The Wither is a floating, three-headed skeletal Boss Mob in Minecraft. It is not only relatively unique due to the fact that you literally have to craft the boss to fight it, but also that there are multiple stages to the encounter that require different strategies.
How to Spawn the Wither
In order to spawn the Wither, you’ll need to take a trip to the Nether. Whilst there, collect 4 Soul Sand or Soul Soil to build the body of the boss. These materials should be in abundance throughout the Nether, and therefore not difficult to find. The harder material to collect is the Wither Skeleton Skulls, of which you’ll need 3. To get the skulls, you’ll need to defeat Wither Skeletons, which spawn exclusively within Nether Fortresses.
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With these materials collected, you’ll want to head to a large open space (in the Nether or Overworld, your choice), and place the 4 Soul Sand/Soil in a T-shape, in a similar fashion to the construction method of an Iron Golem. Then mount the 3 Wither Skeleton Skulls on top of the 3 blocks, but be prepared to make a run for it, the Wither has an explosive entrance.
Items that are worthwhile to bring to the fight are as follows:
- Full set of Diamond or Netherite Armor (w/ Blast Protection Enchantment)
- Diamond or Netherite Sword (w/ Smite and/or Sharpness Enchantments)
- Bow (w/ Power Enchantment) and Arrows
- Golden Apples/Potion of Healing
- Milk
- Shield
- Totem of Undying
Fighting the Wither
The initial explosion caused by the Wither spawning deals varying damage dependent on what difficulty you’re on; the breakdown is as follows:
- Easy - 35 Hearts
- Normal - 68 Hearts
- Hard - 102 Hearts
As such, you’ll absolutely need a strong set of armor (preferably Diamond or Netherite) and health buffs from Golden Apples to stand a chance, and the further away you are from the detonation, the effect devastating the damage will be.
First Phase
The Wither will begin throwing skulls as projectiles at you - some black, some blue. The black skulls are fast-moving but can be deflected back towards the Wither, in a similar fashion to a Ghast’s fireball. The blue skulls move slowly, but can’t be deflected, so pay attention to which one is heading your way.
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The Wither continually floats around and will destroy anything in its path, so with that and the projectiles in mind ensure that this fight is far away from anything you might deem important. As the Wither flies around, you can swing at it if it is low enough, or take shots with your Bow. This phase will last until the Wither hits 50% health, at which point there is a transition to the second and final phase.
Second Phase
At 50% health, projectiles will become ineffective against the Wither, as it gains a blue glowing shield around it. As such, your melee weapons are your only course of action.
To further add difficulty to this phase, the Wither will also spawn Wither Skeletons continually, so much like the first phase, keep on the move and try to end the fight as quickly as possible to give you the best odds of not being overwhelmed.
After depleting the Withers’ health bar, it will charge up similar to how it spawned, and explode once more, so make sure to create as much distance as possible as soon as you land the killing blow.
Loot
Upon defeating the Wither, it will drop 50XP and a Nether Star. The Nether Star can be used to craft a Beacon, which is used to apply various status effects and buffs to the player.
