Mace Enchant Order

The order in words

Get all 5 books ready before you start, and keep at least 10 levels on hand. Then follow these steps on an anvil:

• Step 1: Put the mace in the left slot and the Wind Burst III book in the right. Neither side has been on an anvil yet, so you only pay for the enchantments: 6 levels.
• Step 2: Merge the Density V book with the Unbreaking III book, the first one on the left. Neither side has been on an anvil yet, so you only pay for the enchantments: 3 levels.
• Step 3: Put the mace (now with Wind Burst III) in the left slot and the Density V + Unbreaking III book in the right. You pay 8 levels for the enchantments plus 2 for prior work, so 10 in total.
• Step 4: Merge the Fire Aspect II book with the Mending book, the first one on the left. Neither side has been on an anvil yet, so you only pay for the enchantments: 2 levels.
• Step 5: Put the mace (now with Wind Burst III + Density V + Unbreaking III) in the left slot and the Fire Aspect II + Mending book in the right. You pay 6 levels for the enchantments plus 4 for prior work, so 10 in total. That finishes the mace.

Why this order is the cheapest

Each repair or enchantment combination increases prior work. Rename-only operations do not. So the order keeps the penalties low by merging books with each other in pairs. With 5 books, the mace needs at least 3 rounds on the anvil, and this order uses exactly that many.

The first step puts Wind Burst III straight on the mace for 6 levels. It is the dearest book in the build, so it goes on while the item has no penalty at all. The expensive books, Wind Burst III and Density V, cost 6 and 5 levels on their own, so the order adds them while their penalty is still low. Cheap books like Mending can ride along later, when the penalty has grown.

Wind Burst III goes on the bare mace first, because it is the dearest book in this build. Density V and Unbreaking then join as one book, and Fire Aspect pairs with Mending.

Breach IV costs 8 levels from a book instead of Density's 5, so the Breach mace costs a little more. Smite V costs the same 5 as Density V, so the Smite mace matches this one.

Levels and experience

The full order costs 31 levels. If you do each step as soon as you have its levels, you spend about 435 experience points. Saving up to level 31 first would take 1507 points, because each level costs more XP the higher you climb. So enchant in small batches and keep your levels low. The XP calculator converts any level into points.

After the last step the mace has been on the anvil 3 times. Its prior work penalty is now 7, so a later repair or rename starts at that cost. Check a single step with the prior work penalty calculator.

If you skip a book

You don't need every book on day one. Leaving out Wind Burst III saves the most: the rest costs 21 levels instead of 31.

No Wind Burst yet? Enchant the rest now for 21 levels, then add Wind Burst III later for 13 more. That is 34 levels in all, against 31 if you wait and do it in one go. The extra cost is small, so using the item early is usually worth it.

No Mending yet? Enchant the rest now for 26 levels, then add Mending later for 9 more. That is 35 levels in all, against 31 if you wait and do it in one go. The extra cost is small, so using the item early is usually worth it.

If your mace was on an anvil before

A used mace costs more, because the anvil adds its prior work penalty to every step it is in:

Many players start from a mace that already has Unbreaking III from the enchanting table. In that case the other 4 books cost 24 levels in 4 steps, because a table enchant adds no prior work penalty.

Enter your own item's enchantments and uses in the calculator.

Java and Bedrock costs

Java charges the full resulting level of every enchantment a book brings. So if your mace already has Density IV, adding a Density V book costs 5 levels here. Bedrock charges only the levels you gain, so the same step costs 1 there. Merging two Density IV books into one V costs 5 in Java and 1 in Bedrock.

For a fresh mace with one book per enchantment, no enchantment gains a level twice, so both rules give the same step costs. Java also charges 1 level for each clashing enchantment on a book, which Bedrock skips.

The books in this order

Wind Burst III, Density V, Fire Aspect II, Unbreaking III, Mending. Not sure which books to get? The best mace enchantments page explains each one and where to find it. If the anvil refuses a step, read Too Expensive! for the fixes. The anvil guide covers repairs and renaming.

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