Introduction
The Mines are located in the north area of the Mountains (northeast of the Carpenter’s Shop and to the west of the Adventurer’s Guild).
They are blocked by rock debris until the 5th day of Spring (year 1), when the player receives a letter.
Info
Closed: Never.
Occupants: 
Dwarf.
Overview
There are a total of 120 floors, or levels, in the Mines. Ore quality (type) and quantity increases as the player moves deeper into the Mines. The Mines are filled with rocks and dirt patches. Rocks can be mined with a pickaxe in order to obtain stone, ore and geodes. A hoe can be used on dirt patches to collect minerals, artifacts, ore, clay, and cave carrots.
To advance deeper in the Mines, a ladder must be revealed on each floor. The ladder will sometimes appear when rocks are broken or after an enemy is defeated (killing enemies is the stamina-free option to finding ladders). If a floor is “infested” or “overrun” by monsters, all enemies must be defeated on that floor before a ladder will appear.
Dying in the Mines causes the player to “forget” several of the most recent floors. Generally, around 5-11 floors will be lost, which means the elevator to those floors will not be accessible until progression is once again made. 10% of the player’s gold will also be lost, as well as various inventory items, including weapons and tools (except for the Galaxy Sword). If tools are lost, they will be returned in the mail on the following day, though Fishing poles and weapons will not be returned. After dying in the mines, you will awaken in the mine entrance, apparently having been found by one of the villagers who live nearby.
A Minecart is located on the entry floor for quick travel to and from the mine. It is unlocked by completing the Community Center boiler room bundles or purchased from the Joja Community Development Form.
Contents
Floors
The Mines consist of 120 floors or levels. These floors are divided into three sections, 40 floors each, with their own themes; the first section has a brown earth theme, the second section has an ice theme, the third and last section has a lava and dark purple theme. The last ten floors of each section has a variation of the main theme; the first section (Floor 31-39) has a shadow theme, the second section (70-79) has a castle theme, and the third section (110-119) has a darker crimson theme.
The corresponding floors in each section have the same layout. For example, Floor 1, 41, and 81 have the same layout; as does 2, 42, and 82; or Floor 10, 50, and 90; and so on.
Entrance
- Theme: Brown Earth.
- Enemies: None.
- Treasures:
Rusty Sword.
Floor 1 – 9
- Theme: Brown Earth.
- Enemies:
Green Slime;
Duggy;
Bug;
Rock Crab.
- Notes: Gems found: Amethyst, Topaz, Quartz, and Earth Crystal.
Floor 10
- Theme: Brown Earth.
- Enemies: None.
- Treasures:
Leather Boots.
Floor 11 – 19
- Theme: Brown Earth, Weeds.
- Enemies:
Green Slime;
Duggy;
Bug;
Rock Crab;
Grub;
Cave Fly.
- Notes: Floor 19 is set in a spiral pattern.
Floor 20
- Theme: Brown Earth, Weeds.
- Enemies: None.
- Treasures:
Steel Smallsword. - Notes: Fishing: Ghostfish and Stonefish.
Floor 21 – 29
- Theme: Brown Earth, Weeds.
- Enemies:
Green Slime;
Duggy;
Bug;
Rock Crab;
Grub;
Cave Fly.
Floor 30
- Theme: Brown Earth.
- Enemies: None.
- Treasures: No reward.
Floor 31 – 39
- Theme: Shadow, Grey Earth.
- Enemies:
Bat;
Stone Golem.
- Notes: Abundant Copper Ore, Geodes are common.
Floor 40
- Theme: Frozen Earth.
- Enemies: None.
- Treasures:
Slingshot.
Floor 41 – 49
- Theme: Frozen Earth.
- Enemies:
Frost Jelly;
Frost Bat;
Dust Sprite.
- Notes: Abundant Iron Ore, Frozen Geodes, Aquamarine, Frozen Tear, and Jade.
Floor 50
- Theme: Frozen Earth.
- Enemies: None.
- Treasures:
Tundra Boots. - Notes: Diamonds begin to appear (1 in 500 stones). Each floor after 50 increases frequency by 0.00016 (e.g. 1 in 100 stones on floor 100).
Floor 51 – 59
- Theme: Frozen Earth.
- Enemies:
Frost Jelly;
Frost Bat;
Dust Sprite;
Ghost.
- Notes: Abundant Dust Sprites (Coal). Floor 52 has a bag of coal at the end of the path.
Floor 60
- Theme: Frozen Earth.
- Enemies: None.
- Treasures:
Crystal Dagger. - Notes: Fishing: Ice Pip and Ghostfish.
Floor 61 – 69
- Theme: Frozen Earth.
- Enemies:
Frost Jelly;
Frost Bat;
Dust Sprite;
Ghost.
Floor 70
- Theme: Frozen Castle.
- Enemies: None.
- Treasures:
Master Slingshot.
Floor 71 – 79
- Theme: Frozen Castle.
- Enemies:
Frost Jelly;
Frost Bat;
Dust Sprite;
Ghost;
Skeleton.
- Notes: Frozen Geodes, abundant Iron Ore.
Floor 80
- Theme: Lava, Purple Earth.
- Enemies: None.
- Treasures:
Firewalker Boots.
Contents pt.2
Floor 81 – 89
- Theme: Lava, Purple Earth.
- Eniemies:
Red Sludge;
Lava Bat;
Lava Crab;
Shadow Brute;
Shadow Shaman;
Metal Head;
Squid Kid.
- Notes: Gold Ore and Magma Geodes begin to appear. Emeralds, Fire Quartz, and Rubies are common.
Floor 90
- Theme: Lava, Purple Earth.
- Eniemies: None.
- Treasures:
Obsidian Edge.
Floor 91 – 99
- Theme: Lava, Purple Earth.
- Eniemies:
Red Sludge;
Lava Bat;
Lava Crab;
Shadow Brute;
Shadow Shaman;
Metal Head;
Squid Kid.
- Notes: Coal is less common from here onward (from Dust Sprites).
Floor 100
- Theme: Lava, Purple Earth, Weeds.
- Eniemies: None.
- Treasures:
Stardrop. - Notes: Fishing: Lava Eel.
Floor 101 – 109
- Theme: Lava, Purple Earth, Weeds.
- Eniemies:
Red Sludge;
Lava Bat;
Lava Crab;
Shadow Brute;
Shadow Shaman;
Metal Head;
Squid Kid.
- Notes: Abundant Gold Ore.
Floor 110
- Theme: Lava, Crimson Earth.
- Eniemies: None.
- Treasures:
Space Boots.
Floor 111 – 119
- Theme: Lava, Crimson Earth.
- Eniemies:
Red Sludge;
Lava Bat;
Lava Crab;
Shadow Brute;
Shadow Shaman;
Metal Head;
Squid Kid.
Floor 120
- Theme: Lava, Purple Earth, Weeds.
- Eniemies: None.
- Treasures:
Skull Key. - Notes: Final floor.
Special Items
The following are the special items that can be obtained from either crates and barrels or monsters carrying special items:
Mines: 0-19
Carving Knife;
Wood Club;
Sneakers;
Rubber Boots;
Small Glow Ring;
Small Magnet Ring.
Mines: 20-39
Forest Sword;
Wind Spire;
Wood Club;
Rubber Boots;
Sneakers;
Small Glow Ring;
Small Magnet Ring.
Mines: 40-59
Forest Sword;
Iron Edge;
Lead Rod;
Wood Mallet;
Thermal Boots;
Glow Ring;
Magnet Ring.
Mines: 60-120
Skull Cavern: 0-39
Lead Rod (Three chances);
Combat Boots;
Thermal Boots;
Glow Ring;
Magnet Ring.
Skull Cavern 40+
Burglar’s Shank;
Burglar’s Shank;
Steel Falchion;
Tempered Broadsword;
The Slammer;
Wicked Kris;
Dark Boots;
Genie Shoes;
Battery Pack.
Infested floors
Occasionally you will enter an infested floor filled with slimes or a mix of monsters. Unlike normal floors, there are no rocks and in slime-infested floors the walls and ground are covered in green slime rather than the normal themes. Forage-able items such as quartz or mushrooms may still be found though. To proceed from an infested floor, you must continue to fight until all monsters are killed (this includes duggies that may be hidden under dirt patches), at which point a ladder will appear either where the last monster was killed or next to the entrance (the player will be notified with a message saying, “A way down has appeared”).
A Staircase can also be used to escape an infested floor.
An infested floor will always be on the same level for each day and goes up one level the next day. For example, if an infested floor is found on level 54 one day, it will be on 53 the next day, 52 the day after that, and so on. On some days, an infested floor might not be found because certain floors are excluded from being infested. These include elevator/treasure floors and the first five, last ten, and nineteenth floor of each section (refer back to the information about sections in Floors).
There can be multiple infested floors at once, each are generally around twenty or more floors apart.
The Oil of Garlic Buff prevent levels from being infested. Oil of Garlic must be consumed before entering the level to prevent infestation.
Repeatedly visiting infested floors can be an excellent way to quickly achieve some of the Monster Eradication Goals at the Adventurer’s Guild.
The Mushroom Floor
Sometimes a floor in the lower section of the mine (levels 81-119) will have greatly increased spawns of red and purple mushrooms. These floors will also notably have a variety of colored lanterns which usually includes at least one green lantern. Mushrooms will continue to respawn on that floor throughout the same game day (even if the player quits and restarts,) and so repeated trips can be made to collect a large number of mushrooms.
Because of the way the game chooses such floors, the mushroom floor will “move up” one level each day; for example, if level 94 is a mushroom floor on Spring 5, then level 93 will be a mushroom floor on Spring 6. A player could thus track the mushroom floor and only choose to exploit it when the level can be reached quickly such as when it is one floor below an elevator. Note however, that no mushrooms will spawn on an elevator level itself (floors ending in 0 or 5) or if the level is infested (see previous section.) Additionally, the mushroom floor is neither unique nor guaranteed — there may be multiple active mushroom floors or no such floors at all on a given day, and that situation may persist for several days or weeks.
The Bottom of the Mines
On floor 120 of the Mines is the Skull Key. The skull key is used to open a door in a cave in The Desert, leading to the Skull Cavern. It is also used to unlock the Junimo Kart arcade machine for play in The Stardrop Saloon.
Furthermore, reaching this floor also changes other parts of the game (introduced in 1.3.27):
- prismatic shards and diamonds will now rarely drop from any monster;
- gems and purple mushrooms may now be found when searching trash bins;
- gems and purple mushrooms may now be requested in NPC quests;
- some monsters will be stronger.
Strategy
Staircases
If the player has reached at least level 2 in the Mining skill, floors can be skipped by using a Staircase (crafted from 99 Stone). A Staircase allows instant access to the next floor in the Mines. After every 5 floors, an elevator will be available, allowing access to that floor at any time.
Food
Shown below are foods with buffs that are useful when spelunking in the mines. Note that eating a food with buffs will wipe out any active buffs and replace them with the buffs from the newly eaten food. If the newly eaten food has no buffs, the existing buffs will remain in effect.
Duration of buffs for food lowers as the day progresses. For example, if Crab Cakes are eaten early in the day their duration is 16+ minutes. If eaten at 10pm it only lasts 2-3 minutes.
Autumn’s Bounty →
220,
99;
Foraging (+2),
Defense (+2);
7m41s.
Coffee →
3,
1;
Speed (+1);
1m23s.
Crab Cakes →
225,
101;
Speed (+1),
Defense (+1);
16m47s.
Cranberry Sauce →
125,
56;
Mining (+2);
3m30s.
Eggplant Parmesan →
175,
78;
Mining (+1),
Defense (+3);
4m39s.
Fried Eel →
75,
33;
Luck (+1);
11m11s.
Fried Mushroom →
135,
60;
Attack (+2);
7m.
Lucky Lunch →
100,
45;
Luck (+3);
11m11s.
Maple Bar →
225,
101;
Farming (+1),
Fishing (+1),
Mining (+1);
16m47s.
Miner’s Treat →
125,
56;
Mining (+3),
Magnetism (+32);
5m35s.
Pepper Poppers →
130,
58;
Speed (+1),
Farming (+2);
7m.
Pumpkin Soup →
200,
90;
Luck (+2),
Defense (+2);
7m41s.
Roots Platter →
125,
56;
Attack (+3);
5m35s.
Spicy Eel →
115,
51;
Luck (+1), Speed (+1);
7m.
Stuffing →
170,
76;
Defense (+2);
5m35s.
Super Meal →
160,
72;
Speed (+1),
Max Energy (+40);
3m30s.
Strategy pt.2
Swarms
If the screen becomes “misty”, “glowy”, or “foggy”, several of the current level’s flying monsters will spawn and attack. Consuming Oil of Garlic will prevent these infestation fogs.
Floor Reset
As of 1.3, mine floors sometimes reset in an unpredictable way, especially if playing in multiplayer. In single-player, there is a good chance that a mine floor will reset at the next 10-minute tick of the in-game clock, measured from the time the player leaves the floor. In multiplayer, a mine floor may not reset until all players leave the floor, and the clock advances 10 minutes.
Trivia
- The axe, scythe or pickaxe can be used to kill monsters in lieu of the sword.
- Stone can be purchased from the Carpenter’s Shop for
20g each during game year 1, making it possible to skip all 120 floors using Staircases for just under
250,000g (useful for unlocking all the floors in order to return later). - Starting in year 2, the price of stone increases to
100g, making this a much more expensive technique. - Monsters become more difficult to kill, increase damage, and may gain a speed boost after reaching the bottom of the Mines, so this technique is not without penalties.
- If all monsters on a level are killed, the chance of finding a ladder under a broken rock is increased by 4%.
Skull Cavern
The Skull Cavern is located in the northwest area of the Desert. It is initially locked and requires the Skull Key to gain access. After entering the Cavern for the first time, a letter is received on the following day, from Mr. Qi. The letter begins the quest Qi’s Challenge, which is completed by reaching floor 25 in the Skull Cavern. Completing the quest awards Gold.png10,000g (Delivered by mail the following day).
There is no limit to the number of floors, or levels, in the Skull Cavern (at least until the integer limit of 2147483647 is reached). Similar to the Mines, the player advances through floors in the Skull Cavern by finding a ladder on each floor, either by mining rocks or defeating enemies. The player can sometimes find a shaft, or hole, which makes it possible to skip 3-15 floors. Jumping down the shaft causes health damage equal to 3x the number of levels skipped (although jumping down a shaft will never reduce health to less than 1). Unlike the Mines, there is no elevator to save progress, but on every floor there is a ladder at the starting point where you can leave the Skull Cavern. Each visit must start again from the first floor. If the player runs out of health or passes out while exploring Skull Cavern, they will wake up sometime later on the same day, in Harvey’s Clinic. A fee of Gold.png1,000g will be deducted for emergency surgery. Some items may also be lost.
Every ten floors the chance to find Iridium Ore increases significantly. The monsters in the Cavern also have a chance to drop ore and Iridium Bars. It can be a good idea to bring the Lava Katana or Galaxy Sword, as enemies are particularly strong. High Luck increases the frequency of ore veins and the appearance of ladders/holes. Since the frequency of Iridium Ore increases for every 10 floors descended into the Cavern, rapid descent is often more efficient for acquiring ore than thorough exploration. With a full inventory of stone, it’s possible to craft staircases to descend to floor 300+.
The plaques that can be occasionally found on the walls contain enciphered messages.
→ A shaft for faster descending.
Skull Cavern: Preparation
Food
The recommended foods to use are the same as in the city mine.
Explosives
Bombs make quick work of densely-clustered stones and ore veins. They’re also necessary for permanently defeating Mummies.
- Buy Cherry Bombs from the Dwarf for
300g or craft them with 4 Copper Ore and 1 Coal. - Buy Bombs from the Dwarf for
600g or craft them with 4 Iron Ore and 1 Coal. - Buy Mega Bombs from the Dwarf for
1,000g or craft them with 4 Gold Ore, 1 Solar Essence, and 1 Void Essence.
The Slingshot’s Explosive Ammo is also effective in dealing with small groups of stones, Iridium Ore deposits, and incapacitated Mummies. Loading the Slingshot with Gold Ore deals substantial damage, making it potentially useful for dispatching tough targets. Explosive ammo can be crafted or bought at the Adventurer’s Guild for 
100g.
Staircase
Staircases can be used for rapid descent or skipping troublesome floors. Since staircases do not stack, it can be more space-efficient to bring plenty of Stone and craft the staircases as needed.
Rings
Several Rings may assist in exploring the Skull Cavern.
Warp Totems
A Warp Totem can be used to make a quick exit if supplies are running low or the day is almost over.
Skull Cavern: Monster
→ Armored Bug: Cannot be killed.
→ Big Slime: Splits into smaller Slimes when killed. Big Slimes are usually purple in the Skull Cavern.
→ Carbon Ghost: May appear on Mummy levels.
→ Iridium Bat: Appears at level 50+. Very high HP and Damage.
→ Iridium Crab: Appears at level 26+.
→ Lava Bat: Appears rarely; flies.
→ Mummy: Needs to be finished with a bomb of any type after being knocked out with other weapons. If a bomb does enough damage to knock the Mummy out, it will also destroy it.
→ Purple Slime: Can drop Iridium Ore, Iridium Bar.
→ Serpent: Moves quickly; default flying enemy.
Skull Cavern: Treasure Rooms
Small rooms containing treasure chests, similar to those in The Mines, can randomly appear at level 10+. Daily luck and Luck Buffs affect the chance to find Treasure Rooms. Obtaining the Special Charm also increases the chance to find Treasure Rooms.
Below is a collapsable table of all possible treasures that can be randomly found inside Treasure Chests in the Skull Cavern.
Skull Cavern: Secret
After reading Secret Note #10, the player will find Mr. Qi at level 100 of the Skull Cavern. A cutscene ensues in which:
Details
Mr. Qi will either congratulate the player for reaching level 100 while using 10 or less Staircases or say the player is “clever” but not “honorable” for using more than 10. In either case, he will award the player with Iridium Snake Milk, which permanently increases the player’s Health by 25 points.
Thanks for reading my guide!
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