A Guide to Pointed Arrows

Minecraft is full of locations to explore, gifts to collect and, of course, hordes of enemies to defeat. Given the countless baddies that will likely bombard players along their journey, having plenty of effective attacks comes in handy, especially from a distance.

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As part of the June 2016 0.15.0 update, the game adds another useful tool for eliminating targets from a distance; Pointed arrows. Combining the long-range damage and precision of archery with the versatility and wide-ranging effects of splash potions, this handy feature allows players to really make an impact with their bows. This guide will describe the details of Arrows pointing in Minecraftincluding how to make the arrows, their characteristics, as well as the varieties available.

Pointed Arrows: An Overview

Pointed arrows work like any other arrow, with an added bonus. This is an arrow subtype that hits its target with the effect of a splash potion (specifically a lingering potion) when it hits the mob or player. This is achieved by crafting them in the crafting grid, using normal arrows as good as Lingering potions.

A target hit by these arrows will be inflicted with the same effects as if a splashed potion was inflicted on them. The differences are that, while more accurate, the duration of any potion’s effect is only 1/8th the duration of the potion in its normal state.

Most of these arrows can be used to weaken and eliminate mobs, but some can also be fired at players to aid them in certain ways.

Spiked arrows have varying degrees of longer lasting effects or slightly stronger effects.

How to make pointed arrows

Spiked arrows can be crafted like any normal crafting grid item, using:

• Any lingering potion + 8 arrows. This produces 8 potion-tipped arrows used.

They can also be crafted by placing arrows in Cauldrons which are filled with potions. The generated arrow will be tilted with the potion loaded into the Cauldron. This is a more economical way to craft these arrows, as fewer potions can be used to craft more tipped arrows.

Cauldrons can be crafted like any normal crafting grid item, using:

• 7 iron ingots. This produces 1 Cauldron.

Lingering Potions

While crafting the spiked arrows themselves is fairly straightforward, crafting the key ingredient for them proves to be a bit more in-depth. Players should do lingering potions, which are more powerful variants of splash potions that inflict status effects on everyone nearby that linger for a bit.

Players will need access to a Brew Kiosk to begin this process.

• To craft a Brew Stand, place 1 Blaze Rod + 3 cobblestones in the crafting grid.
• Use the infusion stand and insert the required items. These are the items listed in bold below.
  • Get dragon’s breath by gathering the Ender Dragon’s breath attack or the Dragon’s fireball clouds into an empty bottle.
  • Use fire powder to power the station. Then insert the dragon’s breath and splash potion (or make one by combining it with gunpowder,)
  • The combination of Dragon’s Breath and Splash Potion will create the equivalent Lingering Potions of the same effect.

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Types of pointed arrows

There are many types of tipped arrows, each with its own unique effect. Some can be used to buff or add an ability to yourself or other players, while others can be used to weaken or damage enemy mobs over time. This section lists each type of point arrow while giving a brief explanation or adding detail to those that are not so self-explanatory.

• Regeneration Arrow
• Arrow of Weakness
  • Weakens the user’s melee damage only.
• speed arrow
  • Also increases field of vision with speed.
• Arrow of slowness
• Arrow of fire resistance
• evil arrow
  • Does not deal static damage, but is based on factors such as arrow damage and arc enchantment state
  • A single damage arrow can inflict up to five and a half hearts of instant damage.
• healing arrow
• Water Breathing Arrow
• Night vision arrow
• Arrow of Luck (exclusive to Java Edition)
  • Allows the user to find better items while fishing.
• arrow of strength
  • Only increases the user’s melee damage.
• Arrow of Decay (Exclusive to Bedrock Edition)
• jump arrow
• Arrow of the Turtle Master
  • As the name suggests, this arrow increases the user’s defense while slowing their speed.
• Invisibility Arrow
• Slow Fall Arrow
  • Users can largely control which direction they fall in while the effect is still in place.
• poison arrow

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Other Tip Arrow Details to Keep in Mind

Source: WikiMinecraft

• For bows enchanted with Infinity, the enchant only works on normal arrows, so tipped arrows will still be consumed when fired from the bow.
• It is also possible to craft tipped arrows using Persistent water bottles in addition to Clumsy, chunky, mundane lingering potions. The resulting element is a Splashing arrow if a water bottle is used. Regular, Clumsy, and Thick potions create tipped arrows, but all of these varieties have no effect and function as normal arrows. The only difference is a splashing visual of blue particles bound to the arrow when firing.
• Up to 48 arrows can be knocked over once a cauldron is fully filled with a potion.
• Spiked arrows cannot be crafted with potions of Mining fatigue, haste, nausea or blindness.
• Pointed arrows of the same effect will stack, but arrows of different effects will not stack.
• These arrows will work on almost any monster, so they are good combat options, especially from a distance.
• Normal bows and crossbows are both compatible with pointed arrows.

Minecraft is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS and many other platforms.

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