Fighting bad guys is a big part of the job for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Taking on the role of our favorite web-slinging superhero gives you access to all of Spidey’s cool powers including running on walls, avoiding incoming danger, and punching the heck out of thugs, as well as his range of spider-themed gadgets for webbing up and taking down crime.
The thing is, all those different gadgets, moves, spider-suits, and suit mods can get a bit confusing, and a lot of them are tuned for some situations and not for others. Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about using Spider-Man to his utmost, and outfitting yourself for victory against the forces of evil.
Complete Spider-Man coverage
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: A super, superhero game
- A new superhero’s guide to Spider-Man
- How to beat the Taskmaster Challenges
- How to unlock every suit in Spider-Man
General Spider-Man combat tips
Fighting is all about avoiding damage
Spider-Man is a super-powered dude who can take a lot of punishment, but unlike more invulnerable heroes, he’s mostly just a guy with some cool spider abilities. That means he’s highly susceptible to getting punched, smacked, and shot, even by the low-level criminals he encounters around New York. Your most important mission in any fight as Spider-Man is avoiding damage because it’s very easy to suddenly find yourself smeared on the pavement like an insect (or arachnid).
In any fight, your main focus should be on the Spider-Sense indicator that helps Spidey dodge incoming attacks. You’ll also want to invest in the Perfect Dodge skill as early as you can. Doing perfectly timed dodges will give you a little time-slowdown effect that’s useful for sizing up the battlefield, plus a perfect dodge also gives you Focus — which you need to heal Spider-Man and execute Finishers.
Keep it aerial
Spider-Man’s greatest asset is his ability to be acrobatic, taking the fight to places his enemies can’t reach. That means that, for most of the game, you want to try to keep the fight with your enemies in the air by uppercutting, juggling, swing-kicking, and throwing them around where their buddies can’t get you. When you fight in the air, you get increased Focus gains, and there are skills you can unlock that cause you to do increased damage, too. Whenever possible, fight in the air to avoid damage.
Improvise!
In every fight and in every environment, there are tons of things around Spidey that he can use in battle. Throwable objects are all over the place, and you can use them to knock back enemies who are closing in once you buy the right skills. You can almost instantly take some enemies out of the fight just by covering them with webs and kicking them into nearby walls or objects. You can also pull down scaffolding in combat and in stealth to knock out multiple enemies at once. And punching people off of buildings is both hilarious and extremely useful for thinning out enemy numbers.
Don’t just punch your way through fights, though — use the world around you. Don’t stay in one place, think vertically, and use the environment to your advantage to get the best of your enemies and avoid damage.
Go nuts on the gadgets
Spidey has a ton of cool gadgets that unlock over the course of the game, and a few you can build on your own when you have the right tokens. Don’t neglect them — use them. In concert, gadgets are super useful. One especially fun combo is the Web Bomb, which covers nearby enemies in webs, and the Concussion Blaster, which sends enemies flying. Shoot a Concussion at webbed enemies and you can knock them into walls, sticking them to structures and instantly taking several guys out of the fight. Your gadgets have myriad uses, so don’t forget them.
Watch out for body armor and special weapons
Some enemies, like Sable agents, wear body armor that makes them a lot tougher to bring down, or carry weapons that allow them to deflect webs. You might not be able to web those guys, but you can electrocute them with your Electric Webs and thrown-back grenades. Try to remove the most dangerous threats first, like whip enemies that can take you out of the air. Stunning them can make them easy to deal with quickly.
It’s all about the suit
You can spend tokens on upgrading your gadgets, but the upgrades to your Spider-Suit might be more important. There are a host of new suits you can buy in Spider-Man, and while the suits themselves don’t matter — they’re all cosmetic — the suit powers that come with them really do. Most of the suits have a special ability tuned to it that can give you an edge in battle or in other situations. You can also mix and match suits and abilities once you’ve unlocked them, so you’re not stuck using the Stealth Suit to get its ability.
You can equip up to three Suit Mods that you unlock with tokens as well. These are passive buffs, meaning you don’t need to activate them to get their benefits, unlike suit powers. They are handy game-changers, doing things like reducing incoming damage or making Spider-Man harder to detect while he’s stealthing. Their benefits stack, too, so if you’ve got two mods for damage reduction, you get double the benefit. They’re worth the effort to unlock.
The last thing you need to know about suits, suit powers, and suit mods is that you can change them around at literally any time just by popping open the menu. Having the right suit power and mods for the situation can really help you in battle.
Spider-Man enemy types
Equally as important as being a web-slinging badass is being aware of your opponent. Here’s a quick way to dispatch each type.
Normal
Just beat ’em up. Normal enemies pose little to no threat as long as you follow the combat tips above. Try to avoid using any special moves and gadgets on them, though (you’ll want to save those for the tougher enemies).
Enemies with a weapon
Enemies that have a weapon are a little tougher because you can’t just punch them. They’ll block the punch and push you back, offering a brief second for the mob to get in some hits. Knock them into the air first, then jump up to finish them off. You can also disarm them by flinging their weapon away.
Shields
Shielded enemies also won’t take direct hits unless you stun them. First, punch the shield, then hit Circle to slide under their legs and land a kick from behind. Now that they’re stunned, you can focus your efforts on taking them out, or, if you have other enemies to attend to, repeat the process again.
Whips
Enemies with whips don’t come until later in the game, and they’re probably the most frustrating type. The only way to take them down is to dodge and counter, which is tough if you have a mob of enemies swarming you. Worse, these enemies can attack from a distance and pull you down from the air, so you should always be aware of them. Use throwable objects to stun a large group, then focus on the enemy with a whip first. If all else fails, you can get up close and use your dodging skills, but that’s tough when there are other enemies around.
Brutes
There are a few ways to handle brutes, but no matter how you approach them, you’ll need to stun them before any of your attacks will land. If you quickly fire offer five shots with your web slinger, you can get in a few hits. A better approach, though, is to use the Electric Web or Web Bomb gadgets to get them open, then close in for a few hits. Also, keep an eye out for them when they’re close to a wall. Webbing a brute to a wall with a Web Bomb will, at the very least, get them off your back until you can deal with the other enemies.
Sable agents
Sable agents are like less tedious brutes. You don’t need to stun them before dealing damage, but with a larger health pool than standard enemies, it can feel like they’re brutes. If you encounter a large group, use the Concussion Blast gadget to quickly remove their armor, leaving them open to hits.
Jetpack Sable agents
As if Sable agents weren’t hard enough, there are also agents with jetpacks. You need to handle these enemies like you would an enemy in Dark Souls, meaning you should get in your hits and get out as soon as possible. Press Triangle to fly over to a jetpack Sable agent, get in two solid punches, then dodge and land. Rinse and repeat, and they’ll go down in no time.
Turrets
Although not technically an enemy, you’ll encounter more than one turret throughout Spider-Man. They’re usually on the top of Sable trucks, and you should take them out first before dealing with any enemies on the ground. Press L1 + R1 when the prompt comes up to grab the turret and send it flying. You can also throw it into a mob of enemies.
Best Spider-Man suit and mod combos
The ability to mix and match suit powers with different suit mods means you can customize Spider-Man’s loadout to match any situation. Some mods are good in almost every situation, like those that reduce damage. You can also stack a bunch of different mods together to make loadouts better suited for certain situations, like, say, sneaking up on enemies without being spotted. Here are a few loadouts for specific situations you’ll come across in the game.
Stealthing
The Stealth Suit is the obvious choice when being sneaky, although you can also get strong benefits from the Noir Suit if you’re found out.
Blur Projector (Stealth Suit Power): This is an essential stealth power, great for emergencies and sneaking up on enemies. The Blur Projector creates a bubble around you when you’re stealthing, and unalerted enemies can’t see through it. You can use it to grab an enemy you can’t seem to separate from a group or to keep you from getting spotted as you move to a new position.
Sound of Silence (Noir Suit Power): A decent early game alternate to the Blur Projector is the Sound of Silence power. It keeps enemies from calling for backup. This means if you get spotted, you can take out the enemies that have seen you, making it easier to deal with bad guys or to get back into stealth mode.
Mods:
Long Range Scanner: Extremely helpful for pinging enemies in a given area; the quicker you can assess threats, the quicker you can deal with them, and you’ll get better opportunities for taking them down fast (a major consideration when knocking out Taskmasters stealth challenges).
Silent Step: This mod makes it take longer for enemies to detect you when you get spotted. The extra seconds can be enough to web your way out of a sticky situation or take down an enemy you didn’t know was there.
Bio Scanner: Once you scan enemies with the Bio Scanner, they stay highlighted on your screen, which is extremely useful information as you’re clearing out a bunch of guys without getting spotted. You’ll be able to keep seeing enemies through walls, and quickly assess if they’re safe to take down or not.
First aid
If you need health in a hurry, this loadout will prioritize Focus and healing over just about everything else.
Battle Focus (Advanced Suit power) — The first suit power you unlock is also among the most useful. Activate it to build Focus quickly, which is great for when you need to heal up on the fly.
Defense Shield (Spider Armor – MK IV Suit power) — A good alternative to the Battle Focus power is the Defense Shield, which gives you a buffer zone to heal up and escape enemies for a moment. It absorbs all incoming damage for a short amount of time.
Mods:
First Aid: This solid mod amps up how much healing Focus gives you, making it a perfect pairing with Battle Focus. It’s highly useful.
Life Support: Automatically heals you when you’re close to dead from Focus.
Kinetic Power Cells: Increases your Focus production.
Aerial fighting
Low Gravity (Spider-Man 2099 Black Suit power) — The Low Gravity power does exactly what it sounds like: When you’re fighting in the air, it reduces gravity for you, making it easier to keep your aerial combos going and chain them together. Try it with the late-addition spider gadget, the Suspension Matrix, to get multiple enemies in the air at once.
Mods:
Discharge Power Cells: When fighting in the air, you’ll primarily be dodging bullets. Use the Discharge Power Cells to give yourself a damage boost for every perfect dodge, making your in-air fighting even more devastating.
Ballistic Inserts: Since some of those bullets are going to hit you, Ballistic Inserts will lessen the damage.
Stormbolt Discharge: One of the last mods you can get, the Stormbolt Discharge builds up static electricity on Spider-Man when he fights in the air, and when he attacks enemies on the ground, it discharges the electricity to stun others. It’s perfect for those times when you’re forced to return to Earth after crushing a bunch of baddies with aerial attacks.
Webs
Web Blossom (Classic Suit power) — The Classic Spider-Suit power is a massive blast of webs that can take down a bunch of enemies all at once, making it perfect for those situations where it feels like you’re getting overwhelmed.
Mods:
Battle Tech: If you’re planning on going nuts with webs, the first mod you can buy, Battle Tech, is a great one. It gives you additional Focus for your gadget take-downs, which pairs great with…
Scavenger: …the Scavenger mod, which gives you additional gadget cooldowns for taking guys down with Finishers. That should help you create a feedback loop as you beat enemies, using gadgets to get Focus to use Finishers to get gadgets.
Webbed Striker: Another Focus-generator, the Webbed Striker mod gives you a bonus to Focus for all web attacks.
Metabolic Converter: A good alternative if you need one, the Metabolic Converter gets you some gadget refills when you’re taking damage, in case you’re low on charges and Focus.
Stunning
Electric Punch (Electrically Insulated Suit power) — This power works like electric webs for your fists, turning every punch into a stunning blow that can chain to other nearby enemies. It’s great for controlling groups of enemies and putting them all down fast.
Arms Race (Secret War Suit power) — This stun power creates a shockwave that travels away from Spider-Man, rather than relying on his fists. It zaps enemies, but maybe more importantly, it also disables their weapons, so you won’t have to deal with getting shot so much.
Mods:
Reactive Lenses: You can use enemy grenades against them to great effect, but occasionally one will go off in your face. Reactive Lenses keep the flashbangs from being a problem for Spidey.
Ferromagnetic Harness: A good alternative to Reactive Lenses with the same idea at its core, this mod reduces how long energy weapons and grenades stun you, for when one of those electric grenades goes off before you’re able to throw it back at enemies.
Charged Outer Mesh: This mod makes our suit electrify anybody who touches it, giving you a quick stun on any enemy who gets through your offense. Just note it’ll need time to recharge once it zaps somebody.
Stormbolt Discharger: Get your enemies in the air and you’ll build up a charge that you can then use on enemies on the ground. It’s like having a personal lightning strike and it’s pretty awesome.
Bullet-proof
Bullet Proof (Spider Armor – MK II Suit power) — As the power makes clear, this whole suit is designed to stop bullets. This power specifically can stop any and all incoming ballistic damage, even that of snipers, so when you absolutely know you’re about to get shot, use Bullet Proof.
Titanium Alloy Plates (Spider Armor – MK III Suit power) — An alternative to the MK II power that stops bullets is the MK III power that reflects them back at whoever shoots them at you. The trouble here is, sniper rounds can’t be reflected.
Mods:
Ballistic Inserts: The suit mod that reduces incoming damage from bullets is pretty key to keeping yourself from dying at the end of somebody’s rifle.
Blast Plates: The slower, slightly more irritating version of bullets, is rockets. Especially late in the game — lots of players have them and the Blast Plates mod will make dealing with those guys less deadly.
Threat Sensors: Even if you’re mostly bullet-resistant, you’re going to need to dodge incoming shots. The Threat Sensors mod slows time after a successful perfect dodge, giving you time to take down enemies and assess your next course of action.
Straight-up beatdowns
Quad Damage (Fear Itself suit power) — Turn on this power and you’ll crush some skulls (not literally). The power gives Spidey a huge increase in damage, so if you’re going for the direct punch-in-the-face approach, this is a great one.
Iron Arms (Iron Spider suit power) — The four spider arms that come with the Iron Spider suit are great for crowd control. They wallop enemies and knock them down, while also making Spider-Man take up more space in the fight so you can hit a guy from further away. The result is that you basically become a wrecking ball who barrels through enemies.
Concussion Strike (Spider-Man 2099 White Suit power) — Every time you hit someone with this power activated, they go flying. If nothing else, it’s hilarious.
Unrelenting Fur (Last Stand Suit power) — This power makes your attacks unblockable even by shields, so you can just pound through baddies with nothing to stop you.
Mods:
Gel Padding: If you’re planning on being a straight brawler, this mod will help you stay in the fight longer by reducing incoming melee damage.
Full Charge Capacitor: Anything that increases the damage you do when pounding on enemies is good. This mod gives you a damage bonus when you’re at or near full health, so you start a fight off right.
Discharge Power Cells: Another damage booster, this one gives you a little oomph from making perfect dodges, because while you might dish out a lot of punishment, you still have to make sure to avoid getting hit.