Spelunky 2 guide: How to cure poison

Spelunky 2 is a roguelike adventure game with sprawling levels, tough enemies, and tricky situations. There are also a number of debuffs that tend to be rather unforgiving. Among these is poison. Poison is the most common debuff and can be caused by a number of different enemies and objects. This includes enemies like the Hermit Crab and Pangxie as well as the poison-tipped arrows used by the Moon Challenge master.

Getting poisoned mid-run is about as bad as it can get. While poisoned, you’ll lose one heart of health every 30 seconds. Once you hit zero health, your run is over. In other words, you’re going to want to cure yourself as soon as possible. Thankfully, there are a number of methods to do so.

Finding the antidote

By far the most reliable way to cure poison is to hand in one of the many adorable pets found in Spelunky 2. While exploring any level there’s a good chance for a lost animal to spawn. This can be either a dog, cat, or mouse depending on your in-game settings.

If you come across one of these little guys, just pick them up and take them safely to the end of the level. Once you exit the level they will cure your poison for you and even provide an extra heart of health. However, be aware that you need to deliver your pet alive, so be careful when escorting it through the level.

When a pet cures your poison, they end up inheriting the debuff themselves. It’s an admirable sacrifice, though I will likely end up jumping into some spikes in the next room.

For the more creative of you out there, there are some more situational solutions to curing poison. For example, there is an item in Spelunky 2 called the Ankh. This provides an extremely powerful passive that grants the player one free death in a run. If you die with the Ankh, you will respawn with no debuffs.

Finally, you can use an elixir. This is a rare item that can cure every debuff in the game when consumed. To get it though, you’ll have to head down to 4-1 and complete the Temple of Anubis challenge. Even then, there’s still a chance you’ll receive a Clone Gun instead. In other words, the pet is probably still your best option to cure your poison in Spelunky 2.

If you need help with other aspects of Spelunky 2, check out our other guides. There’s a way to beat Olmec without fighting him, a secret level with a vampire lord, and shortcuts to help you reach levels faster.