Elite Skeleton Axeman

The Elite Skeleton Axeman poses a more significant threat. While his attack pattern remains the same as the normal version, the danger increases with Dark And Darker Gold:

    Higher Damage Output

    Faster Swing Speed

    Increased Health Pool

The Elite Axeman is often encountered in higher floors or deeper within the caves, usually guarding choke points or high-value loot rooms. While more dangerous, he also offers greater rewards, often dropping improved versions of melee-focused Dark and Darker Items such as axes, armor pieces, or crafting materials.

Some players even report a better yield of Dark and Darker Gold from elite versions, making them a prime target for experienced groups looking to gear up or trade.

Nightmare Skeleton Axeman

The Nightmare variant of the Skeleton Axeman is a different beast altogether. This version is not only visually more menacing, with glowing eyes and a frost-covered axe, but functionally more dangerous due to these changes:

    Increased Damage

    Faster Attack and Movement Speed

    Higher Health

    Ability to Chain Attacks

Attack Chain:

The Nightmare Axeman can chain a vertical chop into a horizontal slash, creating a deadly combo that punishes delayed reactions. However, the chain only works from vertical to horizontal, not the other way around.

How to Survive:

    The safest method remains hugging close and circling left quickly, which can still cause both strikes to miss.

    Alternatively, circle right to dodge the vertical chop, then continue to gold coin chest dark and darker circle while crouch ducking to avoid the horizontal slash.

    The horizontal attack is easily blocked with a shield, giving Fighter and Cleric classes a defensive edge.

This version of the Skeleton Axeman is often found near treasure vaults or rare item spawns. Killing one successfully may drop legendary-tier Dark and Darker Items, and they often hold a substantial amount of Dark and Darker Gold, making the encounter risky, but highly rewarding.