Tutorials/Defeating the ender dragon

The Enderdragon is the final boss of Minecraft that you encounter when the player enters the End through the End Portal. For more information about the Enderdragon or the End itself, visit the Minecraft Wiki pages, as they will help a lot.

The Ender Dragon
The Ender Dragon is a huge mob that obviously looks like a dragon. It is all black, except for its purple eyes and white arms. It can morph through almost all materials, and will only spawn naturally in the End. Its total health points are 200, and its attack strength is a whopping 10. It likes to fly around in the End, and it never stops. If the Enderdragon flies near one of the Obsidian pillars that naturally spawn in the End, the Ender crystal at the top will slowly let the Ender Dragon gain its health back. It doesn't attack much, but when it does it packs a hurtful punch. It's not easy to dodge, as it will fly in a straight line right at you. It rarely ever flies on the ground, or even near it, unless you are on the ground and it is attacking you. However, when you do attack it, it immediately turns around and flies away.

But how to kill it...?

Getting Ready
Getting into the End requires a huge amount of food, tools, and combat. It is advised to enter a first time with blocks and a bad pickaxe, so when the player comes back, it is easier to get to the main land. When the player comes back, it is good to bring a bucket of water: a method of defense again the minion Enderman. Players should bring ladders because other ways of getting to the top of the obsidian pillar are not as safe as climbing. Infinity bow enchantment is an excellent choice since in the end there is a limited resource of arrows. In my opinion, a pumpkin for protection against the annoying Enderman is a good fit. A crafting table is quite useful if you want to craft something.

Peaceful
If you don't mind cheating a little, set the difficulty to Peaceful. The Ender Dragon won't despawn, but you won't have to worry about attacking Endermen.

Sword
Well, first of all, you need a diamond sword. It will be necessary in killing the Ender Dragon, when it gets close enough, a good smack in the head will do some damage. It will take more than a few smacks in the head to kill it. It is also recommended to enchant the sword with fire aspect. This won't do extra damage to the dragon, but any endermen you hit with it will forget about you. Knockback enchant is useless even when it is at maximum state because the Ender dragon take no effects.

How to use it
When you are on the ground, and the Ender Dragon is charging you, it's a good idea to spam left-click with the cursor on the Ender Dragon. If you are lucky, it won't hurt you and you will be saved... for now.

Bow and Arrows
The most key item in killing the Ender Dragon, the bow helps you damage the mob and do it at a distanced range. It helps if it has the infinity enchantment, and that you have multiple bows with you with the same enchantment in case your bow "breaks". It unfortunately doesn't do as much damage as a diamond sword, unlike most mobs.

How to use it
When the Ender Dragon is charging you, the "spam the left-click with a sword" always works well, but to keep it safe, a fully-charged arrow will make the Ender Dragon sorry. Also, the bow is an efficient way to easily destroy the regeneration blocks, for it will be extremely hard to kill the Enderdragon without destroying them.

Enderpearls
They are plentiful in the End because of all the enderman which makes them a very easy and helpful to get.

How to use it
Enderpearls are a good way to dodge Ender Dragon attacks quickly. You can also use them to teleport to the tops of obsidian pillars. You can snipe the Ender Dragon and ender crystals from it. Hitting the crystal on the pillar you're on is never a good idea because it will explode knocking you off the pillar.

An easy to get block
Cobblestone is a great block for this use, as mining it will get you plenty of stacks. It is okay to also get any other kind of block, any will work, also useful.

How to use it
You will need to get to the top of the obsidian pillars to destroy the Ender Crystals. Even though possible to hit from the ground, it is easy to snipe other crystals from the pillar. Just jump, place a block, and keep jumping and placing to build a pillar underneath you, lifting you up to the crystal. Beware, the crystal will explode.

Beds
You are probably thinking- Beds??? Well, like they do in the Nether, beds will explode when placed. You don't need much, but they are better than TNT. Also, place a bed near the End Portal so you will spawn near it when you die. The only downside to this is when you win, you will go here.

How to use it
Place it immediately when the Ender Dragon's head is near you. It will damage you, but also the Ender Dragon.

Your cursor
It's pretty easy to get this one.

How to use it
The Ender Dragon will flee if he is looked at. He will always fly toward you, but if you need to recharge your health bar, look at it. Unless he is charging you intentionally, he will go away.

Food
Food doesn't have much use here, only a little cooked beef is necessary. You should have full health when entering The End. If you want to bring a large amount of food then melon is good choice because you can make a block from it.

Post-Battle
After you defeat the enderdragon, get the XP and go through the portal. Enchant your tools or weapons before you come back. Once you're ready to come back, go ahead as there is no dragon now that you defeated it. It is preferrable to make a simple Enderman farm, like Sethbling's Poor Man's Farm. If you have a lot of redstone, pistons, tripwire, string, and building blocks, make an advanced Ender Ender. Watch Docm77's tutorial.

Killing the Ender Dragon
Oh no! It's the Ender Dragon! First, build a ladder or a pillar next to the Obsidian pillars, and shoot the crystal with a bow, keeping a distance. Then, from that height, shoot the other crystals. Repeat this process until all the crystals are gone. The Ender Dragon is still flying. Let's slay it. An inefficient way (how I did it), is to snipe all the crystals from a single tower.

Okay, now that it can't regenerate its health, shoot your bow at it. A lot. It's your best bet. If he gets too far away from you, stop looking at it. Not completely, just get your cursor off it. It will come at you. Annihilate it with all you got.

It's quite simple. It will take time, a lot of time, even on creative mode. Just be prepared for anything to happen.

To slay the dragon on creative, it's actually quite easy. I know it sounds stupid, but it's the kind of thing I do. Just fly and follow the dragon, looking away from it, and when it gets close whale on it with a diamond sword that is enchanted with a good enchantment (It's pretty easy to get on creative.).

Random Note
He can also fly through End Stone, Ender Crystals and Obsidian. Anything else, he will break. That's why TNT is a bad strategy.

Survival
First off, just get stacks of iron, snow and pumpkins. Now you MUST have an enchanted Sword, Bow, Armor, Night Vision potions and any potion necessary. Also, remember to bring a few snacks for you to eat if you lose your health. Now enter the End Portal.

Once you are in The End you can clearly see that it is dark. Now use your Night Vision potion. You can now clearly see the threat you are going against, now leave the obsidian floor and get ready for action. First of all, create Snow and Iron Golems as your answer against Endermen. Next, go to the pillars and destroy the Ender Crystals with bows. By the time you are finished, you must have gained attention from the Enderdragon. He might sneak up behind you, so it is good to have the Swiftness potion to run away quickly. Now use your sword and bow to defeat that Enderdragon.

Creative
Do the same thing like in Survival, but with a bit of a catch: You don't need armor, just an enchanted sword and bow.

Now, like normal, create Snow and Iron Golems as your answer against Endermen. Destroy the Ender Crystals and fight the Enderdragon in a massive war of snowballs, arrows, and flight.