Hazards

Environmental hazards are substances, traps, or phenomenon placed throughout biomes which could either inflict direct damage to The Beheaded through some form of contact or, for non-lethal traps, could cause a less direct form of danger to The Beheaded (most commonly, falling). While there are some forms of environmental hazards common to all biomes, most hazards are considered to be biome-specific.

Mechanics

 * Trap damage depends on the difficulty of the zone in which the traps are found and they scale with enemy tier.
 * As of version 1.9, trap damage has been capped at 30% of the players maximum health, or 10% of their max health with the Masochist mutation.

Native Hazards
Below are hazards which can be assumed are either native or naturally-occurring to the biome they are found in or hazards associated with the malaise. Enemies evolved from the biome will sometimes be fully adapted to such hazards.

Pits
Pits are a hazard within the Ramparts, Clock Tower, Cavern, Astrolab, Fractured Shrines, and Undying Shores. These are basically just the bottomless pits found throughout those biomes. Falling will deal damage up to 30% and teleport the player to the last platform they were on.
 * See the Mechanics entry for falling to understand the damage behavior associated with pits.

Toxic pools
Toxic Pools are found in the Toxic Sewers and Ancient Sewers. They inflict mild poison damage on players who are in contact with the pool. The poisonous water which fill up the pools appear green in the Toxic Sewers and appear brownish or light yellow in the Ancient Sewers. Toxic pools do not poison enemies.
 * See the Mechanics entry for poisonous puddles to understand its damage behavior.
 * The poison damage can be averted by quickly jumping out of the water. The animation should look like The Beheaded jumping on the surface of the water itself. Otherwise, The Beheaded incurs poison damage if the legs become submerged.
 * Poison damage from poisonous water can be nullified by the Poison Immunity modifier found in some amulets.
 * Poisonous water also interacts like normal liquids. It cannot be burned (except with the help of oil) and it can conduct electricity, among other things.

Darkness
Darkness is only found in the Forgotten Sepulcher (or in all biomes if the Custom Mode modifier "Follow the Light" is active). It functions as a sort of active timer on the player, hindering sight and soon dealing damage over time. Killing enemies and stepping in the light of lanterns will renew the timer, giving more time before the darkness will start to damage. The damage received will not cause the player to die instantly while cursed or while holding the Cursed Sword. Like toxic pools, darkness does not affect enemies.
 * See the Mechanics entry for Darkness to understand its damage behavior.
 * Additional information is also listed within the Forgotten Sepulcher.

Lava pools
Lava pools are found in the Prisoners' Quarters, in the Graveyard near the cavern entrance, the Cavern, the Guardian's Haven, and the Astrolab. Damage inflicted by the lava is considered trap damage and scale according to enemy tier, thus, lava deals moderate damage in the Prisoner's Quarters and massive damage in the caverns.
 * Lava instantly kills enemies and familiars coming into contact with it.
 * The player is teleported to the last platform they were on if they fall, similarly to pits.

Carnivorous plants
Introduced in The Bad Seed DLC/Version 1.7, the carnivorous plants are a pressure-triggered plant which, at rest, leaves its mouth wide open for The Beheaded to use as a platform. They are found in the Dilapidated Arboretum. They bite upward shortly after being stepped on. When closed, the plants can be used to bounce on and reach higher areas.
 * Seen in the Prisoners' Quarters.
 * As of Version 1.8, there is a yellow indicator warning before the plant bites.

Traps

 * This section of the article describes traps that inflict damage to The Beheaded. For the deployable gear, see Traps & Turrets.

Traps inflict damage to The Beheaded either through direct contact or through projectiles. All trap damages scale according to enemy tier and all traps will likewise deal damage to any enemy caught by them.

Spikes
Spikes are the most common hazard typically found across all biomes. They are static, damaging anything that comes into contact with them. They can be found on ceilings, floors, and walls. The thorns found within the Dilapidated Arboretum are functionally identical to normal spikes.

Retracting spikes
Retracting spikes are only found inside of Challenge Rifts and boss rooms (e.g. Insufferable Crypt). They can retract and will not deal damage during their retracted state. They will either cycle between being retracted and unretracted on a short timer, or will shoot out shortly after being stepped on (pressure-triggered).
 * Pressure-triggered spikes shine briefly, as if to explode, before the spikes shoot out.

Spiked flails
Spiked flails are traps that will damage anything that comes into contact with the spiked ball and are the second most common form of trap found across all biomes. The spiked ball is anchored, via a chain, to a fixed point in the floor, wall, or ceiling, and they continuously rotate around that anchor point at a singular fixed direction (either clockwise or counterclockwise) and at a fixed rate. When the player is hit, it will periodically be unable to strike the player again to prevent multiple hits at once. They can be parried with a shield which will cause the flail to pass through the player.
 * The spiked ball can be parried and dodge rolled.
 * The Beheaded can usually duck under spiked balls anchored to the floor.

Sawblade launchers
Sawblade launchers are found in the Slumbering Sanctuary, in secret areas, and in Challenge Rifts, and periodically launch sawblades that deal damage to the player. They can be found attached on floors, walls, or ceilings.
 * The sawblades can be parried so long as the projectiles run parallel to the Beheaded (i.e. sawblades shooting up or down cannot be parried).
 * As of Version 2.1, the sawblades can be dodge rolled.

Magic shooters
Magic shooters are found exclusively in the Astrolab. They fire 3 quick, purple magic projectiles at once which all deal individual damage to the player, so they can be dangerous if all projectiles connect. The projectiles can be parried, though it's not recommended unless parries are chained to block all 3 of them.

Cavern lanterns
Cavern lanterns are static traps that will glow and create a red aura whenever the player enters the blast radius mid-air. If an enemy or player enters that radius, it will charge while dragging in anything that is in the radius, exploding shortly afterwards. They recharge over time.
 * Cavern lanterns are native to the Cavern and in the Astrolab.
 * The suction effect can be quickly escaped by dodge-rolling.

Electric waves
Electric waves are exclusive to the Astrolab and Cavern and work similarly to Lava Pools. If a player comes into contact with one, they take damage and teleport to the last platform they were on.
 * The waves are ever only spread horizontally

Barrel dispensers
Barrel dispensers are found in the Derelict Distillery. They fire exploding barrels that can bounce on the ground. They use a yellow indicator, normally used by enemies, that warns that they are about to launch a barrel.

Exploding barrels
Exploding barrels are orange, bouncy, explosive barrels that can be found in the Derelict Distillery. They can be found laying on the ground, placed, thrown by Infected Workers, or fired from dispensers. The barrels explode on contact with the player, spikes, or other barrels, but will bounce off of walls and floors. They can be deflected by the player's attacks and will then change to a white color and damage enemies instead. Orange barrels hurt the player, white barrels hurt enemies.

Barrels can be grabbed and moved by the player using the Homunculus Rune. The barrel becomes primed to attack enemies instead of the player, and can be used to damage them on contact.

Stationary barrels do not explode on contact, but when they are struck they will behave like other barrels that have been deflected by the player.

Spinning axe traps
Spinning axe traps are found in the Fractured Shrines. They are long poles spinning on a central axis with an axe on both ends.

Log traps
Log traps are found in the Fractured Shrines. A log hanging from a chain, hidden in the ceiling. Stepping on a nearby switch releases the log, making it swing and hit the player dealing damage and pushing them back a fair distance. Enemies can’t activate the switch, but they can get hit by the log.

Pitfalls
Pitfalls are platforms which crumble, give way, or virtually disappear after The Beheaded steps into them.

Crumbling tiles
Crumbling tiles are found in the Fractured ShrinesFF}}. Thin platforms made out of single tile wide sections, they break down shortly after touching them. Once broken, they will not regenerate.

Trip platforms
Trip platforms are pressure-triggered platforms which gives out and drops a mere split-second after being stepped on. They are usually found on top of spikes, pits, or some other form of more lethal hazard. When stepped on, they briefly shake before the hinges give. They reset to normal over time.

Ice platforms
Found in the Throne Room, ice platforms are a thing platforms made of ice which hover in mid-air to provide The Beheaded a small piece of high ground. The ice crumbles shortly after being stepped on. A thicker non-crumbling ice platform is placed over the spikes after The Hand of the King is defeated.

Elevators

 * Elevator platforms can deal trap damage to The Beheaded if the platform lands on top of The Beheaded.
 * Likewise, The Beheaded can get caught between the floor and the platform while riding the elevator going up.

Unavoidable damage
Some areas are designed to make damage almost unavoidable. Such note-worthy areas are found below:
 * A secret area in the Ancient Sewers is designed to make The Beheaded fall from high above the ceiling into a toxic pool. The poison damage can normally only be averted by using the Poison Immunity modifier or by using more than two jumps to reach a safe platform.
 * Some challenge rifts employ spikes which span the maximum double-jump distance. Without a third jump, the traps practically require the double-jump to be started after running/rolling off the edge of the platform such that the first jump is initiated above the spikes. This trick sufficiently increases the jump distance in order to safely bypass the trap.
 * Climbing unto a platform allows The Beheaded to dodge and pass through spikes. This sometimes makes dodge rolling after a double jump an equally viable alternative to increasing overall jump distance.
 * In the Cavern, right before the exit to the Guardian's Haven, it is possible to get stuck on a platform beneath the adjoining bridge with no other way to go back up.

Achievements

 * Some Achievements and Trophies are related to hazards.