How to find and defeat bogged in Minecraft

With the surprise arrival of the new skeleton variant on February 14, 2024, Minecraft fans can now encounter bogged ahead of the 1.21 update they'll be included in, thanks to ongoing Java Edition snapshots and Bedrock previews. If 1.21 Experimental Features are enabled, bogged can appear in quite a few places.

These new Minecraft mob variants are particularly interesting versions of skeletons, capable of firing poison arrows. Fortunately, to compensate for their added danger, bogged are slightly less durable than standard skeletons, so defeating them can be achieved quite easily once you know how to approach these mobs.

---

Where to find and how to defeat bogged in Minecraft

Bogged can occasionally be spawned by trial spawners in Minecraft 1.21 (Image via Mojang)

If you're playing a current Minecraft snapshot or beta and have activated Minecraft 1.21 Experimental Features, bogged can be found in three distinct locations. They appear in swamps and mangrove swamps, and trial chambers can also generate trial spawner blocks capable of spawning bogged. The spawners that create them can be identified by being surrounded by mushrooms, bone blocks, and podzol.

When it comes to battling these mobs, the fight is quite similar to fighting standard skeletons in Minecraft, albeit with a twist. Ideally, you'll want to craft a shield by combining six wooden plank blocks and an iron ingot, as this will help protect you from the arrows fired by the bogged and avoid their poison damage. To counterattack, you can engage these mobs in either melee or ranged combat.

As with many Minecraft mobs, it's recommended to use your highest-quality sword, axe, or bow, complete with enchantments, to take down a bogged in Minecraft. These aren't mandatory of course, but having higher-strength gear with enchantments will get the job done faster. Moreover, as an undead, bogged will take damage from potions/arrows of healing and the Smite enchantment.

A group of bogged can still be dangerous (Image via Mojang)

Interestingly enough, unlike skeletons, bogged will also take damage from being stuck in powder snow and will ultimately die without turning into strays, which might also be something to consider in case you have a few buckets of powder snow available. However, for the most part, simply using a sword/axe and shield is more than enough to take down bogged like you would skeletons.

It's also possible to dodge bogged arrows and take them down without a shield, but positioning and movement will be key. In the event that you are struck by one of the poison arrows, you can drink a milk bucket to remove the Poison status effect. Without the threat of the poison arrows, bogged are little more than frail skeletons that can be dispatched with sword swipes and projectiles.