Minecraft: The Beginner's Field Survival Guide: Hostile Mobs

If you are reading this, you need some help.

      A lot of people who start playing Minecraft have no idea about the game play. This guide, continued from the first, will tell you what you need to know about the game. This manual will answer many questions about the game.

Hostile Mobs



      The many creatures that live in the typical Minecraft world are called mobs. There are two variations of mobs, hostile and passive. I will help you determine which ones are passive and which ones are hostile. You need to know the difference.

Hostile Mobs: Creepers

       Many a Minecraft player has been minding their own business some time or other, getting some coal, or getting some wood, when the last thing they hear is, "SSSSSSSS-BOOM", and are blown up by a creeper. Creepers are one of the greatest scourges that a newbie can stand. They have a tendency to sneak up on unsuspecting players and explode, killing them and wrecking their stuff . Experienced players however, can dispatch on average four out of five creepers they come across without dying. They are the most common source of gunpowder.

 

 They may also drop TNT when killed. The tips for killing creepers vary, but one that is often very effective, is sprinting towards them and hitting them with, preferably,  anything stronger than a stone sword. It may take three hits with a stone sword while sprinting to dispatch one. Once the creeper is hit, it goes flying backwards, cancelling it's detonation sequence. Repeat the same action, and it won't have have time to detonate the TNT inside it's body. New players should avoid them. Creepers will run away from you if you have a cat/ocelot with you.

Hostile Mobs: Zombies

     A classic monster in many games and stories, zombies are the weakest hostile mob in the game. If they are alone, they can easily be dispatched. But if there is many of them, they are a force to reckon with. They drop rotten flesh when killed, and sometimes a carrot.

 

    If they find and kill NPC villagers, there is a one in four chance that the killed villager will become a zombie villager. 

Hostile Mobs: Skeletons

     Skeletons are the only mob aside from the Wither that are ranged fighters. They wield a bow with unlimited arrows. They have flawless aim if you are standing still and are less than twelve blocks away. A sword will supress the damage from the arrow if you block with the sword. 

      In the Nether however, skeletons spawn as Wither Skeletons, large grey skeletons wielding stone swords. They can sprint and are very hard to kill.

Hostile Mobs: Spiders

      Spiders are not aggressive during the daytime unless attacked. They sometimes sport spider jockeys on their backs. Cave spiders are found deep underground, and have a poisonous bite. They are smaller than their surface dwelling cousins and have a dark bluish tinge.

Hostile Mobs: Silverfish

    Silverfish are one of the rarer hostile mobs in the game. They spawn in what look like dungeon blocks, but are really eggs. They are small and hard to hit due to their tendency to wriggle across the floor towards you

Hostile Mobs: Slimes and Magma Cubes

    Slimes are large green blobs, of, well, slime. They will try to jump on you to kill you. They are not easy to kill. When you kill a giant one, it splits into four smaller slimes, and then four tiny slimes. Magma Cubes are basically the same, except that they only spawn in the Nether and look red.

Slimes drop slimeballs, and Magma Cubes drop magma cream, which is an essential ingredient to potions.

Good! Now you know what mobs you should fear in the game. 

Happy mob hunting!

Coming soon:

Minecraft: The Beginner's Field Survival Guide:
 Neutral Mobs