Changes

The chance to find [[Iridium Ore]] increases steadily as you descend into the Skull Cavern. The monsters in the Cavern also have a chance to drop ore and [[Iridium Bar]]s, as well as [[The Mines#Special Items|special items]]. 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. Rapid descent to floors with a higher chance of spawning [[Mining#Mining Nodes|Iridium Nodes]] is often more efficient for acquiring ore than thorough exploration. With a full inventory of stone, it's possible to craft [[staircaseStaircase]]s to descend to floor 300+can be stacked, so a single inventory slot can hold 999 staircases. Even blindly placing staircases will take ''some'' time though, but level 500 is achievable. 

*[[Staircase]]s can be used for rapid descent or skipping troublesome floors. If the player has access to one or more [[Crystalarium]]s, it can be considered to make them produce [[Jade]] which can be traded for Staircases with the [[Desert Trader]] on sundays.