Tutorials/Hardcore mode

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.

This might be one of the hardest games ever to beat on its hardest setting that has ever been made. So beware travelers, another challenge is to keep your sanity alive. Even now, the author of this guide teeters on the brink of such a state. Before attempting hardcore mode, it's wise to play at least a couple of games on lesser modes -- at least one on Normal, and one on Hard.

On a server, try to support your friends as much as possible. If your friend dies, you won't be seeing him anymore...

Tips

 * Always watch your back. The most common death is from a Creeper or a Ghast.
 * Never attack two Creepers in a row. The same goes for Skeletons because their long-range shooting means it's hard to get in close.
 * Never, ever take unnecessary risks. There are, however, some cases where you must take chances in order to survive. For instance: If there's a horde of skeletons yet there's a creeper along with it, it's more likely that the Skeletons will kill you rather than the Creeper, so trigger it if you must.
 * Mobile inventory space can be increased through the use of Ender chests or a donkey (or mule) with a chest.
 * If you see any farm animals near your spawn early game do not hesitate to kill them for your first few meals, the work in finding more later is worth having a meal for the first night.
 * Superflat Hardcore worlds are often more difficult than default ones. The default preset has no trees, and unless there are villages nearby, death is very likely.
 * Don't be afraid to place plenty of torches all over the ground. Surviving the first night is easier if you light up the area extremely well.
 * Beds are highly advised if you're on the surface for long periods of time. Break it and carry it around after you pass the night in case you don't get home before dark.
 * Be aware of your surroundings. Don't get so lost in what you do that you could be snuck up on. Occasionally stop and look around; and always have your volume at a level at which you can hear anything walking nearby.
 * Avoid going out at night until you're well-prepared, with iron equipment and a preferably a safe zone to retreat to. If night suddenly falls upon you, build an emergency shelter or pillar, unless you can retreat to your base.
 * Avoid dangerous areas early in the game such as caves and ravines. It's best to stay away till your second or third day.  This especially applies to temples, which contain traps.
 * Wooden doors do not protect you against zombies. Iron doors do, but they are expensive, requiring 6 Iron Ingots to craft. To solve this, dig 1 block down right in front of your wooden door (Be sure to place it from the OUTSIDE, or this will not work!!!) This will prevent Zombies from reaching the top block of a door, so they can't break it down. For insurance, place a block in front of the door.)
 * Wear at least iron armor at all times, replacing it as it gets worn. Remember that unenchanted armor doesn't protect you against falling damage, poison, hunger, etc.
 * Use sound. Listen to everything - creepers make sounds when they walk on grass/stone.
 * Sometimes it's better to flee than fight.
 * Be careful around cave spiders -- poison cannot actually kill you but it will weaken you severely. Only fight cave spiders if you desperately need string or spider eyes. If you need spider drops it is best to fight plain spiders if you have the choice.
 * Be extremely vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Occasionally look around you even if you have to interrupt what you are doing. Once you hear a hiss, it's too late.
 * Try to keep your Hunger meter full at all times - regenerating health might save your life and eating in the middle of combat can be hard to do.  Remember, hunger can kill you.
 * Walk when you are not being pursued by a mob. Sprinting depletes a lot of your hunger bar.
 * Do not jump too much. It takes down your hunger bar if you are not careful.
 * Never, ever dig straight down or straight up. You may tunnel into lava or a fatal fall or into a group of mobs. Instead if you must dig straight down (doesn't work for going up) stand on the line between two blocks and break one at a time so that way if one breaks to reveal lava or a fall you are still standing safely on the other. You can also create a spiral staircase by choosing a four-block square and digging down two blocks on one corner, turning right (or left, depending on which direction you want the staircase to go), and dig another two blocks down. Be sure that after you choose your direction, you only turn that direction. Repeat this until you reach your desired depth.
 * Act quickly and cleverly when in danger.
 * Do everything you can to make sure that you are not overrun by monsters. Plan ahead and leave escape routes ready. Digging into the side of a mountain to make an emergency hideyhole should only be done in extreme emergencies.
 * If you happen to fall in lava, swim to the surface and place water above (not under) the lava.
 * Fall damage can be avoided by placing water to break the fall.


 * Don't worry about storing items away "in case you die". It's Hardcore mode. It is important, however, to clear out inventory clutter.  Keep anything useful in organized chests so it can be retrieved quickly.
 * Making it to the End in Hardcore mode is an extreme challenge, therefore you need all firepower you can get. Remember, you cannot come back unless you kill the dragon.
 * Having a partner watching your back will likely save you from Creepers.
 * Alternatively, you can use modifications if the game becomes too difficult.
 * Diamonds are not very hard to find if you travel in deep caves. That being said, the common hazards would be monsters, lava, and falls. The least you need is iron armor and a stone sword to go in.
 * Never go unprepared into a cave in case you get surrounded or cornered, if you are and you are unprepared you will most likely die, so always bring blocks and weapons with you.
 * 1 tip for digging straight down. Make a hole next to you (as far as you can reach). Then, while sneaking, come to the edge of the hole. See if the blocks under you are all there. If they are, dig straight down to the same level as the hole you already made. Then repeat. If ever there is dangers you find, jump then quickly place a block under you, and repeat that until you are at the surface.

Shelters
Shelters are very important, especially on Hardcore. Building a proper shelter will make Hardcore mode slightly less impossible. Shelters are never mandatory, although they may be temporary.
 * Mushroom biomes are very safe places to settle because hostile mobs do not spawn under normal conditions.
 * Otherwise, a shelter built over an ocean away from land can also be very safe from hostile mobs.
 * It's best to build shelters out of blast resistant materials. Cobblestone is cheap, although, if possible, permanent shelters should use Obsidian.
 * Make your shelter as visible as possible. Proper lighting outside the shelter adds visibility, and stops hostile mobs from spawning nearby.
 * Build low ceilings to avoid fights with Endermen.
 * Because the shady canopies of trees will protect Skeletons and Zombies from burning, build an indoor tree farm to safely harvest logs and apples when necessary.
 * Even small farms with wheat, chickens and cows can be a great asset. Use the wheat and seeds to breed the animals for meat and other drops.  Again, indoor farms are safer.

The Nether

 * Going into the Nether may seem exciting, but in Hardcore it's serious business. Do not go in unless you're prepared.  Make sure you have the following before going into the Nether: iron armor (full suit), an iron sword, a bow (with some arrows), and a flint and steel.
 * Ghasts can be a very dangerous mob. Their fireballs can seriously damage unprepared players, or deactivate portals. Without a flint and steel, another fireball must hit the portal to reactivate it.
 * Never attack Zombie Pigmen; any nearby Pigmen will begin to attack. If it's necessary to kill a Pigman, choose one far away from any other Pigmen.

Hotbar
If you have thumb buttons, assign them to the sword and water bucket.


 * Sword.  Use the best one available.  Free up space by discarding or stowing away less powerful swords.
 * Water Bucket. Second most important item for survival.
 * Bow. In most situations, it is your best weapon. Unfortunately, it is very limited by number of arrows you have, so always make sure that firing is not a waste of arrows.
 * Torches. You will find them very useful while in caves or in the Nether, not to mention securing your base.
 * Pickaxe. You will find it useful in caves and the Nether especially. You want to carry at least iron.
 * Solid blocks (dirt, cobblestone, etc.). Can help to prevent lava spills or to allow quickly climbing up.
 * Shovel/Axe. They are not usually necessary at the same time.
 * Food. You might find it convenient to have food constantly on your hotbar.

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 Ender Pearls, 37 diamonds, and of course 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...

One variation on the below would be to start Step #2 with a mineshaft and branch mine, which will be slower but safer than caving. If you do this, it may be worthwhile to also hunt for gold -- if you can get 72 ingots, you can make an enchanted golden apple for the Nether run. Of course, your mines will eventually enter caverns as well.

Step #1 - Above-ground preparations
Duration: 5–20 minutes


 * Find the closest tree and punch it. Gather 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 into the dirt downwards (but not straight down).
 * Craft a stone axe, stone pickaxe, stone shovel and stone sword.
 * Get about half a stack of wood.
 * Kill pigs, cows and chickens to get at least 12 pieces of meat. Grab mushrooms if you see any.
 * It is recommended that you kill some sheep as well if you're scared of the dark so that you can craft a bed to skip to dawn.
 * Start looking for a cave system. They are best visible on the plains.
 * Don't make any stops. It is safer to not wander around at night without at least iron armor and your daytime is limited. You might find it overly careful but do not forget, that one little accident, and you have to start all over again.

Step #2 - Firm footing
Duration: 15–60 minutes

When you descend to the depths, remember, don't take risks. After all, you are playing hardcore mode. At first, it may be very dark so watch carefully for monsters and ores. Be sure to light everything in reach, and mark your path to the exit. Make sure to set the brightness level in "Video Settings" to "Bright" as to see any nearby monsters.

Your first goal is coal. Since inventory management will become a problem, try to keep your number of coal as close to 64 as possible, but not above it, while keeping a similar number of torches in hand. If necessary, you can make a Block of Coal to store extra.

The next important resource is iron. Your goal is 64 ingots -- piling up stacks and stacks is not necessary unless you are planning a long lasting game. When your sword or pickaxe is nearly used up, or you just have enough iron, find a safe area and set up a few furnaces to smelt/cook your items quickly. Make, in order, iron sword, a pair of buckets (and fill one with water from some nearby spring), iron armor, iron pickaxe, and iron shovel. Also, throw away all the wood/stone tools.

Once you are fully equipped, 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 10 pieces of obsidian for the portal, then go to the Nether and get another 4 from the portal's corners for the enchanting table. Meanwhile, you can also gather some redstone and gold for your potions and golden apples.

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 hesitate to craft it and use it, with whatever arrows you've gotten from skeletons. If you come across an abandoned mineshaft, be careful. Avoid cave spider spawners, but loot every chest you find. The next step is going to involve going to the Nether, but you need to build up some resources first.

When you get home, make an infinite water spring, then build farms for wheat, carrots and perhaps potatoes. If you've gotten seeds for pumpkins, cocoa beans, and/or melons (the first two (all in 1.7.2) can also be found on the surface) farm those too. Sugarcane is very important (for bookshelves), so if you haven't already, spread and harvest up to 3 stacks of that.

Wheat, seeds, and carrots can be used to lure and breed animals, leading to large supplies of meat and resources once you have enough of them, so making an area for them is a good idea. You will need chickens (arrows) and cows (bookshelves for the enchantment table -- books now need leather). (Watch out for wild ocelots.) Sheep on hardcore are less useful (beds are nearly useless), but you might want some wool for markers. You can also make pens for any wolves you tame -- if you have time to fish, you might make another for tamed ocelots.

Step #3 - Nether
Duration: 0.5–2 hours

Adventures in the Nether might be very dangerous so make sure you have:
 * Diamond sword, iron armor, and pickaxe. (Iron pickaxe is enough, but you may want a spare, and if you have a diamond pickaxe, don't bother with the iron one. Don't be scared of losing the diamond one. If you die, you won't get it back),  Bow (and at least 32 arrows). Make sure to enchant everything with 1-skill-point enchantments. It barely costs anything but can make a difference.
 * Flint and steel: This is useful for relighting your portal if it is deactivated by a ghast.
 * 16 Wood
 * Bones, dirt, and saplings: If your wood supply runs out, you can grow trees to replenish it. Using some bonemeal will skip some time for it to grow.
 * All your iron, coal and food supplies. (Remember, no respawning.)
 * 64 blocks of cobblestone.
 * A little redstone, so you can make extended potions as soon as you have your Blaze Rods.

You can be killed by a lot of things in the Nether, but most notable of them are:
 * Ghasts. Keep alert....
 * Falling down huge distance/in lava. It may caused by Ghasts, your carelessness or tricky holes in a fortress.
 * Zombie Pigmen. If you hit one, you get mobbed. Besides getting overwhelmed by the mob, you can get killed trying to avoid them!
 * Blazes. They are not very challenging alone and in controlled circumstances, if three or four spawn at once or they catch you unawares, things might turn really bad, and you'll probably need to face a spawner at some point.
 * Wither Skeletons. Probably the most dangerous Nether mob. Only in Nether Fortresses, but they are fast, strong, and inflict Wither effect.

The Nether contains four things that might be crucial for your adventure:
 * 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. You're probably best off just harvesting every one you find. Remember to grab some soul sand as well so you grow more -- six blocks will easily support a brewery, if not two of them.
 * Blaze Rod - it is necessary to craft Eyes of Ender. It is also used to craft a brewing stand and brew strength and fire resistance potions. To obtain them you will need to kill Blazes. You need just one or two rods to start (one if you already have magma cream).  Once you have those (and your Nether Wart), then retreat to brew some potions of fire resistance, and come back for more when you're fireproof.   For those first couple of rods, you might be able to pick off lone Blazes spawning on the walkways, but for the main haul, go for a spawner.  (If you managed to get enough gold for an enchanted golden apple, that should let you handle a spawner immediately). Watch out! Fire resistance doesn't protect you from Blaze melee attack.

For the main Blaze battle, you want to find an enclosed spawner and kill 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 the same time, your arrow supply would quickly deplete. Anyways, most of the loot would land out of your range. Once you have those, 12 blaze rods should be more than enough. Other noteworthy items from the Nether:
 * Ghast tear - used for potions of regeneration, which make you almost immune to damage. In a tight spot, regeneration potion might save your life. However, fighting Ghasts is dangerous, and the tears often fall in lava or inaccessible areas. Be careful.
 * Glowstone dust - used for strengthening your potions. Glowstone appears occasionally in Nether fortresses, otherwise look for it on low ceilings of netherrack.

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. Remember 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 - Surface world exploration
Duration: 1–10 hours

By now you have almost all the supplies you need to get out there in the world. Pick a direction and set off. If you find Wolves feed them Bones and they will join you. Even though they might seem more irritating than helpful, they might save you in a pinch. By now you should have made at least 15 bookshelves (you can set it up in the stronghold).

Remember, villages will provide good combat and survival supplies. Loot one if you can, but finding them can be somewhat difficult.

At this point you will have two main goals: Ender Pearls and Experience. On your way, kill all the chickens you encounter and gather a lot of feather. If you find that boring, you can decide to gather, for example 8 feathers a day. Also, make sure to stay high on food and wood. In the night, be constantly on the move. Kill the enemies in your path and be on a lookout for Endermen. As you accumulate levels, enchant your stuff:
 * Bow (at least 20 skill points). Even though you have only 1 in 10 chance of getting Infinity, if you do, fighting the Ender Dragon just became extremely easy (if you do, remember that you need at least 1 arrow for it to work). Power will also help.
 * Sword (30 skill points). As opposed to bow, you can't just make a new diamond sword, so you should spend more points on it. The most useful enchantment is Sharpness, but Fire Aspect will be rather useful in the End, but useless in the nether.

Plan to collect Ender Pearls until you have about 16-20. Turn them into Eyes of Ender. Remember to be conservative while using them, as sometimes they will break when thrown and sometimes they won't. Once you find the spot of the portal, begin to descend down. Watch out, because you might end up falling to the End portal, and there's lava under an unfinished portal. Once you are in the stronghold, break the Silverfish spawner and pillage the place. Set up your last base before fulfilling your destiny (or failing to do so). Check your equipment against the list below, brew all the potions you will need, and enter the portal.

Step #5 The End
Duration: 10–40 minutes

At the risk of ruining their feeling of accomplishment (and the spirit of a "hardcore" setting), some players decide to make a world backup at this point. Since there are benefits and drawbacks to this method, consider it carefully.

To make sure that the End won't be your end, prepare yourself properly. You will need:
 * Diamond sword, pickaxe, bow and iron armor. Enchant all non-enchanted tools with level 1 enchantments.
 * At least 16 pieces of food, preferably steak or porkchops.
 * Anywhere between 128 and 256 arrows. 1 arrow if you have an Infinity bow.
 * Snowballs can also break the healing towers. Even though they can only stack in 16, it may not be a bad idea to take some of these so you don't waste your precious arrows.
 * 64 blocks, 2 buckets of water.
 * Potions of regeneration. They should come in two variations (about 4 items each):
 * Extended potions of regeneration. Should be active each time you take damage or are at big risk of severely wounding yourself.
 * Splash potion of regeneration II. They can be used to save yourself from death.
 * Potion of Strength. If inventory space is not a problem make them all tier two potions. Take two extended potions or 6 tier II ones.
 * Splash potion of healing II. If you have melon available, fill all remaining inventory space with them. Before fighting the Ender Dragon, learn to differ them from regeneration potions.

Once you gather yourself and organize your inventory, jump into the portal and meet your fate. Upon entering the End, the first task is to take out the obsidian healing towers. Use your arrows (or snowballs) to remove all the towers, while making sure the Ender Dragon doesn't run into you.
 * While doing all this, make sure not to look at any Endermen. The last thing you want are mobs teleporting all around you trying to make your day miserable. However, if you get mobbed, you can place the buckets of water to damage the Endermen and prevent them from staying aggressive.

Once all the healing towers are destroyed, take aim at the Ender Dragon, once again avoiding looking at the Endermen. Keep moving, as the dragon will not wait for you. Should you die at this point, all your hard work is for naught- unless, of course, you made a world backup earlier. When-and-if you defeat the Ender Dragon...
 * Gather the seemingly infinite experience orbs
 * Make your way up to the portal and jump in
 * Enjoy the credits
 * And return to your original spawn point.

Think you can challenge the Wither? I wonder...