Minecraft Monsters and Pets

Ugh. Creepers. Monsters are the biggest issue in the game, and creepers are the most dangerous of the lot, so I'll start with them.

There is cactus in the game, and Creepers kind of look like walking, frowning cacti.

Creepers are NOT cacti.

They do however charge you when you are within their range of interest, and will chase you until you are out of range, or put an intervening barrier between you and them.

Creepers do not injure you by touching you. Instead, the charge to get within "exploding range", and then start to hiss. If you hear them hissing, you have about a second or two to get away from them before they do just that - explode. Creepers will explode, destroying several blocks around them (reducing them to blocks you can pick up), and injure you in the process if you are too close.

Creepers can be killed with arrows from a distance and this is the best way to deal with them. Creepers can be killed using swords, but this is very dangerous, as getting in close is a mistake unless you're just that good.

Creepers can also be killed by pulling them into lava, cacti or other dangerous surfaces as they will follow you in a straight line.

Warning If you get a wall in between you and them, do not stand against the wall. One block is close enough to set them off, and they will damage the wall and you.

Dead creepers have a chance of becoming sulphur (now gunpowder). Gunpowder is used to make TNT.

Skeletons come out at night and hunt with their bows and arrows, shooting arrows at you any time you get in range.

They can be identified by sound by the melodious tinkling of their bones. When being injured consistently, (like when running against a cactus), they sound like a xylophone being thrown down the stairs.

Skeletons can be fired upon with arrows, and are easy to kill this way underground. Out in the open, skeletons are very evasive, making shooting them difficult. You may want to close with a sword and hack them down, or practice your archery.

Defeated skeletons turn into bones and complete arrows. These arrows can be picked up and used with your bow. Bones can be used to make bonemeal, which in turn can be used to instantly grow saplings into trees, and young wheat into mature wheat.

Note: Skeletons will shoot through any open space. Open doors, the space provided by ladder blocks, and any open air above ground or in between blocks will be fired through by skeletons. They will shoot from above or below if they can hit you. Although doors have holes in them, they can't or won't shoot through them. If you are good, you can shoot through the holes of the door if monsters are pressed against them.

Skeletons are an "undead" type and will burst into flames when daylight comes.

Zombies live to wander around and eat your brains, best done by charging you and doing damage by touching you.

They can be identified by sound with groaning and moaning, like any self-respecting zombie.

They are easy to kill with arrows, and can be dropped with a sword as well.

When killed, zombies produce feathers, which can be used to make arrows.

Zombies are an "undead" type monster, and burst into flame, eventually dying, when the sun comes up.

Spiders are cute and cuddly and are friends to all other animals in the game.

No. That's a lie. They're a pain in the butt, and will climb your buildings unless you plan for them.

Spiders can climb any surface, and will do so, even climbing over walls and entering your roofless structures, unless you put an extra block along the top that juts out beyond the wall (like a parapet), or you know, a roof.

Spiders charge at you to kill you, and do damage by contact. They are pretty easy to kill with bows or swords.

Spiders are unpredictable. Technically, they will only attack you if they encounter you at night. A night spider who is trying to get to you, will continue to come after you when daylight comes.

A non-aggressive spider discovered during the day will leave you alone, unless something happens to it that makes it think that you attacked it (like falling out of a tree). Spiders are stupid, and cranky, and it's probably better just to slay them when you see them.

When killed, spiders drop string, which can be used to make bows.

Monsters, by and large, are stupid.

They love to charge at you to kill you, and will run into anything you put between you and them.

If only you could put something between you and them..

You can - with cacti!

The cactus is a plant block that will grow as high as 3 blocks, making it an excellent deterrent to monster invasion.

The cactus appears naturally on sand, and can only be placed on sand blocks. Fortunately, you can place and bury sand blocks to place cacti anywhere you want.

Cacti will not grow next to another block, so if you're building a cactus wall, you have to stagger them diagonally.

If you have a fully grown cactus, you can destroy the bottom block to turn it into 3 cactus blocks, all of which can be planted and will soon grow into full size cacti.

You can build entire walls from cactus as defensive fronts, and just let monsters (and animals, they're dumb too) throw themselves against them until they die, then go out and farm the materials they drop.

Be careful though. Cacti will injure you as well if you run into them.

I've talked about torches in the Day 1 guide, and I wanted to bring them up again here.

Torches help you see in the dark of course, but the dark is more insidious than just making it tough to see.

Darkened spaces, particularly underground, spawn monsters. Having torches underground to light all available dark spots, keep monsters from spawning and sneaking up on you.

For the same reason, you want to make sure that you home base is well lit, both inside and out. If you're finding monsters in your home, then there is a dark spot somewhere that isn't being lit with torches. When in doubt, put down more torches to make sure that your home is safe from monsters coming out of thin air in the dark.

Between torches and cacti, you can make your base nigh impenetrable. Just be careful not to step outside, or taunt creepers into blowing up, or get in the crosshairs of skeletons.

With the new patch, players can now make companions out of wolves, the first real pet in the game.

Wolves will sit when you right click on them, and otherwise follow you around, protect you when attacked and if they get stuck, will eventually teleport to you. Thanks, Minecraft!

There are a few problems/bugs with your new wolf...

As I said, they can get stuck. This happens with maddening frequency if you are jumping a lot, navigating tight caves, climbing ladders, or just because. They ,may also path into lava, cacti or other dangerous terrain. Still, they will eventually teleport to your position so this isn't all bad.

They also won't target anything unless it attacks you. If you are shooting arrows, that's not enough to set them off. They also won't kamikaze into creepers.

How Do I Tame A Wolf?

You will need bones (from skeletons) and lots of them.

Give a dog a bone, and keep doing it until it is tamed. Wolves with red eyes are untamed, while wolves with white and black eyes are tamed and yours to love.

You can have more than one wolf at a time, but they are rare.

Tamed wolves have more health than untamed wolves.

To heal your tamed wolf, give him a porkchop. Do NOT give your wolf bread (or feed him after midnight).

Pigs wander around and appear here and there, even inside your structures. They are harmless, but if you get all stabby, they will keel over and turn into raw porkchops. These can be eaten to restore 1.5 hearts.

If cooked in a furnace, they will become cooked porkchops that heal 4 hearts.

If you have a saddle, you can ride (but not control) a pig.

Sheep wander around just like pigs, and carry wool (duh). If you hit a sheep, the wool will drop off the sheep, and you can pick up 1-2 wool. Sheep will be shorn and will grow it back later. Dead sheep don't yield anything edible.

Wool can be placed as wool blocks (either white, gray or black, depending on the sheep it came from). Wool can be dyed to become wool blocks of other colors.

Wool can also be dyed by applying the dye directly to the sheep, making the sheep that color. Hitting the sheep will yield 1-2 wool blocks of that color (possibly magnifying the efficiency of your dyes).

Chickens do the chicken thing, wandering around grassy areas.

If you kill them, they have a chance do drop eggs or feathers.

Feathers can be used to make arrows, and eggs are used for baked goods, like cake, which can increase hearts.

Chickens will occasionally drop eggs on their own (or you can be impatient and just kill them).

Eggs can also be used in dispensers, which can shoot eggs (that do no damage) but will knock back targets.

Cows eat grass, but you can't eat them.

Killing them produces leather, which can be used to create leather armor.

Have a bucket? If you click the bucket on the udder of a cow, it will fill the bucket with milk, which can be used to make cake, a heart-increasing food.

Not just a bunch of folks making lenses, squids in Minecraft swim harmlessly around the waters and despite their big scary mouths full of razor sharp teeth, they won't harm you, even if you beat on them to get ink, which drops when you kill them.

Ink sacs can be used to make dyes.

By itself, it dyes white wool black (1 to 1).

An ink sac plus one bonemeal makes gray.

An ink sac plus two bonemeal makes light gray.