The Minecraft Wither Boss: A Complete Guide

If you have ever wanted to fight an undead three-headed flying demon boss in Minecraft, the Wither boss is for you. The Wither is a boss mob added to the game in the 1.4.2 Pretty Scary Update and has the second most health in Minecraft Java edition, having more than the Ender Dragon, but less than the Warden. In Minecraft Bedrock edition, the Wither has the most health out of any entities. The Wither doesn’t spawn naturally, so you must collect resources and use the resources to summon the boss. This guide will help walk you through the steps to spawning and beating the Wither.

How to Find the Items You Need

The resources that you will need to spawn the Wither include:

• 4 soul sand
• 3 wither skeleton skulls

To find four blocks of soul sand and three wither skeleton skulls, you must travel to the Nether. Soul sand is relatively common to find and is typically found near lava or in Soul Sand Valleys. Wither skeletons can be found in nether fortresses and defeating them is the only way to get wither skulls. However, gaining a wither skeleton skull is rare and the chances of obtaining a wither skeleton skull after defeating one is 2.5%.

How to Summon the Wither

Before you spawn the Wither, make sure that you are in an area where you are fine with the things around you being destroyed. Stay far away from any buildings you built and give yourself plenty of space to run and take cover during the fight.

To spawn the Wither, you will need to place the 4 soul sand into a T shape with one block at the bottom and three blocks at the top. Then you will place the 3 wither skeleton skulls on top of the three soul sand. Make sure to place the soul sand first or the Wither won’t spawn. The Wither also won’t spawn in peaceful mode. After placing the final wither skeleton skull, the Wither will be instantly summoned.

Preparing for the Fight

Since the Wither is a powerful boss, it would be wise to make a plan before you attempt to fight it. Here are some items that could help you:

• Golden apples (for regeneration) and Milk (for removing the wither effect)
• Potion of Strength (increase attack power) and Potion of Healing (regain health instantly)
• Diamond/Netherite Armor
  • Protection enchantment (take less damage from the wither effect)
  • Blast Protection enchantment (take less damage from projectile explosion)
  • Projectile Protection enchantment (take less damage from the projectiles)
• Diamond/Netherite Sword or Axe
  • Sharpness enchantment
  • Smite enchantment
• Bow and arrows
  • Power enchantment
• Shield
• Totem of Undying

Summoning the Wither

When the Wither appears after being summoned, it will be in a charging state where it starts growing in size and its health bar begins to increase. During this time, it will be idle and not move, however, you are unable to hurt it as it is immune to any types of attack. After the health bar reaches to full (takes 11 seconds), the Wither will explode and destroy any blocks within its vicinity. The damage from the explosion depends on the world’s difficulty level:

• Easy difficulty: 35 hearts
• Normal difficulty: 68 hearts
• Hard difficulty: 102 hearts

Make sure to stay far away from the Wither before it explodes. After the explosion, you can start attacking the Wither.

How the Wither Attacks

The Wither will begin flying around and destroying the blocks in its path by either running into them or shooting wither skulls. Any undead mob that crosses the path of the Wither will be targeted. All three heads of the Wither are capable of attacking and they all shoot out black wither skulls that explode on contact.

In Minecraft Java Edition, every time the Wither attacks, it will shoot three wither skulls, each targeting different mobs if there are more than one nearby. If the player is near the Wither, it will mainly target the player. The middle head of the Wither has a 0.1% chance to fire blue skulls instead. If the mob is killed on any soil type of block, wither roses will appear on that block. If there is no mobs or players near the Wither, it will be in an idle state where it simply hovers just above the ground.

In Minecraft Bedrock edition, the Wither will shoot out three black wither skulls and one blue wither skull.

Black Wither Skulls

The black wither skull attack causes an explosion when it connects with either the player or any blocks. If the black skulls hit you, you will have a wither status effect. The wither status effect will slowly deplete your health until either the time runs out or until the player ultimately dies from the wither effect. You can counter this by drinking milk or holding your shield up before the wither skull hits you.

Blue Wither Skulls

The blue wither skull can be easily differentiated from the normal wither skull because of the color. The blue wither skull is slower and has the same amount of attack power and explosiveness. However, blue skulls can destroy obsidian and other blocks that are usually immune to explosion. Blocks such as bedrock or the end portal are still unbreakable. If there is no mobs or players nearby, the Wither shoots blue wither skulls that shoot towards the nearest mob. In Minecraft Bedrock edition, the blue skulls gradually lose power the lower the Wither’s health gets.

Defeating the Wither

There are two stages when it comes to fighting the Wither.

First Stage

The first stage occurs when the Wither has more than 50% of its health bar. During this stage, the Wither flies high above the ground making it difficult to hit it with a sword. I recommend using your bow and arrows to shoot the boss while running away. Also, use your shield to block any incoming projectiles that the Wither shoots at you.

Second Stage

The second stage occurs when you bring the Wither down to half health. This will cause the Wither to gain a “wither armor” which makes it immune to any projectile attacks. The good news is that the Wither will float down to the same height as the player making it easier to hit it with a melee weapon. Once the Wither floats to the ground, start using melee attacks to kill it.

Side Note

In Minecraft Java edition, the Wither passively regenerates its health back, so be sure to hit it to stop its regen. If it regenerates its health back to over 50%, you can use your bow and arrows again to damage it. If the Wither kills any mobs, it will also regenerate health back.

In Minecraft Bedrock edition, the Wither will explode and summon wither skeletons to help it once it reaches half health. It also regenerates health back, but the “wither armor” stays even if it regenerates its health over 50%. Once you defeat the Wither, it will cause another explosion so be sure to run far away after killing it.

Wither Loot Drop and What to Do With It

The nether star is a rare loot that can only be found by killing the Wither. Every time the Wither is defeated, it will drop one nether star.

The nether star can be used to craft a beacon. The beacon is capable of giving the player a permanent status effect around a certain area. To craft the beacon, you will need 5 blocks of glass, 3 blocks of obsidian, and the nether star.

Once you have crafted the beacon, you must build a pyramid with blocks of iron, gold, diamond, emerald, or netherite to activate it the beacon’s effect. The bigger your pyramid, the larger the beacon’s range becomes. Place the beacon on top of the pyramid and you can activate any of the status effects that you want. This makes it useful to defend villages or your home against any unwelcome visitors.

The Wither is a very difficult boss to beat even if you prepare all the necessary items to beat it. However, if you want a challenge in Minecraft or if you want to increase the defenses of your base, it will be a worthwhile fight!