Minecraft is a world of games with endless possibilities: whether taking on the Ender Dragon, making indestructible armor, or planning out the raid and wishing to upgrade your weaponry: Minecraft enchantment makes everything possible.
It is an easy process, but it does require a little getting used to. There are a lot of items needed and many rules to remember. But once you get the hang of it, you will never want to stop.
Two such enchantments are an essential part of the game: Sharpness and Smite.
Sharpness helps in inflicting damage to your enemies, whereas smite is a similar enchantment that has more significant damage towards the undead: like zombies, skeletons, and the wither boss. Oh yeah, Phantoms count.
You can’t combine sharpness enchantment with Smite enchantment.
Whether you are an expert like sword wielders or beginners to Minecraft, this article will help you understand the difference between Sharpness and Smite.
What does Sharpness mean in Minecraft?
Sharpness is one of the common enhancements of Minecraft. It enables swords and other weapons (axe) to deal with damage based on the type and level of the sword.
For example, an iron sword with Sharpness enchantment can deal with the same amount of damage as a diamond sword. Sharpness enchantment is applicable up to the maximum level of V.
In Java Edition, Sharpness enhancement allows +1 extra damage for the level first. Each succeeding level (until Tied V) adds +0.5 damage.
While in Bedrock Edition, this enhancement adds +1.25 extra damage with each succeeding level up to tier V.
What does Smite mean in Minecraft?
Similar to sharpness, smite enchantment also increases the melee damage inflicted by your weapon. However, it has a slight difference from the sharpness enchantment―it deals with more damage to undead enemies.
This enchantment makes your sword more lethal than ever before. In Minecraft, Smite can only increase the melee damage when you are attacking the following enemies;
- Zombies
- Zombie Horses
- Zombie Villagers
- Skeletons
- Skeleton Horses
- Wither Skeletons
- Withers
- Pigs
- Husks
- Drowned
Smite also goes up to the maximum power level of V for noncritical hits. All these enemies receive extra 2.5 damage per level per hit.
Sharpness vs. Smite: What are they for?
Both sharpness and smite enchantments bring out the best in a melee player’s ability to deal with the damage done to their enemies. But which one is better is mainly depends on the person you are using.
If you are a PVP enthusiast, then sharpness will be handy for you, but if you are a zombie farm, then smite enchantments are best for you as they can kill many undead mobs at once. Even if you don’t have a zombie farm, smite is still worth it to use because several undead mobs spawn naturally.
Apart from exceptional use cases, the sharpness enchantment is the clear winner among the two. Smite is only applicable on undead mobs, but you get the most out of your EXP with sharpness. Plus, it applies to any sword or axe you have.
Here’s the list of how Smiteaffects weapon attack damage in each level of Java and Bedrock edition:
| Levels | Add on damage |
| Smite I | 2.5 additional damage |
| Smite ll | 5 additional damage |
| Smite llI | 7.5 additional damage |
| Smite lV | 10 additional damage |
| Smite V | 12.5 additional damage |
Here’s the list of how Sharpness affects weapon attack damage in each level of Java and Bedrock edition:
| Levels | Java Version | Bedrock Edition |
| Sharpness I | 1 additional damage | 1.25 additional damage |
| Sharpness ll | 1.5 additional damage | 2.5 additional damage |
| Sharpness llI | 2 additional damage | 3.75 additional damage |
| Sharpness lV | 2.5 additional damage | 5 additional damage |
| Sharpness V | 3 additional damage | 6.25 additional damage |
From the above tables, it is clear that smite is more powerful when it comes to attacking than sharpness, but the downside of it is that you only use smite on the undead creatures.
In short, it takes you just two attacks to kill a zombie with a Smite sword and three attacks with a Sharpness sword; there is not a huge difference. But at the time, whenever you are playing hard mode, or you are fighting with wither, it’s an excellent opportunity to use Smite.
Sharpness vs. Smite: Which one to use?
Sharpness and Smite both are great sword enchantments but which one should you use depending on different factors?
Smite is rare compared to Sharpness enchantment for a sword and only deals extra damage to undead mobs, including Drowned, Zombies, Withers, and so on.
Smite add 2.5 additional attacks per damage from level I to level V on noncritical hits. So if you need a weapon in survival mode against undead mobs, you should go with the smite enchantment.
When you add it in a diamond sword, smite can help mow down enemies easily without extra effort.
However, if you are scenario is more centered towards a variety of mobs or PvP, then without any thought, opt for sharpness.
Smite is good, but I would say you should always prefer Sharpness on the standard mode as it causes damage to every mob.
Smite is a Better Enchantment than Sharpness. Here’s why:
What other enchantments are there in Minecraft?
In Minecraft, enchanting is an act of imbuing or assigning an item which is mostly armor and weapon―with special and unique assets or bonuses to give the player an advantage in-game.
This can range from lengthening the lifespan of a tool or weapon to improving the armor or clothing. In simple words, enchantment upgrades your simple tools, armor, or weapon in Minecraft.
There are many enchantments in Minecraft that can be divided into subgroups;
All-purpose
All these enchantments can work for any tool, weapon, or armor.
| Enchantment | Function | |
| Unbreaking | Increase durability of the item and the maximum level for this enchantment is Level III | |
| Mending | Repairs the items while gaining XP orbs and you can only enchant an item up to Mending I | |
| Curse of Vanishing | The curse on an item that gets destroyed upon players’ death |
Tools
These are the items that the players interact with. These help with players’ efficiency in gathering weapons or performing others aspects of the game.
| Tool | Function |
| Luck of the sea | Increases rate of the good loot and lowers the chance of junk catches |
| Lure | Time decreases until rods get a bite. To use it, just hold the enchantment fishing rod in your hand. |
| Silk Touch | It is a useful tool to collect mined blocks because it causes them to drop themselves instead of breaking. |
| Fortune | It is an enchantment that is used to increase block drops from mining. But experience drops do not count. |
| Efficiency | This allows tools to break down your blocks at a faster speed and increase axes’ chance to stun a shield |
Melee Weapons
Players can create damage by using melee weapons that are specifically designed for a closed range or nearby entities.
| Weapon | Function |
| Sweeping Edge | Increases damage of the sweep attack |
| Bane of Arthropods | Increases damage and applies slowness to spiders, cave spiders, silverfish, endermites, and bees |
| Five Aspect | Set fire on targets |
| Efficiency | Axe stun shield with base chance being 25% and 5%. |
| Looting | Double the amount of loot |
| Impaling | Increase damage to mob spawn in water |
| Knockback | Knockback mobs away while you hit and cause the player to repel backward |
Ranged Weapons
Ranged weapons can be used for distant combat and can be used to kill players and mobs faster which can be found as loot or through crafting.
| Weapon | Uses |
| Channeling | Can hit bolt lightning toward a target during thunderstorms |
| Punch | Additional arrow knockback |
| Flame | Arrows that fire the target |
| Infinity | Shooting a bow with no regular arrows |
| Quick Charge | Lessen crossbow charging time |
| Impaling | Add damage to mobs that spawn in the ocean |
| Power | Additional arrow damage |
| Loyalty | Trident gets a return after being thrown |
| Riptide | The player gets launched with a trident when it is thrown but it is only functional in rain and water |
| Piercing | Get an arrow to pass through many entities |
| Multishot | Multishot of three arrows at the cost of one |
Armor
It provides the players general protection from all the casualties from the world of Minecraft.
Let’s take a look at the armor that you can use for this game.
| Armor | Protection |
| Blast Protection | It can protect the players from the damage from an explosion |
| Aqua Infinity | Increases underwater mining speed |
| Frost Walker | Change water source beneath player into frosted ice |
| Curse of Binding | Items can be released from armor without death or breaking |
| Feather Falling | It lessens the damage from falling |
| Depth Strider | It enhances underwater speed |
| Projectile Protection | It lessens the projectile damages |
| Fire Protection | It can help reduce burn and fire damages |
| Soul Speed | Enhances the speed on soil and sand |
| Protection | Reduces the damage by 4% |
| Respiration | It gives more underwater breathing time. |
Wrapping up
Since players can only choose one, sharpness is the best choice.
Sharpness and Smite are both really beneficial enchantments for Minecraft players. But if we compare the two, sharpness gets an edge. It is the best enchantment to use out of the two since smite would be useless when you are fighting other players or other mobs besides the undead.