The Jetpack is a rare and immensely helpful accessory for traversing the caves.
It is most commonly found for sale in a Shop, either as a regular purchase or inside a Mystery Box, and can also appear as a very rare drop from crates, or by breaking the wall behind the Alien Lord in the UFO Crash Site level of the Ice Caves.
As with all items, it may also be found buried in random walls, visible only with the Spectacles or Udjat Eye. Finally, it will be gifted by Kali after an Altar sacrifice at the appropriate favor, but only if all other items that Kali can gift are already possessed by the player.
The jetpack cannot be equipped at the same time as a Cape or Vlad's Cape; picking one up will automatically drop the other if you have it. As with other worn items, the jetpack is not lost when the player dies and is resurrected by the Ankh, unless the jetpack was crushed along with the player.
The jetpack has a base value of $18,000, which then increases by an increment of $2,000 per level, meaning that with a minimum shop value of $20,000 it is the game's most expensive item besides the Ankh.
Apart from equipping a Cape, it's possible to get rid of the Jetpack if the player has the ankh by teleporting into a wall (a thin wall, so the Jetpack drops instead of getting crushed) or being eaten by a mantrap.
Functionality
The jetpack allows you to fly in any direction by pressing the jump button in mid-air. Not only is this very useful for exploring areas of the game's levels that would be difficult to reach otherwise, but it is also invaluable when attempting to lure the Ghost into the path of gems (commonly known as Ghostrunning) due to the degree of control that it offers when the Spelunker is airborne.
The duration of each "boost" is limited to a few seconds of thrust. If this runs out during flight, you will fall out of the air. The boost recharges immediately when the spelunker's feet touch the ground, grab a ledge, grab a rope, or grab a wall with the climbing gloves. However, it does not recharge by jumping on an enemy or landing on the Worm's tongue.
The jetpack does not run out of "fuel", so can be used infinitely as long as the boost is allowed to recharge.
Flying with a single continuous boost produces the quickest acceleration, but boosting in short 'hops' will allow you to fly further before running out of fuel.
The maximum height reachable with a single jetpack boost is high enough to cause fall damage if you land on or below the level you took off from, so be careful when flying upwards if there is no ledge in sight on which to land. This is especially dangerous in The Ice Caves because you may fall into the the abyss, or while flying over spikes or lava.
The jetpack will instantly explode like a bomb if crushed. Pushing one against a wall with a block or the Shield or being stomped on by Olmec while wearing one are examples of this.
The jetpack is also one of the few items (along with the Sceptre) that do not melt in Lava, because of this, it's possible to throw a jetpack into the lava of Olmec's Lair and drain the lava by making Olmec fall on the jetpack (which will explode the floor at the bottom that holds the lava).
The extraordinary mobility granted by the jetpack means that, for most intents and purposes, it replaces the Rope, Spring Shoes, Climbing Gloves and Cape. However, there are exceptions:
- Ropes can be used to kill enemies falling on top of you. This can be especially useful during an Olmec fight, or to free yourself from Monkeys robbing you. A rope can also be useful to recharge the jetpack in mid-air if there are no blocks around.
- The Cape, as well as ropes, let you safely descend on spikes without getting impaled. The jetpack does not allow this.
- The Climbing Gloves allow you to remain fixed in one position without running out of fuel. This can be useful for aligning the ghost during ghostrunning or to recharge the fuel.