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There are ten possible enchantments swords can get in Minecraft. Most of them can be acquired from the enchantment table. However, players should carefully consider which enchantments to put on their sword, especially their diamond or Netherite one since not all are equally useful. These are all the enchantments for swords in Minecraft, ranked from worst to best.
Updated on September 22, 2022, by Anastasia Maillot: Enchantments haven’t changed much over the years in Minecraft, as Mojang’s focus has been on world generation with the Caves & Cliffs Update and the Wild Update. While some niche ones have been introduced, such as Swift Sneak, sword enchantments have remained largely the same. Moreover, swords have consistently remained the best and most powerful weapons in the game due to their ease of use and the strength of some of the enchantments they can receive. A helpful table has been added to the article that condenses information about the levels for each sword enchantment in Minecraft, as well as their enchantment method. Moreover, some enchantments have received additional information.
All Swords Enchantments
10 Curse Of Vanishing
The Curse of Vanishing enchantment is more of an annoyance than an enchantment. Any sword affected by this curse will disappear if the player dies and drops their inventory. While there are ways to counter this by placing the sword inside a shulker box, for example, it’s still extremely inconvenient.
Any sword with this enchantment, by definition, isn’t a sword worth keeping. At least, not for long-term use. Still, players might come across this irritating curse on occasion in loot that they find in the wild. If the Curse of Vanishing is paired with a decent second enchantment, players can keep using the sword, but they should remember they won’t be keeping it upon dying.
9 Bane Of Arthropods
The Bane of Arthropods enchantment is an extremely niche enchantment in Minecraft. Swords enchanted with it will do additional damage to spiders. This can be useful in very specific situations, such as in spider farms.
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However, since spider farms are already somewhat difficult to make and don’t make for the best XP or item farm in the first place, there are very few cases where this enchantment will be useful for players. With enchantments like these that only affect a specific type of mob, it’s best to ignore them and go for more generic enchantments that affect all types of mobs.
8 Knockback
Knockback is an enchantment that basically pushes any affected mobs back and away from the player. This can sometimes be useful, especially if players easily get overwhelmed by a lot of enemies at once and need to keep a distance. With Creepers and Illagers, in particular, Knockback can be a lifesaver, as they do a lot of damage at close range.
Overall, though, Knockback isn’t the best enchantment to get, and can sometimes result in mobs getting pushed into lava. That means players will lose the potential loot from their kill, which is annoying. Knockback is more of a preference for players, but for a beginner, it can be a decent choice if they’re faced with stronger enemies.
7 Smite
Smite is an average enchantment in Minecraft and works well against all types of undead mobs, like skeletons, zombies, wither skeletons, and the Wither himself. In fact, players planning on starting a wither skeleton farm or defeating the Wither should invest in a Smite sword.
For a general use sword, however, Smite is still a bit too situational. There are better enchantments out there that players should try and invest in. However, if one has to pick one enchantment out of all the mob-specific ones, Smite is still miles better than Bane of Arthropods, as it concerns multiple mob types.
6 Fire Aspect
Fire Aspect is another average enchantment and applies a burning effect to a target. There are pros and cons to having it on a sword. The advantage is that any passive mobs like cows, sheep, and chickens will drop cooked versions of their meat when affected by a Fire Aspect sword. This makes Fire Aspect swords fantastic for food farming since no cooking is required.
However, Fire Aspect in general against hostile mobs isn’t great. It’s a nice little side flavor to a sword, but nothing special.
5 Sweeping Edge
Sweeping Edge is a slightly above-average enchantment in Minecraft. Mostly, it’s underrated by fans due to players not understanding the mechanic of combat in the game. Sweeping attacks can be highly useful against enemies, so long as the player knows what they’re doing.
The Sweeping Edge enchantment increases the damage from sweeping attacks. The advantage it has is its versatility, meaning all mob types are affected by the damage boost. Players can perform a sweep attack by charging their attack meter to above 80% while not running. This allows them to strike multiple enemies at the same time, while also pushing them back. It’s best used against a horde of enemies when being overwhelmed, which can happen with the new massive caves teeming with mobs.
4 Unbreaking
Unbreaking is a pretty common enchantment in the game, but players shouldn’t underestimate its utility. It’s a necessity to have on any gear that players want to keep using for a long time. Basically, it significantly increases how many times a sword can be used on a target before it wears off and breaks.
Until players have Mending, Unbreaking is the best way to save any of the player’s favorite gear. It’s not the flashiest enchantment, but it’s a must-have secondary enchantment for a good sword.
3 Sharpness
Sharpness is one of the best enchantments in Minecraft. To get a high Sharpness enchantment is probably one of the best rolls a player can get on a sword, especially on a diamond or Netherite one. Sharpness increases the overall damage a sword does, against any and all targets.
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Because of how versatile Sharpness is, it’s among the top enchantments players should try to get in Minecraft. The best part is, that it doesn’t require a sweeping attack for the damage boost to take effect, which is why it tops the Sweeping Edge enchantment by a long shot.
2 Looting
While the primary purpose of a sword is to kill, killing mobs is important in Minecraft due to the loot they drop. Especially towards the endgame, players will be looking to get a bunch of mob drops, namely gunpowder, to enable their elytra by crafting fireworks.
That’s where Looting comes in. Looting is an incredibly powerful enchantment, which increases the amount of loot, and the quality of loot mobs drop. Rare drops like wither skeleton skulls or rabbit’s foot will require a high Looting sword, so having one around is pretty much a necessity for any Minecraft player.
1 Mending
As of 1.17, Mending is still considered the best enchantment in Minecraft. The main reason for this is its ability to make any piece of gear immortal. A sword with Mending can be used forever, so long as the player replenishes its durability bar by earning experience points.
Because of how overpowered Mending is, it’s impossible to get this enchantment from the enchanting table. Instead, players will have to find it in a loot chest, fish one, or trade with a Librarian villager. Either way, getting a sword with Mending requires a lot of hard work and grinding, but it’s completely worth it, as it ensures the sword will last forever.
Minecraft was released on November 16, 2021, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, and many other platforms.
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