Skull Cavern
Skull Cavern is located in the northwest area of the Desert. It is initially locked and requires the Skull Key to gain access. After entering the Cavern for the first time, a letter is received on the following day, from Mr. Qi. The letter begins the quest Qi's Challenge, which is completed by reaching floor 25 in Skull Cavern. Completing the quest awards 
10,000g.
There is an infinite number of floors, or levels, in Skull Cavern. Similar to the Mines, the player advances through floors in 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 a small amount of damage. Unlike the Mines, there is no elevator to save progress. Each visit must start again from the first floor. If the player runs out of health or blacks out while exploring Skull Cavern, they will wake up sometime later on the same day, in Harvey's Clinic. A fee of 1,000g will be deducted for emergency surgery. Some items may also be lost.
Every ten floors the chance to find Iridium Ore increases significantly. The monsters in the Cavern also have a chance to drop ore and Iridium Bars. It can be a good idea to bring the Lava Katana or Galaxy Sword, as enemies are particularly strong. As with many other things, high Luck increases the frequency of ore veins, item drops, and the appearance of ladders/holes. Exploring the Cavern on a lucky day will increase the odds of finding loot and ladders. Since the frequency of Iridium Ore increases for every 10 floors descended into the Cavern, rapid descent is often more efficient for acquiring ore than thorough exploration. With a full bag of stone, its possible to descend to floor 300+.
The plaques that can be occasionally found on the walls contain enciphered messages.
Preparation
Food
Useful food for exploring Skull Cavern:
| Image | Name | Description | Stat Bonus | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Autumn's Bounty | A taste of the season. |  Foraging (+2) Defense (+2)
|
 7m41s
|
 |
Coffee | It smells delicious. This is sure to give you a boost. |  Speed (+1)
|
1m23s
|
 |
Crab Cakes | Crab, bread crumbs, and egg formed into patties then fried to a golden brown. | Speed (+1) Defense (+1)
|
15m10s
|
 |
Cranberry Sauce | A festive treat. |  Mining (+2)
|
3m30s
|
 |
Eggplant Parmesan | Tangy, cheesy, and wonderful. | Mining (+1) Defense (+3)
|
4m39s
|
 |
Fried Eel | Greasy but flavorful. |  Luck (+1)
|
7m
|
 |
Fried Mushroom | Earthy and aromatic. |  Attack (+2)
|
7m
|
 |
Lucky Lunch | A special little meal. | Luck (3)
|
11m11s
|
 |
Maple Bar | It's a sweet doughnut topped with a rich maple glaze. |  Farming (+1) Fishing (+1) Mining (+1)
|
16m47s
|
 |
Miner's Treat | This should keep your energy up. | Mining (+3) Magnetism (+32)
|
5m35s
|
 |
Pepper Poppers | Spicy breaded peppers filled with cheese. | Speed (+1) Farming (+2)
|
7m
|
 |
Pumpkin Soup | A seasonal favorite. | Luck (+2) Defense (+2)
|
7m41s
|
 |
Roots Platter | This'll keep you digging for more. | Attack (+3)
|
5m35s
|
 |
Spicy Eel | It's really spicy! Be careful. | Luck (+1) Speed (+1)
|
7m
|
 |
Stuffing | Ahh... the smell of warm bread and sage. | Defense (+2)
|
5m39s
|
 |
Super Meal | It's a really energizing meal. | Speed (1)
|
3m30s
|
Explosives
Bombs make quick work of densely-clustered stones and ore veins. They're also necessary for permanently defeating Mummies.
- Buy Cherry Bombs from the Dwarf for 300g or craft them with 4 Copper Ore and 1 Coal.
- Buy Bombs from the Dwarf for 600g or craft them with 4 Iron Ore and 1 Coal.
- Buy Mega Bombs from the Dwarf for 1,000g or craft them with 4 Gold Ore, 1 Solar Essence, and 1 Void Essence.
The Slingshot's Explosive Ammo is also effective in dealing with small groups of stones, Iridium Ore deposits, and incapacitated Mummies. Loading the Slingshot with Gold Ore deals substantial damage, making it potentially useful for dispatching tough targets. Explosive ammo can be crafted or bought at the Adventurer's Guild for 100g.
Staircase
Staircases can be used for rapid descent or skipping troublesome floors. Since staircases do not stack, it can be more space-efficient to bring plenty of Stone and craft the staircases as needed.
Rings
Magnet Ring
The increased attraction radius of the Small Magnet Ring, Magnet Ring, or Iridium Band can be useful, especially when using explosives to mine clusters of stone or ore.
Burglar's Ring
The Burglar's Ring, acquired by fulfilling Gil's goal of slaying 500 Dust Sprites, can be valuable for getting larger amounts of useful drops from enemies. Serpents can drop Bombs and Spicy Eel while Purple Slimes can drop Iridium Ore.
Slime Charmer Ring
Use the Slime Charmer Ring, acquired by fulfilling Gil's goal of slaying 1000 Slimes, for bypassing the common slime enemies in the cavern and negating their slowing debuff.
Savage Ring
The Savage Ring provides a Speed boost on slaying a monster which can make up for time spent combating the cavern's denizens.
Warp Totems
A Warp Totem can be used to make a quick exit if supplies are running low or the day is almost over.
Monsters
| Image | Monster | HP | Damage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armored Bug | 8 | Cannot be killed by any currently known means. | ||
 |
Big Slime | 60 | 5 | Splits into smaller Slimes when killed. Big Slimes are always purple in Skull Cavern. |
 |
Purple Slime | 410 | 28 | Can drop Iridium Ore, Iridium Bar |
 |
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. |
