Why Everyone Hates Bane of Arthropods in Minecraft—and Why They Might Be Wrong
By Marcus Vance
Q1: Does Bane of Arthropods work on Creepers or Guardians?
A1: No. Creepers have standard monster classification, and Guardians count as aquatic mobs susceptible to the Impaling enchantment (in Bedrock Edition). Bane applies strictly to spiders, cave spiders, silverfish, endermites, and bees.
Q2: Can you combine Sharpness and Bane of Arthropods using an Anvil?
A2: No. Survival mode prevents merging Sharpness, Smite, or Bane of Arthropods on the same weapon. Placing a Bane sword and a Sharpness book into an anvil results in an invalid output or ignores the conflicting modifier entirely.
Q3: Does the Slowness IV effect work on other players in PvP?
A3: No. Player characters are not classified as arthropod entities. Hitting another player with a Bane of Arthropods sword deals only base weapon damage and applies zero movement-speed debuffs.
Q4: Why does Bane feel useless compared to Smite?
A4: Smite targets undead mobs, which make up roughly half of all hostile encounters in Minecraft, including major boss encounters like the Wither. Arthropods appear less frequently and naturally carry smaller health pools, making specialized damage bonuses feel redundant in normal exploration.
Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.
