Spiders scrolls were one of the more unusual features introduced to The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Despite being categorized as scrolls, they aren't scrolls at all but are living spiders that players can imbue with magical effects and then throw at their enemies. It's quite a niche element of the game, but they make for some fun and unique builds and can really transform the way the game is played. Knowing what they do and how to make them is thus important for any who wishes to incorporate them into their build.
Thrown spiders don't have a time limit and don't count towards the summoning limit, so will remain until killed - and six can be summoned at a time! To make any type of spider scroll, players must first find the imbuing chamber in White Ridge Barrow, a Nordic ruin infested with spiders and a group of reavers attempting to control them. Once the ruin has been cleared it never respawns, so it's safe to turn into a player home and store items there. Using the imbuing chamber, players can albino spider pods into all sorts of powerful spider allies.
6 Frost Spiders
Ingredients required: Sapphire/Flawless Sapphire, Albino Spider Pods, Salt Pile
Frost spiders come in three variants: exploding frost spiders, frost-cloaked spiders, and jumping frost spiders. Combining a sapphire with an albino spider pod in the imbuing chamber on Solstheim creates three spiders that will leap at an enemy and explode on impact, dealing massive amounts of frost damage to any nearby. If a damaged albino spider pod is combined with a sapphire, however, it creates dead frost spiders which can be used like runes, exploding whenever an enemy comes near.
By combining a salt pile with the recipe for jumping frost spiders, players can create a spider that won't destroy itself, but will instead accompany the player until it is killed. This spider will attack enemies and damage them with its frost cloak.
5 Shock Spiders
Ingredients required: Amethyst/Flawless Amethyst, Albino Spider Pods, Salt Pile
Shock spiders also come in exploding, jumping, and cloaked variants, each created similarly to frost spiders but with amethysts instead of sapphires. A damaged albino spider pod and an amethyst will create exploding shock spiders; an albino spider pod and an amethyst will create jumping shock spiders; and that recipe plus a salt pile creates shock-cloaked spiders.
Since these spiders deal shock damage, they would be most effective against mages, as shock damages both Health and Magicka.
4 Flame Spiders
Ingredients required: Ruby/Flawless Ruby, Albino Spider Pods, Salt Pile
Flame spiders work wonders against a variety of enemies, in particular the undead, due to their fire damage. By filling an imbuing station with the appropriate ingredients for an elemental spider - using a ruby or flawless ruby as the gem - players can create any of the three flame spider variants: exploding, jumping, and cloaked.
When delving into dungeons infested with undead, having a few of these spiders ready to throw could be a lifesaver. Just make sure there are no followers nearby when these things explode!
3 Poison Spiders
Ingredients required: Emerald/Flawless Emerald, Albino Spider Pods, Salt Pile
Created in the same way as the elemental spiders, albeit using an emerald, the three variants of poison spiders (jumping, exploding, and cloaked) are excellent alternatives to use against heavily armored or magic-resistant foes, as poison damage is unaffected by both.
Some enemies are immune to poison, however (such as vampires), or are partially resistant to it (Argonians and Bosmer), so a different type of spider would be better against these enemies.
2 Mind Control Spiders
Ingredients: Any type of Soul Gem, Albino Spider Pods
There is only one type of mind-control spider in the game, and unlike the other types, it does not spawn an actual creature. Instead, it launches a spider at a living enemy that will stick to whoever it lands on, and for 30 seconds those enemies will become allies and fight for the player.
It works similarly to the Illusion spell Fury, except the victim will not be hostile to the player for its duration, and it works on foes of any level. An excellent tool for dealing with large groups of enemies.
1 Oil Spiders
Ingredients: Dwarven Oil, Albino Spider Pods
This spider will not fight, but when it feels threatened it will secrete a flammable oil which the player can then ignite (perhaps with a flame spider!) to set any standing in the puddle ablaze.
It is not the most effective spider, but Dwarven oil is quite common in Dwemer ruins and can be gathered easier than the gems necessary for the elemental spiders, so having a handful (literally) of these wouldn't hurt - at least not the player.
Note that by using a flawless gem to make the flame, frost, shock, or poison spiders, six spiders will be created instead of three. Thus, completing "No Stone Unturned" can truly maximize the amount of spiders players can make. Each of these spiders has its own purpose, so it's a good idea for players to carry multiple of each type to suit the various situations they are likely to encounter on their journey through Skyrim.
Skyrim is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.