The Ancient City is a scary and dark place, hidden away from the eyes of explorers. Though, there are those of us who are brave enough and willing to enter the depths of the Deep Dark in order to find all the treasure and loot that the Ancient City hides from us.
The truly tricky part isn’t even escaping the Warden that hides in the Deep Dark. It is finding the Ancient City to begin with.
The Deep Dark
The Deep Dark is a unique Cave biome which can be found deep within Caves in the Overworld. It is considered very rare.
When you stumble upon the Deep Dark you will be immediately able to tell. It is the only biome in which Sculk type blocks grow and usually they absolutely cover the walls of the caves. These are dark blue, almost black blocks, that are covered in light blue spots.
This entire biome is very dark, as its name suggests. No Glowing Lichen grows here and it can only be illuminated by the player or Lava.
In order to find the Ancient City you have to first find the Deep Dark biome as this is the only biome the Ancient City can generate in.
However, entering the Deep Dark biome poses a big danger, and that is the Warden.
The Warden is a Hostile Mob that spawns when a player alerts Sculk Shriekers. It is a very powerful and very aggressive Mob that will attack every other Mob within its detection range, but it will usually prioritize the Player.
It has far more health than any other boss within the game and the strongest attack of any in-game Mob.
That being said, it is suggested to not try fighting the Warden, but rather steer clear of it. Sneaking in the Deep Dark helps prevent a Warden from spawning. Bringing Carpets or Wool to lay it out on the ground helps you sneak around and prevent the Warden from spawning.
Finding The Ancient City
Finding the Ancient City is going to be just as difficult as finding the End City in the End. Even if you have the correct biome it does not guarantee finding the City. Its generation is random.
Though it generally spawns at around -52 Y level.
However, you should know you have reached the Ancient City when you stumble upon the Wool Carpets and long corridors of the city. The Carpets are, in fact, used to dampen sounds and vibrations that usually summon Wardens.
From your cave explorations you will likely enter the Ancient City by a corridor, similarly to how it can be done with Nether Fortresses. Though it can be expected that its generation can at times leave it hanging in the air of open caves, just like Mineshafts.
Be careful not to fall in.
Using Chunk Base
Chunk Base is a Minecraft app that can aid you in your search for specific generated structures or biomes in your world.
Copying the seed of your World onto the website allows you to see a full map of your World and the location of any structure, from a Village, to a Mineshaft, to the Ancient City.
If you are particularly struggling to find the City feel free to use this site to help you in finding it with more ease. Hovering your mouse over a specific spot or icon shows you its X and Z coordinates, but not the Y coordinates.
In the case of the Ancient City, remember that is usually spawns around the depth of -52 underneath ground. Be careful while digging.
Ancient City Loot
The Loot you can find in the Ancient City is vast. It is the place where you can find Loot you wouldn’t find in any other structures in the World. Because there is a lot, we will focus on all the high value Loot that is unique to the Ancient City.
Most of the Loot Chests will be located outside of the safely padded corridors of the City. For those you will have to bring your own Wool.
Many of them are located on top of towers (see image below) or in small Deepslate structures of the City.
Do keep in mind you can also stumble on regular loot, like Coal and Bones. The Loot that makes venturing into the Ancient City generally worth it is:
- Potions of Regeneration
- Echo Shards (used for making Recovery Compasses)
- Amethyst Shards
- Glow Berries
- Sculks
- Bottles o’ Enchanting
- Enchanted Books
- Armor and Enchanted Armor
- Music Discs
- Sculk Catalysts
- Compasses
- Saddles
- Leads
- Name Tags
- Diamond Horse Armor
There isn’t much difference between Java and Bedrock Edition when it comes to the Loot. However, among the regular Loot Chests there are also so-called Ice Chests. These are surrounded by Packed Ice blocks and at times hidden.
In them you get less Loot and it is usually the less rare variety. Those are:
- Packed Ice
- Snowballs
- Baked Potatoes
- Golden Carrots
- Suspicious Stews
Encountering the Warden
The Warden is currently one of the scariest and strongest Mobs in Minecraft. Its health is greater than the Ender Dragons or the Wither, and its hit is the strongest of all the hostile Mobs in the game.
Though, even the most carefulest of players can make a mistake. So here are some tips for avoiding the Warden and what to do in case you do accidentally summon it.
1. Better Safe Than Sorry
Sneaking, or walking on Carpets and Wool, is a good way to not trigger vibrations in the Deep Dark. Because of how dark the biome is it is really hard to tell when there’s a Sensor nearby or not.
The same should apply with placing or destroying blocks because these can also trigger vibrations.
Do not approach the Sculk Shriekers or Sculk Sensors unless it is to destroy them and unless you have to. It is not worth the risk.
2. Gear Up
Unlike when we explore other places, you will not want to gear up with just weapons and armor. Though these are good to have in case of combat, you will want to also bring a Hoe and Shears.
The Shears will help you move around quicker as they break Carpets and Wool faster.
A Hoe is used to break the Sculk Shriekers faster than other tools. In the case you do have to pass by one, the Hoe will save you time in breaking it. It also allows you to efficiently harvest other Sculk blocks.
3. Distractions
In the case the Warden spawns it is important to remember that this Mob is entirely blind. It relies on hearing and vibrations to navigate the darkness of the Cave.
Throwable items like Snowballs or Eggs, or Bows and Crossbows, can be used in order to distract it. Shooting the projectile in a direction will make it focus on that and if you’re lucky it’ll wander far away enough for you to sneak away.
If the Warden isn’t angered it will eventually despawn on its own.
It is much safer to distract the Warden and get out of the danger zone, then come back another time when it is likely gone.
Conclusion
The Ancient City is certainly a high risk area with high rewards. It is hard to explore and even harder to conquer.
However, I believe that the Loot you get is entirely worth it. Not to mention the bragging rights that come with having survived a Warden encounter and looting the City.
If you want more tips on finding valuable Loot in structures, consider finding the End City. Similarly to the Ancient City, the End has its own share of unique and valuable Loot, such as the Elytra and much more.
