Grounded: How to Kill a Wolf Spider the Easy Way

After wowing RPG fans with 2019’s award-winning The Outer Worlds, Obsidian Entertainment is back with yet another potential gem, this time under the banner of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios. Grounded, a young survival game essentially based on the premise of popular 80s film Honey I Shrunk the Kids, seems to have made quite the first impression on players, its early access pitfalls notwithstanding.

The game’s stylized visuals and quirky premise may suggest it’s aimed at younger audiences, but Grounded’s supersized domestic backyard is no place for the faint of heart. Of all the dangers lurking around its wild world, the scariest by far would have to be the Wolf Spider. Despite its size, the arachnid barely makes a sound while on the move, is exceptionally quick on its eight feet, and hits like a truck. It also happens to have one of the most unsettling battle cries in the game. It’s not unbeatable, though. The Wolf Spider can indeed be bested – quite easily, in fact, if you’re willing to cut a few corners – and we’re going to tell you how in what follows.

If you’re looking to score a risk-free kill on a Wolf Spider on your own, especially early on, you’re going to have to resort to some good old cheesing. It isn’t particularly satisfying, but it’ll get the job done. We wouldn’t recommend a direct approach until you have a respectable weapon and armor set as well as a good handle on the game’s perfect block mechanic. Try your hand at the “easy way” below, and once you feel more confident, we have you covered with a guide on how meet a Wolf Spider head on.

Update: Video guide added.

The Easy Way to Kill a Wolf Spider

1. The first thing you’re going to need for this method is a Sprig Bow and about 45-50 regular arrows. You may, optionally, craft a stack of Gas Arrows for a faster kill. These special arrows leave a cloud of gas on impact, which damages enemies in the area over time. You will, however, need to down a Stink Bug or two to get the Gas Sac ingredient required to craft these.

2. Head on over to the Yoked Girth Head landmark close to the center of the map (see screenshot below), preferably early in the day. A few steps South-West of the landmark, you’ll find a clump of dried leaves forming a cozy tent, with a Wolf Spider resting inside. If you don’t see the Wolf Spider inside, you’ll simply have to return at a later time.

3. Move to the closed side of the leaf-tent and equip your bow. You should still be able to see the Wolf Spider through the gaps between the leaves.

4. Move back a few steps, aim your bow through one of these gaps and fire away. The spider will wake up and try to chase you through the leaves. This will cause it to get stuck, allowing you to calmly unload your entire quiver into it. Be sure to keep your distance from the leaves, however, as the Wolf Spider’s attacks can clip right through them and hit you.

5. Don’t forget to collect your arrows from around the spider’s corpse when you’re done.

What Do You Get for Killing a Wolf Spider?

In addition to the resources dropped by the less lethal Orb Weaver (Spider Chunks and Spider Venom), Wolf Spiders drop a random number of Spider Fangs. With two Spider Fangs, you’ll be able to craft the more powerful Insect Bow. This bow does nearly twice as much damage with regular arrows as the Sprig Bow, which should make future kills much faster. If you’re short a Spider Fang, simply wait for the Wolf Spider in the aforementioned area to respawn, then return to the spot for another easy kill. Spider Fangs are also required to craft pieces of the Spider Armor set.

We’re not yet sure how long that takes, though. If you’d rather not make multiple trips to the same spot, we’d suggest checking back in two in-game days.

Alternatively, you may try the same strategy with another Wolf Spider. There are other areas on the map where we’ve been able to trap Wolf Spiders in a similar fashion, though not as consistently. Shooting an arrow at a Wolf Spider from elevation you will cause it to run away from you. You can, in certain situations, use this to force it into a corner.

How to Beat a Wolf Spider in a “Fair Fight”

Update: We’ve updated the sections below to cater for the changes made to the Wolf Spider’s move-set as of the August 26 patch.

A head-on bout with a Wolf Spider is easier than it may seem. The key here is to be patient. Of course, it goes without saying that the better your equipment, the shorter the fight, and the lower your chances of being mauled.

We’d recommend going the distance with a Mint Mallet and Ladybug Armor. If that seems too tall an order, the Ant Club and Acorn Armor should do the trick. You should also have at least three Fiber Bandages on you before the fight.

The arachnid has four attacks with deceptively long reach and massive damage. Each attack poisons you as well, taking away chunks of your health overtime. Good thing is, the spider’s attacks don’t track as well and will miss you if you stay close and move in a circle around it.

The true challenge, however, lies in maintaining said spacing between the spider and yourself. To help with this, we recommend switching to third-person view and luring the Wolf Spider into an open space. Clear the area of other hostiles beforehand if possible or simply relocate.

Once a Wolf Spider spots you and you’re within range of its attacks, try not to turn your back to it. Move to the open area while still facing the spider so you can see its attacks coming. Alternatively, you may, before it is aware of you, lure it to the open area using your bow.

How to Dodge or Perfect-Block a Wolf Spider’s Attacks

Now for its four attacks and how to deal with them. The first is a leap attack, which may look scary but is actually easier to counter. The spider choreographs a leap by raising its two front legs up in the air. To pull off a perfect block against this attack, hold block just as the spider’s legs hit the ground at the end of its jump. You can bait this attack by moving away from the Wolf Spider.

The Wolf Spider’s leap attack

The second is a lunge that is as easy to block as the leap attack, if not easier, but can be a tad tricky to counter if you aren’t close enough to the Wolf Spider. Each time the spider charges a lunge, it recoils away from you, often leaving very little time between attacks. Hold block just as the spider lunges forward for a perfect block, then move a step forward and land a single attack.

The Wolf Spider recoils before going for a lunge attack

Next in the Wolf Spider’s arsenal is a slower, less vertical variant of the leap attack. Let’s call this one the charge attack. The spider will raise its torso and two front legs high up in the air before pulling its torso backwards and lunging at you.

It takes the spider nearly three seconds to charge this attack, which is usually enough time for you to move backwards and out of its range, though we’d recommend sticking close to the spider and moving in a circle around to its left or right side. The attack has poor tracking and will miss you entirely if you do so.

If you do find yourself in a situation where you need to perfect-block this attack, hold block at the beginning of the lunge.

The charge attack takes nearly three seconds to wind up

The fourth and final Wolf Spider attack is a quick, devastating five-bite combo that can make short work of your health, even with the best armor equipped. This chain of attacks is arguably the hardest to pin down. The spider’s movements leading up to the first attack are quick and relatively subtle. It will lower itself to the ground, then raise its right-front leg above you before it lunges at you with four consecutive bites nearly half a second apart and a final fifth chomp after a delay of about one second.

The Wolf Spider raises its front-right leg above you before it unleashes a five-bite combo

Fortunately, like the charge attack, the attacks in this combo don’t track that well. Stay close to the spider and keep circling around it to avoid this attack completely. The spider will continue to hit the air around you with its five-hit combo, which should give you enough time to swing away at its sides or rear, multiple times.

Alternatively, you may interrupt the combo by perfectly block any of its attacks. To perfectly block the first attack in the combo, hold block as soon as the spider brings down its front-right leg. If you miss the first perfect block, hold block roughly half a second later to parry the second hit and so on. There is a rhythm to this combo that is best figured out with practice. If you keep moving in a circle around the spider as suggested previously, though, you may not need to learn how to parry this attack at all.

Summary and Additional Tips

Try not to give the spider too much space as this will make it easier for its attacks to track and hit you. Get as close to it as possible while continuing to move in a circle around it. This will cause most of its attacks to miss you entirely.

Avoid going for more than one Mint Mallet or Ant Club swing between any two of the spider’s attacks, though, unless you manage to dodge the five-hit combo. Its leap and lunge attacks tend to track much better than the other two and will need to be blocked if your spacing is even slightly off. You should always be trying to block the spider’s attacks even if its seems that you won’t get hit. Attack only after the spider is done with its attack or if it has its back to you.

Every time you get hit or miss a perfect block, pop a Fiber Bandage immediately. The bandage will out-heal the damage caused by the spider’s poison.

If you manage to stun the spider, continue circling around to its rear and you might be able to land two hits with the Mint Mallet or Ant Club. The Wolf Spider will recover from the stun in the time it takes you to swing once, though you should be able to land another hit in the time it takes to turn around and face you.

The spider will, every now and then, scamper out of your field of view and try to attack you from behind. Switching to third-person perspective may help counter this behavior. It will also give you a better view of the fight as you move closer to the spider.

If you’re having trouble with the timing needed to perfectly block any of its attacks, remember that it is better to block early than to miss the block entirely. Blocking greatly reduces the damage to your health. There is a limit to the amount of imperfect blocks you can take, however, so you will have to land a few perfect blocks if you’re going to win the fight.


Grounded is available on PC (through Steam and Epic Games) as well as Xbox One.

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Sameed Khan

I write, game, design at times, and revel in sarcasm. You can find me on Twitter.