I'm against setting up a house or shelter the first night. I usually spend the first day collecting wood and food. Then when night comes, I won't build a bed and sleep it away. Instead I find a cave or just dig down to get iron for tools (and armor if you like). when you emerge the next morning in iron gear, you can spend the next day exploring for a nice place to set up base.
1) Bucket of water - for breathing underwater, pushing away mobs, and lava.
2) Diamond sword (enchanted)
3) Enchanted Bow and 1 stack of arrows.
4) 1 stack of wood, and 1 stack of cobble or dirt.
5) Food, of course.
Building:
1) An entire set of diamond enchanted tools. + all of the above
Exploring:
1) Compass
2) Bed
3) Full stack of torches, additional stack of coal.
4) Map.
5) Enderchest, and silk touch pick.
6) All of the things from the first list.
I usually wander around and explore for quite a bit. Any caves I come across I'll get a few resources. When I find a village I will fence around it and settle there as a base, then build one of those breeding cells to get the population up, and then really start expanding the village.
My cave is in deep ocean. digging to the surface is not a solution.
If you carry a bucket with you for caving, you can empty and then fill it while you are underwater, and it resets your air. You can stay underwater indefinitely with a bucket.
I've only ever found 2 ice spike biomes. Desert temples seem pretty common. In order to find mesa biomes, try exploring the borders around desert and savannah biomes. Branch mining long tunnels allows you to come across abandon mine shafts more often than just randomly exploring.
I know what you mean. I intentionally "aggro" them by looking at their face. It seems to keep them around a bit longer, unless they hit water. You can also trade with the purple shirt villagers to get ender eyes. It may be quicker that way.
I've gotten several Sharpness III books, but I also caught a fishing rod that was better than the one I was using. It had Unbreaking III, Luck of the sea II, and Lure II. Also, tons of saddles.
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All the time:
1) Bucket of water - for breathing underwater, pushing away mobs, and lava.
2) Diamond sword (enchanted)
3) Enchanted Bow and 1 stack of arrows.
4) 1 stack of wood, and 1 stack of cobble or dirt.
5) Food, of course.
Building:
1) An entire set of diamond enchanted tools. + all of the above
Exploring:
1) Compass
2) Bed
3) Full stack of torches, additional stack of coal.
4) Map.
5) Enderchest, and silk touch pick.
6) All of the things from the first list.
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Develop more ocean, underwater enviroment, and mobs.
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Lions in Savannah.
Camels in the Desert.
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If you carry a bucket with you for caving, you can empty and then fill it while you are underwater, and it resets your air. You can stay underwater indefinitely with a bucket.
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Level 11 will keep you above lava pools and therefore make it easier to branch mine, however I tend to find more Diamonds below that level.