A full level of 4-1 Tide Pool
Tide Pool is a brand new area found in Spelunky 2. It is the parallel to Temple of Anubis, the other fourth world in the game that the player can choose to go through after Olmec's Lair.
Geography[]
Tide Pool music
Tide Pool is what remains of the Empress' once great empire, now overgrown with coral and seaweed and infested with sea creatures and undead Jiang Shi.
Tide Pool dark music
Within the ancient ruins of Tide Pool, a player can clone anything with the power of the Clone Gun, avoid powerful Pangxie, pull the legendary Excalibur from its stone if worthy, and trigger an incredibly hazardous lava trap to reach the hidden area of Abzu.
Much like the Dwelling, Tide Pool has a special marking on the wall beside most hidden backlayer entrances, being a yellow star (
). This can be used to easily locate hidden backlayers.
4-1: Madame Tusk's Dice House[]
Rolling the dice in Madame Tusk's Dice House.
The Dice House is normally found in 4-1 of Tide Pool, where the player may gamble under the close eye of Madame Tusk and her Bodyguard, armed with a Shotgun.
It will cost $5000 each time the player plays Tusk's game, where they roll two dice for a result. Getting a 6 or lower will result in a loss, while getting an 8 or higher will result in the player earning $10,000, and rolling a 7 will grant the player whatever is behind the Forcefield in her shop. This reward can be any item sold normally at a shop, although it will never be any living entities, the Skeleton Key, or a Present. Successfully rolling a 7 five times in Tusk's dice game will give the player a VIP status, allowing them free access to her Palace of Pleasure in Neo Babylon 6-3.
The Tusk Idol is also found here, only appearing if the player spoke to or killed Sparrow, and only accessible if the player has a metal key or skeleton key.
Killing Madame Tusk here will cause her to drop a metal key, but will cause her Palace of Pleasure in Neo Babylon 6-3 to not spawn.
If the player stole from a Shopkeeper in 2-3 or 2-4 of either Jungle or Volcana, Madame Tusk's Dice House will instead spawn in 4-3, as Sparrow's abode will instead spawn in 4-1.
Sparrow's hut, as found in Tide Pool 4-1. Her presence moves Tusk's Dice House to 4-3.
Tips and Tricks[]
- Whipping the dice at any time while it is not on the ground will make it always roll either a 1 or a 6, making it significantly easier to get a 7 on the dice game.
- If the player throws or takes a die outside of the house, Tusk and the Bodyguard will anger.
- If one throws a die they already threw while playing the dice game, Tusk will assume that they are cheating, and both her and the Bodyguard will anger.
- If Tusk or the Bodyguard sees the player with The Tusk Idol, they will immediately anger. Going up and around the Dice House to the level exit (potentially via use of bombs) will prevent them from angering while still letting the player collect the Tusk Idol, meaning they would also be able to obtain VIP access to the Palace of Pleasure if they roll enough 7s.
- Peculiarly, if the Bodyguard is killed by means that the player is not blamed for, they may sell the Tusk Idol to the Madame herself without any consequences.
4-2: Stars Challenge, Excalibur, Great Lake[]
Stars Challenge[]
The Stars Challenge will always be found on 4-2 of the world, hosted by Tun. The player will have a limited amount of time to light every torch in the challenge room, and given a Four Leaf Clover to compensate for the time the challenge will take. If completed successfully, the player will be given the Clone Gun.
Tips and Tricks[]
- Any sort of back item that grants mobility, such as the Jetpack, Vlad's Cape, or even the Hoverpack will make the Stars Challenge incredibly easy to complete.
- In the event of Tun being angered or killed, the player cannot do the Stars Challenge, making attaining the Clone Gun impossible.
- Completing the challenge in Temple of Anubis will instead reward the player an Elixir.
Excalibur[]
Within 4-2, a stone holding Excalibur in place will appear near the bottom of the level. If the player has a Crown or Hedjet, they are worthy enough to pick it up and pull it from its stone. Excalibur is a near necessity for players wanting to enter Abzu, as it is the most powerful weapon against Kingu, trivializing the battle with her.
Great Lake[]
Just below Excalibur's resting place, the Great Lake will be found. Inside will be entire schools of Flying Fish, Great Humphead, and the entrance to a destroyed wooden structure. Inside of this structure, a player can find a dead caveman with their own ghist, some spikes and treasure, as well as a Golden Idol in a Giant Clam.
4-3: Idol Trap + Lake of Fire[]
Within 4-3, a massive lava lake known as the Lake of Fire can be found with the entrance to Abzu deep within. The only way to access the door to Abzu is draining the lava by triggering a trap at the bottom of the level. The player may enter the door of a room guaranteed to spawn, leading into backlayer path down to the trap. Triggering the trap is almost certain to cause the player's demise.
Tips and Tricks[]
- The easiest way to escape death via the Idol trap is to use the Ankh to return to the upper level of the map, thereby granting access to Abzu.
- There are multiple ways to drain the lava and open the door to Abzu without consuming the Ankh, known as Death Skips.
- As Excalibur is an incredibly powerful weapon in Abzu in defeating Kingu, one should leave it in the upper portion of 4-3 before triggering the Idol Trap, so they may return to it instead of abandoning it it in the lava below.
- If the level is dark, one should not worry about finding the door as two torches will be on either side of it, marking its position.
Hazards[]
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| Spelunky 2 Places | |
| Area 1 | Dwelling |
| Area 2 A | Jungle (Black Market) |
| Area 2 B | Volcana (Vlad's Castle) |
| Area 3 | Olmec's Lair |
| Area 4 A | Tide Pool • Abzu |
| Area 4 B | Temple of Anubis • The City of Gold • Duat |
| Area 5 | Ice Caves |
| Area 6 | Neo Babylon • Tiamat's Throne |
| Area 7 | Sunken City • Eggplant World • Hundun's Hideaway |
| Area 8 | Cosmic Ocean |
| Miscellaneous | Camp |
| See also | Level Feelings |