Skeleton Key

The Skeleton Key is a item in Risk of Rain that opens all the chests on the screen.
 * Using this item on a golden chest will unlock the item "Captain's Brooch". Golden chests spawn in the last two levels and are identifiable by their high price and always yield items. One of these chests is found consistently in the Risk of Rain (Level), under the second and third cargo bays.

Tactics
Try to use it when a lot of chest/ a Golden chest is in vision.

Item Synergies
Due to this item's ability to open all containers and chests on the screen, it synergizes well with Bundle of Fireworks.

Trivia

 * When this item is picked up, it is labeled as "Explorer's Key".
 * This item is a reference to the real life kind of keys which are made to open all locks.
 * This item may also be a reference to the 'Elder Scrolls' series of games, most notably III - Morrowind, IV - Oblivion and V - Skyrim. This is due to the Skeleton Key not only being a divine artifact that functions in the exact same way as it does in Risk of Rain (unbreakable lockpick, but also opens literally anything, physical or not) in these games, but also due to the fact that in Skyrim, the Thieves Guild does indeed mention that in the wrong hands, the Skeleton Key could render the Thieves Guild 'obsolete' ('obsolete' isn't actually said), and without it, the Thieves Guild is running low on luck.
 * The icon itself depicts a key to a warded lock. Such keys are frequently erroneously called skeleton keys.

Bugs

 * Sometimes when attempting to open chest just outside of your reach can cause the game to attempt to move said item into your view this results in them getting pulled through any one block thick floor and falling down to the next solid floor, this causes a lot of items to get trapped in places between floors and other places that are unreachable
 * This bug becomes much more prevalent then you have the Command artifact enabled
 * When Command is enabled in multiplayer, a player using this key may often be unable to activate the resulting item box.  Recommended to not be used in multiplayer unless you can trust another player to choose an item for you and let you have it.
 * This bug also seems to affect the final level Risk of Rain more than the others this is due to the multiple level bays in the back with a lot of chests on each floor, extreme caution is advised when using the key on this level
 * Note in the final level Risk of Rain a gold chest that seems to be between walls and unreachable in the level actually has a secret path to it.

Gallery
Skeleton Key