Ocean Monument

Ocean Monuments also known as Ocean Temples are naturally generated structures that appear in Deep Oceans, sometimes intruding into nearby regular Oceans. Monuments are inhabited by Guardians and Elder Guardians.

Spawning
Ocean monuments can only spawn in areas where it has a Deep Ocean biome at its center point. It requires an aquatic biome (regular/Deep/Frozen Ocean, regular/Frozen River) everywhere within a 29 block square radius around the center point.

Structure


The monument is constructed entirely from variants of Prismarine and lit by Sea Lanterns. It includes a large central section flanked between two wings. Under the monument are 23 giant pillars that stretch to the ocean floor. The main entrance is located at the front of the main section.



The central section consists of various types of chambers. The chambers are randomly generated; each monument has different amount of rooms (at least six) arranged in a unique manner. The cahmbers connect vertically and horizontally to the different parts of the monument, including the left and right wings. Some rooms contain a cluster of Wet Sponges on the ceiling. Near the center of the central section is the treasure chamber, a tall room with eight gold blocks encased in Dark Prismarine. At the topmost room resides an Elder Guardian.

The left wing is a large room with a small pillar at the center. The room contains the second Elder Guardian. The right wing is a huge open space with a large, square-shaped platform. In it contains another Elder Guardian. A long hallway that covers the edges of the wings and the back portion of the monument connects the two wings together.

Strategy


The difficulty of the dungeon is largely dependent on the player's preparations. The primary threat when taking down the monument is drowning, but this is easily prevented using a potion of Water Breathing, or a Respiration enchantment. The amount of potions of Water Breathing the player should bring is determined by how long the player will stay underwater. The next main threat is the dangerous Guardians. With high health, fast movements and a powerful ranged attack, players with weak armor and sword will be quickly overrun by the large groups of guardians surrounding the structure. Strong enchanted armor is recommended when combating the mobs. The only method of attack is a sword, since bows are ineffective underwater. When approaching the monument, a ghostly image of an Elder Guardian will appear in the screen and the player will be inflicted with Mining Fatigue III. This effect is inflicted by the Elder Guardians, not by the building itself. Due to effect, breaking through walls will be nearly impossible until all Elder Guardians are killed. Thus, the player is forced to enter through the main entrance and explore through the rooms to find all three Elder Guardians before otherwise. Milk buckets can help negate the effect, but only for a short moment.

Once inside, the player will meet with a severe lack of visibility and mobility, due to being underwater. This can be resolved with potions of Night Vision and the Respiration enchantment for visibility, and a Depth Strider enchantment for mobility. Because each monument has differently generated rooms, exploring the structure could take quite some time. Blocks can be used to keep track of each rooms that were already visited, but keep in mind that the Mining Fatigue will make it difficult reclaiming them. View Structure to gain better detail on the structure of the monument.

Battling Guardians will be more or less troublesome because of the lack of space in most rooms. If the player is well prepared, Guardians should be a mere disturbance when exploring. Elder Guardians contain very high health and damage, but its large body hinder its movement, allowing players to quickly dispatch them if they are equipped with strong swords. Once all Elder Guardians are defeated and the effect wears out, the player can freely roam the monument and mine out valuable blocks. If prepared thoroughly and carefully, and with managing enough time, defeating the monument will run rather smoothly.

Trivia



 * The base area of the monument is 58×58 blocks, which is significantly larger than Desert Temples (21×21) and Jungle Temples (15×12). It is slightly smaller than the average Stronghold, however.