User:R0cketor/Surviving in the Nether

This guide is intended for people who have travelled to the Nether, thus already know how to make Flint and Steel and Pickaxes. This guide is also set on Normal difficulty setting.

'''This guide is incomplete! Do not post it! Posting it results in plagiarism! And I'll send a Ghast your way!

Introduction
You are already a fairly experienced player. You have mastered the diamond pickaxe and Obsidian. Your portal brings you to a freakish flame world with angry Ghasts and mysterious Zombie Pigmen. Now, this horrible world, is it habitable? The elements are there: Ground, Liquid and light, and they are all at your disposal. Yes, a few items may have to be brought in, but The Nether is a surprisingly fun world to live in for Hardcore adventurers.

What to bring

 * as many Chest blocks you have (perhaps start off with two, you can make more later)
 * Optional: A strong building material such as Stone or Obsidian (for ground and if you want thin walls)
 * Saplings (as many as you have)
 * Cactuses (as many as you have)
 * 5 stacks of sand
 * 5 stacks of dirt
 * Plenty of torches
 * Optional: Instead of torches bring lots of Flint and Steels (perhaps 20)
 * 10 Buckets or more
 * About 5 pickaxes (a stone or wooden one is sufficient. You can make more pickaxes after you make a farm.
 * Huge supply of cobblestone
 * About 1 stack of wood blocks, more will be made in The Nether
 * Optional: Bow and Arrows (for Ghast fighting)
 * Optional: TNT (useful for smashing through Netherrack)
 * Iron or Diamond Sword
 * Optional: Crafting Table
 * Optional: Armor, preferably Iron or better (protection from Zombie Pigmen and Ghasts)
 * Iron doors, about 10

Note: You may have to take multiple trips bringing your items. Change the difficulty to Peaceful just in case.

Hacking

 * You may wish to hack in wolves, as these help a lot when hunting Zombie Pigmen.
 * Hacking in tons of arrows really helps when in the Nether for Ghast hunting.
 * Hack in tons of water blocks, they can be used in the Nether however water buckets can't.
 * If you hacked in Water blocks, bringing Sugar Cane is also useful, they can be planted next to water with dirt. Ghasts can't see through Sugar cane, so this is a special shield!

Overview
Note: The Nether does not have a day or night, as such I will be going in periods or real-life hours.
 * Hour 1: You will make a house of triple layered Netherrack or single-layered Stone/Obsidian, with a secure chest spot and crafting table.
 * Hour 2: You will make a tree farm. It will be sheltered from Ghasts. You will also dig around for Soul Sand and Glowstone. You also make a cactus farm.

Building a stable home base
The home base is always includes the portal. What if you have a pack of four Zombie Pigmen coming your way and you're in your isolated Ghast hunting camp, without a portal? How will you escape? Or what if you catch fire far away from your portal? What then? That's why your main base is including your portal so there is a fairly quick escape.

Building a home base is simple: it really only has to be as high as your portal. Perhaps make it 10 blocks long, an iron door as protection from Ghasts, and the house can be made from either Netherrack or Stone if you brought any. If you're super fancy, you can use Obsidian as a bonus defense, and it also stands out due to the dark purple texture compared to the reddish world.

Fences of flaming Netherrack are useless here, Ghasts fly over them and Zombie Pigmen are pretty much immune to fire. So the only victim there is you.

Note: Make sure you use iron doors. Ghasts can blow up the Wooden doors, and wooden doors can also catch fire.

Tree Farm
Assuming you already know that trees catch fire if lit, they will be a very big hassle trying to grow. Out of the mist a fireball might hit them or you might accidentally spill lava over them. Therefore, our tree farm has to be secure AND lit. Start by building a 15 x 15 x 15 cave. Then, make a doorway of Iron doors and use netherrack (or stone would be useful) and build a secure area around your fort. now, make the ground out of dirt. Also make some ladders and build a second layer at about the 7th block up.. Plant some saplings. There is only ONE problem about this type of growing field is that there is a chance of Ghasts spawning in your area. Zombie pigmen will spawn too but they aren't a problem. To fix this, make chandeliers out of fences and place torches (or flaming netherrack) on a suspended block. about 3 blocks apart. This is useful for light, and ghasts will have a much lower chance of spawning. Zombie pigmen do not trample saplings, as such they will not be a problem as long as you don't attack them.

Soulsand and Glowstone are a necessity
Not in the overworld, but they help a great deal more in the Nether. Glowstone is an almost renewable source or light, as such you can break them and reform glowstone blocks. They are found hanging up on the world.

Soul sand is a bit more difficult to find. However, they are found in massive beaches, normally overhanging a lava ocean. Take caution when extracting these.

Cactus farm
Cactuses aren't particularily useful but they only come in handy when you want to hide from zombie pigmen. This is one of the farms that do not need defense. Just build a flat plain of sand and plant cactuses on it; they will grow eventually.

Food! (and a pigman killing machine)
Mmm. Mushrooms are abundant in the Nether and are easy to find. You can make mushroom soup easily with a bowl. You can collect stacks of mushrooms and then get back home to eat. Another source of food is cooked porkchops. Zombie Pigmen can drop them. As such, we should make an area where zombie pigmen can spawn and be killed easily. To do this. Make a 2 block high wall (any length) and wait for them to spawn. When they sapwn, just hop onto the wall and stab them or punch them to death.

(to be continued)
Aah! I cant wait for 1.5!