In Stardew Valley, there are several sets of mines that you can access. The first that you encounter is the regular Mines in the northeastern section of Pelican Town. When each the bottom of those mines, the Skull Cavern will be unlocked. This new set of mines is virtually-bottomless and is located in the Calico Desert.
A quest, given to you by Mr. Qi by way of a Secret Note, tasks you with reaching Level 100 for a reward. This is no easy feat; Skull Cavern is full of deadly enemies and obstacles. With these tips, though, you'll be digging your way down to Level 100 in no time.
Updated July 29, 2023 by Jacqueline Zalace: The Skull Cavern in Stardew Valley can be quite treacherous. We've added a few more helpful tips so you can confidently take to this descending dungeon.
16 Upgrade Tools & Weapons
The late-game area Ginger Island has a dungeon inside the Volcano. At the top of this Volcano, you'll find an interesting Forge. We have a detailed guide on the subject but basically, you can enchant your weapons and tools, upgrade your weapons, and combine rings.
When it comes to your weapon, you can add a maximum of three upgrades, increasing in the cost of Cinder Shards each time you add one. You'll also need to pay with a gemstone, which determines the kind of upgrade you'll get.
| Gem | Upgrade |
|---|---|
| Amethyst | Adds one level of knockback per forge |
| Aquamarine | Adds a 4.6% chance for a critical hit for each level |
| Emerald | Increases speed by two on the first and third forge, and three on the second forge |
| Jade | Adds 10% to critical hit damage for each forge |
| Topaz | Adds one level of defense for each forge |
| Diamond | Only costs 10 Cinder Shards but fills all three forge slots with a random upgrade |
15 Enchant Tools & Weapons
For the price of a Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards, you can add a random enchantment to any weapon or tool. You can only have one enchantment on the weapon/tool at a time. Paying another Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards allows you to reroll it.
Any of the following weapon enchantments would be valuable.
| Enchantment | Effect |
|---|---|
| Artful | Cuts the cooldown time for special moves in half |
| Bug Killer | Does double damage to bug-like enemies like grubs and flies, and allows you to damage armored bugs |
| Crusader | Adds 50% bonus damage to mummies, ghosts, skeletons, and void spirits, and prevents mummies from reviving |
| Haymaker | Using your weapon to cut weeds gives more fiber as well as a chance to find hay |
| Vampiric | Gives a 9% chance to regain some health on a successful monster kill |
Overall, the Pickaxe enchantments are probably the most important, as they help with mining in the Skull Cavern.
| Enchantment | Effect |
|---|---|
| Efficient | No stamina drain |
| Powerful | Adds 1 extra power level |
| Swift | Tool use is 33% faster |
14 Bring An Iridium Pickaxe
Upgrades are nice, but you will need to have a powerful weapon if you plan on crushing all the rocks that stand in your way. The Iridium Pickaxe is the fifth and final level of this tool and is capable of breaking almost every rock in one hit.
To get this tool, you will need to follow the Pickaxe upgrade flow of normal, copper, steel, and gold. Once you have the Gold Pickaxe, upgrading to Iridium will cost you 25,000g and five Iridium Bars.
13 Equip (& Combine) The Right Rings
There are a variety of rings available, with a wide array of effects. Many of them are incredibly helpful when mining. Some great choices to bring when trying to reach Skull Cavern's 100th level are the Iridium Band, Crabshell Ring, and Slime Charmer Ring. Be sure to check out our guide for a complete list of every ring and how to obtain it.
If you can't decide which rings to equip in the Skull Cavern, the Volcano Forge can help you out there, too. The Forge allows you to combine two rings into one, creating a combination ring with the effects of both. This costs 20 Cinder Shards each time.
Since you can wear two rings at a time, this means you can equip the effects of four total rings.
12 Bring A Strong Weapon
Since there will be countless enemies standing between you and Level 100, you'll have to slay many of them to find the ladder. The onslaught of flying Serpents will take away your health extremely quickly if you can't fend them off, so you'd better be well-armed. Below, you can check out some weapons we recommend bringing.
- Infinity Weapons
- Galaxy Weapons
- Dragontooth Weapons
- Master Slingshot
- Lava Katana
- Obsidian Edge
The Galaxy Sword
The Galaxy Sword is rewarded when you hold up a Prismatic Shard in between the three pillars in the Calico Desert. A Prismatic Shard is hard to find, but the Galaxy Sword is worth the hunt. Once you have it, if you prefer Hammer weapons (slower, but more damage) or Dagger weapons (faster, but less damage), you can buy the Galaxy Hammer and the Galaxy Dagger at the Adventurer's Guild.
Now, the Galaxy weapons may seem incredible by themselves, but they can actually be improved, believe it or not! Simply combine them with three Galaxy Souls (obtained from Qi's Walnut Room mainly, or the Island Trader) and 60 Cinder Shards to create the Infinity weapons (the Infinity Blade, Infinity Gavel, or Infinity Dagger). You can also upgrade them at the Volcano Forge.
11 Get The Space Boots
Not only is the perfect weapon crucial to reaching level 100, but the proper defense is just as important to keep in mind. The strongest footwear in the game is arguably the Space Boots, which can be found in a chest on level 110 of the regular Mines. The Space Boots have the highest Defense value in the game (four points), as well as the second-highest Immunity value (also four points).
The only shoes that have higher Immunity are the Genie Shoes (with a six-point boost), though they come with a measly one-point boost to Defense. After the Space Boots are found they can be purchased for 5,000g at the Adventurer's Guild.
Like most clothing, the boots can be tailored to look like other shoes while keeping their stat increases. This is quite helpful if you're not a fan of the purple color.
10 Bring Lots of Staircases
Stone can be crafted into staircases, which is incredibly helpful. This crafting recipe is unlocked at Mining Level 2, which you should already be well past if you're tackling Skull Cavern. Staircases can be crafted with 99 stone, or by trading one Jade to the Desert Trader on Sundays.
These staircases create an immediate entry point to the next level of the mines. Stack a ton of them and bring 'em to Skull Cavern, as you'll be able to use it to descend quickly or escape tough monster fights. Beware, though, Mr. Qi will be disappointed if you use a staircase more than 10 times. It won't affect your reward, though, just the dialogue.
9 Go On A Lucky Day
Each day, you're given a random level of Luck. You can find out what your daily Luck is by checking the Fortune Teller channel on a TV in your house.
Daily Luck determines a variety of things, with the most important in this context found below.
- How likely you are to discover the ladder
- The rate at which gem nodes appear
- The rate at which ores drop
- How many items you lose if you die
You'll have the best chance at going far in Skull Cavern if you go on a lucky day. When the Fortune Teller says the spirits will "do their best to shower everyone with good fortune" or that "you'll have a little extra luck", that means you are going to have a lucky day.
8 Make Or Buy Bombs
Rather than wasting time and energy using your Pickaxe on every rock until you find the ladder, it's wise to consider just bombing the place. There are three levels of explosives that can be placed.
| Bomb | Mining Level Recipe Unlock | Ingredients Needed | Explosion Radius |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Bomb | 1 | Copper Ore x4 Coal x1 | 3 |
| Bomb | 6 | Iron Ore x4 Coal x1 | 5 |
| Mega Bomb | 8 | Gold Ore x4 Solar Essence x1 Void Essence x1 | 6-8 |
These bombs will make quick work of the rocks and will typically help find the ladder much quicker than breaking them one by one with a Pickaxe. Stack a ton of these bombs and bring them with you. If you don't want to waste precious resources crafting Bombs, all three types are available for purchase from the following sources.
- Dwarf who resides in Pelican Town's Mines
- Dwarf that is found on level 5 of the Volcano Dungeon
Cherry Bombs are 300 gold each, regular Bombs are 600, and Mega Bombs are 1,000 gold. This will save you from having to collect or buy coal and ores from Clint, as well as wasting precious Void Essences and Solar Essences.
7 Brew Coffee
In real life, you would drink coffee to gain a bit of energy. This is exactly how coffee works in the valley as well. To make coffee, you will need to first get your hands on the beans, which can be purchased from the Traveling Merchant.
Alternatively, if you complete the Gifts for George special order, you can receive one coffee a day from the coffee machine, which doesn't require any beans.
Coffee increases your speed by one for around a minute and a half. When you combine three coffees together, you will get the Triple Shot Espresso, which increases this speed boost to just over four minutes. With these beverages, you can quickly dash around Skull Cavern in no time.
6 Bring Tons Of Food
In addition to caffeinated beverages like coffee, food is invaluable for mining in Stardew Valley. Mining takes a ton of energy and enemies found in the mines will deplete your health bar quickly if you aren't extremely careful. Most dishes restore both health and energy but it's the extra buffs that matter here.
Speed, Defense, and Luck are some of the most important stats to keep watch of when descending to Level 100.
- Pumpkin Soup increases Defense and Luck
- Spicy Eel increases Luck and Speed
- Lucky Lunch and Ginger Ale will both increase Luck
It's important to note that you can have the buffs from a beverage and a food item active at the same time.
This means you can consume both Spicy Eel and coffee at once to really power your farmer's speed, or consume a Lucky Lunch and some Ginger Ale to apply two separate Luck buffs simultaneously.
5 Go Early
Time is of the essence when trying to reach deeper into Skull Cavern. Many attempts are foiled by the clock running out in the day before reaching Level 100. You'll want to make sure you head to the Calico Desert as early as possible.
A Desert Warp Totem will teleport you straight there, as will the Desert Obelisk. But, if you want to take the bus, you'll have to wait until 10 a.m. when Pam arrives.
4 Use Warp Totems Both Ways
By warping to the Desert, you can start tackling Skull Cavern shortly after 6 a.m., whereas taking the bus will get you there a few hours later. If you feel you might not make it to level 100 before 2 a.m., having a Farm Totem (or the Return Scepter) will ensure that you don't pass out deep underground.
Simply warp back to your farm instead of trying to rush taking the bus. This also allows you the extra few minutes of trying to push the last few floors, rather than needing to leave around 1 a.m. or so to catch the bus in time.
3 Focus On Descending
Rather than wasting time fighting enemies, ignore them as much as possible. If they're attacking you, defend yourself, but avoid them as much as you can. Just ignore them and look for the staircase, or you'll never get to Level 100 in time.
While you're at it, you also have to learn to ignore the Ore nodes scattered around, as well as boxes that can be broken open and coal carts. All of these things are distractions and will waste your time if you're trying to descend quickly. On the lower levels, you can spend a bit of time cracking open Iridium Nodes and collecting Prismatic Shards if you need to though.
2 Skip Large Floors
There are a few different "shapes" that the Skull Cavern floors can take. Most of them are fairly easy to navigate the entirety of in a short amount of time. But, some of them are rather large and have a lot of walls, like one that somewhat spirals toward the center.
Instead of wasting time walking around these floors, consider using a staircase to just skip them. You can use up a ton of time trying to find the ladder on these floors, all while being pummeled by enemies. This is also an advisable plan for the floors that are infested with monsters.
1 Fall Into Holes
Holes can appear when you break rocks. Unlike ladders, holes can drop you down multiple floors. This is a great way to descend quickly, especially if you fall down a hole that drops you ten floors.
It's important to note that the larger the fall, the more damage you will take. We recommend holding food in your inventory, so you can eat it when you appear on the other end of the hole. Falling in a hole will never leave you with less than one HP.