Guide:Skeletron strategies

"The cursed guardian of the dungeon..."

Skeletron is a Pre-Hardmode Boss guarding the Dungeon. It's big, tough, hard to dodge, and can seriously ruin your evening many times over. Like any other daunting task in Terraria, defeating it is largely about smart preparation. Following are some hints, tips, and strategies to help you do so.

Spawn Condition
Skeletron can be spawned by fulfilling one of these conditions: It must then be defeated before all the involved players die.
 * Talk with at night. He can be found at the Dungeon entrance;
 * Kill at night, with.

The Fight
Skeletron is a large skeleton, composed by a Skull and 2 Arms. In order to defeat it, you must kill the Skull.

It attacks the player mostly by swiping its hands. This attack is quite easy to predict, as it prepares them by lunging them backward, so you can prepare to dodge them. However, the main issue is their erratic trajectory. You can dodge them by either jumping or running around. It can use both hands to have different timings and trajectories, so you might get caught off-guard by trying to dodge its other hand.

Timing is key in order to defend from the hands: after dodging them, use your piercing weapons to deal damage to both arms (and Skeletron's skull, if it happens to align with them). The arms don't have much health, so they can be detached fairly easily.

After some time, Skeletron will use its signature spinning attack. It's slow, but it always homes at you. During this attack, which lasts for quite a bit, it is the most vulnerable; it increases the power of the attack but loses all its defense. As such, use the fastest weapon at your disposal to deal a lot of damage. However, make sure to constantly move; if you get hit by it, you take a lot of damage and you get debuff, which stops Health Regeneration.

During the spin attack, the hands will stay fixed in a uphanded position while Skeletron moves. You can also use this time to deal damage to them, but keep in mind that their defense isn't reduced.

Failing to defeat it till daybreak will make Skeletron permanently spin at you, just like Dungeon Guardian; it will gain extreme amounts of damage and defense, one-shotting players while only taking 1 or 2 damage from any attack.

Expert Mode
Skeletron's head has a massive 100 defense until one of its hands go down. This means that almost every weapon at that point will not do more than 1 damage without a critical hit. As such, you're forced to detach the arms from it in order to progress. Moreover, the hands can Slow you, and its spin attack is much faster than in Normal Mode. After one of the arms goes down, Skeletron gains the ability to shoot skulls with a small homing effect when it's not spinning. The frequency of this attack increases as its health goes down and when the other arm falls.

At the beginning of the fight, the arms must be prioritized first, as the Head will barely take any damage with its massive defense. Their attacks have a 50% chance to briefly apply the Slow debuff, which can greatly slow down a player, even if just for a second.

Because of the player's lack of knockback immunity, getting hit by the spin attack can result on a death even at full health due to its massive damage and speed, so the player needs high mobility to avoid it at all costs.

It is recommended to kill both hands at the same time, to minimize the amount of time Skeletron spends attacking with homing skulls alongside its remaining hand.

After a limb is defeated, the fight gets harder because of the skulls he fires. It's easier to dodge the skulls while Skeletron remains above the player, since they can be dodged like Queen Bee's stingers with a little curve. However, this could make the spin attack connect more easily if the player isn't careful, as the head will stand closer to them.

While Skeletron is spinning, running in a straight line with your Boots isn't recommended: it starts firing the skulls as soon as the attack is completed, so the player will most likely get hit by one of them. Because of this, moving in circles using the hover effect and/or double jumps is much safer.

Terrain Preparation


Warning: Don't make significant edits to the dungeon floor. Doing so can stop the Endgame Cultists from spawning, potentially blocking progression. Plan your arena above the Dungeon roof instead.

The entrance area to most dungeons can often be modified into a more desirable arena if needed. Most important is that you have room to dodge the hands, as well as enough vertical space to avoid getting trapped when Skeletron's head begins to spin.

A simple, effective, but time-consuming approach is to build a Sky Bridge with Minecart Tracks. Then spawn Skeletron, hop in your Minecart, and speed away. Skeletron will chase after you but will not catch you, making it easy to kill with ranged attacks.

Gearing up
It's recommended to try to fight Skeletron with at least 300 Health, however on Expert mode 400 health is almost mandatory.

Armor
The best armor available before the fight is Shadow or Crimson armors, because of their high defense, great speed with the former or better regeneration with the latter. Molten Armor is available if the player chose to mine Hellstone before entering the Dungeon.

Magic users however, should use the Wizard set due to its massive offensive stats, surpassing both Jungle and Meteor armor s. A summoner's only choice is the Bee armor.

Throwers should definitely use the Fossil armor.

Weapons
For Melee users:
 * such as are excellent against Skeletron, as they can be directed easily to the target and held there for rapid repeated damage. Eliminating the hands first can be done very rapidly with a yoyo as the hands tend to push them around, making additional contact with the weapon.
 * The does very high damage against him provided the player has obtained it, however it isn't recommended on Expert mode.
 * like the  work well but they are more effective when throwing past the Skull.
 * The is also available if the player has mined Hellstone already.
 * Flails can work due to their long range and ability to hit both the arms and the head with a single attack. The only ones available at this point are the or.

For Ranged users:
 * / are the most accessible Bows at this stage. Use them with and.
 * The is very strong if the player has already gotten Hellstone.
 * is an great choice as the Bees can deal massive damage, especially during Skeletron's spinning attack.
 * The and the  are very effective against Skeletron.

For Magic users:
 * Using a with Meteor Armor frees you from the constraints of Mana and deals reasonable damage.
 * If the player is lucky to get one, the is an excellent choice.
 * The and  can be effective, requiring very little mana while dealing decent damage.
 * The is also a very effective method of damaging Skeletron, even allowing it to be used in combination with other weapons. If carefully placed, the cloud created by the rod can cause 100 damage per second. However it will only be available in a Crimson world.

For Throwing users:
 * are some of the best weapons available, due to their high damage and firing speed.
 * can be used to devastating effect on Skeletron.
 * are useful for the fight, thanks to the homing bees that it releases. This makes dealing damage almost automatic without much need to aim.
 * can also be effective.

For Summoners:
 * The is the only weapon available, unless the player has already gotten the Imp Staff from the Underworld. Fighting with Hornets alone is not recommended.

Accessories

 * Spectre or Lightning Boots are very useful for their hover effect and running speed.
 * The Cloud in a Bottle or in a Balloon and their counterparts are recommended, especially on Expert mode.
 * The Shield of Cthulhu is extremely useful for the Expert Mode fight, as the dash makes dodging the skulls and the spin attack much easier.
 * The Shark Tooth Necklace can significantly increase damage output, especially when using weapons with high attack speed.
 * The Hive Pack gives a boost to the damage and velocity of some of the bees spawned by Queen Bee's drops.
 * Worm Scarf reduces damage taken, making it invaluable for the Expert mode fight.

Potions

 * Ironskin, Endurance and Regeneration Potions will make the job easier for any player and are highly recommended. Two potions will last for the entire night, provided the player stays alive the entire time.
 * The Swiftness Potion helps for outrunning the spinning attack.
 * Mana Regeneration Potions are mandatory for magic users. Magic Power Potions are also helpful.
 * If you're using a melee weapon, Ale provides a decent boost.
 * Any food item that grants the Well Fed buff is very helpful, especially on Expert mode since it will bring regeneration back to normal.
 * An Archery Potion gives a very good damage and velocity bonus to bows.
 * Wrath and Rage Potions also increase damage output.
 * Featherfall Potions can aid your air mobility.

Others

 * The Slimy Saddle helps with dodging and it can also be used to escape the spin attack. The can be used for a similar purpose.
 * A good grappling hook is also useful for enabling sudden bursts of movement.

Minecart Strategy
An alternative to high-maneuverability armor or accessories which can even work against Expert mode Skeletron is to craft a Minecart for the extra speed and build a large, diamond-shaped Minecart Track, such as one having in the middle on each side three Minecart Tracks with a Bumper on the outer end, and the inner end connects using a switch track to two diagonal tracks, with both connected and the preferred direction up on one side and down on the other, and with a total width of roughly 100-120 blocks. After the Skeletron battle begins, mount the Minecart and accelerate to maximum Minecart speed. While collisions can occasionally occur, they should be uncommon enough that healing will not be a problem. Using attacks at range is highly preferred, though unlike a Hoik system, a Minecart might not move fast enough to allow a boomerang to do all of the work as in some Dungeon Guardian strategies. If using pre-Hardmode weapons, the Molten Fury with Frostburn Arrows is highly recommended.

If using the Minecart strategy and for whatever reason the battle lasts until dawn, the Dungeon Guardian A.I. will actually cause the Skeletron head to follow you at such a slow and steady pace that it should never catch up. In such a case, however, you will take fatal damage from contact and deal 1 damage with every landed attack, or 2 from critical hits, causing fast attacks at range to become essential (such as the Space Gun with the full set of Meteor armor); thus, having a set of accessories with critical chance modifiers becomes far more important than damage, defense, or mobility, should it come to this.

Platform Strategy
This strategy is fairly simple and requires little preparation. It can even be used against expert-mode Skeletron. Build a platform 150-300 tiles long about 12 tiles higher than the Dungeon's entrance, and attach stairs to the platform for easy access. Then build a 1-story house in the middle of the platform with 2 doors on each side and move the nurse there. At the end of the platform, build a wall to stop yourself from running off and build a 12-tile high stairway in the opposite direction. Place torches on the ground and in the dungeon (to prevent pesky mobs from spawning), or build NPC houses near the dungeon.

Come prepared with a hook, full Shadow or Crimtane armor, a Boomstick, a Demonie or Crimtane bow (with jester arrows), a snowball cannon, Spectre boots and a Shield of Cthulhu. Summon Skeletron and run to the platform and run to the other side, while attacking his hands with your bow or Snowball Cannon. when he performs his head spin, attack his head (his hands in expert mode) with your boomstick. He should be defeated in no time, as long as you speak with the nurse from time to time. In expert-mode, after defeating his hands, stay in the nurse's house while he fires skulls, healing from time to time (leave the house when the nurse is low herself). When he perform his head spin, dash out of the house and continue running while attacking with the Boomstick. Repeat until he is defeated.