Piercing in Minecraft is a type of enchantment that you can only put onto Crossbows. Crossbows that are enchanted with Piercing will shoot arrows that go through multiple mobs. As such, you can use it to defeat many enemies quickly.
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How the Piercing Enchantment Works
There are 4 levels of the Piercing enchantment. Each increasing level will let arrows fired from the enchanted Crossbows go through more targets. Crossbows enchanted with Piercing 1 will shoot arrows through 1 enemy, while Crossbows with Piercing 2 will shoot arrows through 2 enemies, and so on.
Piercing arrows can also pass through Shields, even those that are being used to block. You can use this to your advantage against heavily armored foes who think that they can defend against your ranged attacks.
How Piercing Affects Different Kinds of Crossbow Ammo
Like when you shoot arrows with an unenchanted Crossbow, you can pick up arrows after they have been fired through targets. The Piercing enchantment affects all kinds of arrows, so pick your favorite type and go nuts. Keep in mind that arrows will not make physical contact with a target–only pass straight through them as if they weren’t there. Furthermore, the Piercing enchantment does not affect Firework Rockets fired from a Crossbow.
Incompatible Enchantment
You can put multiple enchantments onto a Crossbow, however, you cannot combine some. The Piercing enchantment is incompatible with the Multishot enchantment.
