Spelunky 2

Three shortcuts. Three requirements for each one, so nine requirements in total. I'm assuming you've already unlocked the first one since there is a separate achievement for that so really only 6 more to go. I'm going to list them all here anyway though.

To 1-4 of Dwelling (After Quillback)
$2,000
One Bomb
$10,000

To Olmec's Lair (Second Floor)
One Rope
Any weapon except the Camera (eg; Boomerang, Shotgun)
A Mount (eg; Cave Turkey, Rock Dog, Axolotl)

To the Ice Caves
$50,000
A Hired Hand
The Key from the Dwelling

Unlocking the second shortcut:

All of these, start with the first shortcut that you have unlocked.
One rope - Come on, easy, get through 4 levels of your choosing without using all four of your ropes.

Any weapon. Boomerangs are always found in Jungle, easiest way to get it. If you're more comfortable going Volcana, you're going to either have to restart until you can buy a weapon from a shop or steal one from a shopkeeper.

A mount. Grab a Rock Dog from Volcana, gives you a double jump and makes you immune to all fire damage.


Another shortcut unlocked, I knew you could do it. Now, starting in Olmec's Lair.
$50,000. If you start with the shortcut, you have 4 levels to find $50,000. Golden Idols in world 4 are worth $20,000 so grab two of those and you're already at 40k, another 10k is not going to be hard to come across. Use your bombs to blow gold out of the walls if you have to. On 4-2 Tide Pools, a Golden Idol always spawns in a cave underwater in the bottom right but you'll have to get around Humphead so it might be tough. Have him chase you to the left side if you're brave enough and then go around on land to circle back to the right side to grab the idol.

Hired Hand. Speaking of Humphead, there is a guaranteed Hired Hand inside of him but you'll have to kill him to get it out. Might not be your best option but it is guaranteed. Also, when he escapes Humphead, most of the time he instantly goes off to kill himself by fighting the other fish in the water. So, more safely done, there is always a Hired Hand to be found on 4-1, sometimes 4-2 in a coffin. Grab him and get through to the end of the world. Every level he survives, he becomes more manageable, for instance, the first level he pops out, you can only carry him for three seconds before he jumps away from you. The next level that goes up to 6 seconds and he'll sleep for an extra 10 seconds. The next level you can hold him for 12 seconds. The strat here is to either get through the level as quickly as possible and not even think about him, hoping he survives, OR you pick him up, run for three seconds, put him down, pick him up, run for three seconds, put him down, pick him up, until you've reached the end of the world, remembering that every level you can carry him longer before putting him down.

The Key from the Dwelling. Now it's time to put on your big boy pants. The key in question here is the golden key that can be found on either 1-2 or 1-3. That means to unlock this shortcut, you have to start from the beginning of the game and get all the way to 5-1 while holding this stupid key. Dwelling should be easy, find the key and carry it to the end. Put it down often and clear out areas, this is advice for the whole run. Bomb out areas that you think look too hard or too annoying, buy up supplies when you run across a shop, mostly bombs. If you want to restart a bunch for a jetpack, that might make this whole achievement a lot easier. I recommend going Jungle instead of Volcana as dropping the key in lava is an instant restart and you need your hands free a lot more often when jumping across lava pools. In Jungle, you can pretty much throw the key at enemies whenever you want without too much worry about not being able to retrieve it, which is the most important factor in choosing an area. Finally, go Tide Pools instead of Temple if that wasn't super obvious. Make sure not to drop it in the water on 4-2 or the lava on 4-3. Take your time, scout out every area, don't get caught up trying to pick up all the money on the ground, just focus on the goal, reaching the end of every level. With enough practice or enough luck, you should be able to make it to 5-1, I believe in you.