How to get the Arbalistic advancement in Minecraft

Advancement hunters in Minecraft may or may not be aware of the game's hidden advancements, including Arbalistic, which asks quite a tall task of players. It can be a tough advancement to obtain for some, as it requires killing five unique mobs with one shot from a crossbow.

This means players can take out standard mobs and don't necessarily require hostile mobs. That said, killing multiple mobs in one shot can be tough even with the Piercing IV enchantment, which is essential for obtaining Arbalistic.

Using the Multishot enchantment can also be helpful but isn't necessarily required. Earning this advancement would undoubtedly be easier in Creative Mode, but Survival Mode players will have their work cut out.

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Minecraft: A guide to earning Arbalistic

Crossbows are a little different than standard bows, and operating them might take practice to get Arbalistic (Image via Mojang)

Earning Arbalistic in Minecraft's Survival Mode can be quite tricky but not entirely impossible. It can be done with a few different animal mobs, a Piercing IV enchanted Crossbow (at minimum), an iron axe, and some building blocks.

To get the process started, players will want to create a hallway that is one block wide and six blocks deep, and this will be used to accommodate and line up the necessary mobs. Ideally, the hallway should be about two blocks high, with the front partially blocked in its middle row. A slab should also be placed in the middle to prevent smaller mobs from escaping from the middle block.

An example of a kill hallway filled with five different animal mobs (Image via Mojang)

Next, Minecraft players will want to place a small 3x1 or 3x2 hole in front of the 'kill hallway'. This will allow them to stand in the hole and line up their shot through the slot created in the hallway.

Finally, players will need five different animal mobs (duplicates won't work; hostile mobs work will do but are tougher to corral) to place within the hallway. Popular picks include chickens, sheep, pigs, cows, and goats (using a lead and bringing them into the hallway before sealing it off is incredibly helpful in Survival Mode).

Before lining up a shot with their Piercing IV Crossbow, Minecraft advancement hunters will also want to take an iron axe and use a fully-charged strike to injure their mobs to near death (chickens and sheep typically don't need to be hit, while mobs like llamas may need to be hit multiple times).

The injured mobs are lined up and can be hit with a crossbow arrow through the slot in the hallway (Image via Mojang)

Once the Minecraft mobs are injured and the player has their crossbow at the ready, they simply need to stand in the hole and line up their shot. Once the arrow is primed, firing it through the center slot should kill every mob within the hallway in one shot due to Piercing IV's effect.

It can take a little practice to get the hang of, and injuring the mobs enough without killing them can be tricky, but with persistence and ample livestock, they can obtain Arbalistic.

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Note: The article reflects the views of the writer.