What Should I Put Mending On First? A Minecraft Expert’s Guide
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The short answer, and the one seasoned crafters will agree with, is: your primary pickaxe. Durability is king in Minecraft, and a pickaxe is arguably the most essential tool for progression. The ability to continuously mine without the worry of your primary workhorse breaking is invaluable.
Why Prioritize Mending?
Before diving into specific items, let’s understand why Mending is so crucial. This enchantment, uniquely obtained from sources like fishing, villager trades, and treasure chests (not from an enchantment table, mind you!), uses experience points (XP) to repair damaged items. Instead of increasing the lifespan of your items, it uses XP to restore them whenever you gain it. Each time you earn experience by killing monsters, mining blocks, or performing other actions, a randomly selected piece of gear equipped with Mending will be repaired. It is an extremely powerful enchantment in Minecraft.
The Core Benefit: Avoiding the Grind
Without Mending, you’re constantly crafting new tools and armor. This involves gathering resources and repeatedly visiting the enchanting table and anvil, which can be time-consuming and tedious. Mending eliminates this constant cycle, allowing you to focus on more exciting aspects of the game, like building elaborate structures or exploring the Nether.
The Pickaxe: The Undisputed King
Now, back to the initial question. Why the pickaxe?
- Constant Use: As evidenced by the anecdote in the source text (2.1 million pickaxe uses versus 300,000 sword uses in one world!), pickaxes are used far more often than any other tool. You need them for mining ore, breaking stone, and digging tunnels.
- Resource Gathering: A broken pickaxe while mining for diamonds can be heartbreaking, especially if you’re close to finding the motherlode. Mending ensures your pickaxe stays ready.
- Early Game Advantage: Getting Mending on your pickaxe early allows you to start amassing resources without the fear of losing your hard-earned diamond (or netherite!). It’s a significant boost to your progression.
Beyond the Pickaxe: What’s Next?
Once your pickaxe is mended, consider the following:
- Armor: Protecting yourself from damage is crucial. Mending on your armor, especially your chestplate and leggings, will significantly increase your survivability.
- Sword: While not used as frequently as a pickaxe, a good sword is essential for combat. Mending keeps it sharp and ready.
- Elytra: This winged chestplate allows you to fly, making traversal much easier. Repairing it normally is difficult (requires Phantom Membranes). Mending eliminates this hassle. It is an invaluable tool for travel and exploration, but is fragile.
- Fishing Rod: Surprisingly, this is great for an XP farm. Getting mending on this tool is extremely helpful.
Factors to Consider
- Your Playstyle: If you’re primarily a builder, perhaps a shovel or axe might be a better choice. But for the vast majority of players, the pickaxe reigns supreme.
- Resource Availability: If diamonds are scarce, prioritize a diamond pickaxe with Mending. If you’re swimming in iron, you might be more casual about iron tools.
- The Tool’s Value: It is not usually valuable to put Mending on things such as wood and stone tools, but it can be quite useful to put on other tools, like pickaxes.
- The Ease of Repair: Consider items that are hard to repair via normal means. This makes Mending much more desirable.
Mending and Unbreaking: The Dynamic Duo
The article mentions the synergy between Mending and Unbreaking. Unbreaking increases the durability of your items, making them last longer between repairs. Combining Mending and Unbreaking III (the highest level of Unbreaking) on a tool or armor piece is a powerful combination, virtually guaranteeing its longevity.
Conclusion
In the vast world of Minecraft, the Mending enchantment is a game-changer. Prioritizing it on your pickaxe will provide the most significant benefit early on, allowing you to mine more efficiently and progress more quickly. Consider armor and other essential tools next, based on your playstyle and resource availability. With Mending, you’ll spend less time crafting and more time exploring, building, and enjoying the game. Remember to always be careful where you adventure, and watch out for creepers!
You should always prioritize getting this enchantment as soon as possible. Good luck, crafters!
For those interested in the educational aspects of gaming, consider exploring the work of the Games Learning Society at GamesLearningSociety.org.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Mending
1. Can I get Mending from an Enchanting Table?
No. Mending is a treasure enchantment, meaning it can only be obtained through specific methods like finding enchanted books in chests, trading with villagers (especially Librarian villagers), or fishing. Strongholds have the highest chances of spawning chests with enchanted books.
2. What is the best villager for Mending?
Swamp Librarian villagers offer Mending. However, since natural swamp villages don’t exist, you’ll need to create one by bringing villagers to a swamp biome.
3. What is the highest level of Mending?
The maximum level for the Mending enchantment is Level 1 (Mending I). There is no Mending II.
4. Is Mending 1 worth it?
Absolutely! Mending 1 is incredibly valuable. It allows you to repair your tools and armor using XP, effectively making them last indefinitely (as long as you continue to gain experience).
5. Should I combine Mending and Unbreaking?
Yes! Mending and Unbreaking are a powerful combination. Unbreaking increases the base durability of the item, reducing how often it needs to be repaired by Mending. Together, they create extremely durable gear.
6. Does Mending take away XP?
Yes, Mending uses experience points to repair your items. When you gain XP, the game automatically uses it to repair any damaged gear equipped with Mending. The rate is one durability point per one XP point, it is also random which tool will be mended.
7. How do I increase my chances of getting Mending?
- Fishing: Use a fishing rod with Luck of the Sea to increase the chance of obtaining enchanted books (including Mending).
- Villager Trading: Find a Librarian villager and keep refreshing their trades until they offer a Mending book. This may require breaking and replacing their lectern.
- Exploring Structures: Search chests in structures like strongholds, mineshafts, and temples.
8. Why isn’t my Mending pickaxe working?
Ensure you are gaining experience. Some tools (like pickaxes) naturally generate experience while being used (while others do not), or are wearing armor pieces that also have mending. To force mend these tools, remove any armor that isn’t fully mended. Then trade with villagers. This will help force the mending to work.
9. Is Mending or Infinity better for a bow?
This depends on your playstyle. Mending is generally preferred if you have a reliable source of arrows and XP. Infinity is better if you lack a good arrow source. However, Mending and Infinity are mutually exclusive; you can’t have both on the same bow.
10. What happens if I have multiple items with Mending?
If you have several items with Mending, only one is repaired at a time, chosen randomly. There is no priority system. The experience earned is randomly distributed among the damaged items. Mending does not select items that are already fully repaired.
11. Can Mending repair an Elytra?
Yes! This is one of the best uses for Mending. Elytra are difficult to repair using conventional methods, making Mending invaluable for keeping them in top condition.
12. Is Mending hard to get?
Yes, Mending is considered a rare enchantment. As a treasure enchantment, you cannot obtain it from the enchanting table. This can make it a very rare enchantment.
13. Is it worth putting Mending on everything?
While tempting, it’s not always necessary to put Mending on everything. Prioritize your most used and valuable items, like your pickaxe, armor, sword, and Elytra.
14. What are the chances of getting Mending 1?
The chances of obtaining a Mending enchanted book are low, around 0.8% when fishing. This makes it a valuable find.
15. Should you put Mending on an axe?
Yes, absolutely, especially for your primary axe! While not used as often as a pickaxe, an axe is crucial for gathering wood and can be a weapon in a pinch. Mending ensures it’s always ready.