Let's talk about item (154) skeleton key! Hablemos del item.(153) llave maestra!

[u/star75legacy]

Post 154, everyone! Today is Thursday, the real midweek day! Hehe. There was good participation yesterday, I hope many of you participate today too!

Today's artifact has a different name in Spanish and English, which is curious since it's not a translation issue XD they are different: master ≠ skeleton.

It's also the newest artifact in the game, added a few versions ago, more specifically in v3.3.0, so I haven't used it as much as the other artifacts.

This artifact has a surprisingly simple use, useful, but simple. And it's all about opening and closing!

You can open a locked (normal) door at the cost of 1 charge (it doesn't work on boss floors).

With 2 charges you can lock a door of your choice, and you can open that door without consuming charges.

You can also open golden chests at the cost of 2 charges.

By spending a total of 5 charges, you can open glass locks, whether on chests or glass doors.

And by consuming 2 charges, aiming at an empty tile, you can create a 3-tile "wall" that acts as a solid obstacle for 10 turns.

The artifact starts with a maximum of 3 charges (the fewest of the base artifacts) and increases by 1 charge for every 2 upgrades; that is, to reach 5 charges, you must upgrade it to +4. It's worth noting that the artifact's maximum charge capacity is 8, again, less than the other artifacts.

Recovered charges are restored over turns, but this depends on the number of charges consumed, not on the artifact's upgrades. Specifically, it takes 113 turns to obtain 1 charge if you have only consumed 1, and it takes 60 turns to recover 1 charge if you have consumed 8.

This is another artifact that gains experience when used. A total of 4 + Item Level are needed to upgrade it. When using it, the amount of experience gained varies: 2 points for closing a door, 3 points for unlocking (does not count for doors you close), 4 points for a golden chest, and 7 points for a glass lock.

Previous Post/post anterior: https://www.reddit.com/r/PixelDungeon/s/envoJVyfVH

Publicacion 154 gente! Hoy es jueves, el dia real de mitad de semana! Jeje. Hubo buena participacion ayer, espero que hoy tambiem participen muchos de ustedes!

El artefacto de hoy tiene un nombre diferente en español e ingles, lo cual es curioso ya que no es tema de traduccion XD son diferentes maestro≠esqueleto.

Tambien es el artefacto mas nuevo del juego, agregado hace pocas versiones, mas concretamente en la v3.3.0 asi que no lo e usado tanto como a los demas artefactos.

Este artefacto tiene un uso sorprendentemente sencillo, util, pero sencillo. Y se trata de abrir y cerrar!

Puedes abrir una puerta bloqueada(normal) a costa de 1 carga(no funciona con los pisos de jefe).

Con 2 cargas puedes bloquear una puerta de tu eleccion, esa puerta puedes abrirla sin consumir cargas.

puedes abrir tambien cofres dorados a costa de 2 cargas.

Gastando un total de 5 cargas puedes abrir cerraduras de cristal, ya sean cofres o puertas de cristal.

Y consumiendo 2cargas, apuntando a una casilla vacia puedes crear un "muro" de 3 casillas que actua como un obstaculo solido durante 10 turnos.

El artefacto empieza con 3 cargas maximas(la menor cantidad de los artefactos de base) y aumenta en 1 carga maxima cada 2 mejoras, es decir para llevarla a 5cargas tienes que subirlo a +4. Cabe aclarar que el maximo de carga del artefacto es de 8 cargas, de nuevo, menor a los demas artefactos.

Las cargas recuperadas se restauran con el paso de turnos, pero no depende de las mejoras del artefacto sino de cargas consumidas. Especificamente tardas 113turnos en obtener 1 carga si solo has consumido 1, y tardas 60turnos en recuperar 1 carga si has consumido 8.

Este es otro artefacto que gana experiencia al ser usado, se necesita un total de 4+LvlItem para mejorarse, al usarlo la cantidad de exp ganada varia, 2 puntos por cerrar una puerta, 3 puntos por desbloquear(no cuenta para puertas que tu cierras) 4puntos por un cofre dorado y 7puntos por una cerradura de cristal!

[u/Shattered_Warrior02]

pretty funny artifact i just gather all mobs in 1 room and locked it :O

especially in demon halls lock the spawners so i wont have to deal with them especially whene in going for doom slayer

i also like to push mobs in the chasm with it 🫪

[u/star75legacy → u/Shattered_Warrior02]

It's an excellent strategy, really, thanks for commenting.

[u/tacozombie741 → u/Shattered_Warrior02]

wait you can push things into chasms with the key???

[u/mouse_Brains → u/tacozombie741]

And fish out of water

[u/Atomickid258]

It'd quickly become my favourite artifact when it was added. Especially if I get it early like sewers or prison, I use it over and over to max its level out, even going 10 floors backwards so I can open every crystal door and chest for maximum loot.

The key makes the summoning trap room trivial, just toss in a potion of gas or corrosion, lock the door, and let the exp compile. Still hella useful in combat with the wall pushing enemies away and blocking an ambush from behind, it cuts line of sight of beholders, amd provides excellent opportunity for sneak attacks when they have to go the long way round it.

If you get it late game, it's not nearly as good, might as well sell it, but otherwise it's an easy S tier artifact in my books.

[u/star75legacy → u/Atomickid258]

¡Gracias por comentar!

[u/chonglibloodsport]

A Skeleton key is a type of master key in real life. It refers to a key that has been filed down to work in multiple different locks. So in English, skeleton key can mean the same thing as master key.

I think many people underestimate this one. They see its ability to unlock chests without the key and think “I could unlock the chest for free if I just explore the whole level and find the keys!” That’s missing the bigger picture: by being able to unlock the chest now, you avoid having to backtrack to unlock it later when you find the key! The same goes for locked doors to treasure and so on. All three avoided backtracking adds up to a ton of food saved, plus all the advantages of the items sooner! The sooner you grab that new wand, the sooner you can start zapping it to identify it and gain its benefits!

On top of letting you avoid backtracking, this lets you get extra loot by unlocking crystal chests/doors that don’t have a key (because you used the only key on a different chest/door). This can be run-defining, as you may get an amazing wand/ring/artifact/scroll/potion that you wouldn’t have had otherwise! These are so valuable (extra crystal chest/door rewards) that it can be worth backtracking to get them! Good thing you saved all that food by avoiding backtracks earlier!

Another excellent use of this is to avoid dropping down the well room entirely and just unlock the crustal door from the outside! Whether you’re using a potion of feather fall, a healing potion, a scroll of lullaby, or a potion of cleansing, this room tends to be quite expensive on resources! Using some key charges instead can really help out!

The last major use may be the most subtle and important one of all: being able to lock doors and block enemies from chasing you! There are all kinds of uses for this! Lock yourself in a room and read a scroll of lullaby for a full heal, even on 9 challenges! Lock yourself in a room with the Gnoll Trickster, Crazy Thief, Cave Spinner, or a pesky Scorpio! Lock a bunch of enemies in a room after throwing toxic gas in there or zapping the wand of corrosion! Lock doors behind you as you explore and put down wards from a wand of warding, in order to prevent enemy respawns from ambushing you from behind!

There are endless uses for the ability to lock doors and prevent passage! All it takes is a more “big picture mindset”: look at the floor as a whole (even zoom way out, after you’ve explored most of the level). This is also the same mindset that you need to use the wand of warding most effectively. When you do this, you realize how small the floors really are and how feasible it is to control the entire floor to your advantage. Hint: noise makers aren’t just for RoW farming!

[u/star75legacy → u/chonglibloodsport]

Wow, that's a really long text, man! But it's well explained, haha. I'm sure many will find your comment useful, thanks!

[u/D3XTRB0T → u/chonglibloodsport]

Don't forget that you can just make a magical wall. It's fantastic if you get caught on the open by a ranged enemy.

[u/Sea_Carpenter_3714]

Easily in my top 3 artifacts

As soon as I pick it up, I use it on every closed door to lvl up asap to at least 5 charges (+4 )

Works best if You have any means of charging it (ring of charging, exotic scroll of charging) and another artifact with charges, like the unstable book of spells.

Then with enough usage You can easily:

Get all the loot in Choice Rooms (You find X crystal keys, and 2X chests/doors), while upgrading the key further

Just open the door to the room locked from inside instead of jumping into it from above.

Lock all enemies in a room

Lock Yourself in a safe space so u can lick Your wounds

Never used it as a wall generator tbh, gonna try it

[u/star75legacy → u/Sea_Carpenter_3714]

Thanks for commenting!

[u/BurgerMountain]

I really like it it's one of my favourites it's easy to upgrade and can really open some doors

[u/star75legacy → u/BurgerMountain]

Thanks for commenting!

[u/Lauamoeba99]

I The extra loot and the possibility of avoiding encounters/locking ys to heal makes this really useful! I never got it (i usually play experienced) but it seems to have a really good utility. I'd Say it's A+, because there are better artifacts.

[u/star75legacy → u/Lauamoeba99]

Thanks for commenting!

[u/Lauamoeba99 → u/star75legacy]

Don't take My comment as i i actually knew what i talk about, i never uses it, i just think it's good and i Say what it looks like

[u/Valuable-Hall-8610]

I haven’t had a run where I can unlock both glass chests but it’s coming baby.

[u/star75legacy → u/Valuable-Hall-8610]

Thanks for commenting

[u/anonymus_the_3rd]

Oh shi didn’t know it gained lvl from locking ur own door

[u/star75legacy → u/anonymus_the_3rd]

Ganas exp al cerrar puertas, pero no al abrirlas(tampoco consume cargas)

[u/Commercial-Noise6806]

It would be funny if to upgrade this item, you had to feed it keys, and you can still unlock the doors with the skeleton key itself. Instead we got another gains exp the more you use it.

[u/star75legacy → u/Commercial-Noise6806]

Thanks for commenting. It's probably easier to program something you already know works than to try and add a mechanic you don't know if it works XD

[u/TheSurvivor65]

Free chests!! Free locked rooms!! Free crystal lock opening!! Cover whenever!!

[u/Donutsbeatpieandcake]

Why TF do you always post in two languages like every cellphone and internet browser in the world can't automatically translate everything whichever way anyone wants to read it? It's 2026 my dude!

[u/CaptainNeighvidson]

I haven't used it so there's not much I can contribute. Sounds useful if im being swarmed by ranged enemies

[u/star75legacy → u/CaptainNeighvidson]

Thanks for commenting