Bloodstained altars dedicated to the fickle goddess Kali can be found scattered throughout the caves in Spelunky 2. Players can earn favor by leaving stunned or dead bodies as offerings upon the altar. However, the destruction of an altar will anger Kali, regardless of if the player was responsible for it or not. This will reduce the player's favor standing with her.
In standard levels, Kali Altars have a 1/14 chance of replacing any room that is not on the main path or is a required spawn, such as the room containing the Locked Chest in the Dwelling.
Favor[]
Making sacrifices to Kali increases the Spelunker's standing with her. Kali's altar works on a point system, with different corpses being worth different amounts, giving more favor for stunned sacrifices than dead ones.
Notable offerings include Pets, who give the most favor out of any other sacrificed entity, as well as Witch Doctors and all eligible Temple of Anubis enemies, who give twice as much favor as a standard enemy would when sacrificed.
Sacrificing a stunned Shopkeeper, Leprechaun or any other entity that would usually drop money/items on death will still drop it when sacrificed.
| Sacrifice | Favor Rewarded | ||
| Stunned | Dead | ||
 |
Pets | 8 | 4 |
 |
Spelunkers | 6 | 3 |
 |
Hired Hands | 6 | 3 |
 |
Shopkeepers | 6 | 3 |
 |
NPCs | 6 | 3 |
 |
Witch Doctors | 4 | 2 |
 |
Crocmen | 4 | 2 |
 |
Sorceresses | 4 | 2 |
 |
Necromancers | 4 | 2 |
 |
Cavemen | 2 | 1 |
 |
Cave Moles | 2 | 1 |
 |
Tiki Men | 2 | 1 |
 |
Octopy | 2 | 1 |
 |
Yetis | 2 | 1 |
 |
Olmites | 2 | 1 |
 |
Cave Turkeys | 2 | 1 |
 |
Rock Dogs | 2 | 1 |
 |
Axolotls | 2 | 1 |
 |
Qilin | 2 | 1 |
 |
Horned Lizards | 2 | No Corpse |
 |
Mantraps | 2 | No Corpse |
 |
Vampires | 2 | No Corpse |
 |
Vlad* | 2 | No Corpse |
 |
Scorpions | 2 | No Corpse |
 |
Eggplant Child | 0 | 0 |
 |
Hermit Crabs | 0 | 0 |
 |
Leprechauns | 0 | 0 |
 |
Proto Shopkeepers* | 0 | No Corpse |
*It is impossible to legitimately sacrifice this entity in-game, as only Hired Hands and Spelunkers can enter or exit backlayer doors and only Pets may be carried out of sub-areas by these entities. However, their favor value is still in the game's code.
Rewards[]
Spelunkers will receive a reward after 8 favor and every multiple of 8 onwards. In Co-op and Online Multiplayer, favor and rewards are shared amongst the team, making it impossible to obtain more than one Kapala from Kali herself, and extras can only be obtained from either the Dwelling Ghist Shop or by using the Clone Gun on one.
| Favor | Reward (One only) | |
| 8 |  |
Compass |
 |
Spectacles | |
 |
Spring Shoes | |
 |
Spike Shoes | |
 |
Climbing Gloves | |
 |
Pitcher's Mitt | |
 |
Cape | |
 |
Skeleton Key | |
 |
Bomb Bag (see notes) | |
| 16 |  |
Kapala |
| 24+ |  |
Royal Jelly |
At and above 16 favor, Kali will also cure poison and curse when rewards are given. Poison will be cured alongside being given rewards, but curing curse will delay rewards to the next 8 favor interval.
Notes[]
- If the Spelunker already has a certain item, they won't receive it as a reward once they reach 8 favor.
- Having any Backwear equipped will prevent a Cape from being given as a reward.
- Having the Alien Compass will count as having a Compass and will prevent a Compass from being given as a reward.
- If the Spelunker has all possible items Kali can give at 8 favor, she will instead give a Bomb Bag.
- While angering Kali and regaining favor does not cause her to give the Spelunker additional items/another Kapala, she still rewards Royal Jelly after reachieving 24 favor.
- Kali herself cures poison, not the Royal Jelly she gifts.
- Statistically there is 55.7% chance for an Altar to spawn in a level in which one may possibly spawn. Additionally there is a near 99% chance to encounter an Altar at least once before reaching Vlad's Castle. This can be manipulated through forcing or denying future guaranteed spawns of npcs.
- In multiplayer, Kali checks the status of the one making the sacrifice to figure out what item to give and/or cure debuffs. Kali will only ever cure the one making the sacrifice.
- If a sacrifice happens without any player interaction, Kali will check player 1, then player 2, then player 3, then player 4 in that order, stopping at the first living player.
Special[]
Certain items can be sacrificed to Kali, granting specific rewards instead of favor.
- Sacrificing an Idol or The Tusk Idol to Kali will spawn a Golden Monkey. Nothing will be rewarded if the player has negative favor.
- Sacrificing a Present to Kali will spawn an Eggplant. Nothing will be rewarded if the player has negative favor.
- If the player has 16 or more favor, sacrificing a rock will produce a stone arrow.
Ushabti[]
Sacrificing an Ushabti will result in a companion of some kind, depending on the player's favor. For every Ushabti the player sacrifices, their favor is halved, then rounded up if it is not a whole number. Sacrificing an Ushabti has no effect on negative favor.
| Favor | Reward | |
|---|---|---|
| <0 |  |
Vampire |
| 0-7 |  |
Caveman |
| 8-15 |  |
Cave Turkey |
| 16-31 |  |
Hired Hand |
| ≥32 |  |
Hired Hand holding a Shotgun |
Notes[]
- Turkeys obtained from sacrificing Ushabtis will already be tamed.
- Hired Hands obtained from sacrificing Ushabtis will start with zero trust.
Dice[]
Sacrificing two dice will result in a different result, depending on what number the dice add up to.
| Dice Total | Reward | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 |  |
Snake |
| 3 |  |
Diamond |
| 4 |  |
Telepack |
| 5 | |
Spectacles |
| 6 |  |
Rope Pile |
| 7 |  |
Machete |
| 8 |  |
Webgun |
| 9 |  |
Cooked Turkey |
| 10 | |
Climbing Gloves |
| 11 | |
Vampire |
| 12 | |
Hired Hand |
Notes[]
- Hired Hands obtained from sacrificing dice start with zero trust.
- Sacrificing dice will give a reward even if the player has negative favor. The Kali message will only feature the "Kali accepts your sacrifice!" line without mentioning her mood.
Angering Kali[]
If either of the two tiles that make up an altar are destroyed, the player will anger Kali, regardless of whether they caused it or not. Merely destroying the tiles that the altar rests on will also destroy it.
If only one altar tile was destroyed, Kali will still anger, although the player will still be able to offer creatures to the other half of the altar and regain favor.
Destroying an altar is a necessary step for completing Beg's quest and obtaining The True Crown.
When an altar is destroyed:
- Reduce favor by 16.
- If the player achieves negative favor from this, spawn a horde of enemies consisting of Spiders, Bats, Vampires, Jiangshi, Jiangshi Assassins, and Bees.
Additional Punishments
The following punishments are in addition to the two above:
If the altar destroyed was the second one destroyed during the run:
- Also binds a Punish Ball onto the player's leg.
- Greatly reduces mobility, can be destroyed by crushing or submerging into lava.
If the altar destroyed was the third or subsequent one destroyed during the run:
- Curses the player.
- Chains a Punish Ball back to the player's leg if they previously removed it.
- Spawns the Ghost. She will immediately appear again when the player enters any level where she can spawn naturally.
- This effect will not cause the Ghost to spawn on levels where she normally never spawns, such as Olmec's Lair.
- Forces every subsequent level that can be a dark level to be one.
- This includes Olmec's Lair, Abzu, The City of Gold, Tiamat's Throne, Eggplant World, and Hundun's Hideaway.
- Clearing a level in under 30 seconds will still prevent the next level from being a dark level as normal when not playing seeded modes or a daily challenge.
- Destroying the Punish Ball at this state will stop the Ghost from spawning at the start of every level and no longer force levels to be dark.
Notes[]
- If the Black Market entrance is placed under an altar tile, breaking the tile in front of the door will not automatically break the altar tile above.
Guaranteed and Altarless levels[]
Certain levels in the game are guaranteed to have an altar.
The City of Gold[]
In The City of Gold, a special altar near the middle of the level spawns a massive bull head with an Ankh on its forehead in place of the regular statue of Kali. In addition to functioning as a standard altar, sacrificing oneself on it while the Ankh is in their inventory will consume it and transport them to Duat. Getting sacrificed with the Ankh here will not give favor and will not display a Kali message, so rewards will not be left behind before going to Duat.
Duat[]
Duat also has a special altar containing a gift from Kali that depends on the Spelunker's favor with her. The player cannot sacrifice entities on this altar.
| Favor | Reward | |
|---|---|---|
| ≤7 | Nothing | |
| 8-15 | |
Cooked Turkey |
| 16-23 | |
Bomb Bag |
| ≥24 |  |
Bomb Box |
Prior to version 1.20.2a, Kali originally awarded the player a Powerpack if they reached 32 or more favor before entering Duat.
Madame Tusk's Palace of Pleasure[]
An altar is guaranteed to spawn in Neo Babylon 6-3 in the basement of Madame Tusk's Palace of Pleasure. Sacrificing all of of the guards in the Palace (five upstairs and one in the basement) nets a minimum of 18 favor if they were all killed, which is more than enough to earn a Kapala from 0 favor. This is the only area in the game where an altar can spawn in the backlayer of a level.
If Madame Tusk was killed in Tide Pool earlier in the run, the Palace, and its altar, in 6-3 will not appear. This will allow an altar to randomly appear in the level, but it will not be guaranteed.
Altarless Levels[]
Altars will never spawn in Dwelling 1-1 or 1-4, Olmec's Lair, Abzu, Neo Babylon 6-1, Tiamat's Throne, Eggplant World, Hundun's Hideaway, or in Cosmic Ocean.
Quotes[]
Kali has five different moods, depending on the Spelunker's actions. When sacrificing to, or angering Kali, the message will also display her current thoughts of the player, in the following formulas:
- -9 favor or lower: very angry
- -8 to -1 favor: angry
- 0 to 7 favor: pleased
- 8-23 favor: happy
- 24 or more favor: ecstatic
The message that appears after sacrificing an entity will change, depending on how they interacted with Kali.
| Message | Conditions |
|---|---|
Kali accepts your sacrifice!
She seems [Mood] with you. |
Standard sacrifice message. Also used for sacrificing Idols and The Tusk Idol. |
Kali accepts your sacrifice!
She bestows a gift upon you! |
Sacrificing enough to receive a reward. |
Kali accepts your sacrifice!
You feel invigorated! |
Sacrificing enough to cure curse or receive Royal Jelly. |
You have angered Kali!
She seems [Displeased Mood] with you. |
Angering Kali and achieving negative favor. |
You have angered Kali!
Yet she still seems [Content Mood] with you. |
Angering Kali without achieving negative favor. |
Kali accepts your sacrifice!
She has forgiven you. |
Sacrificing enough entities to change Kali's mood from angry to pleased. |
Kali admires your warrior spirit.
She fashions a weapon for you! |
Offering a rock to an altar when at 16 or more favor, spawning a wooden arrow. |
So you desire a companion? Here you go!
|
Offering an Ushabti to an altar. |
Kali enjoys a good mystery!
|
Offering a Present to an altar with positive favor, creating an Eggplant. |
Kali accepts your sacrifice!
She seems [Displeased Mood] with you. |
Offering an Idol, The Tusk Idol, or a Present to an altar with negative favor, receiving nothing. |
Kali accepts your sacrifice!
|
Offering two Dice to an altar. |
Gallery[]
Version History
Disclaimer: All content from Version 1.25 and onwards are currently unavailable on PS4.
In Europe, Africa, Middle East & Oceania, all content after Version 1.20.4d are also unavailable on PS4. This is due to multiple reasons, although content will be available in the future.
1.22.6 (Switch)
- Duat's special altar is now guaranteed
1.20.4a (W64)
- Fixed Kali's message on receiving the Kapala after being healed from curse (now reads 'You feel invigorated!' instead of 'She bestows a gift upon you!')
Other games[]
Appearances in other Spelunky games: