The Skull Cavern in Stardew Valley is a taxing challenge, with much stronger enemies than what you’ve previously encountered. If you’re looking for a guide on how to beat the Skull Cavern, read on.
The different types of enemies in the Skull Cavern
The Skull Cavern houses a variety of different enemies that the player will encounter. These include:
- Serpents: These are fast-moving and deal significant damage. They can easily swarm the player, making them a priority target.
- Purple Slimes: Similar to all other slimes, they have high health. They can drop both iridium ore and iridium bars, making them a valuable target.
- Big Slimes: These move similarly to other slimes but are slower. When destroyed, they have a chance to produce smaller purple slimes. Each small slime has a chance to drop a ladder or hole, making them a valuable target.
- Armored Bugs: These are essentially just an obstacle. They can’t be killed but they move back and forth on the same path. This can make them dangerous if the player is not paying attention.
- Mummies: These work on the “Zelda” stalfos rules and need to be knocked out and then bombed. They’re not a huge threat because they move slowly but can still pose a danger if the player is not careful.
- Carbon: Carbon ghosts are one of the rarer enemies you’ll encounter in the Skull Cavern. They move in the same way as other ghosts, and they have a high drop rate for Omni geodes. If they hit you, they’ll teleport away to avoid retaliation, so be careful.
- Lava Bats: Lava bats act pretty much the same as any other bat, and they don’t have anything too special about them. However, they’re worth mentioning because they can be a nuisance if you’re not careful.
- Iridium Bats: They take a lot of hits to take down, and the general strategy is to bait them into breathing fire, then quickly getting to their side and hitting them while they’re locked into attacking. They have a high drop rate for dinosaur eggs, which can be incubated into your coop to give you your own little dinosaur.
- Pepper Rexes: These will spawn almost exclusively on prehistoric floors. They take a lot of hits to take down, and the general strategy is to bait them into breathing fire, then quickly get to their side and hit them while they’re locked into attacking. They have a 10% chance of dropping dinosaur eggs, which can be incubated into your coop to give you your own little dinosaur.
How to prepare for a run in the Skull Cavern
Your Weapon: This isn’t as important if you plan on doing the pacifist run but you’ll still want a way to get really annoying enemies out of your way. The best weapon you can possibly have is one of the galaxy weapons
Desert Warp Totem: I would also recommend bringing a farm warp totem so that you can stay in the cavern as late as you want without having to leave two or three hours early to get to bed.
Staircases: There are two ways you can obtain these either through crafting with 99 stone or trading with the desert trader for one jade on Sundays only. I’d always have at least 10 of these on a serious run.
