Best Weapons in Minecraft

Equip yourself with the very best weapons.

Michael Hassall

Published: Oct 2, 2021 05:37 am

Although Minecraft is primarily a game about crafting and building, weapons still play an important role. Whether you’re just farming mobs or looking to kill endgame bosses, you’ll need to know what the best weapons are in order to maximize your efforts in combat.

Best Weapon Types

The first thing to consider when picking out the best weapon in Minecraft is the type of weapon. There are multiple types of weapons, and while some do more damage overall, others are better in specific situations. For instance, the range of the Trident and Bow make them invaluable for fighting hard-hitting enemies and bosses.

The table below lists the seven best weapons in Minecraft. Netherite and Diamond melee weapons are your top priority. They deal more damage, are more durable, and are generally better than any previous counterparts. Iron weapons make a good stopgap, but you should be headed towards Netherite and Diamond gear as soon as possible.

The Damage Stats show the damage a single strike will deal, what that means in hearts, and the Damage Per Second (DPS). DPS is based on how quickly a weapon attacks, and all weapons have different attack speeds. Axes are generally slower to hit, but hit harder when they do. Swords attack faster, so even though they do less damage per hit, you can quickly deal damage again.

Ranged weapons work a little bit differently in terms of DPS. A trident is, in theory, the best ranged weapon, but it's a single-fire weapon unless enchanted. A Trident enchanted with Loyalty will return to you every 1.1 seconds making its DPS 9.9. Bows and Crossbows do less DPS and less damage. However, you shouldn't give up on them completely. Their range gives them an edge if a player is looking for safety or picking off mobs from a far.

Related: Minecraft Dungeons Best Weapons – Bows, Swords, Scythes, & More!

Critical Hits

Weapons in Minecraft have a chance to land a critical hit, making a weapon deal bonus damage. For melee weapons, they will critical hit only when you are falling. This increases damage by 150%. To get this to happen, you can either jump down from a high place, or allow yourself to fall while attacking. The critical only occurs while falling and not the jump up, so it can be hard to master.

For ranged weapons, the critical hit damage is up 190% on a random chance. This means ranged weapons are slightly better at inflicting critical hits, as you don't need to set up a situation where you're falling to get a crit. You won't always get a critical hit, but it's generally easier to land critical hits—and for higher damage—using ranged weapons.

Best Weapon Enchantments

After you’ve settled on which of the best weapons you’ll be using, the next thing to decide is what enchantments you want to apply. Each type of weapon can have different enchantments, but there are a few limits on how many enchantments a weapon can have.

Related: Best Minecraft Crossbow Enchantments

Below is a list of the best possible weapon enchantments for each weapon:

Sword & Axe

Sharpness - Increases damage
Knockback - Knocks back enemies on hit
Sweeping Edge (sword only) - Makes your attacks hit enemies in a wider area in front of you
Smite - Deals extra damage to undead enemies (Skeletons, Zombies, etc.). Stacks with Sharpness
Fire Aspect - Set the target on fire for between three and seven additional damage
Unbreaking - Gives the item more durability

Trident

Loyalty - Trident returns to the user once throw
Channeling - Makes Trident cause a lightning strike if a thunderstorm is happening
Impaling - Increases damage
Unbreaking - Gives the item more durability
Riptide (A Riptide Trident can not have Loyalty or Channeling on it)

Bow/Crossbow

Infinity - Gives you unlimited arrows
Power - Increases the damage your arrows do
Punch - Gives arrows a knock back effect
Flame - Turns arrows fired into fire arrows which set enemies on fire
Unbreaking - Gives the item more durability
Multishot (crossbow only) - Allows the crossbow to fire multiple arrows at once in a spread formation

After choosing one of the best weapons, mastering critical hits, and enchanting your weapon with the best enchantments, you should be prepared to slay any enemy in Minecraft.

For more details on weapon enchantments, check out the Best Minecraft Trident Enchantments on Pro Game Guides.

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