Bow vs crossbow vs trident in Minecraft: Which ranged weapon is the best?

Modified Dec 12, 2024 12:10 GMT

Bows, Crossbows, and Tridents are ranged weapons in Minecraft (Image via Mojang Studios)

In Minecraft, players can craft various weapons to fight against hostile mobs. Some of them are ranged weapons like bows and crossbows. While these two are craftable, the trident is another ranged weapon that players can find through Drowned zombies. While all three weapons help players kill hostile mobs, certain aspects make them distinct from each other.

This article will delve into the much-asked question of which of these weapons is the best in Minecraft.

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

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Which among a bow, crossbow, and trident is the best ranged weapon in Minecraft?

Bows

Bows can be considered one of the best ranged weapons in Minecraft. When players first enter a new Minecraft world, they will need to quickly make tools, armor, and weapons to survive. The first ranged weapon players can make is a bow. The weapon allows them to shoot arrows towards hostile mobs from a distance.

In the early stages, this is extremely useful, as players can kill enemies without getting hurt by their melee attacks. It can deal six HP points or three hearts of damage at full stretch.

The only downside of bows is that they have low durability and will constantly consume many arrows. However, this can be easily resolved using enchantments like unbreaking and infinity.

If players enchant their bows to increase their durability and strength, these ranged weapons can easily become one of the most powerful in Minecraft.

Trident

Trident can be considered the second-best ranged weapon in Minecraft. Tridents are extremely rare weapons that can do both melee and ranged attacks. This means that players can throw tridents and also swing them toward hostile mobs. The weapon can only be obtained from a Drowned zombie if it spawns with one in hand.

Tridents can deal a lot more damage compared to unenchanted bows. Since ranged weapons are being discussed, they can deal around eight HP points or four hearts of damage.

Tridents have the lowest durability out of all three ranged weapons, but also have some trident-exclusive enchantments that make them useful avenues other than combat. With the channeling enchantment, players can summon lightning strikes wherever it is thrown. Additionally, with the riptide enchantment, whenever players are in contact with water, they can launch themselves forward with the trident.

Since tridents are rare to find and need loyalty enchantment to be consistently used as a ranged weapon, it is not the best, especially for those new to the title.

Crossbow

Crossbows are another ranged weapon that players can craft on their own. These are similar to bows since they also shoot bows. However, crossbows can also shoot firework rockets that deal a lot more damage than arrows.

These ranged weapons take longer to load, but can remain in a loaded state like a regular weapon. This means that players can run around with a loaded crossbow and even unequip them to use any other tool or item. The arrow will remain loaded in the crossbow till it is shot.

When compared with bows, crossbows are much more powerful, dealing a minimum of seven and a maximum of 11 HP points of damage.

The only reason why players are not too keen on using crossbows is because of the time it takes to load them. When they find themselves in a dire situation, a bow will shoot arrows a lot quicker when compared to a crossbow.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is safe to say that bows are the best ranged weapon in Minecraft if they are properly enchanted. However, crossbows and tridents also have a respectable place in the game since they are useful in different scenarios.

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Edited by Abhishek Manikandan