Optimal order for combining enchantments

The order in which you combine enchantments on an anvil is one of the most advanced parts of the enchanting system in Minecraft. With the wrong order, after a few operations you'll see the "Too Expensive!" message and won't be able to add any more enchantments to the item. With the right order, you can put 7 or more enchantments on one item without going over the limit. In this chapter we explain the math behind the prior work penalty and give you ready-made combining schemes for the most popular builds.

Why the order matters

As we mentioned in the chapter on the anvil, every anvil operation raises the item's prior work penalty. The penalty grows exponentially: 0, 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63. The anvil's cost limit is 39 levels: if the total cost of an operation (penalty + enchantment costs) goes over that, the anvil refuses to do the job.

The key point: the penalties of the target item and of the item you sacrifice are added together. If you combine a sword with a penalty of 7 and a book with a penalty of 3, the new sword gets a penalty of 15 (prior work = max(7,3)*2+1 = 15). That means the fewer operations the target item goes through, the lower its penalty and the more enchantments you can add.

The tournament bracket method

The most efficient strategy is to combine enchantments in a structure that looks like a tournament bracket. Instead of adding enchanted books to the item one after another, you first combine the books with each other in pairs, then combine the results of those pairs, and only at the very end combine the "super book" with the target item.

Let's compare two approaches for a sword with 6 enchantments:

Bad approach (sequential): Sword + Book 1, result + Book 2, result + Book 3... After 6 operations the sword has a penalty of 63, far over the 39-level limit.

Good approach (tournament):

1. Round 1: Book A + Book B = AB (penalty 1), Book C + Book D = CD (penalty 1), Book E + Book F = EF (penalty 1)
2. Round 2: AB + CD = ABCD (penalty 3), EF waits on its own (penalty 1)
3. Round 3: ABCD + EF = ABCDEF (penalty 7)
4. Final: Sword + ABCDEF = finished sword (just 1 operation on the sword)

In this scheme the sword goes through only 1 operation on the anvil (combining it with the super book). The super book has a penalty of 7, so this final step costs 7 levels plus the enchantment costs, well below the 39-level limit.

Combining scheme for the perfect sword

For a sword with 7 enchantments (Sharpness V, Looting III, Unbreaking III, Mending, Fire Aspect II, Sweeping Edge III, Knockback II), the optimal scheme looks like this:

1. Sharpness V + Sweeping Edge III = Book A
2. Looting III + Unbreaking III = Book B
3. Fire Aspect II + Knockback II = Book C
4. Book A + Book B = Book D
5. Sword + Book D = Sword' (the sword now has 4 enchantments)
6. Book C + Mending = Book E
7. Sword' + Book E = final sword (7 enchantments)

The sword goes through only 2 operations on the anvil. You can even add another enchantment later if you ever need to.

Combining scheme for a full set of armor

For each piece of armor with Protection IV + Unbreaking III + Mending (3 enchantments), the scheme is simple:

1. Protection IV + Unbreaking III = Book A
2. Armor + Book A = Armor'
3. Armor' + Mending = final armor

For boots with extra enchantments (Feather Falling IV and Depth Strider III, 5 enchantments in total):

1. Protection IV + Feather Falling IV = Book A
2. Unbreaking III + Depth Strider III = Book B
3. Book A + Book B = Book C
4. Boots + Book C = Boots'
5. Boots' + Mending = final boots

Combining scheme for pickaxes

For a pickaxe with Efficiency V + Fortune III + Unbreaking III + Mending (4 enchantments):

1. Efficiency V + Fortune III = Book A
2. Unbreaking III + Mending = Book B
3. Book A + Book B = Book C
4. Pickaxe + Book C = final pickaxe (just 1 operation on the pickaxe!)

For a pickaxe with Silk Touch instead of Fortune, swap Fortune III for Silk Touch in the scheme above.

General optimization rules

The examples above boil down to a few universal rules:

• Minimize operations on the target item. The fewer times your sword, pickaxe or armor goes through the anvil, the lower the penalty and the more room you have for the future.
• Combine books in pairs before you apply them to the item.
• Apply the more expensive enchantments earlier. An enchantment's cost on the anvil depends on its multiplier: some enchantments are "more expensive" than others. Sharpness V costs 5 levels, Mending 2, Unbreaking III 3. Add the more expensive enchantments while the penalty is still low.
• Avoid unnecessary operations. Every repair with materials and every added enchantment raises the penalty. Plan everything in advance.
• Enchant at the table before you use the anvil. If the enchanting table gives you a few useful enchantments (for example Sharpness IV + Unbreaking III), you'll need fewer anvil operations to add the missing ones.

Helper tools

Planning the best combining order can get complicated, especially for items with 6-7 enchantments. Fortunately, there are online tools (enchantment calculators) that work out the cheapest combining order automatically. Just enter the list of enchantments, and the calculator generates the best scheme with the exact XP cost of every step.

If you'd rather do it by hand, write the scheme down on a piece of paper before you start working at the anvil. One mistake can waste lots of valuable enchanted books and hours of collecting experience. This matters most on multiplayer servers, where resources are limited and losing a full set of sword enchantments can be a disaster.