Mining is one of Stardew Valley’s main past-times. Players can mine the rocks on their farm, or venture out and explore Pelican Town’s Mines in the northeast. Reaching the bottom of these regular Mines grants the Skull Key, which unlocks the Skull Cavern mines located in the Calico Desert.
A quest given in a Secret Note by the mysterious Mr. Qi tasks players with reaching Level 100 of Skull Cavern in return for a reward. This reward will grant a nice bonus to players in combat, so it's definitely worth pursuing. However, completing the quest is no easy feat.
Players are advised to wait until their second year on Stardew Valley before attempting this, so they have time to prepare and gather important supplies.
For help finding the Secret Note to begin the quest, check our guide on the Secret Note mechanic in Stardew Valley.
8 A Way Down – Staircases and Holes
Staircases are a crafting recipe made with 99 stones, unlocked at Level 2 Mining. They are the main way of skipping levels in Stardew Valley's mines; useful for escaping infested floors or just descending faster. On a Sunday, the Calico Desert Trader will also trade one Jade for a Staircase, so save up those Jades from Mining or get a crystalarium to duplicate them!
Upon destroying rocks and ore, there is a slight possibility of a hole spawning, which makes it possible to skip 3-15 floors. This makes for a swift descent through the seemingly-bottomless Skull Cavern, however, jumping through these shafts causes health damage equal to the 3x the number of floors dodged, so players should use these at their own risk!
7 KABOOM – Bombs
Pickaxing and destroying rocks one by one to find the ladder down wastes time. Instead, use bombs as a tactical floor-clearing method. There are three types of bombs: Cherry Bombs, regular Bombs, and the Mega Bomb. With the Bombs and Mega Bombs, players need to be wary of their placement and explosion radius, as these can inflict some heavy self-damage and end their Skull Cavern runs early if they stand too close.
These bombs can be crafted using coal, which is a scarce resource. All three bomb types can also be purchased from the Dwarf in Pelican Town’s Mines, provided you can understand the Dwarf language. Cherry Bombs are a modest 300 gold, Bombs are 600, and Mega Bombs are 1,000 gold.
6 Upgraded Tools and Weapons
It goes without saying that all tools, most importantly the pickaxe, should be upgraded to Iridium level, to quickly smash through rocks to find the way down. Weapons and Pickaxes can also be upgraded with enchantments, using the Forge on Ginger Island providing useful buffs against enemies.
The Galaxy sword is one of the best weapons in the game and is granted when players hold a Prismatic Shard in the middle of the three pillars in the Calico Desert. This cosmic weapon can further be upgraded at the Volcano Forge, when combined with three Galaxy Souls and 60 Cinder Shards to craft the Infinity weapons.
5 FOOD
Food in Stardew Valley, as well as sounding delicious, can provide some invaluable bonuses and buffs to Mining and Combat. Enemies in the Skull Cavern are nothing to laugh about and can do some serious damage, so food is essential for healing back up.
Eggplant Parmesan is a great option, providing 175 Health, 78 Energy, and a +1 Mining and +3 Defense buff. Players should also note that they can have a drinks buff and a food buff active simultaneously, doubling their bonuses for extra protection.
4 Organized Inventory
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An organized inventory is key to success. Players will want to make sure their important accessories, like food, pickaxe, weapons, and bombs, are all on the correct hotkeys. Pressing one button could be life or death (well, fainting in this case).
It is crucial that food is easily accessible, as players will want to make sure they are constantly full of energy and HP to avoid being caught out. Falling down shafts and flying serpents will make a player’s life extremely difficult, so it is important to keep an eye on health and energy bars.
3 Travel
Players should wake up bright and early at 6 am ready for their journey into the Calico Desert to make the most out of the day. A Desert Warp Totem or Desert Obelisk will allow players to teleport straight there, or they can wait until 10 a.m. for Pam to arrive at the bus stop. Taking the bus there will give them less time in the Skull Caverns, however.
Desert Warp Totems can be crafted using 2 Hardwood, 1 Coconut, and 4 Iridium Ore. They can also be purchased from the Desert Trader for 10 Iridium Bars. Definitely more convenient than taking the bus!
2 Lucky Day
Stardew Valley features a randomly-generated daily statistic known as Luck. Players can roughly find out what their daily Luck is by checking the Fortune Teller channel on their TV every morning. Make sure to insert this into your daily routine!
Luck has a definite effect on how things will pan out in the mines. The higher the Luck statistic, the more likely players are to: discover a ladder when mining, find more gem nodes, and fewer items will be dropped upon fainting. It is best to go to the Skull Cavern on a Lucky day when the Fortune Teller’s dialogue says: “the spirits will do their best to shower everyone with good fortune.”
1 Skip Large Areas And Ignore EVERYTHING
Players shouldn't waste any time fighting enemies. If under attack, players should defend themselves but should try to avoid mobs wherever possible. Searching for a staircase or shaft should be a player's main priority. This includes ignoring ore nodes and big rocks.
There are also many large, empty floors with few rocks to break, meaning players will waste time searching while being followed by creatures. For these levels, players should use a staircase to swiftly skip past them and move on.
Stardew Valley is available to play on Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.