Minecraft Dungeons is a modest, simple dungeon crawler that doesn't skimp out on the fun in the slightest. With a variety of customization options and items for players to use in a way that suits them, there are more ways to play the game so players can defeat the final boss, and take on higher difficulties.
However, defeating the final boss takes a little patience and some time investing in armor and enchantments that will help players put up a fight. Here are some tips to survive the fight, and defeat the Archilleger without much of a struggle.
How to Defeat the Arch-illager in Minecraft Dungeons
The Arch-illager is the final boss in Minecraft Dungeons and the only boss in the game to have more than one phase. During the first phase, the Arch-illager will attack players with projectiles from its staff, and summon mobs as well. The mobs are usually the fast running ax-wielding type, so they shouldn't take long to dispatch. The Arch-illager will teleport after he attacks with his staff but, every few times the teleportation will stop and he will instead try running away from players when attacking him. This is when all melee efforts should be focused to deplete his health. Saving arrows throughout the mission is also essential as both the first phase and the second phase involves being at a distance before closing in to attack. Waiting for an opportunity to do damage solely by melee will take much longer, so stack up on arrows. It should take 3 or 4 rounds attacking by melee before the Arch-illager is defeated leading into the next stage.
During the second phase, the Arch-illager transforms into The Heart of Ender, launching attacks on a larger and much more aggressive scale than before. The Heart of Ender attacks in this rotation; spewing projectiles that follow an arc and burst into flames after hitting the ground, a 4-sided laser-beam that spins clockwise around the Arch-illager, and a replication technique where copies of the Ender aura surrounding the Arch-illager burst from the ground and spit laser beams in a straight line by a random arrangement. Avoiding the first attack is relatively easy, but its purpose is to make it more difficult for players to avoid the rotating laser beams that follow it. The first attack is also the best time to get any physical attacks while the rest of the time is ideal for bow usage. The boss doesn't really follow players around much but will remain close enough for its attacks to be very effective.
To avoid the rotating beams, stick to the larger portion of the platform and chase one of the beams from left to the right of the map, or down to up if the boss is hugging the right ledge. The beams don't always start in the same position, so players may have to roll through one of the beams backward and quickly return to chasing to mitigate some of the damage. Being far away also allows players to attack the boss with arrows while having enough time to avoid the beams. The third attack can be avoided by running around the map to dodge the beams as they spawn randomly. If players can, look for the original that has a pink orb shining within it, and attack it while avoiding the other beams. Standing near the bottom of the arena is the safest place but does take players pretty far away from the boss. This battle really depends on how many arrows players have or how willing they are to eat some damage to get close enough during the first attack before running to avoid the second. Arrows are really the most effective so stacking enchantments like Poison Cloud for damage over time, Fuse Shot for additional explosive damage, or Power for increased base arrow damage, will conclude the fight very quickly.
Items that would make this fight a lot easier would be high damage reduction armor such as the Reinforced Mail, Champion Armor (Adventure and up), the Totem of Shielding artifact, Boots of swiftness artifact, or the Iron Hide Amulet artifact. The Iron Hide amulet increases damage reduction by a tremendous amount enabling players to eat just about anything. Boots of swiftness would allow players those hit and run tactics to attack the boss before the rotating beams pop up. The Totem of Shielding forces players to stand in one place, but negates outside damage whilst letting player attacks to go through. Instead of running around the map to avoid the rotating beams, use the totem of shielding from any position and attack the boss as much as possible. Also, the Reflect enchantment turns projectiles back to their owner so this would also be excellent during the first phase. It isn't necessary to have all these items/enchantments but mix em up and decide which strategy works best.
Minecraft Dungeons is available on Xbox, Ps4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.