Any way to increase wither skeleton spawn?

[Sarudak]

So now that beacons are awesome I really want to get one but wither skeletons are rare and getting heads seems rare even with an axe. Is there any way to increase how many spawn? Will covering a large area around the nether fort in nether brick make more of them spawn perhaps?

[BlackCat]

What is your current setup like in regards to your wither skele trap?

Chopping blocks and battleaxes (not sure if looting helps or not) in large amounts, and go through and make sure you've covered the applicable spawning areas.

[Sarudak]

Heh no... I didn't build a trap I've just been wandering around the nether fort killing them. But they're so rare I was wondering how to give them more space to spawn. Do they just need nether brick within the are of a nether fort or what?

[BlackCat]

You can't expand the spawning area because it is determined with a bounding box of sorts, I won't go into spoilerish details here but you would be best served doing research on it.

But yeah you're not going to meet with much success that way.

[Sarudak]

Ok so the only thing to do would be cover any open netherrack to prevent pigmen spawns?

[BlackCat]

For the most part yeah, that would be your best bet.

[FlowerChild]

You'd need to cover both netherrack AND netherbrick. They are able to spawn on both, just like the other nether mobs. You're not going to be able to eliminate pigman spawns within the area of the wither skelie spawns, since they can spawn on the same materials. What you most likely want to do is create a restricted spawn area where any nether mob can spawn, but do so within the area where wither skeletons can pop up. You can either construct a mob-farm there, which is what I'm doing (and which is where the Chopping Block comes in handy) or manually kill stuff yourself if you prefer.

Obviously, Groth is your best friend for covering over the netherrack. If you go the mob-farm route, you'll basically wind up with both a gold farm and a wither skeleton head farm in the same location.

[Sarudak]

Yeah. I've kinda written off the possibility of getting groth since I'm in a large biome world and haven't even found an ocean... I guess I need to start up some major cement production. To Work!

[FlowerChild]

Yeah. I've kinda written off the possibility of getting groth since I'm in a large biome world and haven't even found an ocean... I guess I need to start up some major cement production... To Work!

Actually, that reminds me that I intended to provide an alternate means of obtaining mycellium in the mod for people that can't find a mushroom biome.

Must add that to the todo list for wrapping up BTW, as it's definitely a "loose end".

[Extreme Boyheat]

But that adds to the fun of hardcore spawn and hardcore F3. :P

[Sarudak]

Oh. I figured that would be cut since you said it would be higher in the tech tree... I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

[FlowerChild]

Oh. I figured that would be cut since you said it would be higher in the tech tree... I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Yeah, the way I had previously intended it to happen has been cut, but I'll implement a different method as mushroom biomes are far too rare to not have an alternate method of obtaining Groth in the mod.

[Battlecat]

If you're curious about how the Wither Skeletons actually spawn, I recommend this video. It goes over the exact spawn behavior in detail.

Granted, I'm actually disappointed by how arbitrary and non-intuitive the actual spawning bounding boxes are. I don't know how someone could determine this without meta-game knowledge considering how rare they are.

[XboxAddict77]

Just Found a vid on making a trap for these guys and it also works for blazes and pigman too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR6oATNO ... xA&index=1

[ThePuzzleMasher]

Yeah, the way I had previously intended it to happen has been cut, but I'll implement a different method as mushroom biomes are far too rare to not have an alternate method of obtaining Groth in the mod.

I'm guessing that you would be able to obtain mooshrooms that way without finding a mushroom biome as an added bonus. (unless you involve an alternate recipe for the nether groth that does not involve mycellium)

[XboxAddict77]

Yeah, the way I had previously intended it to happen has been cut, but I'll implement a different method as mushroom biomes are far too rare to not have an alternate method of obtaining Groth in the mod.

I'm guessing that you would be able to obtain mooshrooms that way without finding a mushroom biome as an added bonus. (unless you involve an alternate recipe for the nether groth that does not involve mycellium)

Actually I think putting cows on mycellium turns them into mooshrooms already.

[ThePuzzleMasher]

I'm guessing that you would be able to obtain mooshrooms that way without finding a mushroom biome as an added bonus. (unless you involve an alternate recipe for the nether groth that does not involve mycellium)

Actually I think putting cows on mycellium turns them into mooshrooms already.

I know that but what I was saying is if FC adds a way to craft or other way to get mycellium that means you can turn the cows into mooshrooms using the mycellium. Thats why I said "as an added bonus" and if FC chose that instead of creating the mycellium there will be an alternate recipe for creating the groth involving something other than mycellium to avoid the above then it would not be possible to turn cows into mooshrooms. I hope that cleared it up.

[FlowerChild]

Actually, your comment was perceptive, as I don't want to eliminate the value of mushroom biomes entirely to the point where finding them feels like nothing has been accomplished.

As a result, I'm planning on providing an alternate way to obtain Groth rather than an alternate way of finding mycellium.

[ThePuzzleMasher]

Actually, your comment was perceptive, as I don't want to eliminate the value of mushroom biomes entirely to the point where finding them feels like nothing has been accomplished.

As a result, I'm planning on providing an alternate way to obtain Groth rather than an alternate way of finding mycellium.

OK now that makes more sense as you will need to find a mushroom biome to auto farm mushrooms through mooshrooms as you can only farm huge mushrooms manually. (at least as far as I know)

[XboxAddict77]

Actually, your comment was perceptive, as I don't want to eliminate the value of mushroom biomes entirely to the point where finding them feels like nothing has been accomplished.

As a result, I'm planning on providing an alternate way to obtain Groth rather than an alternate way of finding mycellium.

OK now that makes more sense as you will need to find a mushroom biome to auto farm mushrooms through mooshrooms as you can only farm huge mushrooms manually. (at least as far as I know)

This made me think can you still use bonemeal to make huge Mushrooms with hardcore Bone?

[Elevatator]

This made me think can you still use bonemeal to make huge Mushrooms with hardcore Bone?

No, but they grow naturally on mycellium, just like trees.

[XboxAddict77]

Actually, your comment was perceptive, as I don't want to eliminate the value of mushroom biomes entirely to the point where finding them feels like nothing has been accomplished.

As a result, I'm planning on providing an alternate way to obtain Groth rather than an alternate way of finding mycellium.

OK now that makes more sense as you will need to find a mushroom biome to auto farm mushrooms through mooshrooms as you can only farm huge mushrooms manually. (at least as far as I know)

This made me think can you still use bonemeal to make huge Mushrooms with hardcore Bone?

Cool, looks like I'm off to find a Mushroom Biome!

[FlowerChild]

Cool, looks like I'm off to find a Mushroom Biome!

Good luck. Finding one was probably the most lengthy task I've ever undertaken in MC.

On the bright side though, in BTW, once you find one you can make Groth with it, which is actually useful, as opposed to in vanilla where you really get squat for your effort.

Be sure to bring a Block Dispenser or Silk Touch enchanted pick with you to harvest the mycellium once you get there.

[XboxAddict77]

Cool, looks like I'm off to find a Mushroom Biome!

Good luck. Finding one was probably the most lengthy task I've ever undertaken in MC.

On the bright side though, in BTW, once you find one you can make Groth with it, which is actually useful, as opposed to in vanilla where you really get squat for your effort.

Be sure to bring a Block Dispenser or Silk Touch enchanted pick with you to harvest the mycellium once you get there.

Darn It, wow I'm dumb. On my main world I haven't even made a windmill yet looks like it will have to wait.

[Benanov]

Darn It, wow I'm dumb. On my main world I haven't even made a windmill yet looks like it will have to wait.

Mushroom biomes, assuming you bring renewable wood along, actually make pretty good bases. I had a vanilla base on a mushroom biome and hit a nearby mineshaft...and our tech level just absolutely exploded.

Since mobs don't spawn in a mushroom biome, you can work constantly outside and not worry about mobs...unfortunately for a mobtrap, you'll want a nearby swamp or something. Good luck.