Can You Put Mending and Thorns on Armor? The Ultimate Guide
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Yes, you absolutely can put both Mending and Thorns on armor in Minecraft. They are not mutually exclusive enchantments. In fact, combining them can create highly effective and durable armor.
Understanding Mending and Thorns
Before diving deeper, let’s clarify what these enchantments do.
Mending: Repairing Your Armor with Experience
Mending is arguably one of the most valuable enchantments in Minecraft. It uses experience orbs collected by the player to repair damaged armor. Every experience point you gain has a chance to repair the item in your hand, your armor, or items in your inventory. This enchantment drastically increases the lifespan of your gear. With Mending, you no longer need to constantly craft new armor sets, saving you valuable resources.
Thorns: Retaliatory Damage
Thorns is a defensive enchantment that causes attackers to take damage when they hit you. When an enemy attacks you, there’s a chance they’ll suffer damage, making it a useful deterrent, especially in situations where you’re surrounded by hostile mobs. The level of the Thorns enchantment (I, II, or III) determines the probability and amount of damage inflicted. Thorns III has the highest chance of inflicting damage. Be aware, though, that Thorns can also decrease the durability of your armor each time it activates.
Combining Mending and Thorns: A Powerful Synergy
The combination of Mending and Thorns creates a potent defensive strategy. The Thorns enchantment damages attackers, providing passive defense. Meanwhile, the Mending enchantment works to continuously repair any damage the armor takes, whether from enemy attacks or the activation of Thorns itself. This synergy allows your armor to last significantly longer, providing sustained protection in various situations.
How to Obtain Mending and Thorns
Both Mending and Thorns are considered treasure enchantments, meaning they are not available directly from an enchanting table. You’ll need to acquire them through other methods:
- Fishing: One of the most common ways to find both enchantments is through fishing. Using a fishing rod with the Luck of the Sea enchantment can increase your chances of finding enchanted books.
- Trading with Villagers: Librarian villagers can offer enchanted books in exchange for emeralds. The enchantments they offer are randomized, so you might need to break and replace their lectern to reset their trades until they offer the desired books.
- Loot Chests: Mending and Thorns can be found in loot chests located in various structures, such as dungeons, mineshafts, temples, and strongholds.
- Raid Farms/Mob Farms: Although less direct, creating mob or raid farms allows you to accumulate experience to trade with villagers (for books) and potentially find enchanted armor pieces as drops.
Applying the Enchantments
Once you have the Mending and Thorns enchanted books, you’ll need an anvil to apply them to your armor. Simply place the armor and the enchanted book in the anvil interface. Keep in mind that applying enchantments costs experience levels, and more powerful enchantments require higher levels. It’s best to apply Mending first, as it’s the more valuable of the two.
Considerations and Trade-Offs
While combining Mending and Thorns is generally beneficial, there are a few considerations:
- Durability Loss from Thorns: As mentioned earlier, Thorns reduces armor durability when it activates. While Mending counteracts this, constantly triggering Thorns can still put a strain on your armor, particularly if your experience gain is limited.
- Experience Allocation: When you have multiple Mending items, the experience points you gain are split amongst them. If you’re trying to repair your armor quickly, it’s best to avoid carrying too many damaged Mending items.
- Cost of Enchanting: Obtaining and applying both enchantments can be expensive in terms of experience levels and resources, especially when aiming for high-level enchantments on a full set of armor.
- Alternatives: Consider other enchantments like Protection, Unbreaking, and Fire Protection. Protection, specifically, is generally considered the best enchantment.
Armor Material and Enchantments
The material of your armor plays a significant role in its overall effectiveness. Diamond and Netherite armor offer the highest protection and durability. Applying Mending and Thorns to Netherite armor is a popular choice due to its superior stats and knockback resistance. Combining the best armor material with the best enchantments is the key to invincibility.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some frequently asked questions related to Mending and Thorns on armor:
1. Can I have multiple Mending items at once?
Yes, you can have multiple Mending items. However, experience points will be distributed randomly among them when you gain XP.
2. Is Thorns better than Protection?
This is a subjective question. Protection is generally considered the better enchantment due to its consistent damage reduction against all types of attacks. Thorns provides retaliatory damage but also reduces armor durability and doesn’t guarantee protection from all attacks.
3. Can I get Mending directly from the Enchanting Table?
No, Mending is a treasure enchantment and cannot be obtained directly from an enchanting table.
4. How do I increase my chances of getting Mending from fishing?
Use a fishing rod with the Luck of the Sea enchantment. This significantly increases the chances of finding treasure, including enchanted books.
5. What are the different levels of Thorns?
Thorns has three levels: I, II, and III. Higher levels increase the probability of inflicting damage on attackers.
6. Does Thorns damage my armor?
Yes, Thorns does damage your armor each time it activates. This is why combining it with Mending is beneficial.
7. What is the best armor material for Mending and Thorns?
Netherite armor is the best choice due to its high durability, protection, and knockback resistance. Diamond armor is also a good option.
8. Can I apply Mending and Thorns to other items besides armor?
Yes, Mending can be applied to tools and weapons, but Thorns is exclusive to armor.
9. What happens if I have multiple pieces of armor with Thorns?
The effects of Thorns do not stack. The game only considers the highest level of Thorns enchantment on any piece of armor.
10. Is Mending worth the effort to obtain?
Absolutely! Mending is one of the most valuable enchantments in the game, as it allows you to repair your gear using experience points, significantly extending its lifespan.
11. How do I find a Librarian villager with Mending?
You’ll need to find a villager with an unoccupied job site block (lectern). Place a lectern near an unemployed villager, and if they become a Librarian, check their trades. If they don’t offer Mending, break the lectern and replace it to reset their trades until you find the desired enchantment.
12. What level do I need to be to apply Mending to my armor?
The required level depends on the current enchantments on the armor. More enchantments means it will be more expensive. It is generally a good idea to wait until you are around level 30.
13. Can I use Mending to repair a fully broken item?
No, Mending only repairs damaged items. It won’t restore an item that has reached zero durability.
14. Does Mending repair my armor automatically?
Mending repairs your armor when you gain experience. The experience points are automatically allocated to repair items in your inventory with the Mending enchantment.
15. Is there a limit to how much Mending can repair at once?
No, there isn’t a set limit. The amount of repair depends on the amount of experience you gain. Larger amounts of experience will repair more durability.