Not too far into Baldur’s Gate 3, players may find a pesky spider boss fight with the Phase Spider Matriarch. Even if you don’t have arachnophobia, this eight-legged foe can appear difficult to take down. Fortunately, there are a few easy ways to claim victory, so in this guide we’ll show you how to beat the Phase Spider Matriarch. We’ll cover how to find her, strategies for the encounter, and what you can expect for rewards.
Note:It is possible to enter this area when you’re under-leveled; you’ll want to be level 4-5 before taking on this boss.
Rewards
Poisoner’s Robe
250 XP
Finding the Whispering Depths
The area with the boss fight is called the Whispering Depths, which is an underground area that can be accessed through the Blighted Village (1). If it’s your first time heading to the village, be careful; there are enemies spread all around. In the center of town, there is a well (2). If you have your character interact with it (and they pass an Investigation check), you will be able to climb down it into the Whispering Depths (3).
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Where to Find Phase Spider Matriarch
After venturing down the well, you’ll find yourself in a spooky cave with spider webs all around. The path will immediately branch, the right path going towards enemies, and the left going to safety and towards a chamber where someone was living — so head left first. There’s random loot to be burgled here, but you won’t want to miss the Spiderstep Boots in a heavy chest next to the desk (1). These boots allow the wearer to walk on webs without becoming stuck or alerting nearby spiders (2).
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Now you can take the other path and kill the smaller spiders. We found an effective strategy is climbing the cragged rock near that original fork in the path, then using the elevation advantage to rain down spells and arrows. Be aware that the phase spiders teleport to attack the party, usually going to the webs which can be broken (inflicting fall damage on whoever is on them). You might consider giving a sorcerer or a rogue the spider web boots, to sneak around the webs and put them in a flanking position before starting the fight.
An assassin can do a lot of damage flanking in this fight
After killing the enemies, you’ll find the Phase Spider Matriarch a short distance to the northwest. We recommend making the whole party crouching in stealth as you approach (this can be done with the keyboard hotkey + ).
Phase Spider Matriarch Boss Fight Strategies
Essentially, there are three methods of doing this boss fight. The most honorable route would be fighting the boss in a straight-up scrap. The second technique is the dirtiest and easiest, but won’t give you the loot, as it’s simply knocking her off into the chasm. The last strategy, similar to the previous one, is knocking her into the central chasm, which leads down to the Underdark. This is generally preferable, as going down to where she fell means you can still loot her for the rewards.
Fighting the Phase Spider Matriarch
If you choose to battle the boss, it’ll be much easier if you’re level 5. When you sneak into the boss fight area, you’ll be situated on an overlooking perch that is connected with spider webs to three rocky columns. On the farthest column is the boss, and there are two normal phase spiders in the area down below.
It is important that you use your party to sneak over and kill the three groupings of spider eggs situated around the chamber: one is in the area below to the left (1), another is on the rocky pillar to the right (2), and the last is nestled right next to the boss on the farther rocky pillar (2). A useful tool for this part are the Spiderstep Boots you found earlier on. If you fail in this task, the boss will teleport to the eggs and hatch them. The hatchlings aren’t too dangerous, but can be still be lethal in large numbers. Make sure everyone has stealthily gotten themselves into position before attacking the eggs; use bombs or area-of-effect spells to clear them out quickly.
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The next part of the fight can be difficult, but it is made much easier by a little trick: shooting the webs to cause fall damage. The boss will normally teleport onto one of the web bridges to gain a vantage point to attack you. When she does this, attack the webs and make her fall (1); this does a substantial amount of damage and makes her fall prone. If you have any heavy-hitting melee companions, have them ready down below to attack after she falls. Be careful, though, because if she falls on a companion, they’ll take a lot of damage (2).
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An easy way to kill the normal phase spiders is to push them off the edge when they teleport next to you (or from afar with Eldritch Blast), otherwise you can attack them while the main boss is in prone after falling. Using these tactics, you can hopefully dispatch the Phase Spider Matriarch without too much difficulty.
It’s worth mentioning that if you knocked out the boss (instead of killing her) you won’t be able to loot her for the reward. You will have to attack her again and kill her in order to get the robe from her.
Knocking Phase Spider Matriarch Into Chasm
You can easily sneak up and knock the boss off into the chasm at the start of the fight; there are plenty of abilities and items to do this, such as Eldritch Blast, Thunderwave, Thunder arrows, and Void Bulbs. You won’t need to worry about the eggs if you can do it in the first turn. Afterward, it should be an easy fight taking care of the other two spiders. As mentioned, this won’t allow you to get the robe she drops, but it will net you the 250 XP for killing her.
This is a smart tactic if you’re not at a high level, but want some easy XP. You might be further incentivized if none of your companions are using poison damage, as that’s the only thing the robe buffs.
Knocking Phase Spider Matriarch into the Underdark
The round green chasm in the center of the boss fight area actually leads down to the Underdark. It is definitely a little trickier hitting the boss into the center than the other chasms, but is worth it if you want the armor she drops — although getting it right away will require Feather Fall. We were able to do this by sending a tanky character to attack the boss, then after she teleported to a nearby web, sneaking our sorcerer behind her to use Thunderwave, knocking her into the center.
After successfully tossing the matriarch into the Underdark, head over to the southwest part of the chamber, and you will find the fast-travel Waypoint for the Whispering Depths. Then you can use Feather Fall to glide down into the chasm (1) and loot the Phase Spider Matriarch’s corpse (2). There are some Minotaurs not far from where you land, so be cautious!
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We hope that we helped you defeat this vile teleporting insect. What strategy did you use in defeating her? Let us know in the comments!
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Kelson H.
Kelson is a spud head from out west. He is most happy when holding a milky tea with too much honey and playing a sprawling role playing game or reading a fantasy novel. His video game tastes vary but his main genres are looter shooters, RPGs, and real time strategy games.
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