Spelunky
This is a spoiler page for Spelunky.
Overview
Since nearly all mechanics of this game are already well-documented
in the wiki and other various places, this page is primarily focused
on overall strategy and useful tips.
Tips
Getting to Yama
- In the Mines, you must find the Key.
- A locked chest will be preset on the same level as the Key. Bring the Key to the chest to get the Udjat Eye. The Udjat Eye is not strictly necessary, but without it you must find the Black Market with no audio cues, which can be very difficult.
- In the Jungle, there is a stage with the entrance to the Black Market hidden behind some terrain. Sometimes the sides of the entrance are visible adjacent to it, if there is no terrain covering it. The Udjat Eye will begin to blink and make a noise when you get closer to the entrance. The entrance is wherever the Eye blinks the fastest.
- Enter the Black Market.
- In the Black Market, on the far right of the map, there is a specialty shop which only sells the Ankh, for $50,000. You must either purchase it or steal it.
- In the Ice Caves, there is a level with a large Moai head statue on it. You must die on this level, and the Ankh will respawn you inside of the head. After respawning, the Hedjet will drop from above the spelunker onto them to collect. Make sure you wait before going through the exit for the Hedjet to drop, otherwise you will not be able to access the City of Gold.
- In the Temple, you must kill Anubis and take his Sceptre.
- In the Temple, there is a level with a golden door on it. It unlocks by standing in front of it while holding the Sceptre, and if you have the Hedjet obtained as well. After it unlocks, you can enter it to get to the City of Gold.
- In the City of Gold, in the center of the map, the Book of the Dead sits on a dais. Take it and exit the level. Beware, Anubis will come back and attack you a second time.
- In the fight with Olmec, observe the Book of the Dead. Wherever it gnashes the fastest is where you must have Olmec land in the lava below. There will be a door right above the lava, you must stand on Olmec's head as he is sinking into the lava to enter it.
- Fight your way through Hell Temple to reach Yama. Consider obtaining Vlad's Amulet in the tower to become fireproof to make the final battle less dangerous.
Items
There are many items in Spelunky, and they all fall under three
specific categories:
- Consumable - Multiple amounts of these items may be picked up and used one at a time. This category includes things like ropes and bombs.
- Passive - These items, once picked up, cannot be dropped. They can be picked up multiple times, but it does not affect their efficacy.
- Active - These items must be held in the spelunker's hands in order to be used. You may only hold one of these items at a time.
| Name | How to find | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Rope pile | Crates, shops | Increases vertical mobility and creates a safe place to hang in the air |
| Bomb bag | Crates, shops | Necessary for dealing damage and killing bosses |
| Bomb box | Crates, shops | Necessary for dealing damage and killing bosses |
| Climbing gloves | Crates, shops | Increases mobility, can prevent falling to death in Ice Caves |
| Shotgun | Crates, held by shopkeepers | Deals great damage and is the most versatile gun in the game |
| Cape | Crates, shops, death drop from vampires | Prevents fall damage and increases mobility |
| Jetpack | Crates, shops | Prevents fall damage and greatly increases mobility |
| Kapala | Guaranteed second sacrifice gift from Kali | Creates potential for great vitality gain from collecting blood |
| Udjat eye | Within the big chest | Required for reaching Hell |
| Ankh | Guaranteed in Black Market shop | Grants an extra life, or is required for reaching Hell |
| Hedjet | Acquired by dying on the level with the Moai head while holding the Ankh | Required for reaching Hell |
| Scepter | Death drop from Anubis | Required for reaching Hell, acts as an extremely dangerous weapon as well |
| Book of the dead | Guaranteed in the City of Gold | Required for reaching Hell |
| Crate | All levels | Contains other various items |
| Chest | All levels | Contains treasure which can be used for purchasing items |
| Big chest | Random level in The Mines | Contains the Udjat eye, necessary for reaching Hell |
| Key | Random level in The Mines | Opens the big chest |
| Corpse | All levels, after killing an enemy that drops a corpse | Can be sacrificed to Kali in order to obtain the Kapala |
| Mystery box | Shops | Can contain pretty much anything |
| Name | How to find | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Pitcher's mitt | Crates, shops | Increases throwing range and accuracy, useful for bombs |
| Spring shoes | Crates, shops, death drop from Giant Frog | Increases jump height, useful for vertical mobility |
| Spike shoes | Crates, shops | Increases jump damage, useful if you don't have a weapon |
| Paste | Crates, shops, death drop from Giant Spider | Makes bombs sticky, useful for sticking to tough enemies |
| Mattock | Crates, shops, at the bottom of snake pits | Can be used to tunnel through the map, breaks after some time |
| Freeze ray | Crates, shops, death drop from Mammoth | Can be used to instantly kill shopkeepers and tough enemies |
| Plasma cannon | Mothership, extremely rare drop from crates | Fires powerful explosive shots, has a lot of knockback |
| Royal jelly | Death drop from Queen Bee | Increases health by 4 |
| Idol | All levels, located in various traps | Can be brought to a shopkeeper or the level end for money |
| Vlad's cape | Death drop from Vlad | Acts as a standard cape and grants a double jump |
| Vlad's amulet | Embedded in walls in Vlad's tower | Grants fire/lava immunity |
| Treasure | All levels | Can be used to purchase useful items, increases score |
| Crystal skull | In Restless Dead levels of The Jungle | Can be brough to a shopkeeper or the level end for money |
| Rock | All levels | Can be used to slightly damage and stun enemies |
| Pot | All levels | Can be used to slightly damage and stun enemies, may contain money or possibly an enemy |
| Torch | Dark levels, sometimes held by enemies | Can be used to slightly damage and stun enemies and increase visibility |
| Arrow | Fired from arrow traps | Can be used to damage enemies when thrown |
| Skull | All levels | Can be used to slightly damage and stun enemies, breaks after thrown |
| Name | How to find | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Spectacles | Crates, shops | Reveals treasure in walls, slightly increases visibility in dark areas. Completely superceded by functionality of Udjat eye |
| Boomerang | Crates, shops, held by Tiki Men | Can be thrown to damage and stun enemies, comes back, but prevents picking up other items |
| Compass | Crates, shops | Shows direction to level exit, which is usually not that hard to find in the first place |
| Machete | Crates, shops | Deals slightly more damage than the whip, but prevents picking up other items |
| Crysknife | In a pool of acid in The Worm | Lethal for dealing damage, but not usually worth going to The Worm level to get |
| Web gun | Crates, shops | Fires balls of web that deal no damage, almost completely useless |
| Camera | Crates, shops | Stuns enemies for an extremely short time and kills undead |
| Teleporter | Crates, shops | Teleports the player, but can be lethal if used incorrectly. Generally only useful during speedruns |
| Parachute | Crates, shops | Prevents fall damage once |
| Shield | The Castle, death drop from the Black Knight | Can be used to smush enemies and items, but usually backfires and gets you killed |
| Piranha skeleton | Death drop from piranha | Deals no damage when thrown, generally useless |
| Mattock head | Drops when mattock is broken | Can be thrown to damage enemies and is particularly heavy |
| Ball and chain | Spawned on the player when Kali punishes them | Vastly degrades mobility, can be used to destroy the level |
| Eggplant | Gift from Kali after sacrificing a mystery box | Extremely delicate but can instantly kill Yama when thrown at his head |