Skeleton

The skeleton is a hostile mob that was introduced to the game in Survival Test and remains in all later versions of the game. Skeletons are fairly fast-paced enemies that will shoot arrows at the player and other Mobs. Like Zombies, Creepers, and Spiders, skeletons only spawn in dark areas, with a light level of 7 or less. 1% of the time when a spider is spawned a skeleton may be riding it, making a Spider Jockey. If the sun is at a 15 degree angle or greater on land, they will be set on fire and take burn damage.

Behavior
Upon spotting the player, skeletons will start firing arrows in their direction with medium accuracy. The place that skeletons target when firing depends on if they have taken damage or not, targeting the head when at full health and targeting the torso when damaged. When possible, they will strafe to their right and bunny-hop, making them more difficult targets. However, when fighting skeletons in caves this behavior often gets them stuck in small alcoves, where they will not move. Their shots travel in a wide arc, which sometimes causes the arrows to get stuck in the ceiling. If skeletons are in a 2 block high area, they can almost never hit you unless they are very close.

If a skeleton's arrow hits another aggressive mob, that mob will turn to attack the skeleton the same way it would attack the player; a creeper will even attempt to explode on it. The skeleton, however, will continue to attack the player until it is damaged by the mob. In short, mobs will always attempt to attack the last mob (including a player) to cause damage to them. If a skeleton kills a creeper, the creeper will drop a music disc.



History
In Survival Test, Skeletons are spawned randomly in new Survival maps and follow players when approached, much like Zombies. They appear to fire arrows at a faster and more random rate and upon death, will shoot out 5-6 arrows around themselves. Arrows fired by skeletons at that time could be picked up and used by players. They take 5 hits to kill and can wear NPC armor, although the armor does not give them any additional hit points.

After Alpha 1.2, skeletons hold a bow in their hand.

Combat
Though it is really difficult and takes practice, you are able to beat back a skeleton's arrow. You can do this with any object, or by casting a fishing rod at it, just like a Ghast's fireball.

The skeleton can also shoot through doors from the inside of them (to confront this problem, always build doors by placing them from the outside). Skeletons will not actively shoot a door unless the door is opened or they are already chasing you as they cannot see through doors like spiders can.

Skeletons are dangerous owing the fact that they can attack at range, which can prove problematic if you do not have a Bow or a way to get close enough to reach them. It is possible to get skeletons stuck in corners through careful maneuvering in caves, where they can be easily dispatched with a sword.

Do not ever attempt to combat skeletons while in water. If you do this will result in your downfall. Because of the water's nature of slowing you down, the skeleton's arrows will always hit, so be vigilant and avoid water if possible when a skeleton is within the perimeter.

Drops
Survival Test:
 * Arrows are shot in all directions upon death. These can be picked up and reused.
 * 120 points

Alpha:
 * 0-2 arrows

Beta:
 * 0-2 bones
 * 0-2 arrows

Trivia

 * Skeletons have the same face as zombies, but with a mouth and a different colour.
 * Skeletons' legs have the same texture as their arms.
 * If you are under the skeleton, it will shoot itself.
 * Though they have the same pose as a zombie, they will not deal any damage from touching you like zombies do. However, being that they fire their bows even at point blank range, there is little difference, except that a Skeleton cannot fire as rapidly as a zombie can touch you.
 * Skeletons fire arrows immediately when the player is in shooting range, making it hard to sneak up on them.
 * A skeleton in a Minecart will not burn on contact with sunlight.
 * If you switch the difficulty to Peaceful then a skeleton's arrow hits you, it will be harmless.
 * If a skeleton is in water when exposed to sunlight, it will not burn.
 * You can not pick up a skeleton's arrow.
 * Since skeletons can't hit you on 2 blocks tall rooms, you can easily harvest bones and arrows by finding a skeleton dungeon, filling in the roof to a 2 block tall room (carefully), and waiting for them to spawn.

Szkielet