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The Wither is the second boss in Minecraft. Currently it is the hardest mob to beat. It is also the only way to get Nether Stars, which are necessary for building beacons. Defeating the Wither takes a lot of preparation! This wikiHow teaches you how to spawn and defeat the Wither in Minecraft.

  1. Craft Diamond Armor . The Wither is a high hitting boss, so arm yourself with as high level of armor as you can get. Craft full diamond armor.
  2. The Wither can take massive amounts of damage, so a diamond sword and a bow is recommended. Also, make sure you stock up on arrows. Healing arrows are also recommended, as the Wither is an undead mob and takes extra damage from them.
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  3. In addition to crafting weapons and armor out of diamond, you can use an enchantment table to enchant it.
    • Smite V is a good sword enchantment to use against the Wither as it is an undead mob and will take extra damage from it.
    • Enchant a bow with Power V and Infinity to do extra damage. Flame and Punch are ineffective against the Wither.
    • If you are using a crossbow, enchant it with Quick Charge III . [1]
  4. Craft Potions . You will also want to have some potions on hand when you fight the Wither. In a brewing stand, brew some instant health, speed, strength, resistance and regeneration potions. Use gunpowder to turn your instant health potions into splash potions, because these can also be used to deal damage to the Wither.
    • In addition to potions, you can also craft a golden apple using a crafting table and 8 bars of gold and an apple. This food source gives you absorption and regeneration. An Enchanted Golden Apple cannot be crafted, but can be found in loot chests in dungeons, woodland mansions, mineshafts, desert pyramids, and ancient cities. This gives you Absorption, Regeneration, Fire Resistance, and Resistance.
    • A bucket of milk can cure the wither effect. Use an empty bucket to get milk from cows.
  5. Obsidian is one of the toughest blocks in Minecraft. It is created when lava comes in contact with water. You can make your own obsidian . You need a diamond pickaxe to mine obsidian.
  6. Travel to the Nether . To make a nether portal , build a frame out of obsidian blocks that are at least 4x5 blocks high. Then use a flint and steel to light the center on fire. Stand in the portal for 4 seconds to travel to the Nether.
  7. Soul Sand blocks are found in the Nether. Find a Soul Sand Valley; they have lots of Soul Sand blocks.
  8. Wither Skeletons spawn naturally in nether fortresses. Be careful when fighting them, as it can do a lot of damage as well as inflicting the Wither effect. It will take a while to obtain the three skulls, since the drop chance is only 2.5%. Use a sword enchanted with Looting to increase the chances.
    • If a Wither skeleton is blown up by a charged creeper, it will have a 100% chance to drop a skull. However, getting these to the Nether is very tricky.
  9. Since the Wither is a difficult boss, it might help if you get some help to beat him. You can take your game online in Minecraft Realms and invite friends to your game, or play online over a LAN game.
  10. You can spawn the wither in Overworld, the Nether, or the End. The best location to fight the Wither is underground in the Overworld. It's an enclosed location that is away from any buildings. Find an underground location that is near your base (in case you die).
    • Avoid caves in Mountain biomes, since there are silverfish.
  11. You can use the base to hide in while fighting the Wither. The base should have only one entrance that is just wide enough for you to fit through. The Wither can break obsidian blocks, but only with blue skulls. Build the base walls several layers thick, if possible.
  12. Place one Soul Sand block on the ground with no blocks or objects next to it. Then place 3 soul sand blocks on top of the base block.
  13. Place the three skulls on top of the three soul sand blocks on top of the structure. This will spawn the Wither.
    • The Wither cannot be spawned in Peaceful mode.
  14. When the Wither first spawns, it will be at low its health, so it may be tempting to try to attack it. However, the Wither is invulnerable to damage during this period, and will rapidly start regenerating its health, so any attacks will be useless. The Wither will explode after reaching full health, so make sure you back away a good distance away.
  15. Beware of the flying skulls, as they will explode and cause damage, as well as inflicting the Wither effect. This effect will drain your health much like Poison, but is capable of killing you. Stay away from the Wither and shoot it with your bow while dodging the projectiles. Hide in your base or a long tunnel when needed. Then run out and shoot a few arrows at the Wither.
    • The wither will attack all mobs except undead ones (zombies and skeletons), so you can spawn mobs like snow golems to distract it.
    • Be sure to have all your potions and healing items in your toolbar and ready to use.
  16. When the Wither reaches about half health, it will enter the armor effect stage. Arrows and tridents will no longer be effective. In this stage, it will charge at you. Attack it with a diamond sword repeatedly to kill it. You can also throw splash potions of healing at it, as since the Wither is an undead mob, it will take extra damage from them.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    What are the best enchantments to use on my sword?
    Community Answer
    Smite V on a diamond sword (22.5 damage vs. 13 damage with Sharpness V). Don't use Knockback, because it will be annoying; every time you hit the Wither he'll be knocked out of reach. Looting III makes no difference, as it always drops exactly 1 Nether Star. Unbreaking III does no extra damage, just a bonus for the sword.
  • Question
    What does the most damage to the Wither in Minecraft?
    Community Answer
    A diamond sword with Sharpness or Smite V, as well as a bow with Power V, and Punch II do the most damage.
  • Question
    Where should I spawn the Wither?
    Community Answer
    The best place to spawn is underground, so that it can't fly into the air.
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      Tips

      Tips from our Readers

      The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.
      • Dig into the bedrock until you find a notch in the wall, then spawn the Wither in it. If you can get the Wither stuck you can beat it by dumping a bucket of water on it.
      • Use an enchanted gold sword while fighting the wither. It does 3 times the damage that the diamond sword wields, but they break easily so bring a lot of them.
      • Be sure to bring milk buckets so you can remove the wither effect, which you can get from the wither and the wither skeletons.
      • Spawn the wither in a 3 block high cave and create 3-4 iron golems. Iron golems are strong enough to kill a wither.
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      Warnings

      • If you spawn the wither near TNT, chances are it could get set off by the wither at some point.
      • The Wither can fly, so be sure to have a ceiling or bow handy when fighting it.
      • The wither is much harder to defeat on Bedrock Edition (MCPE, consoles, and Windows 10) than on Java Edition (Desktop, Mac). Bedrock Edition withers have double the health compared to Java withers, spawns 4 wither skeletons and explodes when at half health, deals extremely high damage, and explodes prior to death. Make sure you are really prepared for the fight!
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      Things You'll Need

      • 4 Soul Sand
      • 3 Wither skeleton skulls
      • A diamond sword
      • Diamond armor
      • A bow with 64 arrows or 1 arrow and the Infinity enchantment
      • Potions
      • An enclosed space (preferably)

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Craft full diamond armor
      2. Craft a diamond sword and bow.
      3. Enchant your weapons and armor.
      4. Craft Regeneration and Healing potions.
      5. Craft Golden Apples and get a bucket of milk to cure the Wither effect.
      6. Gather 4 soul sand blocks and 3 wither skeleton skulls from the Nether.
      7. Choose an enclosed location.
      8. Arrange the 4 soul sand blocks in the shape of a "T".
      9. Place 3 wither skeleton skulls on top of the T.
      10. Get back a safe distance from the Wither before it explodes.
      11. Attack with arrows while dodging the Wither's projectile attacks.
      12. Hide in a tunnel or base made out of obsidian if needed.
      13. Attack the wither with a diamond sword when it is down to about half health.

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      Reader Success Stories

      • Jis Cyril

        Sep 29, 2020

        "It turns out snow golems, despite being weak, are very good at distracting the wither. I created about 14 since ..." more
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