Black Widow
EBF5
EBF4
The Black Widow is a Dark-elemental bow available for Anna in Epic Battle Fantasy 4 and 5.
Description
The Black Widow is a black metal bow vaguely designed to resemble a spider's head. It has two jagged projections on the tips of its limbs and a pair of smaller ones near the grips. Eight red gems are set in the bow behind the smaller projections to resemble clusters of eyes; two large ones and six smaller ones.
In EBF5, the Black Widow gained red velvet details around the grip and at the base of its limbs. These details become brown when the bow is wielded by Annabelle.
The Black Widow is typically an offensive support bow with good Attack, Dark and Curse resistances, the ability to counter enemy blows with Anna's Normal Attack, and the ability to lower enemy stats and/or apply ailments with its special effects. However, it tends to lack other stats aside from a below-average Magic Attack boost, and its ability to empower Dark attacks is largely incompatible with Anna's skill set.
Epic Battle Fantasy 4
True to its name, the Black Widow specializes in degrading enemy defenses with its ability to Curse the victims of its weapon-elemental skills. It provides solid Attack (tied with the Crimson Dragon for the third-highest Attack among bows outside of the Premium Pack, fourth-highest otherwise), but its Magic Attack is mediocre and it has no other stat boosts. Additionally, Anna is unable to effectively make use of its boost to Dark skills; it can unleash Dark Spikes on occasion, but this isn't especially powerful.
The Black Widow is most notable for its Normal Attack counter, which can let Anna passively spread status effects while dealing a little extra damage via Dark Spikes. Unfortunately, it's largely outclassed by some of the bows found on Battle Mountain; the Angel Wing is a better status spreader due to its Arrow Rain auto-skill, while the Thorn Bow is superior for physical offensives. If Battle Mountain isn't available, it still faces competition from bows like the Juggernaut and the Iron Tooth, which have better power and bulk in exchange for some Evade penalties.
The Black Widow provides resistances to Dark and Curse, becoming immune to the latter at Level 5.
Epic Battle Fantasy 5
Normal
Although its Magic Attack is unimpressive, the Black Widow's solid Attack stat seems promising for offensive builds. However, Anna lacks options to exploit its boost to Dark skills until Demon Swords becomes available in the late game, making bows like the Cold Steel and the Iron Tusk more appealing. On the other hand, the Black Widow is a solid weapon for debilitating and capturing foes; not only does it apply Curse with weapon-elemental attacks (including its Normal Attack counter), its Spider Swarm auto-skill hits the entire enemy wave with an Evade debuff and Bad Luck without actually damaging them. The NoLegs Doll summon is a bit more effective than Spider Swarm (due to applying a stronger Evade debuff) and much more consistent (since Spider Swarm will only activate once every sixth turn on average), but the auto-skill benefits from Equipment Effects and doesn't require SP to cast.
To further enhance its capturing utility, simply carrying the Black Widow into battle increases the chance of enemies deciding to Surrender, which has nice synergy with Screamer and Bow Whack. Compared to the Juggernaut (a Surrender-boosting bow with significant bulk and a more useful elemental affinity for Anna's natural skills), it has more Attack power and a weapon-elemental counter skill to help it apply its on-hit status.
The Black Widow is resistant to Dark, Curse, Bad Luck, Doom and Instant Death, with all but the first becoming an immunity at Level 5.
Equip Remix
Although it boosts Dark skills (which isn't very helpful for Anna), the Alt Black Widow is a Bio-based bow with decent Attack, mediocre Magic Attack, and amazing Accuracy; among Alt bows, it's second only to the Alt Eagle Eye in terms of Accuracy. Its weapon-elemental attacks (including its Normal Attack counter skill) drain HP and may unleash Spider Web to cripple the target's Evade and afflict them with Bad Luck; more notably, these skills have a high chance of inflicting a very fast-acting Doom (one stack, even at Level 1).
With the Alt Black Widow in hand, Anna can wipe out entire waves of foes with Arrow Rain or throw out devastating counterattacks when damaged; however, the bow lacks a status boost itself, so a build with three pieces of status-boosting gear and the Alt Fat Fly offers a higher chance of success for "Doom Archer" strategies. With that said, the Alt Fat Fly has a longer Doom timer and isn't available until very late in the game (outside of "Randomized Equip Locations"), so the Alt Black Widow can be used as a substitute in the meantime (similar to the normal version of The Deceased) or as an option that's less reliant on Bad Luck support to quickly eliminate foes. Additionally, its HP-draining effect can be useful in limited-player situations (such as the Battle Arena or certain Custom Game settings), allowing Anna to heal herself while simultaneously Dooming vulnerable targets; the Spider Web unleash can make it even harder for single targets to avoid Doom on subsequent turns.
The Alt Black Widow resists Dark, Curse, Bad Luck, Doom and Instant Death, becoming immune to all but the first at Level 5.
Epic Battle Fantasy 4
The Black Widow is found in the Crystal Caverns, inside the third bottom chest in the lava cave one screen above the boss area. The chest is only accessible after beating the Crystal Golem.
|
Black Widow |
|---|---|
| May curse targets. Boosts the power of Dark skills. May cast Dark Spikes with certain skills. Counter-attacks with Normal Attack. |
| Statistics | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stat Bonus | Resistance | ||||||||||||||||
| LV1 | LV2 | LV3 | LV4 | LV5 | LV1 | LV2 | LV3 | LV4 | LV5 | LV1 | LV2 | LV3 | LV4 | LV5 | |||
|
- | - | - | - | - | 
|
- | - | - | - | - | 
|
10% | 20% | 30% | 40% | 50% |
|
15% | 25% | 35% | 50% | 65% | 
|
- | - | - | - | - | 
|
20% | 40% | 60% | 80% | 100% |
|
- | 5% | 10% | 20% | 30% | 
|
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
|
- | - | - | - | - | 
|
- | - | - | - | - | Element | 50%
| ||||
| Spells & Statuses | |||||||||||||||||
| Power | Chance Modifier | Attack Status | |||||||||||||||
| Auto Skill | -- | -- |
|
20% | 30% | 40% | 50% | 60% | |||||||||
| Bonus Skill | (60%) | -- | 5x | 5x | 5x | 5x | 5x | ||||||||||
| Auto Status | -- | -- | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||
| -- | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
| Forging Information | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lvl | Requirements | Lvl | Requirements | ||||
| 2 |  x 2 |
-- | -- | 3 |  x 2 |
-- | -- |
| 4 | x 1 |
 x 5 |
-- | 5 |  x 4 |
x 5 |
-- |
Epic Battle Fantasy 5
The Black Widow is found inside a chest in the 50 Medals Room in the Grand Gallery. The chest is in the upper-right corner of the room, guarded by a battle that appears as an Earth Dragon.
|
Black Widow |
|---|---|
A creepy bow fashioned after the shape of spiders.
|
| Statistics | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stat Bonus | Resistance | ||||||||||||||||
| LV1 | LV2 | LV3 | LV4 | LV5 | LV1 | LV2 | LV3 | LV4 | LV5 | LV1 | LV2 | LV3 | LV4 | LV5 | |||
|
|
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 
|
10% | 20% | 30% | 40% | 50% |
|
|
15% | 25% | 35% | 55% | 70% |
|
- | - | - | - | - | 
|
20% | 40% | 60% | 80% | 100% |
|
|
- | 5% | 10% | 20% | 30% |
|
- | - | - | - | - | 
|
20% | 40% | 60% | 80% | 100% |
|
|
- | - | - | - | - |
|
- | - | - | - | - | Element | 50%
| ||||
| Spells & Statuses | |||||||||||||||||
| Power | Chance Modifier | Attack Status | |||||||||||||||
| Auto Skill | -- | (66%) | 
|
20% | 40%[30%] | 60%[40%] | 80%[50%] | 100%[60%] | |||||||||
| Bonus Skill | -- | -- | 3x[5x] | 3x[5x] | 3x[5x] | 3x[5x] | 3x[5x] | ||||||||||
| Auto Status | -- | -- | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Defend Status | -- | -- | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Note: Stats in brackets (below/right from actual) are for its pre-v2 update version. | |||||||||||||||||
| Forging Information | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lvl | Requirements | Lvl | Requirements | ||||
| 2 |  x 2 |
-- | -- | 3 | x 3 |
 x 2 |
-- |
| 4 |  x 2 |
 x 2 |
-- | 5 |  x 1 |
x 2 |
-- |
Statistics with Equip Remix enabled.
|
|
Black Widow |
|---|---|
A creepy bow fashioned after the shape of spiders.
|
| Statistics | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stat Bonus | Resistance | ||||||||||||||||
| LV1 | LV2 | LV3 | LV4 | LV5 | LV1 | LV2 | LV3 | LV4 | LV5 | LV1 | LV2 | LV3 | LV4 | LV5 | |||
|
|
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
|
10% | 20% | 30% | 40% | 50% |
|
|
15% | 25% | 35% | 45% | 60% |
|
- | - | - | - | - |
|
20% | 40% | 60% | 80% | 100% |
|
|
- | 5% | 10% | 20% | 30% |
|
- | - | - | - | - |
|
20% | 40% | 60% | 80% | 100% |
|
|
5% | 15% | 25% | 35% | 45% |
|
- | - | - | - | - | Element | 50% 
| ||||
| Spells & Statuses | |||||||||||||||||
| Power | Chance Modifier | Attack Status | |||||||||||||||
| Auto Skill | -- | -- | 
|
30% | 35% | 40% | 45% | 50% | |||||||||
| Bonus Skill | 20 | (100%) | 1x | 1x | 1x | 1x | 1x | ||||||||||
| Auto Status | -- | -- | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Defend Status | -- | -- | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Forging Information | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lvl | Requirements | Lvl | Requirements | ||||
| 2 | x 2 |
-- | -- | 3 | x 3 |
x 2 |
-- |
| 4 | x 2 |
x 2 |
-- | 5 | x 1 |
x 2 |
-- |