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

Step #4a - The Coalden Rule
Once you have found your first good cave system and you have enough food to do some serious delving, it is time to bank some serious coal. You almost can't have enough of the stuff... almost. Cooking food, Smelting iron ore, and crafting torches will quite literally burn through your coal stacks at a time. As mentioned in the Important! section at the beginning, be strategic about your torches! Here is the Authors system for torch placement. On the way in to unexplored cave, always put torches on the right wall. If a tunnel is particularly wide and you need more light, put two torches on the same block on the left wall. This way when you need to head back to the surface, just follow the reverse pattern. Torches on the right wall on the way in will be on the left wall on the way out. Light up big rooms as quickly as possible, not paying too much attention to strategy, but caring more about stopping monsters from spawning all around you. When in doubt, use more torches than less, there is plenty coal to go around, but only one life!

Step #4b - The IRON Rule
Get Iron, get lots of iron, and get it fast. The sooner you can trade your flimsy armor for some of the manly stuff, the better. As you collect Iron keep a central-ish location where you can have a bunch of ovens putting all your coal to good use by smelting your iron. Make an iron sword as fast as possible and maybe 1 iron pickaxe, then focus on the armor. Iron armor is the most important thing up to this point. Get in it as fast as possible and your chances for survival will be greatly increased. With a full suit of iron armor no single Mob(excluding the dragon) poses any real threat, even an Enderman. You still need to play carefully, in groups these Mobs can still be dangerous, but you can now be confident while fighting off the zombie hoards and the creeper ninjas.

Step #5 - Robin Hood Rule
When you have killed enough spiders make a bow, they are awesome. Get good with your bow. Your bow will come in handy against the Enderdragon so get good. Also, killing Skeletons can sometimes drop bows for you, sometimes even enchanted bows. There is no easier way to take down a Skeleton than with your Bow and Arrows.

Step #6 - Diamonds!
It is time to go get you some diamonds! They live almost exclusively at levels 5-13. You can press F3 to see what your location is, the Y coordinate is what level you are on. Two main methods are used to find these rare gems. You can just look around in the cave at that level, or once you reach the right levels just pick a wall and dig a 2x2 hallway. Both methods yield... DIAMONDS! There are other mining methods that you can look up too, some include... TNT. Remember to be careful of LAVA though, it is literally all around you. What you do with your diamonds is up to you. Craft a set of armor, and some tools. But you shouldn't use the armor until you have at least a low level enchantment on them. Your Iron Armor should be sufficient until then. Technically the only non-enchanted diamond item that you need to use is your first diamond pick, which you will need so you can harvest the Obsidian required in the crafting of an Enchantment Table. Learn about Enchanting here -> and here ->

Step #7 - 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 your roaming gang. Feed them food so they mate and your gang will get bigger. If you do collect a wolf gang be careful that creepers don't explode near them. Many a wolf-friend have been lost to a ninja creeper attack. Unfortunately, wolves cannot wear iron armor. Oh don't bring the wolves with you underground, or into the mountains! They tend to bump you off cliffs or into lava or they just kill themselves. Wolves are for the plains/forests/desserts. 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/WolfBait. 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!