Smite is a kind of enchantment in Minecraft that you can only put on swords and axes. It will let you deal more damage to enemies with the enchanted weapon, however, it only increases damage against undead mobs.
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How the Smite Enchantment Works
There are 5 levels of the Smite enchantment, with each adding multiples of 1.25 Hearts of damage onto a sword or axe. However, this bonus damage will only activate when the enchanted sword or axe strikes an undead enemy. Undead mobs can be most easily identified by their rotting flesh, visible bones, or being some sort of ghost.
List of All the Mobs That Take Bonus Damage From Smite
- Drowned
- Husks
- Phantoms
- Skeletons
- Skeleton Horses
- Strays
- Withers
- Wither Skeletons
- Zoglins
- Zombies
- Zombie Horses
- Zombie Villagers
- Zombified Piglins
About Fighting Mobs That Have Armor
It should be noted that mobs that are wearing armor can passively block some of this damage. This is because the bonus damage granted by the Smite enchantment gets combined with the base damage of your weapon. Furthermore, this happens before the game does the damage calculations, so the engine sees your weapon and its enchantments as one entity during combat.
The Bonus Damage Breakdown of the Different Smite Levels
The 1.25 bonus damage per level of Smite is additive, meaning that all of the bonuses from different levels get combined. As such, this can make it easy to determine the flat amount of bonus damage that you will gain from a Smite enchantment. This flat amount gets added to your weapon’s base damage. Regardless of the tier of your weapon, be it wood or diamond, you’ll get the same flat amount of bonus damage from the Smite enchantment. Here are the figures laid out for clarity:
- Smite Level 1 = 1.25 Hearts of bonus damage
- Smite Level 2 = 2.5 Hearts of bonus damage
- Smite Level 3 = 3.75 Hearts of bonus damage
- Smite Level 4 = 5 Hearts of bonus damage
- Smite Level 5 = 6.25 Hearts of bonus damage
Enchantments That Are Incompatible With Smite
While it’s certainly possible to enhance a sword or axe with multiple enchantments, there are some that aren’t compatible with Smite. Here are all of the enchantments that can’t be put onto a sword or axe that’s already enchanted with Smite:
- Bane of Arthropods (sword and axe enchantment that increases damage against Spiders and other invertebrate enemies)
- Cleaving (axe-only enchantment that increases general damage and shield-stunning power)
- Sharpness (sword and axe enchantment that increases general damage)
Should You Enchant a Sword or an Axe?
This decision heavily depends on which version of the game you’re playing. In the Java Edition of Minecraft, axes have higher base damage. While, in the Bedrock Edition, swords have higher base damage.
To give you a clear comparison, in the Java Edition, a Wooden Sword has a base damage stat of 4, whereas, in the Bedrock Edition, it has 4.75. However, axes are given the opposite treatment. In the Java Edition, a Wooden Axe has a base damage stat of 7, although, its Bedrock Edition counterpart only has 3.
Therefore, if you’re playing the Java Edition of the game, you should use an axe for combat, or, if you’re playing the Bedrock Edition, you should use a sword for battle. Choosing wisely will let you enchant the best weapon for the jobs of smiting undead mobs.
