"A basic fighter of average ability that is created in the Prison if a humanoid creature dies."
— Dungeon Keeper Manual
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.
"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
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, Horny, Stone Knights, Lords, or Vampires, which cannot be held captive, or Princes who mustn't die) 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
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 no Lair, demand no pay or ever get angry. The drawback is that as they don't sleep or eat, they have no means of regaining health by simply sleeping in a Lair bed they don't have.
Skeleton Concept Art (Dungeon Keeper 2 Manual)
Skeletons have no fear and will never retreat (even against insurmountable odds). Subsequently, they are immune to the effects of Fear Traps and Maiden's Fear Attack. 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.
Elite[]
The Elite Skeleton, Bane, has two eyes, an old weathered darker bone-body, green ankle wraps, a thin golden crown, a bone or bronze shield, and a slightly mossy looking sword.
Elite Bane center, normal Skeletons all around.
Bane's benefits:
Approx 45% higher melee damage.
Trains slightly faster.
Gets up from the ground extremely fast after being dropped or stunned! (Unnoticeable when stunned in Possession.)
to cast the Heal Creature spell on them as a Warlock or Monk (which may do it automatically in combat),
set their job to pray at a Temple, (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.)
place your Call to Arms in a large enough one of which they'll eventually walk over,
place them in a Guard Room and make sure a Guard Post takes them across the Hero Lair. This is also the best reason to make them guard instead of pray.
The best guards. But praying is better for their health.
They are always willing to train and progress quickly, reaching experience level 4 in no time.
Once they reach level 4, they become idle and tend to wander around the dungeon, occasionally getting into fights or get shot by traps. This is a problem as instead of falling unconscious, they are destroyed. To avoid this, either:
make them guard in a Guard Room,
make them pray in a Temple,
put them back into the Prison cell if inside space isn't scarce, (imprisoning can stay on,)
level 8+ individuals can be placed in the Combat Pit if no stray ranged attack may damage them in ongoing fights between creatures that have those,
lock them in a room with a door (a Wooden Door is enough), possibly one with empty tiles,
make them stranded on an island or tile/tiles of Stone Bridge surrounded by lava.
Immune to Fear. The ideal creature to possess to destroy a Fear Trap.
They absolutely never become unhappy or angry, not even if publicly slapping the Jackpot Winner.
Bane the Elite Skeleton is different. He notices, may eventually become angry, and even leave through the Portal.
You can speed up their creation by slapping the prisoner, just make sure to leave the final blow to the Prison's starvation damage.
Bugs[]
Upon creation, may fail to leave the Prison cell through the door when a Call to Arms is active.
May momentarily be fooled to eat Chickens during a Call to Arms when dropped in a Hatchery. Which shouldn't happen. (Not having a proper eating animation.)
The Skeleton's vision was originally coloured red
In the GOG version, the Skeleton's red vision is gone.
Trivia[]
They seem to be greatly drawn to a Casino's Jackpot celebration, and be fantastic dancers!
They have been widely showcased in the cutscenes.
The Vampire can create permanent Skeletons one at a time from corpses by using his Raise Dead spell, but it staggers Vampire production itself.
The Skeleton Armycreature spell gained by a Dark Angel upon reaching level 10 creates three level 1 temporary Skeletons that can be used as Temple sacrifices to gain Mana, but cannot be used as input-result combinations to gain creatures.
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[]
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)
