a crag spider  

I am a level 19 ranger and I am having trouble with these, mostly because snare keeps getting resisted. Any suggestions?

I dont know if I have gone into this ENOUGH.. it just seems that this is one of those gold mine mobs that EVERYONE has to try.
Now note I make no guarantees of the fighting style of these things vs different classes. I personally play a mage and therefore SWEAR by these things. This also applies to SOLO... I dont group very often so I have developed something of a rapport with these things.

1. Melee Classes. Don't bother. By the time you can take one down with pure melee they will give you no xp. Just keep running :) If you are foolish enough to take one, be prepared to die quickly. The poison is extremely strong and they hit in the 38-50 range.

2. Druids can finction fairly well against them I have seen lvl 20 druids kiting them across the fields.. it can be done.. you just have to make sure you arent kiting past something that will attack.. the critters here are always looking for a brawl it seems and will not hesitate to join a fight. Most notorious are those damn lions.

3. Wizards. Mmmm.. honestly dunno...I have seen wizards that own these things and wizards that, well.. dont :) the latter last about 3 and a half minutes before dying of the poison on their way to the zone.

4. Mages and Necs. These damn things are TAILOR MADE for you. I have only seen ONE nec die to one and that was because Broon stepped on his pet. Fear kiting is extremely effective with these things.. I dont play a nec but I always see them kiting these things. As with any kiting tho.. major drawbacks are assists and an increased level of aggro when they break fear. Mages: WATER PET WATER PET WATER PET. There is NO other way to solo these, by what I have seen / experienced. The earth pet comes CLOSE but is still very susceptible to the poison and the regen rate on these is pathetic. Try healing one and then you are oom. Here is how I kil these things. I am now lvl 25 and have been almost consistently hunting these things since lvl 20. Trust me the xp is GOOD. :

I find a good isolated crag.. whether or not I have sow, I nuke it once, having left my pet parked at the bottom of the ramp to HK. I use either 24 Bolt or 24 Shock. I use shock if its uphill since bolts are huge gas guzzlers and notorious for missing targets on inclines. When the spider gets pissed I turn tail and run to my pet. Sic pet. Wait for the taunt message. Nuke again. Wait for the taunt message. Nuke. At this point, doing 154 - 158 dmgs per nuke, the spider starts to walk off. Sit and med. let pet finish. Or if you want to see that Im not a liar, bring up your inventory screen and watch a noticeable jump in your xp when your pet finishes off the spider. Loot, med for a few and repeat. The reason I dont mention heals is because if done right, the pet should never fall below 75% hp. The regen rate is the best on the water pet as well as the fact he is immune to poison. By the time you get the half bar of mana you spent on the spider, the pet is ready to go again. A fire shield is a nice addition but not necessary. I forget to fire shield it a lot and havent noticed any real lag.

Major dangers for mages. 1 is to get cocky and nuke the **** out of the spider BAD MOVE. If those buggers aggro on you, I usually backpedal in a circle so that my pet hits enough to aggro it back on. I call this, lovingly, "mage kiting" :) Also if this happens, rather than run AWAY like a fool which many people do.. run THROUGH the spider, making sure your pet is never out of reach. You have to give the pet a chance to cause dmg before it will aggro on you. In my opinion, you should NOT fire shield yourself.. despite popular opinion. Fire shields only aggravate the target more and will make it that much harder to aggro off you. Malise is not needed.. I have only had one spider EVER resist a 24 dd... how this happened I havent the slightest.. to be on the safe side I alternate between fire based and steel based nukes.

I honestly cant think of any other classes that can effectively figth these, but the again I dont play any other classes.. I have heard mixed opinion from chanters.. some think they are cool, others feel limited by their substandard pets :) However you fight is up to you. I only speak from experience and I have to say.. 5 levels and counting off these buggers.. I must be doing something right :)

Nahualli Uoxtitla
Magician of the newly acquired 25th Summon

These little critters rule for exp from 18-23! A Little though around 18 but gets easier at 19-20, presently i'm 21 and making SWEEET exp from them so they are worth the effort!

These spiders just look like the big brothers to the spiders on the island at erudin's crossing. Those spiders there had some pretty vicous poison, compared to what they con. My lvl 15 shaman couldn't even kill one that conned green to him. I credit the poison for that. And i am sure these are even more vicous. Sad thing is i have a druid now, goign to kite this things butt, not give it a chance to poison. Poor Poor Spider, PETA wouldn't be happy. But technically, Verant doesn't consider spiders as animals. So maybe PETA will understand

Oops, bad subject, I've been killing these things since level 19 and plan to continue with them until at least 21-22 (I'm level 20 now). I'm a druid so I was able to snare them (and I didn't experience the snare resist others seem to be having) and then just Careless Lightning them to death. Often I would have to melee to finish out the battle but with your damage shield on and endure poison you shouldn't have too much trouble. Just make sure you keep your eye out for NPCs that would gang up on you (other crags, lion patriarchs, lioness matriarchs, etc.)

Right, at lvl 25 you get 7 lvls of blue. It is at 22 (i think) that you get 6 lvls of blue con messages. Therefore nothing has been posted which suggests that levels above are in correct. Unless Mandorr Wolfhound (26th druid) is suggesting he only gets blue cons, which would suggest that the minimum lvl of the crag spider is 19. But I do no think he was making this point.

BTW those suckers see trough camo/sneak with ease

Some still con blue to a 26th druid so im not sure about them being 20th. Still give good xp and great silks!

Yes, crags and carrion spiders are both social creatures. If you pull one, the others will come if they are in aggro range.
Also, at level 20, I believe your con range changes to 5 levels (so anything 18+ will con blue to you at level 23). Not positive that it is 5 levels though, so don't quote me on it.

Anyone else think these things have too many damn HP? It takes 7 lightnings to drop one of these buggers when a griff is not handy.

I have had one drop 8 silks once. Nice im going to get my monk some cured silk.
Oh and i never failed either.

A particularly fun spider to fight.. poison does about 200pts damage over time, so be sure you can get a cure or a couple heals. Also, this mob is a tailors DREAM ! I've had it drop 7 silks at once :)