Skull Cavern Advice Needed
- Thread starter Boo1972
- Start date
redbobcat
Rancher
- Pick a day when it’s the best fortune forecast on TV.
- Get to the bus stop by 10 am.
- Use boost food, I prefer Spicy Eel - both speed and luck bonus, also it drops from serpents right there in the cavern.
- Bring a stack of regular food to restore health.
- Bring bombs if you have them.
- Bring a few stacks of stone - you can make staircases to quickly get to the next level. Hit the monster level - make a staircase to bypass it and save time.
- It helps to have iridium pickaxe and max mining level.
- If you have a farm warp totem, you can stay in the cavern longer, up to 1 am.
- Keep breaking those rocks to search for staircases or holes that would take you several floors down at once.
- If your goal is to get deeper, ignore the monsters and ore and keep breaking rocks or bomb them. The iridium ore will start appear more frequently after 30+ levels.
- Good luck!
It's okay, it's pretty hard for me to get past level 20 too. I don't use bombs much, but they're invaluable for the caverns. I agree with all of redbobcat's advice!
purrfeccat
Sodbuster
Bring lotsa straircases with you to skip large floors, spiral floors, infested floors! Instead of wasting time wandering around these floors, consider using a staircase to skip em!
Alternatively if you dont have much stones to create staircases, you can trade jade for staircase at the desert trader every sundays. The desert trader sells 1 staircase for 1 jade and jade can be duplicated with crystalariums.
Alternatively if you dont have much stones to create staircases, you can trade jade for staircase at the desert trader every sundays. The desert trader sells 1 staircase for 1 jade and jade can be duplicated with crystalariums.
Lew Zealand
Helper
Everything redbobcat said but I'll add 2 more *expensive* things. I made lotsa money in my most recent save specifically to buy 2 things:
Desert Obelisk and Return Scepter
That's 3 Million gold and well worth it. Every minute longer that you can spend in Skull Cavern is a few levels lower you may get and these will get you there from about 6:30am through 1:50am but pls don't cut 1:50 too close. It's *very* disappointing when you, ah, miscalculate.
BTW I think I've gotten to about level 85 in SC because I don't like to "waste" stone on staircases too often. Think about that. I blew 3M on faster travel and don't like to waste stone. Like that makes any sense.
Desert Obelisk and Return Scepter
That's 3 Million gold and well worth it. Every minute longer that you can spend in Skull Cavern is a few levels lower you may get and these will get you there from about 6:30am through 1:50am but pls don't cut 1:50 too close. It's *very* disappointing when you, ah, miscalculate.
BTW I think I've gotten to about level 85 in SC because I don't like to "waste" stone on staircases too often. Think about that. I blew 3M on faster travel and don't like to waste stone. Like that makes any sense.
radi
Tiller
- pick a lucky day (luck is possibly the most important, since it affects how easy it is to find ladders)
- eat food that boosts your luck. (eating a +1 luck food means you'll have 12 times more than the lucky day value. eating a lucky lunch will result in an almost 40x increase)
- triple shot espresso for speed
- iridium pickaxe
- lotsa bombs
- staircases are great but expenisve. It's good to have one or two, in case you run into a monster floor
- eat food that boosts your luck. (eating a +1 luck food means you'll have 12 times more than the lucky day value. eating a lucky lunch will result in an almost 40x increase)
- triple shot espresso for speed
- iridium pickaxe
- lotsa bombs
- staircases are great but expenisve. It's good to have one or two, in case you run into a monster floor
Lew Zealand
Helper
Wow! I've finally started using different foods to improve my stats like this but I didn't know it made *that* much of a difference. Thanks!
CherryLeafy101
Sodbuster
If you just want to get down to level 100 for the goodies, then you need crystalariums. Farming enough stone for 100 staircases is a waste of time and stone. Make 5-10 crystalariums. I know they're somewhat resource intensive, but it's worth it for not having to farm 9,900 stone. Put jade in each crystalarium. Go about your normal business, collecting the jade as the crystalariums produce it. When you have 100 jade, go to the desert trader on a Sunday and buy 100 staircases. Use them all to get down to level 100. That's the only time I'd bother trying to get deep in the skull caverns; I only use the upper levels for farming stone and enemies. Maybe you'd need to get deep to find a prehistoric floor, if you're doing the monster eradication goals, but I encountered Pepper Rex dinosaurs quite high up.
Unagi15
Greenhorn
Hello!
I would suggest to get few desert warp at the desert shop for cheap so you can get into skull cavern by 6:30am.
Have a chest with all needed stuff (food, bomb, staircase, warp) and wait until a morning you have the best luck at your side and thats the day to go!
Unagi15
Greenhorn
Wow why i havent think of this??
Thanks for pro tip!
Lew Zealand
Helper
I know, they're cute! They remind me of my coop full of their little brothers at the farm. I just wanna hug one and take it home!
I usually end up singed but what can you do?
tsmooth920
Farmhand
^ All good stuff
Just to reiterate/expand on a few things:
Farming up some gems in the regular old mine to exchange at the desert trader can make a huge difference. Like people are saying, crystalariums can further help to copy stuff & build up a supply if needed. But, diamonds and rubies can always be exchanged for espresso and spicy eel, respectively for big speed and a little luck buff. Plus jade on Sundays can be traded for staircases if you don't have or want to burn through a bunch of stone.
It takes a little effort, but killing 500 dust sprites in the regular mines will get you the Burglars ring (chance for double loot from monsters), which can help you stock up on spicy eel, bombs, etc that you get when you kill stuff in skull cavern. Its not hard to leave a skull cavern run with more stuff than you went in with if you use things conservatively. Good luck!
Just to reiterate/expand on a few things:
Farming up some gems in the regular old mine to exchange at the desert trader can make a huge difference. Like people are saying, crystalariums can further help to copy stuff & build up a supply if needed. But, diamonds and rubies can always be exchanged for espresso and spicy eel, respectively for big speed and a little luck buff. Plus jade on Sundays can be traded for staircases if you don't have or want to burn through a bunch of stone.
It takes a little effort, but killing 500 dust sprites in the regular mines will get you the Burglars ring (chance for double loot from monsters), which can help you stock up on spicy eel, bombs, etc that you get when you kill stuff in skull cavern. Its not hard to leave a skull cavern run with more stuff than you went in with if you use things conservatively. Good luck!
Tom
Rancher
How to get at least a few dozen Iridium Ore on Floors 50-80 without a lot of Staircases.
Packing list:
1. At least 100 Bombs (Buy from Dwarf for 600 each)
2. At least 3000 plain food (no buffs) Energy (30 Salads or 20 Pizzas or other)
3. 5 Spicy Eel (Buy for 1 Ruby each at Desert Trader)
4. 5 Triple Shot Espresso (Buy for 1 Diamond each at Desert Trader) or 15 Coffee
5. At least 5 Staircases (Buy for 1 Jade each at Desert Trader on Sundays).
6. Desert Warp Totem to arrive early.
7. Best sword you can get (less important than everything else) plus boots and ring for defense and magnetism, of course.
Strategies
1. Go when you have max luck.
2. Bomb, bomb, bomb.
3. Eat, eat, eat. Check your health at every floor and when serpents are around.
4. With Coffee and Spicy Eel you can mostly outrun the flying serpents. Eat them as soon as you wake up. When you lose your luck buff, eat a Spicy Eel. When you have only 1 speed buff, eat a Coffee.
5. If a floor seems too dangerous (infested) or time-consuming (spiral), use a staircase. But mostly bomb, bomb, bomb.
6. Be on the lookout for shafts.
7. Start slowing down to get Iridium when it starts to feel abundant to you (probably past floor 50) or when the day gets late.
8. Fall asleep on the job unless you want to practice.
Packing list:
1. At least 100 Bombs (Buy from Dwarf for 600 each)
2. At least 3000 plain food (no buffs) Energy (30 Salads or 20 Pizzas or other)
3. 5 Spicy Eel (Buy for 1 Ruby each at Desert Trader)
4. 5 Triple Shot Espresso (Buy for 1 Diamond each at Desert Trader) or 15 Coffee
5. At least 5 Staircases (Buy for 1 Jade each at Desert Trader on Sundays).
6. Desert Warp Totem to arrive early.
7. Best sword you can get (less important than everything else) plus boots and ring for defense and magnetism, of course.
Strategies
1. Go when you have max luck.
2. Bomb, bomb, bomb.
3. Eat, eat, eat. Check your health at every floor and when serpents are around.
4. With Coffee and Spicy Eel you can mostly outrun the flying serpents. Eat them as soon as you wake up. When you lose your luck buff, eat a Spicy Eel. When you have only 1 speed buff, eat a Coffee.
5. If a floor seems too dangerous (infested) or time-consuming (spiral), use a staircase. But mostly bomb, bomb, bomb.
6. Be on the lookout for shafts.
7. Start slowing down to get Iridium when it starts to feel abundant to you (probably past floor 50) or when the day gets late.
8. Fall asleep on the job unless you want to practice.
Last edited:
Lew Zealand
Helper
OK so I need 3 Crystalariums with Diamonds, Rubies and Jade in them. The rest I have.
Alternative for Strategy 8: Return Sceptre, don't leave home without it!
Alternative for Strategy 8: Return Sceptre, don't leave home without it!
Boo1972
Farmer
Thanks to all for the advice! I realize that’s it’s not clear from my original post, but I don’t need to conquer the mines from a material perspective. I have more than I need. It’s more physiological I guess. I just need to not suck in the mines. So far, the mines have the upper hand. But, I’ll let you all know when I emerge victorious. Thanks again.
Tom
Rancher
For that (conquering my Skull Cavern anxiety), here's what I was "lucky" enough to be able to do.
1. I have my most-advanced farmer (savefile Tom) at the end of Year 2 with plenty of money etc., but I am still afraid of the Skull Caverns. I happen upon a Sunday with max luck.
2. I have two other interesting/active farmers (savefiles Zeb and Cloyd) I can play for fun. So I halt Tom and start playing the Skull Cavern on that same day every time I dare, quitting before I fall asleep.
3. So many questions:
a) To Staircase or not to Staircase?
b) What are the monsters like?
c) What are the floors like?
d) How deep can I get without blowing 100 Staircases? (I had previously used gold and Stone for Staircases; I now will use Jade)
4. I just kept going over and over on the same day (when I felt like it) with the goal to no longer be afraid of the Skull Caverns. Eventually I did it and came out with a good packing list for an early farmer who has limited Staircases. This took me about 3 months in the real world and turned me off of Stardew Valley for a while. I had Skull Cavern anxiety bad!
tsmooth920
Farmhand
Gotcha! Well mechanics/gameplay wise, a few tips then:
-good luck days and luck buff from food will dramatically increase your ladder/shaft finding
-bring some cheap, plain food (salads from Gus) for healing purposes...a common practice is to maintain at least half health, since some of the monsters hit pretty hard and can put you in trouble in a hurry
-like people have been sayin, use staircases to bypass dangerous/"slow" floors
-dont panic when serpents fly at you...I just stop moving and try to time my swings so I can knock it back without taking any damage (easier said than done as the hit detection seems a little wonky sometimes)
-whenever I can, I try to get underneath monsters, as (to me) it seems easier and more consistent to gauge the reach of your sword and keep from getting hit when youre swinging up - happens all the time where im trying to swing to the side and my mouse will be too high or low and cause me to swing upwards or downwards, miss, and take damage. Also, the reach feels a lot shorter when swinging in the down direction, could just be me though...
-and yes, bombs. Bombing a big cluster of rocks almost always reveals a ladder or shaft. Careful with mega bombs though, not always easy to get out of the blast radius
