Some of the greatest ecological upsets arise when a new species is introduced to an environment in which it has no natural competition. Hence, for instance, the sad decline of the Eurasian red squirrel, cruelly displaced by the arrival of those pushy, aspirational greys from North America. With title update 9, 4J Studios plans to introduce a building-sized flying lizard composed of toughened purple-black blocks to Minecraft Xbox 360. Fortunately, the Ender Dragon does have a natural competitor: you.
The good news is that all the ingredients of the Ender Dragon's defeat are right there in your world already. For starters, there's the question of accessing the beast's domain. It resides in a benighted dimension known as The End - an immense, dingy void where there is no sun or moon and very little actual geography save for a floating island of grit populated by a horde of Endermen. You won't be able to sleep in The End, nor is it possible to leave till you've beaten the Dragon, so make sure you're good and tooled up before crossing the threshold.
To enter The End, you'll need to find a Stronghold in the Overworld which contains an End Portal. The latter sits over a pool of lava, and consists of 12 End Portal frame blocks arranged in a square. To activate the portal, you'll need to fill each frame block with an Eye of Ender, produced by combining a single Ender Pearl with Blaze Powder in the crafting menu. Blaze Powder can be manufactured using Blaze Rods, which are dropped by Blazes; Ender Pearls, meanwhile, are dropped by Endermen. Chances are you've built up a store of them already.
Scooped up all the Eyes and found yourself a portal? Don't rush off just yet. First, equip a decent bow with either the Infinity enchantment or a stack of arrows and put on some diamond armour. Then, fill your pockets with healing potions, food and sections of ladder. Might want to parachute in a similarly kitted-out friend or two while you're at it, just in case. Right, let's go punch that Alduin wannabe upside the noodle.
The second thing to remember is that it's capable of healing itself, via Ender Crystals which sit on towering pillars. You'll need to dismantle them before fighting the boss, either by way of a ladder or, preferably, by shooting arrows at them. The ranged approach is preferable for a couple of reasons. One, those crystals explode when destroyed. Two, the Ender Dragon will destroy any blocks it comes into contact with that don't occur naturally in The End, including your ladder.
12 comments so far...
ClockworkFellow on 31 Jan '13 said:
While it is nice that TU8 forces a Nether Fortress spawn it would have been nice to have it work on already created worlds. My chap has all he needs in terms of kits and potions (survival gameplay, not creative), but there is no nether fortress, at all, not one. Which means no blaze rods. Which means etc.etc... Sad to have to start from scratch and build myself up from a tree puncher again.
Clanger67 on 31 Jan '13 said:
As luck would have it found my end portal last night by chance,without having to use pearls.Not going to bother with it for ages anyway too much good stuff without now everything is fixed and working.
Bezza89 on 31 Jan '13 said:
Is this the final PC equivalent update we get? Then they go onto adding stuff they want to that seem logical... I rarely play minecraft as there is no incentive to, a few achievements tied around 'The End' or Ender Dragon would go a long way in making me redo the entire game again. Again, I'd pay a small fee for this, I feel like I'm wasting my time otherwise and can't shake that feeling.
Clanger67 on 31 Jan '13 said:
If it follows the pc one on updates there will be loads yet.There are desert temples yet villagers you can trade with,iron golem,cats that you can tame.Witches if they inclue it.Bigger worlds and Nether which i have read will be possible,not def. sure though.Loads of others as well.
Bezza89 on 31 Jan '13 said:
I read 4J are only doing certain PC features after a certain update, maybe 1.3 and then doing their own whilst cherry picking important/cool ones from PC.
I'll search Eds archives...
OXM ETboy on 31 Jan '13 said:
Get your filthy hands off m- Oh, sorry I misread.
Clanger67 on 31 Jan '13 said:
Sorry Bezza didn't realise that,just assumed they would keep it in line with the pc one.Obviously the updates haven't been the exact same as we have received some things earlier than they did on pc.Also didn't think that anything that has been released for the pc one would be a problem for the 360 except for infinite worlds and Nether.Saw a post on the Minecraft wiki that asked about that as well as some other question and the devs reply didn't confirm or deny that it was possible or going to happen.
Decent_Jam on 31 Jan '13 said:
Is there no sense of achievement from destroying a massive house-sized dragon without getting an achievement for it then?
I think I will return to the pixellated land soon, now that there's a wealth of new things to craft and discover. I've been put off for a while for not wanting to have to restart to avoid missing things, but soon the time will be right.
If it makes you feel better Bezza, I'll give you an achievement if you do it
PonderingWalrus on 31 Jan '13 said:
I'd normally be way more excited for a Minecraft Xbox update if not for the fact I now possess a laptop that can run the PC version silky smooth.
What can I say? I am a traitor.
Metalrodent on 1 Feb '13 said:
then to DFS I go!
xXEnderLadyXx on 2 Feb '13 said:
I need help. Every time I try to put the eyes in, they don't go in. Does anyone know why this is happening?
Clanger67 on 2 Feb '13 said:
If you mean into the end portal i presume it is because there is no dragon yet.There wouldn't be much point letting you use the end portal if there is nothing in the end when you get there.It is supposed to be in the next update i presume they have added the portal to save themselves time later.