I saw a recent thread about too expensive enchanting, but it was a bit over my head.
Can anyone recommend a book, blogpost, video, etc. anywhere that is comprehensive in explaining the best way to enchant items most efficiently? I've viewed some videos and placed some useful enchantments on my tools, weapons and armor, but I don't know if I am doing it right. I have only been enchanting iron stuff because I have too little diamond to experiment with it.
Some basic questions about enchanting I haven't found an answer to yet:
Why does my item sometimes only receive one enchantment at the enchantment table (the one listed in the dialog box) and other times it gets an additional second enchantment? Is there a way to ensure that a second enchantment will be applied?
Why does the enchantment table dialog box sometimes list the same enchantment twice? For example the choices might be
1) Sharpness I
2) Unbreaking II
3) Unbreaking II
Selection number 3) costs more, but it is the same enchantment. Is there a reason to choose it over selection 2)?
I have been enchanting identical separate items (e.g. iron pickaxe) at the enchanting table and then combining them at an anvil. Is this the wrong way to go about it? Should I be trying to obtain enchanted books and use them instead to enchant my items?
From my own personal experience, I'll tell you everything I know. So as far as your question about the second enchantment from the enchantment table, those are referred to as 'bonus enchants' because you can get multiple enchantments. It's not guaranteed every time, nor does it show you what bonus enchantment you'll get if any; there's no way to disable the extra enchantments you might get.
I've never seen it list the same enchantment twice in one session but that's not a bug, unfortunately it's just part of the game. If you're looking for a specific enchantment to put on your gear, either enchant books until you get the enchantment you want or enchant crappy gear you don't care about until you see the enchantment you want. The first option is more efficient though since you can use those books, so I'd stick with that. But to fully answer your question, the only reason you might want to choose the third tier enchantment over the second tier one is because it offers the highest chance of giving you bonus enchantments. Beyond that there's no other benefits.
There's not really a 'wrong' way to go about enchanting but there's certainly ways that are more efficient and preferred over others. If you're enchanting some gear that will likely be lost on some sort of kamikaze mission in the nether, it doesn't really matter how you want to go about it. If you're goal is making longterm gear, you need to start from scratch. So for example, let's say you want to enchant a chestplate to the maximum. What you'll want to do is start out with a brand new chestplate that hasn't ever been fixed or had anything done to it in an anvil. Next you'll want to get a bunch of levels and enchant books at the third tier (level 30) until you have your protection IV and unbreaking III books. You can't get the mending enchantment from an enchantment table so you'll need to either find one in a naturally generated chest or trade librarians for one. Once you have the chestplate and those three books, in an anvil, apply the largest level enchantment first, which would be protection IV. Proceed to apply unbreaking and then mending, basically just going from the highest to lowest level. If you don't do it that way you risk the stupid "too expensive" tag. In the case you're enchant, say, a sword, the highest enchantment is sharpness V. Enchantment tables only offer level IV enchantments at maximum so you would need to get two sharpness IV books and combine them in an anvil to get sharpness V. Do not combine low level books into high level books. Basically the more you combine books and gear in an anvil, the more expensive it gets each time, until it reaches level 39 which is the maximum.
I know that was a crapton of information and as funny as it sounds that's barely scratching the surface. That was the basic run-down of how it works but you can reference the wiki for help or if it's unclear message me and I'll help you out.
From my own personal experience, I'll tell you everything I know. So as far as your question about the second enchantment from the enchantment table, those are referred to as 'bonus enchants' because you can get multiple enchantments. It's not guaranteed every time, nor does it show you what bonus enchantment you'll get if any; there's no way to disable the extra enchantments you might get.
I've never seen it list the same enchantment twice in one session but that's not a bug, unfortunately it's just part of the game. If you're looking for a specific enchantment to put on your gear, either enchant books until you get the enchantment you want or enchant crappy gear you don't care about until you see the enchantment you want. The first option is more efficient though since you can use those books, so I'd stick with that. But to fully answer your question, the only reason you might want to choose the third tier enchantment over the second tier one is because the third tier offers the highest chance of giving you bonus enchantments. Beyond that there's no other benefits.
There's not really a 'wrong' way to go about enchanting but there's certainly ways that are more efficient and preferred over others. If you're enchanting some gear that will likely be lost on some sort of kamikaze mission in the nether, it doesn't really matter how you want to go about it. If you're goal is making longterm gear, you need to start from scratch. So for example, let's say you want to enchant a chestplate to the maximum. What you'll want to do is start out with a brand new chestplate that hasn't ever been fixed or had anything done to it in an anvil. Next you'll want to get a bunch of levels and enchant books at the third tier (level 30) until you have your protection IV and unbreaking III books. You can't get the mending enchantment from an enchantment table so you'll need to either find one in a naturally generated chest or trade librarians for one. Once you have the chestplate and those three books, in an anvil, apply the largest level enchantment first, which would be protection IV. Proceed to apply unbreaking and then mending, basically just going from the highest to lowest level. If you don't do it that way you risk the stupid "too expensive" tag. In the case you're enchant, say, a sword, the highest enchantment is sharpness V. Enchantment tables only offer level IV enchantments at maximum so you would need to get two sharpness IV books and combine them in an anvil to get sharpness V. Do not combine low level books into high level books. Basically the more you combine books and gear in an anvil, the more expensive it gets each time, until it reaches level 39 which is the maximum.
I know that was a crapton of information and as funny as it sounds that's barely scratching the surface. That was the basic run-down of how it works but you can reference the wiki for help or if it's unclear message me and I'll help you out.
Thank you so much for this information! It really helped me to understand what was going on. I am bookmarking your post so I can find it quickly again. :-)
Thank you so much for this information! It really helped me to understand what was going on. I am bookmarking your post so I can find it quickly again. :-)
Also forgot to mention how crucial it is to have a fast source of exp. If you're going for maxed out gear, don't do it without an enderman farm. I'll link you to a great design by ilmango. Super cheap and quick to set up. Exp will be the last thing you ever worry about again with this baby. I use this design and I can get up to level 80 in about 20-30 minutes.
>Why does my item sometimes only receive one enchantment and other times it gets an additional second enchantment?
Random chance.
>Is there a way to ensure that a second enchantment will be applied?
No
>Why does the enchantment table dialog box sometimes list the same enchantment twice?
Because the randomly selected enchant for that level happens to be the same
>2) Unbreaking II
>3) Unbreaking II
>Selection number 3) costs more, but it is the same enchantment. Is there a reason to choose it over selection 2)?
Yes, there's more chance of (better) additional enchantments
>combining them at an anvil. Is this the wrong way to go about it? Should I be trying to obtain enchanted books and use them instead to enchant my items?
Not really. Mostly, just enchant the items or books at level 30.
Depending how many resources you have... for example, you might find it "expensive" to enchant diamond chestplates, get bad enchants, and throw them; so you could try to get the enchant on books instead (although it is a lower chance, because the book can give so many other enchants)
Combining is good sometimes,
1. Very early game, low level enchants...combine level 1 to get level 2 protection/sharpness/power bow
2. Getting the things you cannot get otherwise. e.g. 2 x eff 4 to get eff 5; same for power 5, and (almost always) sharp 5/smite 5
3. Books
...and of course, getting what you actually want - like, if you have inf on one bow, and unb 3/power 5 on another.
...and/or repairs
Other than that, I wouldn't. It's best to enchant at level 30. But it kinda depends on your source of exp, and how grindy it is.
I saw a recent thread about too expensive enchanting, but it was a bit over my head.
Can anyone recommend a book, blogpost, video, etc. anywhere that is comprehensive in explaining the best way to enchant items most efficiently? I've viewed some videos and placed some useful enchantments on my tools, weapons and armor, but I don't know if I am doing it right. I have only been enchanting iron stuff because I have too little diamond to experiment with it.
Some basic questions about enchanting I haven't found an answer to yet:
From my own personal experience, I'll tell you everything I know. So as far as your question about the second enchantment from the enchantment table, those are referred to as 'bonus enchants' because you can get multiple enchantments. It's not guaranteed every time, nor does it show you what bonus enchantment you'll get if any; there's no way to disable the extra enchantments you might get.
I've never seen it list the same enchantment twice in one session but that's not a bug, unfortunately it's just part of the game. If you're looking for a specific enchantment to put on your gear, either enchant books until you get the enchantment you want or enchant crappy gear you don't care about until you see the enchantment you want. The first option is more efficient though since you can use those books, so I'd stick with that. But to fully answer your question, the only reason you might want to choose the third tier enchantment over the second tier one is because it offers the highest chance of giving you bonus enchantments. Beyond that there's no other benefits.
There's not really a 'wrong' way to go about enchanting but there's certainly ways that are more efficient and preferred over others. If you're enchanting some gear that will likely be lost on some sort of kamikaze mission in the nether, it doesn't really matter how you want to go about it. If you're goal is making longterm gear, you need to start from scratch. So for example, let's say you want to enchant a chestplate to the maximum. What you'll want to do is start out with a brand new chestplate that hasn't ever been fixed or had anything done to it in an anvil. Next you'll want to get a bunch of levels and enchant books at the third tier (level 30) until you have your protection IV and unbreaking III books. You can't get the mending enchantment from an enchantment table so you'll need to either find one in a naturally generated chest or trade librarians for one. Once you have the chestplate and those three books, in an anvil, apply the largest level enchantment first, which would be protection IV. Proceed to apply unbreaking and then mending, basically just going from the highest to lowest level. If you don't do it that way you risk the stupid "too expensive" tag. In the case you're enchant, say, a sword, the highest enchantment is sharpness V. Enchantment tables only offer level IV enchantments at maximum so you would need to get two sharpness IV books and combine them in an anvil to get sharpness V. Do not combine low level books into high level books. Basically the more you combine books and gear in an anvil, the more expensive it gets each time, until it reaches level 39 which is the maximum.
I know that was a crapton of information and as funny as it sounds that's barely scratching the surface. That was the basic run-down of how it works but you can reference the wiki for help or if it's unclear message me and I'll help you out.
https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Enchanting
https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Anvil_mechanics
Thank you so much for this information! It really helped me to understand what was going on. I am bookmarking your post so I can find it quickly again. :-)
Also forgot to mention how crucial it is to have a fast source of exp. If you're going for maxed out gear, don't do it without an enderman farm. I'll link you to a great design by ilmango. Super cheap and quick to set up. Exp will be the last thing you ever worry about again with this baby. I use this design and I can get up to level 80 in about 20-30 minutes.
Thank you for the excellent advice!