When playing Minecraft, one of the first things many players do is craft or find a bow. As one of the easiest ways to get a ranged option, the bow can be super helpful in a huge variety of situations, especially when traversing the Nether. While the standard bow is certainly useful, it can be made even better with powerful enchantments, but there are definitely some that are better than others. When enchanting a bow, it's important to look for an enchantment that will be worth the resources and help players to survive in harsh environments like the Nether, the End, or even the new caves in the upcoming update.
In order to enchant a bow, players will first need to craft an enchanting table and gather some resources. Placing books around the enchanting table will increase the level of enchantments that players can get, and lapis lazuli will be required to power the enchanting table. Finally, players should make sure they have a few levels under their belt by killing some of Minecraft's numerous mobs.
At the time of writing, there are currently seven possible enchantments for bows in Minecraft, but they are not all equal. For example, one of these seven enchantments is actually the Curse of Vanishing, causing the bow to disappear when the player dies rather than falling on the ground. Likewise, though Unbreaking is a great way to keep a bow around longer, there are better options available to players. Instead, players should focus on one of these five enchantments: Power, Flame, Infinity, Mending, and Punch.
The Power enchantment is straightforward, and players really can't go wrong with it. This will increase the damage of the bow 25% for each level of the enchantment (starting at 50%). The Flame enchantment is easier to get than a high-level Power enchantment and causes arrows to light foes on fire. Next, Infinity is generally considered one of the best options for survival, as it allows the bow to be fired without expending arrows. Mending will help players keep a nice bow around longer as it will repair itself indefinitely with experience orbs, and Punch adds major knockback to arrows fired from the bow.
Each of these enchantments have different uses that make them more or less helpful depending on the situation. In a survival world where players don't want to spend a ton of time farming for arrow crafting materials, Infinity is probably best, but if tackling the Ender Dragon, players will want to go for Power all the way. Punch can be useful in cliffs or other precarious areas for knocking foes off the edge, and Flame can be used to trigger TNT from afar.
Minecraft is available now on Mobile, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.