How to begin in skull caverns?

[Jiffypop]

I'm stuck here, I have no idea how to even begin spelunking in there. It seems like such a harsh jump from the mines. Every single youtube video on it doesn't help, as they usually run it with really late game stuff, like the galaxy set or iridium pickaxe, or even just a casual like fifty million to dump on foods and bombs.

On top of that, lost both of my swords, so now I'm kind of stumped and it's not very appealing to drop 25K on a sword just to go like five levels in before I just get endlessly swarmed by enemies, die and lose said 25K sword.

Any tips? Or is it really just hit and miss until I have enough for a 'proper' run with hundreds of bombs, dozens of stairs, and maxed out tools, all the while hoping I don't lose hours of progress when I accidentally die?

[Amberbaum]

Do you have a prismatic shard? There is a endgame sword that you can attain with it.

Keep in mind that the SC is meant to be more of a challenge and end-game content.

Bombs are the key. Obviously you have a better time with an iridium pickaxe, but you need iridium for that first. Bombs and food stuff is what will carry you. Good food buffs are speed, speed, more speed, attack and defense(look up the wiki on food in SDV and then sort for buffs+++). Swords are the best when it comes to keeping your enemies at bay. They hit in a wide arc in front of you and therefore are both defensive and offensive at the same time. You need the speed of swords, because of much much stuff keeps flying at you.

- Eat food buff
- Enter Skull Cavern
- Before you jump into holes, check your health. If it's below 65% then eat something. Never go down with less health then 65% in case you get swarmed.
- place bombs, don't just stand around like an idiot just to wait for it to explode, keep moving while placing bombs over other clusters that look interesting or plenty. Pick up everything. If there is a hole then jump in. You only stop going down if you see something rare, like a gem cluster ect.
- Repeat this step, stop for nothing and keep bombing, except you have to neutralize a bunch of monsters, because you can't outrun them or there is nothing to go down to.
- Lucky days are the best to go to the SC.
- Iridium Band is must as a ring, Slime charmer may be beneficial to you since you struggle with enemies.
- You could also wait for accessing Ginger Island and then use "the forge" to upgrade your weapon and merge your rings.

+++ I mentioned the wiki, because it helps to pick out food with the cheapest most readily available ingredients for you.

[HELLDIVER]

사막

[Jiffypop]

Originally posted by Amberbaum:

Do you have a prismatic shard? There is a endgame sword that you can attain with it.

Keep in mind that the SC is meant to be more of a challenge and end-game content.

Bombs are the key. Obviously you have a better time with an iridium pickaxe, but you need iridium for that first. Bombs and food stuff is what will carry you. Good food buffs are speed, speed, more speed, attack and defense(look up the wiki on food in SDV and then sort for buffs+++). Swords are the best when it comes to keeping your enemies at bay. They hit in a wide arc in front of you and therefore are both defensive and offensive at the same time. You need the speed of swords, because of much much stuff keeps flying at you.

- Eat food buff
- Enter Skull Cavern
- Before you jump into holes, check your health. If it's below 65% then eat something. Never go down with less health then 65% in case you get swarmed.
- place bombs, don't just stand around like an idiot just to wait for it to explode, keep moving while placing bombs over other clusters that look interesting or plenty. Pick up everything. If there is a hole then jump in. You only stop going down if you see something rare, like a gem cluster ect.
- Repeat this step, stop for nothing and keep bombing, except you have to neutralize a bunch of monsters, because you can't outrun them or there is nothing to go down to.
- Lucky days are the best to go to the SC.
- Iridium Band is must as a ring, Slime charmer may be beneficial to you since you struggle with enemies.
- You could also wait for accessing Ginger Island and then use "the forge" to upgrade your weapon and merge your rings.

+++ I mentioned the wiki, because it helps to pick out food with the cheapest most readily available ingredients for you.

I don’t have a shard, or any iridium. But seemingly, the only (real) way of getting either is to go inside the cavern.

As for bombs and such, that’s exactly my issue as well. How am I supposed to get going in there when the setup cost is probably around 100k for a good run? And then of course, that’s just bombs/food I can buy. I don’t have 3 shards to drop on candy, and each rock is going to take two hits no matter what, and I’ll also take like three hits myself before I die. Especially now that I don’t even have a sword

It just seems like a vicious cycle. I need stuff from the SC to go into the SC. So how do I get this stuff initially is my question.

[Amberbaum]

Originally posted by Jiffypop:

I don’t have a shard, or any iridium. But seemingly, the only (real) way of getting either is to go inside the cavern.

As for bombs and such, that’s exactly my issue as well. How am I supposed to get going in there when the setup cost is probably around 100k for a good run? And then of course, that’s just bombs/food I can buy. I don’t have 3 shards to drop on candy, and each rock is going to take two hits no matter what, and I’ll also take like three hits myself before I die. Especially now that I don’t even have a sword

It just seems like a vicious cycle. I need stuff from the SC to go into the SC. So how do I get this stuff initially is my question.

Why bother with candy and buying stuff, just make cheap and easy food that have good buffs. Prioritizing getting some iridium first. Occasionaly raid the mines for iron ore and coal. Level 70 - 79 is a good place to farm coal from dust sprites. Go in, make your way through level 79, go out, re-enter level 70. Takes about 2 level to reset these levels.

Medium bombs are the best, but it's easier to get the resources for mega bombs in SC.

[Jiffypop]

Originally posted by Amberbaum:

Originally posted by Jiffypop:

I don’t have a shard, or any iridium. But seemingly, the only (real) way of getting either is to go inside the cavern.

As for bombs and such, that’s exactly my issue as well. How am I supposed to get going in there when the setup cost is probably around 100k for a good run? And then of course, that’s just bombs/food I can buy. I don’t have 3 shards to drop on candy, and each rock is going to take two hits no matter what, and I’ll also take like three hits myself before I die. Especially now that I don’t even have a sword

It just seems like a vicious cycle. I need stuff from the SC to go into the SC. So how do I get this stuff initially is my question.

Why bother with candy and buying stuff, just make cheap and easy food that have good buffs. Prioritizing getting some iridium first. Occasionaly raid the mines for iron ore and coal. Level 70 - 79 is a good place to farm coal from dust sprites. Go in, make your way through level 79, go out, re-enter level 70. Takes about 2 level to reset these levels.

Medium bombs are the best, but it's easier to get the resources for mega bombs in SC.

So you’re saying just make a bunch of medium bombs, and level my way through SC on a high luck day so I can get my first haul of iridium and shard? How many bombs? What food should I bring?

[Amberbaum]

Originally posted by Jiffypop:

Originally posted by Amberbaum:

Why bother with candy and buying stuff, just make cheap and easy food that have good buffs. Prioritizing getting some iridium first. Occasionaly raid the mines for iron ore and coal. Level 70 - 79 is a good place to farm coal from dust sprites. Go in, make your way through level 79, go out, re-enter level 70. Takes about 2 level to reset these levels.

Medium bombs are the best, but it's easier to get the resources for mega bombs in SC.

So you’re saying just make a bunch of medium bombs, and level my way through SC on a high luck day so I can get my first haul of iridium and shard? How many bombs? What food should I bring?

That's what I have been saying the whole time? It's like you skipped reading my answers. Stop focusing on buying all that stuff at your level. You are probably saving up money for upgrades, animals and other stuff at this point. You can splurge on SC materials once you have enough money and resourses.

Originally posted by Amberbaum:

Good food buffs are speed, speed, more speed, attack and defense

https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Cooking

I repeat: Filter for buff, by clicking on buff(s) in that list. I don't know what food resources you have available, so it's up to you to pick food that helps you. Easy food to make to replenish health is a standard to have. The other food items that you bring with you are eaten to retain the buffs.

Seriously, individual initiative helps a lot here. I cannot give you exact numbers, because that's not how I play and I still am able to manage the SC. I just take all bombs I have with me and the food of my choice If I decide to go to SC. Make 50 bomb if you want a number. The further you go down the higher the chance of iridium popping up. Once you kill some monsters and get gold ore you can make mega bombs down the way. You can also use the collected stone from the mines and SC to make stair-cases. If you take to much time to find a ladder down or a hole in one level then place a stair-case. Or place 25-30 staircase in a row and then start bombing away once you hit level 25-30.

https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Iridium_Ore

Sorry, this is a numbers game, but also not. You need to get lucky, tenacious and good. Don't let yoru health drop to low. Eat. You get swarmed by monsters? Eat and fight. eat and fight.

Most SDV player who struggle with the combat haven't figured out that they should eat. They know that it restores health. But they don't eat often enough, not at the right time and think they shouldn't waste food for when they are still in the yellow. A flying serpent can do up to 23 base damage. They are fast and agile and you can encounter easily multiple serpents on one level at the same times. 3 serpents hit you at the same time? 60+ hp is gone. Add the iridium bats to it and you can add 30 point of damage. That hurts.

Eat. Eat cheap food that has a good health pool with cheap easy to get resources for you. You have health food and buff food. Sometimes health and buff food can be the same. Health food should be something you can easily make.

[NBOX21]

Bread is a good suggestion for food if you quickly find yourself running low on health. They don't provide any buffs, but they're very quick and easy to make, only requiring one bag of flour which are a plentiful resource that you can get from wheat and milling it through a windmill. I usually end up with over 500 bread throughout the entire two mid-year seasons.

BTW, if you ever collapse and end up in Harvey's clinic, one thing you can actually do is quit out to the main menu and reload your last save. You'll restart the day from 6am in the morning, but it'll be as if your death never even happened at all.

[Power and Wealth]

Root platter(Winter root+cave carrot, both found in mines)
Lava katana (guild 25k gold) / Galaxy sword
Iridium band (magma+omni geodes for the iridium ore)
Burglar ring (guild)
Healing pots
Totems for quick escapes
Bombs of any kind really. (lvl 40 mines coal from dust mites and iron ore)

[jie]

you can always forage cactus fruit. those heal for a pretty amount. look for easy forage or crops that heal alot. I found that buffs are sweet but more late game.
keep in mind the purple slime drop some iridium ore.


my way for the first dive in the skull cavern;
grab some cheap forage that heals plenty.
dont bother with luck. it's an extra on early runs.
focus on slime hunting till you get your first few iridium bars.
after that sure. go for bombs. try to go deep in the mines. but the start just try to get familiar with the enemy's and how to handle them

[Maya-Neko]

Stairs aren't that expensive. You can trade one stair against one jade at the desert trader on a sunday, so better prepare for that by simply not selling any of it. You can also utilize the crytalarium you get as a reward to multiply your Jade for that. For the beginning it should be enough to drop 25-30 floors with the stairs, since that's the point where Iridium starts to get more common, but if you'fe enough Jade, then going beyond floor 100 is definitely recommended, since Iridium gets more common, the further down you're going.

The gold pickaxe is obviously recommended here for the first runs, but upgrade to iridium asap. With the rest of the iridium you'll obviously craft an Iridium Band, baut past that you should definitely think about investing into more crystalariums for more Jade. Also ea few Ruby to change it against spicy eel isn't that bad too in my opinion, as long as you're unable to cook pumpkin soup or lucky lunch.

[LittleSadDragon]

Coffee and Spicy Eels too, you can buy those for Rubies from Desert Trader. Also, if you have so much trouble, maybe you are still too early in the game?
You can always run through normal mines for iron, coal and gems. Kill Rock Crabs to get defence ring from AG, it seems to help somewhat.
You can also reload days if you get smacked too hard, or pay Marlon to get your sword back (well, maybe not anymore, if you lost it some time ago)

[DasaKamov]

Originally posted by Jiffypop:

Every single youtube video on it doesn't help, as they usually run it with really late game stuff

To boil down everything that was said down:

Yes, the Skull Caverns are very late-game content. There's zero reason to rush into them before you're prepared.

[Queen Droxxanna]

if you dont mind using mods , there are 2 mods that make the skull caves really easy.
the first one is the Tractor mod, Yes you can summon your tractor and use it in the mines, which makes you invulnerable to mobs attacking you and you can zip thru each level easily.
The second is the SC Elevator mod, which lets your return to any level , same as in the regular mine.
There is NO bottom to the SC mine, i have been to level 1600, and the deeper you go the more iridium you get on each level.

It doesnt have to be an endgame area. Once you get to level 120 of the regular mine, and make friends with Marlon, you should also be able to buy some armour from him that will help. And once you get a prismatic shard ,and the crystalarium from the museum rewards, put the shard in the crystalarium and make more of them, Then use the shard to get a better sword in the desert as mentioned above.

Lastly, if you dont use mods, but play mutliplayer, you can do the SC together, and take turns returning to the surface to heal. The mine doesnt reset as long as one of you are still in there. Surface, eat, heal, run back down the stairs you found before, Change places and let your partner go heal. That's the only way I was able to get to level 100 in the SC before i found the tractor mod.

[Ryvaken Tadrya]

When you're new and uncertain, run defensive. Eggplant Parmesan is a great food with +3 defense and both ingredients come from repeat harvest plants. Set up a few garden plots of both.
Carry some no-buff food, too. Eating a new buff overwrites the old, but you can eat food without a buff and keep the buff you already had. There are some very high restoring, low cost foods. I like sashimi and either kind of algae for cheap, abundant options to top off my health bar.

If you've lost your swords...look if you don't have a weapon on par with the Obsidian Edge at a bare minimum you are in SERIOUS trouble. And even then, using anything below the Lava Katana is is going to be a struggle. Spend the money. And take care of your tools!

Regular bombs are easy to produce. Run the mid levels of the mines for coal and iron ore. And bombs are really useful. Blowing up rocks in the cavern gives a lot of omni geodes, which are a useful currency at the desert trader. If nothing else, using them to buy desert totems saves money on the bus.

Strategy wise, speed is your strength. The deeper you go, the more likely you are to find things worth mining. The moment you see a hole, take it. If an infested map spawns, use a staircase. Keep moving.

[hexnessie]

You CAN find the prismatic shard before going to the SC. All you need to do is reach level 100 of the mines (which you need to do anyway to unlock SC). Once you reach level 100, every monster in the mines will have a chance to drop the shard.

I routinely get mine from grubs on levels 2-29.

Food is absolutely vital in the Cavern. Make EGGPLANT PARMESAN or PUMPKIN SOUP, bring some cheap food that doesn't reset your buffs like Salad from the saloon or just plain hops leaves. Or cheese. Cheese is fantastic for SC.