Lava (HD)

Damage:	• 99 (Contact with pool) • 1 (Contact with ember)
Notes:	• Melts items that fall into it. • Spawns Magma Men.

Lava behaves much like water in the Jungle, but is much deadlier. Lava kills the Spelunker and all enemies on contact. Lava periodically produces Magma Men every 10 to 13 seconds. It also produces light, visible in Dark levels. Lava is the only thing in the game which can kill Olmec.

If the Spelunker has obtained Vlad's Amulet, they will be unaffected by the lava and the Magma Men it produces. This allows the Spelunker to freely move through the lava as if it were water. Additionally, if a bomb is thrown when the Spelunker is fully submerged in lava (the lava that is not part of the surface) the bomb will fully disappear and be consumed, with no explosion happening.

Objects dropped into the lava will sink slowly. If you accidentally drop an item into the lava, it may be possible to retrieve it provided you're fast enough and you dropped it close enough to the edge of the pit. However, destroying the wall supporting the lava and draining the pit may cause the item to simply float in midair, irretrievable (unless hit with a well-timed bomb to send it flying). Push Blocks dropped into lava can provide a temporary stepping stone.

Unlike other items, the Scepter and the Jetpack will not be destroyed if they sink into lava. Draining the pit via the use of bombs or a Mattock can render them usable again. Crushing a jetpack with a push block while it is at the bottom will cause it to explode and drain the pit. This can be used to great effect to drain the lava at the bottom of Olmec's Lair.

Strategy

• If a lava pit is too wide to jump across easily, try knocking out the side of the pit with bombs to reduce the lava's level.
• It's a bad idea to throw bombs directly into the lava as they will detonate instantly, resulting in wasted bombs at best, or 10 points of damage at worst.
• Ropes that unfurl into lava will burn from the bottom up, which can be very detrimental if using a rope is the only way to safely progress.