Java Edition:Double Enchanted Horseman Gear
From 15w38a (1.9 snapshot) to 20w30a (1.16 snapshot), skeleton traps could spawn with skeletons that had helmets and bows with duplicate and invalid enchantments.[1] Skeletons spawned from horsemen will have standard spawning equipment generated and enchanted, but will have a secondary step to place enchantments onto the helmet and bow, to ensure they are always enchanted. This second step contained no checks to the enchantments generated previously, allowing for duplicate and conflicting enchantments. It was possible to get multiple instances of double enchantments on one item as well. For example, a helmet with Respiration and Protection twice, or a bow with Power and Unbreaking twice. This applies to all types of helmets, including leather, chainmail, iron, gold, and diamond, which can be upgraded to netherite in 1.16 and above. The only enchantment whose presence of multiple instances will allow for "stacking" effects is Protection, and all of its variants. All other duplicates will have no effect on the item's usage.
Obtaining
Both the helmets and the bows could be obtained by killing skeleton horsemen from 15w38a (1.9 snapshot) to 20w30a (1.16 snapshot). They are quite rare, so using Looting 3, a giant platform to AFK at during thunderstorms, and activating traps in chunks with high local difficulty are highly recommended to increase your chances. A lightning farm can be constructed using RNG manipulation to force lighting to strike in a specific location every gametick, but this can only be accomplished in 1.12.2 and below.
The Best
The best Helmets possible are:
- A diamond helmet with double Protection 3, which stacks to become Protection 6 (~1 in 100,000,000)
- A golden helmet with Protection 4 twice, resulting in Protection 8 (~8 in 100,000,000)
- A diamond helmet with Protection 3 and Projectile/Fire/Blast Protection 4 (~1 in 100,000,000)
- A golden helmet with Protection 4 and Projectile/Fire/Blast Protection 4 (~222 in 100,000,000)
Helmets can also have duplicate instances of Respiration, Unbreaking, and Aqua Affinity.
Double enchantments on bows have no extra effects, so what enchantments you want is up to you. They can have duplicate instances of Power, Punch, Unbreaking, Flame, and Infinity.
Combining / Anvil Usage
When trying to combine the helmets or bows with other gear or enchanted books in an anvil, any enchantments that are doubles (such as two Protections) will be removed from the result, leaving one behind. Thus, items with duplicate enchantments can only be repaired with unenchanted helmets, and cannot have Mending applied.
Helmets with 2 different variants of Protection (e.g. Protection and Blast Protection) will not have the conflicting enchantments removed when adding additional enchantments or repairing in an anvil.
Due to bug,[2] from 18w06a (1.13 snapshot) to 18w07c, /enchant could be used with cheats disabled. This may be used to add non-conflicting enchantments to gear containing duplicate enchantments, most notably Mending.
Gallery
A diamond helmet with double Protection III enchantments
Image detailing why the double enchantment happens
Videos
- Video by NarcolepticFrog detailing the bug, drop chances of the best gear available, and showing the problems with anvil usage
- Video by Rays Works
See also
- Negative Durability Golden Hoe
- Negative Durability Boots
- Negative Durability Shears
- Zero Durability Equipment
- Multiple Types of Protection Armor
References