7 Reasons Why Swords Are Better Than Axes In Minecraft

If you're a new player just starting out with Minecraft you're probably wondering which of the two iconic video-game tools is the most effective and practical. Both swords and axes in Minecraft have their advantages, but I'm personally a huge fan of swords and I consider them objectively a better choice of a weapon. I've decided to put down this short list of all the reasons why swords are better than axes in Minecraft.

1. Swords are more durable than axes by far. Sword loses 1 durability point while being used on a mob while axe uses 2. It's obvious which weapon you DON'T wanna be stuck with while exploring. Axes are pretty expensive in the long run. And It can be kind of a big deal when you're first starting out since resources are scarce and your materials are limited wasting more materials than you've planned on an axe might get you into a difficult situation.

2. Swords have a bigger damage output in the Minecraft Bedrock edition. While this is not true for the java edition it's still maybe a factor that you want to take into account while making your choice. Of course, when you take attack speed into account it evens out a bit and technically swords and axes have the same damage output due to the sword having more swings in the same amount of time as an axe.

3. Axes are not exactly a tool made primarily for combat and their enchantments reflect that. Due to their high damage, it's easy to forget that axes are primarily a tool in Minecraft made for exploring, crafting, and gathering. If you take a look at the enchantment catalog for axes you'll see that most of them are oriented toward resource gatherings such as Silk Touch and Efficiency. Swords have many superior combat-oriented enchantments.

4. Swords have a faster attack speed when compared to axes. Again this may differ between versions but in the java edition, swords are faster to wield than axes which again makes sense. And when you think about that difference between the attack speeds, it may just turn out that Swords have high damager output as well.

5. Swords require fewer resources to make. At their core, swords are made out of 2 minerals and a stick which might make a huger difference when you're just starting out as minerals are valuable and difficult to come by when you first spawn. Compare this fact with their durability advantage, swords are the economical choice of the Minecraft world.

6. You can use sweep attacks which are more powerful while using sweeping enchantment as well. Sweep attacks mean that targets on one side of your targeted mob will get damaged as well, which is a great thing when you're dealing with packs of mobs. You can clear more enemies in a short amount of time when compared to an axe.

7. They are more elegant than axes. This last reason is purely subjective but visually swords just simply look better than axes. It all comes down to personal preference of course.

And that's it, I hope you've learned a thing or two today. I should probably mention that this list does not take PvP into account, it is just a PvE exploration kind of thing where you won't be looking to exploit every single weakness of every weapon and opponent. I'm aware that a lot of people prefer to PvP with axes instead of swords. Maybe in the future, I'll come up with some convincing arguments why swords are worthwhile in PvP as well. For now, it's all about your preference.