The Arachnotron appears to be a much smaller version of the larger Spider Mastermind and as such it bears much of the same form of its counterpart, including the large brain with two eyes and the metal platform with four mechanical legs attached. (Indeed, the Doom II manual goes so far as to refer to the Spider Mastermind as "mom" to these beings.) However, the Arachnotron lacks the sharkish teeth and evil grin of the Mastermind and, rather than red, it has blue eyes that shine red when the creature fires its weapon. The Arachnotrons' metal platform has a plasma rifle attached, instead of the Mastermind's chaingun, a particular trait that makes these creatures deadly when encountered in groups, as they fire greenish plasma almost as fast as the player's own plasma rifle. Despite the potency of the Arachnotrons' plasma rifles, it is relatively easy to avoid their fire, as they cannot lead their target with their plasma. Circle-strafing around an Arachnotron will render the monster unable to hit the player, allowing him/her to attack with impunity. Walls and nearby Arachnotrons can be used by players to shield from their firing, as these creatures are not subject to monster infighting with each other. Owing to their impressive firepower Arachnotrons will defeat most enemies when engaged in monster infighting, but Barons of Hell, Spider Masterminds and Cyberdemons will usually prevail thanks to their larger amount of hitpoints when compared to the 500 HP of the Arachnotrons. Arachnotrons are quite sensitive to pain and have a 50/50 chance of flinching when hit by an attack.