Crispin Dunne in Hogsmeade is looking for someone to check on his friend, Mary, who lives in Aranshire. The hamlet has recently been overrun by spiders, and he wants to make sure she is alright. But not all is as it seems when it comes to this task…
To begin Tangled Web, you’ll need to head to the Three Broomsticks and speak with Crispin Dunne with /. He will tell you about Aranshire’s recent spider troubles and ask you to check on his friend in the hamlet, Mary, who he hasn’t heard from lately.
Protect the Hamlet from the Spiders
After talking with Crispin, you will near to head to Aranshire itself in order to investigate on his behalf. If you have the Floo Flame unlocked, you can teleport directly there, but it isn’t a long broom flight otherwise.
Be ready as soon as you enter Aranshire, because you will be ambushed by spiders as soon as you are there. This is the first of many such Spider Ambushes you will encounter in this mission.
Spiders are most easily dealt with using fire spells, including Incendio, Confringo, or Bombarda. Not only do these deal high damage, but if a fire spell kills a spider, then you can hit it with a Basic Cast in order to make the spider explode, causing a blast of damage around it and setting other nearby spiders ablaze.
Find Mary
After taking out the spiders, you’ll need to find Mary. You can follow your minimap or Charmed Compass to her house, which is one of the nearest to the Floo Flame location (1). Head inside, and you will seen what has befallen poor Mary, who has perished within a coccoon. Before you investigate her body, head upstairs to look the place (she won’t be needing it anymore) (2), then head to her and investigate with / to figure out what happened (3)
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As it turns out, Mary had actually smuggled the spiders in, and was planning to use them for profit! A victim of her own success. And now you’ll need to deal with it; thankfully, you will find a key to her cellar on her corpse.
Find the Source of the Infestation
Trek outside and go around the house to the back, where you’ll find a cellar door. Now that you’ve obtained the key from Mary’s body, you can enter this cellar. Hopefully you aren’t scared of spiders.
Find the Nest
Once you enter, there will be a few pieces of small loot in the room you come into. Grab it, then continue forward until you turn (1). At this point, look out to the right to notice the crawl-space to your right, which you can enter in order to get a chest (2). Head back out of the crawl space, then continue to the end of the hall until you find a ladder down to the caverns below (3).
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Destroy Egg Sacs
Very soon, you will come upon a massive cavern. It is here where you’ll do the majority of your spider-clearing, focusing on clearing out their many egg sacks. To do so, you’ll just need to cast Confringo on the egg sacks, which are outlined in red with Revelio. The first three egg sacks you’ll need to burn in this way will be in front of you.
As you are destroying those first three egg sacks, you will be ambushed by another group of Thornback spiders (1). Once again, you should make liberal use of fire spells to take them out (2). After you take out the spiders, look to the right of the room to find a small cave with two chests (3).
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Next, keep to the right side of the cavern, but head back in a similar direciton to where you came in. There will be a ramp up to a higher level, where you’ll once again be ambushed by Thornback spiders.
Those Thornbacks were guarding more egg sacks, which you’ll need to destroy with Confringo. Make sure to also destroy the egg sack around the corner from the hallway with most of the sacks. Also around the corner is a book, revealing more about what transpired in Aranshire. As you leave this upper area, make sure to grab the chest that is also up here.
Now, go to the other side of the main cavern, with the iron grates. Go to the leftmost cage and enter through the unlocked cell door (1) to grab a chest (2). Just beware that this will trigger a single spider to attempt to ambush you (3).
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Move your attention to the larger cell to the right, which will be blocked by a wooden barricade which can be destroyed simply by using Basic Cast. Go through the hole you opened up into the cage, then turn left to grab the chest in the room (2). Go back the other way, and use Basic Cast again to destroy another wooden barricade (3).
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As you enter the dimly lit cave in the next area, prepare for another ambush of three spiders (1). You will likely be able to destroy the single egg sack in this area (2) before you the ambush, where you’ll want to be ready to use fire spells to burn the arachnids away (4)
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After taking out the spiders and egg sack there, turn to your right to destroy the remaining 4 egg sacks with Confringo (1). Afterward, make sure to grab the chest at the end of this hallway (2).
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After destroying all twelve egg sacs, prepare for a miniboss fight, and go back to the main cavern.
Find the Source of the Eggs
As soon as you reenter the main cavern, a Thornback Matriarch (accompanied by several spider minions) will burst through the wall and attack. As always, fire spells like Incendio, Confringo, and Bombarda are very useful against spiders, including the mighty matriarchy. As well, causing spiders to explode near the matriarch or using Ancient Magic can cause massive damage to the Matriarch. If you are struggling, it can be wise to take out the ranged Ambusher spiders first.
After eliminating the Matriarch, go through the hole in the cave that she opened up. There will be a chest and a lone, telling cage in the center of the room, and then you can continue on into the most obvious boss arena ever scene.
Defeat the Insatiable Spider
As soon as you enter the massive chamber, before the Insatiable Spider boss descends from above, you should cast Disillusionment. You can use this to get behind the Insatiable Spider’s minions in order to clear them out in advance, or can snuck up on the Spider itself in order to start the fight with a massive Petrificus Totalus. Once the Insatiable Spider notices you, you ought to use your Ancient Magic to deal massive damage. Since this boss is actually a fairly low level for the point when this quest appears, there is a good chance that this will kill her instantly, or the very least soften her significantly.
After take out the Insatiable Spider, you’ll need to take out the remaining minion spiders that are still around (1). Once you do so, make sure to check each side of the room in order to access both a regular chest (2) and a collection chest (3).
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Return to Crispin Dunne in Hogsmeade
Now having fixed Mary’s mistakes, you are ready to return to Crispin Dunne and let him know what happened to Mary. Head out of the cellar via the way you came in (1), and then make your way back to the Three Broomsticks so you can speak with Crispin / about what happened (2).
After a brief conversation, Crispin will thank you for your help, and the quest will end. Soon, you’ll be able to find Crispin Dunne in Aranshire as a vendor, selling both plant products and (ominously) spider fangs.
Graves is an avid writer, web designer, and gamer, with more ideas than he could hope to achieve in a lifetime. But, armed with a mug of coffee and an overactive imagination, he'll try. When he isn't working on a creative project, he is painting miniatures, reading cheesy sci-fi novels, or making music.
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. He will tell you about Aranshire’s recent spider troubles and ask you to check on his friend in the hamlet, Mary, who he hasn’t heard from lately.
