Operation Manual

CHAPTER 3: Gathering Resources
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There are 14 types of hostile mobs in the Overworld. These are the ones you might meet on
your second day outside:
Q Zombies—Zombies burn up in sunlight but can still survive in shadows or rain, or when
wearing a helmet, and, of course, in dark caves all hours of the day or night. They are
relatively easy to defeat, and if any come after you, just head to a well-lit area and keep
your distance while they burn up in the sun.
Q Skeletons—Skeletons also burn up in sunlight unless they are wearing a helmet, and they
can survive at any time in lower light conditions. They’re quite deadly with a bow and
arrow and best avoided until you have an iron sword and sufficient cover to avoid their
line of fire.
Q Spiders—Spiders come in two variants: large or blue. You’ll probably only see the larger
spiders at this stage. They are passive during the day but become hostile in shadow and
can attack at any time if provoked. They’ll climb, they’ll jump, and they are pretty darn
fast. Fortunately, they’re also easy to kill with some swift sword attacks. The blue spi-
ders are a smaller, poisonous variant called cave spiders. They live only in abandoned
mine shafts underground, but in substantial numbers. If you suffer from arachnopho-
bia, I don’t have much good news for you, except that with a little time you’ll get used
to them and they won’t seem quite so nasty.
Q Creepers—Creepers have a well-earned reputation as the Minecraft bad guys. They are
packed to their green gills with gunpowder, and they’ll start their very short 1.5-second
fuse as soon as they are within three blocks of you. Their explosion can cause a lot of
real damage to you, nearby structures, and the environment in general. If you hear a
creeper’s fuse—a soft hissing noise—but can’t see it, run like heck in the direction you’re
facing. Remember to sprint by double-tapping and holding your W key . With a little
luck, you’ll get three blocks away and the creeper’s fuse will reset. Creepers are usually
best dealt with using a ranged attack from a bow and arrow, but if you sprint at them
with an iron or diamond sword and take a swipe at just the right moment, you can send
them flying back out of their suicidal detonation range, causing the fuse to reset. Most
creepers despawn around noon, leaving the afternoon generally free of their particular
brand of terror.
Q Slimes—Slimes appear in the swamp biome and in some places underground. They ini-
tially spawn as quite large Jello-like green blocks and are more than capable of causing
damage. Attacking eventually breaks them up into 2–4 new medium-sized slimes. These
can still attack but are relatively easily killed, only to spawn a further 2–4 tiny slimes
each! These last don’t cause any attack damage, but may still push you into peril if
you’re unlucky.
If you come across a lone spider, a zombie, or even a slime, now is as good a time as any to
get in some sword practice. Just point your crosshairs at the creature and strike with the left
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