Black Widow
Shiny, patient and wearing a red hourglass. Its own webs never trip it up.
Epic bugs unlock with XP you earn playing online, or with coins. The game shows how to get each one.
Passive: Cobweb Walker
Immune to Silk Snares, and starts with +1 charge in every slot.
A passive is always on: you never fire it and it never runs out. It is what the Black Widow does that no other bug does quite the same way.
Stats
Stats are multipliers on the standard bug, which is ×1.00 in everything (the game shows them as percentages: ×1.14 is 114%). Turn is Agility in the game. For Boost drain, lower is cheaper.
| Stat | Black Widow | Compared with the standard bug |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | ×1.00 | the standard |
| Turn | ×1.04 | turns 4% faster |
| Bulk | ×1.00 | the standard |
| Growth | ×1.08 | 8% more from food |
| Boost | ×1.04 | boosts 4% faster |
| Boost drain | ×0.95 | boosting costs 5% less |
| Spawn mass | 18 | the standard |
| Starting charges | +1 | in every slot |
Power-ups
Every bug has 5 power-up slots. The Black Widow can carry 11 of the game's 18 power-ups: the 5 core ones every bug carries, and 6 more that its traits from the real animal allow. Its traits are spinner, ambusher, toxic and nocturnal.
Venom Trail
For 8s you leave lingering venom clouds behind you that squish any head entering them.
From its spinner and toxic traits.
Silk Snare
Fires a silk bolt up to 520u. On hit the target is slowed 60% and cannot turn well for 3s.
From its spinner and ambusher traits.
Hyperdash
Instantly teleport 420u forward; for 0.4s only the wall can kill you.
From its nocturnal trait.
Nectar Bloom
For 10s every mouthful is worth double and you regenerate 6 mass per second.
From its nocturnal trait.
Stinger Strike
Instant jab at the nearest enemy head in front of you (160u): stunned 1.4s, slowed 50% for 3s and pushed back. Never squishes.
From its toxic trait.
Leaf Camouflage
Blend into the leaves for 6s: bots no longer see your head as a threat or as prey, and other players see you faded.
From its ambusher and nocturnal traits.
Core power-ups: Nitro Wings, Molt Husks, Phase Shift, Pheromone Call, Shockwave.
How bots play it
Bots fill every seat no player is using. A bot playing the Black Widow plays it as an Ambusher. Settles on a mushroom patch and loiters around it; when a smaller bug passes within strike range it boosts across its path.
Other ambusher bugs: Praying Mantis, Emperor Scorpion, Tarantula, Deathstalker Scorpion.
Skins
The Black Widow has 6 skins. A skin changes only how it looks, never how it plays. See them in the full skin gallery.
Redback Widow
After the Australian redback: dark brown-black with a bright red stripe down its back.
Brown Widow
After the brown widow: warm tan with an orange hourglass glow.
White Widow
After the white widow of the desert: creamy pale with a coral-orange accent.
Violet Widow
Deep violet with pink highlights and lilac legs, glossy as a gemstone.
Opal Widow
Ocean-blue opal with glowing aqua legs and a bright pink diamond hourglass.
Cobweb Widow
Midnight black with silvery legs and a white cobweb across its back, spun in the corner of a haunted house.
The real animal
The Black Widow in buggs.io is based on Latrodectus mactans, and its traits come from what the real animal does. Read about it on Wikipedia.