Spelunky 2: 20 Useful Tips To Help You Survive The First Biome

Spelunky 2 will crush you, chew you up, and spit you out. This is the end-all-be-all hard rogue-like. Each level is a Rube Goldberg Machine of controlled chaos — the tiniest mistake can send your tiny adventurer cascading down a pit of deadly traps, spikes, monsters, and explosions. It’s really, really hard.

And today we’re going to help you complete the first biome of the game — the Dwelling. It’s very similar to the Caves of Spelunky 1, but with some very important distinctions. Things are both the same and very different, and even the Caves got a huge upgrade in difficulty. If you’re constantly dying and don’t understand how to survive, we’ve got a few tips to help you win — or at least, a few tips to help keep you from dying quite so often.

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Swap Movement Default to Walk in the Options menu. You’ll desperately need the finer level of control.

Bring your pug dog to the end of the stage for +1 HP. In Co-Op, every player gets +1 HP. It’s insanely useful, and there is no max. Avoid taking hits and you can get +8 HP by the time you reach the jungle.

Use rocks, skulls and other junk to set off Arrow Traps early — this same trick works for lots of other traps, too. You need at least four blocks of space to avoid an arrow.

Prioritize boxed crates. These crates usually contain extra bombs / rope, so grab them whenever you can. If you’re lucky, they’ll even drop extra useful items.

Bombs always blow up squares in a radius of two blocks. If you want to blast a hole without wasting bombs, calculate how many it’ll take to get where you need to go first! Or carefully place bombs to save Monty without blowing him up.

Arrows fired from Arrow Traps are great long-range weapons in the early game. Grab them and throw to do extra damage to tougher enemy types, or safely take spiders or snakes from afar.

Don’t stand too close to vases when you break them. There might be a monster inside! Try throwing them, or get in the habit of whipping twice.

You can pick-up downed enemies and throw them into spikes for a quick defeat. Just do it before they wake up! If you’re having trouble with them, just pick up a stunned enemy and throw it somewhere else.

The giant trap will crush this treasure. Grab it fast if you don’t want to lose it! You can also use bombs to destroy the trap first.

Skeletons hide in bone piles. Try jumping on them first! Or smashing them with your whip from below.

Watch out for moles. You can spot them moving around the dirt. They’re extremely fast! When they appear, be prepared for them to charge. Cobwebs are a great way to trap them.

Found a strange altar? You can get a boon from Kali if you bring a dead enemy body to the altar. Just don’t blow it up with a bomb or you’ll be cursed. It’s a very bad thing.

Try to hurry through each level. Don’t wait up — after 3 minutes a killer ghost will appear and slowly hunt you down!

Spot a weird vase? There’s a strange vase with a ghost face on it. Destroy the vase, and you’ll summon the killer ghost immediately! The vase causes a weird effect on enemies, and breaking it rewards you with a +5000 jewel. If you know where the exit is, go for it.

Shopkeepers always have a shotgun! You can get a free shotgun for defeating them — just watch out, they drop bombs when downed. If you defeat one shopkeeper, they’ll all be alerted.

Sometimes you’ll spot a treasure vault being guarded by an armed shopkeeper. You don’t have to anger the shopkeepers — look for an alternate door, and then bomb through the floor to reach the treasure to avoid a fight.

Cave Turkeys aren’t your enemies. They’re a mount! Hop on them and ride until they’re tamed. Turkeys give you an extra bit of protection, and they have a fluttering double jump that can help you reach high places or avoid taking fall damage.

Whenever there are cave turkeys, there are turkey wranglers! Look for an NPC with a turkey cage. Deliver the other two turkeys in the stage, and you’ll earn a key. The key unlocks the door nearby that’s usually got some nice treasure.

Want to keep a turkey? Just steal one from the wrangler after earning your key! It doesn’t make the shopkeepers mad, but the wrangler will chase you down! He’s armed with a bowgun — which is a lot easier to avoid than a shotgun.

In the last area of the caves, you’ll encounter a giant caveman called a Quillback. His roll smashes through the floor — stay above and drop bombs to defeat him. He’ll always drop a Cooked Turkey, which gives you an instant +1 HP. Try dropping a bomb when he isn’t looking, then picking it up and throwing when it’s about to explode.

At the bottom of the caves, you’ll encounter Mama Tunnel. This character can dig a shortcut, allowing you to jump ahead and practice later stages of the dungeon. Donate to her to start work on the shortcut to the jungle. You’ll have to revisit her multiple times to complete the tunnel, but it’s worth it.

There’s so much more to know! Gold keys can unlock a secret chest with the Eye of Udjat, a special item required to reach secret biomes. There are so many more secrets to discover, but we’ll cover those later.