Spelunky 2

Getting the Ankh requires you to fully defeat Olmec on 3-1 meaning having him crash all the way to the bottom of the level and drowning in lava while you stand on his head and walk through the entrance to the backlayer which leads to the Ankh which is at the top. While this may seem simple, there are actually many different approaches to this which all require different timings and levels of patience. I will go through each one and you can decide which one works best for your needs for not only this run, but all runs in the future, as the Ankh is a very important item for the late game achievements.

The first one I'm going to go over is called the Olmec skip. This is the absolute fastest way to get the Ankh and requires little to no skill. You'll need 3 bombs and a rope if you don't have vlads, jetpack, spring shoes, or climbing gloves. Simply go to the top right of the level and climb the ladder to the top. From here, you can see the exit from the Ankh and to the left of that there are a few blocks sticking out of the ceiling. You need to perfectly align your back to that wall and fall down on the right side while facing the right. To do this easily, simple whip to the right as your jump into the wall pieces and then fall straight down. It's hard to explain but there is a gif below showing the whole technique so watch that for this part. After you've lined up, crouch down, place a bomb, walk to the other side of it, and whip it once to the left. This puts the bomb in the exact perfect place to explode. This does not work with sticky bombs, so if you have sticky bombs at this point, you may want to try one of other techniques or place the sticky bomb in the exact place that this bomb is supposed to land. After that, put a bomb in the new corner that you've just made and after that one explodes, place another bomb in the new corner on the left. Once the setup is done, you just need to lure Olmec over to the right side while you are standing at the top, make sure not to get squished by him when he is jumping over to you. You may need to use a rope here to get up. Once he is as far right as he'll go, you'll notice that when he jumps up, those ceiling pieces we bombed are now preventing him from touching the actual ceiling. Jump on his head and balance yourself on the very right edge and jam the RB button to get into the exit of the Ankh cave. Walk over and grab the Ankh. -> https://i.imgur.com/972lM23.mp4

Another way to get the Ankh without even fighting Olmec is just to bomb straight down. When done perfectly, this only requires 12 bombs. You'll also need a way to get from the very bottom back up to the top either with lots of ropes or climbing gloves. Basically, right when the first starts (or at any point in the fight if you don't want to do that phase), lead Olmec away and then start bombing down a hole for him. Keep bombing all the way down to the bottom of the lava pit, then climb back up and ride him down to his lava grave. ->https://i.imgur.com/uFlWJ27.mp4

Okay, now I'm going to go over the normal ways to defeat Olmec, layer by layer.

The first layer is pretty simple and there is really only two ways to go about it. The first way is slightly faster and slightly more dangerous (debated). If you don't need to see Waddler, then as soon as the cutscene ends walk straight forward, go right under Olmec, he will slam down in the perfect position to do this. Walk under him when he comes up and then back to the right side. You'll notice that when he slams down there is slight gap on his right side. Go in that gap and then when he rises up again, walk underneath him and then back to the gap. He'll slam down again breaking the floor and leaving that little gap once again where you stand. Do this over and over until he falls down. -> https://i.imgur.com/bbvcjpC.mp4

The second way to do this is just to have him slam down and walk underneath him to the other side again and again, this will create a little hole for you and Olmec. Make sure to start walking to the other side the exact moment he stops in the air above you and then just keep walking about and forth to the edges of the walls.. If you leave yourself some room, even having him come in a little closer isn't a big deal. -> https://i.imgur.com/ItHYFis.mp4

Now on to the second layer. This plays out very differently if you have ANY height mobility meaning Vlad's Cape, Jetpack, or springshoes. Assuming you have some of those, you can do the second layer AND the third layer with this next technique. When the second phase starts, Olmec will start shooting bombs out, three bombs out each side of his head and he'll do this three times before you knock him down and then he'll do it again. If you have the patience for it, you can have him bomb out so much of the second and third floors that he falls straight into the lava. He is triggered to start throwing bombs once you walk past the first block of the ladder so walk out to trigger the bombs and then climb the ladder to safety. Do this two more times until he is done with bombs, whip his purple buttcheeks and then get out of the way as he will crush you to death. You'll want him to land on the highest layer that he can so you can get the most out of his bombs. Keep doing this over and over until you can't manage to have him land on any more two layer blocks. If you have jetpack or climbing gloves, you can scout out the layer below to see if he has bombed out any areas where he could fall straight down into the lava. Knock out his buttcheeks when he is over one of those spots and then ride him down to the lava below where if you wait for a few seconds, you can enter the backlayer to get the ankh. -> https://i.imgur.com/M4VCvTZ.mp4 ->

Option 2 for second phase. When the second phase starts, Olmec will start shooting bombs out, three bombs out each side of his head and he'll do this three times before you knock him down and then he'll do it again. We don't want him to do that at all. So as soon as he lifts into the air, jump up and whip him when your character is right inbetween his purple buttcheeks and this should pop both of them, sending him into the ground and breaking two tiles down. Don't be underneath him when this happens. Now, he will rise back up and will start moving in the direction that you are. As soon as he is over enough blocks to cover an entire Olmec, quickly whip both purple buttcheeks with one whip motion as you fall into the hole that he had just created from the last fall. When he jumps back up, wait for him to be above you and do this again. Do this until he reaches the third layer. If you don't have anything to make you jump higher, you'll have to hold onto the ledge and then jump off it and whip when he comes close to you, its a tight timing. -> https://i.imgur.com/ZVf4Q4u.mp4

Now the third phase. There is only one way to do this safely if you haven't skipped it already. Here's how the fight goes. Olmec will slam into the ground twice when you're underneath him (except for the very first time he does this, he only slams once) and then he head will open again but instead of bombs, two ufos will come out which explode when you jump on top of them. So here's what we gonna do. Ride Olmec over to the far left side. As soon as he's snug, have him come down and then quickly get off him and run underneath him. His head will then open and the ufos will come out but guess what, since he's against the wall, you only have to deal with one ufo. Now here's the tricky part. Jump on the ufo as soon as it comes out, try to land on the right side of the ufo so that its trajectory is more consistent. It will explode underneath you and create the perfect spot to run under Olmec as he slams twice more, you need to make sure you run under him every time or it will mess up where the blocks are supposed to be. After the second slam, jump up on the block that is raised one to get ready to jump on the ufo thats about to come out. When all this is done perfectly, he should have eventually slam into the final layer and into the lava. It is very important that the very first time he slams is in this rotation because its the only time he slams only one time and that is important to the flow of what is happening. -> https://i.imgur.com/HQq3iRn.mp4

One final last note, you can ALWAYS get in the backlayer when Olmec is in the lava. Sometimes it looks like the entrance is just too far to the left or right, but if you stand on the edge of Olmec, you can get in, you just have to wait for him to sink down to where he's the right height. If you have any questions or concerns about the guide, feel free to hit me up.

Okay, and one final little complicated thing just to show how many ways there are to get this. You can actually get the Ankh starting from the 3-1 shortcut. Go towards the middle of the level, throw a rope up. Place a bomb down, pick it up, and hold it until its about to explode. Throw the bomb up at the ceiling and break some of the blocks, do this enough times until there are only a few layers left above you. Throw another rope in the hole you made and start climbing it. If placed correctly, Olmec will be triggered and start slamming his way down towards you. From here do phase two and three like normal. Obviously this is pretty hard and uses a lot of resources AND you don't have any items, but hey, its possible. -> https://i.imgur.com/cBLq7YN.mp4