Minecraft meets Diablo isn’t really a combo that many of us had ever given a great deal of thought to, but with Minecraft Dungeons, that’s exactly what we have on our hands- and it’s surprisingly good! There’s a lot to dive into with this dungeon crawler, and plenty of systems that hide more depth than you’d think, and here, we’ll be listing out a few basic tips and tricks that should make it easier for you to navigate its blocky world. So without further ado, let’s get started.
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE NUMBERS
Every piece of gear you find in Minecraft Dungeons has its own power level, which contributes to your overall power level as well, but as is the case in any loot-driven game, you shouldn’t get too hung up on the numbers. A piece of gear that might be better on paper than the one you have equipped might not necessarily be the right fit for you. Rather than simply checking to see if your overall power level is going up or, say, it’s increasing your max health, also remember to keep an eye on your enchantments. A lower level piece of gear, for instance, might have more enchantment slots than a higher level one, which means it might probably be a better idea to invest in the former rather than replacing it with something that’s simply making the numbers go up.
Oh, and speaking of enchantments…
ENCHANTMENTS
Always keep an eye out on what enchantments you have and which ones are applied to your weapons and armour. This should go without saying, but by carefully choosing your enchantments and deciding which ones to invest in at any given moment, you can really fine-tune your build to fit your play style perfectly. For instance, if you lean more in favour of ranged combat as opposed to up-close combat, a couple of enchantments that should work very well for you in the early stages of the game are Bonus Shot – which automatically fires off a second, slightly less powerful shot at an enemy close to you with any shot you fire – and Power, which increases the damage dealt by each arrow you fire.
ENCHANTMENTS CAN STACK
If you come across an enchantment that you think is particularly useful and suits your preferred play style very well, remember that you can essentially double that affect- because enchantments stack in Minecraft Dungeons. So if, for instance, you really like the 10 per cent attack speed boost from the Rapid Fire enchantment, consider using another Rapid Fire to kick that up to 20 per cent. With upgrades to both, that boost can eventually go up to a total of 40 per cent.
HIGHER-LEVEL GEAR
If you’re looking for higher-level gear and find you don’t want to be stuck getting loot at your own power level, you can always play through a level or dungeon at a higher difficulty tier. This does have its own set of challenges, of course, since difficulty spikes between tiers tend to be a bit harsh, so it’s best to not go rushing into levels with extremely high requirements. But if, say, you take on a level a single tier above the one your power level is at, that’s a pretty good way of landing gear and weapons that are much better than the stuff you have on your person.
REPLAYING LEVELS
In fact, replaying levels is kind of essential in Minecraft Dungeons if you want to nab all the gear and artifacts in every level. You’ll often find various pieces of loot dotted on your map as question marks, which signifies that this is stuff you haven’t discovered yet, so keep replaying levels on progressively higher difficulty to keep getting more new armour, weapons, and artifacts.
SALVAGING
As is the case with any loot-driven game, you’ll grow a collection of a lot of weapons and armour- but don’t hoard all of it. Keep salvaging weapons and gear you don’t need, because not only does doing so give you emeralds to spend – which is the primary currency of the game – it also gives you any Enchantment Points you may have invested in it. In this way, the game actually encourages you to discard weapons without feeling like you’ll be missing out. We would suggest keeping at least 3 or 4 different kinds of weapons with different enchantments to tackle different threats on you at all times, and salvaging the rest.
MORE SALVAGING
Salvaging weapons and armour is a pretty good way to ensure that you have a nice stream of emeralds, actually. In fact, beyond salvaging things of lower levels that you don’t need, also considering salvaging higher level gear- but in very specific circumstances. If you’re dead certain that it’s a piece of gear you will never use, go ahead and salvage it, because the higher the level and rarity of an item, the more emeralds you get from salvaging it.
EXPLORING
This should go without saying, but explore every level and dungeon in the game thoroughly. Defeating enemies along the way will help with progression and getting more gems, while you’ll also have a better chance of finding secrets and hidden chests, which means you get more goodies, but beyond that, there’s still plenty of reasons to explore. Levels often have houses and caves that can lead to entirely new secret areas, so keep an eye out for those as well.
FINDING CHESTS
Finding and opening every chest in each level you take on in Minecraft Dungeons should be a priority for you (or at least as many as you possibly can), and there’s a trick in particular that can make that a bit easier. Any time you’re near a chest, the game will tell you with an audio cue- a faint humming-type sound in the background that gets louder as you get closer to the chest. So pay attention to the sound at all times as well.
FARMING EMERALDS
You can use emeralds at vendors to buy various items and plenty of loot, so it goes without saying that you can never have too many emeralds. If you’re looking for ways to farm as much currency as possible, one surefire trick to do so relatively well is replaying earlier levels again and again. These are the easiest levels of the game and don’t pose too much of a threat, and enemies go down easily while dropping emeralds. While this won’t result in a dramatic surge of emeralds, it will lead to a steady and solid flow of currency.
MIX UP THE COMBAT
It might be tempting to rely solely on a single style of combat based on your preference or the build you’ve made for your character, but doing so is not advisable. Don’t stick completely to melee or ranged combat. Different enemies have different strengths and weaknesses, and you should keep this in mind while deciding how to approach them. For instance, though melee brute force is useful in many situations, Creepers are best dealt with from range.
TAKE OUT THE ENCHANTERS
One enemy in particular that you’ll want to take out as quickly as you spot it is the Enchanter. Enchanters don’t attack the player directly, but can seriously buff up entire mobs with improved stats, including higher health, better attack power, and more, which obviously makes things much trickier for you. Prioritize taking out Enchanters first, because as soon as they’re down, any buffs they may have endowed on other enemies disappear as well.
ARTIFACTS
Artifacts are some of the most useful items in the entire game. When you’re facing tougher enemies or large mobs, you’ll find these to be incredible handy. In fact, artifacts are perfect for crowd control. So make sure to use them whenever you feel like you’re overwhelmed- but also keep an eye on their countdowns (if they have one, that is). Some artifacts that are great for crowd control, for instance, are Corrupted Beacon, Wind Horn, and Fishing Rod.
USE TNT
Artifacts are the most useful when it comes to crowd control, but there are other ways to do that as well. For instance, TNT is another item with a lot of utility. As you may have guessed, TNT explosions deal a decent amount of area-of-effect damage and can cripple mobs quite effectively. You can also carry multiple TNT at the same time, in case you find yourself coming up against a particularly tough mob.
HEALING ITEMS
There are plenty of ways to heal yourself in Minecraft Dungeons, but if you find yourself running low on all of them – which is certainly possible on higher difficulties – you can always turn to the environment. You’ll often find animals in some locations, and killing them drops health items every now and then. It’s not guaranteed by any means, but it’s worth a shot at any rate.