I know that a lot of iridium can be found in the lower levels of the Skull Cave. The lower you go, the more will spawn on the floor. But how do I descend the caves fast? Since the bus doesn't operate until 10am everyday, and the longest you can go before becoming unconscious is until 2am, there are effectively ~15.5 hours of time to explore the cave, once you factor in having to walk to it. Realistically, I would say there is about 14.5 hours to explore, if you would like to make it out without going unconscious and potentially losing items.
I know there are holes one can fall down to advance a certain amount of floors, but this isn't that effective since finding the holes is pretty much random and it damages you. Like the other mines, you can find ladders that take you down a level, but this is also slow since you need to keep mining to find them, or kill enemies. Is there a fast and effective way to descend?
Best Answer
It seems like you're looking for the fastest way to get through the Skull Cave, so you better start saving up because this is going to be expensive.
I assume your Mining level is at least 2 and you have unlocked the crafting recipe for the Staircase. A Staircase is crafted from 99 stones, and will, when placed in the mines or the Skull Cave, turn into a set of stairs just like the ones found under rocks or spawned when enemies die. Stones can be bought from Robin at 20 gold each, resulting in a price of 1980 gold per Staircase. You can, with enough money or patience, completely fill your inventory with stacks of 999 Stones, enter the Skull Cave, and immediately craft and set down a new Staircase every time you go down a level.
With this method, you can reach level 400+ of the skull cave without mining a single rock or defeating a single enemy. That should get you plenty of Iridium Ore.