How to heal and gain health
Starting with Spelunky 2, you will only have four HP to get to the end. Of course, this is almost impossible, especially for new players, so you will take damage and die very quickly. Anytime you lose a point of health it is a big hit, as it takes a lot to get it back. How do you do? There are several ways, some of which are confirmed for Spelunky 2 while others were available in the first game and probably are as well, but players will need to do more research to confirm.
The easiest and most important way to heal is to reach the end of a stage with a pet. For most players who haven't tinkered with the settings, this will appear like a dog. You'll need to pick them up and carry them to the exit of the level, keeping them alive throughout the journey. This will give you an HP which will be added to your total pool.
Alternatively, there are now mountable mounts such as the turkey scattered throughout the stages. For the turkey in particular, you can either sacrifice it on an altar or bomb it yourself to get a cooked turkey that will also grant you health, healing you while just adding the HP you gained along the way.
Some other methods available to heal and gain health in the first Spelunky that have yet to be confirmed for Spelunky 2 are to buy a kiss or collect eight drops of blood with the Kapala for one HP, collect royal jelly to get four HP, and gain favor points at an altar for eight potential health points. Some of them are probably still in the game, along with some potential new avenues for healing, but we'll have to wait until they're all discovered along the way.
So this is what we know so far about how to heal and improve health in Spelunky 2. Hopefully you won't have to kill too many turkeys or sacrifice too many dogs on your journey through. the caves of Olmec.
