In Minecraft, having a ranged weapon is always recommended, and many monsters can become lethal at a melee distance. Instead of taking a close distance fight, players can attack enemies from a far distance using bows or crossbows.
Compared to bows, crossbows are not very popular among Minecrafters. It is because the crossbow’s recipe is costlier than the bow’s crafting recipe. Nonetheless, crossbows are a great weapon to have in any player’s arsenal.
By applying enchantments to crossbows, players can make this ranged weapon far more deadly and versatile. In this article, we take a look at the Piercing enchantment in Minecraft and understand everything about it.
Table of Contents
What does Piercing do in Minecraft?
Piercing is an enchantment exclusive to crossbows in Minecraft. An arrow shot from a crossbow enchanted with Piercing can pass through multiple entities and deal damage to all of them. The number of entities it can go through depends on the level of enchantment, and piercing enchantment has a maximum level of 4 in Minecraft.
In Minecraft, certain enchantments only work with a specific type of tool, armor, or weapons. Piercing can only be applied to crossbows and is incompatible with everything else.
Arrows from Piercing I enchantment can pass through one entity only and hit any other entity behind it.
The enchantment allows the arrow to pass through the same number of entities as its level. At the maximum level of 4, the Piercing enchantment can go through 5 entities before hitting one more target.
Piercing is a powerful enchantment when players are against a horde of monsters. If mobs are aligned perfectly, a crossbow enchanted with Piercing V can hit a total of 6 mobs at the same time.
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But against solo mobs, Piercing enchantment loses its value as its effect is rendered useless.
How to add Piercing enchantment to a crossbow in Minecraft?
Piercing is an interesting enchantment because it can hit multiple enemies with only a single arrow. Players would most likely want this enchantment for their crossbows. Here are some different ways to obtain Piercing enchantment in Minecraft:
1. Trade with Librarian
Librarian is one of the best villager professions in Minecraft, and it can sell almost all types of enchantments just for some emeralds and normal books. Players can place a lectern in front of a jobless villager to turn it into a librarian.
Click on the librarian to check if it has Piercing trade or not. If not, break the lectern and make the villager jobless again. Repeat the process until it offers Piercing enchantment. Try to get a high-level Piercing enchantment from the librarian.
Use an enchanting table
The Enchanting table is the easiest way to get enchantments in Minecraft. Players can craft an enchanting table using four obsidian, two diamonds, and a book.
Enchantment tables can give most types of enchantments, including Piercing. Players will need to increase their experience level and collect some lapiz lazuli to get started with an enchanting table.
Create an enchanting table set up by surrounding the table with bookshelves at one block distance. This will cause the enchanting table to give high-level enchantments.
Place a crossbow on the enchanting table and see whether Piercing is available or not. If unavailable, reset the available enchantments by getting a low-level enchantment on a book or some useless item. Keep trying until Piercing enchantment appears.
Place a crossbow on the left side and a Piercing enchantment book on the right to get a bow with Piercing enchantment. Doing so will consume certain XP levels depending on the level of Piercing enchantment.
These are the two best ways to get Piercing enchantment in Minecraft. Players can add Piercing directly to their crossbows by using an enchanting table. But if the Piercing enchantment is obtained via trading with a librarian, players will need an anvil to add the enchantment to a crossbow.
Does Piercing work on bows in Minecraft?
Unfortunately, no, Piercing enchantment is incompatible with bows in Minecraft. It is an exclusive enchantment only supported by crossbows. However, there’s nothing to worry about, as bows already have access to lots of powerful enchantments.
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Minecraft crossbow enchantments
Piercing enchantment isn’t the only enchantment available for crossbows in Minecraft. Here are all the enchantments that players can add to their crossbows:
- Quick Charge: Crossbows are infamous for their arrow reloading speed. With Quick Charge enchantment, players can significantly decrease the loading time in crossbows. At the max level of III, a crossbow with Quick Charge enchantment shoots faster than a bow.
- Multishot: A crossbow enchanted with Multishot fires three arrows at once. Even though it fires three arrows, only one arrow is consumed from the inventory. This enchantment has only one level.
- Piercing: Piercing enchantment allows an arrow to pass through multiple entities while damaging all of them. It has a maximum level of IV.
- Unbreaking: Unbreaking enchantment decreases the probability of durability points getting used when the crossbow is used. It has a max level of III.
- Mending: With Mending enchantment, players can repair their items by collecting experience points. It has only one level.
- Curse of Vanishing: This cursed enchantment causes the item to vanish after the owner dies and drops it.
Piercing Minecraft FAQ
How much damage does a crossbow do in Minecraft?
A non-enchanted crossbow does 5.5 hearts worth of damage with an arrow at maximum charge. If a firework is used, one shot deals nine hearts damage at max charge. Players can boost the damage further by using enchantments.
Does Piercing make crossbows do more damage?
Piercing does not boost the damage by crossbows. Instead, it allows the player to hit more enemies on one condition – the targets need to be packed closely. Because of this, it is not always practical to use the Piercing enchantment.
Is Piercing or Multishot better in Minecraft?
Piercing and Multishot are mutually exclusive enchantments, and players cannot have both of these enchantments together on a crossbow. Multishot fires three arrows at once, while Piercing can hit 2-5 enemies at once.
However, both enchantments also have their limitations. Players cannot control the directions of extra arrows shot by Multishot, while Piercing requires targets to be grouped up.
