The Skull Cavern Thread

[Hill Myna]

This thread does contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Welcome to the Skull Cavern Thread! As promised when I joined, it's finally here, even if it's a month and a half late, rather than the "few days" I expected. But better late than never!

Skull Cavern is my favourite place in Stardew Valley. Whether I need anything specific from it or not, I’ll still pop in frequently, simply for the fun of it. Hopefully I have converted my experiences into a useful guide for you!

Please post any information that you think will add to this thread! And feel free to ask any & all questions you may encounter about Skull Cavern below; you will almost definitely be answered.

Finally, if you spot any incorrect or misleading information, just let me know. Any modifications will appear in the Changes & Fixes section.

Changes & Fixes

– November 8, 2021 –
Nothing yet in the document, but please see @user314159's comment below (post #4) for Armored Bug drops and @Akemisora's comment (post #5) for an alternative to using Farm Totems and a strategy for Slimes.
– August 22, 2022 –
Still no updates to the document, but @FilthyGorilla has informed me (see this thread, post #8) that an observation I shared in the Pepper Rex section (Page 9) could be more accurate. I noted that I'd never seen a Prehistoric Floor below Floor 10, however (according to the wiki, see thread for details) they can generate anywhere past Floor 6, with a 2.2% chance per floor.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Thank you for this, it is resident on my computer alongside other illustrious things like Ultima IV walkthroughs and cat gifs. It looks great and I anticipate not noticing a thing wrong with it as you already know more than I do about Skull Cavern.

PS: I just got the pun in your name, only took 6 weeks!

PPS: I am slo

 

[e_rigby35]

This is wildly helpful! Thank you!!

 

[user314159]

The reason Armored Bug drops don't appear on the wiki is because its drops aren't in the main Monsters folder in the unpacked content in the game code.

I don't know how to get drops from outside the page, but I can say what I have gotten from those with the Crusader enchantment:
Bug Meat (kind of common, I assume it's the same drop chance as a normal bug?)
Bug Steak (less frequently but still pretty common)
Diamond (though I think this isn't actually one of the drops; probably just part of that 0.05% chance from any monster after reaching the bottom of the mines)

There could be more drops I haven't remembered. But nothing too useful for the player in my opinion.

 

[Akemisora]

Useful guide.

I think it's good to also mention that it's okay to pass out (NOT dying) at 2am in mine if the player needs to maximize their mining result as it only costs 1000 gold (negligible mid-game and later) and waking up with half energy (just eat something).

Another tips is to ignore slime if possible, if you need to descend fast. They are tough individually, worse in group, and their drop are not the best. Unless you're in good spot, they will waste your time. A strong club + napalm ring is a beast combo against them, make sure not to spread them out.

(I'll add more tips if I remember something)

 

[imnvs]

but I can say what I have gotten from those with the Crusader enchantment:

You mean Bug Killer, yes?

 

[user314159]

Yes that's what I meant.

 

[Pangaearocks]

Awesome guide, thanks for writing it

Would you say you have changed your approach since writing this? For example, from other threads, seems like you are more in favour of mega bombs now, and magic rock candy.

One thing I noticed with the image on page 21 under bomb placement, which wasn't mentioned in the text: a whole lot of the surroundings are showing here, and the text is small. Do you use different zoom settings? I get that you achieve a better overview of where pre-loaded stairs and nodes are located, but doesn't it make it more difficult to place bombs and ladders when every second counts? Even with default settings, I quite frequently whack at empty ground because the tiny dude is suddenly facing the wrong direction or I have the mouse pointer too far away. Practical issues like that will probably be worse with a smaller screen like in that image.

 

[Hill Myna]

Awesome guide, thanks for writing it

Would you say you have changed your approach since writing this? For example, from other threads, seems like you are more in favour of mega bombs now, and magic rock candy.

I would say that yes, my approach has changed a little bit since then (it's been over a year since I started writing the guide!).

But I also think that this guide was more aimed at the early- to mid-game, rather than the PB-hunting, "Can we reach 1,000 Iridium?" approach of a fully-endgame player with practically unlimited resources.

I still think that regular Bombs are a better bang for back, but why not use Mega Bombs when you accumulate money faster than you can spend it?

As you saw in the "first prismatic shard" thread, my opinion has changed massively on Magic Rock Candy. I think that if you get to the point where you can comfortably get 2-3 Shards on an average run, Magic Rock Candy is a good investment. :)

One thing I noticed with the image on page 21 under bomb placement, which wasn't mentioned in the text: a whole lot of the surroundings are showing here, and the text is small. Do you use different zoom settings? I get that you achieve a better overview of where pre-loaded stairs and nodes are located, but doesn't it make it more difficult to place bombs and ladders when every second counts? Even with default settings, I quite frequently whack at empty ground because the tiny dude is suddenly facing the wrong direction or I have the mouse pointer too far away. Practical issues like that will probably be worse with a smaller screen like in that image.

That's a very keen observation!

I play on a docked Switch, so I'm using a TV screen and a controller. That means that with a lower zoom setting, I get the upside of added visibility without harder sprite-identification, and I'm not using a mouse, so "my dude" is always facing the way my joystick is. :)

I've also lowered the GUI size because of a Splitscreen bug whereby your GUI size has to match your zoom level, or weird things happen with things like placing objects into the Museum!

 

[SurprisedPikachuBob3]

I play on a docked Switch, so I'm using a TV screen and a controller. That means that with a lower zoom setting, I get the upside of added visibility without harder sprite-identification, and I'm not using a mouse, so "my dude" is always facing the way my joystick is. :)

That part of playing on the switch is so helpful when it comes to doing deep dive in skull cavern or something like that

 

[Pangaearocks]

That's a very keen observation!

I play on a docked Switch, so I'm using a TV screen and a controller. That means that with a lower zoom setting, I get the upside of added visibility without harder sprite-identification, and I'm not using a mouse, so "my dude" is always facing the way my joystick is. :)

I've also lowered the GUI size because of a Splitscreen bug whereby your GUI size has to match your zoom level, or weird things happen with things like placing objects into the Museum!

Awesome, that sounds really useful in a game like this. Maybe the controls are better too, in terms of switching 'slots' up and down? On PC it's awkward to switch to line 2 or 3 in the inventory (with Tab), so I always keep what I need in the first one. When eating, there is a little lag where I can get my bearing, and maybe spot something on the sides, and click on the tool I need to use next.

Would anyone be able to explain more about the load buffering technique? Just in case I want to try it out and see if it makes a difference (if I can pull it off without going mad).

 

[Hill Myna]

I somehow managed to miss these. In my own thread, too!

That part of playing on the switch is so helpful when it comes to doing deep dive in skull cavern or something like that

I agree!

Awesome, that sounds really useful in a game like this. Maybe the controls are better too, in terms of switching 'slots' up and down? On PC it's awkward to switch to line 2 or 3 in the inventory (with Tab), so I always keep what I need in the first one. When eating, there is a little lag where I can get my bearing, and maybe spot something on the sides, and click on the tool I need to use next.

Yes, I've heard that you can't "backflip" on PC; that sounds aaaaawkwaaaaard!

Although on Switch,

...you can't move your cursor to the middle of your hotbar to "skip" along the row,
...and you can't spin the scroll wheel fast to jump along quickly to what you want to select,
....so you either have to get good at the timing of waiting for the "speed-scroll" mechanic to kick in,
...or you have to spam the poor shoulder buttons to get to the other side of the row at an acceptable rate of knots,
...if that makes any sense at all!

What I do is I arrange my tools in a + formation, so that everything is only ever one or two taps away. @Phate4569 explained my setup perfectly in this thread (post #11); the only thing that's changed is where I position my Horse Flute.

Centred on my

, of course, because if there's a Serpent, I gotta get me Gavel outta my pocket quick-smart!

Would anyone be able to explain more about the load buffering technique? Just in case I want to try it out and see if it makes a difference (if I can pull it off without going mad).

Well, I would've had to reply much earlier to include this as part of my post, seems like you don't need my help anymore! (I'm very impressed at your progress BTW)

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Awesome, that sounds really useful in a game like this. Maybe the controls are better too, in terms of switching 'slots' up and down? On PC it's awkward to switch to line 2 or 3 in the inventory (with Tab), so I always keep what I need in the first one. When eating, there is a little lag where I can get my bearing, and maybe spot something on the sides, and click on the tool I need to use next.

Would anyone be able to explain more about the load buffering technique? Just in case I want to try it out and see if it makes a difference (if I can pull it off without going mad).

Honestly I find tabbing super easy and useful, I put my ring finger on it if needed and double tap for the 3rd bar if I want, much faster than using hotkeys as you can multitask it, I just stack similar things so that they are easy to get like TSE, spicy eel, and scepter in one so I can eat both and teleport out of the house without needing to pause nor use hotkeys or the mouse.