with a mechanical chassis that walks on multiple clawed legs like an arachnid, essentially being a smaller version of the Spider Mastermind. Uniquely, this new incarnation carries its plasma gun on a scorpion-like tail turret which is attached to the top of its body. Its legs are similar to its Doom 64 counterpart. Additionally, the arachnotron now has blue-colored blood akin to the cacodemon.

Tactical analysis

The arachnotron attacks using its plasma gun for continuous direct shots and the grenade launchers for lobbed area-of-effect shots. It is able to cling to walls and ceilings to stay out of reach, but attacking its legs in this state will cause it to lose its grip and fall. The arachnotron's turret is its weak point and can be destroyed due to the destructible demons mechanic. If forced into close range or if its gun is destroyed, it attacks by swiping at the Doom Slayer with its leg claws or by firing grenades. Like the Spider Mastermind, the arachnotron can quickly dash sideways to avoid incoming fire.

The main goal when fighting an arachnotron is to destroy its turret. After that, the attacks it can use are very limiting, and can be manipulated in the player's favor. A direct hit to the turret from a sticky bomb, precision bolt, or ballista shot will destroy it instantly.

Once the arachnotron's turret is destroyed, avoid closing to melee range as its claw swipes are still very dangerous. At any point, a single lock-on barrage from the rocket launcher and a single rocket afterwards will stagger it, in case the player needs to take one down quickly.

When it rears up to launch grenades, just stay away from where they land. Grenades inflict a lot of damage, but their blast radius is negligible, and the risk can be mitigated by getting away.

Lore

After the defeat of the Spider Mastermind by the Doom Slayer, its remains were salvaged by UAC cultists and the resulting genetic material used to create a new breed of demon. While the arachnotron possesses limited mobility of its own, the arachnotron's well-developed brain is ideally suited for the prosthetic frame into which it is built.

An automated factory was set up to mass-produce the arachnotrons. As the first generation of arachnotrons slaughtered their own creators upon completion, the factory remains operational entirely under the direction of an artificial intelligence.

Glory kills

The following glory kills against the arachnotron exist:

• From the front, the Doom Slayer grabs one of the arachnotron's arms and forces the claw through its eye.
• From behind, the Slayer flips the arachnotron onto its back, where it is crushed by its own weight.
• From its right side, the Slayer snatches a grenade from one of the arachnotron's grenade launchers, pries open its mouth and force-feeds it the grenade.
• From its left side, The Slayer snatches a grenade from the launcher and jams it into the arachnotron's brain.
• From the front, the Slayer lands on the arachnotron, slamming it into the ground, before impaling it between the eyes with the Doomblade, with the monster screeching in pain, cross-eyed to view the weapon.
• From behind, the Slayer lands on top of the arachnotron, grabs both arms, and forces the claws through its eyes.
• The berserk Slayer hits the arachnotron in the face twice, causing its body to fly back and disintegrate.
• From above, the berserk Slayer takes the arachnotron by the face, tearing away two cranial plates and slamming it to the ground.
• From the front, the Slayer uses the chainsaw and saws vertically downwards, bisecting the arachnotron's face.
• From behind, the Slayer saws the arachnotron's cybernetics horizontally.
• The Slayer slices the arachnotron horizontally in half with the Crucible.

Appearance statistics

Arachnotrons are the first heavy demons the player encounters directly in Hell on Earth, the first level of the campaign. They appear in almost all levels.

Doom Eternal
Level	Count
Hell on Earth	7
Exultia	9
Cultist Base	9
Doom Hunter Base	4
Super Gore Nest	6
ARC Complex	9
Mars Core	4
Nekravol1	2
Nekravol - Part II1	3
Urdak	2
Final Sin1	10
Total	65

¹ The total tally for this level does not include arachnotrons spawned by arch-viles, nor those spawned during the fight with the Icon of Sin. Here, only the number of distinct enemies is shown.

Slayer Gates
Level	Amount
Cultist Base	3
Taras Nabad	1
Total	4

Secret Encounters
Level	Amount
ARC Complex	1
Total	1

The Ancient Gods, Part One
Level	Count
UAC Atlantica Facility	20
The Blood Swamps	5
The Holt	4
Total	29

The Ancient Gods, Part One Slayer Gates
Level	Amount
UAC Atlantica Facility	1
Total	1

The Ancient Gods, Part Two
Level	Count
The World Spear	9
Reclaimed Earth	1
Immora	5
Total	15

Escalation encounters
Level	Count
Reclaimed Earth	2
Total	2

Master Levels
Level	Count
Cultist Base	16
Super Gore Nest	10
ARC Complex	9
Mars Core	28
Taras Nabad	24
The World Spear	35
Total	122

Pre-release

The arachnotron appears at far left in this still from the E3 teaser.

The arachnotron was confirmed to return in the game's original announcement at the BE3 presentation on June 10, 2018. An arachnotron appeared in the background of the scene walking toward the location where the Doom Slayer is eventually shown.

The arachnotron first appeared in gameplay during a modified version of the Super Gore Nest level in the BE3 presentation as part of a cutscene. It implied that the arachnotron would make its first appearance there, but this is not the case for the final version of the game, where it is introduced in the first level Hell on Earth. The cutscene itself is not included in the final game either.

Gallery

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  Front view.

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  Side view.

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  Up close.

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  Rear view.

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  The arachnotron's collectible toy.