Since I started playing minecraft 4 years ago I have only ever played hardcore mode. I number my saves sequintialy to keep track of the number of attempts. The goal of course is to beat the ender dragon. I am on attempt 287 with my highest score at 23,000. Do I just suck at this game or is Hardcore mode a real challange? Any tips to stay alive is appreciated.
I'm not sure if you suck or not, but Hardcore is a real challenge. BTW I have yet to go and beat the Ender Dragon, even on simple "Hard" mode.
Tips for staying alive (and forgive me for being a bit flip):
Don't fall
Always have an exit strategy wherever you are. I've been in a cave before where one mob at a time was super simple, but then 3 zombies came along and soon I was dead. It happened because I was confident I could kill them. If I had ran, or even sallied back and forth in attacking, I could have been OK.
BTW, do you have a feeling for a breakdown on types of death so far? Like, is it 60% falling, 20% lava, 20% mobs, etc? If you can find your main "killer", that will help in future avoidance.
Re: the bucket. I've seen people save themselves from falls by quickly dumping the water in front of them. I've never been quick enough for that. So another tip might be to practice life-saving tips in creative mode.
One thing I've learned is don't play unless you're in a mindset appropriate for playing hardcore.
Sleepy? Drunk? Sick? Just bored and not really into playing at the moment? Ticked off at the world? Mind preoccupied with other things? Don't play hardcore, at least not in a world in which you really don't want to die. I play like that sometimes, but I don't care if I die. And, I do die.
While I have never played Hardcore it is no different from regular Survival except you only have one life, and while I've also never played on Hard or in newer versions (1.9+), aside from some playing around (the only thing I'd do different in 1.9 is add Blast Protection to my still less than maxed-out armor to offset armor penetration, which is mainly only relevant for explosions due to their damage), the only real difference is that mobs deal 1.5 times more damage (in most cases; some damage, including most non-mob damage, is not affected) than on Normal, and since I do not wear maxed-out armor I can easily upgrade it; in fact, enough to offset not just the increase in damage on Hard but the increased difficulty and armor penetration in 1.9+ (that said, some say that the dragon is easier to kill since 1.9), then there are my modded worlds where "Normal" difficulty is harder than Hard in some ways (many more armored mobs with better enchantments, no regional difficulty (instead it rises to a constant 100% after 100 hours), creepers that do not stop moving and can walk into you before exploding, less effective armor, Hard-only effects on all difficulties and with higher chances, 1.9-like attack cooldown, etc).
In my most recent world I accumulated over 700,000 XP, mostly from "natural" (no XP farms) mob kills and mining, without dying even once in more than 22 real-life days of playtime (the closest I came was from a creeper before I had any armor, which left me at around 2 hearts; I've also gone down to half a heart from poison but after I made a shelter so that doesn't count, and 1.9 significantly nerfed poison, as well as fire (burning), by making health regenerate faster than you can lose it from those sources; even unenchanted diamond armor reduces lava damage to less than half a heart every half second (not including time taken to eat), buying you more time):
(my main armor is a chestplate, leggings, and boots, plus helmets dropped by mobs; the armor I have here offers 56.7% base damage reduction plus 45% additional protection from enchantments for 76.17% total, less than full unenchanted diamond armor in vanilla (in this mod full armor points (amethyst armor) is 66.7% damage reduction and diamond is only 60%, the same as iron in vanilla, iron is 50%, and so on).
Given this, 287 failed attempts (I've only had around a dozen worlds myself) makes it sounds like you keep doing something wrong, such as not getting full enchanted diamond armor (I highly suggest Protection IV on 3 pieces and Blast Protection IV on the fourth, plus Feather Falling IV on boots), or using Fire Resistance potions, which offer full immunity to fire or lava, which sounds like it is a big problem based on your second post (when I first enter the Nether I am very careful until I can get a couple Blaze rods so I can get Fire Resistance; of course, I still treat them as an emergency measure and I'm careful to avoid cliffs (falling) and prefer to explore sheltered areas to avoid Ghasts. When caving I use a water bucket on any lava lakes that I see, including pouring it down deep caves and ravines; it is better to eliminate the possibility of falling in than try to save yourself after the fact. Caves are also best explored form the top-down so you have the upper hand over mobs, which will have to climb up and are easier to block off - or not at all; I get my first resources from branch-mining since it is much more effective for finding diamonds as well as safer).
Since I started playing minecraft 4 years ago I have only ever played hardcore mode. I number my saves sequintialy to keep track of the number of attempts. The goal of course is to beat the ender dragon. I am on attempt 287 with my highest score at 23,000. Do I just suck at this game or is Hardcore mode a real challange? Any tips to stay alive is appreciated.
I'm not sure if you suck or not, but Hardcore is a real challenge. BTW I have yet to go and beat the Ender Dragon, even on simple "Hard" mode.
Tips for staying alive (and forgive me for being a bit flip):
Don't fall
Always have an exit strategy wherever you are. I've been in a cave before where one mob at a time was super simple, but then 3 zombies came along and soon I was dead. It happened because I was confident I could kill them. If I had ran, or even sallied back and forth in attacking, I could have been OK.
Always have torches and a bucket of water.
Good tips. What are some other options for fire prevention? I always carry a bucket but on my last save that didnt work out.
BTW, do you have a feeling for a breakdown on types of death so far? Like, is it 60% falling, 20% lava, 20% mobs, etc? If you can find your main "killer", that will help in future avoidance.
Re: the bucket. I've seen people save themselves from falls by quickly dumping the water in front of them. I've never been quick enough for that. So another tip might be to practice life-saving tips in creative mode.
One thing I've learned is don't play unless you're in a mindset appropriate for playing hardcore.
Sleepy? Drunk? Sick? Just bored and not really into playing at the moment? Ticked off at the world? Mind preoccupied with other things? Don't play hardcore, at least not in a world in which you really don't want to die. I play like that sometimes, but I don't care if I die. And, I do die.
My short story-like journals; quick-and-easy reads:
My Quest for Elytra Complete! (Pic Intense, End-Game Spoilers)
[Journal & Pics] After a Year and a Half, I Finally Found a Jungle
FrozenCore: Hardcore Death; 3/20/15 to 5/3/15; Eight Weeks on a Frozen World in Pictures
While I have never played Hardcore it is no different from regular Survival except you only have one life, and while I've also never played on Hard or in newer versions (1.9+), aside from some playing around (the only thing I'd do different in 1.9 is add Blast Protection to my still less than maxed-out armor to offset armor penetration, which is mainly only relevant for explosions due to their damage), the only real difference is that mobs deal 1.5 times more damage (in most cases; some damage, including most non-mob damage, is not affected) than on Normal, and since I do not wear maxed-out armor I can easily upgrade it; in fact, enough to offset not just the increase in damage on Hard but the increased difficulty and armor penetration in 1.9+ (that said, some say that the dragon is easier to kill since 1.9), then there are my modded worlds where "Normal" difficulty is harder than Hard in some ways (many more armored mobs with better enchantments, no regional difficulty (instead it rises to a constant 100% after 100 hours), creepers that do not stop moving and can walk into you before exploding, less effective armor, Hard-only effects on all difficulties and with higher chances, 1.9-like attack cooldown, etc).
In my most recent world I accumulated over 700,000 XP, mostly from "natural" (no XP farms) mob kills and mining, without dying even once in more than 22 real-life days of playtime (the closest I came was from a creeper before I had any armor, which left me at around 2 hearts; I've also gone down to half a heart from poison but after I made a shelter so that doesn't count, and 1.9 significantly nerfed poison, as well as fire (burning), by making health regenerate faster than you can lose it from those sources; even unenchanted diamond armor reduces lava damage to less than half a heart every half second (not including time taken to eat), buying you more time):
(my main armor is a chestplate, leggings, and boots, plus helmets dropped by mobs; the armor I have here offers 56.7% base damage reduction plus 45% additional protection from enchantments for 76.17% total, less than full unenchanted diamond armor in vanilla (in this mod full armor points (amethyst armor) is 66.7% damage reduction and diamond is only 60%, the same as iron in vanilla, iron is 50%, and so on).
Given this, 287 failed attempts (I've only had around a dozen worlds myself) makes it sounds like you keep doing something wrong, such as not getting full enchanted diamond armor (I highly suggest Protection IV on 3 pieces and Blast Protection IV on the fourth, plus Feather Falling IV on boots), or using Fire Resistance potions, which offer full immunity to fire or lava, which sounds like it is a big problem based on your second post (when I first enter the Nether I am very careful until I can get a couple Blaze rods so I can get Fire Resistance; of course, I still treat them as an emergency measure and I'm careful to avoid cliffs (falling) and prefer to explore sheltered areas to avoid Ghasts. When caving I use a water bucket on any lava lakes that I see, including pouring it down deep caves and ravines; it is better to eliminate the possibility of falling in than try to save yourself after the fact. Caves are also best explored form the top-down so you have the upper hand over mobs, which will have to climb up and are easier to block off - or not at all; I get my first resources from branch-mining since it is much more effective for finding diamonds as well as safer).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?