Like with tools, Minecraft players will need weapons to survive in the game. Without any weapons, the player is vulnerable to attacks from hostile mobs, which may result in unintended deaths. Weapons are the core of a player’s survival in Minecraft and are designed to provide players with the means to defend themselves from harm. Various weapons are available for players, but the most basic is a sword. But in Minecraft, the sword is not only used for killing mobs, as there is more to a sword than you might think. This article will tackle how you can use your sword in Minecraft.
What is a Sword in Minecraft?
A sword is a melee weapon that is commonly used to deal damage to other players and mobs, as well as mine cobwebs. You can make six different tiers of swords, namely wooden swords, stone swords, iron swords, golden swords, diamond swords, and netherite swords. All swords have a stable attack speed of 1.6, but each tier has its attack damage.
How to Craft a Sword in Minecraft?
Crafting your first sword in Minecraft is easy as long as you have the right materials for crafting and have your crafting table on hand. Always remember that the pattern required in the crafting recipe should be followed when crafting a sword regardless of its position on the 3×3 grid. This is a must to craft a sword; otherwise, it will not work.
To craft a [wooden] sword, you will need one stick and two crafting materials (in this case, two planks will be required). Follow the step-by-step instructions below on how to craft a wooden sword:
- Open the crafting table menu by pressing your right-click mouse button while facing the crafting table and locate the 3×3 crafting grid at the top of the menu.
- First, place one plank in the center slot of the top row.
- Next, place one plank in the center slot of the middle row.
- Finally, place one stick in the center slot of the bottom row to form a straight line.
- Once the image of the wooden sword appears in the results slot, click and drag it into your inventory to complete the crafting process.
How to Use a Sword in Minecraft?
1. For attacking
The sword is mainly used to attack mobs and players. When holding the sword in your hand, press the attack button or left-click mouse button to swing the sword in front of you and attack the nearest opponent. Every time you damage any player or mob, the sword’s durability will be decreased by one until it breaks.
However, attacking boats or minecarts in Minecraft Java Edition will not consume the sword’s durability. Every sword tier has its base attack damage and a uniform 1.6 attack speed starting with the wooden sword’s lowest tier. But remember that all swords take 0.625 seconds to recover for each attack. To utilize the sword’s swing attack properly, give the sword a second to recover before the next attack.
2. For breaking blocks
Another use for your sword is to break certain blocks in the game. The sword can be used to destroy specific blocks 50% faster than using your fists. However, doing so will consume two durability for each block that breaks while using your sword. We have listed down all the blocks you can use your sword on to break them faster and get their drops:
- Cobwebs,
- Jack o’Lantern,
- Melon,
- Pumpkin,
- Cocoa,
- Leaves,
- Vines,
- Hay Bale.
3. As a fuel source
Wooden swords can substitute coal, charcoal, or any other flammable material in a furnace by becoming the fuel source for smelting materials. However, just like all the other tools and weapons in Minecraft, this method only works for wooden swords. Any other weapon tier of the sword, such as diamond, golden, or iron, is not flammable and therefore cannot be used as fuel in a furnace.
You can only smelt 1 item in the furnace per wooden sword. So you will need multiple wooden swords to smelt more items. You can use this method whenever your wooden sword is about to break, already has low durability, or planning to upgrade to a better sword tier.
4. As a smelting ingredient
Golden and iron swords, like other tools and weapons, can be used in a furnace as an ingredient for smelting. You can obtain an iron or gold nugget by smelting an iron or a golden sword. This might not be the best way to use your sword, especially with a weapon with stronger durability than wood or stone, but you can use this method once your sword’s durability is either low or about to break. So instead of wasting it by losing your sword through breaking, you can try smelting them in your furnace to obtain valuable resources such as iron and gold nuggets.
5. As a distraction
Piglins are common neutral mobs living in the Nether and are often hostile to players at first sight, especially when the player isn’t wearing any golden armor. The piglins will not stop being hostile towards the player unless they wear any armor of gold-tier. The good news is that you can take advantage of their love for gold by throwing them a golden sword.
So while they are attacking you, they will become distracted for a few seconds by picking up the golden sword before placing it in their inventory, and only then will they resume attacking you. Fortunately, a few seconds is all you will need to successfully slip away while they still have their attention on the golden sword that you dropped on the ground.
Although this method may seem futile for those who need your sword to defend themselves, it can certainly come in handy when faced with a horde of piglins, as all of them will become attracted to the golden sword.
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