What are Spiders for in Dwarf Fortress? Answered

Spiders in Dwarf Fortress can be menacing creatures that will wipe the floor with all but the most prepared dwarves. Used correctly, however, these spiders can not only benefit the economy of your fortress, but can be used as a defensive creature that allows your dwarves to easily decimate any foe foolish enough to enter your stronghold. Here’s what spiders can be used for in Dwarf Fortress.

Cave Spiders versus Giant Cave Spiders

There are two types of spiders in Dwarf Fortress — one is a nuisance that can damage your crafting, and the other is a massive threat that can save a fortress.

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Cave Spiders in Dwarf Fortess

Cave Spiders are small, annoying vermin that can easily be squashed by most dwarves with a weapon. They can also be captured using a glass jar, and their venom extracted for trade. It should be noted that their venom can only be traded, however — using the poison as an accouterment for dwarven weaponry isn’t possible. Their bites, however, can cause a permanent debuff of Dizziness that slows dwarves and ruins crafted item quality. With this in mind, while they can be kept as a pet for dwarves that prefer Mystery, Cave Spiders are a minor entity in Dwarf Fortress.

The best use for Cave Spiders is to trap them in controlled rooms to allow them to spin webs. This can only be done if they are not tamed and kept as pets, so players should use caution with cats which will naturally hunt the wild cave spiders, along with other vermin. The occasional harvesting of the spun webs can result in a ready supply of silk.

Giant Cave Spiders (GCS) in Dwarf Fortress

If you come across a Giant Cave Spider, it’s already too late to prepare. If you can handle it, however, a Giant Cave Spider can be put to brilliant use within a fortress. The two uses for a Giant Cave Spider are spider silk harvesting, for crafting, and for webbing invaders. Webbed entities cannot defend themselves, so using the GCS to web invaders will allow for a quick dispatch by your soldiers. Trap the Giant Cave Spider and bring it near the entrance of your fort, ensure it can see out of the pen using windows or drawbridges with gaps in the floor, and the GCS will shoot webs at any entity it sees.

Dwarves can then harvest the spent silk to create clothes and bags. This silk is effectively an endless supply — only herbivores in Dwarf Fortress need to eat, so players will never need to ensure a wild Giant Cave Spider is being fed. When invaded, a properly placed GCS will not only fortify your entrance, but can also have its shot silk harvested after the invasion has been solved. It is important that you do not tame the Giant Cave Spider — this results in an overall lower quantity of spider silk that can be harvested.

When you stumble across a Giant Cave Spider, laying cage traps around it is ideal. Direct combat with a Giant Cave Spider is a terrifying aspect; ensure that your dwarves attempting the capture have steel helms to mitigate the GCS attack, which only focuses on the head. Transfer the spider and release it into a prepared area with drawbridges near the entrance of the fortress, and enjoy unlimited silk and a monumental defensive partner, but triple check that it can’t escape, as it could end the fortress.