In Minecraft, the sword is probably your first line of defense against enemies. You usually start with a wooden sword, but if you already have some crushed stone or iron on hand, you can skip straight to the best swords section.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Making a Wooden Sword (Windows or Mac)
Step 1. Collect some wood
Hold down the left mouse button when you have the cursor on a tree trunk. This will break the tree and get some wood blocks. The blocks will automatically enter your inventory if you are close enough to the tree. Repeat this process several times.
It doesn't matter what kind of wood you are cutting
Step 2. Open the inventory
The default key to do this is E. You should see a 2x2 grid next to your character image. This is the creation area.
Step 3. Drag the wood to the crafting grid
You will see wooden planks appear in the results box, to the right of the grid. Drag them to inventory. You have successfully turned the wood into planks.
Step 4. Make sticks out of two wooden planks
Place two planks on top of each other in the grid. You will get four sticks, which you should drag into your inventory.
Step 5. Create a workbench
Fill the entire crafting grid with planks to make a workbench. Drag it to the quick selection bar at the bottom of the screen. Close your inventory and put the table on the ground. To place a block, right click on the ground after equipping it.
Remember not to confuse the wooden planks and the wood blocks. You can only use planks for this recipe
Step 6. Open the workbench
Right click on it to open the extended creation interface. From this window you can make recipes that require a 3x3 grid.
Step 7. Make a wooden sword
Just fill in a single column of the 3x3 grid. All materials must be on top of each other and the chosen column does not matter:
- Put a plank in the top box
- Put a plank in the center box
- Put a stick at the base of the column
Step 8. Use the sword
Drag the sword into a slot in the quick select bar and click on it to equip it. Now with the left click you will use the sword instead of your hands. This will help you a lot in killing enemies and animals, but be careful: the wooden sword is very weak. Skip to the section on the best swords if you want to become more powerful.
Part 2 of 3: Making a Wooden Sword (Pocket Edition or Console Version)
Step 1. Turn some trees into wood
In Minecraft, you can cut trees with your bare hands. In the Pocket Edition, just hold your finger over a tree to get wood. On consoles, use the right trigger.
Step 2. Learn to craft items
In these versions of the game, the creation system is simplified. The creation menu presents a list of available recipes and you just need to click on the one you want. If you have the required materials in your inventory, they will transform into the crafting item. Here's how to get started:
- In the Pocket Edition, press the three dots icon and select Create.
- On the Xbox, press X.
- On the Playstation, press Square.
- On Xperia Play, press Select.
Step 3. Create a workbench
This item gives you access to many crafting recipes, including those for swords. Here's how to build one:
- Make planks out of wood.
- With four aces in your inventory, build a workbench.
- Equip the workbench in your quick select bar and press down to place it (left trigger in the console edition).
Step 4. Make a wooden sword
It's another multi-step process:
- Make planks out of wood.
- Make sticks out of wooden planks.
- With a stick and two axes in your inventory, make a wooden sword from the Tools section.
Step 5. Use your sword
With sword equipped, pressing the screen or left trigger will deliver a blow. Thanks to this weapon, you will inflict much more damage on enemies and animals.
- Try jumping as you strike with the sword. Hitting a falling target (but not climbing), inflict a critical hit, dealing 50% more damage.
- Read on if you want to find out how to improve your sword.
Part 3 of 3: Building Better Swords
Step 1. Get some materials with a pickaxe
You need a pickaxe to collect the stone or metal needed to build better swords. Here is a description of the most common ways to find them, from the most common to the rarest:
- You can find the stone on the mountain walls and just below the ground surface. Dig it with a wooden pickaxe.
- Raw iron (stone with beige spots) is quite common below the surface and you need a stone pickaxe to dig it.
- Raw gold and diamonds are very rare: they are found only in the depths of the earth.
Step 2. Build a stone sword
Combine two crushed stone blocks and a stick to make a stone sword. This weapon deals 6 damage and lasts for 132 hits before breaking. For comparison, the wooden sword deals 5 damage and lasts for 60 hits.
As with all swords, the recipe requires you to fill only one column of the workbench, with the stick in the lowest box
Step 3. Switch to an iron sword
Iron is a durable material that you will use for a long time. If you have iron ingots (see below), you can craft a sword that deals 7 damage and lasts for 251 hits.
After you have excavated the ore, you need to melt it into ingots using a furnace
Step 4. Build a golden sword to flaunt your wealth
Despite its rarity, gold is not a suitable material for tools. If you have gold bars and use them to build a sword, you can get a weapon that deals the same damage as a wooden sword but only lasts 33 hits.
Golden swords have only one advantage: they have the best chance of receiving high-level spells. However, many players decide not to use these weapons, because they are really not very resistant
Step 5. Build a diamond sword
Owning such a weapon is truly a symbol of your power. Diamonds are the best materials for making tools and weapons, plus they don't require melting. A diamond sword deals 8 damage and lasts for 1,562 hits.
Step 6. Repair your swords
Place two damaged swords of the same type in the crafting grid. The result will be a stronger sword than the sum of the two you used. It is not possible to increase the resistance of an object beyond its maximum value with this method.
A "damaged" sword is a weapon that has dealt at least one blow. You should see a small bar below the item icon showing you how many hits it can still take
Advice
- All resistance and damage values refer to version 1.8 of Minecraft. These values may change in future versions of the game.
- When fighting a creeper, hit it once, back off immediately and repeat. This way you will be able to avoid the explosions.
- Some enemies can drop a sword, such as wither skeletons and zombie pigmen. Getting a sword this way is usually a lot harder than building it yourself, especially if you don't have one to fight with!
