Combating Mobs

All moving creatures in the game are classified as Mobs. They fall into 6 different categories:

• Passive - the animals we just went over that you can farm for food fall under this category
• Neutral - covered in this lesson
• Hostile - covered in this lesson
• Tameable - won't be covered in this class
• Utility - help you and will be covered in this lesson
• Boss - these fall under the more advanced play and will not be covered in this class

The hostile (and some neutral) mobs are the ones you need to watch out for and while you can avoid them for a while, if you play survival mode, you will eventually have to fight. You will be safe up on ground level during the day, but when night falls or if you choose to brave underground to find rare ores, your path will cross with one of many mobs. This lesson will cover all the mobs you are likely to encounter. I will go over what they look like, how they can hurt you, and what you can do to kill them.

If you get attacked by hostile mobs, your health meter will go down. As covered previously, your health is represented by hearts and each heart can go down by half meaning you have 10 hearts with a total of 20 health points. All of the monsters in the game have their own health points and their attacks deal different amounts of damage to you.

Learn how to prepare yourself for a fight with weapons and armor, and what to expect when you come face to face with each creature and your encounters with them can be less intimidating.

When you are forced into a difficult situation, you can use your fists or whatever you are holding to hit monsters but you will have more luck with a couple weapons on hand.

The main weapon you will most likely want to have is a Sword. It will always be helpful to have a sword on hand when you are exploring caves as they work great for close combat. Like all the tools we've gone over, you can make it from:

• Wood and Gold- 4 HPs of damage per hit
• Cobblestone - 5 HPs of damage per hit
• Iron - 6 HPs of damage per hit
• Diamond - 7 HPs of damage per hit

You can combine damaged swords of the same material, like tools, to make one with improved durability.

A tool that we have already gone over that can be used effectively as a weapon is an Axe. If you don't have a sword on hand, but are going to be exploring caves or just going out at night, always have your axe on hand. Axes actually do more damage than a sword:

• Wood and Gold - 7 HPs of damage per hit
• Stone, Iron, and Diamond - 9 HPs of damage per hit

It is debatable which is actually better to use as a weapon. The axe does more damage, but the sword is quicker to recover after each swing. Regardless, as long as you have one on hand, you should be set to defend yourself against most mobs.

Another weapon option is the Bow and Arrow. Unlike the tools, they can only be made out of one set of resources and will always have the same strength and durability. Some special supplies required for crafting them are String (obtained from killing spiders or by breaking Cobwebs with a sword), Feathers (obtained from killing chickens), and Flint (obtained from killing Creepers). If you are having difficulty finding the supplies necessary to make them, you may be lucky during an encounter with a Skeleton. There is a chance this mob will drop a bow (rare) or arrow (common) when killed. You cannot pick up arrows mobs have shot even if they stick in a block.

To use, you need to equip the bow and right click with the mouse. If you left click, you will just swing the bow around. The arrows will work with the bow as long as they are on you in either your 9 hotbar slots and 27 personal inventory slots (if you try to use the bow but don't have any arrows, nothing will happen). They'll be used by the bow no matter where they are as long as they are in your possession. Arrows that you shoot and get stuck in a block can be retrieved by walking over them. If you use an arrow and do damage to any of the mobs (including animals), that arrow cannot be recovered.

The damage a bow and arrow does depends on how much you charge it. If you right click and let go right away, the arrow won't fly very far and will only do about 1 health point of damage. If you hold down the right mouse button and let the bow be pulled all the way back, the arrow will fly as far as it is able and can do up to 10 health points of damage. When the bow is pulled all the way back you can continue to walk but will only be able to do so at sneak speed.

If you use the bow while you are on a horse, in a boat, or in a minecart, your speed will stay as normal. Also, a bow and arrow acts like it would in real life in that the arrow will arc, so if you aim a bit upwards rather than just straight, it will go further.

You have a few options with how you can defend yourself.

First of all, you can use a Shield. It is crafted pretty simply with an iron ingot and 6 wooden planks and it will always look wooden unless crafted with a Banner. You can hit mobs with it (like you would with any other resource you are holding) but if you click and hold the right mouse button, you can use it and it will defend against hits, arrows, and Creeper explosions. It will not protect you unless you are using it, just holding it isn't enough. The shield will take damage and eventually break. Damaged shields can be combined, like tools, to create a single more durable shield.

It can be very handy to use a shield in Dual Wielding. To do this, either put the item in your hotbar and click "F" while having it selected to move it to your off-hand or while looking at your personal inventory, add your shield to the appropriate slot to the right of your avatar. While having a shield in your off-hand and weapon in your main hand, you can quickly and easily right click to defend with the shield or left click and strike with your weapon.

Though not effective as a weapon, you can use Snowballs as a defense by throwing them (use the right mouse button to throw) at mobs to slow them down. They don't do any damage, but if you hit a mob with one, they will be knocked back and this will give you more time to run. Use a shovel on snow to collect snowballs.

Armor

For added defense, you can wear Armor. It comes in leather, chain, gold, iron, and diamond. All of those can be crafted except for chain which must be found or traded for within the game. There are four types of armor you can wear: Boots, Helmet, Leggings, and Chestplate. They all take a different amount of materials to craft and you'll need 24 pieces of a resource to make a full set (you cannot combine materials to make a single piece of armor, each piece needs to be made from the same resource, but you could wear a diamond chestplate with leather boots or any other combination).

You have to equip your armor in order to use it and once you equip it, an Armor Bar will show up on your heads-up display above your health. You can have up to 20 armor defense points represented by 10 chestplates (each chestplate equals 2 defense points). Armor takes damage whenever you are hit; as soon as the piece starts taking damage a durability bar will appear over the item, just like what happens with tools and weapons. Eventually, they will break or you can craft same pieces of damaged armor together to create a single improved piece (like with tools and weapons). Each piece also has durability, how much damage it can take. You can't see this represented, but it is similar to the defensive points in that the chestplates can take the most hits and boots can take the least.

Armor reduces the damage you take but does not stop it completely. You will still take damage to your health, but it won't be as bad as if you didn't have any armor on. So, you can die while wearing armor and most likely, the armor won't have broken yet, so if this happens, don't forget to go get that armor back after you respawn!

Golems

Another way to defend yourself, or your shelter, is to create and use golems. There are two types and they are the only two utility mobs in the game: snow and iron.

Snow Golem

Snow Golems are mostly for defense or distraction as they only throw snowballs that don't do any damage. To create one, first use snowballs to create Snow Blocks. Then, while playing, stack two snow blocks and top them with a pumpkin or Jack o' Lantern. The golem will automatically appear when the pumpkin is placed (it must always be placed last). Besides not being able to inflict damage on most mobs, the other cons of a snow golem are it will die in the rain and it can't survive in warmer biomes.

Since they wander around, the ideal way to utilize a snow golem is to fence it in, so other mobs can't get to it easily, and to put a roof of some sort over it, to protect it from the rain. This isn't foolproof and the snow golem can still get damage if something gets too close, but they should last longer like this.

Iron Golem

Iron Golems are more handy to have around. Made similarly to snow golems, you first need Iron Blocks made from iron ingots. Just like before, while playing stack two iron blocks, then stick one on either side of the second block up; this makes a "T" shape. Finish the golem off by sticking a pumpkin or jack o lantern on top. The end shape is a cross and it will immediately turn into a golem once the pumpkin is placed.

They will attack any hostile mob characters that are nearby except for Creepers. They attack by swinging their arms and hitting enemies. Besides automatically attacking hostile mobs, they will also attack anything that attacks them and this includes you and snow golems.

Since iron golems also wander around, if you want it to stay nearby, the best thing to do is use a lead to attach it to a post, then just stay out of its way. Make sure your snow golem isn't too close to it or it will get attacked too whether it just gets in the way or if it accidentally hits the iron golem with a snowball.

Prepare yourself further by knowing what to expect from the different types of hostile mobs in the game. Here is a look at the basic rundown of each mob. Any differences between variants will be covered below.

Zombies

Zombies are a very common monster to encounter early on in the game (can be seen above, along with a zombie villager). They look like your avatar except they have green skin and torn clothing. They will appear in the dark and will burn to death if caught outside when the sun comes up unless they find shade to hide in, are standing in water, or it's raining out. If they are hiding from the sun, they will abandon safety to attack you.

They attack by simply walking up to you and hitting. Their HP and damage stats are the same for the zombie variants listed below. You will know they are nearby because of the moan/groan sound they make. When you kill them, you will get 0 to 2 pieces of Rotten Flesh (can be eaten to restore 4 hunger points but there is an 80% chance you will get food poisoning / hunger) and anything that they are holding. Very rarely, they will also drop carrots, potatoes, or iron ingots.

Something special about zombies is that they can wear different pieces of armor and pumpkins (as helmets). If the are wearing either a helmet or pumpkin, they won't die in the sunlight, but the armor will take damage from the sun and eventually break (the pumpkin will not break from exposure to the sun). They can also pick up dropped items including weapons and they will use them against you.

They can also appear as Baby Zombies which are more dangerous than their adult counterpart. They are faster and smaller than normal sized zombies but have the same HPs. They can also survive out in the sun. Also, because they are smaller, they can fit through 1 by 1 openings. So, if you've created a shelter and left a block out so you can see, there is a chance a baby zombie can come right in through that opening. Very rarely, you will encounter a baby zombie riding a chicken; this is called a Chicken Jockey. They function the same as baby zombies except, if they go through 1 by 1 openings and there is a solid block above, the baby zombie will suffocate.

Another variation is Zombie Villagers (as seen above). They look like villagers except they have green skin and their normal clothing is tattered. If you come across a village that appears empty, be careful, zombie villagers may come out at night. Though they don't look the same, they act the same as normal zombies. They can be cured and turned back into villagers, but it requires a potion of weakness and a golden apple (there will be a hissing sound if you have succeeded). It also takes a few minutes for them to change back and they will still try to attack you until they are back to normal.

Lastly, zombies can appear as Husks in desert biomes (there are also baby husks). Their shape and features are almost the same as normal zombies, but they are a little taller, have gray skin, and their torn clothing is tan. They are more dangerous than zombies because they do not burn up in the sunlight and they will infect you with Hunger / Food Poisoning if they hit you while you are playing at normal difficulty or harder.

Skeletons

Another common monster is a Skeleton. They look like a walking skeleton that carries a bow. They will begin attacking you if you get too close, but rather than run up and hit you, they will keep their distance and shoot arrows at you. If you run up to attack them, they will continue to try to avoid you while also shooting you with arrows. If you open your personal inventory after getting shot by arrows, your little character will show the arrows stuck in you.

They can and will use other weapons if they come across them; they will then drop their bow and pick up the other item. If they come across armor or pumpkins, they will pick them up and equip them. When killed, they will drop 0 to 2 Bones and 0 to 2 Arrows; they will also always drop anything they have picked up, but there is only a small chance they will drop a bow or weapon if they spawned with it.

They burn in the sun like zombies but will try to stay alive by wearing helmets or pumpkins (helmets will take damage from sunlight), standing in the water, or staying in the shade. Unlike zombies, they will try to stay safe from the sun rather than run after you if they see you.

A Stray (as seen above with a skeleton) is a variation of skeletons that is likely to spawn in icy biomes. They also spawn with bows, but they look like gray skeletons with white eyes and very tattered dark gray clothing. Though they act the same as skeletons, they shoot arrows that are tipped with Slowness which will slow you down for 30 seconds. They have the same drops as skeletons, but they also have the rare chance of dropping the tipped arrows they use.

A rare variation of this monster is the Spider Jockey which is a skeleton riding a spider. They each have separate drops when they are killed and is the same as it is normally for each mob. The spider is in control, so they will just wander around in the daytime but come after you at night. Though, if out in the daylight, the skeleton will still burn to death, but this will not hurt the spider. Their health points are the same for each as they would normally, so you'll probably kill one first and then need to kill the other.

In a very rare occurrence, you could encounter a Skeleton Horseman. In order for them to spawn, a lightning strike needs to spawn a "Skeleton trap" horse. This will look like a normal horse, but if you walk towards it, it will get struck by special lightning and the horse will transform into 4 skeleton horses with skeletons riding them; the skeletons will be wearing enchanted iron helmets and have enchanted bows. They are sometimes referred to as the four horsemen of the apocalypse and you really don't want to run into them.

There aren't any stats on them, but they are hard to kill.

Creeper

Creepers are a monster that you are going to want to keep your distance from. Instead of hitting you with weapons or fists, if they get too close to you, they will blow up destroying everything in a close vicinity to them creating a crater and hurting you.

Keep your eyes and ears open or you won't know it's coming until it is too late. When a creeper gets within a few blocks of you, it will start hissing and blinking. If you don't move back far enough fast enough it will explode. If you manage to kill one, it will drop 0 to 2 piece of Gunpowder (used for making TNT). If it is destroyed because it exploded, you don't get any gunpowder, but you can collect the blocks it broke when it blew up. Also, unlike some of the other mobs, the creeper can survive out in the daylight and will remain hostile when it is daytime.

The trick to killing them is patience. Run up and hit it so it flies back, but then back away from it so it stops hissing and blinking. When it stops blinking, run up again to hit it and back away again. Repeat these actions until you've hit it enough times to kill it. You can also shoot them with a bow and arrow as long as you keep your distance. If a skeleton kills one with their arrows, the creeper will drop a Music Disc which can be used with a Jukebox.

Something to be careful of when killing a creeper in this manner is the landscape around you. Since you will be backing up, make sure you don't back up into the water or a cave entrance or you can find yourself getting hurt, or staying too close to the creeper too long and causing it to explode.

There is a chance you could run into a Charged Creeper during a storm. They are created when lightning strikes near one. They will look the same except they will have a blue aura surrounding them. They are more dangerous since they have twice the explosive power of a normal one.

Slime

Slimes are an interesting hostile mob. They look like a huge green block that bounces around. They either spawn deep underground (levels 0 - 39) or above ground in swamp biomes. They can survive in daylight, will attack you during the day, and when you go to attack them, they don't just die.

They have three sizes: big, medium, and small. You have to keep killing them until you've destroyed all the little ones to completely kill them. When you kill a small slime, you get 0 to 2 Slimeballs which are used for making Leads.

Witches

Witches look like villagers except they have a wart on their nose, wear purple robes, and have a black witches hat with a green buckle. They can spawn anywhere in the world as long as it is dark, if lightning strikes near a villager (the villager will actually disappear and a witch will appear in its place), and they also spawn in Witch Huts (they appear in swamp biomes and always have a witch in them when the world is first generated).

They can survive in the daylight and fight by throwing Splash Potions at you: Slowness, Poison, Weakness, and Harming. They will also take potions to protect themselves (Water Breathing, Fire Resistance, Healing, and Swiftness). If you are affected by anything, you will be able to see what is affecting you and the time remaining on that effect in your personal inventory screen (seen below). Drinking a bucket of milk can cancel any potion effects, so if you think you might run into a witch, it can be handy to have a bucket of milk on hand.

When killed, it has the possibility of dropping Glass Bottles, Glowstone Dust, Gunpowder, Redstone, Spider Eyes, Sugar, or Sticks. It may drop up to 3 different items, and up to 2 of each of those items meaning it could drop up to 6 items. It is also possible that they could drop one of the potions it uses on itself if they are trying to use it when killed.

Relevant Potions and their effects:

Silverfish

You may be playing a while before you encounter a Silverfish. They can only spawn from Monster Egg blocks and Monster Spawners (a block that looks like a cage that can be found in dungeons, abandoned mineshafts, woodland mansions, and strongholds). A monster egg block is usually found in a dungeon with a monster spawner. The blocks hide by looking like normal stone type blocks, but once you break them, a silverfish will spawn and continue to attack you until you kill it.

They look like little silver bugs that slither around the ground. They can be difficult to kill since they are smaller than most monsters. You'll have to look down at them and attack quickly to get rid of them. Unfortunately, when you kill them, they don't drop anything.

Neutral Mobs

Neutral mobs won't attack you unless they are provoked and/or if it is dark. This includes spiders, cave spiders, endermen, wolves, and polar bears.

Spider / Cave Spider

Spiders and Cave Spiders may be neutral but they are still pretty dangerous. They will both spawn in dark, but they also can survive in the sunlight. They are neutral because if you encounter them in the light, they won't attack, but if it is dark (or you attack them), they will attack you.

When killed, they will drop 0 to 2 pieces of String (used for making a bow) and rarely they will drop a Spider Eye (used for brewing which we won't be covering in this class). They move around by scurrying but will jump at you to attack. They also have the ability to climb walls which can be dangerous if you decided to build a shelter without a roof.

While these spiders are pretty similar to each other, they differ in appearance (a spider is black/grey while a cave spider appears blue and is a little smaller, both have red eyes), health, and location (spiders can be found almost anywhere, whereas cave spiders are only found in abandoned mines).

Their attacks do the same amount of damage, but the cave spider will also hurt you with Poison (lasts for 7 seconds when playing normal and for 15 seconds on hard; decreases your health by 1 HP for every 1.5 seconds you are infected with it) on normal and hard difficulties.

Enderman

An Enderman is a tall black creature with stick-like limbs, purple eyes, and has purple specks floating around it. It will leave you alone unless you attack them first or look at their heads. If you wear a pumpkin as a helmet, you will be able to look at their heads without provoking them.

They attack by teleporting away and then reappearing behind you and hitting you. They will continue to attack you until either it takes several hits, dies, or is distracted. Also, every time it takes damage, such as when you hit it, it will teleport a little ways away making it harder to kill.

Endermen don't like water, so if you stand in water and one teleports near you in the water, it will hurt itself and teleport away. It also won't be able to stay outside if it starts raining. Something else unique about them is they are able to pick up certain blocks and move them. If you kill one, you have the possibility of getting 1 Ender Pearl (used to craft the Eye of Ender which is used to find an End Portal - this is a more advanced part of the game that won't be covered in this beginner class). Unless seeking these pearls, it's best to just leave them alone.

Wolf

Wolves generally walk around the game without causing any trouble, but they can still be dangerous. You'll be able to tell a wolf has become hostile when its eyes turn red, its tail sticks out straight, and it snarls at you. It will only attack you if you attack it first, but it will also become hostile and attack any sheep, rabbits, or skeletons that are nearby. Once it kills its prey, it will become neutral again. It won't drop anything when killed.

On the other hand, if you tame a wolf, it will become like a dog and can actually help you. Tame it by feeding it bones; when it sits and a red collar appears around its neck, you will know you have been successful. You can get it to stand up (and make it sit again) by right clicking on it. As long as it is standing, it will always follow you around; it will even teleport if you get too far away.

A tamed wolf will attack anything you attack (except for a creeper) which makes it a handy companion when out exploring. It can die, but if it takes damage just feed it raw meat to get back some health (it isn't affected by food poisoning so feel free to use raw chicken or rotten flesh). You can tell how healthy it is by its tail; if it is drooping down it is hurt, but if it is up higher it is doing fine. If you feed it raw meat and hearts appear it is at full health and you can also breed it with another tamed wolf by feeding the other wolf meat as well until hearts appear above its head.

Polar Bear

Lastly, you have the Polar Bear. If you attack one or come across one with a cub it will attack you if you get too close. So stay back.

It attacks by getting up on its hind legs and mauling you. You either have to kill it or get away from it which can be difficult, especially if you get in water as it swims faster than you. If you kill one, it will drop 0 to 2 raw fish and 0 to 2 raw salmon.

There are a few more hostile mobs that are more difficult to deal with and I would recommend waiting until you've been playing a while before you challenge them.

Woodland Mansion

The Woodland Mansion is a relatively new structure to the game and with it came a new set of monsters called the Illagers. They are made up of evokers and vindicators, and only spawn in these mansions when the world is generated. Unlike how other monsters keep respawning, the amount of illagers there are when the game starts is the most there will ever be and if you kill them, they are simply gone. Besides wanting to attack you, they will also attack any villagers that come near them.

Vindicator and Evoker

First, there is the Vindicator. It looks like a villager but has gray skin and a brown shirt with blue pants. They walk around with their hands together, but once they catch sight of you, they will pull out an axe and rush at you. When you kill one, they will drop 0 or 1 emerald and they have the small possibility of dropping their axe.

Next, you will find the Evoker. They have the same shape as a vindicator, but their outfits consist of a black robe with a gold outline. Rather than run up and attack you, they have two special attacks they'll use: fang attack and vex summoning.

They can use the Fang Attack either offensively or defensively. Offensively, they will raise their arms and Evocation Fangs will come out of the ground in a straight line towards you. Any mouths that hit you will do 6 health points of damage, and they each have a delay making it look like they are coming at you like a wave. It can summon up to 16 in a line. If there are any solid blocks like a wall between you and the mob, it will disrupt the fangs, but the attack can climb up or down stairs after you. If you are close to the evoker, the fang attack will be defensive. It will summon the fanged mouths in two circles around it (like a shield) with 13 mouths total.

The second thing they can do is summon between 2 and 4 Vexes. They look like little blue/silver creatures with wings and swords. They can fly around and even go through solid blocks. Their fronts will look splattered with red right before they lunge and attack you. You will not get anything when you kill them. They will eventually disappear if you don't kill them.

When you kill an evoker you will get 0 or 1 emerald and the Totem of Undying. This special little item will allow you to respawn when you die if you are holding it in your main or off hand. It will disappear when used and it saves you by bringing you back to life with 1 health point and giving you Regeneration II and Absorption II. This will allow you to regain your health, but you will still be where you would have died, so run for cover so you don't die right away again.

Guardian and Elder Guardian

If you find yourself venturing underwater, you could come across a Guardian. These large one-eyed blue fish with orange spikes coming out of them can only be found near and in Ocean Monuments. They two types of attack: defensive thorns and a laser. Its thorns will hurt you anytime you hit it while they are sticking out.

Their other attack is a laser. It takes a few seconds to charge and will go from purple to yellow. Once it is charged, they will fire. This attack is very powerful and armor won't be as effective against it as it is against other mobs. After it fires, you will have a few seconds to try to get away or kill it before it fires again. When killed, it has the possibility of dropping 0 - 2 Prismarine Shards (used for crafting special bricks and Sea Lanterns), 0 to 1 fish, and/or 0 to 1 Prismarine Crystal (also used to make a sea lantern).

Another mob creature you could run into in an ocean monument is an Elder Guardian. Usually 3 will generate per monument. They look the same as the guardian except they are much larger, and the body is white with light blue spikes. They are much less common than their regular counterparts, and they are very difficult if you run into them. They do not respawn. However many there are when the world generates is the most there will ever be.

Their attacks are similar to the guardian. If you attack it while the spikes are out, you will be hurt as well. Its laser is the same as the guardian but does more damage. It has the same drops as the guardian when killed except it also drops a wet Sponge.

If an elder guardian senses a player within 50 blocks it will inflict them with Mining Fatigue III (reduces speed for mining and attacks); it will last for 5 minutes. You will know if you are affected by it if you see a ghostly image of the elder guardian and hear a ghostly noise. Also, if you open your inventory, you will see that you have a status effect and it will count down how much longer it will affect you. Every minute, it will look scan the same area and if it finds anyone without Fatigue III, it will inflict them with it.

Also, guardians and elder guardians like to attack squid. So you may see black ink just floating around the ocean monuments where squids have been killed.

Now that you know how to start your game, protect you and your belongings, keep yourself fed, and defend yourself, you are ready to see what else the game has to offer. There is always something new to find and craft. Keep at it and see what you can accomplish!

For your class project, all I want you to do is take a screen shot showing something you've learned from the class. Preferably your favorite thing you've learned. Whether it's building a house to live in, fighting mobs (be careful taking screen shots of this), or making a cake on your crafting table, I want to see what you've learned how to do in the amazing world of Minecraft.

Want more?

If you'd like a little bit of a challenge, go on to the last lesson and find out how you can take personalizing your game a step further!