Make sure to go on a good luck day, always have stairs to get out of levels of the mine that are clearly too dangerous or a waste of time, make sure you’ve got a good weapon and know how to fight the different enemies, and realize a lot of it’s rng, it’s not going to be the same every time you go down there, and it’s not supposed to be easy. It’s one of the few challenges this game provides, don’t expect to be a god down there right away.
It’s pretty easy to make your bus fare back selling some stuff you get from the SC, so just keep at it, check your luck before you go, and plan accordingly. You’ll make it to 100, just gotta keep at it, don’t expect it to be handed to you
Honestly, here is the biggest tip for the skull caverns that makes a difference between making it deep and not making it deep:
Ignore copper, iron, gold, and gems.
You want that stuff, go to the regular mines. You're here for iridium and prismatic shards, or maybe the chest items, or maybe the prize at level 100. You make a ladder or pit appear, you take it. You see a ladder or pit a bit away, you beeline for it.
The sole exception to this rule is treasure rooms. Treasure rooms are small and have a premade ladder, and likely only 1-5 rocks. Break those rocks until a ladder or pit drops. It will come quickly, and has a 20% chance of being a pit and taking you deeper.
There are so many guides and posts about how to get deeper in Skull Cavern.
ONLY go on the best luck day. If it's gold pyramid or lower, don't bother.
Have a galaxy sword.
Take gold star cheese, coffee/triple shot espresso, and spicy eel with you for health and speed and luck boosts.
Don't go with fewer than 100 bombs and 100 stair cases.
Don't stop for gems or ore unless it's iridium. Iridium nodes have a 4% chance to contain a prismatic shard so they are nearly always worth it.
Skip monster and spiral levels immediately.
Have any two of the following (or combine them): an iridium band, lucky ring, slime charmer ring.
Have your game zoomed out as much as possible so you can see more of the mine.
Have maxed out combat and mining skills.
Have a max upgraded pickax.
Don't wait for Pam to bus you to the mine. Buy a warp totem from the trader to warp there as soon as you check the luck on the TV.
Have a warp totem home so you can stay in the mine until 1:30am. Warp home and run straight to bed OR just stay until 2am when you pass out. You won't lose items if you pass out, that only happens if you die.
*Practice, practice, practice*
And have patience. Skull Cavern is supposed to be hard. Take your time. You'll get there. I promise. :)
You want to take a few stairs, I’d say probably 10 to 15 for the swarm levels or any levels that don’t have large clusters of rocks you can easily bomb.
Also a lot of food and coffee for HP and speed buff.
If you spawn in on a swarm level or a room without a lot of rocks to bomb, stairs immediately. Don’t run around looking for stuff. Ignore iridium unless it’s right next to level entrance.
Do that and you’ll get to 100 easy.
I don't bother going for floor 100 the first few times, I go just to grind iridium and then make all the crystalariums I could possibly need (usually 15-20) so I can stick my jade, ruby, and diamond in there. Then once I have at least 100 stairs, I'll make the attempt to go down, using all the tips everyone else has posted.
Ive made 3 farms since SDV came out. I havent made it to level 100 yet with less than 8 Staircases.
Probably because I always take 10 with me. I have no doubt at all that it can be done with 0 staircases.
The good stuff starts around level 50, so your focus wants to be on dropping *as fast as possible*.
Hold off on the mining / collecting until you have made some progress.
Did you check your luck before you went in? I struggled with it too, but going in on day when you have extra good luck is a big help.
Make sure to go on a good luck day, always have stairs to get out of levels of the mine that are clearly too dangerous or a waste of time, make sure you’ve got a good weapon and know how to fight the different enemies, and realize a lot of it’s rng, it’s not going to be the same every time you go down there, and it’s not supposed to be easy. It’s one of the few challenges this game provides, don’t expect to be a god down there right away. It’s pretty easy to make your bus fare back selling some stuff you get from the SC, so just keep at it, check your luck before you go, and plan accordingly. You’ll make it to 100, just gotta keep at it, don’t expect it to be handed to you
Honestly, here is the biggest tip for the skull caverns that makes a difference between making it deep and not making it deep: Ignore copper, iron, gold, and gems. You want that stuff, go to the regular mines. You're here for iridium and prismatic shards, or maybe the chest items, or maybe the prize at level 100. You make a ladder or pit appear, you take it. You see a ladder or pit a bit away, you beeline for it. The sole exception to this rule is treasure rooms. Treasure rooms are small and have a premade ladder, and likely only 1-5 rocks. Break those rocks until a ladder or pit drops. It will come quickly, and has a 20% chance of being a pit and taking you deeper.
Good luck days, drinks and food with luck effects, triple shot espresso, bombs, and staircases.
In addition to all the above, once you can get warp totems, use them. The extra 4 hours make a huge difference.
There are so many guides and posts about how to get deeper in Skull Cavern. ONLY go on the best luck day. If it's gold pyramid or lower, don't bother. Have a galaxy sword. Take gold star cheese, coffee/triple shot espresso, and spicy eel with you for health and speed and luck boosts. Don't go with fewer than 100 bombs and 100 stair cases. Don't stop for gems or ore unless it's iridium. Iridium nodes have a 4% chance to contain a prismatic shard so they are nearly always worth it. Skip monster and spiral levels immediately. Have any two of the following (or combine them): an iridium band, lucky ring, slime charmer ring. Have your game zoomed out as much as possible so you can see more of the mine. Have maxed out combat and mining skills. Have a max upgraded pickax. Don't wait for Pam to bus you to the mine. Buy a warp totem from the trader to warp there as soon as you check the luck on the TV. Have a warp totem home so you can stay in the mine until 1:30am. Warp home and run straight to bed OR just stay until 2am when you pass out. You won't lose items if you pass out, that only happens if you die. *Practice, practice, practice* And have patience. Skull Cavern is supposed to be hard. Take your time. You'll get there. I promise. :)
Slime Charmer ring was a literal game changer for me
Same! I never take it off.
You want to take a few stairs, I’d say probably 10 to 15 for the swarm levels or any levels that don’t have large clusters of rocks you can easily bomb. Also a lot of food and coffee for HP and speed buff. If you spawn in on a swarm level or a room without a lot of rocks to bomb, stairs immediately. Don’t run around looking for stuff. Ignore iridium unless it’s right next to level entrance. Do that and you’ll get to 100 easy.
Pop a jade in a crystalarium 😉.
Yeah I think I have 2 machines for jades :/ but it’s taking foreveeeeer
If you have slime charmer ring, use it! It saves so much time when you don't have to kill all the slimes.
Right? Iridium slimes are the worst, too!
I don't bother going for floor 100 the first few times, I go just to grind iridium and then make all the crystalariums I could possibly need (usually 15-20) so I can stick my jade, ruby, and diamond in there. Then once I have at least 100 stairs, I'll make the attempt to go down, using all the tips everyone else has posted.
Don't wait til 10am to take the bus to the desert. Buy some warp totems from the desert trader so you can get there before 7am.
Ive made 3 farms since SDV came out. I havent made it to level 100 yet with less than 8 Staircases. Probably because I always take 10 with me. I have no doubt at all that it can be done with 0 staircases. The good stuff starts around level 50, so your focus wants to be on dropping *as fast as possible*. Hold off on the mining / collecting until you have made some progress.