10 best enchantments for exploring Minecraft 1.21 update

Enchantments are by far the most powerful buffs that Survival Minecraft players have access to. They make nearly every area in the game easier. For example, enchantments like fortune help you gather a large number of resources, while sharpness aids you in killing dangerous, hostile mobs. Exploration is another area made much easier thanks to these power-ups.

10 of the best enchantments to have while exploring the hostile wilderness of any seed can be found detailed below, along with what makes them so great for adventuring.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

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10 of the best exploration enchantments in Minecraft 1.21

1) Riptide

Using riptide to move quickly underwater (Image via Mojang)

Riptide is by far the best enchantment in the game when it comes to exploration. This is a trident-exclusive power-up that allows players to fling themselves with the weapon. This allows gamers to cross oceans much faster. It can also be used in the rain to fly through the sky. Riptide becomes even better when paired with Minecraft elytra, as it helps gamers take quite long and speedy flights.

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2) Looting

Looting makes getting items from mobs while exploring much easier (Image via Mojang)

Looting is a sword enchantment that makes mob drops much easier to get. It both increases the maximum number of common drops that can spawn and also makes rare items more likely to be dropped. This makes it much easier to consistently get food and other useful items from mobs, allowing adventures to last much longer without having to return to base.

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3) Silk Touch

Mining ice with silk touch (Image via Mojang)

Silk touch is one of the only tool enchantments useful while exploring. This is due to it allowing players to collect what would otherwise be unobtainable items, such as ice, bee nests, and coral blocks. It's also needed to pick up ender chests, which are amazing for freeing up inventory slots while exploring.

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4) Feather falling

Cliffs are much less dangerous to climb with feather falling (Image via Mojang)

Feather falling is one of the best enchantments that can go on a pair of boots. This power-up drastically reduces fall damage, making it much safer to explore mountains, cliffs, and ravines. Normally, a 20-block fall is enough to kill a player. With max-level feather falling and no other armor, this fall distance is increased to a whopping 42 blocks.

Additionally, this power-up stacks with up to two different protection IV enchantments. This can push the lethal fall distance all the way to a staggering 103 blocks. That will make it nearly impossible to die from falls found in the terrain generated using one of Minecraft's best seeds.

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5) Mending

A villager with a mending trade (Image via Mojang)

Mending will always get a mention when it comes to Minecraft's best enchantments. It allows damaged items to repair durability by absorbing gathered XP. This makes it possible to keep highly enchanted items around indefinitely and will allow players to mine, fight, as well as explore without having to worry about the condition of their tool or armor.

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6) Respiration

Underwater caves are much easier to explore with respiration (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft respiration is a helmet enchantment that allows players to hold their breath for significantly longer. Each level adds 15 seconds of underwater time, up to a total of 45 extra seconds at the third level. The enchantment also gives players a level/(level+1) chance of ignoring drowning damage. At its maximum level, this equates to a 75% chance of ignoring each tick of drowning damage.

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7) Aqua Affinity

Aqua affinity makes mining underwater ores much easier (Image via Mojang)

Aqua affinity is another helmet enchantment that makes underwater adventures easier. It allows players to mine blocks as if they weren't submerged. Normally, attempting to break blocks while underwater takes five times longer, so this power-up negates that. When combined with respiration, players can loot underwater caves for Minecraft ore much more safely thanks to aqua affinity.

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8) Infinity

Players can rain down arrows with the infinity enchantment (Image via Mojang)

Infinity is a Minecraft bow enchantment that allows players to fire regular arrows without consuming them. This means that a single arrow can be shot over and over again until the bow eventually breaks. This lets players use more of their inventory space to collect items while exploring, and the enchantment also allows gamers to shoot at hostile mobs without having to worry about missing.

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9) Protection

Protection will keep players safe from dangerous Minecraft mobs (Image via Mojang)

Protection is by far the most useful Minecraft armor enchantment. It increases the effectiveness of armor by 4% per level. This means that a full suit of protection IV armor will grant 64% extra damage resistance. This makes exploring caves and the surface at night much safer.

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10) Depth strider

A player swimming with depth strider (Image via Mojang)

Depth strider is another water-related enchantment. It reduces the movement speed penalty applied by water by 33% per level. At the maximum level, which is three, the enchantment allows players to move as quickly in water as they do on land. This makes it much easier to cross oceans and avoid drowning.