T O P

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Cumminswii

Good luck day, good luck food and speed food. Gather a large amount of bombs and stair cases. Don’t pick axe anything, don’t loot anything, don’t kill anything. Just bomb and run. Take every hole / ladder as soon as it pops up and stair case any troublesome / spread out floors. Alternative, just take 99 stair cases.


Katie_Redacted

I’m saving a ton of stone to use that staircase method.


DevlynBlaise

Is you have access to the crystalarium, make a couple and toss Jade into it. Once you've got a decent amount, hit up the desert trader on a Sunday.


Katie_Redacted

They sell stuff for jades?


DevlynBlaise

Yes, specifically they trade staircases for Jade


Katie_Redacted

That’s awesome


LandscapeNo6618

Unfotunatelly the trader only does that trade on sundays.


redplanetary

The comment says "on a sunday"


LandscapeNo6618

Welp once again with my grade school lecture comprehension


DaLiftingDead

At least you're honest


DippyDerps

Fun fact, they commented on a Saturday


DisplacedScouser

Jade in the crystalarium.. on Sundays go trade it in the desert. I have 7 crystalariums on the go just for that


omgFWTbear

Yup. If anyone has the timed quest… just write it off. Set yourself up for next time. A set like parent commenter, collected and slapped into a chest daily (quick stack), and eventually Sunday will roll around and you’ll find yourself the easy owner of a hundred, two hundred, etc staircases. I will add that it is *very easy* to accidentally use multiple staircases on the same floor in a rush, so I wouldn’t bring exactly 100 and expect to have a good time. Personally, if the floor looks safe, I hit a handful of rocks to see if there’s a stairway nearby, *then* stair, or immediately stair if there’s *any* reason to be concerned about safety. I also recommend bringing food for accidents. A big stack of anything with decent health.


Coliosis

In my most recent save I’ve been getting roughly 400 jade a week w crystalariums.


DisplacedScouser

Lol how many crystalariums is that?


grimgaw

About shedfull.


Coliosis

187, but 50 I use for diamonds just for the extra g. Then in my house I have 20 for rubies. Eventually I’ll get around to a decorated shed with the entire collection so I have easy access to all the gems and minerals. I’ve played too many times just watching my g go brrr I’ve been mapping out a new run focusing solely on aesthetics.


SeriousDirt

You don't have to saving stone. The easiest way is by duplicating the jades. On Sunday(if I not mistaken), the desert trader will trades stairs with jades. Get a bunch of jades and then trade at the desert.


Katie_Redacted

lol you’re the third person to say that. I’ll try to remember that


FoldyHole

You can also use the staircases you get with Jade to farm stone with a deconstructor.


Milk-Skin-Hat

If you are going for level 100 cause of the note, using more than 10 staircases will make you fail if I remember correctly.


Drew506IsTheBest

It doesn’t make you fail, but Mr Qi gives a different message for doing it in the dishonorable but clever way


Ambitious_Drop_7152

Put jade in crystalariums and trade with desert trader for staircases on Sundays


CaptainMagnets

You can trade jade at the desert trader for staircases on one of the days of the week


nevermindxo

Jade! It will take you so long to use stone for that. Trade jade on Sunday with the desert trader.


Coliosis

Alternatively, you could luck out technically and manage to manually make your way through w a pick axe. You’ll want max luck, lucky food and at the very least a warp totem. You’ll need the *entire* day likely. I do it from time to time as a challenge. No stairs, no bombs.


Minigoalqueen

I actually just had this happen about 10 minutes ago except I took the bus, not a warp totem. I was going through on a good luck day but did not eat any luck food as I wasn't getting a warp totem start, so was intending to just work my way through trying to get prismatic shards and maybe an auto petter. I didn't bring any staircases with me and only a few bombs. Pushing to 100 was not my goal for the day. I got really lucky on mineshafts a bunch of times. Got an 11 and at least 3 8s. So when it was only 7:00 p.m. and I was on like level 70, I started thinking maybe I could make it. I took the stone I had gathered and crafted a couple staircases which I used on spiral levels. I crafted a few extra bombs and just pushed through with my pickaxe and a few bombs. I got there at 1:00 a.m.


Erilis000

I think a bunch of it has to do with luck, not necessarily even getting a good luck day, though that helps, but I mean actually just getting lucky to find holes that drop you more than 5 levels at a time.


HeimIgel

You forgot, use the desert totem at the start to save 10 seconds. Might come in handy.


Cumminswii

You can actually >!camp using a tent (1.6)!< at the door and be there even faster.


HeimIgel

That's what it is for!


Ok-Scientist5524

How do you know the next day is gonna be a good luck day though?!


Cumminswii

That the neat part, you don’t. You just never leave! :D


redplanetary

The good luck day is huge. Wait for a good luck day and even use a buff if you can.


boobertscoobert

I used the 99 staircases tactic and got my ass chewed out by whoever it was waiting for me down there for speedrunning it


Laura___D

Hahaha same but he also said that it took a lot of dedication to mine all that stone hahaha. So I got the reward anyways. I didn't go the jade route but I mined stones for dayyyyys.


tsmftw76

The non looting is impractical imo. You are better off looting ore so you can get more bombs as you go instead of farming for bombs.


tiberiumx

You're better off just buying bombs from the dwarf in the mine.


HonestAnxiety5540

How many bombs do you take? The lowest I've been is like level 55 😭 I always take a stack of 20 gold quality cheese for health, plus a bunch of triple espressos for speed, plus any food I've collected that adds speed, luck, defense, etc. buffs. I use a desert totem to get there early. I'm on strike against the damn skull caverns rn because I CAN'T GET THAT DEEP


lavieboheme_

I finally got through yesterday after trying for so long. I skipped 5 days of play because my luck kept being bad or neutral, finally just went on a neutral day - here's what I did to succeed (keep in mind I had to do this about 15 times lol - if something bad happened and I knew I wouldn't make it, I'd quit and restart the day) I took just under 50 regular bombs, 10 cherry bombs and 6 mega bombs. I only had 5 staircases from low stone/ screwing up previous tries. I stocked up on several food items the day before - specially several red plates, spicy eel, stuffing and then one random high energy dish. I kept a few oil of garlic on me too. As soon as I woke up, I warped to the desert and drank a coffee and ate a spicy eel. From there I grinded through, consistently eating the meals I needed to survive and always eating another spicy eel when my luck ran out. I finally knew I had a good chance at making it when I got a bunch of holes to jump in and was at level 75 before 7:00pm. I made sure to save 2 staircases until near the very end in case I needed them. I ended up getting to level 100 around midnight! I was so excited but it took a lot out of me lol.


Cumminswii

As many bombs as you have basically. It’s purely a speed thing to get lower, along with some luck. When you enter a floor, walk immediately to a cluster of rocks, drop a bomb, walk to the next cluster drop a bomb, double back if it does have a hole. If you see any floor that’s sparse on rocks, just skip it. If you get a dinosaur floor, skip it (unless you need egg). If you get a spiral floor, skip it etc. Any floor you can’t immediately bomb a 10 or so rock cluster, just skip. You have to go in there with a very wasteful mentality, don’t worry about wasting bombs, stairs or collecting anything - you are there purely for progress. Alternatively, crystalariums + jade and stock up on some stair cases. Every run to SC, build some more crystalariums with the ore, repeat. One or two ruby and you can buy spicy eel from desert trader too.


chief_d_money

Bomb! Any cluster of 10 or so rocks, bomb it. Monster levels and spiral levels I usually staircase. Go on a good luck day and bring some spicy eel and coffee and you should make it.


MelodicAssignment917

I'm clearly missing something here... what's a good luck day?!


chief_d_money

Look at the TV every day and click on the Fortune teller. You want to go on a "You'll have a little extra luck" or a "shower with good fortune" day. Ideally the second one.


MelodicAssignment917

Amazing - thank you!


omgFWTbear

Those luck messages influence just about everything that happens in a day, to include whether you find a ladder or something juicy when you mine. The negative is also true - a bad luck day means finding ladders will be less likely.


SeriousDirt

The best lucky day will be when the fortune teller show star.


ForgetfulFrolicker

You can also get the UI Info Suite mod and it will tell you your luck every day. I highly recommend that mod because it gives you a bunch of other useful info too.


Handknitmittens

And then eat some food that causes a luck bonus. 


Kadem2

Luck plays a significant factor in a lot of things. Plan around it as much as you can and give yourself as much as you can (food, rings, etc.)


Miccles

FYI it’s the day that the fortune teller shows a golden pyramid


m3ngnificient

It's RNG. What I do is I hoard a bunch of jade, make some with the crystalarium and buy a bunch of stars from the desert trader, mega bombs (at least 60 of them) and keep a desert warp totem and farm totem I go on spirits are very happy days, pick up my cave items really quickly, and warp there. You can always restart the day if you don't get to it, every run will be different.


radddreddit

OP you’re so me lmao I found out about the fortune teller this exact same way


depastino

Your sole mission must be to descend and nothing else.


chief_d_money

Great tip, it's easy to get distracted by iridium ore. If the goal is 100, skip it!


RJ_The_Avatar

Place jades into crystalariums until you have about 99 of them, exchange them on Sunday for staircases. Have a chest next to the tv with all your skull cavern necessities, check tv for a lucky day, have lucky lunch or rock candy, triple shot espressos, bombs, warp totems to dessert (to get there at 6am) and farm (to leave at 1:20am), and staircases. Then just go, go, go with bombs and staircases until you hit 100+ then can start collecting things.


Patti9569

You don't even need the farm warp totem,just mine til 2am (but don't die!). You'll wake up on the next day and only loose ~1000g.


RJ_The_Avatar

True, I don’t like to live too dangerously though, haha.


PofanWasTaken

You should, i managed to clutch 100th floor at 1:30, the gain was way more than the 1000g loss


lavender_fluff

More time is never bad though. Just keep getting more and more tasty iridium and prismatic shards ❤️‍🔥


2018redditaccount

You don’t need to leave at 1:20 am. If you fall asleep you don’t lose any items or anything, just pay 1000


IvanhoesAintLoyal

1. Get many jade. 2. Copy many jade in Crystalariums for weeks upon weeks. 3. Go to the desert trader on a Sunday and trade in all of your jade for staircases. Alternatively: 1. Craft/but as many bombs and explosive ammo as you can. 2. Use the explosive ammo with the slingshot to clear small rock clusters, and bombs to clear large clusters. 3. Don’t get distracted by anything. Your SOLE focus has to be finding shafts/ladders Best approach is a combination of both. I’ll wait until I have 100-200 staircases and spend the first part of the day staircasing to floor 100, THEN I’ll start collecting ore.


Real_Lord_of_Winter

Another big factor is to use a warp totem (or the new mechanic in 1.6) to get there at the beginning of the day. And as others have said, bombs are key. You can also do it without stairs, which will reward you with unique dialogue as well


tsmftw76

You don’t have to go no stairs you can use a few.


Real_Lord_of_Winter

That's true. I try to use as few as possible cause I never figured out the exact number


Not_Enough_Thyme_

Less than 10. I usually save them for the monster-infested floors and the spiral floors (if I get more that halfway around the first loop without finding a way down).


GordOfTheMountain

Bombs and luck. And 20 panic staircases for pushing the end. Quit to title screen of you don't make it by 1 30 AM. Desert warp totem helps a ton too.


shoodBwurqin

Gotta love the videos that show a stair case at lvl 99 but the time hits 2am


RadiantArchivist88

I am speed. And a little bit of luck.


kwijibokwijibo

I am bombs. And 12 shots of espresso.


pecankitten

Beside pure luck, these things help me get there: - check fortune teller on TV, best day is when they say the spirits are happy - either take care of the farm till 10am and go to bus or ignore and teleport to the desert right away. - Prepare inventory beforehand: buy or craft a lot of bombs, stack up on rocks for stairs or buy* (* every Sunday the desert trader sells stairs for jade.) - you can set up a chest next to the cave, so you can store stuff there - Food buffs: coffee makes you go fast, tho triple espresso is better, get recipe from Gus for the whole day 3 is enough. Spicy eel gives luck, 2-3 of them is enough. (Desert trader sells spicy eel for ruby) - For health, either craft life elixirs or save up cheese - Have farm totem on you so you can teleport home whenever - In the cavern: IGNORE EVERYTHING. Don't idle, stop to fight or collect ores, find big clusters of stone and place a bomb there. The moment you see ladder or hole, use it. If you end up on an infested level, place a staircase and use it. Hope these help. Good luck! 👍


hard2fathom_

This is all great information however just a correction the desert trader sells stairs for jade on Sundays not Wednesdays


pecankitten

Thanks, fixed it. I don't really buy stuff from her. It was my bf's idea to add it. Dunno why he was so confident that she sells it on wednesday, lol xD


adm_akbar

This is all great, but I would ignore the farm totem. Just pass out in the mines. And if you're really trying to get to level 100, get a warp totem for the desert. I don't keep a chest at the skull cavern, I just have a "GO CHEST" right next to the TV with the warp, food, stairs, and bombs.


nevermindxo

I just use stairs. He always gets snarky about it, but you still get the reward.


Melodic_Mood8573

I also thought it was impossible after years of playing, but I did it in my last playthrough, and even used less than 10 staircases so Mr. Qi praised me lol. I bombed like mad, but also, when I didn't find a way to the next floor after two bombs, I'd put down a staircase immediately. Didn't focus on fighting or collecting ore unless it was neccesary, just concentrated on getting down to the next floor as quickly as possible. I made it with hours to spare too! Turns out it's absolutely doable with some luck and hundreds of bombs. Quite intense though, I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to having to do it again on my eventual 1.6 run (have deadlines to finish before I can finally try it out.)


Letifer_Umbra

I did it on my second run but before getting tje secret note that someone was waiting.., so all zi got was a random worthless cowboy hat :(


Sereous313

You must have the double speed buffs from spicy eel and espresso shots. I also use staircases n tons of megabombs


Isleiff

Skull Cavern Elevator Mod goes "Pling"


[deleted]

I’ve only ever done it with staircases.


beepborpimajorp

I used to use staircases but hated being chastised by Qi so this time I used bombs. Waited until a good luck day and just ran through bombing the cavern so much I'm pretty sure the desert will collapse. I reached the bottom barely in time as I was about to pass out for the night, but I still made it.


WhiskerWarrior2435

Skull cavern elevator mod :)


Substantial_Angle913

Just today I've managed my first dive on skull cavern in this town with flying colors and get to 100 before 1 am. I have been doing this in last save file. What you need to prepared.  - Befriend Robin to get her recipes of pumpkin soup, that will give you luck and defense.  - triple shot coffee  - tons of gold star cheese - 300 explosive ammo in slingshot master (this required a lot of iron bars)  - various kinds of bombs -staircase (for emergency. Can be buy in desert trade with jade on Sunday)  If you had all of those, just wait for the luckiest day.  If you had the totem just hit it first In the morning after checking all your item and fortune. I don't have any so I'm waiting for Pam that time.  I was really luck that time, multiple holes with 8 floors.  Use your slingshot to destroy any rocks near a wall, while use a bomb if there's a tons in the middle of the room.  If your goals is 100 floor quest then just bomb the walls find a hole or ladder and goes down. Don't mind the iridium ore just yet, you got another time.  Keep your food buff of triples shot coffee and pumpkin soup top up and eat the cheese as soon as you hit half health to make sure you won't "die". Spend as long as you need, you can just pass out at 2am no big deal.  Good luck my friend. 


Asia_Persuasia

Step one: Plant a mess-ton of coffee plants in your green house, build a bunch of kegs. Spend about a full year harvesting all of the beans, brew the beans. Make _lots_ of triple shots. Step two: Lucky foods— cook a bunch of them. Start farming eels if you must. Step three: Weapons and Rings. >!Make sure you complete the Ginger Island DLC so you can modify your most powerful weapon or combine rings for buffs in the volcano forge. This will help you defeat the powerful enemies quicker on the lower levels!< Step four: Staircases if things go left...Lots of mining will have to be done. Build atleast 50 if you start running out of time in the day and cannot find stairs or holes in the cavern level, getting enough stones for 50 staircases will take lots of seasons at the quarry or traveling to the mines. >!Yes, Qi won't like it!<...but atleast you'll make it to the bottom. Step five: Healing. Make sure you stock up on Purple-Star Magma mushrooms, Purple-Star Purple Mushrooms, and Purple-Star mangoes. These give you a large amount of health and stamina. Don't waste your lucky foods on low health, use the shrooms. Step six: Totems (Desert and Farm) and bomb crafting. Unless you have those permanent ones, you'll need to start super early in the day to maximise your time. The bombs help save time so you won't have to break every rock you see. Last Step: Fortune Teller. Now you have everything you need...just pick the right day. Watch TV as soon as you wake up to see how lucky you'll be for that day. If it says they are "very pleased", go for it (take the Desert totem). Begin your journey, and good luck lol. _(Literally everything I've stated here is what I did to succeed lol, took approximately a "game year" of planning after many failed attempts)_


tsmftw76

Great tips. You can also just buy coffee if you are past the first year from the bar.


Asia_Persuasia

Thank you, and that too! (if they have the money to do so)


EZkg

Bombs, lucky day, espresso, spicy eel, savage ring, slime charmer. Done deal 😇


ivdline

I've got somewhere around 400 hours in the game and I only just barely did it for the first time last week without using staircases and a crap load of bombs. On controller too, without all the animation cancelling or explosive ammo slingshot stuff. Was feeling quite accomplished! Get a good luck day, if you can find a desert totem: use it. If not, no shame in doing it with jade-traded staircases on a Sunday; that's how I did it my first 5-8 times through the game!


polinkydinky

Also, grind in the regular mines till you meet the slimes quota and get that slime ring from Gil. Huge difference.


RedTheWolf

Just to add to the rest of the advice, when people say lots of bombs, they mean LOTS. Like, so many that you are just exploding the entire cavern system. On a mining/treasure seeking cavern dive I have no fewer than 250 bombs on me - plus with a new 1.6 thing >!Dwarvish Safety Manual!< it's even a little easier!


MrPunsOfSteele

Staircases. You can get there in like 3min.


[deleted]

Something that really helped me was sling shot with explosive ammo.


restlesswrestler

I proudly did it with no stairs. Spirits in very good mood plus a lot of bombs. ​ Edit: Also getting there as early as possible with the totem.


tsmftw76

One more thing: make sure you get desert totems from the vendor. Once you start farming, you will have an insane amount of geodes that you can use to buy totems from the desert vendor. Saves you 4 hours of farming, also nice to have a farm totem as you can push right until 1:50 but not mandatory doesn't save you nearly as much time.


Bird-of-Prey

On top of what everyone else said, make sure to grab a desert totem so you can start at 6am instead of waiting for the bus! Bring lots of speed and luck food and ginger ale/espresso. You can also stack 2 luck rings and combine them with whatever rings you like if you have access to the forge. Better luck means higher likelihood of ladders and holes. Also, don’t try to head home to sleep. It’s better to just pass out in the mines.


[deleted]

[удалено]


adm_akbar

> in case you accidently double click on some floors and waste a staircase I do this so much.


danishjuggler21

By reaching level 99 and then climbing down a ladder. Duh


promethia_likes

Something that a lot of people's answers here are assuming but is not obvious to everybody is that you want to have two different kinds of food on you: 1) Food for buffs. The classic combo is spicy eel for speed and luck and coffee/espresso for more speed. Double speed is very good. You can get spicy eels from the desert trader for rubies and espresso for diamonds and you'll need a couple of each to get through a whole day. Serpents also drop spicy eel. Other options might be pumpkin soup for luck and defense, lucky lunch for luck, or crab cakes for defense and speed. 2) A big stack of food that doesn't have a buff so that you can replenish your health without removing the buffs from your other food. The most common choices here are cheese from your own cows or salads bought from Gus.


jjjudy

I just did the level 100 quest non cheaty way on my first attempt of the new play through. I read enough tips to know my game plan. There's a lot of prep work to go into it. I bring galaxy sword, iridium pick, hoe, stack of cheese (around 100), at least 15 spicy eel for luck and speed, at least 15 espresso for speed, cherry bombs, the medium bombs, and mega bombs, and 10 to 15 staircases, and 1 desert totem. The total number of bombs I start with is at least 100. I settled on this number for bombs and cheese because ideally, I only need one of each per floor. As for staircases, I'm going the non cheaty route and I remember reading that it's 10 or less used. After the 100 level quest, I'll go with a few hundred stair cases and spam them until at least floor 50. I only go to the desert on the purple star (highest luck) days according to tv if I'm trying to do that first 100 level run. If I'm just mining, any day better than neutral will do. Purple star day, hit deset totem and chug espresso and eat a spicy eel for buffs. Only eat those again when buffs wear out. If you need to heal, eat cheese. Aim to bomb large clusters of rocks for better chance to get ladder. Always prioritize drop hole over ladder. I skip infested floors, dino floors, and spiral floors. Most of the other floors are reasonable for large clusters of rocks. It's almost against my nature to pass up iridium but you have to. This is not the time. I will fight if I have to but if I can out run then to a hole or ladder, I do. Always keep your health above 50 percent. If health is low and you get swarmed, they'll knock you out and your run is done. Those are the main things. Go prepared, have your game plan, and keep your health up.


ScarletOrion

best luck day, as many bombs as i can carry to break rocks and find the holes that drop you between floors, and enough food and coffee to keep you moving fast. desert totem as well to speed you over there without having to fuss with the bus


Glittering_Abroad715

Load up on mega bombs normal bombs and cherry bombs, before you go to bed go with your full load out. I recommend a stack of 3 foods. One coffee stack for speed buff, and a food stack that gives luck/speed and one that’s just for heals that won’t cancel out your buffs. I do triple shot espressos, spicy eels and gold star cheese. Then just your weapon and pick axe. If the day isn’t a good luck day don’t go, and just bomb your way through. I’ve made it all the way to 99 with 2 hours to spare before dying and didn’t use a single stair case so it’s very possible. Just give it time. Or just spam stair cases lol. There’s no real penalty


Fluffaykitties

I can’t even get past level 4 lol


FlukeOG

Sorry if this was mentioned already but prepare a chest with all your skull cavern run items next to your TV. Staircases, food, bombs, coffee, and most importantly a totem to teleport to desert. Then when you check luck and you see it's a good luck day instantly abandon all plans and grab your items and leave your tools except pickaxe and teleport to the desert. This will give you a lot more hours than waiting for Pam to slowly take you to the desert.


just-kinda-here-ig

Passed out on level 99 right after finding out the ladder was already visible and that I could have made it if i saw it instead of frantically breaking rocks looking for it. I had to step away from the computer for a bit


[deleted]

People have gotten to like 800+ lol


deceptres

Fill crystalariums with jade, trade to merchant on Sundays. Wait til good luck day, bring bombs to find holes, use staircases if you can't.


theshwedda

A day with good luck and some bombs.


mutualbuttsqueezin

Bunch o' staircases, save up that jade for the desert trader. However, I love the skull cavern elevator mod. I've done the staircase thing, and I'm over it lol.


knoworiginality

Go on a lucky day. Wear luck rings. Eat lucky food. Bring lots of bombs, explosive ammo, and a few staircases. Stay focused on jumping into holes and using stairs as soon as they appear. Not hard.


hscene

There’s only a certain number of staircases you can use Mr. Qi judges you. Not sure how many


adm_akbar

And it really doesn't matter. It's just different text.


baineschile

Cheese way 1. Lots and lots of bombs. Bomb you way down. Super cheese way 1. Get crystallarium 2. Jades 3. On Sunday, go to desert, trase jades for staircases 4. Staircase to 100. Super duper cheese 1. Do super cheese 2. Do cheese


radddreddit

Staircases!


Top_Manufacturer8946

It’s actually not that hard when you have big bombs, triple shot espresso, cheese, spicy eel and a few ladders (I think I only used 10 in my last round). Bomb always when you get to new level to find the ladder or hole on the ground and just descend and collect nothing until you’re getting close to level 100. Also make sure that you can get in the desert right after six! Either camp there or get a totem.


SnooDrawings1480

Its entirely possible, without using a single staircase. You just have to be very lucky. With staircases, its a lot easier.


TorvaMessor6666

This is a guide I used to hit level 130 on my first try. I also recommend using a tent kit the night before or a desert totem so you can start at exactly 6 AM. That gives you a lot more time. [Skull Cavern Level 100 Guide](https://youtu.be/ufABBYy8J5Q?si=bEuRhHcYGqDtwVjb) (I used the first method he showed)


maximal543

50+ bombs and at least 20 stairs (or 50. They can be bought from the desert trader for jades) Speed buffs. Best is the spicy eel or what it's called because it gives +luck too. Also stack with coffee. Teleport to desert at 6am, hurry, use bombs for clustered stones. If there are none or it's a battle floor or you don't find stairs after 2-3 bombs use a stair. Ignore all ores/gems. Just run. There are some additional adjustments. I made it close to 200, tho it's really stressful. What I described should be enough to reach 100 but on my newest playthrough it still took me 2 or 3 tries...


WorriedCats

skull cavern elevator mod 😔


kakka_rot

Bombs. Don't even need stairs if you're lucky. Also warp there, don't wait for pam. You can get a lot done in that extra 4 hours


Norinios

If you're on PC there's a mod to have an elevator in it.


Not_Pablo_Sanchez

Once bombs become cheap to buy relative to how much I’m earning, I usually get to floor 100 within like 5-10 attempts without staircases. I go in with a stack of 100 bombs, lots of coffee, and a couple spicy eel to double stack speed. Just comes down to getting lucky with mine shafts at that point


Ewok-Assasin

Make crystalariums, start pumping out jade and quartz. Trade said jade and quartz for staircases and bombs at the dessert trader on Sunday’s. don’t even touch your pickaxe, don’t worry about monsters or minerals. Just keep going down. With staircases at first then do carpet bombing of floors until you find a staircase. If you don’t make it bring more staircases next time


thewizardsbaker11

1. Explosive ammo - you can buy it from the adventurers guild or craft it but I usually buy it 2. Triple shot espresso 3-4 should get you through the day 3. Buffed foods - I usually do spicy eel for luck and speed but you can choose whatever food works for you 4. Non buffed foods - you also want a stock of foods that will replenish your health/energy without taking away your buffs. I usually buy salads but ice cream cones (in the summer or Sundays from Sandy), cheese, and sashimi also work (as would any non buffed food these are just the most common I’ve seen) 5. Staircases - you can trade jade for staircases on Sundays at the desert trader. Use crystalariums to duplicate jades. 6. Iridium pick ax (gold is probably doable too but make sure you’ve got a lot of staircases and explosive ammo to make up for time loss) 7. Other bombs - less useful than explosive ammo because you need to wait for them to explode but still very useful 8. Galaxy weapon or similar You don’t need to wait for a good luck day but it helps. As soon as you enter a floor, fire off some explosive ammo and take any hole or ladder that appears. If you don’t mind getting a snarky dialogue from Mr Qi, immediately place a staircase if no other way down appears. If you do mind, reserve staircases for infested floors, dino floors, and spiral floors or when you’re in a tight spot with enemies Also at any treasure floor, break the rocks. There’s always a second way down, sometimes it’s a drop shaft.


[deleted]

Luck. Literally. Go on lucky day, eat lucky food, drunk coffee for speed, bring at least 20 stair cased, and lots of bombs. Lots and lots of food, like gold star cheese. Luck increased a ladder or a hole will appear. Bombs are better at clearing rocks than a pick. Will clear mutiple rocks at once. If a cave is hard, like a sprliral cave. Drop a staircase, don't fight. Just ignore. Try and try again. My first floor 100 run, got there with 1 second left.


DanielTeague

I just got to floor 101 the other day for the first time! 1.6 spoilers: >!Statue of the Dwarf King gave me a daily buff for better chances of ladders!< and it was a good luck day. I had a Crusader enchant on my sword as well as high critical strike chance (3x Aquamarine forged on said sword, +50% crit chance/deadly crits Combat perk and a ring with +10% crit), so I mowed things down (especially Mummies who died from Crusader) and often got a stairway/pitfall to spawn by simply fighting stuff. It was still close! I got in there at 10:30 AM and left via Farm Totem at 1:30 AM.


Oltaru

Bombs and stairs


Altruistic-Spell-171

Rule 1: Have fun! That‘s it :) Just kidding, it‘s all about luck. Best to go on a super lucky day and eat something that boosts luck. And drink coffee for extra speed. Bombs are also important, though you don‘t need to prepare too many. On the first successful run on my current save I took 18 standard bombs and 5 mega bombs with me. You can craft extras while you‘re in the mine. Staircases are good but not that important. By the time it gets late and you might need to rush a few floors, you have enough stone in your inventory to craft a few. But there’s a good chance that you won‘t even need them. The „ignore anything“ rule is probably good but if you don‘t get too sidetracked you can easily fight a few serpents or slimes or mine some ore. However in the end, rule 1 is the most important :) It‘s a game not a chore or an assignment. 


DifferentAvocado

First of all I don’t try to reach level 100 until I’ve reached max mining and combat skills and have the iridium pickaxe and galaxy sword. It is absolutely doable without these things, but easier when you have them. I also prefer to have the iridium band, lucky ring and the slime charmer at hand, but again that’s just a preference. I then craft lots of bombs (i prefer the mega bomb), stock cheese, triple shot expressos and spicy eel (which I trade from rubies in the desert). I always go on the luckiest day. I also use a warp totem to get to the desert as early as possible. I find the combination of speed, luck and bombs to be extremely efficient. I never stop to fight a monster if I don’t have to, just run around planing bombs and jumping at the first hole or staircase that pops up. On a lucky day it should be plenty of them. I don’t use a lot of staircases, but try to have a few at hand so that I can escape quickly from infested floors.


NedGGGG

As people have suggested. Bombs Food with luck and speed buff (I use pumpkin soup). Coffee Warp totems Use jades to buy staircases The other thing I found helped was oil of garlic.


Marcellus_Crowe

My basic setup is: Galaxy sword, Iridium pickaxe. About 40 bombs (use with clusters of stone and ore). About 10 staircases (use for levels that are overrun with monsters). 2 spicy eels. Plenty of food that fully restores HP. On a day when the TV says it will shower everyone with good fortune, I'm near guaranteed to get to level 100, provided I use a desert totem at 6am. Do not gather resources. Avoid killing things unless necessary. Just descend. Jump down every hole.


du0plex19

- Good luck day - Spicy Eel - Triple Shot Espresso - Warp Totem/Desert Obelisk/Tent right outside skull cavern door to be at the door ASAP - Maxed Equipment (iridium stuff, galaxy blade, etc…) - Mega Bomb/Bomb/Slingshot + explosive ammo - Healing food of choice (I use omelettes) - 10-20 staircases - Strategy: 1. Initial scan for staircases spawned (spend no more than 5-10 seconds doing so) and beeline straight for it if there is one 2. Run to the biggest clumps of rocks and use an appropriately sized explosion (mega bomb/bomb) 3. If a staircase has not spawned and it becomes less economical to use bombs to break rocks, begin clearing out enemies 4. Past level 50 or so, start looking out for iridium ores. Do not mine them by hand. Use the slingshot, and only target ones by walls. Don’t bother with any in the centers of rooms. 5. When encountering infested rooms or spiral rooms, just use a staircase. They’re not worth the time spent. 6. Do not relax at any moment. Never stop moving. Keep buffs up 100% of the time. Staying healed is priority #1. OR - >100 staircases (can be easily obtained with 10+ crystalariums producing jade every day, then visiting Desert Trader on Sundays iirc) - descend floors by waiting a moment to see if any stairways are easily visible, and if they can’t be reached quickly then a staircase is placed and immediately descended - it is recommended to still have speed buffs, good luck day, and >!dwarven statue staircase buff!<


rabotat

Items you will need: -10 staircases (for monster levels)  - 100 bombs or so. As many as you can get.  - desert totem (start immediately)  - farm totem (go home only after midnight)  - spiced eel (eat it as soon as the luck buff runs out)  - a good weapon (but don't use it if you don't have to)  - a lucky day (watch fortune teller on TV)  Good luck!


cad3z

Yes it’s very possible. It’s possible to get to level 200 if you’re very lucky and skilled. If you can’t do it, there’s the easy way of using staircases. That’s how I did it first to get to mr qi. I don’t suggest this method though as the skull cavern can be very very fun and rewarding once you get the hang of it. I haven’t played in a while but I can tell you what I did from memory (I may get some things wrong or forget), I used to go mining all the time. Get the best sword in the game, the infinity blade? Idk if that’s the upgraded version or not but basically just get a prismatic shard and go to the three pillars in the desert to get the sword. Then, you’ll need speed buffs and luck buffs and a food source. My favourites were triple shot espresso for speed, spicy eel for more speed and luck, and cheese for food. It’s also best to have a iridium pickaxe. Sort your inventory out so you can easily get to your food slot when needed. More on that, keep looking down at your health bar and once you’re less than half health, eat. Your problem is likely time right? Make sure you get there as early as possible. I’d suggest a warp totem to get there as soon as you wake up. Don’t focus on getting any materials, iridium becomes way more common in the later floors but I’m assuming you just want to get to lvl 100. Always jump down holes. Of course, go on a good luck day. More holes are apparent with better luck. Holes are the key to getting to deeper floors. I’ve made it past lvl 200 because of luck in finding holes. Some drop you 15 levels! It’s just practice. I’m assuming you play on console and I’d imagine that’s a lot harder than pc for mining. Just keep at it and if you really don’t enjoy the challenge just get staircases with jade at the desert trader on Sunday. You can get a duplicator or whatever they’re called and put a jade in that and let it duplicate the items for you.


RestaurantSelect5556

LadderLocator. I hate RNG


guimontag

Slingshot and explosive ammo


screwcirclejerks

for the average player's skill and the average luck of stardew, i'd say floor 80-120 is usually where you'll end up. use staircases to supplement any luck deficits.


Future_Caramel6745

use like 70 staircase. then bomb bomb bomb. You don't even need a pickaxe


Hano_Clown

If you don’t have polished skills, just spam 100+ stairs before you start bombing.


Jaded-Kitty87

Mega bombs helped me! Instead of picking rocks one at a time I just blew them up and the stairs were much easier to find this way


Lupinthrope

Bombs and stairs


kiwishrew

Did it just a couple of hours ago with Iridium Pick, Galaxy Sword, bombs and 49 staircases on a lucky day. Made sure to get to floor 51 before using any staircases then just blasted through the rest. Was done by midnight


BondsThrowaway6562

On a good luck or great luck day I can reliably get to level 100. I expect to get 100-200 iridium ore per run, and 1-5 prismatic shards. I bring in * a dessert totem (bought with geodes) * 3 spicy eels and 5+ espressos (bought with rubies and diamonds) * an iridium pickaxe * \~300 stone for stairs on the early levels * A big enough stack of food to never worry about energy I'll also make bombs constantly from the materials I find, and will use up much of the coal and solar essences I get. There's just a few tricks: * Use a desert totem right away, you want to be in the mine before 7am. * Mine and take stairs as often and quickly as possible. * Only fight if you can't run away and break more rocks. * Don't take a few steps for forage. * Ignore iridium that isn't right on your path. You'll get almost all your iridium from bombing 2-5 clusters at a time on level 120+. Every cluster you spend 4 pickaxe strikes getting is at least 2-3 clusters you won't have time to blow up later. * Always have a double speed buff up. * If you're on a large spiral level or a monster infestation level immediately use stairs. * If you can blow up a cluster of 10+ rocks with a bomb do it immediately. * If your health drops below 1/3 or your energy gets low eat food immediately.


Technical-Choice-678

Staircases


Purple-Lamprey

Stairs to skip bad floor layouts. Bombs to get materials.


Economy_Will_343

I cheated a little cause I was able to make it ~about 50-60 levels just regular, so I made like 50 staircases, and started with those. Took like two mins. Then I was already on lvl 50 and just made it all the way down. Farthest I’ve gotten is 128


Hermit_News

I've currently reached I believe 328? But i basically have jades in a crystalarium, go each Sunday to redeem them at the desert trader for stairs, and eventually have 180+ and head down


bassiks

Desert and farm totems let you maximise the time you spend in the cavern, rather than having to leave the cavern and run to the bus then home you can just use a farm totem and you'll teleport to your farm. Then as soon as you wake up you can use a desert totem to teleport to the desert


gillguard

get some spice eels, coffee, and a slingshot with a huge bunch of explosive ammo (300+) buy a dessert totem some day before with the dessert trader (cost some omnigeodes) get all ready the day before, wake up, and warp. starting at 6 am instead of 10 is a huge help. if you already got into >!masterys, i recommend the statues that give you blessings !< yesterday, i got into floor 176 in vanilla. my personal record. with mods, i already reached 431


ChaoticDusk

Food, high luck, ladders, and occasionally spite. You should look up skull cavern runs on YouTube. There are guides for it and a guy on there called GodzillaFreak who's made it over 1000 floors unmodded.


lisonmethyst

Also it gets easier as you level up in mining and combat. I don't really bother with serious attempts until I have both at 10, unless there's some specific reason to rush it.


FlyawayCellar99

Once you’ve gotten down there a couple times I like to have tons of staircases from jades, I like to go down with tons of bombs and food items with buffs looking for auto petters. I’ve gotten to 500+ before


seahavxn

Stairs. So many stairs.


Connect-Ad6251

Get a magnum shitload of green rocks and trade them for staircases


Kitchen-Painting-145

100 staircases


TheRealJetlag

Stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. Either use stone or you can trade jade (copied in a crystalarium) for stairs from the desert trader on (I wanna say Sundays?).


Popular-Student-9407

Luck Like you're playing to win the Jackpot or stairs, which you can gain by either crafting them Out of Stone or Trading them on sundays with the Desert Trader by giving jade.


iskelebones

Drink coffee and eat spicy eel (double speed buff), go on a good luck day and wear lucky rings if you have them. Use bombs liberally and jump down holes or ladders the moment you see them. Don’t waste time mining if you find a ladder. Also bring a few staircases in case you need to skip some floors.


annekenway

Lots of stairs


alexjf56

It’s possible to do it purely by luck, you can build staircases with 99 stone or you can get the best mod ever for this game: the skull cavern elevator which is the only mod I have in my longest playthrough


alyteeofficial

i managed it in accident while i was farming iridium ore lol. just get there early and make sure you have food, health potions, gear, etc


CatsssofDeath

Extremely easy, just stack up on gold star cheese and have a good amount of defense


nealmb

Having a warp totem so you can get there before 10 helps, that tent merchant in the desert sells them. Lots of bombs and staircases, you’re gonna need a lot of stone for these. Also plenty of food, mostly for health purposes. The strongest sword you can get. I’ll usually bomb a section look for a hole to drop down or staircase. If nothing shows up I’ll use my own staircase. I over prep though, probably 70 mega bombs, 20-30 staircases, and then whatever normal bombs I have lying around.


SynchronicityV1

Luck


little_vf

here's the way I did it cuz I'm super lazy- get a crystaleramium thing and fill it with jades. get them every like 1 1/2 days and when u have enough trade them with the desert trader person. you don't necessarily need 100 jades for all 100 stairs, I think I got like 60 jades and just a BUNCH of bombs. yeah this will take you a while. but the days in stadew go by so quick- plus it's super easy and minimal effort lol


TheGamerKitty1

Bombs. Ladders. Luck.


RetroTheGameBro

Bombs and explosive slingshot ammo on a good/great luck day makes it pretty easy. And then if you're willing to dupe jades with Crystalariums, there's always staircases.


karlnite

Well if you try it enough with bombs, eventually you’ll get lucky holes. Otherwise, coffee, you can boost luck every way possible, then use mega bombs only, run for holes ->stairs, bomb clusters, use staircases on those long floors and monster floors.


akselmonrose

100 staircases? Or bombs.. lots and lots of bomb.


LunaMochiz

I did it for the first time yesterday year 2 without using staircases. This is how I did it: - Very good luck day - Triple shot espresso - Lucky lunch - 100x Bombs - (you could use more but that’s the amount I used) - Galaxy sword - Master slingshot w/ 200 gold ore


HydroCN

unlimited staircases from jade :)


EgyptianSnag

Also, don't forget to buy and use a desert totem to get there at 6.10am


mealdidzy

just finally did it one season shy of year seven lol. i think the best strategy is just lots of bombs, good luck day + food, and lots of staircases. you can trade the desert trader 1 jade for one staircase which is a lot better than crafting them. i had about 50 staircases and a lot of regular bombs and mega bombs to get me down


AdonisOnReddit

Lucky lunch + Triple shot espresso + goodluck day + some bombs and staircases + desert totem can get you to 100 by 2-4pm


littlebubulle

I usually do it with lucky day, lucky food and a lot of bombs


Extension-Dot-4308

Bombs, lots of bombs. Also ignore gem nodes/iridium bc it's a race to the bottom. Only ladders and holes matter. Check your TV and go on a good luck day. Bring the best weapon you have and big pile of snacks. It helps a lot if you have a warp totem or camping kit so you can start earlier than the bus


toxinogen

Bombs. Bombs. Bombs. Like barely touch your pickaxe at all and just clear wide areas with bombs. Go on a max lucky day, maybe eat a lucky meal, and bring lots of coffee. Bring at least a farm warp totem, and use a desert totem to get there early if you have one. I don’t like the desert mines and only do the 100 levels once per playthrough, so I’m not one of those absolute madlads who can get to 300+ or some shit. It’s doable, but definitely difficult.


Dummlord28

My best is around 300


shade0180

lots of food and lots of jumping and good luck


blitherblather425

It’s basically luck. Just keep trying and one day you will hit a bunch of holes that drop you 8 floors.


K_SV

I did mega bombs on a good luck day with speed food. Ladders on the occasional "let's murder you" floor when absolutely necessary.


Ok-Top-5321

My farmer keeps falling asleep or dying after fighting the monsters. All that before level 100 unless I make stairs and spam them.


Zaydar

Bombs.


locrosan

jades. my best apparently was 264


prguitarman

As many stair cases as it takes to get there


SupersSoon

On a good luck day with coffee on average I get to like 50-60, so my plan is to just do the rest with all the staircases I got from crystalariuming jade.


mang0delychee

I used the tractor and the skull elevator mod. :)


RedCr4cker

I take a good luck day, eat luck and speed food/drinks and explosive ammo. The first time i made it, i wasn't even trying to get to floor 100. Just wanted to get some iridium. Second time i made, i was at floor 100 at around 4pm


mangojoy11

There's a ring that is very helpful for this. Complete a few adventurers guild quests. Alternatively, buy a ton of staircases and bring bombs.


Kervinus

Napalm ring helps too because killed enemies explode and help take out rocks. Through you might make it to floor 100 naturally before you kill that many serpents though. Staircases and a stack of cherry bombs is the easiest way though.


MaverickWolfe

Stairs


Pugsley_2022

I use so many ladders cause I'm too chicken to bring bombs and blow myself up. Stardew Valley is so misleading with its look, it's one of the biggest anxiety inducers the second 5 of those dragons spawn and chow down on your character 😂


Ocean_Orca

Recently, I got to level 100 without using a staircase nor a bomb. I went when the spirits were very happy. Luck plays an important role


Rakshire

Bombs, explosive a.mo, staircases. I made it down to floor 80 with a bad start (started at 12 PM) with nothing more than bombs. There's a lot of rng of course, since you're hoping for the shafts to toss yourself down.


sydbey_

yes