The Skull Cavern is a cavern found in the Calico Desert. You will not be able to access it until you obtain the Skull Key. It is an endless dungeon which can be used to gain XP by fighting monsters, or to hunt for treasure. There are some special challenges in the Skull Cavern too.
Navigating the Skull Cavern
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Exploring the Skull Cavern works a lot like the Mines, in that the goal is to go lower each time. However, there are a few substantial differences, the main one being that the Skull Cavern is completely bottomless, although there are rewards for reaching levels 25 and 100, explained below.
Time also moves slower in the Skull Cavern. In the base game, 1 game hour translates to 42 seconds. In the Cavern, it's 54 seconds, which means you get 'longer' to explore while less time passes. However, any timed debuffs are less effective in here.
In the same fashion as the Mines, you find ladders by smashing rocks or by killing enemies, and use these to descend. However, you can also find shafts. These holes in the ground can be jumped in, and will let you travel down between 3-15 floors at once. You will take fall damage, at a rate of x3 the number of floors skipped (meaning losing 45HP for 15 floors is the maximum), though you will not drop below 1HP.
If you do drop to zero HP in the Skull Cavern, you will wake up at Harvey's Clinic, and will have to pay 1,000g. if you remain in the Cavern past 2am, you will pass out and again wake up at the Clinic, and will either need to pay 1,000g, or 10% of your wealth; whichever is less.
There is no elevator to save your progress, but you can leave immediately from any floor by using the ladder at the back. Each visit starts again from the first floor. You can also craft staircases to immediately skip a floor.
The lower you go, the more chance you will get Iridium Ore, and the more chance the monsters will drop Iridium Bars.
Monsters
There are variety of monsters in the Skull Cavern. The table below gives a full breakdown of each one.
| Name | HP | Damage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armored Bug | 0* | 8 | *Cannot be killed without bug killer enchantment. |
| Big Slime | 60 | 5 | A chance to split into smaller Slimes when killed. Big Slimes are usually purple in the Skull Cavern. |
| Purple Slime | 410 | 28 | Can drop Iridium Ore, Iridium Bars. |
| Lava Bat | 80 | 15 | Appears rarely; flies. |
| Mummy | 260 | 30 | Needs to be finished with a bomb of any type after being knocked out with other weapons. If a bomb does enough damage to knock the Mummy out, it will also destroy it. |
| Serpent | 150 | 23 | Moves quickly; default flying enemy. |
| Iridium Bat | 300 | 30 | Appears at level 50+. Very high HP and Damage. |
| Iridium Crab | 240 | 15 | Appears at level 26+. |
| Carbon Ghost | 190 | 25 | May appear on Mummy levels. Frequently drop Omni Geodes. |
| Pepper Rex | 300 | 15 | Appears mainly on Prehistoric Floors; breathes fire. |
Treasure Rooms
After level 10, floors may be small rooms containing a chest and no enemies. Having the Special Charm and having high Luck from the television fortune teller increase your chances of finding Treasure Rooms.
| Name | Number In Chest | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Mega Bomb | 5 | 1/25 |
| Bomb | 10 | 1/25 |
| Cactus Seeds | 15 | 1/25 |
| Life Elixir | 2-4 | 1/25 |
| Omni Geode | 5 | 1/25 |
| Warp Totem: Farm | 5 | 1/25 |
| Rain Totem | 1-3 | 1/25 |
| Apple Sapling | 1 | 1/150 |
| Apricot Sapling | 1 | 1/150 |
| Cherry Sapling | 1 | 1/150 |
| Orange Sapling | 1 | 1/150 |
| Peach Sapling | 1 | 1/150 |
| Pomegranate Sapling | 1 | 1/150 |
| Iridium Sprinkler | 1-2 | 1/25 |
| Quality Sprinkler | 4 | 1/25 |
| Parsnip Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Bean Starter | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Cauliflower Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Potato Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Garlic Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Kale Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Rhubarb Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Melon Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Tomato Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Blueberry Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Pepper Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Wheat Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Radish Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Red Cabbage Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Starfruit Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Corn Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Eggplant Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Artichoke Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Pumpkin Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Bok Choy Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Yam Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Cranberry Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Beet Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Spring Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Summer Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Fall Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Winter Seeds | 5-20 | 1/675 |
| Cherry Bomb | 15 | 1/25 |
| Red Slime Egg | 1 | 1/25 |
| Purple Slime Egg | 1 | 1/25 |
| Energy Tonic | 2-4 | 1/25 |
| Iridium Bar | 2-3 | 1/25 |
| Autumn's Bounty | 5 | 1/250 |
| Pumpkin Soup | 5 | 1/250 |
| Super Meal | 5 | 1/250 |
| Cranberry Sauce | 5 | 1/250 |
| Stuffing | 5 | 1/250 |
| Farmer's Lunch | 5 | 1/250 |
| Survival Burger | 5 | 1/250 |
| Dish o' The Sea | 5 | 1/250 |
| Miner's Treat | 5 | 1/250 |
| Roots Platter | 5 | 1/250 |
| Prismatic Shard | 1 | 1/250 |
| Crystalarium | 1 | 1/25 |
| Seed Maker | 1 | 1/25 |
| Auto-Grabber | 1 | 1/25 |
| Auto-Petter | 1 | 1/25 |
| Blue Cowboy Hat | 1 | 1/25 |
| Red Cowboy Hat | 1 | 1/25 |
| White Turban | 1 | 1/25 |
Prehistoric Floors
Prehistoric floors are an infested floor containing mainly Pepper Rex monsters, but Mutant flies and Iridium Bats may also appear. Here, Dinosaur Eggs and Fiddlehead Ferns can be foraged.
Reaching Level 25
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The day after you first enter the Skull Cavern, you will receive a letter from Mr Qi. It challenges you to reach level 25, with a 10,000g reward. If you reach level 25 on your first trip, you will get the reward along with the letter.
Reaching Level 100
If you have read Secret Note #10, once you reach Level 100 of the Skull Cavern, Mr Qi will be waiting for you. If you arrive having used 10 or fewer staircases, he will congratulate you, while if you have used more than 10, he will call you "clever" but "not honorable". Either way, he will give you Iridium Snake Milk, which grants a permanent 25HP boost.
Up Next: Farm
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