In Minecraft, what to do with all these Iron ingots?

[BACK]
In Minecraft, what to do with all these Iron ingots?
Posted On: February 15, 2023

So I have about 10 iron ingots, but not sure what to start using them for first. Which is the more important thing to invest my ingots? I know armor swords and tools are important, but what is my priority?


Question from user Devlin at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

Lots, and lots, and lots of things.


But let's give you a priority list, since that's what you're looking for. This list assumes you are playing the "Vanilla" version of Minecraft, with no mods installed. .


Tools.


Which is to say, a pickaxe first. Your Iron pickaxe will be your friend deep underground, when you find a rare ore to mine such as gold or, dare I say, diamond. .


BUT, you generally only need one pickaxe made of iron for those rare ores, especially when you have a low number of ingots. .


An iron sword is also a major improvement over the stone sword, and if you find yourself troubled by monsters frequently, it could be a worthwhile investment. .


Don't waste the iron on axes, hoes, or shovels though. While these tools will last longer and work a bit faster, these are luxuries rather than necessities. Also, don't throw your stone pickaxe(s) away either. Those are your work horses, and they should still be used to clear out large swathes of weaker ores and stone blocks. .


Eventually you will find diamond, and a Diamond Pick will become your go-to pick for mining out rare minerals, and a Diamond Sword your go-to melee weapon. They will last a long, long, LONG time and are very efficient, but can still eventually break. So you may want to keep your Iron Tools around anyway, and may even consider them as your faster workhorse once you get a lot of iron. .


Armor.


After an iron pickaxe, some armor is probably your next most important thing to build. Unfortunately for you, it takes 8 ingots to create iron breastplate, and you just used 3 of your 10 ingots on a pick! .


But, any armor is better than none at all, which is why you hopefully already have some leather armor. Replace your helmet, pants, or boots with some iron armor. An efficient way to do this is to make yourself an iron helmet, then save the last two ingots for a sword. But you can also spend your 7 ingots on iron pants, which will offer you more protection. .


Compass.


You probably don't have redstone yet, but once you do, you can use four iron ingots and a single piece of redstone to make yourself a compass! This is handy for long journeys, as it will point you back to your spawn/most recent bed. There are alternate pathfinding methods though - like using cobblestone as an actual North-South-East-West compass, or marking a trail - so a compass is not a necessity for exploration. Still, it is a handy tool to have for longer journeys. .


Bucket.


You wouldn't think something so innocuous as a bucket would be so high on the list, but it's actually a fairly useful tool. It can save you from an unexpected lava flow (especially if the bucket is full of water), and can be used to move your farm water to a better location. Not a necessity, but definitely nice to have. .


Shears.


Remarkably cheap, and makes your sheep a lot more efficient at resource-dropping. A convenience tool, since you can still get SOME wool from killing a sheep, but good for harvesting bedding material. .


Flint and Steel.


While setting things on fire is cool, and is the quickest way to clear out trees, you won't be getting a ton of use out of this item, though it can be used as a handy sustained-damage weapon against mobs. And it has a relatively low cost of just one ingot and one flint. .


Iron Door.


It would be a bit of a waste, but if you're REALLY inclined, you can use 6 iron ingots to make yourself an iron door. Build yourself a button, lever or pressure plate next to it, and you've got yourself a zombie-proof entryway to your home, and 4 iron ingots left over for that pick you need! Though really, this should wait until you've got more than 10 ingots. .


Which covers all the basic, relatively low-cost items that you can make with just a small collection of ingots, in order of importance. When you get more ingots, there are of course additional recipes, but you should probably save up quite a lot more than ten before considering these. Those recipes include: .


Cauldron.


Anvil.


Tracks and Carts.


Golems.


Pistons.


Tripwire Hook.


An Iron Block.


Hopper.


Answer from user Zibbobz at gaming.stackexchange.com.



[BACK]
In Minecraft, what to do with all these Iron ingots?
Posted On: February 15, 2023

So I have about 10 iron ingots, but not sure what to start using them for first. Which is the more important thing to invest my ingots? I know armor swords and tools are important, but what is my priority?


Question from user Devlin at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

Lots, and lots, and lots of things.


But let's give you a priority list, since that's what you're looking for. This list assumes you are playing the "Vanilla" version of Minecraft, with no mods installed. .


Tools.


Which is to say, a pickaxe first. Your Iron pickaxe will be your friend deep underground, when you find a rare ore to mine such as gold or, dare I say, diamond. .


BUT, you generally only need one pickaxe made of iron for those rare ores, especially when you have a low number of ingots. .


An iron sword is also a major improvement over the stone sword, and if you find yourself troubled by monsters frequently, it could be a worthwhile investment. .


Don't waste the iron on axes, hoes, or shovels though. While these tools will last longer and work a bit faster, these are luxuries rather than necessities. Also, don't throw your stone pickaxe(s) away either. Those are your work horses, and they should still be used to clear out large swathes of weaker ores and stone blocks. .


Eventually you will find diamond, and a Diamond Pick will become your go-to pick for mining out rare minerals, and a Diamond Sword your go-to melee weapon. They will last a long, long, LONG time and are very efficient, but can still eventually break. So you may want to keep your Iron Tools around anyway, and may even consider them as your faster workhorse once you get a lot of iron. .


Armor.


After an iron pickaxe, some armor is probably your next most important thing to build. Unfortunately for you, it takes 8 ingots to create iron breastplate, and you just used 3 of your 10 ingots on a pick! .


But, any armor is better than none at all, which is why you hopefully already have some leather armor. Replace your helmet, pants, or boots with some iron armor. An efficient way to do this is to make yourself an iron helmet, then save the last two ingots for a sword. But you can also spend your 7 ingots on iron pants, which will offer you more protection. .


Compass.


You probably don't have redstone yet, but once you do, you can use four iron ingots and a single piece of redstone to make yourself a compass! This is handy for long journeys, as it will point you back to your spawn/most recent bed. There are alternate pathfinding methods though - like using cobblestone as an actual North-South-East-West compass, or marking a trail - so a compass is not a necessity for exploration. Still, it is a handy tool to have for longer journeys. .


Bucket.


You wouldn't think something so innocuous as a bucket would be so high on the list, but it's actually a fairly useful tool. It can save you from an unexpected lava flow (especially if the bucket is full of water), and can be used to move your farm water to a better location. Not a necessity, but definitely nice to have. .


Shears.


Remarkably cheap, and makes your sheep a lot more efficient at resource-dropping. A convenience tool, since you can still get SOME wool from killing a sheep, but good for harvesting bedding material. .


Flint and Steel.


While setting things on fire is cool, and is the quickest way to clear out trees, you won't be getting a ton of use out of this item, though it can be used as a handy sustained-damage weapon against mobs. And it has a relatively low cost of just one ingot and one flint. .


Iron Door.


It would be a bit of a waste, but if you're REALLY inclined, you can use 6 iron ingots to make yourself an iron door. Build yourself a button, lever or pressure plate next to it, and you've got yourself a zombie-proof entryway to your home, and 4 iron ingots left over for that pick you need! Though really, this should wait until you've got more than 10 ingots. .


Which covers all the basic, relatively low-cost items that you can make with just a small collection of ingots, in order of importance. When you get more ingots, there are of course additional recipes, but you should probably save up quite a lot more than ten before considering these. Those recipes include: .


Cauldron.


Anvil.


Tracks and Carts.


Golems.


Pistons.


Tripwire Hook.


An Iron Block.


Hopper.


Answer from user Zibbobz at gaming.stackexchange.com.



[BACK]

Is there a way to respec attributes? Is there a way to respec attributes?

Posted On: October 25, 2023
I'm pretty sure there isn't a way-explicitly-offered-by-the-game to unset and reinvest health, stamina, and/or magicka advancements, but I'm also curious about exploits, console commands, ...[More]


Reach the compartment before it closes in Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise Reach the compartment before it closes in Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise

Posted On: July 9, 2023
In chapter 3, there is a button on the ground to the right of a platform in the center of the room. Clicking the button opened a compartment on the left side of the platform. The compartment keeps clo...[More]


Misadventures of P.B Winterbottom leaderboards Misadventures of P.B Winterbottom leaderboards

Posted On: March 24, 2023
The Misadventures of P.B Winterbottom is absolutely brilliant (if maybe a little short). Anyway, now that I've finished it, I'm in the process of going through the bonus shorts (levels), and a...[More]


What is the minimum safe spacing between trees to contain forest fires? What is the minimum safe spacing between trees to contain forest fires?

Posted On: November 14, 2011
After trying to implement a minor controlled burn to tame the wild forests surrounding my home, I managed to create what I shall heretofore refer to as The Burning Land.It occurred to me that we do no...[More]


AC Revelations How can I check how long I need to wait for the next bank deposit? AC Revelations How can I check how long I need to wait for the next bank deposit?

Posted On: May 3, 2023
I never know how long I have to wait until the next bank deposit. I know it's meant to be every 20 minutes and that there are events that annoyingly reset the timer without telling you, so I was w...[More]


How do I make food? How do I make food?

Posted On: March 29, 2024
In The Planet Crafter, I'm building my base, and I have enough food for now. I don't have any machines to make food, but I know I'm going to eventually run out. I guess that, like with water, I'm goin...[More]


Honkai Star Rail What is Effect Hit Rate? Honkai Star Rail What is Effect Hit Rate?

Posted On: May 15, 2023
Some relics have an 'Effect Hit Rate' stat. What effect is being referred to here and at what point is the hit/no-hit RNG evaluated? Question from user LT_ at gaming.stackexchange.com. A...[More]


What is the best controller setup in Killzone 2? What is the best controller setup in Killzone 2?

Posted On: July 2, 2023
I recently purchased Killzone 2 (PS3) and I'm a bit new to console gaming, especially FPS. I have trouble with aiming and moving/turning sideways. The sensitivity of the right thumb stick doesn...[More]


Nexus Mod Manager wont recognize Fallout New Vegas Nexus Mod Manager wont recognize Fallout New Vegas

Posted On: February 8, 2023
I have trouble opening NMM for my New vegas game saying that it does not have the permission to write the game and I've been told that I should run as admin to open it, but :.Can someone please explai...[More]


How do I know which version of Minecraft I have? How do I know which version of Minecraft I have?

Posted On: April 26, 2023
I don't know which version of Minecraft I have. I have regular Minecraft, not Java or anything else and I just don't know the version I have. Question from user Azalea at gaming.stackexchan...[More]