Certainly one of the scariest things to come across in Minecraft is the Warden. The guardian of the Ancient City, the Warden is truly a force to be reckoned with.
Known to be the strongest Mob in the game, fighting and defeating it is a big task.
Trying to defeat the Warden in Minecraft should be something you prepare for really well and we are here to help you do exactly that.
Be prepared to have the best weapons and gear on hand, because you certainly will need them.
How to Summon or Avoid the Warden
If you know how to summon the Warden, you also know how to avoid it. It is usually suggested that the Warden is better avoided than summoned, because fighting it requires a lot of skill and if you are underprepared you are guaranteed to die.
The Warden only spawns in one place. You will have to find the Ancient City first if you wish to try fighting one.
The Sculk biome which surrounds the Ancient City is littered with unique blocks: Sculk Shriekers and Sculk Sensors. These are what you wish to keep an eye out for and you can see them in the image below.
Sculk Sensors are hidden all throughout the Sculk Biome and they pick up vibrations and noise that you make. Walking, jumping, mining blocks, or opening Chests are things that the Sensors can pick up on. When they do they emit a Redstone Signal.
The Redstone Signal can be used in Redstone circuitry, but inside the caves this particular signal will travel to Sculk Shriekers.
When a Sculk Shrieker receives 4 signals from a single Player it will summon the Warden.
Warden Stats
The Warden has the most health out of any Mob and Boss in the game. Compared to the Ender Dragon (200 health) and Wither (300 health), it has their health combined, at 500 health points.
For reference, a regular Iron Sword only does 6 damage. You would have to hit the Warden more than 80 times to kill it with just an Iron Sword.
The strength of the Warden’s melee and projectile hit depends on the difficulty mode you are playing at. On Easy difficulty a melee hit from the Warden does 16 damage or 8 hearts, while on Hard mode it does 45 damage (22.5 hearts)
On easy difficulty a single hit is enough to kill you without Armor.
In a fight the Warden is completely immune to any Fire or Knockback effects. Meaning that Lava or certain Enchantments will have no effect on it.
You will also be affected by the Darkness effect, which will greatly darken the surrounding area and hinder your ability to see where you are going.
With all those stats and immunities, it’d be expected that the Warden drops quite a bit of loot.
That is, unfortunately, not the case. On death a Warden will drop a single Sculk Catalyst and just 5 experience.
The real Loot you will want is the loot in the Ancient City.
Fighting the Warden
It is safe to say that you should be well geared up when going to fight the Warden. The best Armor and Weapons, with plenty of things to help you regenerate your health.
Trying to keep a distance from the Warden in a fight should be a priority. Even if you can tank one hit you are not guaranteed to tank two.
Because the Warden is immune to knockback effects you will have to be running away from it. Do not try rapidly swinging at it, instead stay on the move, approaching it only to do a single strong swing, before putting distance between you again.
If you are stocked up on Arrows, they are a good way to both keep the Warden busy before it fully notices you, but also to do some long distance damage.
Fired Arrows can be used to draw the Warden’s attention before it is enraged. It will give you time to get far away from it, before you are able to fire at it from a safe distance.
Using only Arrows, however, will not be effective. Even if you climb onto a tall block, the Arrows will take a long time to actually kill the Warden. The Warden can also shoot projectiles if it cannot reach you itself.
Rely on your Arrows when it is freshly summoned and once it is enraged you will have to depend on your reflexes and gear to keep you alive.
Recommended Gear
With how strong a Warden’s single hit is and how much health it has, the recommended gear will be the very best you can find. The most durable Armor and strongest hitting Enchanted Weapons.
Netherite Armor and Swords with Enchantments will be an absolute must. The higher the Enchantment level, the better as well.
Generally speaking, without the Enchantments it is nearly impossible to fight the Warden. Here is how many hits I could survive depending on the Armor grade and Enchantments I had on Normal difficulty:
| Armor Type | Enchantments | Hits Tanked |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Armor | None | 0 |
| Iron Armor | Protection IV | 2 |
| Gold Armor | None | 0 |
| Gold Armor | Protection IV | 2 |
| Diamond Armor | None | 1 |
| Diamond Armor | Protection IV | 4 |
| Netherite Armor | None | 1 |
| Netherite Armor | Protection IV | 4 |
Even though Enchanted Diamond and Netherite Armor were able to tank a total of 4 hits, Netherite still protected me more. After the 4th hit the Diamond Armor left me with a single Heart of health, while with the Netherite I had 2.
On full hunger those 2 Hearts quickly become more if you manage to step away and get yourself some space. The Warden cannot attack rapidly.
On top of the best gear, having a Potion of Night Vision is also a must. Navigating a cave with the Warden’s Darkness effect is extremely difficult, even if you had previously lit up the area well.
You can also make a Potion of Strength in order to shorten the time you have to fight the Warden and kill it faster.
Some of the Food Items to bring with you if possible are:
- Golden Carrot or Apple
- Enchanted Golden Apple
- Cooked Mutton
- Cooked Porkchop
- Steak
Food that is lesser grade than this will not really help you that much.
If possible also bring Splash Potions of Health Regeneration, as they can be applied much quicker than drinkable ones. Do be careful not to splash the Warden at the same time, however.
Finally, having a Totem of Undying will allow you to survive the easily fatal hits from the Warden.
