How to defeat Elder Guardian in Minecraft

There is one major boss in Minecraft, and that's the Ender Dragon. Defeating it and returning to the overworld beats the game, although there is really no "end" to Minecraft. There are also lots of hostile mobs, including endermen, zombies and skeletons. These are fought every night and day. There is a level in between those two, though. There are some other, smaller bosses that players can fight in Minecraft: The Wither, the Warden (once the second half of the 1.17 Minecraft Caves & Cliffs Update arrives) and the Elder Guardian.

After a fun fight against the Ender Dragon and steamrolling the Elder Guardian, I was having a really good time.Was not expecting to get absolutely trashed by the Wither.

— Oz Parish (@Koncreet) July 29, 2021

The Elder Guardian guards the Ocean Monument and will give players severe mining fatigue upon arrival. It is definitely one of the hardest mobs to fight, and even harder to beat. Here's how to do it.

Defeating the Elder Guardian in Minecraft

First things first, the Elder Guardian has to be found. More specifically, the Ocean Monument has to be found. These can be found organically as they're not as difficult to find as Woodland Mansions. A map to the Ocean Monument is extremely useful. These can be acquired from Cartographer villagers, normally for 12-13 emeralds and a compass. They are notable for their gold monacles.

Minecraft cartographer. Image via Minecraft, Windows Central

Once acquired, the map will lead players directly to the monument. Before leaving, some things will be required: a good sword, a good pickaxe or two and water breathing potions. Milk is also useful, but is not as essential. To get water breathing potions, players will need blaze powder, nether wart, water bottles and pufferfish. Brew awkward potions using the nether wart and then use pufferfish to make water breathing potions. Using redstone to make them last eight minutes is also recommended.

Upon reaching an Ocean Monument and (after drinking a potion) swimming down to it, players will immediately be hit with mining fatigue, which makes it pretty much impossible to mine anything underwater for five minutes. The Elder Guardian will renew this every time it runs out, so defeating him quickly is wise.

There will be an entrance to the monument underwater so players can go through without mining, which is impossible. Inside, somewhere, the Elder Guardian will be swimming around. Kill it as soon as possible.

The Elder Guardian. Image via Sportskeeda

Once it is dead, players are free to roam the monument and collect prismarine blocks for a conduit. There is also sometimes a room with a lot of gold blocks to look for. Smaller guardians will harm players and drop fish and prismarine shards in and around the monument. Don't forget to constantly renew your water breathing potions when exploring.

Guardians have the worst hitbox in minecraft pic.twitter.com/IWpHGNa2Tq

— Tominus (@T0minus) July 27, 2021

For more Minecraft content, subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel!