Ender dragon vs wither: Who is the strongest boss in Minecraft?

The Ender dragon and Wither are among the most famous Minecraft boss mobs.

It's common knowledge that both are powerful foes to come across. Despite both mobs being extremely powerful, a different approach may be needed when it comes to fighting them. This article will take an in-depth look into exactly who the strongest boss in Minecraft is by comparing their different stats.

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Ender dragon vs wither: Who is the stronger Minecraft boss?

Health points

The wither has an incredible 600 health points on Minecraft Bedrock Edition (Image via Mojang)

The first thing to look at when answering this question is health points. On Minecraft Java Edition, the health stats of both bosses are comparable, with the Ender dragon clocking in at 200 points and the wither at 300.

On Minecraft Bedrock Edition, however, it's a completely different story. The wither has a mind-boggling 600 health points, whereas the Ender dragon remains with a measly 200 points.

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Health regeneration

The wither will gain a set of armor when its health drops (Image via Mojang)

The Ender dragon can regenerate health by using end crystal towers. However, these crystals are relatively easy to destroy with a simple bow & arrow which is something any player delving into the End dimension will surely have.

In Minecraft Java, the wither has a natural regeneration rate of 2 health points every second. If the wither manages to kill a mob it will regain 10 health points instantly.

Futhermore, the wither will also gain a layer of 'wither armor' when its health drops to 50%.

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Attacks

Ender dragons will attack players with a swooping dive (Image via Mojang)

On the Java Edition of Minecraft the wither shoots skulls at players, with each head firing skulls off independently. This allows the wither to attack a total of 3 targets at once.

Each skull does between 5-12 hit points of damage depending on what difficulty is being played. In Minecraft Bedrock Edition, the wither can also spawn several wither skeletons and perform a dash attack.

The Ender dragon is more straightforward for both versions. It will deal 3-7 hit points of damage to anything that comes in contact with its wings, and 6-15 hit points of damage to anything that comes in contact with its head.

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So which is the more powerful mob?

A one on one fight between the boss mobs is not possible as Ender dragons will only attack players (Image via YouTube/stormfrenzy)

Due to the vast differences in the wither's core mechanics between game versions, the question of boss supremacy is one that is different depending on what version of the game players have.

On the Bedrock Edition of the game, many Minecrafters would indeed agree that the wither is simply more difficult to defeat on average than the Ender dragon. This is mostly due to a twofold increase in health, spawning of wither skeletons, and a new devastating charge attack type.

When it comes to Minecraft Java Edition, however, things are a bit more tricky and the outcome of this question might differ depending on who's asked. There simply isn't a clear cut winner as the stats of both boss mobs are very similar in most key categories.

That being said though, with the use of the correct strategies and items, both of these boss mobs should be relatively easy to defeat no matter what the circumstance.