Boss Guide · 01
Spider Crab Boss GuideHow to Fish — First Story Boss
The Spider Crab is the first story boss in How to Fish, and also the easiest one. It guards the boat: until it dies, you cannot leave the Lighthouse island. The whole fight is one simple loop — bait its charge, dodge, punish the stun, repeat. This guide covers the trigger, the gear, the fight itself, and the drop you must keep afterward.
How to Trigger the Spider Crab Fight
The Lighthouse Keeper's Beer Quest
After the tutorial, the boat is parked nearby, but you cannot leave: you need the Boat Keys. The Lighthouse Keeper explains that a long-legged creature has been stealing his beer — that creature is the Spider Crab. Triggering the fight is a small quest chain, not a shop purchase.
Spider Crab Bait: The Empty Beer Can
The Spider Crab is baited with an Empty Beer Can. To get one:
- 1
Buy a Beer ($12).
- 2
Do not drink it yourself. Give the full can to the Lighthouse Keeper.
- 3
He drinks it and hands you the Empty Beer Can.
- 4
Equip the Empty Beer Can as bait and cast into the water to pull up the Spider Crab.
Drinking the beer yourself leaves no quest bait in your inventory — the empty can only comes from the keeper.
Won't Spawn? Check These First
- Did you give the beer to the keeper instead of drinking it? If you drank it, you have no empty can.
- Is the Empty Beer Can in your bait selection? It appears after the hand-in.
If both are done, casting with the can equipped brings the boss up immediately.
Spider Crab Gear: What to Buy Before the Fight
The Spider Crab hits hard in melee, and punching it to death with bare hands is a long, painful grind. Buy one melee weapon:
Knife ($45)
Sharpen it at the anvil by the lighthouse door to raise its damage to 20 before the fight.
Brass Knuckles ($24)
It works, but slightly less comfortable.
Food & Healing
Eat enough seafood before casting so your hunger and health are topped off. During the fight, clams heal you quickly if you get clipped — grab one while you are already at range, not while the crab is standing next to you.
What the Gear Costs
| Line | Items | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | Fishing Rod $3 + Brass Knuckles $24 + Beer $12 | $39 |
| Comfortable | Fishing Rod $3 + Knife $45 + Beer $12 | $60 |
Whichever weapon you choose, it does not replace the mechanic: more damage only helps once you are already landing safe stun windows. Before the weapon, buy the Basic Fishing Rod ($3) if you have not — you need it to cast the bait. Add Radar ($10) after the fight (see below). You earn the early money by feeding clams to the keeper in exchange for cash and by selling what you catch with the rod.
How to Beat the Spider Crab
The Stun Loop: Key Steps
- 1
Stay close enough that the crab commits to a charge.
- 2
Step sideways to dodge the charge.
- 3
The crab ends up stunned, with stars over its head.
- 4
Run in and land 3–4 hits.
- 5
Back off before it recovers, then repeat.
The loop is the fight. Do not try to out-trade it: at this stage of the game it hits far harder than you.
The Stun Window: When to Attack
The stun is not something you force by attacking. The crab creates its own opening: after it commits to an attack and misses, it goes briefly dazed with stars over its head. Wait for that state, move in, take your short burst, and leave before the stars disappear. Hitting it mid-attack just trades your health for nothing.
Deadly Attacks & How to Dodge Them
Claw combo
3–4 quick hits from the claws are enough to kill you at this point.
Jump
If you back off too far, the crab starts jumping and becomes unpredictable, and the jump wastes your time. Keep it engaged at mid-range.
Escape timer
The white bar under the boss's health is the escape timer. If it empties, the boss escapes and you have to rebait it from scratch.
Terrain
How to Fish rewards using the ground — stand on higher ground so the boss works harder to reach you, and dodge from elevation.
After the Fight: Shell, Boat Keys & Radar
Keep the Spider Crab Shell
Killing the Spider Crab does not unlock the boat by itself. Pick up the Spider Crab Shell (the leftover body) and return it to the Lighthouse Keeper. Treat the Shell as a quest item, not loot — if you sell or leave it, the boat stays locked.
The Boat Keys Unlock
Handing the Shell to the keeper rewards you with the Boat Keys, which unlock travel to the next island.
Buy the Radar Before You Leave
Buy the Radar ($10) from the keeper before sailing away. It shows your next progression marker on the boat, and it is worth more than another small combat upgrade on the starting island.
Spider Crab Tips, Mistakes & Tricks
Why You Keep Dying to the Spider Crab
Getting hit before the crab ever stuns
→ You are standing too close or attacking too early. Create more space and let it attack first.
You reach every stun but the health bar barely moves
→ Upgrade your melee damage.
You land good damage but get hit as the stun ends
→ You are staying in the punish window too long. Stop attacking earlier.
Three different problems, three different fixes. This fight rewards discipline more than aggression.
Spider Crab in Co-op
The Spider Crab is noticeably easier in co-op — it can be taken down with bare fists when a group works it together. Two rules carry over to every boss: let the host turn in the quest so the host gets the credit, and have one player act as the airborne shooter for extra kill-score while the others focus the boss. Warn teammates before throwing Dynamite — it damages everyone.
Co-op guideSpeedrun & Achievement Tricks
- Easy achievement (kill any boss within 10 seconds): pre-aim and stand on the spawn point — the first clip is the fight. The Spider Crab is one of the smaller bosses to save this for, but you need a gun and good damage, so do it on a replay or a late-game return, not your first kill.
- Bean speedrun (finish the game in under an hour): stay close to the crab to save time; after dodging the charge, hit it from behind while it is dizzy. Skip unnecessary grinding on the first island.
- The Noob achievement is unrelated to bosses — it just needs any kill with no multiplier.
Common Spider Crab Mistakes
- 1
Trying to punch it to death with bare hands (long and painful — buy a knife or knuckles).
- 2
Trading hits face-to-face instead of waiting for the stun.
- 3
Chasing it around the island or standing too far, which triggers the jump.
- 4
Squeezing "one more hit" as the stun ends.
FAQ
The crab won't appear. What am I missing?
Check that you gave the beer to the keeper and actually received the Empty Beer Can. Drinking the beer yourself leaves no bait.
I killed the crab but the boat is still locked.
You skipped the hand-in. Pick up the Spider Crab Shell and return it to the Lighthouse Keeper. The kill and the unlock are two separate steps.
Is the Spider Crab a good target for the Easy achievement?
Yes — it is one of the smaller bosses — but do it with a gun on a replay, not on your first playthrough.
Next story boss
Giant Piranha — Forest Island
Where you stop treating ranged damage as optional.