Skeletron

SkeletronSkeletron Head

Map Icon

 Classic

 Expert

 Master

Statistics

Type	Boss
Environment	Dungeon entrance + Night
AI Type	Head AI
Damage	32/70/105 1000 (during the day)
Max Life	4400/8800/11220
Defense	1010+25 per hand alive 00+25 per hand alive (while spinning) 9999 (during the day)
KB Resist	100%
Immune to

Inflicts debuff

Inflicts debuff

Debuff	Bleeding
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life
Chance	100%
Duration	6–10 seconds

Drops

Coins	5 GC12 GC50 SC

• Item (Quantity)Rate
• Healing Potion (5–15)
  100% (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
• Lesser Healing Potion (5–15)
  100% (Old-gen console and 3DS versions)
• Skeletron Mask
  14.29%
• Skeletron Hand
  12.24%
• Book of Skulls
  10.5%
• Skeletron Trophy
  10%
• Chippy's Couch(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
  14.29%
• Treasure Bag(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)(Skeletron)
  100%
• Bone Glove(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
  100%
• One of the following three items will be dropped
• Skeletron Mask
  33%
• Skeletron Hand
  33%
• Book of Skulls
  33%
• Gold Coin (5)
  100%
• Possessed Skull(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
  25%
• Skeletron Relic(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
  100%

Sounds

Hurt
Killed
Entering spinning phase

• Internal NPC ID: 35
• Internal Buff ID: 30

SkeletronSkeletron Hand

 Classic

 Expert

 Master

Statistics

Type	Boss Part
Environment	Dungeon entrance + Night
AI Type	Skeletron Hand AI
Damage	20/44/66
Max Life	600/1560/1989
Defense	14
KB Resist	100%
Immune to

Inflicts debuff

Inflicts debuff

Debuff	Slow
Debuff tooltip	Movement speed is reduced
Chance	50%
Duration	1–2 seconds

Sounds

Hurt
Killed

• Internal NPC ID: 36
• Internal Buff ID: 32

 "The cursed guardian of the dungeon." 

Not to be confused with the Skeleton, an enemy found underground, or Skeletron Prime, the Hardmode version of Skeletron.

Skeletron is a pre-Hardmode boss. It must be defeated prior to entering the Dungeon, and defeating it grants unlimited access to all Dungeon areas for all players. It also causes the Clothier NPC to spawn, as long as a vacant house is available.

If attempting to enter the Dungeon before killing Skeletron, Dungeon Guardians spawn once a player reaches 0 depth. These enemies generally kill any player with a single hit, dealing 1000 / 2000 / 3000 damage. Managing to defeat a Dungeon Guardian does not grant access to the Dungeon, thus defeating Skeletron is mandatory for (safely) entering the Dungeon.

While Skeletron is alive, the music Boss 1 will play. When Otherworldly music (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is enabled, the track Boss 1 (Otherworldly) will play instead.

Summoning

Skeletron is summoned by speaking to the Old Man at the Dungeon's entrance at night, who will turn into Skeletron when selecting the "Curse" option. If the Old Man is spoken to during the day, he will ask the player to return at night. Skeletron can only be summoned once per night, as the Old Man will not respawn until dawn. While players with less than 300 maximum health and/or less than 10 defense are deemed too weak by the Old Man to lift his curse, he still offers the option to summon Skeletron.

Skeletron can be summoned repeatedly this way until it is defeated. Once it is defeated, the Old Man's curse will be lifted and he will no longer appear. The Clothier NPC will arrive, bearing a remarkable resemblance to the Old Man. He can move in a town, as long as there is an empty house for him to live in. Skeletron can be re-summoned thereafter once the player acquires the Clothier Voodoo Doll, which can be obtained by killing Angry Bones or Dark Casters found in the Dungeon. Equipping the accessory allows the player to kill the Clothier, which summons Skeletron. However, this will only work at night. On any other occasion, Skeletron does not spawn.

Behavior

Skeletron is a large floating skull with two independent floating hands. All parts can travel through blocks, and will attempt to make contact with the player to inflict damage. Each part can be killed independently, but killing the head is all that is required to defeat Skeletron.

Skeletron alternates between two attack phases:

1. The head remains above while the hands slash at the player.
2. The head spins, dealing significant damage if touched, but dropping its defense by 10 (to 0 in classic mode) for the duration of the attack.

Skeletron switches between these two phases in a regular cycle during the entire fight, with the first phase lasting for roughly 13.33 seconds and the second phase lasting for roughly 6.67 seconds. It lets out a roar every time it enters the second phase.

If the player takes too long to kill it and dawn arrives, Skeletron will begin acting exactly as a Dungeon Guardian, performing a head spin attack with very high damage and very high defense, which will usually kill any players remaining in the vicinity quickly (it is still possible to kill it, but players are at an extreme disadvantage). Skeletron remains in this form until dying or despawning, even if players manage to avoid dying until the following dusk.

Expert Mode

Skeletron has additional properties in Expert Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions):

• The defense of its head is increased by 25 for each of its hands, resulting in a total defense of 60, initially. Once one hand is defeated, it drops to 35 and finally to 10 when both hands are defeated.
  • During the spinning, its defense is therefore also only reduced to 50 / 25. Only with both hands defeated, it is reduced to 0 like in normal mode.
• Once either of the hands are destroyed or the head's health is reduced to below 75% (6600), the head begins to shoot homing skulls at the player which resemble Cursed Skulls that despawn on contact with a solid block. It shoots one skull roughly every 1.33 seconds, and doubles the frequency to one skull roughly every 0.67 seconds once both hands are defeated. It pauses firing during its spin attack.
• Skeletron moves faster and has better AI when targeting multiple players. With this, it is able to "stun-lock" the player while spinning, able to almost instantly kill them if they are not able to escape (e.g. by using a Grappling Hook).
• Skeletron is able to inflict the debuffs Slow (from the hands) and Bleeding (from the head).

Notes

Old Man at the dungeon

• The Old Man who stands in front of the Dungeon can be killed if his health is depleted. However, this does not count as a Skeletron kill, and he will respawn.
• The Old Man will respawn the following day if players fail to defeat Skeletron.
• Killing Skeletron after the night ends will still count as defeating it, and will allow entering the Dungeon safely.
• Skeletron's defense and damage will revert to their normal figures if the player dies during the day.

Achievement

Boned • “Defeat Skeletron, the cursed guardian of the dungeon.”

Defeat Skeletron for the first time. (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Category: Slayer

Tips

For more elaborate strategies on defeating Skeletron, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Skeletron strategies.

• Defeating Skeletron is not necessary for game progression until Golem has been defeated. The Cultists, required for initiating the Lunar Events, will only spawn once both Golem and Skeletron have been defeated. However, skipping Skeletron in pre-Hardmode results in a lack of valuable Dungeon loot, in addition to access to the Mechanic as well as the Safe and Void Vault(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
• Do not jump onto Skeletron's head too many times with the Slime Mount, as going too high will cause it to despawn (also, in Space the low gravity will make it almost impossible to get back down past it).
  • Nonetheless, the Slime Mount can be a valuable tool inside of the Dungeon entrance, as well as a means to escape Skeletron's head spin attack, if one ever gets caught in it.
• Any ricocheting weapon ((Old-gen console and 3DS versions) such as the Water Bolt found in the Dungeon) is very useful.
• With multiple players, it is a good idea to set the spawn point near the Dungeon, so that players can simply rejoin the fight if they die.
• While Skeletron is immune to many debuffs on the  Old-gen console version and Nintendo 3DS version, it is not immune to Frostburn on any version.
• Attacking the hands first is advised as destroying them both will make it very easy to dodge Skeletron for the rest of the battle.
  • This is close to mandatory in Expert Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), as Skeletron gains 25 defense for each hand it has alive.
  • Going fast enough on a Minecart can cause the hands to despawn.
• In Expert Mode, if the player keeps moving in different directions, most homing skulls will miss; also note that they do not travel through tiles.
• In Expert Mode, it is a good idea to use a yoyo or a flail and an overhead barrier.
• In Master Mode, Skeletron can be defeated with an Explosive Bunny trap. 80+ Explosive Bunnies are required for a one-hit kill.

Trivia

• Assuming that the player is at 5′ 9½″ (1.75 m) in terms of height, Skeletron's head would be about 11′ (3.35 m) tall and 8′ (2.43 m) wide. The hands would be 10′ (3 m) tall and 7′ (2 m) across.
• At one point during game development, Skeletron Heads protected the Dungeon, but when one was killed, it would count as killing Skeletron, so the Dungeon Guardians were introduced to protect the Dungeon instead.
• Skeletron's head looks identical to the Dungeon Guardian.
• Counting the health from both its hands, Skeletron has even more health than the Expert Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Wall of Flesh.
• Skeletron is the only boss not to have any guaranteed drops (with the exception of healing potions, a Treasure Bag(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) if in Expert Mode and a relic(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) if in Master Mode).
• On the  Desktop version,  Console version, and  Mobile version of Terraria, the Old Man has a health bar, but on the  Old-gen console version and Nintendo 3DS version, he does not.
• In the Terraria and Edge of Space crossover teaser, Skeletron turns into a boss called Omegatron.
• The name Skeletron is similar to the name Skeletor, the main antagonist of the Masters of the Universe franchise.
• Blood emits from the joints between Skeletron's arms and head, possibly implying that they are severed. Going based on lore, it is guaranteed that it is the case.

The Skeletron-shaped cloud.

• On the  Desktop version,  Console version, and  Mobile version, a cloud in the shape of Skeletron can occasionally be seen in the background.
• In the first release of Terraria, prior to the introduction of the Wall of Flesh, Skeletron was the final boss of the game.
• It is one of the two bosses that needs a town NPC to be alive in order to be summoned. The other is the Wall of Flesh.
• The sprite file for Skeletron's arms is named Arm_Bone. Similarly, the sprite file for Skeletron Prime's arms is named Arm_Bone_2.
•  – According to the Terraria lore pages, the Dryads ripped out part of Cthulhu's skeleton, and a curse caused all the inhabitants of the Dungeon to become undead.

• The Bestiary entry for Skeletron: "The disembodied bones of a former tyrant pulsed with a hatred so strong, it left behind a mighty curse which guards the Dungeon."

• The "former tyrant" refers to Cthulhu.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.3.3: Now drops Healing Potions instead of Lesser Healing Potions.

• Desktop 1.4.1: No longer immune to On Fire!, Cursed Inferno, Venom, Shadowflame, Celled, or Daybroken.

• Desktop 1.4.0.1:
  • Added Skeletron Relic, a Master Mode exclusive drop that acts as a trophy-like item.
  • Added Possessed Skull, a Master Mode exclusive drop that summons a miniature Skeletron pet.
  • Added Chippy's Couch, a reference to the youtuber/streamer of the same name.

• Desktop 1.3.5: Sprite updated.

• Desktop 1.3.4.3: Fixed incorrect status message when summoned (was "Skeleton has awoken" instead of "Skeletron has awoken").

• Desktop 1.3.0.1: New AI and Treasure Bag added for Expert mode.

• Desktop 1.2.1.2: Skeletron now spawns on the Clothier when using a Clothier Voodoo Doll.

• Desktop 1.2:
  • Can now be re-summoned with the Clothier Voodoo Doll.
  • Has additional item drops. (Previously only dropped Lesser Healing Potions and money.)

• Desktop 1.0.6:
  • Head health decreased from 5000 to 4400, but damage increased from 30 to 32.
  • Hands health decreased from 800 to 600, defense decreased from 18 to 14, and damage decreased from 25 to 20.

• Desktop 1.0.5:
  • Head health decreased from 6000 to 5000, defense decreased from 12 to 10, and damage decreased from 35 to 30.
  • Hands health decreased from 1200 to 800, and damage decreased from 30 to 25.

• Desktop-Release: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console-Release: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile-Release: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.