You've got your diamond gear, but what if it could be made better?
Your gear is important; from your helmet to your boots, and of course, your pickaxe and sword are invaluable for adventuring. Once you get your diamond tier weapons, it’s time to start thinking about enchantments.
But what are enchantments?
Enchantments are additional features you can put on your weapons and tools using an enchanting table. This is closer to mid- or end-game advancement, as the materials needed to get a decent enchanting table are a pain to get (a diamond, some obsidian, and a boatload of books, to start). However, enchanting your favorite pieces of armor can greatly increase your life expectancy in Minecraft, though dying with any of these pieces equipped can deal more damage than any mob ever could. Without further ado, here are the best enchantments for every gear piece in Minecraft!
1. Helmet
The gentle helmet - often overlooked, and arguably the first piece to go.
Best Enchantment : Aqua Affinity I
This enchantment removes penalty for mining underwater, which makes getting things like Prismarine shards, coral, and that clay that’s just one too many blocks deep a lot easier. A case can be made for Respiration as well, though it doesn’t totally allow one to breathe underwater and only has a chance of negating drowning damage.
Runner-up: Respiration III
Respiration allows you to stay underwater for a little longer, which gives you more time to swim to and explore those underwater temples that you keep coming across in the ocean. While it won’t let you stay underwater forever, it can be an invaluable tool if you happen to stay under just a few seconds too long.
2. Chestplate
A diamond chestpiece is the difference between life and death, unless you fall into lava.
Best Enchantment : Blast Protection IV
Reduces damage from explosions, which is ideal for hunting creepers or building your mining quarry. It also reduces knockback by 15 x enchantment level%, which, at Blast Protection IV, means you’re less likely to be thrown into a nearby pool of lava. This is also a good enchantment for fighting in the Nether, mobs such as Ghasts and Blazes can deal explosive damage that really packs a punch.
Runner-up: Projectile Protection IV
If you can’t get Blast Protection, then Projectile Protection is a great second choice. This gives you reduced damage against projectiles such as Skeleton arrows, which can really stack up the damage if you’re unprepared.
3. Leggings
Don't get caught without your pants! These diamond leggings are hot this season.
Best Enchantment : Fire Protection IV
Reduces damage from fire damage, which, while it won’t save you from the inevitable lava death, will make burn damage from accidentally standing in fire more bearable. Fighting Blazes will also be more tolerable, as they won’t be able to set you on fire for as long. Combine with Blast protection on another gear piece for the ultimate in Blaze Rod farming equipment.
Runner-up: Protection IV
Protection gives you a nice resistance against most forms of damageblanket protection against all forms of damage (excluding hunger, poison, and falling out of the world). While it isn’t as effective as the specific forms of X protection, it can still offer a nice cushion when in a jam. You can also stack it with other equipment pieces to hit that upper cap for enchantments, making you even more resistant in the long run.
4. Boots
Many people say boots are non-essential for armor - I say nay! Boots are your most important gear piece!
Best Enchantment : Feather Falling IV
Reduces your fall damage when falling from great heights. Great for mining, as it is likely you may be pushed off of your cobblestone bridge by a passing skeleton’s arrow. While this doesn’t slow your falling speed, it can mean the difference between losing all of your items, and having a heart left to wall yourself in a safe corner to recuperate.
Runner-up: Frost Walker II
Frost Walker doesn’t seem too terribly useful, but it gives you an edge in mobility many people don’t think about. These boots freeze the area around you when walking on water, allowing you to walk over oceans without needing a boat. As long as you keep moving, you’ll be fine. Additionally, jumping while sprinting on ice makes you move a lot faster, so cross oceans with the speed of Usain Bolt and get to where you need to go faster.
5. Sword
Your trusty friend, Mr. Stabby - take on the night with your favorite weapon.
Best enchantment : Knockback II
While Fire Aspect makes a strong argument, it can’t be used against mobs in water. Knockback is indiscriminate, and will knock back mobs 3 blocks per knockback level (max lvl II). This is incredibly useful for fighting dangerous mobs like creepers or skeletons, allowing you to get a better angle.
Runner-up: Fire Aspect II
Fire Aspect gives you 4 seconds of burning damage, for a max of 3 ½ hearts of damage at level II. This is a great find if you want to kill something quickly, but you can’t fight underwater mobs, or mobs that happen to find themselves in water to escape the burning.
6. Trident
It's not a glorified fork - it's a TRIDENT! Great for zombies and really, really big steaks.
Best Enchantment : Loyalty III
It’s not wise to throw away your main weapon. Tridents are hard to get, and if you happen to toss it somewhere unobtainable, that’s your weapon gone. Loyalty ensures that your hard-earned trident always comes back to you. Greater enchantments (max lvl 3) will let it come back to you faster, but as long as you have at least level I on this weapon, you won’t have to worry about losing your trident.
Runner-up: Riptide III
Riptide essentially boosts your movement speed by pulling you whenever you lunge with your trident. This can be a good maneuver when you want to leave an area very quickly, and can even be used to scale steep mountains with ease. Just watch out for the falling damage, and you’ll be fine.
7. Shield
Show off your colors with shields! Customizable, and incredibly useful for more than just decoration.
Best Enchantment : Unbreaking III
Shields aren’t privy to a lot of enchantments, which makes Unbreaking the prime choice. It reduces the amount of durability lost per hit, which means you get to keep it around a lot longer. Block more arrows, more explosions, and maintain your knight cosplay for longer with this enchantment
Runner-up: Mending I
Because shields don’t have access to a lot of enchantments, Mending is another good choice to maintain durability on the go. Either one is a good choice, but in many aspects, Unbreaking should be your first option.
8. Bow
Become Minecraft's best sniper with the bow and arrow, or use it to hone your hunting skills.
Best Enchantment : Infinity I
This is a no-brainer. Infinity makes it so that as long as you have one regular arrow in your inventory, you have infinite regular arrows. Tipped and spectral arrows are unaffected by this enchantment, and are consumed as normal, but to have that backup of normal arrows at your disposal is invaluable when exploring.
Runner-up: Power V
Power is a great choice, especially for beginning Minecrafters. However, unless you specifically plan on using spectral and tipped arrows throughout your game, Power should be put on the backburner, or at least on a different bow as a backup.
9. Pickaxe
There is gold in them there hills! And coal, and coal, and coal...
Best Enchantment : Fortune III
While Silk Touch is a great enchantment to get those blocks that you otherwise would be unable to obtain, fortune makes it easier to get more diamonds and more emeralds per block. At level III, you can get up to a 120% increase in terms of drops, making the trip down into the depths of the world much more worth the effort.
Runner-up: Silk Touch I
Silk Touch doesn’t give you any additional boosts to your mining skill, but it does allow you to get blocks of ice or mycelium or even glass without having them break into their base parts (in the case of ice and glass, they just break if you try to mine them normally). While useful if you’re building in Vanilla, it’s not too helpful in the long game. However, feel free to pop this enchantment on a backup pick for special circumstances.
10. Axe
Deforestation is a serious issue in today's world, but with Minecraft, you can pretend that you're helping when you plant a tree.
Best Enchantment : Unbreaking III
Axes can have a few enchantments, but Unbreaking is the best overall. Fortune lets you have multiple drops, but with Unbreaking, you can cut more logs per swing, so if nothing else, it balances out to be roughly the same in terms of materials gathered.
Runner-up: Fortune III
Fortune, as mentioned previously, lets you get more bang for your buck, but for axes it’s not the ideal enchantment. Unless you’re really running low on both wood and durability, which is rare, then you would be better applying Unbreaking to your diamond axe.
11. Shovel
Close your eyes and listen to the sound of shovel breaking earth... Now listen to it 10,000 more times. That's Minecraft.
Best Enchantment : Efficiency V
Dig through dirt, gravel, clay, and soul sand with blinding speed! You want efficiency more than anything on your shovels because most of what you’ll be digging through is junk material anyway. Efficiency will allow you to blow through layers of dirt with ease, clear out entire hills quickly, and get to building that dream mansion faster.
Runner-up: Mending I
Mending for a shovel is only useful if you are digging in caves, as the experience gained from fighting mobs will help restore durability. It’s not as effective on the surface unless you carry your shovel with you when you adventure, and then again, Mending only works well if you play on anything other than Peaceful difficulty.
12. Hoe
ProTip: A single block of water will reach up to 4 tilled tiles away in any direction. Use this when planning your farm.
Best Enchantment : Mending I (Treasure Enchantment)
If you have already broken the unspoken rule of wasting precious diamonds on a hoe, then you might as well put the Mending enchantment on it. This means you can repair your garden implement with gained experience, which in turn will let your tool last longer. This is important, because not only have you used diamonds on a hoe of all things, but because Mending is a “treasure enchantment”, you have to find the enchanted book that grants this enchantment somewhere in the world (via chest loot or fishing).
Runner-up: Unbreaking III
Unbreaking is great for hoes as you can use them for longer, but they do inevitably still break, and as stated above, if you used your diamonds on a hoe, you don’t get those back. While you can fix the hoe at an anvil, it does get expensive after a very short time.
13. Fishing Rod
The joy of fishing is not lost in Minecraft. Sit in your boat while you waste hours of your day collecting fish for dinner.
Best Enchantment: Lure III
Catch fish faster with Lure! This decreases the wait time between fish bites by 5 seconds/level, meaning you can catch more fish before the sun sets. Want to be an expert fisherman? This is the way to do it. While you may also catch junk, this will also help you potentially catch more treasure (Lure does not increase the chance of treasure drops).
Runner-up: Luck of the Sea III
Luck of the Sea increases your luck; this means less garbage, less fish, and more treasure. More treasure means you can potentially get enchanted items like swords and more fishing rods. If you can’t get Lure, definitely get Luck!
Minecraft is Enchanting!
So there you have it! Your gear, enchanted. Enchanting is expensive, and lots of casual Minecraft players don't bother, but you aren't casual! You're thirsting for adventure, and enchanting your swords, boots, and tools is exactly what you need to do to survive in the hostile world that is minecraft. Unless you play on Peaceful.
While these enchantments are not everyone's personal choice, they are most certainly the best enchantments for your gear pieces, and are suitable for all play types. So go ahead, go forth in the world and see what a difference your enchanted gear makes!
