Better Than Wolves Forum

So I've finally gotten the damn Wither Skulls and summoned a lovely demon spawn in my world, but I've fought him twice now and I've only gotten him down to half health. I wear diamond armor with projectile protection and a sword w/ smite and composite bow and arrows with potions of regeneration, health, and two stacks of healing. Is it remotely possible to battle a Wither head on like this or am I supposed to be trapping him under some contraption XD

EDIT: I'm sure I had him last time, but that was when Broadheads were available before going on with the tech tree.

It's definitely possible, and I know I've done it before.

Making your potions splash really helps if I remember right, as you can launch them instantly instead of having to spend time slurping them, and I think the wither also takes damage from healing potions, so you can both heal yourself and hurt it at the same time.

At first I thought you were trolling me remembering I needed gunpowder for splash. Then I checked the new brewing charts and found balls. Heh, should have known you'd think of that.

Fair guess though, I kept dying while trying to chug down potions at critical health.

Time to chance my third set of Diamond armor, I'm just thankful I can get more ingots from Blacksmiths now. Blue Shiny Rocks are scarce man.

FlowerChild wrote:It's definitely possible, and I know I've done it before.

Making your potions splash really helps if I remember right, as you can launch them instantly instead of having to spend time slurping them, and I think the wither also takes damage from healing potions, so you can both heal yourself and hurt it at the same time.

Didn't that change as part of Harcore Brewing in verison 4.89PHILLIP?

Change log wrote:Removed the whole "healing potions hurt undead, harming potions heal them" thing from the game, as it was just hurting potion brewing overall as a system. The problem was that it turned healing potions into a "swiss army knife" where they would both help you and hurt a good portion of the mobs in the game, including the wither, which is probably the fight where you most want potions. Meanwhile, it relegated harming potions to pretty much never being used as a result (except in PvP) due to their tendency to both hurt you and help mobs. Short version: all potions now effect undead the same way they effect other mobs.

Doh! You are correct on the damage to wither. Even as I wrote it there was a nagging doubt in my mind that I had changed it :)

Splash still helps on the saving time however by getting rid of the slurpy slurpy.

Also, I think you want blast protection enchantments against him, instead of projectile protection.

Well I don't know if you consider this to count as fighting the wither "head on", but I've found it helpful to fight them in forests as opposed to a flat open area. The cover provided by the trees can help you to retreat if you get in a pinch to restore health or just rethink your approach. It'll generally always get to you anyway by destroying blocks and blowing things up but it does slow it down. On the other hand the reduced visibility makes it hard to shoot the thing and easy to fall into caves and the like if you're not careful so maybe you might not find it as helpful as I do.

Another helpful thing to use if you're going to try to engage it in melee are strength potions, which add a whole lot of punch to your sword damage.

caveatEmptor wrote:Well I don't know if you consider this to count as fighting the wither "head on", but I've found it helpful to fight them in forests as opposed to a flat open area. The cover provided by the trees can help you to retreat if you get in a pinch to restore health or just rethink your approach. It'll generally always get to you anyway by destroying blocks and blowing things up but it does slow it down. On the other hand the reduced visibility makes it hard to shoot the thing and easy to fall into caves and the like if you're not careful so maybe you might not find it as helpful as I do.

Another helpful thing to use if you're going to try to engage it in melee are strength potions, which add a whole lot of punch to your sword damage.

Or you can just spawn it in a room near bedrock, either in the nether or the overworld. Rock and netherrack slows it down a lot more then trees.

I found it's very easy to kill him by just going very far on one of your strip mining tunnels, and just spawning there, as his mobility is greatly reduced and you always have room to retreat(that is, if he doesn't somehow break the floor below you).

Two word: Iron golems

I just box him in with Steel boxes late game. Early Game? Nether roof with Regen potions replace the floor with cement several layers deep, use an enchanted sword if you have found a table and get smite. make sure to build a wall you can hide behind if things get hairy.

I tend to prefeer using the bedrock level at the overworld, 3 level strata stone is fairly blast resistant. So I dig myself a room filled with walls to hide behind to heal with potions. Of course, full diamond armor and sword (everything enchanted with the best I can get) is needed. If the enchantment is not good I re-smelt the piece and start again.

First wither I did with full enchanted armor and sword (with smite). I also had potion of regen, potion of health, a couple milk buckets (to reduce wither), and potions of strength. Drink the strength and regen before, spawn, then go at it.

I did it near the top of the nether, although 3rd strata stone might have been smarter since it got hard when he was blasting me down. Took a couple tries before my first win too. Don't assume you'll win, even fully prepared don't make it a situation where if you die you're hopeless. Might want a potion of fireresistance too. Shit happens.

Well thanks guys, but I really wanted to take the Wither on equal footing so to speak, it's why I mainly tried dealing with him with normal limitations rather than going over elaborate with my methodology. You gotta earn that first star y'know?

Dorugami wrote:Well thanks guys, but I really wanted to take the Wither on equal footing so to speak, it's why I mainly tried dealing with him with normal limitations rather than going over elaborate with my methodology. You gotta earn that first star y'know?

Well, keep in mind man: I've tried to balance the game around being able to manipulate your environment, thus manipulating it in order to succeed at something is entirely fair game.

I'm all for self-imposed limitations if you're looking for more challenge, but you definitely shouldn't feel like you're cheating if you're legitimately using the mechanics of the game to win a tough fight.

Fair point FC, it's just that there are so few 'boss' fights in this game, and I don't get much of a kick from building that I kinda want to savor each one XD

I don't mind trapping succeeding Withers in terrain though, I just wanted to look at my future first beacon and go
"damn that was one good fight"

I'll probably do the same with the dragon egg, heh.

Dorugami wrote:Fair point FC, it's just that there are so few 'boss' fights in this game, and I don't get much of a kick from building that I kinda want to savor each one XD

Oh, it's entirely cool man and I certainly get the desire to impose additional restrictions on yourself during play, as it's something I do quite regularly myself while playing various games.

Just wanted to descend from the heavens for a moment and boom out "thou art not cheating!" in case it was a concern of yours, and I figured a statement from the guy that balanced the whole thing would be a good way to reassure you if it were the case ;)

I think you may have actually inspired me to make a few additional tweaks to the wither to make it a more challenging opponent for the builders as well, so even if you didn't want to hear the advice they were offering, it'll likely benefit the game just the same :)

FlowerChild wrote:

Dorugami wrote:Fair point FC, it's just that there are so few 'boss' fights in this game, and I don't get much of a kick from building that I kinda want to savor each one XD

Oh, it's entirely cool man and I certainly get the desire to impose additional restrictions on yourself during play, as it's something I do quite regularly myself while playing various games.

Just wanted to descend from the heavens for a moment and boom out "thou art not cheating!" in case it was a concern of yours, and I figured a statement from the guy that balanced the whole thing would be a good way to reassure you if it were the case ;)

I think you may have actually inspired me to make a few additional tweaks to the wither to make it a more challenging opponent for the builders as well, so even if you didn't want to hear the advice they were offering, it'll likely benefit the game just the same :)

Many thanks then oh pointy one who hath descended to poke me with enlightenment! XD
And I'm very much looking forward to a more brutal Wither fight, thank you.