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There is a lot to do in the end game of Minecraft. As you gather some of the best armor, tools, and weapons, all remains is building up your home to the creative extent that you envision. The nether star gives you access to the beacon which acts as a landmark and can give you buffs as long as you are within range. The beacon can really help a home feel safe and secure. This guide will outline what you need to get the nether star, how to obtain it, and how to use it to craft a beacon.
In order to get the nether star you will need to defeat the wither. It is possible to spawn the wither as soon as you find a nether fortress, gather 3 skulls, and collect 4 soul sand. However, you ought to avoid this battle until you have at least enchanted diamond armor and weapons. The wither is no easy fight, and any amount of preparation you do will help you with tackling this boss.
First let’s gather the necessary materials to spawn the wither. Construct a nether portal and look for a nether fortress to find wither skeletons. While you are out looking, keep your eyes peeled for a soul sand biome. Wither skeletons will only spawn near a nether fortress, they are 3 blocks tall and can inflict the wither debuff so try to stay under a 2 block high ceiling when you are approaching these enemies.
Wither skeleton skulls are a rare drop, with looting III the best odds you can hope for are 5.5% (Java edition) or 8.5% (Bedrock edition). They also drop coal which can easily fool you into believing a wither skeleton skull dropped. Keep patrolling your nether fortress and gather up 3 of these wither skeleton skulls.
You can also guarantee the wither skeleton skull to drop if you manage to kill the wither skeleton with a supercharged creeper blast, but getting this setup seems much more difficult than going for the 1 in 20 or 1 in 12 drop rate with looting III.
Whatever method you decide to use, make sure that you gather some soul sand or soul soil on your way out. To spawn the wither you will need to arrange the soul sand/soil in a configuration, you can use them interchangeably and mix them to spawn the wither successfully.
Ensure that there are no blocks under the two “arms” of the arrangement. I was able to take a screenshot of this configuration by placing blocks there and removing them. Once you place the third wither skull, the wither will spawn. If you had to remove some blocks, ensure that the configuration is similar to the one above and replace the third wither skull to get the wither to spawn.
You should also consider some pre-combat preparation. Iron golems, potions of strength, regeneration, healing, and blast protection enchantments are all key to defeat the wither quickly. Iron golems will draw some of the wither’s attention away from you, potions will assist in keeping you alive, and even milk can help prevent you from dying from the wither debuff.
When the wither is spawned it will glow as its health bar fills. It is immune in this state. After its health bar fills up to the top the surrounding area it will emit a powerful explosion that can kill the player and anything around it. Be careful and keep your distance. After the explosion the wither will begin shooting projectiles and attacking players and other mobs around it.
The wither is immune to fire, lava, and drowning damage. The wither has 300 total health points in java and 600 in bedrock. This is more than the Ender Dragon which only has 200 total health points.
After the wither has reached half health it will cause a large explosion and summon wither skeletons (except on easy).
On java edition the wither becomes immune to arrows after it loses half its HP. You will have to use a sword in order to defeat the wither from this point.
When the wither is defeated it will hover in the air and it will detonate after a few seconds. Stay far away from this explosion as it deals a lot of damage, more damage than even a super charged creeper.
Upon defeating the wither it will drop a nether star. Stay away from the explosion, wait for it to finish exploding before attempting to pick up the nether star.
The nether star is immune to explosions so do not worry about the nether star breaking from the wither explosion. It is not immune to lava however, try to keep lava out of your arena or ensure that the wither is not above lava when it is low on health. The nether star will take ten minutes to despawn on java and it will never despawn on bedrock edition. Take your time to collect your reward.
Once you have defeated the wither and collected your nether star, it is time to craft it into a beacon. Nether stars can only be used to craft beacons, and while they make for a nice decorative trophy, the beacon is the only practical application of nether stars. To craft one, head to a crafting table with your nether star, 3 obsidian and 5 glass.
Place the nether star in the middle, obsidian on the bottom row, and the glass surrounding the nether star. Unfortunately this is not the end, you will need to power the beacon with blocks of netherite, emeralds, diamonds, gold, or iron in order to get the full effect.
The arrangements on the left can help you understand how many blocks you will need to power the beacon, of course it does not translate too well into 3d space so let me show you. The block on the top refers to the beacon, and each tier below it must be filled with the appropriate blocks.
This arrangement will allow you to gain access to tier one buffs for 10 seconds for each ingot you feed into the beacon. Not very useful, so let’s move on to the second tier. For the second tier you will need to extend the blocks out to 5x5 and have 3x3 blocks on top of it.
The second tier gives you the option of jump height or resistance. It also makes it so each ingot you feed into the beacon grants the desired effect as long as you are within range of the beacon. The next tier will grant you access to the strength buff as well as increase the range of the beacon.
Finally, the final tier will unlock permanent health regeneration as long as you are within the beacon’s range.
Of course you should try to get the beacon fully powered to maximize its range and its potential benefits. Gathering all those blocks of iron, gold, emerald, diamond, or even netherite will take a while. Make use of villager trading to get emeralds, blocks of gold found in underwater temples and bastion remnants, and keep the expensive jewels closer to the top if you want to keep it even. It does not matter which type of block you use as long as you arrange them correctly.
Once you have upgraded your equipment to high levels, you can consider tackling the wither boss to get a nether star. The nether star is only used to craft beacons which can offer a huge range of buffs for you to use. The beacon’s light will also go above the sky layer marking your territory from great distances. It is not easy to obtain the nether star, nevertheless power a beacon fully, but there is a lot to do even after you have obtained some of the best equipment in the game.
Congratulations, you are now capable of getting your own nether star and powering your own beacon. There is nothing like standing near a beacon in a safe home, it really makes the town feel safe and it is almost difficult not being around it. While it requires a good degree of preparation, the reward is worth it. Constructing and powering a beacon is a testament of your mastery of Minecraft, give a shot if you are looking for a challenge.
A. Other than looting III there is no quick fix to get wither skeleton skulls. If you really want to guarantee your progress, you can construct a nether portal close to a nether fortress, lure wither skeletons back to the surface in a contained space, lure a supercharged creeper nearby, and have it explode next to the wither skeletons to get a dozen or so skulls at once. Otherwise your best bet is to patrol nether fortresses with a looting III sword.
A. To fully power a beacon you will need 164 blocks of material, meaning you will need 1476 total ingots/material in order to fully power your beacon. Gather blocks from ruined portals, bastion remnants, and underwater temples to make the grind easier to bear.
A. You can change the color of the beam the beacon emits by placing a stained glass block above the beam. If you want to make the beam orange, place an orange stained glass block above the beam to change the color of it.
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