Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: Pit Of 100 Trials Guide

The Pit of 100 Trials is one of the toughest challenges Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has to offer. It’s located just west of the Thousand-Year Door room, and it’s a challenge we’d only recommend taking after you’ve defeated the game’s final boss and are sufficiently leveled up.

Even then, things can get dicey – so we’ve put together a list of tips and tricks for tackling the toughest challenge this game has to offer.

Here's our guide on how to beat the Pit of 100 Trials in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

What to expect from the Pit of 100 Trials

The Pit of 100 Trials is almost what its name implies. It’s actually 99 floors of enemies and then a difficult boss battle against a superboss. Don’t let that fool you, though – the first 99 floors are just as much of a challenge as taking down the superboss himself.

There’s no healing or saving anywhere in the pit, though merchants occasionally appear to sell vastly overpriced items. Every tenth floor is a rest floor, except for floor 100, so it allows you to have a breather.

How to prepare for the Pit of 100 Trials

In terms of preparations, make sure you stuff your pockets with healing items and make sure all your partners are fully upgraded. They won’t be much use if they haven’t been upgraded, so be sure to check out our playable characters guide for all the details.

It’s also a good idea to bring lots of money; as mentioned above, some areas will have Movers present who will teleport you forward a few floors in exchange for a fee. This saves you lots of time (and health), so go for it if you have cash to spare. You can grind for money by following our tips in our helpful money guide.

Finally, we’d recommend being at least Level 30 before you attempt this challenge. Each attempt takes quite some time, and you want to be as ready as possible so you don’t have to do this twice.

Is there any new content in the Pit of 100 Trials in the Switch remake?

Yes, there is - but you have to work for it!

First of all, once you reach level 50, you can pay a Mover 300 Coins to return to floor 50. That means if you fail after floor 50, then you can skip the first 50 floors — as long as you have the money.

Second, there's a brand new post-game boss which is only available once you've beaten the game and cleared the Pit of 100 Trials once. No spoilers here, but check out our guide on how to unlock and beat this superboss if you're curious.

Pit of 100 Trials Walkthrough

We've broken up the Pit of 100 Trials by every ten floors, and then a final section which covers the final boss of the Pit, Bonetail.

Floors 1-10

As you might expect, these floors are the easiest ones in the entire challenge. You’ll encounter Gloombas, Spinia, Fuzzies, Spania, and Dull Bones. If you’re taking on this challenge after defeating the final boss, most of the enemies here won’t even be able to hurt you.

Keep in mind that you can and should First Strike them in the overworld to earn some extra damage – this applies to the later floors, too. You’ll find the Sleepy Stomp Badge on the 10th floor.

Floors 11-20

These floors are the slightest bit more difficult, but they should still be more than manageable if you’re leveled up enough. You’ll find Paragloombas, Clefts, Pokeys, Dark Puffs, and Piders running about on each level.

Defeat them all and you’ll find a Fire Drive Badge on Level 20. This gives Mario access to a new fire-based Hammer attack, so it’s a useful find for later.

Floors 21-30

These areas are somewhat tougher, but they should still be doable! You can expect to see Spiky Gloombas, Bob-ombs, Bandits, Lakitus, Spinies, and Boos throughout these ten floors.

You’ll want to take out the Lakitus as soon as possible since they spawn Spinies, and more targets in a battle means more opportunities for you to lose your health. When you get to floor 30, you’ll receive a Zap Tap Badge as your reward. Onward!

Floors 31-40

You’re almost halfway there! On these floors, you’ll find Flower Fuzzies, Hyper Clefts, Dark Koopas, Parabuzzies, and Shady Koopas. Take out the Hyper Clefts first – after they charge up, they can deal noticeable damage that you’ll eventually be forced to heal off.

You’ll receive a Pity Flower Badge on the 40th floor. If you’re running low on FP, this Badge has a chance of giving Mario 1 FP whenever he takes damage.

Floors 41-50

Getting closer! On these floors, you’ll encounter Dark Paratroopas, Bulky Bob-ombs, Poison Pokeys, Spiked Parabuzzies, and Lava Bubbles. If you have it, you might want to equip the Spike Shield Badge to make dispatching the Spiked Parabuzzies easier.

Continue fighting your way through enemies until you receive a Strange Sack on floor 50. This item lets you carry up to 20 more items, which means you can stockpile additional healing items on your next attempt at the Pit of 100 Trials if you happen to fail this one later on.

Floors 51-60

This is where things start getting kind of nasty. These floors are home to Badge Bandits, Ice Puffs, Moon Clefts, Red Chomps, and Dark Boos. They aren’t too tough, but they’ll start to rack up the damage over time.

You’ll receive a Double Dip Badge on floor 60; this lets you use two items in one turn!

Floors 61-70

The Pit’s enemies are becoming more and more formidable. You can expect to see Dark Lakitu, Blue Spinies, Dry Bones, Frost Piranhas, Dark Craws, and Dark Wizzerds. By now these enemies should be dropping more Star Points than on previous levels.

Leveling up in the Pit of 100 Trials is really convenient because it gives you a full heal for free. Essentially, the more Star Points you have, the closer you are to being healed. On the 70th floor you will receive a Double Dip P Badge.

Floors 71-80

This is becoming kind of tiresome, right? You’re in the home stretch now, at least! Expect to see Wizzerds, Dark Koopatrols, Chain Chomps, Swoopulas, and Phantom Embers.

Here’s a helpful tip: the Special Move Showstopper is often able to KO enemies outright as long as you get the action command correct. If you’re close to leveling up but aren’t sure if you’ll make it through the fight, try using Showstopper to end it immediately. You’ll find a Bump Attack Badge at the end, which lets you walk right through weaker enemies without even having to battle.

Floors 81-90

Things are going to get dicey from here on out. Unfortunately, our Showstopper trick from the last section doesn’t work anymore – the enemies are too strong and are often immune to it. Instead, we’d recommend using Sweet Feast to heal up. Then, you can perform Stylish Moves to quickly refill your Star Gauge (this is especially important against the superboss).

You’ll find Spunias, Dark Bristles, Arantulas, and Piranha Plants on this floor. The Star Points you get after each match will start noticeably increasing, which makes leveling up a more consistent healing strategy. You’ll find a Lucky Day Badge on the 90th floor, which is actually good enough to be equipped on Mario right away.

Floors 91-99

This is it – the final stretch. You’re probably low on HP and items now, so it might be a good idea to fish for luck. When Mario is at low HP, he can wear the Pretty Lucky, Close Call, Last Stand, Lucky Day, Mega Rush, and Power Rush Badges to become a monster. You do run the risk of being defeated regardless, but these Badges combined grant Mario a great chance to simultaneously avoid enemy attacks and deal increased damage.

You can expect to see Elite Wizzerds, Poison Puffs, Bob-ulks, Swampires, and Amazy Dayzees, which drop a ton of experience points.

Floor 100

What you’ll find on floor 100 isn’t a present at all – it’s arguably the game’s most difficult boss fight. If you're ready to take him on, then continue to our Bonetail battle guide. Good luck!

On Switch, if you go to floor 100 for a second time, there will be a second boss waiting for you.

For more hints, tips, and walkthroughs, check out our full Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door guide.