How necessary is the Skull Cavern?

[chaskuchar]

just reading these posts is so interesting. lots to look forward to bsut the wife told me no more game for a while. she didn't say i could not read about it... i am on spring year 2 but at level 85 in the mine.

 

[MogBeoulve]

So I finally have a setup that I like for Skull Cavern!

Infinity gavel with crusader and three emeralds for speed
Iridium band
Burglar ring
Crabshell ring
Immunity band
Mermaid boots

plus whatever luck boost I can get from food. If I'm taking mainly staircases, I use lucky lunch. If I want to whack some monsters, spicy eel.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

So I finally have a setup that I like for Skull Cavern!

Infinity gavel with crusader and three emeralds for speed
Iridium band
Burglar ring
Crabshell ring
Immunity band
Mermaid boots

plus whatever luck boost I can get from food. If I'm taking mainly staircases, I use lucky lunch. If I want to whack some monsters, spicy eel.

I’d ditch the crabshell and immunity band as they offer little to no benefit. Use other monster slayer rings (not vampire) or something like emerald/ruby rings for combat

I would also ditch the emeralds on the hammer but if you really need them it’s fine

 

[MogBeoulve]

I’d ditch the crabshell and immunity band as they offer little to no benefit. Use other monster slayer rings (not vampire) or something like emerald/ruby rings for combat

I would also ditch the emeralds on the hammer but if you really need them it’s fine

Yeah, uh, I frequently miss on the first swing, so the extra speed lets me actually hit for damage on the second and subsequent swings. I am incredibly bad at combat. I love never having to worry about debuffs, and the defense is high enough that I can tank a couple hits before I need to heal. It's definitely not a loadout that most people would enjoy using, I understand. But it's finally fun to do a skull cavern run!

Eventually, I'd like to try out the napalm ring, but I haven't earned one yet.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Yeah, uh, I frequently miss on the first swing...

What's the old proverb?

You never hit the swing you take too late, so swing early and often.

Yeah that's the one. Or at least the one I remember.

That's why I like speedy weapons because if I can't knock the baddies down with my precision, power, and prowess, at least I can mesmerize them with whirling steel and maybe cool them off with the nice breeze I'm creating. It's hot 'n humid in Skull Cavern and really it's all about maintaining nice relations with your erstwhile foes, maybe after the nice spa treatment I'm giving them they might want to stay for tea. Works OK for the Dinosaurs and various cave Crabs but those Flying Serpents really are ill-tempered and lack all gentility.

It's understandable though as they've found I'm rather tenderized about the midsection and am quite the tasty bite to eat. And apparently now like they all know after posting their me-shaped dinners all over Instagram.

 

[Quirinea]

It's definitely time to go pet my rabbits again. I'll be back when I have more staircases - I keep placing new ones instead of descending, so I'm going to need extra to actually get to floor 100. A lot extra. Maybe 150 should do it.

A way to avoid that is to have only one staircase on the top row and the rest somewhere else. Takes a bit of IRL time to rearrange them again and again, though. But opening the inventory stops the game (so a monster does not knock you out while you tinker).

 

[Quirinea]

That's why I like speedy weapons because if I can't knock the baddies down with my precision, power, and prowess, at least I can mesmerize them with whirling steel and maybe cool them off with the nice breeze I'm creating. It's hot 'n humid in Skull Cavern and really it's all about maintaining nice relations with your erstwhile foes, maybe after the nice spa treatment I'm giving them they might want to stay for tea. Works OK for the Dinosaurs and various cave Crabs but those Flying Serpents really are ill-tempered and lack all gentility.

I cannot battle either. But I'm doing pretty well with a fast weapon (galaxy sword as soon I get it) and then just clicking like mad. Crusader as soon as possible so I don't need to bomb mummies. Later on carrying another weapon with bug killer so no need to zigzag off the route of those bugs (instead getting bait...)

 

[MogBeoulve]

I cannot battle either. But I'm doing pretty well with a fast weapon (galaxy sword as soon I get it) and then just clicking like mad. Crusader as soon as possible so I don't need to bomb mummies. Later on carrying another weapon with bug killer so no need to zigzag off the route of those bugs (instead getting bait...)

Nice! I have enough defense to just ignore the bugs I can't kill. I'm considering another infinity weapon since I lucked out with two extra galaxy souls, but haven't decided which yet. I love crusader, since I find bombs too slow and my accuracy with the slingshot and explosive ammo is iffy.

 

[MogBeoulve]

A way to avoid that is to have only one staircase on the top row and the rest somewhere else. Takes a bit of IRL time to rearrange them again and again, though. But opening the inventory stops the game (so a monster does not knock you out while you tinker).

I don't think I have the patience for that. I just made more jade crystallariums so the waste doesn't really matter to me anymore.

 

[MogBeoulve]

It's understandable though as they've found I'm rather tenderized about the midsection and am quite the tasty bite to eat. And apparently now like they all know after posting their me-shaped dinners all over Instagram.

Aw. That is the one benefit to stacking defense, though. The serpents are now only dangerous to me if in particularly large numbers.

 

[Bawby]

Aw. That is the one benefit to stacking defense, though. The serpents are now only dangerous to me if in particularly large numbers.

I kinda welcome serpents. They go down quicker than iridium bats (and hurt way less should you slip up) and can gift you with a bomb or a nice meal! Anyways, sounds like the Skull Caverns is not necessary for you, what with your overabundance of iridium and a layout that you're satisfied with. Nice change of pace from staring at crops though.

 

[Sigrah]

So I finally have a setup that I like for Skull Cavern!

Infinity gavel with crusader and three emeralds for speed
Iridium band
Burglar ring
Crabshell ring
Immunity band
Mermaid boots

plus whatever luck boost I can get from food. If I'm taking mainly staircases, I use lucky lunch. If I want to whack some monsters, spicy eel.

Since you say you're bad at combat, you might consider swapping out the Immunity Band for the Slime Charmer Ring if you have it. The only monster in Skull Rock Caverns that can give you debuffs are the purple slimes, and if you the Slime Charmer Ring, you become immune to damage and debuffs from slimes entirely. Way more value than the Immunity Band.

You also might consider swapping the Crabshell ring out with a Phoenix Ring if you tend to die a lot (once per day, it'll restore you to 50% health upon being knocked out), a Ruby Ring for +10% attack if you're good enough to hit monsters to make it worth while (more attack power means less hits to kill monster), or a Thorns Ring if you get hit a lot (it damages monsters that hit you). But, if you want to keep the crabshell ring, I'd still choose one of these three other rings over the immunity band. The slime debuff can be annoying, but using the immunity band to lessen the chances of getting it is still lower value than other rings out there.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Yeah, uh, I frequently miss on the first swing, so the extra speed lets me actually hit for damage on the second and subsequent swings. I am incredibly bad at combat. I love never having to worry about debuffs, and the defense is high enough that I can tank a couple hits before I need to heal. It's definitely not a loadout that most people would enjoy using, I understand. But it's finally fun to do a skull cavern run!

Eventually, I'd like to try out the napalm ring, but I haven't earned one yet.

I meant remove the immunity band specifically for skull cavern as there is only one monster that can give a debuff.

also you can definitely get better at combat just practice practice practice and find what works best for you

 

[MogBeoulve]

I meant remove the immunity band specifically for skull cavern as there is only one monster that can give a debuff.

Really! I thought skull cavern had those ghosts that inflict nausea. If not, then you've given me an idea. Swap out immunity band for slime charmer, switch from mermaid boots to dragonscale boots, and then swap the crabshell ring out for something else.

 

[Elenna101]

Really! I thought skull cavern had those ghosts that inflict nausea. If not, then you've given me an idea. Swap out immunity band for slime charmer, switch from mermaid boots to dragonscale boots, and then swap the crabshell ring out for something else.

nah those are only in floors 50-70 of the hard mode regular mines iirc

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Really! I thought skull cavern had those ghosts that inflict nausea. If not, then you've given me an idea. Swap out immunity band for slime charmer, switch from mermaid boots to dragonscale boots, and then swap the crabshell ring out for something else.

Yeah that was my entire original point, Defense won’t do much that you can just eat some food to repair so I’d use rings that are really useful and offer different benefits instead.

 

[MogBeoulve]

So I got the napalm ring, and while it's amusing to use, now that I've finished the monster slayer goals, I don't have a whole lot of reason to go back to Skull Cavern. Sure, I can hunt for auto-petters and prismatic shards, but I would do just as well with luck buffs and a stack of staircases.

I think I'm going to keep my setup. I spend more time in the volcano and the regular dangerous mines, and I like never getting debuffed in those places.