Skeleton Key on Level 12

[Paul Evans]

There is a skeleton key lock on Lord Chaos's level (L01 (25,38) Skeleton Key) does anyone know where the key is? I have looked on the maps, it is not on that level. Is there one less skeleton key than lock or have I missed one?

[beowuuf]

yes, there is one less than keyholes

the two most popular options are:

a) leave level 12 alone, since 12 and 13 are connected so losely anyway
b) leave 10 alone, as monsters (mostly beholders) can drift into the stairwell and annoy you

[Finvola]

actually there is a skeleton key on level 12..you have to push a button that is on the opposite wall from one of the doors, not sure the coordinates and then there is another button you push (a green one) after you use your emerald and topaz keys the passage way will be open where you can find the green button and then you backtrack to that room and you will find loads of armor and stuff there too

[Lunever]

Yes, I suppose you are counting the Hall of Champions as Level 1 and are referring to what is Level 11 on this site (Knights level), counting the Hall as Level 00.
Of course there is the skeleton key at 11,49,20, yet there is one skeleton keys less in the game than there are skeleton locks, so you have to leave one of the passageways to the stairwell, and as Beowuuf suggests, it is advisable to leave either the lock on Level 09 (Scorpion Lair), 11 (Knight level) or 12 (Chaos' Lair).
I prefer to leave the lock at the knight level, because in the knight level as well as in Chaos' lair the stairs connecting these two levels and the skeleton passageway are very close together, plus in Chaos' Lair the other stairwell to the tomb of the Firestaff is also close at hand.

[beowuuf]

I'm not a computer programmer, etc, and played the game when i was a kid...HoC is Level 1 : )

Personally i go for the leaving 12 (11) option too as there are times you forget stuff (magnifier, hard cleave) and getting back to the middle of level 10 (9) is annoying - the beholders are very rare, unless you backtrack. And the passageway to the 12 (11) stairs is so far compared to chaos's level!

There is no key on level 13 (12), which is where the missing key would be.

I always think the level 11 (10) key the sneakiest hidden, placed at the end of that corridor and triggered only by a directional pad, THEN a small button

[Lunever]

I used to count the Hall O' Champions as level 1 too, but here I'm using the coordinates and labels used in the maps on this site to avoid confusion, but that doesn't seem to work. I'll only use level's names from now on, those used in DMute also.

[Lunever]

It is no problem to ensure, that there are no beholders anymore near the skeleton stairway: Just close the doors 4 doors isolating that part of the dungeon. When you leave to the next level, you have to cross the trigger for the beholder generator at least once. Return via the stairway, kill the beholder(s), and the stairway is clean.