Skeletron

Type	Boss
AI Type	Skeletron Hand AI
Damage	20 / 44
Max Life	600 / 1560
Defense	14
KB Resist	10000%

Type	Boss
AI Type	Head
Damage	32 / 70
Max Life	4400 / 8800
Defense	10; 0 (while spinning)
KB Resist	10000%
Coins	5

"The Cursed Guardian of the Dungeon..."

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

Skeletron is a Boss that must be defeated before traveling through the Dungeon. It is immune to the Poisoned, On Fire!, and Cursed Inferno debuffs.

Defeating Skeletron 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 you enter the Dungeon before killing Skeletron, Dungeon Guardians spawn once you reach 0 depth, generally killing any player with a single hit. Additionally, if the Dungeon Guardian is killed, access is still not allowed to the Dungeon.

Summoning

Skeletron is summoned by speaking to the Old Man at the Dungeon's entrance, at night, who will die and spawn Skeletron when you select the “curse” option. If you speak to the Old Man during the day, he will ask you to return at night. You will only be able to summon Skeletron once per night, as the Old Man will not respawn until day.

Skeletron can be summoned repeatedly this way until it is defeated. Once it is defeated, the Old Man will no longer appear. Skeletron can be re-summoned thereafter once the player acquires the Clothier Voodoo Doll. Equipping the Doll allows the player to kill the Clothier, which summons Skeletron. But this must be done at night.

Attacks

Skeletron is a large floating skeleton head 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's required to defeat Skeletron.

Skeletron alternates between two attacks:

The head remains above while his hands slash at the player.
The head spins, dealing significant damage, but its defense drops to zero.

Skeletron has an additional attack in expert mode:

Skeletron's Head is near invincible, but after losing either of his hands his head becomes vulnerable and will begin to shoot homing skulls resembling Cursed Skulls at the player, increasing in frequency as his health gets closer to 0.

If the player takes too long to kill him and dawn arrives, Skeletron will act like a Dungeon Guardian, performing a head spin attack with very high damage, which will usually kill any players remaining in the vicinity quickly (it is still possible to kill him, 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.

In Expert Mode, Skeletron moves faster and has better A.I. when targeting multiple players. He's also able to inflict several debuffs: the hands inflict Slow, while the head inflicts Bleeding.

Achievement

Boned is the achievement you earn for defeating Skeletron for the first time.

Notes

The Old Man who stands in front of the Dungeon can be killed if you manage to deplete his health. However, this does not count as a Skeletron kill, and he will respawn. Entering the Dungeon will still allow Dungeon Guardians to spawn.
Skeletron disappears when all nearby players are dead, and the Old Man will respawn the following day.
If Skeletron is killed in its daytime form, it will still drop the normal Skeletron loot and open the dungeon. It will also grant the Boned achievement.Template:Pc icon
In Expert Mode, if at least one of Skeletron's hands are taken out then he will start shooting homing skulls at the player.

Tips

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

With multiple players, it's a good idea for softcore and mediumcore characters to set up a Bed near the Dungeon, so that they can simply rejoin the fight if they die.
If you use a Magic Mirror, Skeletron won't follow you back to your spawn, and despawn instead.
In expert mode, Skeletron has over 100 defense until you defeat the hands.
Don't jump onto Skeletrons head multiple times with the Slime Mount, as going too high will cause him to despawn. However, inside of the dungeon entrance the Slime Mount can be a valuable tool. (Also if you enter space the slowed falling will make it almost impossible to get back down past him.)
Going fast enough on a minecart can cause the hands to despawn, leaving only the head to fight.
Using any ricochet weapons such as the Water Bolt is extremely useful.

Trivia

Assuming that the player is at 5 ft. 9 1/2 in. heightwise, Skeletron's Head would be about 11 feet tall and 8 feet wide. The Hands would be 10 feet tall and 7 feet across.
Skeletron Heads used to protect the Dungeon, but when one was killed, it would count as killing Skeletron, so they purposed the Dungeon Guardians to protect the Dungeon instead.
With his hands combined, Skeletron has even more health than the Expert mode Wall of Flesh.

History

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

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

1.0.6:
- Head health decreased from 5000 to 4400 and 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.

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.

Pre-Release: Introduced.

Template:Translation project

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Skeletron

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