Araneae

Queen Araneae the Shadow Weaver is the Spider Queen, residing within the Caverns of Araneae in Act I. She's a mid-act boss during the quest Trailing the Coven.

Background

Araneae's story is explored solely through lore books and journals that are dropped within the spider caves. Her narrative and exposition revolve around manipulation from Leoric and Lazarus during Leoric's reign of madness.

The Spider Queen

From the ramblings of Deckard Cain:

Rumor has it that Lazarus loosed a silent terror in the caves near Leoric's Manor before he died. He labored for weeks under a group of unusually large spiders, and many of his servants quietly disappeared during this time...The largest creature lead the others into the caves. None who have ventured there have returned.

Torn Letter

From Leoric:

Chancellor Eamon, It is of the utmost importance that we secure my manor from the traitorous rabble in Tristram. The caves to the east are too close to my land! They must be blocked—completely obstructed. I believe the archbishop Lazarus has magically bound some arachnids of late. They may serve us well...

Torn Letter's Response

From Chancellor Eamon:

Royal Guard, With great pain, I must admit that our king is no longer able to separate reason from madness. He orders the caverns to be filled with the archbishop's monstrous creations and will hear nothing else. Perhaps the legendary ancients themselves once dwelled there... but now we must desecrate their ruins.

Boss Abilities

The fight with Araneae is very straight-forward. She only has a small handful of abilities to choose from, moves and attacks slowly, and will retreat periodically during the battle to have the hero battle her minions.

• Vomit - The queen will vomit green, poisonous slime onto the floor at the foot of the player dealing moderate damage over time.

• Web Spit - The queen will fire off a glob of webbing at the floor to slow a hero when they are out of melee range.

• Charge - The queen will rear back, charging the player with a small knockback. This usually precedes her casting her vomit ability.

• Summon Minions - The queen will retreat into one of the cavernous holes in the arena, and multiple spiders will emerge to challenge the hero. The spiders themselves have no special abilities outside of their normal web spit.

• Spiderlings - On occasion, the queen will summon a small handful of tiny spiderlings to get squashed by the hero.

• Plagued - Araneae has the Plagued modifier.

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  The Spider Queen in-game.

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  A Barbarian battling her minions.

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  Vomit.

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  Her web spit on the ground.

Media

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  The Spider Queen.