Enchantments may be somewhat of an afterthought when you first load up a new world in Minecraft, however, they become extremely important later on in the game, especially when you’re gearing up to head to the nether or even planning to take down the ender dragon.
Smite is one of the most useful enchantments in the game, especially because of how much easier it can make traversing the map at night or when you’re in a cave surrounded by mobs, and while it will take a bit of effort to apply, it is more than worth it.
Here is how Smite works in Minecraft, and how you can acquire it for yourself.
What Is Smite?
Smite is an enchantment that can be applied to either the sword or axe. It is an enchantment designed to deal with undead mobs with each subsequent level raising the damage dealt to the undead by 2.5. This can continue to a point where a level 5 Smite enchanted sword will take down a skeleton archer in a single hit.
Alongside skeletons, there are a few other undead creatures that Smite will work well against. These are:
- Undead Horse (for more information on horses, read here)
- Zombie Horse
- Skeleton Husk
- Zombie
- Zombified Piglin
- Zombie Villager
- Stray
- Drowned
- Wither
- Phantom
While you will be able to take down most undead mobs with a single hit of a sword that has been enchanted with the highest level of Smite, some of the bigger mobs such as the undead or zombie horse can take up to 2 hits.
To put into perspective how much extra damage Smite adds to a weapon when it is being used on the undead, while Smite I will take a netherite sword from 8 damage to 10.5, Smite V takes it from 8 to 20.5. For the axe, Smite I takes the base damage from 10 to 12.5 while Smite V takes it to 22.5.
These statistics will vary depending on the type of weapon you are using and what it is made out of, so diamond and netherite weapons will benefit the most from the enchantment.
How To Obtain Smite
If you want to enchant a sword or axe with Smite, you will first need to have an enchantment table. Click on the table and select either your sword or axe and use lapis lazuli to grant the weapon the enchantment.
Lapis is a fairly rare mineral that can be found while mining. It is an ore block with a bright blue appearance that will be very noticeable when you come across it, and when you mine a lapis block, it will drop between 4-9 pieces of lapis.
Enchanting won’t always work the first time you try it, so it can be worth stocking up on lapis so that you can keep trying in the enchantment table.
When you insert the lapis in with the sword or axe, the Smite enchantment will now be attached to your weapon of choice.
Remember that if you place bookshelves at least one space away from the enchanting table, this will increase the chances of the weapon receiving a higher level of enchantment which is always worth doing for Smite since each level raises the damage dealt significantly.
Additionally, if you’re having a little trouble making Smite through an enchantment table, you also have the option to use an anvil instead where you can place your weapon and an enchantment book into the two spaces to create a Smite enchantment.
Finally, you can also acquire Smite if you run into a librarian who has a chance of selling it, although the level of the enchantment is completely random.
You will be able to trade emeralds with librarians for enchantments, making them an easy way to acquire Smite if you don’t want to go through the trouble of acquiring an enchantment table.
Can You Acquire Smite By Fishing?
If you’re struggling to find lapis, an enchantment table, or a librarian, you can always try fishing which definitely isn’t the most effective way to obtain Smite, but it is still a method that can work.
While you can use any type of fishing rod to do this, you will have the highest chance of reeling out a Smite enchantment book if you have the Luck of the Sea enchantment on your rod which majorly increases your chances of catching valuable items including name tags, saddles, and enchantment books of all kinds.
Combining Smite With Other Enchantments
There are a few enchantments you will not be able to combine with Smite. These are Sharpness, which increase base melee damage for swords and axes, and the Bane of Arthropods, which increases damage dealt to spiders, bees, and silverfish.
Should I Use Sharpness Or Smite?
Many players will say that Smite is the better enchantment for the early game since you’re mostly going to be dealing with undead mobs such as zombies and skeletons.
After this point, the Sharpness enchantment is far better since it raises your overall base damage which can be a lot more useful when you’re taking on different kinds of mobs as you discover more of the map.
With that being said, Smite does deal more damage to undead mobs than Sharpness will, so while you won’t be able to one-hit undead enemies with even the highest level of Sharpness, you can easily do so with Smite V, especially if you’ve attached it to a netherite sword.
While Sharpness is therefore seen as the better and more useful enchantment, Smite can still be seen as more ideal if you’re constantly getting surrounded by zombies and skeletons, and you need a quick and easy way to cut through them.
Summary
When it comes to facing the undead, there’s no better enchantment than Smite, and while it can be a little tricky to get and apply to your weapon, once you do, it makes going out at night so much easier so you won’t have to hide away in a house or use a bed to skip the night entirely (if you need to know how to make a bed, read here).
