How to Beat Elder Guardians

Hidden beneath the waves at the bottom of the blocky sea awaits temples built in times unseen. Brave the depths and loot its treasures but beware the elders who forever guard in the name of long-forgotten masters. Today we will be exploring ocean monuments and how to beat Elder Guardians step by step. Just make sure you don’t run out of breath!

Finding an Ocean Monument

Far from the shores and in oceans deep, temples known as ocean monuments wait far beneath. It is within their prismarine walls that three Elder Guardians spawn for the player to defeat. But before one can be beat, these mini-bosses must first be found!

Ocean Monuments can spawn in Deep Oceans variants. As of 1.18, this includes the standard deep oceans, deep frozen oceans, deep cold oceans, and deep lukewarm oceans. Not sure which kind of ocean you are in? Java Edition players can click “F3” on their keyboard to access the debug menu where the current biome will be displayed. Otherwise, bedrock players can find an overview of all ocean variants here.

Be it by boat or elytra, ocean monuments are generally visible from above the sea, and the best way to spot them is by looking for the sea lanterns lighting up the otherwise dark ocean floor. Although sometimes partially buried, ocean monuments will always have an abundance of lights decorating both the entrance and top of the temple. But don’t dive in just yet!

Preparing to Fight the Elder Guardians

The battle starts as soon as the player enters the ocean monument, but unlike the Ender Dragon or Wither, Elder Guardians do not begin their fight with direct confrontation. Instead, players will be met with an Elder Guardian jump scare which inflicts five minutes of mining fatigue. By purposeful design, this makes mining to the Elder Guardians significantly harder and encourages players to battle their way through the monument’s labyrinth-like interior.

Being at the bottom of the ocean running out of air is also an issue. There are many tips and tricks, such as placing torches to refresh your breath, but potions of water breathing and helmets enchanted with respiration are highly recommended. Depth strider boots for quick water movement and aqua affinity helmets for deep-sea sight are great additions too!

The monument itself will be full of guardian mobs using ranged laser attacks. This makes protection armor great for defense, but invisibility potions stand above all other options. As of version 1.14, guardians can not see the player while invisible, negating the challenge all together. Keep in mind that this does not hide armor, however. Each armor piece equipped increases the distance that mobs can notice the player despite being invisible.

For those facing the challenge head-on, we recommend diamond or netherite armor with the protection enchantment. Why not the projectile protection enchantment? The lasers, while ranged, do not count as a projectile. Bows with the power enchantment and tridents with the impaling enchantment will make quick work of both the guardians and Elders Guardians while avoiding their spikey defenses.

Don’t forget you are underwater! Bows lose much of their range, and movement is much slower without depth strider. If your lighting settings are low, vision can be a challenge as well.

Finally, milk can remove mining fatigue allowing players to dig their way to the Elder Guardians. Be warned, multiple buckets will likely be needed as the status effect is reapplied once per minute regardless of player invisibility. Don’t forget food for regular hunger too!

With your inventory prepared for the battle ahead, all that remains is solving the labyrinth.

Exploring the Labyrinth

Each ocean monument has three elder guardians hidden within. The first spawns at the top of the temple, the second in the left wing, and the third in the right wing. Ocean monument interiors can be confusing, but every monument follows the general layout of a central section, two flanking wings, and a second level. The chambers within these previously listed areas are randomly generated to be like that of a maze. One of the rarer chambers that can generate is even filled with sponge!

If using invisibility potions, players can explore without much risk and take out guardians as they see fit. Those without invisibility will need to fight their way through each chamber using the ranged weapons prepared previously. Bringing some cobblestone or dirt is a great way to mark chambers you have already been in as well.

Soon enough, you will find yourself eye to eye with an Elder Guardian.

How to Beat Elder Guardians

Elder Guardians share the appearance of regular guardians but are larger and greyer in color. In terms of combat, they also share abilities with guardians but will notably move a lot less while dealing much more damage. Their ranged attack is a laser that can be avoided by breaking line of sight, the spikes on their body will extend outward causing thorn damage if hit by a melee weapon, and mining fatigue will continue to be applied once per minute.

With some well-placed arrows and trident throws, you should make quick work of the Elder Guardian. Easy, right? Just be wary of regular guardians that may join in on the fight! Then, with the first Elder Guardian dead, repeat this step two more times.

Looting the Elder Guardians and Ocean Monument

With the Elder Guardians slain, the player can loot and pillage the ocean monument without fear of respawns. Elder Guardians are guaranteed to drop prismarine shards, one wet sponge, and ten levels of experience. In addition, raw fish and prismarine crystals may drop as well. This holds true for all three Elder Guardians that spawn within the monument.

The ocean monument itself is filled with multiple types of prismarine blocks, sea lanterns, and eight gold blocks within its treasury. Those lucky enough may also find the previously mentioned sponge chamber. But with that, the Elder Guardian’s watch has ended.

A Monument Looted

We hope this step-by-step guide on how to beat the Elder Guardian has helped with your deep-sea adventure. Whether you loot the monument for blocks, drain it of water so the sun may shine upon it once more, or leave with your spoils, know that there are always more ocean monuments waiting to be explored.

Until Next Time,

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