Is Silk Touch on a Shovel Worth It? A Minecraft Deep Dive
Absolutely! Whether Silk Touch is “worth it” on a shovel depends entirely on your play style and what you’re aiming to achieve in Minecraft. For some, it might be a game-changer, streamlining resource gathering and base building. For others, the enchantment slot might be better used for something else, like Fortune. Let’s dig into the details to help you make an informed decision. This guide will examine the benefits and drawbacks of a Silk Touch shovel so you can decide if it is a worthwhile addition to your Minecraft gameplay.
Benefits of Silk Touch on a Shovel
Preserving Blocks
The primary benefit of Silk Touch is its ability to mine blocks in their original form, rather than their constituent parts. For a shovel, this mostly applies to:
- Clay: Instead of getting four clay balls, you get a complete clay block. This can save you a lot of crafting time if you’re building with clay.
- Gravel: Obtain gravel blocks directly, which is useful if you have a gravel-heavy build in mind.
- Snow Blocks: Mine snow blocks directly, or layers of snow, which can be convenient for gathering large amounts of snow quickly.
Specific Use Cases
- Aesthetic Builds: If you’re a builder who likes incorporating natural blocks into your designs, Silk Touch is invaluable.
- Mass Snow Collection: For building snow forts or snow golems, a Silk Touch shovel makes gathering snow blocks much faster.
- Convenience: Sometimes, having the raw block is just more convenient than the components. Clay is a perfect example.
Drawbacks of Silk Touch on a Shovel
Loss of Flint from Gravel
Perhaps the most significant drawback is that a Silk Touch shovel will not yield flint from gravel. Normally, breaking gravel has a chance of dropping flint, a vital component for arrows and flint and steel. If you’re reliant on gravel for your flint supply, Silk Touch is not the way to go.
Opportunity Cost
Enchantment slots are precious. Using one for Silk Touch means you can’t use it for something else, like Fortune, which boosts the yield of certain resources.
Fortune vs. Silk Touch on a Shovel
This is the core question. Fortune on a shovel increases the amount of items that drop. With soul sand, Fortune is a good enchantment when players need a large amount of resources. Fortune can be beneficial for players if players want to mine a lot of soul sand, and spawn wither for XP. Soul sand is mined fastest with a shovel, so having fortune on the shovel while mining the sand can be helpful. With Silk Touch, you get the block itself.
Determining Your Needs
Ultimately, the choice boils down to your priorities. Ask yourself:
- Do I need a lot of flint? If so, avoid Silk Touch.
- Do I build extensively with clay blocks? Silk Touch is a time-saver.
- Do I gather a lot of snow? Silk Touch is highly efficient.
- Do I have other shovels? You could have one with Silk Touch and one with Fortune.
Recommendations
For most players, a dedicated flint-gathering shovel without Silk Touch is essential. If you find yourself building with clay or snow frequently, then a separate Silk Touch shovel is well worth the investment. In this case, it’s a game-changer, streamlining resource gathering and base building.
FAQs: Silk Touch and Shovels in Minecraft
Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify the use of Silk Touch on shovels in Minecraft:
1. What exactly does Silk Touch do on a shovel?
Silk Touch allows you to mine certain blocks and obtain the block itself, rather than the items it would normally drop. For shovels, this primarily affects clay, gravel, and snow blocks.
2. Can I get flint from gravel with a Silk Touch shovel?
No. A Silk Touch shovel will only give you the gravel block itself. You won’t get any flint.
3. Is a Diamond shovel worth it in Minecraft?
Absolutely! A diamond shovel is incredibly durable, breaking after about 25 stacks of blocks.
4. Does Fortune work on shovels in Minecraft?
Yes, Fortune can be applied to shovels. On a shovel with fortune, you get a higher chance of obtaining flint from gravel.
5. What’s the difference between Silk Touch and Fortune on a shovel?
Silk Touch gives you the block itself, while Fortune increases the yield of items that drop when you break the block.
6. Can I use Silk Touch on a wooden or stone shovel?
Yes, you can apply Silk Touch to any type of shovel, but higher-tier shovels last longer.
7. Can I break glass with a Silk Touch shovel?
No, a shovel is not the appropriate tool to use on glass. You must use a pickaxe.
8. Is Silk Touch a rare enchantment?
Silk Touch is a relatively rare enchantment. It’s not the easiest to find in the Enchanting Table, or as a villager trade, and can often require a bit of luck to obtain.
9. Can I put Silk Touch and Fortune on the same shovel?
No. Silk Touch and Fortune are mutually exclusive enchantments. You can only have one or the other on a single tool.
10. What blocks can’t Silk Touch affect?
Silk Touch fails to work on Grass, Fern, Vines, Large Fern, Tall Grass and Sea Grass.
11. Can I use a Silk Touch shovel to pick up a spawner?
Sadly, you cannot. The spawner will disintegrate into XP once you mine it with ANYTHING, even silk touch picks.
12. Is Silk Touch good on an axe?
Yes, Silk Touch is great on an axe! For instance, when I start raiding a village, the bookshelves require silk touch to mine without them breaking into normie books.
13. Can I use Silk Touch on a shovel to pick up snow?
If mined with a Silk Touch enchanted shovel, snow blocks drop themselves; without the enchantment, 4 snowballs are dropped instead. Nothing drops if mined with any other tool, even if enchanted with Silk Touch. In Java Edition, a snow block can also be obtained by mining 8 snow layers with a Silk Touch shovel.
14. How to make an Ender Eye?
Minecraft Eye of Ender crafting recipe In your crafting square, drop the Ender Pearl into the middle square and the Blaze Powder in the square to its left. Combine those two items and you’ve made yourself an Eye of Ender!
15. Does silk Touch work on everything?
Not quite everything! Master List of Blocks Affected by Silk Touch: Bee Nest, Beehive (occupied with bees), Blue Ice, Bookshelf, Campfire, Clay, Coal Ore, Coral Blocks, Coral, Coral Fans, Diamond Ore, Emerald Ore, Ender Chest, Gilded Blackstone, Glass Pane, Glass, Glowstone, Grass Block, Gravel, Ice, Lapis Lazuli Ore, Leaves, Melon, …
Ultimately, Silk Touch on a shovel is a situational enchantment. Consider your Minecraft goals and play style, and decide if the ability to preserve blocks outweighs the loss of potential flint. Happy digging!
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