[Guide] Quartz mining for XP

Discussion in 'General Minecraft Discussion' started by PenguinDJ, Oct 18, 2015.

  1. We all know that ever since the 1.8 update mob farms, especially enderman xp farms, have been very slow, almost non-functional. However, it's good that mob farms aren't the only way to get experience. XP can be obtained very quickly and efficiently even without farms. You just have to know how to do it.

    I find that Quartz Mining is the most efficient way to obtain xp. However, that involves a trip to the nether, and there's one big difference between mob farms and the nether (excluding productivity, of course), and that's the danger. The nether can be a dangerous place, especially for newer/unprepared players.

    Thankfully, protecting yourself in the nether is very easy to do. You just have to know what to bring, and where to go to quartz mine effectively.

    1. Bring a Fortune III Pickaxe. In order to obtain xp, you're going to need a pickaxe. Having fortune is optional, but it's exceptionally helpful. You'll almost triple your quartz output.

    2. You'll need an enderchest. Whether you're heading back to town or storing some quartz for safety, an enderchest is very helpful. If your inventory gets full of quartz, just dump it in your enderchest and continue on. If you choose to bring an enderchest, you'll also need to bring a Silk Touch pickaxe to be able to pick it back up again.

    3. Bring some good armor. Having some good armor is helpful. You're going to need some protection, so even a little bit is better than nothing. I recommend, at the least, diamond armor. Enchanting is optional. Fire protection is recommended.

    4. Enderpearls are mandatory! Well, not really. Go without them once and you'll see how helpful they are. Always bring 2-3 stacks to get over lava lakes, up cliffs, or away from dangerous mobs. If you fall in lava, drink a fire resistance potion and pearl out.

    5. Use Fire Resistance wisely. Always bring at least three fire resistance potions. The chances that you'll fall in lava more than three times are really low. Only use the potions when you're really low on health or have fallen into a lava pool.

    6. Remember the other necessities. Food, a sword, a bow for killing ghasts, and similar items that you would take out into the wild should also be taken into the nether.

    Now that you're prepared to go, some tips and tricks can make navigating the nether easier and more efficient. You'll likely develop your own tricks as time goes on, but here are some of mine.

    Get the levels then enchant. Assuming you're quartz mining for xp, enchanting immediately after you get the required levels is the most productive way to mine. Letting levels accumulate if you're planning to use them immediately after is very inefficient.

    7. Choose a good server. If you're going quartz mining to enchant (I frequently get xp to put enchanted books on items) go on a different server than the one your items are on. Once you reach the levels needed to enchant, switch servers, do your enchanting, then switch back. And unlike enderman farms, this doesn't despawn the mobs.

    8. Find the levels needed before mining. This only really applies to repairing or enchanting through books. Before you go to quartz mine, figure out how many levels it takes to do something. For example, I know it takes 8 levels to but Unbreaking III on something, and 9 to do Protection IV. This allows for higher productivity so you're not getting extra levels or switching servers to enchant when you're a level or two short.

    9. Receive quartz as a byproduct. You'll get a lot of quartz, as the name 'quartz mining' would suggest. Sell the quartz, build with it, burn it; doesn't matter. It adds up quickly.

    If you haven't tried it, and need a lot of xp, quartz mining is the way to go. It's so much more efficient than most farms and doesn't require building a mob farm.

    ~Penguin
  2. Totally should blog post that instead :p
    PenguinDJ, tuqueque and nltimv like this.
  3. I recommend using a silk pick to bring as many quartz home safely, then place them and fortune 3 them to make the most safely.
  4. Yup, quartz mining is good. I always bring some supplies to repair my equipped tools though, in case they need it. Takes up two spaces, one for the anvil, one for diamonds.

    If you stumble upon a nether fortress while you're mining, you have two options, ignore it or scavenge from it. If you're low on space, your best bet is to mark down the location (if you think you'll ever return) and walk on. Because you will find loot very quickly if you start searching those chests.

    Lastly, when running through the nether, I always set a traverse-to goal and a return-to goal. Like, start at the northern wasteland outpost, and head to the north eastern outpost. Just keep heading east until you reach your destination. This keeps a nether trip on task
    PenguinDJ likes this.
  5. I don't recommend bringing a silk pick to mine the quartz. The only use it is to silk touch mine quartz ore is when you're planning on selling basic ore, or when you don't have the need to enchant/repair anything. It's kind of a waste of time and tool durability
  6. You're able to bring much more back with you, and then you can mine all of it safely for more xp.
  7. I've tried that once and almost died of boredom. :p

    That's less efficient than if you mined with fortune. Whether you're using fortune or silk touch, you'll still be in the same danger. One method isn't any more safe than another. And the most important thing is, just mining with fortune cuts out the entire step of placing the blocks down and mining them up again. It saves a lot of time just using fortune in the first place. :)

    And speaking of silk touch, I forgot that part in the OP... fixed
  8. I didn't even think of doing that. However, I'll keep it in mind for the future. Sorry! :p
  9. PenguinDJ likes this.
  10. Going to give this a bump. I also changed the color from the purple/pink to something nicer.