Minecraft Dungeons guide: Defeating the Arch-Illager

The Arch-Illager is the final boss in Minecraft Dungeons and he’s found in the Obsidian Pinnacle level. He can be quite a surprising challenge if you’re not prepared. Here’s our boss guide to help you out.

Note: Since we’re talking about Minecraft Dungeons‘ final boss fight, there will be spoilers. For more information about the game, check out our guides and features hub.

Minecraft Dungeons: Arch-Illager boss guide

Items, enchantments, and artifacts

Defeating the Arch-Illager and, thus, clearing Minecraft Dungeons‘ campaign on Default Mode, is the main requirement to access the church in your camp. This will also allow you to start looking for all the hidden runes and, later, access the Secret Cow Level.

When playing only on Default Mode — and perhaps having a few friends along — the Arch-Illager is quite a pushover. Conversely, if you’re soloing and not attempting to replay most of the levels for loot, then you might find yourself a bit underpowered.

In any case, because the Obsidian Pinnacle level is quite lengthy, with several encounters against elites such as Redstone Golems or Evokers, you’ll really need to have hard-hitting weapons and proper enchantments. Likewise, you should get artifacts that can safely nuke mobs or even one that can give you a free heal.

While you can clobber your enemies and the Arch-Illager boss with any setup that works for you, I found myself often gravitating towards certain equipment as I progressed through Minecraft Dungeons‘ difficulty modes. These were my picks when I defeated the Arch-Illager on Apocalypse Mode:

• Highland Axe (unique axe; stuns targets) – Early in Minecraft Dungeons, the Highland Axe I found had Committed (increased damage versus wounded enemies). Much later, I did find one with Critical Hit (chance to inflict triple damage), Exploding (mobs explode when defeated), and Radiance (spawns a circular area to heal players).
• Lightning Harp Crossbow (unique crossbow; arrows ricochet off enemies) – Initially, I was using either a scatter crossbow or rapid crossbow. Eventually, I found a Lightning Harp Crossbow (the scatter bow’s unique variant). It had Multishot (chance to fire five arrows), Rapid Fire (faster firing rate), and Fuse Shot (shots cause enemies to explode).
• Any armor piece – I didn’t mind the armor piece I was using, though, ideally, you can’t go wrong with Full Metal Armor (plate armor). The important thing is that the armor piece needs to have Snowball (stuns enemies), Potion Barrier (greatly reduces damage taken after using a potion), and/or Protection (up to 15% damage reduction).

With the above items and their enchantments, I was able to stun most of the mobs in the Obsidian Pinnacle. I was just wailing away or shooting down opponents until they exploded. Good times.

Here were the artifacts I used:

• Fireworks Arrow – Fires a single arrow that causes a massive explosion.
• Flaming Quiver – Your quiver will be empowered by a limited number of flaming projectiles.
• Soul Healer – Heals the most injured ally, including yourself.

Because I was using a scatter crossbow variant, both Fireworks Arrow and Flaming Quiver fired additional projectiles. This allowed for extremely fast crowd-clearing capabilities when taking the enchantments into consideration. As for the Soul Healer artifact, it gives you a free heal just in case your potion is still on cooldown. Since the first phase of the Arch-Illager fight has a number of mobs, you can be sure that you’re still collecting more souls for your artifact’s free heal.

The Arch-Illager boss fight

Phase 1 of Minecraft Dungeons‘ Arch-Illager boss fight is quite easy provided that you brought along some quick nukes. The boss will repeatedly cast orbs that do quite a bit of damage. He’ll also periodically summon archers and axemen, but, if you’re using a scatter crossbow variant, you’ll notice how quickly they’ll get decimated. Likewise, the Arch-Illager will take some hits as you’re firing your projectiles or artifacts.

The only danger during this phase would be the groups of archers since, if you’re not moving around a lot, all their shots can hit you at the same time. Keep whacking away at the guy and make sure to use the jump pads to get to safety if need be.

Once the Arch-Illager is defeated, the Heart of Ender boss will spawn for phase 2:

Phase 2 is actually a bit trickier and chaotic, especially since phase 1 was more of a “controlled” environment. The Heart of Ender moves fast and the trail of flaming shadows it leaves on the ground will damage you. Similarly, it’ll start spewing exploding orbs that leave a flame effect on the floor. Oh, and it’ll cast multiple lasers that revolve clockwise. Don’t get hit by these or they’ll drop your health very fast:

Once the Heart of Ender finishes casting the lasers, it’ll scurry along the ground and quickly create shadow copies of itself. These will fire more purple lasers in a straight line. Then, it’ll repeat the exploding orbs and revolving laser sequence once more. Try to play it safe and use your cooldowns when necessary. For instance, the Potion Barrier enchantment (and the use of the potion) will let you soak the high damage from lasers, allowing you to smack the Heart of Ender around while it’s casting.

When you’re done, pick up the loot and interact with the Arch-Illager. You’ll be treated to a short cinematic that tells you about the poor, misunderstood fella’s fate. Congratulations, you’ve finished Minecraft Dungeons‘ campaign. Now, it’s time to grind in the other difficulty modes or discover the Secret Cow Level.

Minecraft Dungeons is available via the Microsoft Windows Store or Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass for PC. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.