Bows are an useful weapon when it comes to long range combat in Minecraft. They’re my favorite weapon of choice in the Nether or when farming Creepers for Gun Powder.
When paired with certain Enchantments for the Bow it becomes one of the best aces up your sleeve.
Though if you have mastered making swords in Minecraft, then you will certainly know that any tool and weapon does not last forever.
If you have a Bow you really like, equipped with Enchantments, you will want to know how to repair it and keep it from breaking.
Minecraft Bow Recipe
- 3 String
- 3 Sticks
To craft a Bow is pretty easy. Just like a Fishing Rod all you need is Sticks and Rope which you can harvest by killing Spiders. In a Crafting Table arrange them like shown in the image below:
Minecraft Arrow Recipe
- 1 Flint
- 1 Stick
- 1 Feather
Once you have your Bow you will need to stock up on Arrows. To make Arrows you need Sticks, Feathers, and Flint.
How to Repair a Bow
The process of fixing or repairing a regular bow is the same as for any tool or weapon in the game.
Unenchanted items in Minecraft can be repaired either on an anvil or on a crafting table.
If you don’t have your bow enchanted, feel free to use this technique. All that you will need is another Bow (with more, equal or less durability) and put the two together on the grid.
Their durability will combine with an extra 5% added.
However, to fix an Enchanted Bow you will need an Anvil.
An Anvil will keep any Enchantments on the items you have and combine them when fixing it at the cost of experience levels.
That also means if you have two Bows with two different sets of Enchantments, the Anvil will combine them as well as increase their durability.
Because of this an Anvil is always a better option when dealing with Enchanted Items. You can also give your special Items a name to go with it.
How to Craft and Use an Anvil
To craft an Anvil you will need quite a bit of Iron. 4 Iron Ingots and 3 Iron Blocks, which in total amounts to 31 Iron Ingots.
An Anvil is a block affected by gravity, just like Sand or Gravel. The problem with Anvils is that if it falls onto the player it will certainly deal damage, without the player being suffocated inside multiple blocks.
Another unique feature of the Anvil is the fact that it wears away over time. With each usage (repairing, renaming, or Enchanting) the Anvil’s own durability will change.
There’s three different stages to an Anvil before it becomes destroyed. Usually it lasts a total of 25 uses and it cannot be repaired.
The stages of the Anvil losing durability are: Anvil (fully intact), Chipped Anvil, and Damaged Anvil.
Enchanting a Bow
When you hit a Mob with the Arrow it will be gone for good. If you think you will miss the shot it’s a good idea to point the Bow to the ground and fire the Arrow into a solid block. As long as it’s your Arrow you can pick it back up.
You cannot pick up Arrows from Skeletons or other people that are stuck in blocks
Of course there’s ways to get around this and that’s Enchanting. The Infinity Enchantment allows you to fire an endless number of Arrows from a Bow as long as you have at least one Arrow in your Inventory.
The Arrows don’t get spent.
To Enchant any Tool or Weapon in the game you need an Enchanting Table, Lapis Lazuli, and a set of Bookshelves.
The Enchanting Table is where you will be doing all the Enchanting. You will need Lapis Lazuli to “pay” for the Enchantments, along with your Experience Levels.
Finally, the bookshelves which are placed around an Enchanting Table help in empowering the Table. The more bookshelves you have (max 50 Bookshelves) the higher the chance for better Enchantments.
These areas are usually best fit to be built in libraries and similar builds, allowing you to hoard your enchanting books.
This will increase your chance to get some of the best Bow Enchantments in Minecraft.
For the infinite Arrows you will want to keep your eye out on the Infinity Enchantment.
What to do Next
Like we mentioned before, when using an anvil it will cost you experience levels. For certain items, particularly the ones with enchantments, repairing them will cost more.
In order to have enough experience levels to both enchant and repair your items it’s good to mine and farm often. Things like an AFK fishing farm can greatly help you accumulate the experience you may need.
