It's hard not to want to put the game in the garden of Grounded, between the hors d'oeuvres of mosquitoes and giant spiders that ruin your life. But there are even more terrible terrors, lurking in the darkness: black widows. If there were any behind my house, douse it with gasoline, set it on fire, then pour it on the tarmac afterwards, would seem an even wiser option.
Position of the 4 black widows on the map
Fortunately for our miniaturized teenagers, the black widows are rather recluses in Grounded. They are lurking at the bottom of remote lairs, in which you have very little chance of setting foot by accident, as the environment indicates that you are entering a dangerous zone. There are always irregular and poorly maintained cobwebs in the area, unlike those of the Orbitels. And you're relatively unlikely to come across black widow spiders by chance.
Another indicator is the presence of juvenile black widow spiders, which are very small and much less deadly, but still dangerous. They have a lot of life, and they inflict deadly poison. They are also rarely alone.
The first black widow is near the southeast corner of the garden shed. Your Milk Molar detector should panic in the area, without you being able to find the precious tooth. You have to look down, and look for a stone to destroy with a bomb. This will bring you to a small room, with the inaccessible Milk Molar in an overhead passage. You will see a hole in the ground with Raw Science. Jumping into the hole will drop you into the Black Widow's lair directly. You can try to speed through to go up the path to the Milk Molar, and attempt to fight a fight only after eliminating the juvenile black widow spiders. This black widow tends to get stuck for no good reason, but it's random.
The second Black Widow is in a tunnel under the red toolbox, in the northeast corner of the garden. Look for a passage full of cobwebs, then a web-covered side tunnel. This black widow is completely blocked in her room, so you can easily kill her from a distance, without taking the slightest risk.
The third black widow is under the shed. You have to advance in the main story, finding all the super chips, then accessing Doctor Wendell's SCA.B. You must then go through the door hidden under the shed on the right. Once under the shed, you have to follow the pipe, go over the screwdriver, then go down into the big hole full of roots and mosquitoes, in order to reach the entrance to a passage full of cobwebs. It is an obligatory waypoint to reach the last laboratory, so you are forced to go through the lair of the black widow. But it is possible to pass without attracting his attention.
The last black widow is in a cave located southeast of Castle Moldorc, in the second high part of the pond.
Fight against the Black Widows
The rather "cheesy" tactic of killing the black widow from a distance, while she is stuck, turns out to be usable quite often.
When it doesn't, or if you don't want to use it, be prepared for a long and difficult fight. Black Widows have a lot of health, and they resist all types of physical or elemental damage. The only weapons that deal normal damage are two-handed cudgels, with no elemental effects, like the Brood Queen's. But if you're playing solo, you're going to have to tank, which makes using a shield almost mandatory here.
The Black Widow attacks in the same way as the Wolf Spider, but a little faster. The difference lies in its deadly poison, not only does the Mithrandization mutation not work to reduce its damage, but in addition, the poison's charges stack. So if you don't want to die, you have to block the vast majority of shield attacks.
Unless you're a parry pro, have a stockpile of healing smoothies in order to stay alive despite poison loads. Bandages won't be enough. A shield like Asian Ladybug's, and Woodlouse Armor is highly recommended.
Booty
The Black Widow will give you Black Widow Fangs, as well as 0-3 Super Spider Venom . This venom is particularly important, since you need 4 of them to craft the level 3 Black Widow's Dagger , which allows you to harvest seaweed from the castle pond and under the shed. You need it to repair Sarah's talisman. Prepare to have to kill several black widow spiders to craft the dagger.
You can also craft a new level 3 armor set.
