Changes

There is no practical limit to the number of floors, or levels, in the Skull Cavern.<ref name="integerlimit" /> Similar to [[the Mines]], the player advances through floors in the Skull Cavern by finding a ladder on each floor, either by mining rocks or defeating enemies. The player can sometimes find a shaft, or hole, which makes it possible to skip 3-15 floors. Jumping down the shaft causes [[health]] damage equal to 3x the number of levels skipped (although jumping down a shaft will never reduce health to less than 1).

There is no practical limit to the number of floors, or levels, in the Skull Cavern.<ref name="integerlimit" /> Similar to [[the Mines]], the player advances through floors in the Skull Cavern by finding a ladder on each floor, either by mining rocks or defeating enemies. The player can sometimes find a shaft, or hole, which makes it possible to skip 3-15 floors. Jumping down the shaft causes [[health]] damage equal to 3x the number of levels skipped (although jumping down a shaft will never reduce health to less than 1).

Unlike the Mines, there is no elevator to save progress, but on every floor there is a ladder at the starting point where you can leave the Skull Cavern. Each visit must start again from the first floor. If [[The Player|the player]] runs out of health while exploring Skull Cavern, they will wake up sometime later on the same day, in [[Harvey's Clinic]]. A fee of {{price|1000}} will be deducted for emergency surgery. Some items may also be lost. Passing out at 2:00 am will cause the player to lose {{price|1000}} or 10% of funds, whichever is less.

Unlike the Mines, there is no elevator to save progress, but on every floor there is a ladder at the starting point where the player can leave the Skull Cavern. Each visit must start again from the first floor. If [[The Player|the player]] runs out of health while exploring Skull Cavern, they will wake up sometime later on the same day, in [[Harvey's Clinic]]. A fee of {{price|1000}} will be deducted for emergency surgery. Some items may also be lost. Passing out at 2:00 am will cause the player to lose {{price|1000}} or 10% of funds, whichever is less.

'''Iridium'''

'''Iridium'''

The chance to find [[Iridium Ore]] increases steadily as you descend into the Skull Cavern. The monsters in the Cavern also have a chance to drop ore and [[Iridium Bar]]s, as well as [[The Mines#Special Items|special items]]. It can be a good idea to bring the [[Lava Katana]] or [[Galaxy Sword]], as enemies are particularly strong. High [[Luck]] increases the frequency of ore veins and the appearance of ladders/holes.  Rapid descent to floors with a higher chance of spawning [[Mining#Mining Nodes|Iridium Nodes]] is often more efficient for acquiring ore than thorough exploration. [[Staircase]]s can be stacked, so a single inventory slot can hold 999 staircases. Even blindly placing staircases will take ''some'' time though; the lower you descend with staircases, the less time you have to explore.

The chance to find [[Iridium Ore]] increases steadily as the player descends into the Skull Cavern. The monsters in the Cavern also have a chance to drop ore and [[Iridium Bar]]s, as well as [[The Mines#Special Items|special items]]. It can be a good idea to bring the [[Lava Katana]] or [[Galaxy Sword]], as enemies are particularly strong. High [[Luck]] increases the frequency of ore veins and the appearance of ladders/holes.  Rapid descent to floors with a higher chance of spawning [[Mining#Mining Nodes|Iridium Nodes]] is often more efficient for acquiring ore than thorough exploration. [[Staircase]]s can be stacked, so a single inventory slot can hold 999 staircases. Even blindly placing staircases will take ''some'' time though; the lower the player descends with staircases, the less time they have to explore.

''Qi's Challenge'''

''Qi's Challenge'''

==References==

==References==

<references>

<references>

<ref name="integerlimit">The integer limit is 2147483647. In order to reach that limit in one Stardew Valley day, you would have to descend over 2 million levels per real-time second.</ref>

<ref name="integerlimit">The integer limit is 2147483647. To reach that limit in one Stardew Valley day, the player would have to descend over 2 million levels per real-time second.</ref>

<ref name="time">See <tt>MineShaft::getExtraMillisecondsPerInGameMinuteForThisLocation</tt> and <tt>Game1::UpdateGameClock</tt> in the game code.</ref>

<ref name="time">See <tt>MineShaft::getExtraMillisecondsPerInGameMinuteForThisLocation</tt> and <tt>Game1::UpdateGameClock</tt> in the game code.</ref>

<ref name="dinofloor">See <tt>MineShaft::loadLevel</tt> in the game code.</ref>

<ref name="dinofloor">See <tt>MineShaft::loadLevel</tt> in the game code.</ref>