Minecraft bow enchantments

The bow is one of the most important weapons in Minecraft, letting you take out enemies from a safe distance. A well-enchanted bow can be just as deadly as a sword, and in some situations even more effective: for example, when you fight the Ender Dragon while it's flying, or when you fend off skeletons from far away. In this chapter we cover every enchantment you can put on a bow, its strengths and weaknesses, and the key dilemma: Infinity or Mending.

Power: the foundation of every bow

Power is the bow's equivalent of Sharpness: it increases the base damage of every arrow. It comes in levels I to V, and each level adds 25% to the base damage. Power V gives a total bonus of +150% damage, so a fully drawn Power V bow deals as much as 25 damage (12.5 hearts) on a critical hit (an arrow shot at full draw).

For comparison, a plain bow with no enchantments deals at most 10 damage (5 hearts) on a fully drawn critical shot. Power V more than doubles that, letting you kill most common mobs with a single arrow: zombies, skeletons and spiders. It's an absolute must-have on any bow and should be the first enchantment you go for.

Punch: keep enemies at a distance

Punch I-II is the arrow version of Knockback on a sword. Each level pushes the mob you hit about 3 blocks farther back. Punch II knocks an enemy back more than 6 extra blocks, which gives you a big advantage when you want to keep a safe distance.

This enchantment is especially useful in a few situations. First, against creepers: hitting one with a Punch arrow pushes it back to a safe distance before it can explode. Second, in PvP (player versus player), Punch keeps your opponent away so they can't hit you with a sword. Third, you can use it to knock mobs off cliffs or into water or lava. The downside of Punch is that a knocked-back enemy can end up out of range of your next shots, which slows the fight down.

Flame: arrows that set targets on fire

Flame is a single-level enchantment that makes every arrow you shoot set its target on fire for 5 seconds, dealing a total of 4 extra fire damage. It works much like Fire Aspect on a sword, but at range. Animals killed while burning drop cooked meat, which comes in handy when you're hunting. Flaming arrows can also light TNT from a distance.

Flame has another advantage in the dark: a burning mob gives off light, so it's easier to track in caves and at night. Its drawbacks are that it's useless against fire-immune mobs (blazes, ghasts, magma cubes) and that you risk accidentally setting fire to wooden builds near your target. In the Nether, Flame does nothing against most of the mobs you'll meet.

Infinity: never run out of arrows

Infinity is one of the most convenient enchantments in the whole game. It lets you shoot as many times as you like, as long as you have at least one arrow in your inventory. That one arrow is never used up (though you can't pick up the arrows you shoot). You don't need to carry stacks of arrows, which frees up valuable inventory space for other items.

Infinity has one key limitation, though: it can't be combined with Mending. That means an Infinity bow slowly wears down and eventually breaks, even with Unbreaking III. You'll have to craft and enchant a new bow from time to time, or repair it on an anvil (which raises the prior work penalty). This dilemma is one of the most debated topics among Minecraft players.

Mending: endless durability at the cost of arrows

Mending repairs your bow with the experience you pick up: each XP point restores 2 durability points. Combined with Unbreaking III, a Mending bow is practically indestructible. The catch is that Mending rules out Infinity, so you have to carry arrows with you, which means restocking regularly.

Most experienced players end up choosing Mending over Infinity, and here's why. Making arrows is trivial: all you need is flint (from digging gravel), sticks and feathers (from chickens). A simple chicken farm gives you a practically endless supply of arrows with no effort at all. On the other hand, losing a fully enchanted bow with Power V + Flame + Punch II + Unbreaking III hurts, and getting that gear back takes a lot of work. Mending removes that risk completely.

Unbreaking: protecting your bow's durability

Unbreaking III is a must on every bow, whether you went with Infinity or Mending. It gives a 75% chance that a shot won't cost a durability point, which effectively makes the bow last four times as long. A bow without Unbreaking has 384 durability points (384 shots), while with Unbreaking III it lasts for about 1,536 shots, a huge difference.

If you chose Infinity, Unbreaking III is even more critical, because without Mending it's the only enchantment protecting your bow's durability. And if you have Mending, Unbreaking III means fewer repairs, so more of your XP goes toward levels instead of fixing your weapon.

The best bow build: what to choose

There are two main ways to build a bow, and both work equally well:

• Convenience build: Power V + Flame + Punch II + Infinity + Unbreaking III. You don't have to carry arrows, but the bow wears out and needs replacing. Good for players who explore a lot and don't want to worry about their arrow supply.
• Durability build: Power V + Flame + Punch II + Mending + Unbreaking III. The bow lasts forever, but you need arrows. It's the better choice in the long run, especially if you have an XP farm and a chicken farm.

Whichever build you pick, Power V and Flame are essential. Punch II is optional: some players prefer no knockback so they can finish off targets faster with follow-up shots. The bow is a powerful ranged weapon that, with good enchantments, can compete with anything else Minecraft has to offer.