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The Skeleton is a creature in Dungeon Keeper, Dungeon Keeper 2, Dungeon Keeper Online, and Dungeon Keeper Mobile. They are created when a humanoid prisoner dies in a Prison, and do not require food.

Dungeon Keeper[]

"A basic fighter of average ability that is created in the Prison if a humanoid creature dies."
— Dungeon Keeper Manual
Skeleton portrait Dungeon Keeper no border

Skeleton portrait

A Skeleton emerges when a humanoid dies in a Prison. Humanoids include the Troll, Orc, Warlock, Mistress, Vampire, Horned Reaper, and all heroes. Non-humanoids that perish in prison simply leave an intact corpse.

Raising a skeleton army is a fine way to recycle heroes that are too weak to be worth converting. Skeletons only draw a base wage of 70 gold and do not need to eat. Their forte is training; their training skill of 4 is top-tier and gives rise to a fast, cheap army.

Skeletons have weak armour and very good melee attack power, with their overall battle prowess being greater than that of Demon Spawn and inferior to Orcs. The Lightning spell they acquire at level 10 can make them useful in gang-ups, since they will stand back and eviscerate the target if the melee spots are already taken. It is also a fearsome bombardment technique across lava.

Like the other undead creatures, Vampires and Ghosts, Skeletons are immune to the effects of gas. Unlike Vampires and Ghosts, however, Skeletons cannot see invisible creatures.

Skeletons refuse to group with Bile Demons in a Barracks, and the two creatures will battle to the death if quartered in the same Lair.

Tables[]

Combat Statistics
Query Speed icon Dungeon Keeper Speed: 64
Heal Icon Small Base Health: 500
Strength Base Strength: 55
Defence Defence: 20
Skill Base Skill: 50
Dexterity Base Dexterity: 70
Luck Luck: 2
Tasks & Management
Skeleton-icon Primary Job Train
Skeleton-icon Secondary Job Group
Library Icon Small Base Research Skill 1
Workshop Icon Small Base Manufacturing Skill 1
Training Room Icon Small Training Skill 4
Wage Training Cost /64t 20
ScavengerRoom Icon Small Base Scavenging Skill 1
Wage Scavenging Cost /64t 15
Temple Icon Small Praying Anger -50
Lair Icon Small Sleeping Anger -1
Heal Icon Small Sleep Recovery 5
Hatchery Icon Small Hunger never
Wage Base Wage 70

Dungeon Keeper 2[]

"Skeletal creatures animated from the corpses that litter your dungeon. Skeletons are especially well suited to guard duty, as they require neither food nor pay and thus have no need to abandon their post. These mindless magical warriors also lack any sense of self-preservation, and throw themselves into combat without fear.

While they make ideal guards, they are not without their flaws; their brittle structure makes them rather vulnerable on the battlefield and they lack the mental dexterity to perform research work efficiently. Their fearlessness in battle can also be a drawback when presented with stupidly overwhelming odds."

— Dungeon Keeper 2 Manual
Dungeon Keeper 2 Skeleton panel icon

The Skeleton panel icon

As with Dungeon Keeper, Skeletons aren't attracted though Portals like other creatures in Dungeon Keeper 2. When any creature (other than Imps or Vampires, which cannot be held captive) dies in your Prison, it may rise again as a Skeleton. Each Prison has a maximum number of Skeletons it can generate. This is equal to the number of inner tiles in the Prison plus one.

Dungeon Keeper 2 Skeleton

Dungeon Keeper 2 Skeleton

Skeletons are physically weak (same health as the Goblin) and cannot cast spells, but they do have a decent attack. What's more, they don't need food, require a Lair, demand pay or ever get angry. The drawback is that as they don't sleep or eat, they have no means of regaining health: the only way to do this is to cast the Heal spell on them.

Dungeon Keeper 2 Skeleton concept art

Skeleton Concept Art (Dungeon Keeper 2 Manual)

They are always willing to train and progress quickly. Once they reach level 4, they become idle and tend to wander around the dungeon, occasionally getting into fights. This is a problem as instead of falling unconscious, they are destroyed.

An alternative to the Heal spell is using a Temple as a home. Rather than wandering off, Skeletons stay in the Temple and regain health while you reap the mana. With enough of them, you can power Horny with their prayers.

Skeletons have no fear and will never retreat (even against insurmountable odds). Subsequently, they are immune to the effects of Fear Traps. When they die, they crumple into a pile of bones rather than produce a corpse. This means no chance of revival and no bodies for your Graveyard.

Dungeon Keeper Online[]

In Dungeon Keeper Online, there are two types of Skeleton: Golden and Black. The former is good, the latter evil.[1][2]

Dungeon Keeper Mobile[]

Overview[]

Skeleton progression Dungeon Keeper Mobile

Progression

Skeletons did not require food, but still took up a space in the Hatchery. They could be useful as cannon fodder, bearing the brunt of room damage or triggering traps to save your more valuable minions.

Stats[]

Seeks Closest Room
Passive Immune to Poison
Strength 10% less damage from Room defenses
(percent increases with level)
Creature Targets Ground
Attack Speed 1s
Attack Range Melee range
Move Speed 225
Housing Space 1
Summoning Time 20s
Defensive Location Dungeon Heart

Notes[]

  • Cheap to build and they move fast
  • Best when used in a group. Good at taking out defensive rooms that use a single-target attacks
  • Effective for triggering and wasting Spring Traps and Chicken Bombs
  • Very weak vs Boulder Traps, though good for triggering them on purpose
  • Immune to Poison Traps and Bile Demons attacks
  • Good for taking out Vampires as they cannot be life drained or converted
  • A max of 40 can be summoned, possibly to prevent performance issues if a player could spawn 115 of them
  • Necromancers will raise skeletons from the graves of fallen living minions, friend or foe. Sir Cophogus can also do this between levels 35 and 40
  • The level of raised Skeletons by necromancers and Sir Cophogus are the same level as what you have trained them to
  • Skeletons are often good for killing immortals that don’t have AOE attacks, avoid Horny and Swampus as they have large AOE attacks

Training Upgrades[]

Level Damage Health Percent less damage from Room defenses Training Time Training Cost Dungeon Heart Required Summoning Cost (Gold)
1 20 100 10% - - Level 1 15
2 24 120 20% 30m 2,000 Level 2 40
3 28 140 20% 2h 5,000 Level 3 55
4 32 160 30% 4h 10k Level 4 75
5 36 180 30% 8h 40k Level 5 95
6 40 200 40% 16h 95k Level 6 120
7 44 220 40% 1d 380k Level 7 150
8 48 240 50% 1d 12h 850k Level 8 180
9 52 260 50% 2d 1.7M Level 9 210
10 56 280 60% 2d 12h 3.3M Level 10 250
11 60 300 60% 3d 13M Level 11 300
12 64 320 60% 4d 15M Level 12 400
13 68 340 60% 5d 18M Level 13 500
14 72 360 60% 6d 22M Level 14 600
15 76 380 60% 7d 25M Level 15 750
16 80 400 65% 8d 30M Level 16 900
17 84 420 65% 9d 33M Level 17 1,050
18 88 440 65% 10d 36M Level 18 1,150
19 92 460 65% 10d 44M Level 19 1,350
20 96 480 65% 12d 52M Level 20 1,250
21 100 500 70% 13d 52.1M Level 21 1,300
22 104 520 70% 14d 52.2M Level 22 1,800
23 108 540 70% 15d 54M Level 23 1,950
24 112 560 70% 10d 58M Level 24 2,100
25 116 580 70% 12d 62M Level 25 2,250
26 120 600 70% 12d 64M Level 26 2,500
27 124 620 70% 12d 66M Level 27 2,750
28 128 640 70% 13d 68M Level 28 3,000
29 132 660 70% 14d 70M Level 29 3,500
30 136 680 75% 14d 72M Level 30 5,000
31 140 700 75% 14d? 74M Level 31 6,500
32 144 720 75% 14d? 76M Level 32 ?
33 148 740 75% 15d? 78M? Level 33 ?
34 152 760 75% 15d? 80M? Level 34 ?
35 156 780 75% 16d? 82M? Level 35 12,500

Notes:

  • Max level was 35
  • Training times adjusted for May, 2018 update

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 金骷髅 地下城守护者地下城生物之人族生物大全 (Chinese). dk.178.com (31 March 2012). Retrieved on 19 April 2020.
  2. 2.0 2.1 黑骷髅 地下城守护者地下城生物之魔族生物大全 (Chinese). dk.178.com (31 March 2012). Retrieved on 19 April 2020.
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