You’re staring at that diamond blade, or maybe it’s netherite if you’ve been grinding, and you realize it’s basically a butter knife without the right magic. Honestly, the difference between a raw sword and one glowing with purple energy is night and day. You go from struggling with a single spider to feeling like a literal god of the Overworld. But Minecraft doesn't exactly hold your hand here. If you slap the wrong stuff on your weapon, you've basically wasted thirty levels and a perfectly good piece of gear.
Everyone talks about "maxing out" their gear, yet most players end up with a mess of conflicting spells. You can't have everything. The game literally won’t let you.
The Damage Dilemma: Sharpness vs. The Rest
This is where most people trip up immediately. You have three primary damage-boosting enchantments, and you can only pick one. It’s a hard choice. Sharpness is the old reliable. It adds extra damage to everything—players, cows, zombies, whatever. At level V, a Netherite sword with Sharpness is doing serious work.
But then you have Smite.
Most players sleep on Smite because it doesn't help with PVP or Creepers. That’s a mistake. Smite V adds a massive $12.5$ ($2.5$ per level) damage specifically to undead mobs. We’re talking Wither Skeletons, Zombies, and the Wither boss himself. If you’re planning on farming Beacons, a Smite V sword is actually better than Sharpness. It’s specialized.
Then there’s Bane of Arthropods. Just... don't. Unless you have a very specific spider farm that requires a dedicated tool, it’s generally considered the "trash" pull from an enchantment table. It affects spiders, cave spiders, bees, and silverfish. Most of those die quickly anyway. Why waste the slot?
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Keeping the Blade Alive: Mending and Unbreaking
If you aren't using Mending, are you even playing the same game? It’s arguably the most broken mechanic in Minecraft. Instead of your sword losing durability until it snaps, it eats the XP orbs you collect from kills to repair itself. It makes your weapon immortal. You’ll never need to craft another sword again.
Pair this with Unbreaking III.
Unbreaking doesn’t technically "add" durability. It just gives the item a chance to not reduce durability when you use it. Combined with Mending, your sword stays at full health almost indefinitely. You’ll be slashing through a pillager raid and watch the green bar at the bottom of your item icon just zip back to the top. It’s satisfying.
The Utility Spells: Fire, Knockback, and Looting
Let's talk about Fire Aspect. People love it or hate it. It sets mobs on fire, which is great for extra damage and getting cooked meat from cows or pigs instantly. But it’s a nightmare in the End. If you hit an Enderman with Fire Aspect, he’s going to teleport around like a caffeinated glitch, making him impossible to hit. Also, if a burning zombie touches you? You’re on fire too. Think before you click.
Knockback is another polarizing one.
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- It keeps Creepers away from your face.
- It makes fighting Skeletons a total chore because you have to keep chasing them down.
- In PVP, it’s great for pushing people off ledges but bad for landing "combos."
Looting III is the non-negotiable king of utility. If you want Ender Pearls, Wither Skulls, or even just extra leather, you need this. It increases the drop rates and the maximum number of items dropped. It’s usually the first thing I look for after I get my basic damage sorted.
Sweeping Edge: The Java Special
If you're on Bedrock Edition, skip this. You don't have it. For Java players, Sweeping Edge is a game-changer. It increases the damage of your "sweep" attack. This is what makes mob grinders efficient. When you have thirty zombies in a 1x1 hole, one swing with Sweeping Edge III clears the whole lot. Without it, the "splash" damage is pitiful.
The Optimal Build Order
You can’t just throw books at an anvil forever. The "Too Expensive!" error is the bane of every late-game player. Every time you use an anvil on an item, the "work penalty" doubles. If you do it six times, the item is basically locked.
The trick is the "pyramid" method. Don't add books one by one to the sword. Combine books together first. Combine a Sharpness IV with another Sharpness IV to get V. Combine Looting and Mending. Then, take those combined books and put them on the sword. This keeps the work count low.
The "God Sword" Checklist:
- Sharpness V (or Smite V if you're a Wither hunter)
- Unbreaking III
- Mending
- Looting III
- Sweeping Edge III (Java only)
- Fire Aspect II (Optional, use with caution)
- Knockback II (Optional, usually annoying)
Why "Too Expensive" Happens
Minecraft tracks how many times an item has been through an anvil. This is a hidden value called the RepairCost. Every time you work on the item, the cost to work on it again goes up. Once that cost hits 40 levels, the game refuses to let you touch it again. This is why Mending is so vital; it bypasses the need to ever use an anvil for repairs, effectively freezing the sword in its perfect state.
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If you mess up and get the "Too Expensive" message before you’re done, your only real option is to grind the enchantments off with a Grindstone and start over. You get some XP back, but you lose the books. It hurts.
Final Practical Steps for Your Armory
To get the best possible sword, start by using the Enchantment Table first. Reset the table by enchanting wooden shovels at level one until you see "Sharpness IV" or "Looting III" as a guaranteed drop for the sword. This saves you from having to find or craft those expensive books later. Once you have a base sword with 2-3 solid enchantments, use an Anvil to bridge the gaps with specific enchanted books you've traded from Villagers.
Villager trading is the most reliable way to get Mending. Don't rely on luck in jungle temples or fishing. Trap a Librarian, give him a lectern, and break/replace it until he offers Mending for a handful of emeralds. It’s tedious, but it’s the only way to ensure your gear survives the long haul.
Once your sword has Sharpness, Looting, Mending, and Unbreaking, you're essentially playing a different game. The mobs stop being a threat and start being a resource.