What is the Best Tool to Put Silk Touch On?
The Silk Touch enchantment is a highly coveted power-up in Minecraft, allowing players to mine blocks in their whole form rather than their dropped item counterparts. This opens up a wide array of possibilities, from building with unique blocks to efficiently harvesting certain resources. But with several tools capable of wielding this magic, which one reigns supreme? The short answer is: the pickaxe. However, the nuances of each tool’s capabilities and uses make the decision more complex. This article will delve into the best use cases for Silk Touch, explore the pros and cons of each tool, and provide a comprehensive guide to help you decide how best to use this powerful enchantment.
Why the Pickaxe is the King of Silk Touch
While Silk Touch can be beneficial on several tools, the pickaxe takes the crown for its versatility. Pickaxes are the primary tool for mining almost all types of ores and stone blocks, and many other materials. This versatility combined with Silk Touch gives players the ability to collect:
- Ores in block form: Instead of receiving individual ingots or dust, you get the raw ore block. This can be particularly valuable for building, trading, or storing large quantities.
- Rare blocks: You can collect blocks like diamond ore, emerald ore, and ancient debris in their original form, keeping their inherent value intact.
- Building Materials: Blocks like stone, cobblestone, andesite, diorite, and granite can be harvested for seamless building projects that require specific textures.
In addition, the pickaxe’s role in mining and general progression makes it the tool that is most likely to be used frequently in the early to mid-game, ensuring your investment in Silk Touch yields long-term advantages.
Other Silk Touch Tool Considerations
While the pickaxe is often the first choice, other tools have unique advantages with Silk Touch:
The Axe
- Melons: A Silk Touch axe is faster at breaking melon blocks than a pickaxe, making melon farming more efficient if you’re seeking to collect entire melons rather than slices.
- Bookshelves: The axe allows you to mine bookshelves intact, which is excellent for relocation and retaining their enchantment power, as breaking them yields only books.
- Wood-based blocks: While not as significant as the other use cases, axes with Silk Touch also ensure you collect all the wood-based blocks in one piece.
The Shovel
- Grass blocks: Arguably the primary use case, Silk Touch shovels enable you to collect grass blocks and mycelium blocks. This is crucial for landscaping projects and moving grass-covered areas for farms.
- Gravel: Using a Silk Touch shovel on gravel guarantees you always obtain the gravel block, useful for building and trading.
- Dirt and Sand: While less crucial, you get dirt blocks directly instead of loose dirt when mining with a Silk Touch shovel.
The Hoe
- Sculk Blocks: One of the main uses for a Silk Touch hoe is to obtain sculk blocks in the latest version of the game, which cannot be collected without Silk Touch.
- General Block Harvesting: Any block that can be broken by a hoe can also be gathered with its original form by applying Silk Touch enchantment.
Shears
- Glass: Shears don’t work on glass, but you can use them to collect honeycombs from beehives without breaking the hive.
- Leaves: Collecting leaf blocks can help you when building natural-themed structures.
The Importance of Fortune vs. Silk Touch
It’s crucial to remember that Fortune and Silk Touch are mutually exclusive enchantments. You cannot apply both to the same tool. Fortune increases the number of items dropped when mining, making it ideal for collecting more of items like:
- Ores: Fortune increases the amount of dropped resources for iron, gold, diamonds, emeralds, and lapis.
- Glowstone Dust: Fortune can increase the number of glowstone dust dropped when mining glowstone.
- Melon Slices: Fortune significantly increases melon slice drops.
The choice between the two enchantments depends on your needs. If you want maximum yield from your mining, Fortune is the way to go. If you prioritize collecting blocks in their original state, Silk Touch is your best bet.
FAQs: Maximizing the Silk Touch Enchantment
1. Can you put Silk Touch on a sword?
No, the Silk Touch enchantment cannot be applied to swords. Swords are primarily for combat, and this enchantment does not enhance their damage or combat effectiveness.
2. Can you have both Silk Touch and Fortune on a tool?
No, these two enchantments are incompatible. You cannot apply Silk Touch and Fortune on the same tool. You need to choose between gathering the original blocks (Silk Touch) or more materials (Fortune).
3. Why can’t I put Silk Touch on my pickaxe?
If you cannot apply Silk Touch to a pickaxe, it’s likely because it already has the Fortune enchantment. You must remove or swap this enchantment first.
4. What are the odds of getting Silk Touch?
The chances of obtaining Silk Touch are relatively low. At level 30 enchantment, you have around a 14% chance on diamond or iron tools. The higher the enchantment level, the greater your chances.
5. Is Silk Touch good for mining glowstone?
Yes, if you wish to collect glowstone in its original block form. Otherwise, use fortune for more glowstone dust.
6. Can you Silk Touch a spawner?
Unfortunately, no. Mining a spawner with any tool, even one enchanted with Silk Touch, will destroy the spawner and drop experience orbs instead.
7. Is Silk Touch good on a shovel?
Yes, a Silk Touch shovel is incredibly useful for collecting grass blocks, mycelium, and gravel blocks, which can be extremely valuable for landscaping and construction.
8. What is a Silk Touch hoe good for?
The Silk Touch hoe is primarily used for obtaining sculk blocks, which can only be collected using a hoe with this enchantment.
9. Can you enchant Elytra with Silk Touch?
No, Silk Touch cannot be applied to Elytra. Elytra can only be enchanted with Mending and Unbreaking, mainly for durability.
10. Can dispensers use shears with durability?
Yes, dispensers will use shears, and doing so will decrease the shears’ durability.
11. What happens if you put Fortune on shears?
Fortune does not affect the primary function of shears, which is to collect blocks. However, it can increase the number of honeycombs you collect from beehives.
12. Is there a Silk Touch III?
No, the maximum level for the Silk Touch enchantment is level I. There is no Silk Touch II or III.
13. What does Fortune III do?
Fortune III provides a significant increase in mineral drop rates and other resources. The drop rate can exceed up to 36, and it will give 4x the chance of increased drops for ores.
14. How much paper do you need for level 30 enchants?
To reach a level 30 enchantment, you need 15 bookshelves. These will require 135 paper, 45 leather, and 90 wooden planks to craft.
15. Is Fortune better on an axe than Silk Touch?
It depends on your use case. If you prioritize more wood drops or increased crop harvests, Fortune is better. If you need to collect blocks or whole melons, Silk Touch is preferable.
Conclusion
While the pickaxe is the most versatile tool for the Silk Touch enchantment, the other tools are helpful in different situations. Understanding the benefits of each one will allow you to take full advantage of the Silk Touch enchantment, making your gameplay more flexible and efficient. Choose the right tool for the job and reap the rewards of collecting blocks in their original form in Minecraft.