Baldur's Gate 3 has some tough fights. Every decision, whether in combat or in dialogue, is based on a virtual dice roll. Because of this, you may sometimes whiff your attacks five times in a row. One of the hardest fights in the Early Access is defeating the Phase Spider Matriarch on your way to the Underdark.

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It's bad enough that the matriarch summons a bunch of minions and has a ton of health, but every single one of these spiders teleports around you with ease as you struggle to have movement points left yourself. This is a detailed guide on what you need to know to defeat the Phase Spider Matriarch and move on in the game.

Update on September 12, 2023 by Sharnelle Earle: Now that Baldur's Gate 3 has been released from Early Access, we can delve more into items and story beats we didn't have access to in the EA. Some of the Whispering Depths remain the same, but we have added some useful information about the Phase Spider Matriarch and other important items in this area.

Phase Spider Matriarch Overview

When the Phase Spider Matriarch is below 50 health, it will perform a spell that increases its Strength by two.

Because this fight happens within a cave, it is dark. All characters will have a debuff in vision, rendering their attacks weaker than average.

Only Elves, Half-Elves, and Gnomes have darkvision that prevents this effect.

Be sure to bring characters with darkvision or use a light spell such as Light or Dancing Lights during battle.

Equip Spider Boots

The absolute first thing you want to do is find and equip the Spiderstep Boots. These boots make the wearer immune to being Enwebbed.

Enwebbed tangles you in webs, rendering you unable to move.

This effect occurs when you walk across the web bridges or when a spider shoots webs at you in combat. There is only one pair of these immunity boots, so wear them on your best character.

The Spiderstep Boots are located in the only normal-looking room within the spider caves.

There are two different ways to enter the Withering Depths. You can enter through the well in the middle of the Blighted Village or by going into the basement of one of the houses near the entrance. The lit-up room in Withering Depths, where these boots reside, is to the left of the well entrance.

How To Beat The Phase Spider Matriarch

• Immunity to Enwebbed
• Use darkvision or provide light to allies
• Misty Step
• Stealth kill smaller enemies
• Throw matriarch into pit

Only one person can equip the Spider Boots, so you will want to rely heavily on ranged damage during this fight. Your one melee character should use the boots while everyone else uses ranged attacks.

The main thing you want to do with this fight is to space out your people and focus on the matriarch. Trying to reach the spiderlings will waste movement points and time well spent whittling away the matriarch's health.

Sneak Into The Fight

The best thing to do before the fight is to sneak into the fight with your best thieving character first. By doing so, you can take out a few smaller spiders before starting the big fight. This gives your party a great advantage, as you won't have over ten spiders to face at once.

Using yourself or perhaps Astarion, sneak into the playing field and find and destroy the three separate groups of spider eggs.

During the main battle, the matriarch will hatch these eggs to create more terror and chaos for you. You'll be at an advantage if you can destroy them silently before the battle begins.

When sneaking, try destroying them with anything that has AOE. You don't want to prolong taking out the small guys. Try to take out not only the groups of eggs but the smaller Phase Spiders as well.

Take Advantage Of Teleport

These spiders teleport with ease; however, you can use this to your advantage sometimes.

They will always be able to reach your line of sight. If you exit the line of sight and are hidden from their attacks, they will try to teleport to you. Because of this, you can move around in ways to bait them where you want them.

This is better done if you're fighting them on the lower level because there are large pillars to hide behind. If you're not a ranged character, you'll want to bait them to teleport closer to you or farther away from your mage.

Even better, if you have Misty Step you can teleport yourself. This will make the fight ten times easier if you use the same tactics they do.

Shove The Matriarch Into The Pit

Just like with your fight against the Hag, you can push the matriarch into the gaping pit in the middle of the room. This will be hard to do when she's farther away, though.

You will want to use powerful spells that shove enemies like Thunderwave, Repelling Blast, or even a Void Bulb to knock the spiders off of high ground. Without a Void Bulb, you'll have to get close to her to perform this, so remember to use the character wearing the Spiderstep Boots.

You should have killed a few smaller spiders in stealth before starting the fight, so now you must focus on the matriarch directly and try to avoid the smaller guys. You could also split your group into two. Half of your party deals with the stragglers, while the others peel away at the matriarch's health and attempt to throw her into the pit.

If you shove the Phase Spider Matriarch in the center chasm, you will not be able to loot its body.

It is worth noting that there is an important quest item in this boss arena that you should look for after defeating the Phase Spider Matriarch. On the lower level of this area, you can find a purple gem on the ground. This gem is related to the quest surrounding the Necromancy of Thay book.

Next: Baldur's Gate 3: Every Playable Class