The Spider is one of the fastest light mechs to hit the battlefield all the way from the Succession Wars to the ilClan era. It’s also one of the mechs you start with in the Battletech video game, usually piloted by Dekker, and is the core reason he has a reputation for getting killed. As fast as most Locusts, the Spider trades armor and sometimes firepower to be able to jump further than either a Stinger or Wasp, leaving it firmly at the top of the pile for mobility, at least in early eras.

Peri: The Spider is in my top 10 most used light mechs. It looks cool as hell and behaves so well on the tabletop. It is a horrible failure of a mech in most of the video games because of how jump jets are usually simulated, but on the tabletop where you can really take advantage of that mobility the Spider has a ton of value.

Chassis

Weighing in at a beefy 30 tons, the Spider is a standard Battlemech that’s able to change engine, structure, and armor as needed. It does consistently keep to an 8/12/8 movement profile, which does keep it reasonably consistently carrying only 50-75% max armor and relatively light weapons.

Variants

These mechs have all been reviewed based on a standard F through S scale, which you can find described on our landing page here (along with all of our other ‘mech reviews, the name of the box you can buy to get any of the mechs we have covered, and our general methodology).

SDR-5D

With 56/105 armor, this variant really doesn’t like getting hit by much of anything at all. Only 8 armor on the center torso means that a PPC hit (or any sort of large pulse, in later eras) will go internal. Offensive weapons consist of a medium laser and a flamer – it can clear infantry passably well, but so can most things, and that single medium laser won’t be doing a whole lot to mechs. Like many spiders, it’s best used for games involving objectives rather than straight combat – high mobility and two hands in arms without weapons tends to work well there. At 524 BV it’s not particularly expensive, but it’s not doing much in combat.

My rating: C-

Peri: While I do take other Spiders more often than not, the base Spider does have some value just for being this cheap. Sub-600 BV mechs have to really fuck up to be actively bad, and the 5D isn’t really fucking up anywhere.

My rating: C

SDR-5K

Mostly similar to the -5D, this makes some terrible awful no good very bad choices by trading the flamer and two heat sinks for a pair of machine guns. Congrats, you now jump 6 and are explosive. 503 BV is technically cheaper but 21 BV is rarely making or breaking a lance.

My rating: D

SDR-5V

This is the variant typically treated as the standard spider – it’s got all the same mobility and lack of armor as the -5D, but is armed with a pair of medium lasers. Mostly, you’re going to run in, shoot with your medium lasers, and jump back out. While a full 8 hex jump and both lasers only heats you to +4, the attacker move mod from jumping in is likely going to screw up your accuracy, so you mostly want to run in and take the risk of being hit. At 622 BV it does this adequately, but still isn’t actually good at combat, just being annoying.

My rating: C+

Peri: Once again, mechs at this price point have to be genuinely unusable to actually be bad choices. If you are playing with objectives, an 8 hex jumper with a pair of MLs and a dream is pretty awesome for 622.

SDR-7K

A pretty fully upgraded spider, the -7K makes use of a light engine, double heat sinks, ferro-fibrous armor, and endo steel internals to fit nearly max armor on as well as a pair of medium pulse lasers, turning this into a proper combat mech. The pulses and high speed make it effective hunting other lights, and even if it’s needing to use jump jets to backstab a heavier mech it’ll actually be able to hit. 15 points of armor in the CT and 10 in each side is also enough to weather some incidental fire, though like all lights it’ll eat shit if focused down. 752 is a little on the high side for something that can only do 12 damage, but it’s not too bad.

My rating: B+

Peri: This is the Spider I use far and away the most often. It has a really nice blend of price, armor, and firepower. It might die if it gets focused on, but anyone focusing shots on a 752 BV light mech with +4 TMM is probably going to feel bad about shooting it. Makes a great partner for a Javelin 12N, it can punch holes that the 12N’s SRMs can exploit, and both mechs have the same movement.

SRD-7K2

An alternative to the -7K, this drops a little armor and a jump jet to pack on an ER large laser instead of the medium pulses. At 884 BV it’s a fast sniper that doesn’t actually do much damage.

My rating: D

Peri: Ok hear me out, hear me out. I have gotten a lot of good use out of Pack Hunters lately, which are also jump 7 sniper mechs. This is around the cost of a Panther, and while it does have thinner armor and lower damage than a Panther, going from +2 on the jump to +4 is a huge increase in practical durability from that TMM. I haven’t ever used this variant but I am 100% going to test it, I think it might genuinely have some real play as a mid range annoy-o-tron that the enemy will waste shots on.

SDR-7KC

Another version of the -7K, this is armed with a light PPC and c3 slave. It’s only real job is to dance around being annoying at whatever short range is useful for the rest of your lance, and the light PPC means that it still has at least a chance to hit while it’s doing that. Useless if you aren’t running c3, but at 732 BV it’s not a bad spotter if you are.

My rating: C

Peri: Like I said up above with the 7K2, this sort of jump 7+ long range nuisance is something I have been experimenting with and think could have some real play if in a list that can support it.

SDR-7Kr

Yet another tweak to the -7K, this is the opposite of the -7KC. With angel ECM and a single medium pulse it disrupts c3 networks and harasses light spotters, but it’s gone up to 775 BV and can only do 6 damage. You really only want this if you know you’re facing c3.

My rating: D

SDR-7M

This used endo-steel and ferro fibrous, but not a light or XL engine, to upgrade the 5V’s medium lasers to medium pulses, while somehow finding a little bit of armor to actually drop. Theoretically it’s slightly better, in practice it’s basically exactly the same – down to costing an almost identical 621 BV.

My rating: C+

SDR-8K

Armed with a snub PPC and capacitor, this takes being a backstabber pretty close to the logical end point. While I usually don’t like PPC capacitors, this uses it about as well as possible – charge the PPC from safety, run or jump to someone’s back, hit them for 15 damage, then either die or jump out. It’s not a mech that’s hardly ever going to be trading shots for multiple turns in a row. 1007 BV is the most expensive spider – it’s also the only one that can take someone’s head off.

My rating: B-

Peri: This mech rips. The usual issue of PPC capacitors is that you have to take a turn off from shooting, and this Spider easily sidesteps that disadvantage by being fully capable of jumping away from any and all things that could try to take advantage of that gap. Plus, the Spider is fast and mobile enough to get behind people, and the overwhelming majority of mechs have less that 15 points of rear torso armor. This is potentially a very dangerous mech for a very reasonable price. I’d need to get some playtime in with this specific variant but my gut says it would be pretty good.

SDR-8M

This is a -7M with double heat sinks. It’s identical in every other way, down to costing 621 BV. Never take the -7M if you can take this, but also it doesn’t actually meaningfully improve performance.

My rating: C+

SDR-8R

One of the rare variants to not move at 8/12/8, some run speed has been traded to mount improved jump jets, pushing this to 7/11/10. For durability, this is a better move profile – 12 run or 8 jump are both +4 TMM, while 10 jump is just enough to hit +5 – doing that with a run would require moving 18 hexes. It does mean that you’ll always be jumping to get that TMM, as this is another very lightly armored variant, and being armed with a pair of ER medium lasers isn’t great when you’ll be at +3 AMM all the time. 694 BV is again a little high for the damage output, but the speed can come in handy.

My rating: C+

Peri: This is an incredible piece for objective play. +5 TMM means you are just not getting hit, so it is very safe for the 8R to jump in, do an objective/claim a zone, and then jump out. Your opponent is also going to feel bad shooting at it, and upgrading to a gunnery 3 pilot to offset the jumping penalty is very affordable on a mech this cheap. Running a pair of these at 3/4 is quite good, you stay cheap but can threaten a PSR between both mechs while being functionally unhittable without dedicated anti-light weapons.

SDR-8X

Another variant trying for that 10 jump breakpoint, this instead does it with a partial wing, retaining the 8/12 ground speed. It also stays well armored (for a 30 tonner), and runs a pair of medium pulses to give it much more effective offense. 765 BV is higher than the -8R, but only barely higher than the -7K that it beats in every regard.

My rating: A-

Peri: This is a better version of the 8R and all of my advice still applies. If you pay for the point of gunnery you have TMMs that are the same as a normal mech standing still, while you are generating a +5 TMM from movement. Extremely good and cool mech.

SDR-8Xr

A slight variation on the 8X, this trades the medium pulses for 5 small lasers and a sword. The small lasers are a slight increase in damage (and loss in accuracy and range) over the medium pulses, but the sword is pointless for anything but style points – it does all of 4 damage on a hit. Big whoop (don’t get close enough for people to melee your spider). 754 BV isn’t enough cheaper than the 8X to make up for the reduced accuracy and less effectiveness at hunting other fast units.

My rating: C+

Peri: I give this an A+ just because Porble did the sickest fucking conversion for this variant. I just wish it had a Vibroblade.

SDR-9M

Someone somewhere decided they were tired of spiders that don’t do enough damage, so they shoved a pair of medium variable speed pulses in here. the 8/12/8 move profile is retained, and while armor does drop to 76/105 it’s still enough to take a hit. And this thing hits like a truck – against most targets you won’t have a problem getting into short range, where each of those pulses is 9 damage with a -3 hit modifier. Not quite enough to force a PSR on it’s own, sadly, but a terrifying amount of damage, especially since this thing only costs 687 BV for some reason. You will never regret putting this in your force.

My rating: S-

Peri: S might be a bit high, but this is an extremely threatening mech. If you haven’t used a hyper-fast mech with a pair of MVSPs, you are missing out. This thing eats back armor and other light mechs alive. Bring a 3/4 pilot and even other light mechs are going to really struggle to avoid a hit. When your base hit number while jumping is a 3, you can get away with a lot. If you use it right, nothing lighter than 35 tons should be allowed to exist on the same table as you. This is a light mech annihilator more than it is a light mech hunter, and it is the prime, distilled form of the Spider. This is in competition with the Gunsmith, the Wraith, and the Rec Guide Cicada for the title of “Best Light Mech Hunter in BattleTech”. If you have a friend who is smug about light mechs or Fire Moth Ps, bring a couple of these and make sausages out of them.

SDR-10K

Designed to face off against mechs running precision autocannon ammo, this drops back down to roughly 50% armor coverage, but is running ballistic-reinforced, so it’s essentially fully armored against missiles and autocannons. For weapons it’s got a large re-engineered laser, which isn’t bad for the cost but also isn’t great. At 824 BV this has gone way up in cost, and it’s using the fancy armor in a way I think is particularly bad – running low total armor in the hopes of being normally armored against the target. Unfortunately, in 3143 this is solidly in the land of pulse lasers, which will rip it in half.

My rating: D

SDR-C

Another c3 variant, this is worse in every way than the -7KC. It’s barely armored and runs one medium pulse and one regular old medium laser, so it’s not actually good at anything. 616 BV is cheaper, but not enough cheaper when you’re getting just barely over half as much armor.

My rating: D

Conclusion

The spider is absolutely a fast as hell light mech. It maintains that across all the variants – even the one that drops engine size only does so to let it jump further. Most of the time in doing so it’s making enough tradeoffs in armor and weapons that it’s not a particularly effective combatant, but when it does pull everything together it’s great. The SDR-9M is an absolutely terrifying mech (and especially useful if you need to escalate against someone running Fire Moth Ps as it’ll eat it for breakfast), but if you aren’t escalating with it watch out that you don’t cause an arms race.

Peri: The 9M is the standout variant of this mech, but I personally mostly use the other pulse Spiders. Once you pull out a 9M, you are forcing everyone locally to respond to it and run their own light mech hunters. The Fire Moth P (or H in certain metas) can also provoke that response, but the Fire Moth P is very weak against dedicated light mech hunters with VSPs and high jump values, if you use it wrong. The Spider is a damn good light mech that does exactly what Light Mechs should do with basically no deviations. It is easy to fit a Spider in a force, and a lot of people already have one laying around because it came with the Cyclops and Thug. Even the 7K and 7M can eat the lunch money of most other light mechs with the right tactics, and are much less likely to cause mutually assured destruction compared to the 9M.

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.