Best potions to use against the Warden in Minecraft

The warden is inarguably the most dangerous mob in all of Minecraft. It has a whopping 250 hearts, only surpassed by the wither on Bedrock's hard difficulty, which has 300. It can deal more than 20 damage in a single melee strike on high difficulties and has a ranged attack that's capable of piercing blocks and deals a considerable 7.5 hearts of damage.

Combined with the warden's ability to nearly blind players, it's easy to deduce what makes the mob so lethal. However, there are a handful of potions, detailed below, that players can bring to warden fights that help rebalance the scales.

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The best potions to bring to a fight against Minecraft's warden

Potions of regeneration and instant health

Potions of instant health can quickly restore entire health bars (Image via Mojang)

Regeneration potions are brewed using ghast tears, making them more difficult to make than most other potions. Regeneration is an effect that has some huge parity differences between Minecraft Bedrock and Java, so its viability will vary greatly depending on the version.

At their most effective, extended Java regeneration potions will restore a total of 18 hearts over a minute and a half. Extended Bedrock potions of regeneration are quite superior, restoring a total of 24 hearts, as they last for two minutes instead.

While regeneration potions are great for restoring large amounts of health over time, sometimes it's better to get a smaller amount of health back instantly. That's where potions of health come in. These alchemical concoctions, created using glistering Minecraft melon slices, are able to replenish hearts without delay.

The rate of health restoration is equal to 2+ (2 per level). It's important to note that this is a measure of health returned, not hearts. Dividing by two reveals that players can back two or four hearts, depending on if the effect is level one or two. This might not seem like much, but it could make all the difference when combined with natural health restoration and regeneration potions.

Lingering potions of healing, made using rare Minecraft ender dragon breath, can restore huge amounts of health as well, with level II lingering potions giving a total of 10 hearts.

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Potions of swiftness and leaping

Using a potion of swiftness to escape the warden (Image via Mojang)

Potions of swiftness apply the speed status effect. Brewed using sugar, this Minecraft potion increases a player's speed by 20% per level. One can brew potions that apply speed II, increasing movement speed by 40%. This effect will make it much easier to avoid the warden's lethal melee strikes and dodge its ranged blasts.

Leaping potions, brewed using rabbit's feet, also make it easy to avoid the warden. Each level of the effect increases jump height by 50%. This can make it much easier to get out of the warden's melee range, which is the biggest advantage of the potion.

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Potions of poison

A poisoned warden (Image via Mojang)

One of the most intimidating aspects of the Minecraft warden is its high health pool. As previously mentioned, the mob has a staggering 250 hearts. This means players will be chipping away at it for quite a while. A great way to get some extra damage during the fight is to attack using potions of poison, which can be made using spider eyes.

At their most effective, extended splash potions are able to deal 36 hearts of damage over a minute and a half. Getting to remove 14.4% of the warden's health without needing to actually attack is an almost unfathomably great benefit to these potions.

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Potions of weakness

Throwing a potion of weakness at an approaching warden (Image via Mojang)

As previously mentioned, the warden is the single deadliest mob in the game, able to deal a whopping 22.5 hearts of damage in a single melee strike on hard. Splash potions of weakness can reduce a Minecraft mob's melee damage by two hearts.

This might not seem much, especially compared to the 22.5 heart damage total, but when taking armor and regeneration effects into account, this can be quite a huge difference.

At the very least, players should consider bringing one or two splash potions of weakness, just in case the warden manages to sneak a little closer than it should. They'll make a great last-resort panic button that might just make the difference between life and death.