Tutorials/Hardcore mode

Intro
This is a guide for Hardcore Mode written by a man who was still in the middle of his second game of Hardcore and edited by those who shared his vision. The following is what he wished to share with those of us who feel the need to beat video games on their hardest setting.

First, thank Notch we now actually have something to work towards, not that you minded aimlessly wandering the wilderness in search of... of.... an even more epic mountain than that last one; and the endless hunt for more diamonds is still a core part of the average Minecrafters psyche. But now, with the addition of this horrific terror, new challenges have been laid out before you. The last of which being to slay that beast you lovingly know as the Enderdragon, and all the while the slightest slip, burp, or Explosion; the slightest lapse in judgement or one too many careless impressions of the jump key, could dash your dreams and aspirations to bloody pieces.

Welcome to Hardcore Mode!

Secondly, this might be one of the hardest games ever to beat on its hardest setting that has ever been made. So beware travelers, this may end up driving you to a deep state insanity. Even now, the author of this guide teeters on the brink of such a state.

Important!
Here is a list of guiding Principles/Standards/Commandments/HardLearedLessons, that should always be practiced while Hardcoring.


 * In no specific order:


 * Always Kill Chickens! Feathers > Diamonds
 * Break Gravel Blocks Often! Flint > Diamonds
 * Live every moment like there is a creeper behind you, chances are there is.
 * Keep your Hunger meter full at all times, regenerating health is salvation.
 * Always sprint out of doors and cave openings.
 * As soon as possible, get a Bucket of water and keep it on your hot-bar for the rest of time.
 * Assume there is Lava behind that block you are breaking.
 * Assume your next seemingly safe step will drop you into an ocean of Lava, oftentimes in caves, what looks like a safe step may be a 20 level drop into the said sea of Lava.
 * Listen for Lava. It makes a popping sound similar to the sound a Slime makes.
 * By now I hope you get that Lava is probably going to be what kills you.
 * Iron Armor is the difference between life and death.
 * Pick a system for placing your torches and stick to it so you don't get lost.
 * if you are in a Taiga biome,it may be a good idea to keep Snowballs in your GUI. snowballs do not do damage,but it could push mobs away by shooting the snowballs at the mobs.

Step by Step Guide to Hardcore
Now that the basics have been established, let's move on to the more nitty gritty details, shall we say. At the time of writing this guide, the author was in the middle of a game of Hardcore. Using the following strategies he was at least able to reach level 38 and have endless stacks of iron, 4 Enderpearls, 37 Diamonds, and of coarse a pack of wolves which was ever growing. He was proud of his accomplishments, but also very aware of how much of the challenge was left to complete. The looming and ever closer threat of the Nether is most likely what prompted him to pause and write down this "guide". No one can be sure...

Step #1 - Above-ground preparations

 * Find the closest tree and punch it. Get 4 pieces of wood.
 * Craft a Crafting Table.
 * Craft a Wooden Pickaxe.
 * Find the nearest Stone and mine 9 blocks to start. If there is no stone nearby, just dig several meters downward.
 * Craft a Stone Axe, Stone Pickaxe, Stone Shovel and Stone Sword
 * Get about half a stack to one stack of wood.
 * Kill pigs, cows and chickens to get at least 12 pieces of meat. Grab mushrooms if you see any.
 * Start looking for a cave system. They are best visible on the plains.
 * Don't make any stops. It would best not to wander around in night without iron armor and your daytime is limited. You migth find it overmuch careful but do not forget, that one little accident, and you have to start all over again.

Step #2 - Firm footing
When you descend to the depths, remember, not to be so risky. After all, you are playing hardcore mode. At first, it may be very dark (if you are afraid of darkness, you can raise your brightness. It is more fun to stick to moody, though) so be very attentive to the monsters and ores you pass by. Once you mine your vein of coal be sure to light your way to the exit. Otherwise, on your way back, you might just forget about it, thinking that it was not explored branch of a cave.

Mining coal might be boring, so it is best to mine four blocks, each time you pass by an easily accesible vein. Try to keep your number of coal as close to 64 as possible, but not above it. The same goes for torches You might find yourself with 3 stacks of torches, that you have to throw away, if you mining trip ends quickly.

The next important resource is iron. Your ultimate goal is 64. Once your sword/pickaxe breaks or you feel like you have enough iron, find a safe area and set up a few furnaces to smelt/cook your items quickly. Make, in order, iron sword, bucket (and fill it with water), iron armor, iron pickaxe, iron shovel. Also, throw away all the old tools.

Once you are fully equiped, go further down. Your next goal will be diamonds. You will need 7 gems (2 for sword, 3 for pickaxe and 2 for enchanting table). Now, with your new diamond pickaxe, you can mine 16 pieces of obsidian (12 for portal and 4 for enchanting table). You can also gather few pieces of redstone for your potions.

This sums up all mining you will need to do in the hardcore mode. If you gathered, at any point, enough string to make a bow, do not hestitate to craft it and us it. If you come across an abandoned mineshaft, be careful. Watch out, when conquering cave spider spawner (or avoid it altogether, if you want to be extra safe). The next step is going to involves going to Nether.

Step #3 - Nether
Adventure in Nether might be very dangerous so make sure you have:
 * Diamond sword, Iron Armor, Pickaxe (iron pickaxe is enough, although it is pointless to craft one if have a diamond one), Bow (and at least 32 arrows). Make sure to enchant them with 1-skill-point enchantments. It doesn't cost you nearly anything but can make a difference.
 * Flint and Steel
 * 16 Wood, Sapling
 * Bones, Dirt
 * All your Iron, Coal and Food supplies
 * 64 blocks (Cobblestone, Dirt)

You can be killed by a lot of things in the Nether, but most notable of them are:
 * Falling down huge distance/in lava. It may caused by ghasts, your carelesness or tricky holes in a fortress.
 * Zombie Pigman. If you hit one and don't perform a fight profesionally, you might find yourself surrounded and/or pushed into lava or fire.
 * Blazes. They are not very challenging alone and in controlled circumstances, but if three or four spawn at once, or they catch you unaware, things might turn really bad.

Nether contains five things that might be crucial for your adventure:
 * Blaze Rod - it is necessary to craft Eyes of Ender. It also used to craft a brewing stand and strength potions. To obtain them you will need to kill blazes. It can be done most easily by finding enclosed spawner and killing them in melee. Do not try to fight blazes in the open. Even if you were masterful enough to manage both blazes and ghasts at a time, your arrow supply wouldn't. Anyways, most of the loot would land out of your range. 12 blaze rods should be more than enough.


 * Nether Wart - they are necessary to brew any useful potion. They are found quite often in Nether fortresses. 5 will be more than enough, although you will find much more than that.


 * Ghast tear - they are not a necessity, but if you kill a ghast it would be a waste, not to collect its tear. In a trouble, regeneration potion might save your life.


 * Glowstone dust - useful in terms of prolonging potion duration. Glowstone appears quite often in Nether fortresses.

Nether Survival. If you can't find any fortress nearby, you may be forced to spend a lot of time in the Nether. Food supplies can be easily replenished, using very abundant mushrooms. Remeber though to mark your way with torch and some other more visible, non flammable blocks, like cobblestone, dirt or crafting tables. After you gathered all the supplies that interest you, go back to the regular world.

Step #4 - Adventure and Beyond!
By now you have almost all the supplies you need to get out there in the world. Now Pick a direction and go. If you find Wolves feed them Bones and they will join you. Even though they might seem more irritating than helpful, the might save you from a pinch.

You will start to eagerly await the night. Monsters will fear you. When the night eventually comes, and it always comes, you will terrorize every monster you can find; always hungary for another kill. They all drop useful items. Zombies drop Wolf Food. Skellingtons drop arrows/bows/Wolf Bait. Creepers drop TNT powder. Spiders drop... ok string kinda sucks but hey, it is still XP! And most importantly, Enderman drop those Pretty Pearls that are oh so crucial!

Now, don't let your blood lust distract you! This trek is not aimless, you should still be looking for a village if you have not found one already. And remember they spawn on flat places usually. Once you find one, search the buildings for Bookshelves to use on your enchantment table. Also grab any sugar cane you happen upon. Craft Sugarcane to Paper to Books to Bookshelves and an Enchantment Table. Once you have your enchantment table, it is your choice if you want to level up or not. This is a little dangerous but it might be worth it in... The End. Once you reach level 40+, which you are probably close to already, pick one item and enchant it to level 40. The choice is yours, no one can choose which item you should enchant, although you could enchant a bow... After that it is just some quick grinding to level up anywhere from 1-10 and enchant each of your unused diamond armor pieces, diamond tools and bow. All the while hunting for enderpearls at night.

Plan to collect Enderpearls until you have more than enough and then use them to find a Stronghold with the gate The End. Once you have set up shop there, you will need to venture into the Nether to collect Blaze Rods, Nether Wart, and anything else you might want and/or need. In the Nether, Archery and enchanted armor are key to your survival. Fire resistance in potion form or enchantments is awesome! And archery will help with lowering the Ghast population. You cannot get water into the nether, so be careful, there is a lot of fire. When through with the Nether, stock up on potions, arrows, swords, TNT, armor and then head to The End and try your best to slay the Vile Beast!

More detailed updates may come, once the Author has ventured there himself... if he makes it that is.

Lastly, here is a screen shot of the Author's inventory setup that he runs when spelunking/adventuring. If you have a base of operations and are just going out to kill things you can run a simpler setup, but these items are all very important to the Hardcore Minecrafter.



Some quick screenshot notes:
 * Keep dirt next to your pickaxe in case of lava spillage.
 * You can use the pumpkin head on Enderman, so they won't run away. Wolves are also really awesome for killing Enderman and not having them run off on you.
 * Learn to use the 1 key to switch to your sword fast.
 * And there is that water bucket, just in case of you know what...

Happy Hardcoring! And remember don't ever let your guard down or get comfortable, all it takes is one perfectly placed creeper explosion and 3 disastrously timed skeletons and you can kiss your hard work goodbye. Also.... LAVA!