Spelunky 2 is pretty devious. Being loaded with all manner of traps and other threats, there’s too many to cover in just one rundown. One of the more common ones is the arrow traps in Spelunky 2. These deceptively simple traps will fill you full of holes before you even notice them. So you have to be careful in disarming or dodging them. Here’s how to do just that.
Getting nailed by an arrow won’t instantly kill you, but it will end up taking a big chunk out of your health, and that’s really annoying. The arrows can also cause you to lose momentum and be pushed into an enemy or even another trap. It’s just not fun to deal with if you get caught. There are some clever methods for avoiding these troubles though.
How to Avoid Arrow Traps in Spelunky 2
There are a few ways to avoid these, here are the best ways to avoid arrow traps in Spelunky 2.
Use an object to set them off
The first thing you should do when dealing with these is to just set them off ahead of you. The traps will only trigger if something passes within their zone, and within seven tiles of the trap itself, so just chucking an object into this field can cause the trap to trip. This includes the arrows that have been fired from other arrow traps. So if you really want to be clever, you can use arrows from another arrow trap to trigger new ones you encounter. You can use anything though. Free-falling rocks, movable blocks, or even enemies, all of these can trigger arrow traps. Just be out of the way when they go off.
Blow them up
The best way to really get these annoyances out of your way is to just blast them. If you toss a bomb into range of the trap, it may trigger the trap, but it will also destroy it. Keep in mind that you may need those bombs to destroy other obstacles, so expect to save your bombs for other stuff if you really want to get around the level in the best way. Bombs and ropes are really useful for traversing the level though, so you really shouldn’t waste them in this way.
Just Jump
You could also get kind of luck with dodging these things. The gameplay in Spelunky 2 makes a lot of use of momentum. The player can even use this by falling past a trap faster than it can trigger. This means that the arrow will fall down after you have already gone past the trap, making it near impossible to hit with an arrow. Just make sure to not get hit on the rebound. You also need to be careful of spacing. If you’re withing a block or two of the arrow during its arc, you may get hit as well.
Use your Whip and your brain
If you’re very skilled at the game, there is one more option you can use to stop arrows from hitting you. If you time the crack of a whip just right, it should swat the arrow away and cause it to stop in its tracks. This is very much a last resort though, as it’s kind of hard to pull off reliably. If you’re able to do it though, expect to take no damage from a trap when done right. Problem is, the timing is nearly frame-perfect. If you’re a skilled speedrunner this could be simple. Newer players should stick to other more predictable methods.
