Bossing Tips
…and general guide on how to be prepared for this server's more difficult content!
Overview
Vanilla Minecraft is not very difficult. Even ModPacks like RLCraft aren't really difficult beyond the initial start, and that difficulty feels artificially caused by you being completely unprepared. The fight designs in this server, however, are made to force you to make use of every available resource, optimize your gear, coordinate with other players, and then still die (and get revived) a few times.
Boss fights do not count towards your “deaths” statistic, and each comes with a Practice Mode, which gives you free supplies, such as healing potions, golden apples, and Phoenix Down, to let you practice the fight without using up your own supplies. You should take advantage of this! These fights will most likely be much harder than anything you've ever encountered in Minecraft before! Practice Mode is a great way to gauge how much supplies you'll need to bring for the actual fight.
Endgame Content:
- Ender Dragon (and its Hard/Insane variants)
- Shadow Realm (unreleased; will be added in a future update)
Example Inventory
- A: Best arrows you can get
- B: Quiver with more arrows
- C: Best food you can have, at least cooked beef - several stacks
- D: Phoenix Down - resurrects dead players
- E: Trident of the Seas, Magic Wand, or Fireworks - AoE damage, if the fight requires it
- F: Ranged weapon - best bow or crossbow you can get (crossbows can be enchanted with Power books)
- G: Melee weapon - Power Sword
- H: Potion of Rescue - reduces the use time for phoenix down
Essential Gear
Note that God Apples and Totems of Undying are not listed here. God Apples are too rare to make effective use of, and Totems of Undying are arguably better turned into Phoenix Down to get more bang for your buck (at the cost of requiring another player to use them).
Phoenix Down (and Potions of Rescue)
Phoenix Downs can revive dead teammates. They are absolutely essential to any boss fight. Potions of Rescue reduce the time needed to use Phoenix Down, and can save a run in a pinch.
Item | Description | |
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Phoenix Down Show Recipe | Revives a dead teammate to 4 hearts, as long as they haven't respawned or left the fight yet. Takes 6 seconds to activate, during which you cannot move. |
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Greater Phoenix Down Show Recipe | Revives a dead teammate to full health, as long as they haven't respawned or left the fight yet. Takes 6 seconds to activate, during which you cannot move. |
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Potion of Rescue | Brewed by adding a Honey Bottle to a Potion of Regeneration, requiring Level 25 Alchemy. When consumed, reduces Phoenix Down use time by 40% (80% with glowstone dust) for 3 minutes (8 minutes extended). Can be turned into Splash and Lingering forms. |
Healing Items
Unlike most Vanilla Minecraft situations, you will NOT be able to subsist off natural food regen alone. You WILL NEED healing items, or you'll just get wittled down by damage and inevitably die.
Item | Description | |
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Golden Apple | Your regular old golden apple. Gives 2 Absorption hearts instantly, and regens 2 additional hearts over the next 5 seconds. Not extremely strong individually, but stacks up to 64, saving inventory space. If you have them, you should bring them. |
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Splash Potion of Healing | Your regular old potions of healing - useful for quick burst heals. Higher variants (Instant Health III and Instant Health IV) can be brewed with sufficiently high Alchemy levels. These will comprise the bulk of your healing - you should bring as many of these as you can! |
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Flask of Healing Show Recipe (Potion Flask) | Potion Flasks carry 8 doses of a potion in a single inventory slot. Does NOT return the empty flask when all doses are used up. Mineral Glass is smelted from Mineral Sand, which can be purchased in the Quest Point Shop at a rate of 8 per quest point. Useful for when healing isn't urgent, and you want to save inventory space. You should bring several of these! |
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Potion of Absorption | Brewed by adding a Golden Apple to an Awkward Potion, requiring Level 51 Alchemy. Gives 2 hearts of Absorption for 1:30 (2:30 extended), or 4 hearts of Absorption for 30s if glowstone dust is added. Useful for converting a single golden apple to 3 lots of absorption. These aren't super influential, and you don't need to bring them in the general case. |
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Potion of Regeneration | Brewed by adding a Ghast Tear to an Awkward Potion, this vanilla potion gives some passive healing over time. Better versions can be brewed with sufficiently high Alchemy levels. These aren't super influential, and you don't need to bring them in the general case. |
Temporary Buffs
Unlike most Vanilla Minecraft situations in which potions are completely overkill, using such potions (and food) are extremely highly recommended and will be helpful in all difficult encounters.
Item | Description | |
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Potion of Strength | Your vanilla Strength potions. Increases melee attack damage by 3 per level. | |
Potion of Haste | Brewed by adding a Fire Charge to an Awkward Potion, requiring Level 38 Alchemy. Increases attack speed by 10% per level. | |
Oysters on the Halfshell Show Recipe | Cooking Level: 13 +3% Damage Resistance (45:00) |
Armor
Full Enchanted Diamond/Netherite
- Enchantments: Protection IV on all pieces. If a boss has a certain attack style, opting for Projectile or Blast Protection may be viable. To gain maximum protection from a specific style (e.g. Projectile), you only need 2 pieces of that protection - e.g. 2 x Protection IV and 2 x Projectile Protection IV gives maximum protection against projectiles. 4 x Projectile Protection IV will not give any additional protection.*
- Socket Gems: These can be found in Nether loot chests, and give small but meaningful buffs
* Some bosses bypass this rule, requiring full special protection to gain maximum protection
Melee Weapons
Enchanted Diamond/Netherite Swords and Axes
- Enchantments: Smite V or Bane V is preferred if it works against the opponent, otherwise Sharpness V
- Socket Gems: These can be found in Nether loot chests, and give small but meaningful buffs to weapons
Having a Power Sword is extremely highly recommended, and even essential for higher-level content. A Power Sword turns Sneak + Left Click into a dashing attack, for both mobility and damage.
Ranged Weapons
Enchanted Bows and Crossbows - the highest tier you have available.
The Fletching skill is used to craft the bows, but is not needed to actually use them.
- Enchantments: Power V is highly recommended. Power IV works in a pinch. Power can even go on crossbows (though it conflicts with Piercing)! Note that Multishot will reduce Power's effectiveness on a Crossbow
- Socket Gems: These can be found in Nether loot chests, and give small but meaningful buffs to weapons
AoE Damage
You may need ways to deal with summoned adds in certain boss fights.
Item | Description | |
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Magic Wand | Many Magic Spells deal area damage. |
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Trident of the Seas | Crafting a Trident with an Ocean's Essence converts the throwing attack to a magical projectile that deals splash damage in a small area. |
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Crossbow and Fireworks | By holding Fireworks in your off-hand, you can load a Crossbow with them. The more firework stars are added to the firework, the more damage it deals upon exploding. (Vanilla mechanic) |
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Splash Potions | A classic - splash healing and splash harming can work for AoE damage if no other means are available to you. |