One of the main goals in playing a survival game mode in Minecraft is to defeat the strongest and final boss, which is the Ender Dragon. The Ender Dragon is one of the two main bosses—the Ender Dragon and the Wither—in the game and is the largest and most difficult boss to defeat. But once the player completes the task of killing the Ender Dragon, they will be shown the end credits, marking the game as complete.
But it is worth noting once a player reaches the End, there is no other way to return home other than dying or killing the Ender Dragon. Therefore, defeating the Ender Dragon is a must and is one of the most important quests in the game. It ultimately grants a player access to the End’s outer islands through an end gateway portal where end cities and shulkers can be located. This guide will teach you all you need to know about what to bring and how to prepare yourself to fight the Ender Dragon in Minecraft to gain all the available rewards after defeating the most powerful boss mob.
How to Prepare for the Ender Dragon Fight in Minecraft?
To defeat the Ender Dragon successfully and live to tell the tale, you will first need to equip proper gear to protect yourself. We have listed a few items as must-haves when attempting to kill the Ender Dragon. Note that not all of these items are required. However, bringing them will make your fight substantially easier. Remember to make sure that you are adequately equipped with the right gear before jumping into the end portal, as the only way back is to either defeat the Ender Dragon or die.
- Sword: The sword is your primary weapon and should be brought with you at all times. You should have a diamond or netherite sword when fighting the Ender Dragon as these two sword tiers deal the strongest damage. The sword will be used to attack the Ender Dragon once it lands on its perch since it becomes immune to ranged attacks during this time, and it can also be used to defend yourself against endermen attacks as they tend to swarm a player once provoked. You should also enchant your sword with the sharpness V enchantment as it greatly increases your sword’s base attack damage.
- Axe: Another weapon alternative to the sword is an axe. Axes are melee weapons that deal just as much damage to enemies as a sword, if not more. If you plan on bringing an axe with you, make sure it is either a diamond or a netherite axe as these two weapon tiers have the highest base attack damage in the game. Take note the axe is optional as axes have a slower recovery rate than swords.
- Bow: The bow is your secondary weapon and when fighting a flying mob like the Ender Dragon, bows are a must-have. The bow does not have any weapon tier unlike the sword and the axe, so, therefore, you should make use of its enchanting capabilities instead. One of the best enchantments a bow can have is the infinity enchantment as this enchantment allows you to shoot a single arrow unlimitedly. And for the Ender Dragon, an Infinity-enchanted bow should not be optional. However, if you do not have the infinity enchantment on your bow, the next best thing you should do is to bring at least 3 stacks of 64 arrows. Another enchantment that you should equip on your bow is the power enchantment. This enchantment is the bow-alternative enchantment to a sword and the sharpness enchantment and thus, greatly increases the bow’s base attack damage. This will come in handy when the Ender Dragon is flying as using a Power-enchanted bow will deal the most damage than using one without.
- Crossbow: An alternative for the bow is the crossbow. Crossbows have longer range than bows and these deal more damage. Unfortunately, crossbows cannot be enchanted with the Infinity enchantment and therefore, risk running out of arrows in the process. But you can enchant crossbows with the Multishot enchantment as this greatly increases the crossbow’s hit rate especially when the Ender Dragon is flying.
- Armor: Equipping yourself a full set of diamond or netherite armor is a must when fighting the Ender Dragon. Protecting yourself with armor allows you to survive longer since the Ender Dragon can shoot dragon breath as it deals the fourth strongest direct attack of any mob in the game. All of your armor equipment should also be equipped with the Protection IV enchantment or any of the protection enchantment variant such as projectile protection and blast protection. For your boots, the feather falling enchantment lessens your fall damage in case you might fall from one of the pillars of the end crystals.
- Food: Bringing plenty of food items is critical in the Ender Dragon fight as you will be receiving a lot of damage from the Ender Dragon and the endermen. Remember that the higher the difficulty of the game mode you are playing on, the more food items you will have to bring. One stack of 64 food items should be the minimum requirement for you to fight the Ender Dragon, but bringing more will definitely come in handy. Good sustainable food items are steak, cooked pork chop, bread, and pumpkin pie. Another food item that will come in handy is the golden apple as consuming one will grant you temporary health as well as a regeneration status effect.
- Potions: Potions are not a requirement but will greatly help you in your Ender Dragon fight as potions enhance a player’s abilities depending on the effect. Potions of strength, potions of slow falling, potions of night vision, and potions of leaping are some of the best potions to bring.
- Ender Pearls: The ender pearl is an item that allows the player to teleport to the location where the pearl lands on. Bringing at least 20 ender pearls will help you get on top of the pillars as well as prevent you from falling into the depths by teleporting yourself to the nearest area.
- Blocks or Ladders: In order to defeat the Ender Dragon completely, you will have to reach the top of the pillars and destroy the end crystal to prevent the Ender Dragon from healing. Therefore, you will need either ladders or a set of blocks to help you reach the top quickly. For blocks, cobblestone blocks are great as they are durable blocks, especially when doing the nerd pole strategy.
- Pickaxe: There is a chance you might spawn beneath the end stone ground so bringing a pickaxe will help you mine yourself back out. You can also use the pickaxe to mine the cobblestone blocks that you will bring after doing the nerd pole strategy.
- Totem of Undying: Carrying a totem of undying in your offhand allows you to cheat death once by automatically reviving yourself once your health bar reaches zero. However, this does not save you should you fall into the depths of the End’s abyss. To obtain a totem of undying, you must kill an evoker mob that is usually located inside the woodland mansion or the evokers that spawn during a raid.
- Water Bucket: The player can bring a water bucket as an alternative to potions of slow falling and ender pearls when fighting the Ender Dragon. You can use the water bucket to quickly place down a source of water on the floor just before you hit the ground to prevent yourself from receiving any fall damage in the process. Alternatively, you can also create an endless water supply using water buckets in order to flood the entire Ender Dragon pit with water.
