How to bury a spider Matriarch’s head in the ground in Hogwarts Legacy

In Hogwarts Legacy, Dueling Feats are special combat challenges that require you to meet certain conditions during battles against enemies. Every enemy encounter in the game will have at least one Dueling Feat to attempt and hopefully complete, but some of them aren’t easy to figure out or accomplish. Completing Dueling Feats contributes to the Complete Dueling Feats challenge in the combat section of your Challenges screen. The more Dueling Feats you complete, the more gear appearance rewards you get. Dueling Feats are also a really good way to learn new ways in which your spells can be used and combined.

Related: How to get Spider Fang in Hogwarts Legacy

How to complete the ‘Bury a spider Matriarch’s head into the ground’ Dueling Feat

The first time you encounter a spider Matriarch will almost certainly be during the In The Shadow of the Mine main story quest, in which you and Sebastian Sallow explore the Overlook Mine, which was closed down long ago because of an infestation of spiders. While you’re searching the mine for Rune Symbols, you get attacked by a large group of goblin Loyalists then, before you can even defeat all of the goblins, and a swarm of Venomous spiders appears, including two huge Venomous Matriarch’s. This battle definitely challenges you to bury a spider Matriarch’s head in the ground, but it’s also possible that other encounters with spider Matriarch’s will offer the same Dueling Feat.

As with many other Dueling Feats, in order to bury a spider Matriarch’s head in the ground, you have to cast exactly the right spell at exactly the right time. The spell you need is Descendo, which you learn when you complete Professor Onai’s Assignment, so you won’t be able to get this Dueling Feat without completing that quest first.

Like smaller spiders, a spider Matriarch has an unblockable attack whereby it rears up and slams downward, hitting you with its fangs and front legs. To bury its head in the ground, you have to cast Descendo at it when it’s rearing up. You’ll get a helpful red marker when it’s doing this, so as soon as you see that marker, cast Descendo. You will complete the Dueling Feat and put that spider Matriarch out of action for a short time while it struggles to un-bury its head.