Sweeping Edge vs Sharpness: Which enchantment is better in Minecraft?

Enchantments are an integral part of Minecraft. There are certain powerups that help players in various situations. These can be applied to various types of items that a player carries while playing the game. Some are combat oriented, while others simply save a player's life in dangerous situations.

Sweeping Edge and Sharpness are two very well-known enchantments as they are both combat oriented. Both increase the overall strength of the weapons and help players kill mobs and fight better. However, one is better than the other.

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Which is the better enchantment between Sweeping Edge and Sharpness in Minecraft?

1) Sweeping Edge

First, let’s take a look at the Sweeping Edge. This is a special one as it can only be applied to a sword, and is only available in the Java Edition of the game. This essentially increases the overall strength of the sweeping attack with a sword.

The sweeping attack increases the overall attack strength to 50% with the first level, 67% with the second level and 75% with the third level. Basically, it adds normal attack damage to the sword with the enchantment's level.

Sweeping attack (Image via Minecraft)

Since this is exclusive to Java Edition and the sword, it is not the best one for players in general. Though Java Edition players can make good use of it, higher level players will use an ax on which this cannot be applied.

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Sharpness

Sharpness is another combat-focused enchantment. This can also be obtained from an enchanting table or from a librarian. This powerup can be applied to both swords and axes. Essentially, it increases the overall sharpness of the weapon and increases the damage per hit.

In Java Edition, each level of this increases the attack strength by 0.5, whereas in Bedrock Edition, it increases the attack strength by 1.25. Hence, this powerup is much more powerful in the Bedrock Edition of the game.

Sharpness increases the overall strength of the weapon (Image via Minecraft)

Therefore, sharpness is a much better powerup as it can also be applied to an ax which many players use due to more attacking strength. Plus, it can be used by both Java and Bedrock Edition players.

The only downside is that it cannot be applied alongside Smite, Cleaving and Bane of Arthropods. Despite that, Sharpness is much better than Sweeping Edge in Minecraft.

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