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Enhance your ranged combat capabilities in Minecraft by learning how to craft crossbows and increase their damage.
Introduced to Java Edition in Version 1.14, crossbows can shoot further than bows and do more damage at the cost of a longer reload time. However, they can also be kept preloaded in the inventory or hotbar, allowing for rapid fire when switching between multiple loaded crossbows. To increase their damage even further, crossbows can be loaded with fireworks and enchanted using the enchantment table or enchanted books. Before enhancing a crossbow, let’s first look at how to craft one.
Crossbow Crafting Ingredients in Minecraft
To craft a crossbow, you will need 3 sticks, 1 iron ingot, 2 strings, and a tripwire hook.
- Craft sticks by stacking two wood planks vertically on the crafting table.
- Smelt iron ingots in a furnace using iron ore.
- Kill spiders and break cobwebs to find strings.
- To craft a tripwire hook, stack an iron ingot, a stick, and any wood plank vertically on a crafting table.
Crafting a Crossbow in Minecraft
Once you have all the materials, head over to the crafting table once again. Place the tripwire hook in the center and the strings on both sides. The iron ingot will go on top, while the sticks will be on the top-left, top-right, and bottom-center.
Once all the crafting materials are placed correctly, the crossbow will appear in the right slot of the crafting table. Crossbows can also be obtained by trading with Fletcher villagers and by killing pillagers wielding them.
Maximizing Crossbow Damage
Now that you have successfully crafted a crossbow, it’s time to put it to good use. Unlike a bow, a crossbow must be loaded before firing. To do this, hold the right-click button (or the corresponding use button on your platform) until the string is fully drawn back. The crossbow takes a little over a second (1.25 seconds) to load. Once loaded, it will remain ready to fire until you press the right-click (use button) again. After loading a crossbow, you can place it in your inventory.
Enchanting Your Crossbow
To maximize the effectiveness of your crossbow, you can apply enchantments that are unique to it. You can obtain these through an enchantment table or by combining a crossbow with enchanted books on an anvil. Some of the most useful enchantments include:
- Quick Charge: Reduces reload time, allowing for faster consecutive shots.
- Multishot: Fires three arrows in an arc while consuming only one, making it excellent for crowd control.
- Piercing: Allows arrows to pass through multiple enemies, dealing damage to each.
If you have such high-level enchantments on your crossbow, adding Unbreaking or Mending enhancements will considerably enhance its durability.
Using Firework Rockets in a Crossbow
One unique feature of the crossbow is its ability to shoot firework rockets instead of arrows. By loading a firework rocket into the crossbow, you can create explosive attacks that deal area damage, perfect for battling groups of enemies or adding a fun twist to PvP combat.
The more gunpowder used in the firework’s crafting, the greater the explosion radius. To maximize damage, use fire charges when crafting firework stars with gunpowder and dye. Unlike regular arrows, fireworks shot from crossbows do not fall in their trajectory but travel in a straight line until they explode.
However, a firework will not load into the crossbow automatically from the inventory. To load a firework, place it in the off-hand slot in the inventory, the one to the bottom right of your avatar. Then, load the crossbow with a right-click, and the firework in your off-hand will load into it.
Be cautious when shooting fireworks at close range, as they explode on impact, and the blast radius can damage you. If you plan only to use fireworks as ammunition, avoid the Piercing enchantment, as firework rockets will still explode on impact.
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