Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Tip:
Choosing and Storing Enchantments with Topics
Topics provide an opportunity to be more selective with the enchantments that are
applied to an item. Enchant the topic at the table in the usual way. The result is
still random until it's complete, but it carries an identifiable enchantment as soon
as you drag it back into your inventory. Combine the one you want with an item at
the anvil for a small additional cost in XP. Store any others in a chest so they stay
safe.
Earning and Managing Experience
Experience points (XP) are earned through different actions and then “spent” through en-
chanting or using the anvil. What's the quickest way to gain XP fast, and how can you
maximize your return on XP? Read on:
Killing mobs, mining, smelting, cooking, fishing, and breeding friendly mobs will
gain you XP. And if you cook the food, it becomes more nutritional. A quick way
to gain lots of XP is therefore to breed animals, increasing the population as
quickly as possible, and then kill any extras, picking up their dropped meat and
cooking that in your furnace. Breeding chickens is easy because the seed is avail-
able anywhere there is tall grass, but cows are more useful because you can also
use their leather to create topics in the PC Edition (that is, the edition installed on
Windows, OS X, and Linux computers). However, you'll gain more XP killing
hostile mobs than friendly ones.
Try to stay long enough to collect the colored experience orbs that gradually float
your way after an XP earning event.
Enchant gold weapons and armor. Gold benefits the most from enchanting and has
a better chance of getting a higher-level enchantment than iron or diamonds.
A priest villager enchants items at no cost to XP in exchange for payment with em-
eralds.
Start with low-level enchantments first, in the 1 to 10 range on the enchantment
table. There's little difference in the enchantments that can be had at the cost of 1
XP to 10 XP, so stay low and grow.
The first 16 XP levels are the easiest. At 17 and above, it becomes gradually more
difficult to climb each level, so if you want to enchant a lot of items quickly, keep
your XP below 17, spend it, and then build it up again.
All XP levels disappear on death, and while some experience orbs may drop for
collection after your respawn, at best they'll only be sufficient to build you back up
