Bloodstained altars dedicated to the fickle goddess Kali can be found scattered throughout the caves in Spelunky 2.
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, like as the room containing the Locked Chest in the Dwelling.
Favor[]
Sacrificing bodies, dead or alive, increases your standing with Kali. She works on a point system (called Favor), with different entities worth different amounts. She gives double favor if the sacrifice is offered live.
Notable offerings include Pets, which give the most favor out of any other entity, as well as Witch Doctors and all eligible Temple of Anubis enemies, who give twice as much favor as a normal enemy does when sacrifice.
Entities that would drop money/items on death (eg; Shopkeepers, Leprechauns) will still drop it when sacrificed.
| 8 Alive / 4 Dead | Pets |
|---|---|
| 6 Alive / 3 Dead | Spelunkers, Shopkeepers, Other NPCs |
| 4 Alive / 2 Dead | Witch Doctors, Sorceresses, Necromancers, Crocmen |
| 2 Alive / 1 Dead | Cavemen, Cave Moles, Horned Lizards*, Tiki Men, Mantraps*, Vampires*, Octopy, Yetis, Olmites, Scorpions*, Cave Turkeys, Rock Dogs, Axolotls, Qilin |
| 0 Alive / 0 Dead | Leprechauns, Hermit Crabs, Eggplant Child |
* This entity doesn't leave a corpse behind, so it can only be sacrificed live.
Rewards[]
After reaching 8 favor, Kali gives the player a single random Power Up item they do not own. If the player already has all possible Power Ups, they receive a Bomb Bag instead.
| Possible 8 Favor Rewards (One only) | 16 Favor Reward | 16 + 8x Favor Reward | |||
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Kali also cures the player of Poison along with any of her normal rewards. She can cure Curse as well, but only after the initial 8 favor reward, and the cure is given instead of a Kapala/Royal Jelly, delaying that reward to the next 8 favor milestone.
Notes[]
- Having any Backwear equipped prevents a Cape from being given as a reward.
- Having the Alien Compass counts as having a Compass and prevents one being given as a reward.
- Angering Kali and getting back to 8 or 16 favor doesn't produce another Power-Up/Kapala. She awards another Royal Jelly if you reachieve 24+ favor, however.
- Statistically, there's about a 55.7% chance for an Altar to spawn in a level that can have an Altar on it. This effectively means there's a 99% chance to encounter at least one Altar before Vlad's Castle. This can be manipulated by forcing/denying the spawn of NPCs in future levels, like Yang or Sparrow.
- In multiplayer, Kali checks the status of the one making the sacrifice to figure out what item to give and/or to cure debuffs. She 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 spawns a Golden Monkey. Nothing is awarded if at negative favor, but she will still take the Idol/Tusk Idol.
- Sacrificing a Present spawns an Eggplant. Nothing is awarded if at negative favor, but she will still take the Present.
- If at 16 or more favor, sacrificing a rock produces an Arrow.
Ushabti[]
Sacrificing an Ushabti spawns in a companion of some kind, depending on their current favor, but also cuts their current favor in half afterwards.
| < 0 | 0-7 | 8-15 | 16-31 | ≥ 32 |
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| Vampire | Caveman | Cave Turkey | Hired Hand | Hired Hand with Shotgun |
Turkeys come pre-tamed. Hired Hands start with zero trust.
Dice[]
Sacrificing two dice adds up the visible value of both dice, then spawns a specific reward based on that value:
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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| Snake | Diamond | Telepack | Spectacles | Rope Pile | Machete | Webgun | Cooked Turkey | Climbing Gloves | Vampire | Hired Hand |
Hired Hands start with zero trust. Sacrificing dice will give a reward even with negative favor.
Angering Kali[]
Destroying either of the two tiles that make up an altar angers Kali, reducing favor by 16. If negative favor is achieved from this, a horde randomly consisting of Spiders, Bats, Vampires, Jiangshi, Jiangshi Assassins, and Bees spawn over the altar.
If another altar is destroyed, a Punish Ball is chained to the player in addition to the above effects.
For every subsequent altar destroyed afterward, all of the above effects happen (including the Punish Ball, if it was destroyed), and for as long as the Punish Ball is not destroyed, EVERY subsequent level will be a dark level, and the Ghost will spawn immediately on levels where she can naturally appear.
Destroying an altar is a necessary step for completing Beg's quest and obtaining The True Crown.
Notes[]
- Destroying the two tiles directly under the two altar tiles destroys it anyway.
- The only exception to this is if the Black Market entrance spawned directly under the altar tiles, in which removing the tile with the entrance won't break the altar.
- If an altar's destruction was completely out of the player's control, Kali does not anger. She still angers if the player inadvertently destroyed it as a result of their actions, though, like if a Robot that was stepped on blows it up or if a UFO is whipped into it.
- The Punish Ball from the 3rd+ altar destruction can make levels dark even if it's normally impossible. 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 when not playing seeded modes or a daily challenge, as normal.
Guaranteed/Altarless levels[]
The City of Gold[]
An altar is guaranteed to spawn around the middle of The City of Gold, the normal statue of Kali replaced by a bull with an Ankh on its forehead.
This statue is a clue to the player, as sacrificing themselves on this particular altar with the Ankh in their inventory consumes it and teleports them to the Duat. Getting sacrificed with the Ankh here does not give favor, so no reward can be left behind as a result.
Duat[]
The Duat has a special altar with a gift from Kali, if the player has enough favor. Entities cannot be sacrificed on this altar.
| Favor | Reward | |
|---|---|---|
| ≤7 | Nothing | |
| 8-15 | |
Cooked Turkey |
| 16-23 |  |
Bomb Bag |
| ≥24 |  |
Bomb Box |
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 all were offered dead), which is more than enough to earn a Kapala from 0 favor. This is the only place in the game where an altar spawns in a level's backlayer.
If Madame Tusk was killed in Tide Pool earlier in the run, the Palace (and its altar) will not appear in 6-3. An altar can still randomly appear in the level if Tusk is not present, much like other levels, but this isn't guaranteed.
Altarless Levels[]
Altars 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 the Cosmic Ocean.
Quotes[]
Kali has five different moods, depending on the Spelunker's actions. When sacrificing to, or angering Kali, the message also displays her current mood, depending on Favor:
- -9 favor or less: very angry
- -8 to -1 favor: angry
- 0 to 7 favor: pleased
- 8-23 favor: happy
- 24 or more favor: ecstatic
| 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!
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Offering an Ushabti to an altar. |
Kali enjoys a good mystery!
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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!
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Offering two Dice to an altar. |
Gallery[]
Version History
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: