Introduction to Catacombs and Dungeons in Hypixel Skyblock
Dungeons, officially called The Catacombs, are one of the most challenging and rewarding pieces of content in Hypixel Skyblock. Introduced back in 2020, the dungeon system completely changed how players approach gear, combat, and teamwork in the game. Whether you are brand new to Skyblock or a veteran looking to push into Master Mode, understanding how Hypixel Skyblock Dungeons work is essential to progressing your account.
In the Catacombs, groups of up to five players fight through procedurally generated rooms filled with mobs, minibosses, puzzles, and hidden secrets. Your goal is to clear every room, solve every puzzle, find as many secrets as possible, and defeat the floor boss before time runs out. Performance is graded from D to S+, and higher scores yield better loot, including some of the strongest items in the entire game.
This Skyblock Catacombs guide covers everything from choosing your class and clearing your first floor, all the way to farming Master Mode Floor 7 for Necron handles and Dark Claymore drops. We will also explain how tools like Skyblocker, a free and open-source Fabric mod, can give you a massive advantage with features like puzzle solvers, secrets waypoints, and terminal solvers.
Dungeon Classes: Roles and Tips
Before you can enter the Catacombs, you need to select a Skyblock dungeon class. There are five classes, each with unique abilities and roles. Your class determines your passive bonuses, your ultimate ability, and how your party expects you to contribute. Choosing the right class for your playstyle and gear is one of the most important decisions you will make as a dungeon player.
Healer
The Healer class focuses on keeping your party alive. Healers passively regenerate health for nearby teammates and gain bonus health regeneration for themselves. The Healer ultimate ability, Wish, provides a massive burst heal to the entire party. Healers are particularly valuable on harder floors where damage from mobs and bosses can quickly overwhelm even well-geared players.
Tips for Healers: Prioritize wearing armor with high defense and health stats. The Mender Crown and Mender Fedora are popular helmet choices. Stay near your tank and pay attention to party health bars. On boss fights, save your Wish for moments when multiple teammates are at low health rather than using it on a single player.
Mage
Mage is one of the most popular Skyblock dungeon classes because of its incredible area-of-effect damage and room-clearing potential. Mages gain bonus intelligence and mana, letting them spam powerful abilities. The Mage ultimate, Thunderstorm, deals massive damage to all enemies in a large radius.
Early on, the Bonzo Staff and Frozen Scythe are great Mage weapons. As you progress, you will want to work toward a Spirit Sceptre or Midas Staff. In the endgame, Hyperion is the undisputed king of Mage weapons, capable of clearing entire rooms with a single right-click. Mages are responsible for clearing rooms quickly and dealing with large groups of mobs during the dungeon clear phase.
Berserk
Berserks are the melee DPS class. They gain bonus damage and speed, making them excellent at pushing through rooms and dealing with individual targets. The Berserk ultimate, Ragnarok, deals high single-target damage and provides a brief damage boost. Berserks often double as secret finders because their speed lets them move through rooms efficiently.
For weapons, the Livid Dagger is a fantastic mid-tier choice. In the endgame, Berserks typically use a Giant Sword or Axe of the Shredded for boss fights and a Hyperion for clearing. Berserks should focus on maximizing their critical damage and strength stats while maintaining enough effective health to survive hits.
Archer
Archers deal ranged DPS and are often the primary source of boss damage on higher floors. Archers gain bonus damage with bows and crossbows. The Archer ultimate, Rapid Fire, launches a barrage of arrows at enemies in front of you. On floors like F7 and M7, a well-geared Archer can carry the boss fight almost single-handedly.
The progression for Archers typically starts with the Skeleton Master set and a Machine Gun Bow. As you advance, you will transition to Necron armor and eventually a Terminator bow, which is one of the most expensive but powerful items in Skyblock. Because Terminator is so costly, many players only switch to Archer once they can afford it.
Tank
Tanks absorb damage for the party and draw aggro from enemies and bosses. Tanks gain significant defense and health bonuses and take reduced damage. The Tank ultimate, Castle of Stone, gives the entire party a massive defense buff for a short time. Tanks are essential on harder floors where boss damage can one-shot less tanky classes.
Tanks typically use Goldor armor for its high defense stats. For weapons, a Reaper Falchion or a Livid Dagger are common choices. While Tank does not deal much damage, a good Tank keeps the party alive during boss fights by drawing boss aggro and using Castle of Stone at the right moments. Communication with your Healer is key.
Floor Progression: F1 Through M7
The Catacombs is divided into seven normal floors (F1 through F7) and seven Master Mode floors (M1 through M7). Each floor has its own boss, difficulty level, catacombs level requirement, and loot pool. Understanding the progression path will help you gear up efficiently and avoid wasting coins on items you will quickly outgrow.
Normal Floors: F1 to F7
Floor 1 (Bonzo): The introductory floor. Bonzo is a straightforward boss who teleports around and throws TNT. Even basic combat gear is enough to clear F1, and it drops the Bonzo Staff, a solid early Mage weapon. You can start running F1 as soon as you unlock the Catacombs at Combat Level 12.
Floor 2 (Scarf): Slightly harder, with Scarf summoning undead minions during the boss fight. Clear the minions quickly to prevent being overwhelmed. Drops include Scarf's Studies and Adaptive Armor pieces.
Floor 3 (The Professor): The first real difficulty spike. The Professor has multiple phases involving guardian shields that must be broken. This floor drops Adaptive Armor, which is useful through the mid-game.
Floor 4 (Thorn): A unique fight where you must use Spirit Bows dropped by mobs in the boss room to damage Thorn. Coordination matters here since all players should focus on picking up bows and shooting them at the boss. Spirit Pets can drop from this floor.
Floor 5 (Livid): Livid spawns multiple clones of himself, and you must identify and attack the real one. The real Livid has a slightly different nametag color. This floor drops the Livid Dagger, one of the best mid-tier melee weapons. Shadow Assassin armor also drops here and is a major gear upgrade.
Floor 6 (Sadan): A multi-phase boss fight involving Giants. Sadan himself is invulnerable until you defeat four Giants, each with different mechanics. This floor drops Giant Sword and Necromancer Lord armor. F6 is often considered the hardest normal floor relative to the gear most players have at that stage.
Floor 7 (Maxor, Storm, Goldor, Necron): The ultimate challenge of normal mode. The F7 boss fight has four phases, each with a different mini-boss, followed by the Necron fight. This floor introduces terminal puzzles that must be solved quickly and correctly. F7 drops Wither armor sets (Maxor, Storm, Goldor, Necron) and has a rare chance to drop the Necron Handle, which is used to craft the Hyperion. This Skyblock F7 guide section is one of the most searched topics in the community for good reason. F7 is where dungeons become truly complex.
Master Mode: M1 to M7
Master Mode floors are dramatically harder versions of the normal floors. Mobs deal more damage, have more health, and the score requirements for S+ are stricter. Master Mode also introduces exclusive drops not found on normal floors.
M1 through M4 are essentially harder versions of their normal counterparts, with improved loot tables. Many players farm M3 and M4 for profit, as the drops are valuable and the difficulty is manageable with good gear.
M5 and M6 require coordinated parties and excellent gear. The damage output of mobs on these floors can overwhelm even well-prepared groups. Communication and class synergy become critical. Dark Claymore, one of the strongest swords in the game, drops from M6.
M7 (Master Mode Floor 7) is the hardest content in Hypixel Skyblock. The Skyblock M7 guide could be its own article. M7 requires near-perfect terminal solving, maximum gear optimization, and excellent party coordination. The boss fight adds new mechanics on top of the already complex F7 fight. M7 drops include Shiny versions of Wither armor and the most valuable items in the game. Terminal solvers, like those included in Skyblocker, are practically mandatory for consistent M7 clears.
Puzzle Solvers Explained
Every dungeon run contains puzzle rooms that must be solved to complete the floor. Failing a puzzle or leaving it unsolved will tank your score, making puzzle solvers one of the most important features in any dungeon solver mod. Here is a breakdown of the most common puzzles and how they work.
Three Weirdos
You enter a room with three NPCs, each standing in front of a chest. Each NPC gives you a clue in chat, and you need to figure out which chest is the correct one. Two of the clues are lies, and one tells the truth. A dungeon solver mod like Skyblocker can instantly identify the correct chest by analyzing the dialogue, saving you time and eliminating guesswork. This is one of the easier puzzles, but solving it manually still costs precious seconds.
Blaze Puzzle
A room full of Blaze mobs that must be killed in a specific order based on their health. You need to kill them from lowest health to highest health (or highest to lowest, depending on the variant). With a solver, the correct order is highlighted visually, making this puzzle trivial. Without a solver, you need to carefully check each Blaze's health and plan your order, which is time-consuming and error-prone.
Creeper Beams
This puzzle involves creepers on top of pillars with colored wool. You need to shoot or place wool to match a specific pattern. The solver highlights which wool needs to go where, turning a confusing visual puzzle into a simple task. Without a solver, many players struggle with this puzzle, especially under time pressure.
Waterboard
One of the trickiest puzzles in the Catacombs. The Waterboard involves levers and water flow mechanics. You need to flip the correct combination of levers to guide water through a series of channels. The number of possible combinations makes brute-forcing extremely slow. A puzzle solver can determine the correct lever combination instantly, which is a huge time saver for S+ runs.
Teleport Maze
A room with pads on the floor that teleport you. You need to find the correct path through the maze. Solver mods can show you the correct route by highlighting the right pads to step on, preventing you from getting lost and wasting time teleporting to dead ends.
Boulder
A sokoban-style puzzle where you push boulders onto pressure plates. The correct solution requires pushing them in the right order and direction. One wrong move can make the puzzle unsolvable, forcing a reset. Solver mods display the optimal solution step by step.
Ice Fill
You need to walk over every ice block in the room without stepping on the same block twice. The path must cover all blocks. A solver traces the correct path for you, which is particularly helpful because the room layouts vary and finding the Hamiltonian path by hand is tedious.
Skyblocker includes solvers for all of these puzzles and more, giving you a significant edge in every run. You can learn more about all available solvers on the Skyblocker wiki.
Secrets and Secrets Waypoints
Skyblock secrets waypoints are one of the most game-changing features any dungeon mod can offer. Secrets are hidden items scattered throughout dungeon rooms, typically found behind paintings, inside skull heads, under levers, or in hidden alcoves. Every room has a set number of secrets, and finding them is critical for achieving high scores.
Why Secrets Matter
Secrets directly impact your dungeon score. The Exploration component of your score depends on how many rooms you have opened and how many secrets you have found. To achieve an S+ score on most floors, you need to find a high percentage of secrets, often 80% or more of the total secrets on the floor. Missing secrets is one of the most common reasons groups fail to reach S+.
How Secrets Waypoints Work
Secrets waypoints are visual markers rendered in the world that show you exactly where each secret is located within a room. When you enter a dungeon room, the mod identifies the room layout, matches it to a database of known rooms, and places waypoints at every secret location. This means you do not need to memorize the location of every secret in every room variant. The waypoints guide you directly to each hidden item, bat, or chest.
Skyblocker provides comprehensive secrets waypoints for all known dungeon rooms. The waypoints are color-coded by secret type: items, bats, chests, and Wither Essence. They also show the order you should collect secrets in for maximum efficiency, helping you move through rooms faster. If you are serious about running dungeons, having secrets waypoints is not optional. It is the difference between consistently hitting S+ and struggling with A or B scores.
Learning Secrets vs. Using Waypoints
Some experienced players prefer to memorize secret locations rather than rely on waypoints. Memorization can be slightly faster since you do not need to look at waypoint markers. However, there are hundreds of room variants, and memorizing every secret in every variant takes enormous time and effort. For the vast majority of players, using waypoints is the practical choice. Even veteran players often use waypoints as a backup for rooms they encounter less frequently.
Terminal Solvers for F7 and M7
Terminals are unique interactive puzzles found exclusively in the Floor 7 and Master Mode Floor 7 boss fights. During the Goldor phase of the boss fight, four players must each complete a series of terminal puzzles while the fifth player (usually the Tank) keeps the boss occupied. Solving terminals quickly and accurately is essential for fast F7 and M7 clears.
Types of Terminals
Correct All the Panes: A grid of glass panes, some of which are the wrong color. You need to click the incorrect panes to change them to the correct color. A solver highlights which panes need to be clicked.
Change All to Same Color: Similar to the above, but you need to make all panes the same color. Each click changes the pane and its neighbors, creating a puzzle similar to Lights Out. The solver calculates the optimal clicks needed.
Click in Order: Numbers appear on panes, and you must click them in ascending order. The solver highlights the next number to click, which sounds simple but becomes frantic at M7 speed.
Select All Colors: You must click all panes of a specific color from a mixed set. The solver highlights the matching panes instantly.
Starts With: You are shown a letter or sequence, and you must select all items in a chest GUI that start with that sequence. The solver highlights the correct items.
Why Terminal Solvers Matter
On M7, terminals must be solved extremely quickly, often within a few seconds each. Manual solving is possible but inconsistent, and a single slow solve can cause a wipe. Terminal solvers like those in Skyblocker are considered essential by the vast majority of M7 players. They highlight the correct clicks instantly, allowing you to solve each terminal in one to two seconds. This consistency is what separates smooth M7 runs from failed attempts.
Skyblocker includes all five terminal solvers and keeps them updated as Hypixel makes changes. The solvers work seamlessly during the boss fight, providing clear visual indicators without cluttering your screen.
Essential Dungeon Gear Progression
Gear is everything in the Catacombs. Having the right equipment for your class and floor level is the difference between smooth runs and constant deaths. Here is a general progression path that works for most players.
Early Game (F1 to F3)
Start with Unstable Dragon Armor or Strong Dragon Armor. For weapons, a Rogue Sword for speed, a Bonzo Staff if you are a Mage, or an Aspect of the Dragons for melee. You do not need expensive gear for these floors. Focus on leveling your catacombs level and learning the mechanics.
Mid Game (F4 to F5)
Upgrade to Adaptive Armor from F3 drops, or save for Shadow Assassin armor from F5. The Livid Dagger is a major upgrade for melee classes. Mages should work toward a Spirit Sceptre. Start starring your armor pieces, as starred armor is significantly stronger inside dungeons. Get a good dungeon pet like a Blue Whale or a Golden Dragon.
Late Game (F6 to F7)
Shadow Assassin armor is the standard for clearing. For boss fights on F7, you will need class-specific Wither armor: Necron for Archer and Berserk, Storm for Mage, Goldor for Tank. Weapons at this stage include Giant Sword, Hyperion, and the Terminator bow. Five-star everything and work on your dungeon pet's level. Reforges, enchantments, and tuning all make a significant difference at this stage.
Endgame (M1 to M7)
Master Mode requires fully optimized gear. Max-starred Wither armor with the right tuning, a Hyperion with maxed enchantments, and a Golden Dragon pet or Ender Dragon pet at level 100. For M7 specifically, many players use Claymore for DPS phases and Hyperion for clearing. Every stat point matters, so you should be enchanting, reforging, and gemstoning every piece of gear for maximum efficiency.
Party Finder Tips
The Party Finder is the in-game system for finding dungeon groups. While it works, navigating it efficiently takes some knowledge. Here are practical Skyblock dungeon tips for using Party Finder effectively.
Set realistic requirements. If you are running F5, do not demand cata 40+ teammates. Match your requirements to the floor difficulty and your own stats. Being too strict means you will wait forever, while being too lenient means you might get teammates who cannot pull their weight.
Check player stats before starting. Look at each player's catacombs level, class level, and gear. A cata 30 player in F5 gear trying to run F7 is going to be dead weight. Most experienced players check stats using commands like /pv (PartV viewer) or tools like Skyblocker's player info features.
Communicate class roles. Before starting, make sure your party has a balanced composition. At minimum, you want a healer (or someone with healing gear), a tank for boss fights, and enough DPS to clear rooms. Having two Archers and no Healer on M7 is a recipe for failure.
Be patient. Finding a good party can take a few minutes, especially for higher floors. Rushing into a run with a poorly composed party wastes more time than waiting for the right group. If you frequently run dungeons, consider joining a guild that runs together regularly.
Use Skyblocker's Party Finder features. Skyblocker enhances the Party Finder with additional information about players, making it easier to evaluate potential teammates without leaving the game. This saves time and helps you form better groups.
Using Skyblocker for Dungeons
Skyblocker is a free, open-source Fabric mod that includes dozens of dungeon-specific features designed to make your Catacombs experience smoother and more successful. It functions as a comprehensive dungeon solver mod while also providing quality-of-life improvements across all of Hypixel Skyblock. Here is an overview of what Skyblocker offers for dungeon players.
Puzzle Solvers
Skyblocker includes automatic solvers for every dungeon puzzle: Three Weirdos, Blaze, Creeper Beams, Waterboard, Teleport Maze, Boulder, Ice Fill, Tic Tac Toe, and more. The solvers activate automatically when you enter a puzzle room, providing clear visual guides that show you exactly what to do. No configuration is needed. They just work.
Secrets Waypoints
Skyblocker's secrets waypoints system covers all known dungeon rooms. Waypoints are color-coded by type and numbered for optimal collection order. The system uses room shape detection to identify which room variant you are in and places waypoints accordingly. This feature alone can dramatically improve your scores by ensuring you never miss secrets.
Terminal Solvers
All five F7/M7 terminal types are solved automatically. Skyblocker highlights the correct clicks in real time, allowing you to solve terminals in one to two seconds each. This is practically mandatory for M7 and extremely helpful for F7. The solvers are fast, accurate, and reliable.
Dungeon Map
Skyblocker renders a detailed minimap of the dungeon on your screen, showing room layouts, cleared rooms, puzzle rooms, and your teammates' positions. This makes navigation much easier and helps you track which rooms still need to be cleared. The map updates in real time and is customizable in terms of size and position.
Score Calculation
Skyblocker displays your current dungeon score in real time, showing you exactly how close you are to S+ at any point during the run. This helps you make decisions about whether to keep searching for secrets or head to the boss. No more guessing whether you have enough score.
Other Dungeon Features
Additional dungeon features in Skyblocker include starred mob highlighting, Livid finder (highlights the correct Livid clone), dungeon chest profit calculator (shows you whether a dungeon chest is worth opening based on current market prices), and boss fight timers. Every feature is designed to save you time, improve your scores, and make dungeon runs more enjoyable.
For a complete list of Skyblocker's features and how to configure them, visit the Skyblocker wiki. If you need help installing the mod, check out our Fabric mod installation guide.
Score Calculation and S+ Runs
Understanding how dungeon scoring works is the key to consistently achieving S+ runs, which offer the best loot. Your dungeon score is calculated from four categories, each contributing a portion of the total 300+ points needed for S+.
Skill Score (Up to 100 Points)
Skill score starts at 100 and is reduced by deaths, failed puzzles, and other mistakes. Each death costs 2 points from your individual score, and failed puzzles cost the entire party significant points. The lesson here is simple: do not die, and do not fail puzzles. Using puzzle solvers eliminates the risk of failed puzzles, and having proper gear and healing minimizes deaths.
Exploration Score (Up to 100 Points)
Exploration score comes from two sub-categories: rooms completed and secrets found. You get full room completion points by opening and clearing every room on the map. Secrets scoring depends on the percentage of total secrets you find. On most floors, you need around 80% of secrets for maximum exploration score. This is where secrets waypoints become invaluable.
Speed Score (Up to 100 Points)
Speed score is based on how quickly you complete the dungeon. Faster completion means more speed points. The exact thresholds vary by floor, but generally, completing a run in under 8 to 10 minutes grants full speed score on normal floors. Efficient room clearing, fast puzzle solving, and quick boss kills all contribute to better speed scores.
Bonus Score (Up to 5 Points)
Small bonus points from finding specific dungeon items like Journal pages or Paul's score bonus when he is the active mayor. These points can make the difference between barely missing S+ and hitting it, so pay attention to them.
S+ Threshold
The S+ threshold is 300 points on normal floors and 300 points on most Master Mode floors as well. Getting 300 from Skill (100), Exploration (100), Speed (100), and Bonus (up to 5) means you have a small margin for error. One or two deaths, a few missed secrets, or a slow clear can drop you below 300. Consistency comes from good gear, good teamwork, and good tools like Skyblocker that handle puzzles and secrets for you.
Start Dominating the Catacombs Today
Hypixel Skyblock Dungeons are deep, challenging, and incredibly rewarding once you understand the mechanics. From choosing the right class and progressing through the floors, to mastering puzzles and optimizing your score for S+ runs, there is always something to learn and improve on.
The most important piece of advice for any dungeon player is to use the right tools. A good dungeon solver mod like Skyblocker handles puzzle solving, secrets waypoints, terminal solving, score tracking, and dozens of other quality-of-life features that make every run smoother. It is completely free, open-source, and trusted by thousands of Skyblock players.
Whether you are just stepping into Floor 1 for the first time or grinding Master Mode Floor 7 for that Necron Handle, Skyblocker has the features to help you succeed. Download it today and see the difference for yourself.
Ready to get started? Download Skyblocker for free and take your dungeon runs to the next level. For a full overview of every feature, visit the Skyblocker wiki. If you are new to Hypixel Skyblock entirely, check out our beginner's guide to get up to speed before diving into the Catacombs.