6 BEST Bow Enchantments In Minecraft [Detailed Comparison]

With a total of 7 Enchantments available for the Bow in Minecraft, it can be daunting to chose and that's why this guide will help you chose.

Bow Enchantments in Minecraft are a great way to make your bows effective for killing and looting. This helps you rely on a single bow and put your resources and effort into upgrading it, rather than cluttering your inventory with several bows that die out a lot quicker.

Key Takeaways
  • Enchanted bows can be obtained by finding them in chests or enchanting them using an enchantment table.
  • There are 7 in-game enchantments for bows in Minecraft, and each has unique abilities, benefits, and drawbacks.
  • These enchantments permanently upgrade your bow and can be removed with a grindstone for re-enchanting.
  • You can apply multiple enchantments to a single bow, making it a versatile tool.
  • Unfortunately, you can’t tell which enchantment you’re applying to your bow until after you’ve applied it.
  • Note that some enchantments, like Infinity and Mending, cannot be combined, so you must select one.

Best Bow Enchantments In Minecraft

Before I begin, let’s have a quick look at all of the Bow Enchantments in the game:

RankEnchantment NameMax Level Description/Buffs
1PowerLevel 5Increase the damage done to enemies.
2UnbreakingLevel 3Increase the durability points of your bow.
3FlameLevel 3Changes your arrows into flame arrows and allows you to set mobs and other players on fire.
4PunchLevel 2Knocks back the enemy after you hit them
5Mending Level 1Increases the durability of your weapon in exchange for Experience points.
6InfinityLevel 1Get unlimited shots with a single arrow in your inventory.

1. Power V

The best damage-enhancing bow enchantment.
Max Level Description/Buffs How to Apply
Power Level 5
  • Increase the damage done to enemies.
  • 150% damage increase when you have reached Level 5.
Use an enchantment table to apply this enchantment.
  • Why I Chose This: Increasing your weapon’s time-to-kill is crucial for surviving in PvE and PvP, so Power V is necessary for any player’s bow.

When Power V is used with a Bow, it tremendously increases the damage done to enemies. With each level, it increases the Bow damage by 25%. It significantly improved compared to the average hit (just 3).

Power V status effect
Power V

On top of that, after update 1.8, you no longer need the Anvil to get this Enchantment on the Bow. All in all, I recommend having this enchantment on your bow. Undoubtedly, it is the best Bow enchantment you can use. It is simple and doesn’t require you to put in any extra effort. All you usually do is use your Bow.

  • One of the most potent enchantments in Minecraft.
  • Damage can be stacked.
  • Reduces Durability Cost.
  • Cannot apply Mending to the same bow.
  • Tough to obtain.

2. Unbreaking III

The best durability enchantment.
Max Level Description/Buffs How to Apply
Unbreaking Level 3
  • Increase the durability points of your bow.
  • Increases the bow’s durability points from 384 to 1536.
Use an enchantment table or anvil to apply this enchantment.
Minecraft: Unbreaking III Bow Enchantment
Unbreaking III
  • Why I Chose This: If you’re on a long adventure, the last thing you want is your bow breaking mid-combat, so applying Unbreaking III removes that doubt entirely.

Unbreaking III works weirdly to increase the Item’s durability, in my opinion. In Minecraft, when an item is used, it costs durability. What Unbreaking does is that it reduces the chances for the Item to use durability. Honestly, from my testing, this is a much better alternative to Mending since Mending has several restrictions and prerequisites.

  • Greatly increases a bow’s durability.
  • Alternative to Mending.
  • Can be combined with other enchantments.
  • Bow will eventually break, unlike Mending.

3. Flame

The only bow enchantment which applies DoT.
Max Level Description/Buffs How to Apply
Flame Level 3
  • Changes your arrows into flame arrows and allows you to set mobs and other players on fire.
  • It lasts for only 5 seconds.
Use an enchantment table or anvil to apply this enchantment.
  • Why I Chose This: From my experience, having Flame applied to enemies to make them instantly cook is the most significant convenience possible during expeditions.

Flame sets mobs and other players on fire and causes them damage over time. It’s worth noting that increasing the level of Flame through commands will not affect damage or the time it lasts. Mobs that are killed by flame only will not drop any XP points. Unless you damage them between the five seconds, Flame lasts.

Flame status effect
Flame Enchantment

Flame can only burn players, mobs, TNT, and candles. It will not affect other blocks, such as trees, and you can not use it as a light source. Also, the Flame doesn’t work in Rain or Ocean.

  • Effective for DoT.
  • Can be amplified with other items.
  • Useless against Nether mobs.

4. Punch

The best pressure-reducing bow enchantment.
Max Level Description/Buffs How to Apply
Punch Level 2
  • Knocks back the enemy after you hit them
  • Increases the knockback by 3 blocks after each level increase.
Use an enchantment table or anvil to apply this enchantment.
  • Why I Chose This: Punch is the ideal enchantment when mobs surround you since it gives you time to tackle every nearby enemy.

Punch is a very situational or rather playstyle-based Bow Enchantment in Minecraft. It knows the enemy back by three additional blocks with each level. The enchantment has a total of two levels. It’s a handy tool against Mobs that move around a lot. But it can also backfire with steady mobs; in that case, you will drive them away. It’s worth noting that Punch doesn’t increase your damage in any way at all.

Minecraft: Punch II Bow Enchantment
Punch II Enchantment
  • Can reduce pressure mid-combat.
  • Gives time to reposition or retreat.
  • No boost to enemies.
  • Ineffective against bigger enemies

5. Mending

The only bow enchantment that can self-heal.
Max Level Description/Buffs How to Apply
Mending Level 1
  • Increases the durability of your weapon in exchange for Experience points.
  • For each XP, there are 2 durability points gained.
Use an enchantment table or anvil to apply this enchantment.
  • Why I Chose This: With the right XP supply, you virtually have a bow with infinite durability, which is something no enchantment can do.

If you’re asking me, Mending is one of the best Enchantments for any type of weapon or armor in Minecraft, including Bows. It takes the experience orbs the player gains and uses them to repair anything with Mending. The exact rate at which it increases the durability is for each point of experience orb, and you gain two durability points. It’s pretty sweet, in my opinion, but it does have its flaws.

Mending status effect
Mending Enchantment
  • Potentially everlasting bow.
  • Can be stacked with Unbreaking.
  • Can’t work alongside the most powerful enchantments.
  • Gets overshadowed by Unbreaking.
  • Constantly getting XP might become tedious.

6. Infinity

The best bow enchantment for low inventory.
Max Level Description/Buffs How to Apply
Infinity Level 1 Allows players to use their bows infinitely, as using bows costs nothing from their inventory. Use an enchantment table or anvil to apply this enchantment.
  • Why I Chose This: With infinite arrows, you won’t have to worry about clogging your inventory with a single item type.

As the name suggests, this Enchantment grants you infinite arrows for the Bow in Minecraft. In almost all the situations you will face at the beginning of the game, this is a fantastic upgrade for the Bow. But later in the game, you will have many arrows to spare. On top of that, you will be using special arrows when you are advanced In the game.

Minecraft: Infinity Bow Enchantment
Infinity
  • Reduces load on inventory.
  • Everlasting ammunition.
  • Effect doesn’t apply to arrows with potion effects.

My Favorite Bow Enchantment

In my honest experience, I mostly used bows against certain powerful mobs like the Enderman and the Ravager. In those cases, Power V was undoubtedly the only enchantment that had a significant impact during those encounters, where it easily knocked out the stronger and weaker enemies.

However, for regular expeditions to find new settlements or diamonds, the Flame enchantment sometimes came in handy. As you know, finding animals is tedious, and cooking them is even more tedious. Flame helped me save that time and effort, so, in my opinion, it’s also a must-have enchantment.

Minecraft allows for vast customization on almost all the things that it offers. Unfortunately, it’s not the case with Bow, Crossbow, and Fishing Rod items. All these items have a minimal amount of customization to them. This is no different when it comes to Enchantments for the Bow, and you only get 7 Enchantments.

Be sure to check out Abdul Haddi’s review of Minecraft to see where he feels the game succeeded and could’ve succeeded.

FAQs

What are the best Enchantments for a bow in Minecraft?

The best Enchantments for the Bow in Minecraft are Power V, Unbreaking III, Flame, and Punch.

How many Enchantments can a bow have in Minecraft?

A Bow in Minecraft can have up to six Enchantments simultaneously because a bow can either have Mending or Infinity.

What Enchantments can you put on a Bow?

You can put seven Enchantments on a Bow, including Power V, Unbreaking III,  Flame, Punch, Mending, Infinity, and Curse Of The Vanishing.

How do you get Infinity Enchantments?

The Infinity enchantment in Minecraft can be acquired by trading, fishing, enchantment table, and avil.

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Daniyal is a Guides Writer and Editor at eXputer with over one year of experience in content writing. He's had a passion for tech and gaming for more than 15 years. Ever since his first console, the PS2, he's constantly branching off to different genres, and his go-to at the moment is the Souls experience pioneered by FromSoftware, which is evident by his 1,500+ hours of game time on Elden Ring. You can learn some more about Daniyal's gaming journey on his Steam & Xbox profiles.

Experience: 1+ Years || Mainly Covers Guides || Education: Bachelors in Computer Sciences.

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