Smite vs. Sharpness in Minecraft: Differences & Which Is Better

Enchantments are an important part of the Minecraft experience. When applied to tools such as fortune enchantment they greatly increase the capabilities of tools. Enchantments can be applied to various pieces of gear and weapons as well. Due to various limitations placed on enchanting, players are forced to choose between several types. The two enchantments that players often have to choose between are smite and sharpness. Both can be applied to weapons and both are useful. In today’s post, we’re going to see all the differences between smite and sharpness enchantments and at last, which is better. 

Smite damages the Undead

Smite enchantment deals increased damage to undead mobs. Smite can be applied to swords or axes only, with no way to apply it to various tools. The enchantment comes in 5 levels with each level separately adding 2.5 (x1.25) extra damage on each hit to undead mobs. 

Undead mobs affected by smite are skeletons, zombies, undead villagers, zombified piglins, stray, husks, drowned, etc. As long as the mob is considered “undead” by the game, the enchantment will apply.  Smite offers a significant increase in damage, and it eventually adds up until you’re powerful enough to deal with most dangers without any significant risks included. 

The only downside of Smite is the fact that it cannot be combined with various other enchantments such as sharpness, cleaving, and bane of arthropods. However, you can always use console commands to add all enchantments and allow them to stack. But, for players who are not so keen on cheating, I’m afraid there’s no other solution than to pick between various enchantments.

Sharpness increased overall damage

Sharpness increases overall melee damage directed toward all types of mobs in the game. It can be applied to axes and swords as well. One peculiarity related to sharpness enchantment is the fact that it can be applied to weapons through the use of an anvil for the following types of weapons: wooden, stone, iron, diamond, and netherite. If you plan on adding Sharpness to the gold weapon, you can do that through enchanting.

Sharpness comes in 5 levels like the previous smite enchantment and each additional level deals more damage than the previous one. Sharpness I deals 1x extra damage with Sharpness V dealing 3x extra damage. Sharpness will affect any type of mob in the game, including anthropods and undead as well, even though those types of mobs have damage enchantments dedicated to them.

Can smite V one-shot zombies? 

If smite V is applied to a diamond weapon such as a diamond axe or sword or a netherite weapon there’s a pretty big chance that you will be able to one-shot zombies and other weaker types of undead mobs. It’s a fairly powerful enchantment, and in terms of raw damage output, it’s stronger than smite. However, the fact that it affects only one type of mobs makes it a liability in some situations.

Smite vs Sharpness which is better? 

If you need to choose between Smite and Sharpness, go for Sharpness. Sharpness offers less damage overall but the fact that it applies that extra damage to all types of mobs is what truly counts. By having a weapon enchanted with Sharpness you will be prepared for any situation that Minecraft throws at you no matter your current location. 

The same cannot be said for the bane of anthropods and Smite. While both enchantments offer more damage they are tailored for specific situations in which you will face only spiders or only undead types of mobs. Having said that, if you plan on making a trip to a location where you will face only undead types of mobs, it’s always useful to have smite. If you generally come across undead mobs fairly often compared to other types of mobs that same logic can be applied as well. 

The only solution to the fact that the two enchantments are mutually exclusive is to have two separate swords. One with Sharpness prepared for all situations, and one with Smite prepared for undead encounters. You can always resort to using console commands, in that case, you will be able to add both Smite and Sharpness and the two enchantments will stack. 

How to add both smite and sharpness to a weapon by using console commands? 

Some players want to be creative when thinking about a solution to a problem and some don’t mind cheating to gain an advantage. You can add a netherite weapon with both Smite and Sharpness enchantments by using the following command: give @p minecraft:netherite_sword{Enchantments:[{id:”minecraft:sharpness”,lvl:5s},{id:”minecraft:smite”,lvl:5s}]}. 

You can replace the “netherite” material with any available weapon material in the game, and the same goes for a weapon too. You can replace “sword” with an axe the command is flexible and easy to modify. 

If everything goes according to plan and the command has been executed successfully, you should have a weapon made out of the material of your own choosing in your inventory that has both enchantments applied. 

To sum everything up, even though Smite is generally more powerful in comparison to Sharpness, it’s less useful since the damage is only applied to undead mobs. If you don’t know what to expect in terms of enemies you will face always go with sharpness since it applies damage to all mobs in the game. 

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