Tutorials/Defeating a woodland mansion

Woodland mansions are special structures found in the dark forest. They are highly anticipated to explore, because they are inhabited by the illagers and are the only place where you can find the totem of undying, an extremely useful item that can save you from death. This makes woodland mansions a great place to go before fighting bosses.

Woodland mansion exploration checklist
Exploring a mansion requires a lot of preparation, but not everyone has the same skills. So depending on how skilled you are, different preparations may be needed. The following is a suggested collection of equipment you might need:


 * A diamond sword enchanted with Sharpness V, Looting III, and Fire Aspect II (Unbreaking and Knockback also recommended)
 * A bow enchanted with Unbreaking III, Power V, Flame, and Infinity (Punch also recommended)
 * One arrow (or without Infinity, several stacks)
 * A full set of diamond armor enchanted with Protection IV, Unbreaking III, and Thorns II or III
 * A diamond pickaxe enchanted with Silk Touch and Efficiency IV or V
 * A diamond axe enchanted with Unbreaking III and Efficiency IV or V
 * A pair of elytra wings enchanted with Unbreaking III and Mending
 * Several stacks of firework rockets (any flight duration)
 * An anvil, to repair items if necessary
 * At least 10 golden apples
 * Highly nutritious food, such as bread or steak
 * At least six healing potions
 * At least six regeneration potions
 * At least six strength potions
 * At least three stacks of cobblestone
 * An ender chest
 * Several stacks of ender pearls
 * Several stacks of torches, to light up the mansion and mark your way back as you explore
 * A bed (any color), to set your respawn point outside the mansion in case you die
 * A woodland explorer map
 * A compass
 * A trident enchanted with Unbreaking III, Riptide III, and Mending
 * A shield enchanted with Unbreaking III (optional)
 * A few stacks of harming arrows (optional)
 * A few stacks of poisoned arrows (optional)
 * A few swiftness potions (optional)
 * A few invisibility potions (optional)
 * One or two enchanted golden apples (optional)

Sword
Your sword (preferably diamond) will be used to take out the vindicators and evokers in the mansion, as well as normal nighttime enemies you may encounter along the journey to the mansion. You should enchant your sword with Sharpness IV or V, to deal as much damage as possible. Unbreaking will allow it to last longer. Looting will allow you to obtain more emeralds as drops from vindicators and evokers, but it will not affect the evoker’s drop of the totem of undying. Fire Aspect will set your enemies on fire, and cause them to take damage over time. Knockback is also recommended, because it will allow you to knock them over ledges if possible.

Bow
The bow will be your secondary weapon, for taking out enemies from a distance, or to take out vexes that the evoker may summon. Along the journey to the mansion, it can be used to take out phantoms. You should enchant your bow with Unbreaking III, Power V, Flame, and Infinity. Punch is also recommended, but not required. Flame makes the arrows more visible, which is useful for taking out enemies in the dark. You can also use harming arrows or poisoned arrows to inflict more damage.

Armor
Armor is absolutely necessary to wear when you explore a mansion, because the vindicator has the strongest direct attack of any mob in the game, and the evoker is also extremely powerful. Therefore, you should wear a full set of diamond armor, enchanted with Protection IV. Thorns is also recommended, because it will damage your enemies when they attack you. However, Thorns has a high enchantment weight, so be sure to add Unbreaking to your armor as well.

Pickaxe
A pickaxe (preferably diamond) is highly recommended to have when you explore a mansion. It can be used to break into secret rooms that have loot in them. The secret rooms have no entrance initially, so you will need to break in. However, most secret rooms are hidden by cobblestone, so you will need a pickaxe. You should enchant your pickaxe with Efficiency IV or V, to break into the secret rooms quickly. And Silk Touch is necessary to reclaim your ender chest.

Axe
An axe (preferably diamond) can also be used to break into secret rooms, because they can also be covered in wood. It is recommended to enchant your axe with and Efficiency IV or V, to break in quickly. Your axe can also be used to collect dark oak saplings in the farm room, if you don’t have any already, or bookshelves in the map room and the library. However, to prevent your axe from breaking, you should add Unbreaking to it as well.

Elytra
To get to the mansion, you will need a source of transportation. You can easily walk or ride a horse, but the most efficient method is to fly with a pair of elytra wings. However, it can only be accessed when you explore an end city, but it is absolutely worth it. Since the journey to the mansion is extremely long, it will take a massive toll on your elytra’s durability, so it is almost necessary to enchant your elytra wings with Unbreaking III and Mending, but it can only be enchanted on an anvil using enchanted books. You easily can enchant an Unbreaking III book, and try to fish up or trade for a Mending book. Mending will allow your elytra to self-repair when you collect XP. If you add Unbreaking III and Mending to your elytra wings, it will become indestructible, because it will lose durability and self-repair at the same rate. However, if you need to repair your elytra in an emergency, kill some phantoms, get at least four phantom membranes, and combine your elytra with the membranes in your anvil.

On its own, the elytra is more like a glider, because it is extremely difficult to gain height with just the elytra wings. When combined with firework rockets, the elytra actually behaves more like a cape. When you are gliding, the fireworks will boost your speed and allow you to fly faster. You can also easily gain height with boosted flight speed. However, if your rockets are equipped with a firework star, they will produce a colorful explosion, but you will take damage when you use them, so avoid adding firework stars to your rockets. The flight duration of your rockets is measured in seconds (for example, flight duration 1 will propel you for one second). You should bring at least ten stacks of rockets, because of the long trip to the mansion.

Healing items
You will take a lot of damage when exploring the mansion, so healing items are absolutely necessary. Golden apples are the most efficient healing item, because they provide Absorption, which will protect you from most damage while you heal, so bring at least 10 of these. But golden apples are not enough, so you should also bring at least six healing potions and regeneration potions. Enchanted golden apples can heal you more than regular ones, but they are extremely rare, so save them only for emergencies, and use regular golden apples otherwise.

You can get the totem of undying in the mansion, dropped by evokers. However, since they can only be found in these mansions, don't use the totems, and use golden apples or potions to heal yourself.

Food
There should never be a time when you do not have food with you. Bread and steak are some of the most nutritious foods possible, so bring at least five stacks of either of these. You can also bring cake, in case you need to eat immediately, so you can just place it down and start to eat without any delay. However, cake has a low saturation and hunger-filling value, so unless you need to eat at that exact moment, it is better to eat more nutrious food.

Golden apples and enchanted apples can also restore food points, but they are mainly used as a healing item. Eat your normal food if you do not have full saturation, and only use golden apples when you take damage.

Potions
Potions are highly recommended to have when you explore a mansion, to enhance your performance. Strength potions, invisibility potions, and swiftness potions can be extremely useful. When you use an invisibility potion, mobs can still see you if you are wearing your armor. To stay safe, take off all of your armor before drinking it, and put it back on at least 30 seconds before the effect expires.

Potions can also be used for emergency healing, since you will take a lot of damage from enemies in the mansion. Healing potions and regeneration potions are different, because healing potions will heal you instantly, and regeneration potions will heal you gradually. Both of them are great healing items, so bring at least six of each type of potion.

Blocks
Blocks are extremely useful to have when you explore a mansion. If you land with your elytra along the journey, you can build a tower and take off again. In the mansion, blocks can be used to build a defensive wall against enemies. You can also build a tower to avoid attacks by vindicators. However, this method is ineffective with evokers, since their fangs can go on top of your pillar, and the evoker may summon vexes that can fly and attack you, so it is best to build a wall between you and the evoker to protect yourself.

Ender chest
An ender chest is almost necessary to have, because it can store items that you will not use to explore the mansion. It can only be reclaimed using a Silk Touch pickaxe. All ender chests in the world, including in different dimensions, are interconnected. So even if you die in the mansion, all of the items in your ender chest will be safe. If you make a new ender chest, all of the items that were originally in it will still be there.

Ender pearls
Ender pearls are not required to explore the mansion with, but they are highly recommended. Along the journey, if your elytra breaks while you are flying, you should use an ender pearl to break your fall so that you don’t die. In the mansion, vindicators and evokers are really fast, so you can use a pearl to teleport away from them and avoid their attacks. They can also be used to get up to higher floors instantly. If you throw a pearl to the ceiling, and it hits the block, it will teleport you above that block and onto the next floor.

Map and compass
To find the mansion, you will need a woodland explorer map, a special map that will help you find the mansion. You can obtain the map from trading with a cartographer as a fourth tier trade. When in your inventory, it will look like an ordinary map. However, when you open the map, it will have a pointer that indicates where you are, and patterns that describe the terrain around the mansion. There will also be a small icon that tells you where the mansion is. Since the mansion will be really far away from your base, the pointer may not move around if you move. However, it will start moving when you get closer, and move on the map when you are within the map’s range.

You should bring a compass as well. To make one, you will need four iron ingots arranged in a diamond shape and a piece of redstone in the middle. You will also need a compass to trade for the map. The compass needle will point to your original spawn point instead of north. Once you have fully explored the mansion, you can use the compass to find your way back.

Trident
A trident can be extremely useful to have, because it can also be used to propel your elytra along the journey. To obtain a trident, you must kill a drowned that is holding one, ideally with a Looting III sword. The trident will be damaged, so you should get a second one, and combine them on an anvil to get a fully repaired one.

Once you have obtained the trident, you should enchant it with Unbreaking III, Riptide III, and Mending. Riptide will allow you to use the trident to propel your elytra, because it will launch you in the direction that you throw it, even when you are flying. It only works in the rain or when you are in a body of water. However, this property of Riptide has some very good uses. If you land with your elytra, you can step into a river or lake and use your trident to take off again. Since your fireworks will be consumed when you use them, you should use your trident to save on rockets if you are flying through the rain. It will propel you even faster than your fireworks. If you have Mending on your trident, you should make a few brief stops along the way to get XP and repair it.

Shield
A shield is not required to explore the mansion with, but it is highly recommended. It can be used to block attacks, which is extremely useful against the illagers, which have among the strongest attacks of any hostile mobs. If you bring a shield, you should enchant it with Unbreaking III, so that it doesn’t break when you use it. You don’t have to add Mending, because you can easily repair it yourself. To repair your shield, combine it with wooden planks on your anvil. To get the wooden planks, you can simply collect some from the floor or wall.

Obtaining the map


All players begin the journey to the woodland mansion with a woodland explorer map, which you can get by trading with a cartographer for 16-28 emeralds and a compass. If you don’t know what a cartographer looks like, find a villager with a white robe. The map can only be obtained as a fourth tier trade. You will need to trade in paper for the first trade and a compass for the second trade. For the third trade, you will need to trade in 8-10 emeralds for an empty map. Do each trade only once, and close the trading interface, because this is the easiest way to unlock the next tier of trades without wasting items.

Patterns
Once you obtain the map, it will have the same appearance as a normal map, but it will have patterns that represent the landscape and a little house-shaped icon that indicates where the mansion is. The solid colors represent landmasses, and the stripes represent bodies of water. The map will also already have a pointer that tells you where you are.

Leaving your base
Once you obtain the map, you will need to do a few other things before you go. Make sure you have an extra compass. It is probably the most important thing to have, because it will help you find your way back to your base. You will need to trade one in to unlock trades that lead up to the map trade, and one is necessary for the map trade, so you will need to make three in total. However, the compass needle points to your original spawn point, and not your bed. The direction the needle points will never change, so just in case your base is far away from your original spawn point, save the coordinates of your base.

Taking off
Once you know your original spawn point and the location of your base, you will be just about ready to go. Make sure you have all of the necessary equipment, as well as the map. Put your anvil, your tipped arrows, your potions, extra firework rockets, and extra food into your ender chest. Keep your compass, four or five stacks of rockets, and two stacks of food with you. Before you leave, organize your inventory so that your hotbar contains the following:


 * Your sword
 * Your bow
 * Your pickaxe
 * Your golden apples
 * A full stack of ender pearls
 * A full stack of food
 * Two full stacks of rockets
 * Your trident

Make sure you are wearing all of your armor, and instead of your chestplate, wear your elytra wings. Hold the map in your off-hand, so that you don’t have to keep switching between the map and your rockets while you fly. The pointer will still be big enough to see. To start flying, jump off a mountain, or launch yourself straight up into the air with your trident. Now you can begin the great journey to the mansion.

Finding new places
Since the journey to the mansion is extremely long, you will find several new places along the way, some that you have never seen in your world before. You may even find loot in these places, and traveling with the elytra will allow you to explore them completely. Save the coordinates of these new places, so that you can come back to them later.

Villages
Villages are the most common structures to find along the way to the mansion, because they can generate just about everywhere. The design of the village houses will differ based on what biome it is in. To land safely, either make a sharp turn or spiral down.

There will be several different buildings, including residential houses, the church, the library, and the blacksmith. The blacksmith’s house will have a chest with simple loot, such as iron or gold. You may even find a diamond or two, and take any bread that is in the chest, because you will need as much food as possible.

Before you leave, check the farms to see if there are any new crops. If you do not have any of a certain type of crop, such as carrots or beets, take them, and replant some seeds for the villagers to use. Do a few simple trades, so that you can get XP and repair your Mending tools.

Getting in
Here are some methods to get inside of a woodland mansion:


 * Method 1 - Gentleman's entrance

Find the side of the mansion that contains the front door, and go through it.


 * Method 2 - Breaking and entering

Make your own door:

Use an axe to get in through a wall (or if you are feeling sneaky, go in through the floor or the window, and if you are feeling bold, try cutting your way in through the roof!).

Navigating the Mansion
Once inside, create a small shelter with a crafting table and chest, preferably an ender chest. Every piece of treasure you find will go into the chest. If you want enchantments you find on your armor or anything, bring an anvil.

When inside a mansion, always watch yourself and stay on guard. If you can, take two players. The mobs spawning in a mansion will quickly kill a player who is not paying attention, even with good equipment. Vindicators deal hefty amounts of damage, Evoker's fangs are not affected by armor, and creepers are a common problem in the poorly lit structure. This makes awareness extremely important.

There are two styles of advancing through the mansion, both of which are founded on good philosophy. The first method is to take the mansion floor-by-floor, killing all mobs and looting the chests, lighting up the way as you go. This method will reduce the spawning of hostile mobs in the first floor, which has no windows and therefore is subject to greater levels of darkness than other floors. Another good method is to immediately enter the second floor and find an evoker. Killing it will give you a totem of undying, and provide you with a bit more security.

The best way to be prepared in a mansion is to look at each room before entering - what does it contain? The most dangerous room, by far, in a mansion is the conference room, a room with a U-shaped table. This room always spawns 5 vindicators and an evoker. The second is a map room, which consists of a large carpet art piece on a table resembling a map, surrounded by chairs. This room spawns 2 vindicators and an evoker. The two rooms previously mentioned only occur on the second and third floors.


 * Focus on the most dangerous mobs first. Kill "very dangerous" mobs first (vindicators and evokers etc.), then target "semi-dangerous" mobs (skeletons, creepers and witches etc.) then kill all "less dangerous" mobs (zombies and spiders etc.).
 * Don't bother looking in the chests in storage rooms: they have nothing in them and looking through them leaves you vulnerable to ambushes.
 * If you plan to make the mansion your home, make sure to light up every room to prevent hostile mob spawning. Be particularly careful not to accidentally set anything on fire or let any creepers sneak up on you.
 * If you can, bring parrots, cats and tamed wolves with you. Parrots can indicate what mobs are around you by imitating their sounds, cats can scare away creepers, wolves can attack skeletons and defend you. Don't scare away when a parrot imitates the creeper's fizz sound!

Defeating the mansion
There are two safe systems to defeat the creatures inside without damaging valuable objects and drops (like TNT could do)


 * Building 3 or 4 or more iron golems in the hall, in front of the stairs, locking the entrance from outside, and waiting for the end of their dirty work. You may repeat the whole operation on every floor. There can be up to 3 floors, so you will need a good supply of iron.
 * Setting fire to the whole structure. The majority of mobs will die, illagers will receive fall damage (and sometimes they will burn to death); evokers will drop their totem and valuable blocks like diamond and lapis lazuli blocks will be revealed. For a uniform arson, we recommend to dig under the birch floor, to set up a system of tunnels whose ceiling must be that birch floor (4 or 5 are sufficient); for an even more accurate work, dark oaks all around the mansion should be cut; after that you can burn the floor from under with a flint and steel.

However, those systems are not totally safe: iron golems cannot come in secret rooms (or, in general rooms not connected with the main corridor). On the other hand, rooms like jails or blacksmith labs are not affected by fire, because they are made of stone.

Vindicators
Vindicators have 24 HP, slightly higher than that of most other mobs, but they hit hard, dealing a total of 19 damage on Hard difficulty. Their fighting style is the most simplistic out of all Illagers, they simply pull out an axe and try to run up to the player and hit them.
 * It is advised to attack them with a sword/axe and a shield. However, it is impossible to defend damage from an axe after 1.11.1.
 * Quickly attack them until they die.
 * They drop emeralds and have a chance of dropping their axe as well. In such a case, the dropped axe can also be used as a weapon.
 * However, if renamed to "Johnny", they will attack any mob in sight, making them useful for mob farms.
 * You can shoot them from a distance(highly recommend)

Evokers
Evokers have the same amount of health as Vindicators (24 HP) but inflict far less damage, at just six damage at any difficulty. This doesn't mean, however, that they are less dangerous.

Evokers have a more unconventional fighting style. Upon seeing a player, they will run towards them until they are within 16 blocks of them. On getting within this radius they will most likely summon their offensive fang attack, summoning 16 fangs in a line towards the player. If the player moves towards them, they will cast a defensive fang spell, summoning a ring of fangs around them to repel attackers, assuming they have not attacked recently, otherwise they will run from the player. For this reason, it is best to use a bow in open space, and use a sword only if the evoker is cornered.
 * Try to keep a fair distance between the player and the evoker. The evoker has a defensive fang attack that deals damage in a small radius around the evoker.
 * The evoker has a second offensive fang attack, where it summons a line of fangs out of the ground to attack the player.
 * It can also summon vexes as support enemies, which makes killing him quickly important.
 * For a safer way of fighting evokers, you can try shooting them with a bow ( highly recommended. )

Vex

 * The vexes are summoned by evokers and act as support enemies. To prevent them from possibly swarming you, quickly kill the evoker before it can summon any, preferably from a distance in order to avoid the evoker's other attacks.
 * Vexes should be killed first if dealing with evokers from a distance as they can pass through walls and attack you from unexpected angles.
 * If in close contact with an evoker, kill the evoker first and then the vexes, the evoker's death will prevent any more vexes from being summoned.
 * It is best to attack when they are charging toward you, as their movements are otherwise very unpredictable.
 * If the vex disappears, do not worry, as it will despawn within 2 minutes of its summoning.

Common Strategies
There are some common methods used to raid mansions. The list below is in no way complete, so feel free to add your own ideas.

Melee Warfare
To a beginner player, rushing into a woodland mansion and killing mobs by hand might seem insane. However, to an end-game player with enchanted swords and armor, this might just be the easiest and fastest way to conquer one.

Required Items:
 * Enchanted diamond sword (highly recommended)
 * Armor ( at least iron)
 * Food
 * Golden apples ( recommended)
 * Axe and pickaxe
 * Fairly good fighting skills

Procedure: Using a sword or bow, attack the illagers head on. Take the mansion room by room, and punch holes in the walls to look for hidden rooms.

Water Defense
Required Items:
 * Sword
 * Bucket of Water
 * Bow and Arrows

Carry your water bucket in your hand. When you see a Vindicator, apply the water bucket to the floor right underneath you to make a water pool. Stand in the water and hit the Vindicators with your sword. Shoot any Evokers with your bow.
 * Tip: Dig up the carpet as you walk so you can see where you have been.

The Peaceful Raid
To some people, illagers might seem terrifying. With their brutal axe-slaying, and despicable magic, peaceful mode might seem a good idea. Warning: Once in peaceful mode, the illagers will never respawn.

Required Items:
 * Axe
 * Pickaxe

Procedure: Walk in, take what you want, and don't forget to check for secret rooms

Foolproof Attack
If those illagers are scaring you, then try this method! Based on the idea that all illagers can be hit with arrows, this strategy relies on raiding the mansion from above, clearing one room at a time.

Required Items:
 * Iron sword
 * Bow ( preferably enchanted)
 * Arrows ( bring a lot, or use infinity)
 * Gravel or Sand ( a few stacks should do)
 * Food
 * Axe and Pickaxe

Procedure: Climb to the top of the mansion. From there, build a small base with a bed and a few chests. Next, mine out the ceiling of a room. Using your bow, shoot the mobs from above. Drop gravel over the doorways to prevent more mobs from entering, collect the drops, then proceed to the next room. Soon, you will have raided the entire top floor. There can be up to 3 floors. Because the entire ceiling is broken off, you will easily find all of the secret rooms. In rooms with lots of illagers, drop gravel or sand around the vindicators and shoot the evoker. Then, kill the vindicators after collecting the drops from the evokers. This way, you won't lose drops while killing other mobs.

Infiltration Sniper
As long as you have a power 5 and flame bow, you can use invisibility to snipe the illagers off one by one! Wear no armor and bring tons of arrows, or use infinity.

Required Items
 * Invisibility
 * Bow with power 5 and flame (perhaps with punch and unbreaking)
 * Enough arrows or infinity
 * All other regular supplies (maybe a melee weapon and golden apples in emergencies)
 * Ender pearls (optional)

Procedure Get in the mansion with invisibility, once you see a illager, shoot it at enough distance with your fully charged bow. A bow with power 5 will deal 23-25 damage when fully charged, plus the 4 damage from flame, will kill any illagers. The vindicator will burn to death before it can reach you (it won't notice you in the first place due to invisibility) evokers should be done with more caution and distance, as it may still use the fangs or vexes to attack you (but it won't escape the fate of burning to death) The vex won't notice you so just wait for it to expire and do not attack it first, and you can use your supplies to recover from the fang's damage. No loot should be lost when using this. Other monsters in the mansion can also be killed with this, except for armored mobs and maybe witches, just don't mess with them and it will be fine. Make sure to bring enough invisibility potions and drink another one when the effect is about to expire, in emergencies where you lost invisibility, either escape with ender pearls,or if you have the equipment, put on a brave face, armor and sword and kill the monsters melee!

Loot
The mansion is made up of several rooms and some of them contain chests with loot in them.

The majority of the chests found in the mansion contain the same loot as chests found in a Dungeon would contain, however, there are some exceptions to this rule. Two of the rooms that can generate in the mansion are the large and small storage rooms. These rooms contain shelves which house either 42 single chests in the Small storage room or 13 double chests (26 single chests) in the Large storage room. Despite the amount of chests present, they are all empty. Pay attention to walls, some have secret rooms which can have enchanted golden apples if your version of Minecraft still has them.
 * The chest generated in the "Allium room" will contain 8 Alliums.
 * The chest generated in the "Sapling farm room" will contain 28 Dark Oak Saplings.
 * The trapped chest generated in the "Fake End portal room" will contain 2 Ender Pearls (Note that this chest is linked to two blocks of TNT which will ignite if the trap is sprung).
 * The chest generated in the "Tree chopping room" will contain an Iron Axe enchanted with Efficiency I.

Aside from chests, there are also several valuable blocks that the player can scavenge from the mansion's rooms, for example: the "Obsidian room" and the "Lava room" both contain a Diamond Block, the "Illager statue room" contains a hidden Lapis Lazuli block, a lot of the furniture can dismantled into loot and the Jail rooms contain Redstone circuitry, just to name a few.

Post-Exploration
After the mansion is looted, there are a number of things you can do with it. You can turn it into a home, burn it down, systematically dismantle it to get extra resources, or just leave it as it is.

If you are planning on turning it into a home, make sure to light up all rooms and clear out any residual hostile mobs (if there are any left).

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