SkeletronThe Old Man's Curse
Skeletron is a Pre-Hardmode boss. Defeating it is required to gain unrestricted access to the Dungeon.
Spawn
Skeletron is summoned by speaking to the Old Man at the Dungeon's entrance and selecting the "Curse" option at night, which causes him to die and transform into Skeletron. The Old Man will respawn at the Dungeon's entrance the following day if Skeletron is not alive. Once Skeletron has been defeated for the first time and the Clothier has moved in, the player can summon Skeletron again by equipping the Clothier Voodoo Doll and killing the Clothier at night.
Skeletron can also be summoned by using a Dungeon's Curse, which sets the time to 7:30pm if used during the day.
Behavior
When summoned, Skeletron spawns above the player with its hands held up as the camera briefly pans to it before returning to the player. Its hands are invincible throughout the fight so the head must be targeted to defeat the boss.
Statistics
| Life | 13,860 / 13,860 (total) |
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| KB resist | 100% |
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It alternates between the following attacks in Phase 1, similar to Skeletron in Expert Mode, as a fakeout:
Homing Skull
- Skeletron shoots out a homing Skull at the player once every 0.7 seconds.
Spin
- Skeletron's head continuously spins towards the player.
- The attack is made to end early if the player is continuously being hit, or stunlocked, by the spin. This is done to make it less punishing.
Statistics
| Life | 11,781 / 13,860 (total) |
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| KB resist | 100% |
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A blue explosion erupts from Skeletron's head as it roars. Skeletron transitions into Phase 2 at 85% (11,781) health and gains several new attacks.
The boss cycles through the following attacks in succession:
Skull Spread
- Skeletron's hands hover at the lower corners of the screen and release streams of Shadowflame Fireballs vertically and horizontally, trapping the player in between.
- Skeletron's head hovers above the player and shoots a spread of 3 skulls at them.
- Every fourth spread is slightly faster and consists of 5 skulls instead of 3.
- Each of Skeletron's hands also shoots a Shadowflame Fireball directly at the player.
- Skeletron moves on to the next attack after shooting 6 spreads of Skulls from its head and 4 directed ShadowFlame Fireballs from each of its hands.
Shadowflame Spin
- Skeletron's head spins directly at the player and forms 2 sets of a circle of 8 Rotating Shadowflames that converge in and out.
- Skeletron is slowed down at the beginning of the attack to prevent telefragging.
Skull Geyser
- A continuous stream of skulls shoots out of the top and bottom of Skeletron's head.
- The hand closest to the player will perform a sweep, firing out a curved spread of Skulls at them.
- The hands will not fire if the player is close to Skeletron's head.
Shadowflame Bombs
- Skeletron's hands hover at the player's level and fire out simultaneous explosions of Shadowflames.
- This attack lasts for 7 seconds before Skeletron moves on to the next one.
Statistics
| Life | 6,584 / 13,860 (total) |
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| KB resist | 100% |
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Another blue explosion erupts from Skeletron's head as Skeletron transitions into Phase 3 at 47.5% (6,584) health and gains new abililties.
The boss cycles through the following attacks in succession:
Skull Spread
- This attack is only done once at the beginning of Phase 3. It is not repeated in the cycle after that.
- Skeletron's hands hover at the lower corners of the screen and release walls of Shadowflame Fireballs vertically and horizontally, trapping the player in between.
- Skeletron's head hovers above the player and shoots a spread of 3 skulls at them.
- Every fourth spread is slightly faster and consists of 5 skulls instead of 3.
- Each of Skeletron's hands also shoots a Shadowflame Fireball directly at the player.
- Skeletron moves on to the next attack after shooting 6 spreads of Skulls from its head and 4 directed ShadowFlame Fireballs from each of its hands.
Falling Skull Wall
- Skeletron's hands position themselves at lower corners to the player and release streams of Shadowflame Fireballs vertically and horizontally while the head positions itself above the player.
- Unlike in the Skull Spread attack, the hands and head do not follow the player around and stay fixed in their positions.
- Skeletron releases a falling wall of spaced Skulls from its head that accelerates with time.
- The wall of Skulls has several smaller gaps between the Skulls, and one distinctive large gap placed in it. There is also a stray barrier Skull which leads ahead of the wall.
- Skeletron releases 7 walls of Skulls before moving on to the next attack.
Triple Skull Spin
- Skeletron's head spins directly at the player and releases 3 homing Skulls.
- Skeletron is slowed down at the beginning of the attack to prevent telefragging.
Skull Geyser
- A continuous stream of skulls shoots out of the top and bottom of Skeletron's head.
- The hand closest to the player will perform a sweep, firing out a curved spread of Skulls at them.
- The hands will not fire if the player is close to Skeletron's head.
Shadowflame Bombs
- Skeletron's hands hover at the player's level and fire out simultaneous explosions of Shadowflames.
- This attack lasts for 7 seconds before Skeletron moves on to the next one.
Shadowflame Wave
- Each of Skeletron's hands hover at the player's level and releases continuous streams of Shadowflame Fireballs in an oscillatory wave motion.
- The hands individually perform this attack in alternation.
- This attack lasts for 11 seconds before Skeletron moves on to the next one.
Aftermath
- The Dungeon Guardian no longer spawns when a player enters the Dungeon, granting free access to the Dungeon. Dungeon entities also begin spawning, including the Bound Mechanic.
- A status message appears which reads "The First Dryad's vines deem you worthy of their abyssal treasures.", indicating that some items in the Abyss can now be obtained.
- The Bandit NPC becomes available.
- The Aquatic Heart unlocks all of its effects.
Tips
- Don't make unnecessary movements when dodging the bullet hell attacks. Only move if you need to avoid being hit, and don't move much further than you need to move to avoid being hit.
- You cannot outrun most of Skeletron's attacks, so don't bother trying. Focus on dodging.
- Some players find that having too much movement speed makes it harder for them to dodge Skeletron's attacks. If you have a loadout with high movement speed and are struggling to kill Skeletron, try replacing a movement accessory with a damage accessory.
- To consistently dodge the Skull Spread attack, the only time you should move is right after Skeletron fires a wave of skulls. Only move very slightly to the left or right, and the skulls will not hit you.
- To consistently dodge the aggressively homing skull projectiles in phase 1, constantly keep moving horizontally, and change directions with a dash shortly after every third skull is fired. With a little bit of practice, you will find out the exact timing and it will become extremely consistent.
- It is easier to dodge the Shadowflame Bombs attack if you focus on moving vertically rather than horizontally. Sometimes horizontal movement may be necessary, but don't move horizontally more than you need to to avoid being hit.
- Having a dash makes dodging the Falling Skull Wall attack easier. In an emergency it is possible to fit into the small gaps between skulls, but it is extremely tight and not consistent.
- Focus your loadout on damage rather than defense. Skeletron's attacks deal a ton of damage, so having more defense isn't going to be as helpful as killing Skeletron faster.
- Infernum Skeletron is notoriously difficult. If you are struggling too much, there is nothing wrong with taking a break and coming back, or waiting until the beginning of hardmode to kill Skeletron. Killing Skeletron is not required for progression until mid-hardmode.
Trivia
