This is a walk-through for the "Hardcore Challenge", which consists of killing the Ender Dragon, on Hardcore mode, using a random seed, in a minimal amount of time. This is different from a "Speed Run", in that this method should result in a fairly high chance of surviving -- depending on your skill and how closely you follow the instructions, you should have about 50%-90% chance of surviving and killing the Ender Dragon, in 4 to 8 hours.
Flowchart
This is essential the whole process, in graphical form. Start at the top-left. Complete all steps in each colored area before proceeding to the next.
First Things First
tip: Before starting, change your render distance to ~16 -- the highest value your machine will tolerate without significant lag.
- Run to nearest tree.
- Mine 6 Logs
- Look around for stone; if within 20 blocks run to it, else dig down* (or into a steep hill)
- Craft 24 Planks from 6 Logs; Crafting Table from 4 Planks
- Place Crafting Table near stone
- Craft 16 Sticks from 8 Planks; Wooden Pickaxe from 3 Planks and 2 Sticks
- Mine 3 Cobblestone with Wooden Pickaxe
- Craft Stone Pickaxe from 3 Cobblestone and 2 Sticks
- Mine 32 Cobblestone with Stone Pickaxe
- Craft 4 Stone Axe; 1 Stone Shovel; 1 Stone Pickaxe; 2 Furnace; 1 Boat
- Mine Crafting Table
You should now have zero raw materials. Your inventory should be:
4 Stone Axe; 1 Stone Shovel; 2 Stone Pickaxe; 2 Furnace; 1 Boat
Over Land and Sea
Next: kill Sheep until getting 3 Wool of the same color, and craft a Bed.
- Use Stone Axes to kill all animals you come across; always jump, aim, and strike right before landing for extra damage; this will kill most animals in one strike. (Chickens do not require jumping, they will always die from a single aimed attack with a Stone Axe)
- Sheep only spawn on Grass blocks. Preferred biomes, in order: Plains, Swamp, Birch Forest (white trees), Forest (avoid Dark Forest), Taiga (big trees), Jungle. Avoid other biomes.
- Use a Boat whenever possible to travel more quickly (and without using up Hunger).
- If mixed colors collected, and not near more sheep, and near water, kill 3 Squid and dye all wool black.
- While traveling: mine 1 Log; kill any cows, chickens, or pigs that are on your way; and collect any Sugar Cane you come across. Do not go out of your way more than ~20 blocks for any of these.
Next: short-term food supply.
- Kill 10-12 animals or fish near you.
- Mine Logs, crafting them into Planks then Sticks; need twice the number of Sticks as of raw animals.
- Place both Furnaces, cook all meat with the Sticks.
- Mine Furnaces once done.
As you explore the Overworld, eat the cooked meat to keep your Hunger up. Always eat the food that you have the lowest number of, to maximize inventory space. You should not need to cook any more until you are done exploring the Overworld (if it takes extra long, repeat this step when you are out of food).
Next: collect all Overworld supplies from various biomes.
Continue to follow coasts/rivers when possible. Use the Boat for faster travel, and also for Sugar Cane.
Biome priorities:
- Swamp: spawn farm animals, and extra Sugar Cane
- Plains: spawn desired animals, and are easy to travel through
- Desert *edges*: only via Boat, for Sugar Cane
- Forest / Birch Forest: spawn farm animals
- Taiga / Jungle
Avoid other biomes.
Any time you spot a new Village, go to it:
- check all buildings for Bookshelves and Chests.
- Mine any Bookshelves into Books.
- From Chests, take all of: any meat, Apple, Arrow, Book, Bucket (if Water Bucket, take it and empty it), Diamond, Empty Map or Compass (only 1, prefer the map), Feather, Flint, Iron Ingot, Saddle.
- If find armor, equip the best; if find Iron tools, replace your Stone tools with them.
- Do not take other items -- including Gold Ingot, Emerald, Bread, Coal, Horse Armor, Obsidian, etc. At this point the inventory space is not worth it, you will collect these easily later.
- If you do come across a Saddle, use it on the next Horse you find, to speed up exploration; but do not become too attached to the horse -- if your normal exploration would take you where a horse cannot travel, abandon it immediately.
- Mark-off buildings as you leave them by placing a block over the door.
- Kill all farm animals.
"Farm animals" refers to Cows, Sheep, Horses, Chickens, Llamas
Any time you come across an Enderman (at any point in the game), either try to get it into your Boat and kill it, or pillar-jump up 3 blocks and provoke it (by looking at its eyes). Unless on a 3 block pillar, or from water, never provoke an Enderman.
From killing farm animals, collect:
- All raw meat
- Feathers: 12-16
- Leather: 46 (or 1 less per Book you get from Villages)
Additionally, mine these items from around you:
- 18 Gravel/Flint
- Sugar Cane - at least 20, up to two stacks (128)
- Apple - at least 2
- Iron Ore (optional) - whatever you come across; do not pursue if more than ~20 blocks out of your way
- Logs - 1 stack of 64, and another stack of at least 10 (40 for Boats, 22.5 for Bookshelves, remainder to make pickaxes/shovels/torches/crafting tables)
If, during exploration, your inventory becomes near-full with junk, stop a moment and throw away anything you have not deliberately collected.
Settle Down and Dig
Find a top-side to your new home, by the water.
- Find a waterline with sand/grass/dirt.
- Plant all Sugar Cane.
- Place Furnaces, fill with food to be cooked (to get them out of your inventory).
- Place Crafting Table.
- Craft a Chest, place it, and store Feathers, Leather, Gravel, Flint, Apple, etc.
- Craft 40 Logs into 160 Planks into 32 Boats, and place semi-randomly filling a loose circle around your chosen area.
- Dig next to the water, 1 block away from it, straight down*, a shaft (hole) three blocks wide.
- Dig all the way down to bedrock (or lava).
- On one side of the three-wide shaft, pillar-jump back up the surface.
- Break one block between the shaft and the water supply.
You should now have a two-by-one shaft from the surface down to bedrock, with one side flowing water and the other air. Use this to easily travel up and down the shaft.
Craft Cobblestone into Furnaces, place, and fill with remaining meat and Sand. Your inventory should
If you have any coal from digging, use one to craft 4 Torches, use the rest to fuel the furnaces.
Travel back down, and start tunneling:
- Dig one direction 4 blocks from the shaft, and then the opposite direction, also 4 blocks from the shaft.
- Go back to the shaft, turn 90 degrees, and start digging sideways.
- Place Cobblestone to block the entrance to the vertical shaft, blocking mobs from reaching it.
- Monitor your pickaxe, to make sure it will not break before you can return via a parallel tunnel.
- Mine a straight line, 2 blocks high.
- Mine any exposed Iron Ore, Gold Ore, Redstone, Diamond, Emerald.
- After about 60 blocks in one direction, turn right or left, mine 4 blocks deep, and turn back the way you came.
- a new Stone Pickaxe has a durability of 131
- Dig a parallel tunnel all the way back to the vertical shaft.
- Place Cobblestone to block the entrance.
You have completed one leg of mining.
- If night time, place the bed, sleep, and mine the bed.
- Travel to the surface.
- Kill any mobs captured in the boats.
- Harvest any grown Sugar Cane, and replant.
- Craft a few more furnaces from the excess Cobblestone you now have; enough to hold all Iron Ore, Gold Ore, and any remaining Cobblestone. Place these at the bottom of the shaft.
- Use any Coal for fuel; first cook the meat and Sand, then Iron Ore, Gold Ore, and lastly Cobblestone.
Do mining trips in this way several times, with minor adjustments:
- Use Iron Ingots to craft, in order: Shield, Iron Pickaxes (as needed for mining), full set of iron armor, two Buckets.
- Once have Buckets, and find Lava while mining, use Lava for furnaces.
- Smelt Cobblestone into Stone, and then into Smooth Stone, simply for the XP. You will want two stacks of some type of stone later, but most of this can be discarded.
Repeat mining trips until you have:
- 5+ Diamond
- ___+ Iron Ingots (aside from your tools, full set of armor, and two Buckets)
Craft Diamond Pickaxe, use to mine 14 Obsidian (note: this is *not* for your portal to the Nether).
Do full inventory from the surface.
TODO _____
Get 16 Flint; convert from Gravel if needed.
Fill both buckets with water.
Travel down the shaft.
Use water and lava to create a Nether portal of Obsidian, start with Flint and Steel.
Say goodbye to the Overworld.
Nether Travels
TODO
Fortress
TODO
The End
TODO
