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With nearly 40 enchantments in Minecraft, 10 can be applied to swords, all with distinct and unique uses. There is no shortage of enchantments that can be considered best in certain circumstances. However, some enchantments stand above the rest and others fall flat.
The breakdown of Minecraft's best sword buff
The contenders
The full list of Minecraft enchantments that can be applied to swords is as follows:
- Mending
- Sharpness
- Unbreaking
- Smite
- Knockback
- Bane of arthropods
- Sweeping edge (Java Edition only)
- Looting
- Fire Aspect
- Curse of Vanishing
Curse of Vanishing, as a curse with no upside, is quickly knocked out of the running. It could make for a fun way to mess with a friend, but that's about it.
Bane of arthropods, useful against a relatively small subsection of mobs, can’t hold a candle to its brother's smite and sharpness. However, it does add a slowness effect, which is unique.
Knockback can be useful in some niche situations, but its lack of a powerful general effect means it can’t be considered the best.
Sweeping edge is a good enchantment but only affects sweeping attacks and has a relatively minor effect therein. It is also Java Edition exclusive and for these reasons, it also shouldn’t be considered a finalist for best enchantment.
Unbreaking and Mending are in a strange spot when looking for the best enchantments for a sword. They are incredibly good in conjunction with other enchantments. Players want their smite five, looting three, fire aspect sword to last a long time and be repairable.
Therefore, mending and unbreaking are incredible. But from the perspective of a single enchantment, it makes little sense to be considered the best when a diamond sword can be replaced with only two diamonds.
The real contenders and finalists
There are four enchantments that stand above the rest regarding their effects' power or scope.
Sharpness is a generalist enchantment that increases damage against all mobs but does so only slightly. The calculations are somewhat different on the two versions of the game, with Java Edition seeing a mere 1.5 hearts of extra damage against all mobs. Bedrock Edition fares slightly better, seeing just over three hearts of extra damage on all mobs.
Fire Aspect sets targets on fire for 4 seconds per level. However, due to the initial hit of the weapon, the first second of fire damage is not recognized by the game. Level one deals a total of 1.5 hearts of fire damage. Level two deals a total of 3.5 hearts of fire damage. In addition, any mob that typically drops raw meat when killed will instead drop cooked meat if killed either by fire damage or while on fire.
Looting makes it easier to get rare items while increasing the amount you get. It does this in a few different ways. First off, it increases the odds of rare and equipment drops by 1% per looting level, for a total of +3% at max level. It also causes the game to attempt a second roll for rare drops if the first one fails. Common drops also have the maximum number of drops increased by one per level, capping out at plus three.
Smite is the single most powerful damage enchantment in Minecraft, with the caveat that it affects only the undead. However, unlike the bane of arthropods, which only includes a few mobs, most of which are relatively uncommon, the undead type contains numerous mobs and some of Minecraft’s most powerful ones.
The most notable inclusion is both wither skeletons and the wither itself. At level five, the damage dealt with undead is increased by a whopping 6.25 hearts of damage.
The best Minecraft sword enchantment
There are some very good and powerful enchantments in the running for best in Minecraft. However, one enchantment rises above the rest, being powerful enough to change combat for the player while also being general enough to see use in a plethora of situations.
That enchantment is smite. It stands head and shoulders above the rest, making the nether a breeze, and nearly all cave enemies crumble like papier-mache, drastically decreasing the difficulty of the wither.
