Bane of Arthropods is one of the many damage enchants in Minecraft. It’s a great damage boost against certain mob types. So if you’re struggling to take down some mobs, you might want to look into this. Like Impaling, you can get a nice increase to your DPS, making it much easier to survive harrowing combat encounters. Here are the basics of Bane of Arthropods, and what you can do with it.
What does Bane of Arthropods in Minecraft do?
There are a few tiers of the enchant, up to five. Each one deals more damage to a certain mob type. You can find the full damage breakdown of the enchant below. Any hits to the weak mob type will also apply a Slowness IV effect, reducing their movement speed. Based on the tier, it applies bonus damage to the following mob types:
- Spiders
- Cave Spiders
- Bees
- Silverfish
- Endermites
Of note, is that it can only be applied to Axes and Swords, depending on if you’re in Bedrock or Java edition. Also, it can’t be applied to weapons with Sharpness, Cleaving or Smite already on them. And those enchantments won’t apply to a Bane of Anthropods weapon.
Damage per tier – Java Edition
| Swords | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Base damage | BoA I | BoA II | BoA III | BoA IV | BoA V |
| Wooden sword | 4 (6) | 6.5 (8.5) | 9 (11) | 11.5 (13.5) | 14 (16) | 16.5 (18.5) |
| Gold sword | 4 (6) | 6.5 (8.5) | 9 (11) | 11.5 (13.5) | 14 (16) | 16.5 (18.5) |
| Stone sword | 5 (7.5) | 7.5 (10) | 10 (12.5) | 12.5 (15) | 15 (17.5) | 17.5 (20) |
| Iron sword | 6 (9) | 8.5 (11.5) | 11 (14) | 13.5 (16.5) | 16 (19) | 18.5 (21.5) |
| Diamond sword | 7 (10.5) | 9.5 (13) | 12 (15.5) | 14.5 (18) | 17 (20.5) | 19.5 (23) |
| Netherite sword | 8 (12) | 10.5 (14.5) | 13 (17) | 15.5 (19.5) | 18 (22) | 20.5 (24.5) |
| Axes | ||||||
| Weapon | Base damage | BoA I | BoA II | BoA III | BoA IV | BoA V |
| Wooden axe | 7 (10.5) | 9.5 (13) | 12 (15.5) | 14.5 (18) | 17 (20.5) | 19.5 (23) |
| Gold axe | 7 (10.5) | 9.5 (13) | 12 (15.5) | 14.5 (18) | 17 (20.5) | 19.5 (23) |
| Stone axe | 9 (13.5) | 11.5 (16) | 14 (18.5) | 16.5 (21) | 19 (23.5) | 21.5 (26) |
| Iron axe | 9 (13.5) | 11.5 (16) | 14 (18.5) | 16.5 (21) | 19 (23.5) | 21.5 (26) |
| Diamond axe | 9 (13.5) | 11.5 (16) | 14 (18.5) | 16.5 (21) | 19 (23.5) | 21.5 (26) |
| Netherite axe | 10 (15) | 12.5 (17.5) | 15 (20) | 17.5 (22.5) | 20 (25) | 22.5 (27.5) |
Damage per tier – Bedrock Edition
| Swords | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Base damage | BoA I | BoA II | BoA III | BoA IV | BoA V |
| Wooden sword | 5 (7.5) | 7.5 (9.5) | 10 (12.5) | 12.5 (15) | 15 (17.5) | 17.5 (20) |
| Gold sword | 5 (7.5) | 7.5 (9.5) | 10 (12.5) | 12.5 (15) | 15 (17.5) | 17.5 (20) |
| Stone sword | 6 (9) | 8.5 (11.5) | 11 (14) | 13.5 (16.5) | 16 (19) | 18.5 (21.5) |
| Iron sword | 7 (10.5) | 9.5 (12.5) | 12 (15.5) | 14.5 (18) | 17 (20.5) | 19.5 (23) |
| Diamond sword | 8 (12) | 10.5 (14.5) | 13 (17) | 15.5 (19.5) | 18 (22) | 20.5 (24.5) |
| Netherite sword | 9 (13.5) | 11.5 (16.5) | 14 (19.5) | 16.5 (21) | 19 (23.5) | 21.5 (26) |
| Axes | ||||||
| Weapon | Base damage | BoA I | BoA II | BoA III | BoA IV | BoA V |
| Wooden axe | 4 (6) | 6.5 (8.5) | 9 (11) | 11.5 (13.5) | 14 (16) | 16.5 (18.5) |
| Gold axe | 4 (6) | 6.5 (8.5) | 9 (11) | 11.5 (13.5) | 14 (16) | 16.5 (18.5) |
| Stone axe | 5 (7) | 7.5 (9.5) | 10 (12) | 12.5 (14.5) | 15 (17) | 17.5 (19.5) |
| Iron axe | 6 (9) | 8.5 (11.5) | 11 (14) | 13.5 (16.5) | 16 (19) | 18.5 (21.5) |
| Diamond axe | 7 (10) | 9.5 (12.5) | 12 (15) | 14.5 (17.5) | 17 (20) | 19.5 (22.5) |
| Netherite axe | 8 (11) | 10.5 (13.5) | 13 (16) | 15.5 (18.5) | 18 (21) | 20.5 (23.5) |
How do you get Bane of Arthropods in Minecraft?
So how do you get it? Of course, you need an Enchantment Table to make this work. There’s no set way to get the enchantment, as it’s all luck-based. Keep hitting the Enchantment Table until you get the right enchant and you’re good to go. Also, make sure you have the full 15 Bookcases surrounding the table, as that unlocks the full range of enchants. Make sure to have a steady source of both XP and Lapus Lazuli for the table path.
Fishing is another option as well for finding it. Get a Fishing Rod with Mending and a few other enchants on it, and you will golden. Get both the Lure and Luck of the Sea enchantments on the fishing pole to make fishing for rare drops much faster. If you’re after something like the Aqua Affinity book, this is the way to go. This will mean that you get tons of enchant books, alongside the higher likelihood of getting Bane of Arthropods.
