This is information that might have already been posted and or eventually turn into a rambling rant about how enchanting is currently broken but I'm gonna go ahead.
(me with a full set of enchanted everything a little under an hour after starting a new map,)
In order to enchant most effectively I've come up with a couple of simple rules:
1. Try not to hoard too much XP, spend often
2. Never spend more than 1 point on each enchantment (all that time growing reeds and making bookselves? yeah you probably won't need them)
3. If you decide to break rules 1 and 2 then go big or go home, spend everything you have on one enchantment. If you can only do this on diamond things that won't break quickly.
The first thing you need to know about experience is that each level you get above number zero becomes exponentially more valuable, but at the enchanting table they are each worth the same. Having lots of experience is like flashing your cash to a really slimy salesman. "That's a lot of cash you have there little Timmy, you say you want to buy 10 candy bars? Well too bad, because they cost $10 each now."
According to the wiki moving from level 0 to level 1 costs 7 experience orbs, meanwhile moving from level 20 to level 21 costs 77! You don't want to go there only to be randomly given some lame enchantments for something that will break soon anyways.
However, on the other end of the equation 7 experience orbs is practically nothing (2 monsters?) and even the weakest enchantments in the game will improve anything you have by 15-20% which is what you really want in a game where everything is temporary.
See that iron sword I have? That has a "sharpness I" enchantment (the one you almost always get from enchanting weapons) meaning it does 3.5-4.5 hearts of base damage. For comparison that diamond sword I could have made instead of an enchantment table would only do 3.5 hearts. So yes, my iron is now equal to or better than diamonds. Especially important is the bow, spending 1 experience point will most likely get you the "Power I enchantment," this means that your bow will only take 2 hits to kill rather than three and you won't believe how much of a difference this makes.
"But spending more points on an enchantment means I'll get something better right?"
Ha ha, not really at all.
One of the big reasons enchantments are so random is this: Item enchantability
(Check the minecraft wiki)
Material Armor enchantability Sword/Tool enchantability
Wood N/A 15
Leather 15 N/A
Stone N/A 5
Iron 9 14
Chain 12 N/A
Diamond 10 10
Gold 25 22
Hrmm, hitting space just now posted everything early
What it means is that you get to add a random number to how many XP levels you spend depending on the material of what you're enchanting.
So for instance, spending 1 point to enchant a wooden sword will produce an enchantment worth anything from 2-16 points.
This means that gold, wood, leather, and even iron have a pretty good chance of getting tier II or even multiple enchantments!
Here's a bit of fun math, you could spend 10 xp levels on one wooden sword for an equivalent cost of 225 orbs, or you could enchant 20 different wooden swords one at a time for an equivalent cost of 140 orbs. And there's still a very high chance that at least one of them will have a much better enchantment then what you got spending many orbs at once.
In conclusion, having experience become more expensive exponentially is lame and its currently much better to enchant everything you have for cheap than one item at a massive cost.
Well I already broke the rules :tongue.gif: I'm rapidly approaching 50 and I'm thinking of enchanting a diamond sword. I will backup my map and keep trying until I get something awesome. What in your opinion is the most effective enchantment(s)? should I not bother with a sword and do a pick or bow? I have plenty of arrows.
Precisely! High level enchanting is not at all worth it. Not because the powers are bad, but levelling up is an extremely slow procedure. And as you say, the payment is exponentially increasing, still the powers are following a linear pattern.
It would be a little more realistic if a big purchase was more advantageous than a smaller one.
(me with a full set of enchanted everything a little under an hour after starting a new map,)
In order to enchant most effectively I've come up with a couple of simple rules:
1. Try not to hoard too much XP, spend often
2. Never spend more than 1 point on each enchantment (all that time growing reeds and making bookselves? yeah you probably won't need them)
3. If you decide to break rules 1 and 2 then go big or go home, spend everything you have on one enchantment. If you can only do this on diamond things that won't break quickly.
The first thing you need to know about experience is that each level you get above number zero becomes exponentially more valuable, but at the enchanting table they are each worth the same. Having lots of experience is like flashing your cash to a really slimy salesman. "That's a lot of cash you have there little Timmy, you say you want to buy 10 candy bars? Well too bad, because they cost $10 each now."
According to the wiki moving from level 0 to level 1 costs 7 experience orbs, meanwhile moving from level 20 to level 21 costs 77! You don't want to go there only to be randomly given some lame enchantments for something that will break soon anyways.
However, on the other end of the equation 7 experience orbs is practically nothing (2 monsters?) and even the weakest enchantments in the game will improve anything you have by 15-20% which is what you really want in a game where everything is temporary.
See that iron sword I have? That has a "sharpness I" enchantment (the one you almost always get from enchanting weapons) meaning it does 3.5-4.5 hearts of base damage. For comparison that diamond sword I could have made instead of an enchantment table would only do 3.5 hearts. So yes, my iron is now equal to or better than diamonds. Especially important is the bow, spending 1 experience point will most likely get you the "Power I enchantment," this means that your bow will only take 2 hits to kill rather than three and you won't believe how much of a difference this makes.
"But spending more points on an enchantment means I'll get something better right?"
Ha ha, not really at all.
One of the big reasons enchantments are so random is this: Item enchantability
(Check the minecraft wiki)
Material Armor enchantability Sword/Tool enchantability
Wood N/A 15
Leather 15 N/A
Stone N/A 5
Iron 9 14
Chain 12 N/A
Diamond 10 10
Gold 25 22
Hrmm, hitting space just now posted everything early
What it means is that you get to add a random number to how many XP levels you spend depending on the material of what you're enchanting.
So for instance, spending 1 point to enchant a wooden sword will produce an enchantment worth anything from 2-16 points.
This means that gold, wood, leather, and even iron have a pretty good chance of getting tier II or even multiple enchantments!
Here's a bit of fun math, you could spend 10 xp levels on one wooden sword for an equivalent cost of 225 orbs, or you could enchant 20 different wooden swords one at a time for an equivalent cost of 140 orbs. And there's still a very high chance that at least one of them will have a much better enchantment then what you got spending many orbs at once.
In conclusion, having experience become more expensive exponentially is lame and its currently much better to enchant everything you have for cheap than one item at a massive cost.
It would be a little more realistic if a big purchase was more advantageous than a smaller one.
A perfect elucidation you did there!