What is the most useful enchantment in Minecraft for beginners?

Venturing into the art of enchanting for the first time can be somewhat daunting for the Minecraft player, as there are several different enchantments available, and the game doesn't explain what they do outright.

With so many enchantments for players to utilize in Minecraft, they should stick to certain ones when starting. Some enchantments benefit new players significantly, such as Protection, which can decrease the incoming damage they receive from most sources.

However, another enchantment may be preferable if players feel they are in a safe enough environment, known as Fortune. This is an incredibly helpful enchantment to utilize for a player who is just starting out and in need of materials.

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Minecraft: Why Fortune is such a helpful enchantment for beginners

Fortune allows for higher yields of materials (Image via Mojang)

What is it about Fortune as a Minecraft enchantment that makes it preferable for beginners over Sharpness, Protection, or Mending? It increases the drop amount of certain blocks. This can be used when mining for materials to bring in substantially more ores than they would normally obtain without the enchantment.

Fortune can increase the yields of all available ores in the game except for ancient debris, and players can even use it to get more amethyst from geode clusters underground. Fortune also applies to several other blocks and materials, including flint, apples, glowstone dust, seeds, sweet berries and more.

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Fortune is a great enchantment for resource gathering and mining

For Minecraft players just beginning their adventures, resource scarcity often becomes a problem, forcing players to return time and time to collect more of what they need. Thanks to Fortune, these trips will significantly decrease since players would collect more materials in less time.

This makes it an invaluable collection aid not only for new players but even for veterans who are attempting to extract more diamonds and other precious ores from their mining excursions.

It may not keep new players safe from hostile mobs or keep their gear in tip-top shape, but Fortune brings excellent returns and cuts down on the time players spend collecting the many resources the game makes available.

Combining enchantments such as Fortune and Efficiency on a pickaxe can turn the tool into a mine-clearing behemoth even in the late game. This reduces harvesting time for resources and also breaks up the tedium.