Congratulations on reaching the bottom floor of the regular mines inStardew Valley! Now, if you’re ready for a real challenge with even tougher monsters and rarer loot, grab thatSkull Keyyou got at the bottom of the Pelican Town mines and head out to Skull Cavern in the Calico Desert.
It contains all sorts of new monsters, much stronger than the ones you faced in the mines back home, and there aren’t any elevators here in the Skull Cavern to help you save your progress. Here’s everything you need to know before you go into the Skull Cavern.
What’s Inside Skull Cavern?
Limitless Floors With Tougher Monsters
Unlike the minesback in Pelican Town, there isno limit to the number of floors in Skull Cavern. You can continue to dive into Skull Cavern until you pass out at the end of the day, and the game will never limit you as long as you have the HP to survive.
The caveat with the endlessness of Skull Cavern, though, is thatthere’s no elevator systemlike there is in the mines back home, meaning you’ll need tostart from the first floor every single time you enter.
Thankfully, you may occasionally findmine shaftsas you bust rocks and ore nodes around Skull Cavern. Theseblack holes in the floorthat appear beneath broken rocks
And while you’ll have plenty of the same resources that were available in the Pelican Town mines, you’ll now havebetter odds to find better ores andmonster loot. For example, yourchance of findingIridium Nodesincreases as you go deeper into Skull Cavern, eventually guaranteeing you at least one node at certain depths.
Unique Types Of Floors
While the majority of Skull Cavern is fairly straightforward and similar in structure to the Pelican Town mines, you’ll periodically find two unique kinds of floors in Skull Cavern:Mummy FloorsandPrehistoric Floors.
You’ll know you’ve found aMummy Floorwhen the decor is notably ancient Egyptian in nature, and theylook like a pharaoh’s tombto boot. Here, you’ll findMummies,monsters that can be KO’dwith your swords or slingshots, but they’llrespawn at full health in 10 secondsunless youleave a bomb near themto finish the job.
Meanwhile, onPrehistoric Floors, you’ll find yourself in anold jungle environmentsurrounded by dinosaurs calledPepper Rex. These monsters are capable ofshooting fire from their mouthsat you, but they’re also a reliable way to collect Dinosaur Eggs for use back home.
The Mutant Flies that spawn here as well are unique, with small chances to drop Diamonds or Prismatic Shards as loot. It’s not a reliable way to farm them, but it is possible.
Finally, you’ll also find randomtreasure rooms. While not unique to Skull Cavern, these floors simply contain a treasure chest and a path to the next floor. And while most of Skull Cavern is random,every 100 floors will be a treasure roomevery time you visit.
Notes
Armored Bug
You need a weapon with the Bug Killer enchantment, or else you’ll just be knocking these bugs back. On the bright side, they’ve only got 1HP, so any weapon with the enchantment will work.
Big Slime
Skull Cavern Big Slimes are purple instead of green, but still produce smaller Slimes when killed.
Carbon Ghost
Only appear on floors with Mummies, but often drop Omni Geodes as their loot when killed.
Only appear from Floor 51 and onward.
Only appear from Floor 26 and onward.
Only appear on floors divisible by 20.
Mummy
Mummies can’t be killed with weapons (unless they have the Crusader enchantment), just knocked out. To kill a Mummy, you’ll need to use a bomb near it to stop it from respawning.
Mutant Fly
Only appear on Prehistoric Floors, with a small chance to drop Diamonds or Prismatic Shards when killed.
Can spawn from Big Slimes or on their own.
Serpent
Appear on most floors denoted by the sound of something being fired off, flying in large circles to attack you until you leave the floor or kill the monster.
Over all, these monsters tend todeal more damage but drop better lootwhen you best them, so tread carefully andbring plenty of meals and healing optionswith you when you go into Skull Cavern in Stardew Valley!
Optional Skull Cavern Challenges From Mr. Qi
As if Skull Cavern weren’t daunting enough, if you’re feeling confident, head over to theWalnut RoomonGinger Islandto see if Mr. Qi is offering one of several optional Qi Requests related to Skull Cavern.
There aretwo prominent challengesafter you’ve entered Skull Cavern, both of which you’ll haveone week to complete, with no penalty for not completing after accepting other than your progress resetting.
Though Mr. Qi offersQi’s Challengefor getting to Floor 25 in Skull Cavern, he later offers voluntary requests for those looking for a more intense challenge.
Skull Cavern Invasion
Description
“Your task is tomake it to level 100in the Skull Cavern. However, you can’t eat or drink anything while there.”
“The Skull Cavern has been invaded by powerful monsters. Make it to level 100 in one piece.”
40 Qi Gems
You’ll occasionally find Big Slimes that have hearts inside, which replenish health without you eating. Another way to handle this is by using items with Vampiric qualities, like the Vampire Ring or a Vampire enchantment on a weapon to help siphon health from slain enemies.
More difficult variations of certain monsters (Armored Bugs, Mummies, Purple Slimes, and Serpents) appear while this quest is active, as doRadioactive Nodes. You’re free to heal and eat, unlike the other challenge, and you can use both staircases and mine shafts to make it down to level 100.
While you’re never obligated to accept these orders, they always provide a generous number of Qi Gems for use in the Walnut Room’s shop.
