Skull Cavern Guide: Defeating Monsters for Rewards

In this tutorial, we will introduce the monsters of the Skull Cavern. The Skull Cavern is located in the top left corner of the desert map and requires a Skull Key to enter. The variety of monsters in the Skull Cavern is not very high, but most have higher health and attack power than the mine monsters. Let’s discuss them one by one.

The entrance to the Skull Cavern in Stardew Valley
The entrance to the Skull Cavern

Skull Cavern Monsters: An Overview

Armored Bug

Armored Bug look similar to the bugs found in the mines but have different colors. They move back and forth in straight lines. Colliding with them causes damage, and they are immune to both weapons and bombs. Only weapons enchanted with the Bug Killer can defeat them. Their drops are similar to those of the Grub, with no unique items, so there’s no real need to kill them.

Slimes – Large Slimes

Large slimes drop Slime, and sometimes there’s a Pink Cake inside their bodies. After being killed, there’s a 75% chance that they will split into two to four smaller slimes. These small slimes can drop many valuable items, including a 10% chance of dropping one to three pieces of coal, an 8.7% chance of dropping Iridium Ore, and a 0.9% chance of dropping an Iridium Bar. There is also a very low probability (approximately 0.05%) of dropping a Red Cabbage Seed. If you don’t want to blast the mines, you can farm these slimes for Iridium Ore by repeatedly going up and down the first level. Of course, this is not as efficient as battling. Slimes will charge and attack, possibly inflicting a slowing debuff, so it’s best to corner them against a rock or wall when attacking. There is a goal to kill 1000 slimes, so you may want to start hunting them once you have the Galaxy Sword.

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Mummies and Carbon Ghost

These two monsters are only found in Mummy levels. Mummies have high health and attack power but move slowly. They have a 20% chance of dropping cloth, a 5% chance of dropping an extra piece of cloth, a 99% chance of dropping a Solar Essence, a 15% chance of dropping an extra Solar Essence, and a 0.2% chance of dropping a Red Cabbage Seed. The high-value cloth and Solar Essences, which can be used to craft Mega Bombs, make hunting Mummies very rewarding. However, they can be challenging to kill. Ordinary weapons can only knock them down, and they will not drop any items when knocked down. After 10 seconds, they will revive with full health. There are two ways to kill Mummies: 1) Use explosive damage after knocking them down, including bombs, explosive ammo, and ring damage; however, note that using a bomb directly on a knocked-down Mummy will not kill it, and equipping the explosive ammo ring will not kill Mummies directly, and 2) Crusader enchantment, which can instantly kill Mummies and deal 1.5 times the damage. In the early stages, lure a certain number of Mummies together, knock them all down, and then use a bomb to kill them quickly to collect Solar Essences. There is a goal to kill 100 Mummies, so you can casually hunt them as you progress.

Although Carbon Ghosts are also flying creatures, they move slower and pose less of a threat to players. They have a 99% chance of dropping an Omni Geode and a 10% chance of dropping Refined Quartz.

Iridium Crabs can be found starting from the 26th floor and have a 50% chance of dropping Crab Cakes. They have three chances of dropping Iridium Ore, each with a 50% probability. This makes killing Iridium Crabs an efficient way to obtain Iridium Ore. These creatures often disguise themselves as Iridium Ore nodes and attack when players approach. However, careful observation can help players identify some of the disguised Iridium Crabs.

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Serpent are perhaps the most feared enemies for beginners, as they appear in large numbers and move quickly, making them difficult to defeat without taking damage. The key to defeating Serpent lies in mastering the timing of your attacks. They have a 0.8% chance of dropping a Rabbit’s Foot, a 0.2% chance of dropping a Red Cabbage seed, and a 6% chance of dropping Spicy Eel.

Finally, the Pepper Rex can be found in large numbers on prehistoric floors, but they may also appear individually on other floors. These creatures predict your movements and breathe fire accordingly. They can be defeated by circling around to their backs to avoid taking damage. Their drops include Prehistoric Tibia, Prehistoric Rib, Prehistoric Vertebra, and Dinosaur Eggs, all of which are artifacts that can be donated to the museum. The first three can also be used as fertilizer in the Bone Mill, while Dinosaur Eggs can be used to hatch Dinosaur in a coop. Pepper Rex have 50 enemy kill targets, so it’s a good idea to defeat them whenever encountered after the first mining session.

In conclusion, it’s not advisable to focus on defeating enemies before obtaining a Galaxy Sword. Once you have the Galaxy Sword, you can start working on enemy kill targets during your free time. Due to the length of this tutorial, we’ll discuss more about the stronger enemies in Skull Cavern in a later guide.

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