December 13, 2016 November 12, 2023

Sands of Doom
A Guide to Defeating Grandfather Spider

by Vanessa Mythdust (Check out her Blog- The Untold Spiral!)

Here we go! It’s finally time to take on Old Cob … but defeating him will be no easy task. His bag of tricks is abundant, so you’ll want to be on top of your game. Are you ready to see what you’re made of in the North Sands of Time?

Grandfather Spider starts off as a lone shadow/storm boss with 30,800 health. However, it won’t stay like that for long …

The Basics

Boosts 10% to Myth
Resists 40% to Storm, and 20% to Fire, Ice, Life, Death, Balance
Stun Immune

If you join the battle late, Grandfather Spider will cast Insane Bolt, dealing 2,000 Shadow damage.

Old Cob Cheats

ROUND 1

At the beginning of round 1, Grandfather Spider will interrupt to shout “You Will Not Defeat Me!” and summon a minion to help him. The minion, Spiderling (Shadow/Ice; 2,400 Health), will not be active until round 2.

Grandfather Spider will always resummon this minion at the beginning of the 4th round following its defeat. For example, if you kill the minion on Round 2, Grandfather Spider will resummon it at the beginning of Round 6. Overall, Grandfather Spider will summon as many minions as there are wizards in the battle.

ROUND 2

At the beginning of round 2, the Spiderling will interrupt to cast Shadow Sentinel. This will cause him to intercept 90% of the attacks dealt to Grandfather Spider.

ROUND 3

At the end of every third round, starting on round 3, Grandfather Spider will shout “Spin the Wheel! I’m Enjoying This!” and switch the team that casts first. So, if you were originally casting first, Grandfather Spider would now be casting first. If Grandfather Spider started off as first, you will now be casting first. What will result is alternating first round casts every 3 rounds (You, Grandfather Spider, You, Grandfather Spider, etc..)

ROUND 5

Grandfather Spider will shout “Time, Time, Time, See What’s Become of Me” and cast a Dimension Shift that will steal all of your blades and shields and give them to Grandfather Spider. The timing of this depends on the number of wizards in battle.

1 wizard = every 8 rounds
2 wizards = every 7 rounds
3 wizards = every 6 rounds
4 wizards = every 5 rounds

If you cast any type of feint, Grandfather Spider will interrupt to shout “That’s the Spirit!” and swap the two traps. The 70% trap will be put on you and the 30% trap will go on Grandfather Spider.

If you cast Bad Juju, Grandfather Spider will shout “Time needs Chaos! One Direction is Boring!” and cast Sacrifice on himself.

Other Cheats With Currently Unknown Triggers

“You Had Your Chance! I’m Ending This!” – Grandfather Spider casts an Iron Sultan.
“Surprised? So Am I!” – Grandfather Spider casts his natural attack and then a Healing Current on himself.

General Strategy Tips

Pick your battle order. Just like The Rat, Grandfather Spider will pull you into battle in unexpected orders. Before you begin the battle, have your hammer port out of the dungeon (commons or home button) and immediately come back using the recall button. This will ensure that they’re last in the battle order.
Make sure to take out the Spiderling first (preferably with a low pip spell). With the minion defeated, you can hit Grandfather Spider without the Shadow Sentinel in the way.
Focus on trap stacking. Anything but feints will stick without needing anything special – use this to your advantage.
Use melts to stack feints. By using melt, you can prevent Grandfather Spider from swapping the traps.
Use an Indemnity Feint. A protected feint can’t be swapped by Grandfather Spider, and you don’t even need a dispel! Beware though, an Indemnity Feint and a Trained Feint will NOT stack. Make sure the feints you stack with melts are not trained! Potent, Item, Pet, TC, etc… are your friends! Also make sure to place the Indemnity Feint AFTER you use up the melts! Otherwise, one of your melts will be wasted by an already protected feint!
Blades will work, but best save them for later. Between Glowbug Squall, Leviathan, Sirens, and all the other blade-stealing goodies, it’s best to save blades for later in the battle. Just make sure that you’ll be able to use them before the Dimension Shift that occurs every 5 rounds.
Be aware of the resist. If you’re myth, you won’t need to worry about this. However, if you’re storm, you’ll probably want to prism. And if you’re any other school, consider packing Infallible to help pierce through.

Specific 5 Round Setup

Below is a universal (any school can do it) 5 round method for this battle. Keep in mind that this layout is highly customizable … don’t be afraid to explore other options that would be best suited for your team.

Round 1: Melt, Melt, Trap, Trap (Prism here if you’re storm)
Round 2: Feint Minion, Feint Minion, Feint Minion, Kill Minion With a Low Pip Spell (Keep it to 4-5 pips)
Round 3: Feint, Feint, Trap, Trap
Round 4: Indemnity Feint (Remember, this needs to be played AFTER the other feints!), Blade/Trap, Blade/Trap, Blade/Trap/Infallible (If you’re not storm or myth)
Round 5: Blade, Blade, Blade, Hit

And here’s a video of this plan in action! Big thanks to Eric Stormbringer, Patrick Lifegiver, and Alex Frostbreath for helping me test it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UJ4iLfIeuM